Happy New Years!

OI Familia and EVERYONE!!

So first off thanks so much for the amazing packages, letters, and e-mails! I feel so loved!! And mom the new years package was amazing! When I saw the bubbles I got so excited! Sister kemp and I are so excited to play with them! Really we about died! haha And thanks so much for the christmas presents! I love the scarf and every thing that I got! I wore the scarf on christmas! I took some pictures so one day I'll get them to you! oh and perfect timing with the watch! I really needed one so Obirgada!

So before I get started with the week could you by chance send me my picture of the manti temple? and also the picture of christ and the boy talking on the bench? It called lost and found. Its in a frame in my room. But could you send it without the frame? Thanks so so so much! Love you!

So it sounds like christmas was amazing! Glad you had fun! But I can't believe you didn't do light the way?!! Thats like one of my favorite traditions oh well if it made things more relazing thats all good! And Stephanie and Patrick joined in on our families talent thingy? I bet that just added the perfect touch! that would have been super funny! Christmas was amazing here at the MTC! Really it was! I'm so glad I got to experience it here! Elder Russell m nelson came and spoke to us Saturday for the devotional. It was so good! the spirit was strong! He read the christmas story and talked about missionary work. It was so cool! And his wife spoke as well. She is the cutest lady ever! On sunday she spoke in relief society and she is so funny! the spirit was super strong also and I just loved it! She talked about prayer and how amazing our missions will be. Also obedience and all the great stuff. Sorry I'm kinda brushing over everything! I really am pressed for time and hate that I am! But yes christmas was so AMAZING!! maybe I'll get some more time and I'll tell you about it in detail. But yeah gotta love Christmas in the MTC! oh yeah the talent show was like a year and a half long! So glad I didn't play in it!

Oh so about my district leader getting his apendex out. So he got it out on thursday and then he was back Christmas eve night! Crazy huh! He was up and walking and everything! Crazy! Miracles do happen! And the other elder is already back as well. crazy crazy! Seriously was a miracle!

So tonight for New years we have another Devotional. I'm pretty excited about it! I'm not sure who it will be but I'm sure it will be great! I'll keep ya posted about that one when I get the chance. But yeah thats really all thats planned for tonight. Except after the sisters in my district, comp and I are going to celebrate with the new years package you sent! Also one of the sisters in my district got sent some Martinelies. Hahe can't spell! But yes we'll be having a party for sure! I hope your all have blast tonight! Tell Jason and Jamie I say hi! Well I guess they will read this so HI!!

Thats excited Kelley and keiths family are in Disneyland! Hope the lines arn't forever long! But have a blast and tell me all about it when you get back for sure! Also Lindsey I sent off a letter for you last week so you should get it by the time you get back! hopefully!

Sorry kenna you got two teeth pulled! not fun! but glad your feeling better!

ahh time is running short. k one more thing about my week. So my teacher Irmao allred started talking about one of the members in his mission in Brazil. It reminded me a lot about Grandad gregory and during the story I started to get teary eyed! he kept looking over at my like "what's wrong with this sister!" haha but yeah after he told the story he kept saying " I don't know why I just told that story but ever since I woke up this morning I couldn't get it out of my head." Well after he said that I shared the story of why I chose to go on a mission and the miracle I saw in our family after Grandmom passed away. It was so tough holding back the tears! the spirit was so strong. It was like grandmom was there with me! Crazy! But yeah after that it made me realize more and more why I am here. I get to share this message with so many families in brazil! I get to tell them the greatest news! Families can be together forever!! ahh best day ever! Sorry if i don't make much sense! But yes the spirit is continually strong everyday! I love it here at the MTC! So glad I chose to come when I did! I met the new missionaries in my district the other day. They were super cool and everything but I am so glad I came when I did because I just absolutely love my companiion and the elders and sisters in my district! They are all so amazing! I wish I had more time! I'll work on a letter soon and if you have any questions about what I had said just let me know! I'd love to tell you more!

ok well the church is true! SO true! And I can't wait to see what the next 17 and half months bring! Crazy I"ve been here already for two weeks! Time is a flyin by!

I love you all!

Amor,

Sister Gregory!!

Letter Christmas Eve - Dec. 24, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

ok so I have so much to say but so little time! I couldn't get the e-mails you sent to print so I will try my best to remember everything you all said! and I absolutly LOVED the video!! OBRIGADA!! ahhh really hate this timer thing. Also if i don't answer many of your questions just keep asking me them k!

so first off my distict leader is super amazing. He about a year older than the sisters. From idaho and just a funny Elder. Its so crazy but he's in the hospital right now! I think it was thursday morning around 5 am he decided it would be best to go to the hospital because of some major stomach pain. So he had to get his apendex out!! CRAZY HUH! yeah my district was super said and it was so wierd not having him around! So sister kemp and I made a really cute card and had the rest of the district sign it. His companion I think will give it to him later. But yeah super crazy huh? Also another Elder in my Zone got sent to the hospital yesterday also! what up with that? He had a blood clot in his next or somethin. So yeah you will have to keep those two elders in your prayers for sure. As well with my district and Zone so that way now one else ends up in the hospital!

