Baptisms, Violin & Brazilian BBQ!

Olha minha Familia e Amigos!

Tudo bem? Como voces sua semana?! Obrigada por muito cartas e amor! Eu amo p-day!! haha ok I´ll stop with the lovely Portuguese!

So this week was wonderful! There was a day or two that dragged but no worries life here in Brazil is just lovely! So....guess what! The Baptizims happened yesterday!! I was a little worried since in Alabama they never worked out but they happened and all three brothers are baptized!! ahhh! So the baptism service was really good! President swenson and his wife came so it was great having them there. they spoke in sacrament meeting and from what I understood they gave some really great talks. so the baptism service was really great but like always things here in brazil are just a little different than I expect. Everything here in brazil is rush and loud but hey its the brazilian way so I better get use to it! I did play my violin for the service and according to everyone it was bonita! hahe beautiful. SO yeah it was great being able to play twice this past week. But yeah after the baptism, Joao (I found out later that day) was so excited. He was running around super excited saying I´m baptized! I´m a member of the church! haha he´s a funny little boy. So yeah after the baptism we went to the stake presidents house or some president´s house for some good brazilian BBQ! oh it was so good! I got some good pictures so someday when I figure out how to send pictures out you´ll get to see them! haha but yeah lunch was great! Then last night was probably the highlight of my week. We had family home evening with the Vargas family over at the ward mission leader´s house. the vargas family is the family of the three boys that got baptized yesterday. We watched the movie the testaments. It went really well and after guess what! we commited the parents or I guess mostly the dad to be baptized on July 30!! whoot whoo! the parents aren´t married just like every other couple here in brazil so they have to get married before they get baptized so it should be interesting! but yeah the parents are super excted and oh I just love the vargas family! they are officially my Brazilian family! The dad Giamar really liked church and the baptizimal service. He said that every thing yesterday was really good for him. And Lisandra the mom wants everything really bad just the not married part and the fact that they smoke like every half hour is getting in the way. But who says thats going to impossible? I don´t! I´m super excited for this family! just in case you didn´t know that already!

hmmmm what else happend this week? oh we had Zone conference! it was a little different since everything was in portuguese! haha oh well I guess I better get use to it. But it was a really great meeting and playing the violin was like always wonderful! Its pretty interesting everytime I play I feel like I do horrible. I really feel like i do but then after everyone tells me things like you made me cry blah blah blah. haha so either they are tone deaf or the being set apart as a missionary changes things haha! but yeah I´m glad I can even play the violin and share it with everyone here in brazil!

hmmmm so the language is coming along just wonderfully. I understand more and more and well the talking part isn´t the greatest but I've decided to just have fun with it and laugh. like for example last night we were doing contacts and i talked with a family. I said, hi how are you? I´m a missionary. whats your name? I told them I had a message about God and families because family are central to God´s plan. Can we return to your house another day? haha they just looked at me with blank stares. I laughed and said Intengi? they said nope! So i repented it again and they understood it the second time I laughed and said Obrigada!! haha we all laughed and I had to ask for their names like a billion times. names here in brazil are so different! i never remember names or numbers! hah a oh well i guess thats my goal for this next week!

well thanks for everything ya´ll! oh bryson! FELIZ ANNIVERSARIO NO DOMINGO!! happy birthday on Sunday! I hope its just wonderful!!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!
love you all!! EU AMO VOCES MUITO!!
-Sister Gregory

Brazil, spiders & grass drinks

Oi Tudo bem minha familia and amigos?

SO this past week has been pretty amazing yet different! Oh so I totally thought I wouldn´t be able to e-mail today! because the place where we e-mail was closed for some random reason. I was a bit worried! but we got things figured out and found another place! woot whoo e-mail!

So I read through your e-mails really quick and if I have time i´ll reply but it sounds like everything is going grand at home! And as for me in brazil things are grand as well. I am happy to report I´m understanding more portuguese everyday! I´m still loving brazil but not so much this interesting keyboard. the letters are off and the keys are sticking! haha so if this letter is a bit strange now ya know! ok so about this week! so we have our first baptisms this coming Sunday! yay! Gregory, Gabriel and Joao. They are brothers and super excited for this sunday. I´m super excited as well! They are so ready and just can´t wait! It was pretty cool because gregory and gabriel both had ear peircings and this past week sister modesto ask for them to hand them over. they were a bit hesitant but they did. Gabriel for the first couple days kept asking for them back but I think now he´s ok. And gregory is super cool. He dosen´t want them anymore! I was talking ok not talking but listening to him and sister modesto talk and man he´s totally going on a mission in a few years! Its gotta be the name. Only true gregorys know whats right! haha but yeah I´m super excited as you can tell and I´ll keep you up dated this next week with how it all goes. oh gregory is 15, gabriel 13, and joao is 11. They have a younger brother but he´s like 3 or something and their parents don´t want to join but are really excited for their sons. but little do they know they´ll be members someday I just know it!

hmm... what else. The food here is amazing! I´ll decided i´ve got to cut down on the food I eat at lunch or I just might gain a load of pounds here in brazil! haha oh man. The other day we made lasagna with the ward mission leaders wife. oh it was so good! I´ll have to send the recipe to yall soon or something. they have that grass drink a lot here. I decided I better force myself to like it or I might have to turn down alot of people! so I have to say I like it just a bit more!

oh man gotta run! and there is a huge spider that just landed behind my computer and I freaking out just a little... yup i hate spiders. oh before I forget and get eaten by the spider. tomorrow the mission is having a special meeting! and I get to play my lovely violin! I´ll let you know how it goes!

well I don´t know where the spider went so I´m going to run before it pops out of no were.

well I love you all so so so MUCH!!

-sister gregory

May 9, 2011 - First week in Brazil

Olha!!

so like usually i´m running out of time. sorry but you know what it was so great talking to ya´ll last night! its crazy to think that i won´t call home till December!! crazy! I´ve been pretty spoiled being able to talk to yall a bunch lately! oh well here comes the real mission life!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEREMY AND DREW!! I hope your birthdays are amazing!

SO i really am loving Brazil. Its crazy to think I´m finally here! I sometimes have to remind myself that I´m here by looking around me at the bright colors, dirt roads and cold water. oh and that fact that no one really speaks english! but i´m loving it all! everyone is so loving and i know i say this a lot but I have the best companion. Its crazy how much you can learn and understand by using hand signals and very limited portuguese! I know i´ll get the language down some day so in the mean time i´m trying to take everything in, smile, laugh and just enjoy brazil! the food is amazing. oh i forgot tell you that yesterday I tried this drink call Mata or something like that. everyone loves it here. its like a bunch of herbs in really hot water and they drink it in a cool looking metal cup and straw. it cool looking. but I´d have to say its pretty disgusting! haha it tastes like grass haha but maybe I´ll grow to love it? Everyone asked if I liked it. i laughed and said its interesting. haha they laughed and said that the next time I would like it more. so we´ll see!

well sorry about the short letter. gotta run!

But I love you all!!

-Sister Gregory