Christmas so far in the MTC isnt bad at all. They deffinately keep us super busy! Today is P-day till about 6 and then after dinner we have a fireside. We have another fireside tomorrow as well as a devotional. I really don't know the difference between the two! But hey they both are super amazing and love them!

hmmm what else. Oh I tried out for the talent show this past week. TOmorrow we have a talent show. So I played the swan and the lady judging the tryouts loved it! But thought I was to good for a talent show! haha yeah didn't make too much sense to me! But she wants me to tryout for the devotional musical numbers so I'll see how that one goes! I'll keep ya posted.

The language is coming along! Yeah not super good but I bore my testimony this past week from memory! Yay go me! also we had our first TRC. its the teaching resourch center. Its were we teach the first lesson. Practice contacting etc. Well the lesson went really well. The spirit was super strong! It was nice cause we could do it all in english! But the contacting had to all be in portuguese. I tried my hardest to memories questions and such but it was tough so I had to bring some notes with me. For the most part I did alright it was just hard cause I would turn to my companion and she wouldn't know what i was saying so she couldn't help me out much! haha it was kinda funny! I mixed up a few words and the people were like what is this sister saying! I caught myself so they eventually figured it out!

hmm... ok so what else?!! my district is amazing pretty much! the other night we had testimony meeting and all the elders started crying. Mostly becuase they were homesick but the spirit was really strong. we had this testimony mtg after the tuesday night devotional. Elder Bowen and his wife spoke. They talk on Christmas and obedience.But obedience is key and thats one of my comp and I's goals. Being on time to everyting etc. But something I really like that sister Bowen said was writing done what your going to do and not do as a missionary. This reminded me of what Bishop patterson told us. You know write down your does and and don't. And I thought about this I realized that I've been preparing for this mission for the longest time! It was pretty comforting to me! Yeah there are pretty tough days and days like yesterday that I thought I was going to fall over and go to sleep but then there are moments where the spirit is so strong and the language just comes! and moments where I just know without a doubt that as long as I stay obedient and keep the faith that I will make it though this and love every second of this mission! ahh it really is amazing so far. Yeah again its not easy but its been great!

ahh ok I have six min. I just wanted to thank everyone for the amazing letters, packages, and e-mails. Thanks Kelley and keith for the doughnuts! My district and elders down the hall loved them! And Bradley for the letter! your the best cuz! Thanks mom for the x-mas tree! it was perfect for reading the x-mas story by a flashlight and christmas tree! my district loved it! we did it for FHE on monday. As a district we decided to have FHE everyweek.

ok I really am out of time. But Thanks for all the prayers and for everything! I'll work on writing back everyone today and i'll probably send another letter home today as well. Have fun tonight at the christmas program! tell every one I love them and Thanks Stephanie for the e-mail! I LOVE YOU ALL!! FELIZ NATAL! By the way you guy said that totally wrong!

Love you!

-Jess (SIster Gregory)

So hi. I'm Jessica's mom updating her blog. Here is Jessica's first email from the MTC!! We were so excited to get an email from her.

Oi Familia!!

So guess what I get to e-mail!! I only have like 23min and the time is ticking away! So this might be a quick one!

ok so my p-day from now on is going to be fridays. And thats probably when i'll be going to the temple. Today we got to have a mini p-day so we got to do laundry. So yeah everything is going pretty great! I have gotten a little homesick but I'm trying to say busy so its not to bad. oh before I forget I've loved every package you've sent! obrigado!! but just something to keep in mind I might not be able to pick up the packages till the following day so just make sure whatever you send doesn't get old over night. the prezel bits looked so good but I couldn't eat them! dang it! but thanks so so so much for them! They smelt good!! ahh ok my thoughts are a little scattered since i can see the time in the corner of my eye! ok so back to what i've been up to! my companion is great! her name is sister kemp. She's from Salt lake. we get along really well so far! I've been really blessed! and my district is really great also! We all get along really well! They are from all over the states. And everyone is going to different parts of Brazil! Me and one other elder are going to porto Alegre south. My companion is goign to Sao Palo and the others I honestly don't remember! But really everything is going great! oh so the 22nd is the last day we get mail until after christmas. Just thought you'd like to know! hmmm... the spirit is really strong here and I know that this where I'm suppose to be! Thanks again everyone for all your love and support! Its helped me so much getting to this point and helped me to stay positive! SO keep up the great work! so I would say more but sister kemp need to get on really quick to write her family. Next week i'll try to gather my thoughts sooner! oh and anyone can e-mail me but I can only e-mail my family. So go for it and send me some letters! I'd love to hear from you all! also I will probably print off your letters and then reply the following week since I don't want to use up my thirty min readin everything! oh and I have six sisters in my room. and four counting my companion and I are in the same district. I explained more of that in my letter so I hope you get it soon!! well I better go but i hope all is wonderful!! I'm glad kenna is feelin better and that finals went well for jeremy! I hope every one elses finals went great!! LOVE YOU ALL!!
Talk to you soon!

-Jessica (Sister Gregory)

Here are some pictures of Jessica before she went into the MTC

Jessica with Lindsey, Bradley & Bronson

Jessica with McKenna

Dad & Mom with Jessica

Jessica with Kristina

Jess & Lindsey!

Last meal before the MTC at Jason's Deli with the family.

Cute Christmas stocking Keith & Kelley gave Jess.

Jessica with Grandma & Grandpa Tyler

Saying goodbye to Granddad Gregory

Last night home!

Farewell luncheon

Sister Gregory!

Alrighties everyone in just a few hours I will be offically Sister Gregory! Crazy!! Well before I hand over my blog to my mom I thought I'd write one more post!

Life is flying by! I've already given my farewell talk (It went really well! I was super nervous the night before but with a little bit of faith and a lot of prayer things turned out perfectly! Thanks all that came!) and I leave for the MTC tomorrow! ahh! So much to do so little time! But I couldn't be more excited and loved by everyone! I just want to thank everyone for the support they've given me! I couldn't have asked for better friends and family! And remember if you write me I promise I'll write you back! I'd love to hear updates from you

all! Well I don't have much time, but here are some pictures of my farewell and those last goodbyes! (I don't have many picture from my farewell since my dad took a lot of them on his phone. I'll try to get those up here before I take off thats for sure!)

Cocoa and Ice Skating with the cousins! This was such a fun night! I'll for sure look back at these memories! Thanks Tera for putting it all together! We'll have to repeat this night two years from now. I love all of you!!

Love these girls! I ran over to there house earlier today to say goodbye. I really hate goodbyes! I'm going to miss them so much! I love you girls! (P.S. I cut my hair today! I thought it would be easier to take care of but I miss my long hair so much!)

Kailee and I with the cutest quilt ever! I love it so much! Thanks for being the bestest friend ever! Love ya girl!

Jason and Jamie! Because of work they had to leave Monday morning. It was super sad! I'm going to miss them so much! Thanks for being the best brother and sister ever! And don't forget to send me pictures of Jamie Junior!

Me with pretty much my second family. I'm going to miss these guys so much!! Love you Rob, Sabrina, Sydney, Ben, and Nathan! I'm looking forward to pictures of mario from Ben (jk), the cutest letters and updates of how much things change over the next 18 months! Thanks for letting me be apart of your family for so long!

Ok well I better get back to cleaning my room and packing! Thanks again for everything everyone! You'll continually be in my thoughts and prayers!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Life's Changes and New Beginnings!

So I know I've been horrible at this blogging thing! I promise things will change soon!

Ok life feels like its moving so so so fast! Things that are coming up:

-I leave for the mission in 16 days (Dec. 15)

-My farewell is in 13 days

-Jason and Jamie come into town in 11 days

-I'll be done with my Portuguese class in 9 days (Thanks to a the best teacher ever!! No final during finals week!)

-8 days to babysit the cutest kids ever (So so so sad and depressing!! But I guess the bright side is I'll be getting fun letters from them!)

-And the count down goes on and on and on!

I know not many people read this blog but all

three of you I thought I'd share some things about me preparing for a mission.

So first off a little over a week ago President Allred (my stake president) called at like 8 in the morning. If any of you know me well that is so early for me! I'm going to struggle the first little bit on the mission! But any who he called to tell me that because my visa hasn't came in yet I'll be reporting the Provo MTC. At this point in the conversation I was totally fine with everything. I was pretty excited for the Brazil MTC but Provo wasn't all that bad. And besides I'd be close to home and maybe see a few friends! But then President Allred continued with the conversation. He went on to say that because I'm reporting the Provo MTC that I'll need to come a week early on the 15th of December. After he said this a million thoughts ran through my head. I should have right off said that it would work for me but a weeks time is pretty precious when getting ready for a mission. And I knew how my family would react especially my dad so I told President Allred that I would need a moment to think about it and talk with my family. He told me that we needed to figure out things that morning so I had to call him back with an answer really soon. I got of the phone and decided to talk with my mom about it. I told her the situation and asked her what she thought I should do. Don't you just hate making your own decisions? I sure do! I knew that there was a reason for me leaving early and that the Lords way is the best way. But I was kinda afraid of the unknown and having to make a decision so fast! Well after talking with my mom for a

bit I decided that I'd leave early and move forward with faith. Thats kinda how I've felt this entire time preparing for a mission. Crazy things and doubts have come my way but pressing forward with faith has kept me going. I've known all along that serving a mission is the best decision for me at this time in life. I'm super excited but honestly so nervous! But who wouldn't be? I'm leaving everything to serve the Lord for a year and half. I'm walking into the unknown! But no really it won't be bad at all. I've wanted to do this ever since I was little so I'm about to live the dream of serving a mission! I know there will be difficult times but the Lord hasn't ever failed me so I'm positive He won't anytime soon! Brazil here I come!

Picture of Brazilian flag and Porto Alegre.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Ok so I know is been FOREVER! I've finally found some motivation to blog so here it goes!
So life lately has been so great! I'm super duper busy but really I wouldn't like it any other way. My days consist of waking up at the crack of dawn and throwing on what I can find so I'm not late for my summer Math class at UVU. I really hate math! There's not many things I hate but Math is defiantly one of those things I hate. I've had to learn a lot of patience and persistence since I've been in this class. I guess I better have learned patience and persistence by now since this is my third time taking this math class! haha oh the joys of math! Then usually after my math class I'll come home get ready for the day, veg., go running, or visit the Temple! Then on days that I work I'll tutor the cutest girl named Megan! I love this girl! She definitely brightens my bad days and just give me something to laugh about. I also still babysit for these two adorable kiddos!!I seriously can be having the worst day of my life and when I come babysit these two, things will turn around and the day will end up being my best so far. The things these kids say and do crack me up! But most of all I love their excitement about life and love for all those around them! I'm truly blessed to play with these kiddos a few hours a week!

I've recently started another part time nanny job. Its been seriously lots of fun! I've never played in the sand box more than I have in the past few weeks! I love the kiddos and there seriously is never a dull moment with the two of them!
Well that's pretty much it for now! I'm sure you'll get another update about my life in a few months or so! ;)

I'm going to procrastinate a little bit longer...

So instead of doing my homework like I should be doing... I'm going to start working on this post! haha ok so some great and not so great things have happened lately.

1. Jason and Jamie are in town!!

This is of course is an AMAZING thing!! Even though they are only in town for a week its fun having all the family together. I always forget how much fun it is having everyone together. Its hard to explain but my family seriously isn't complete without these two! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing brother and sister-in-law that really isn't an "in-law" but more another sister to me! I'll for sure be visiting you guys in Seattle!

2.Went Skiing and seriously forgot how much fun it was!

When I got on the ski lift for the first time that day I was really nervous about the ski run ahead of me. After all it had been like what? 3 years? But towards the end of the run I started to feel more comfortable and really had such a fun time! Thanks Jeremy and Jason for the great idea of wanting to go! Everyone went except for Jamie. Which was super sad! She was busy doing stuff at BYU so its all understandable but still we missed her a lot!

3.Ummm... I've learned how to play the Organ?
As of a couple of weeks ago I was told I was the only pianist in my current ward. Well I did find out someone else can play but I guess I'm more willing to play. So they have asked me to play the piano and kinda pushed the idea of learning how to play the organ. I really don't mind the idea of playing and learning the organ at all! It will be very beneficial for the years to come, but you know how sometimes when everyone wants you to do something you just don't want to? Yeah well thats how I felt at first. So anyways the sweetest lady in my ward has been giving me tips on how to play the organ in a simplified way. I pretty much just press a magic button and I sound like I've played for ever! haha I really have started to really like it! This past Sunday was my first time playing for my ward and I was pretty surprised! I CAN PLAY THE ORGAN!! well sort of... haha

4. I got in a car accident...
Ok so don't worry, it really wasn't that bad! I've just never been in an accident that was my fault before. So I was pretty upset. Luckily the girl I ran into was really nice about it and hadn't ever been in an accident also. So it made things A LOT better! Also there was only a few scratches on her car so hopefully after she gets her car checked nothing else is wrong! I guess it could have been a lot worse so I got pretty lucky!

Thoughts running through my head...

Life is an interesting thing. People, events, experiences, etc all come into your life for a reason and purpose. Most of the time you don't know why or even why you have to experience the moments you go through. But I know one thing for sure is that in the end it will all work out. That He knows all and is in control. By doing everything I can to make sure I follow His will I will return and live with Him again. My life will be full of happiness every moment despite the sorrow and trials I may feel and experience. I love the Savior with all of my heart and plan to follow Him!