December 28, 2011

December 28 2011

Dear Family,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

So I leave the CTM next Tuesday that is freakin crazy!! Hahahahahah yet very exciting! So I loved the presents I got especially the cologne because I was free breezing my self to smell good hahahah!! So that was good to have some cologne now!! One of the missionaries in my district was totally jealous of my Utah stuff because he was a big Utah fan! While we are on college teams if you can could you send me BYU shirts or like shorts like cheap ones cuz I could trade them for like money here or for soccer jerseys or for like other things because the members down here love BYU and would do anything to get it because it cost them a ton more to buy it over the internet!  Christmas was cool I liked it but then I didn’t! So Christmas eve was on a Saturday so we had gym all day then after lunch we watched the Muppet’s movie in Portuguese that was a night mare. Well I got a new tie from the CTM which was cool!  Saturday was super relaxed nothing much going on and food was good! Christmas day we got to sleep till 8 then after we went to breakfast and then sacrament and then had the rest of the day to sleep basically we watched the old scrooge movie in English which was good! I forgot to tell you so we had a devotional Christmas eve night and we had mission presidents there and quorum of the 70 people there and I was talking to this kid in like the middle of all these missionaries and President Clark was like we will have Elder Jay Colton Gray say our opening prayer and I was like hey that is my name and it didn’t register that I was saying the prayer till my companion said did you know that your saying the prayer?? I told him are you serious I am saying the prayer and he was like ya it is not usual for them to not assign some that on the spot you usually got it in a week in advance! So I look at Sister Clark and pointed at me and she smiled and shook her head yes and my face went like serious and I put a fake smile on and was like ok! So after we sing the opening song and I was freaking out I walked up there and they were like start out in Portuguese and if you don’t know what else to say, say it in English I was like alright and I am shaking bad!! So I get up there and do it in all Portuguese and I don’t remember a word I said but what made me happy was that Sister Clark and President Clark said I did really good which is awesome!! Oh we had an ice cream buffet which was really good! We had a Christmas day devotional and we watched the first presidency message and that made me home sick really bad like I was like beside my self after that! I could not keep it in! It didn’t feel like Christmas till after that! :( That is my letter for the week I love and miss you guys so much! Oh tell Matthew Smith thank you for the package to me I received that Christmas Eve and I wrote him back in a letter and sent it today! Love you!!!

Elder Gray

December 22, 2017

Sister Sampayo & Elder Gray

December 21 2011

Dear Family                                                                                                                        Dec.21, 2011

So this week went by really fast again I know I keep saying that but it really does!  I can’t believe that I have like a week and half left well technically like two weeks! I am actually learning Portuguese faster than I thought I was. I am getting better at it I can formulate sentences but they don’t always come out like I would want them to! But that is alright as long as I get the jist of it across so I got Colton Ferre’s letter today in the mail it was super nice to get that I also got one from Grandma Waters and Grandpa Snow! So that was fun I love what Grandpa did, him saving his head with Gentry he is so cute I love him! I love that Gentry’s cheer team all wore purple bows for her that is tight! But I got to say I am going to drop some money today on buying me some ties because there are pretty cheap here! Next week we are going to go to a Tucanos kind of a thing and we will see how good it is! So that will be about like 20 dollars! That is about it for the week so nothing really new happening down here in the Brazil CTM besides that I wish I would have had more to write because I know my letters are getting really repetitive and I know it’s not fun to read the same stuff over and over again so I am sorry! I am also going to get my clothes dry cleaned next pday before I go out into the field so that they can be looking good! Like just my suit and my pants! I love and miss you guys so much I hope that you have the best Christmas ever and I hope that you love every minute of it we will see what they have planned for us here I think that I might have to give a talk in church this Sunday cuz me and like 4 other people haven’t given one so if that is the case it will be alright I will talk about charity and love, one of the many attributes of Christ plus that it is that time of the year for that! Merry Christmas and a happy new year!! hahahah last thought I like singing the Christmas hymns in Portuguese its kind of fun you have to speak a lot faster to sing them which is a little hard cuz I am so not a fast speaker!! But it is fun!!!                         

Love,

Elder Gray

Elder Morris and Elder Gray

December 14 2011

Dear Family,

So this week was another fast one that is crazy to think that after this week i got like two weeks here then I am out in the field! Ahh I don't feel like I can't speak enough Portuguese yet to communicate with the people which is not good! But to be out walking the streets in Brazil is  going to be so much fun!! All i have to say is I at the post office down here it is like the dmv and takes for ever to get up and be able to mail out the letters! Yes I did receive the gift card that was awesome now I can enjoy all the shakes that i want! Hahaha yes they are so good! Um do this last batch of missionaries that left yesterday I wasn't very close to so it wasn't a sad Tuesday. Um mom heads up you might be getting a call from Sister Clark she wants to talk to you! All I have to say that her life story is insanse, I can't believe it! Um I still haven't gotten your handwritten letters to me which kind of concerns me I am typing this email with no letter from Mr. Chaney's so it might be better for you guys to send the email to them earlier so that I can have it before my pday so I can answer the questions that you have! Um so breakfast has gotten better probably because I am so use to eating the same stuff everyday for the past month! I hope Gentry is still kickn it! How is dad doing?? How is life up in the 801??? I love you guys and I think about you everyday. So update: I am doing good! I am over being sick which is awesome! Me and my companion are getting some where in are lessons and we are actually able to teach stuff instead of read questions to are fake investigator and then trying to guess there answer! I love reading the Book Of Mormon. Every time i read it I like want to eat it, ya i know kind of weird but its true. Once you get over 2 Nephi it gets a lot better and I like the chapter Alma 8, how after being cast out from the city of ammonhaih I don't know know to spell it then anjo appeared to him and told him to return speedily back because  there was a person waiting to hear what he had to say! I know I am going to hit zones in my mission that I probably won't have many contacts but I am ready to go into that zone and be able to talk to some and maybe have the door shut in my face then to have a feeling to go back and knock on the door and be like dude I got a totally righteous message for you and it will change your life! Hahahahaha that is about it for the week, nothing really new is happening in the ctm in Brazil. Oh I did get an insiders view that Christmas here is going to be really good, well that is what I heard from Sister Clark. So that would be fun if it is really good. Oh it is not nice to make of my English. Portuguese is like taking it over and it makes it really hard to make complete sentences in English hahahaha but it is a good thing! Wow I make no sense! Hahahah
Love,
  Colton

December 7 2011

Dear family,

So I can´t believe another week has gone by! Time out here is going by so fast it seems like! Had to say goodbye to some more Brazilians yesterday it was hard to see them go because I became such good friends with them! They are all going to be such great missionaries; they have such a great spirit about them that makes me love being around them! So Portuguese is coming a little bit more every week which is a great thing! In my BoM reading I am in Mosiah so that is wonderful! So at lunch today President Clark and Sister Clark were there eating lunch and Sister Clark called me over and asked how I am doing and I told her I am doing good and she gave me a hug, and President Clark said to me Elder Gray will you meet me in my office at 1:30pm and I was like ya sure I will be there at 1:30! So then I wasn´t hungry anymore cuz I was think crap what did I do wrong to get in trouble! So I really didn´t eat anything which is fine! So 1:30 came around and I am nervous and like shaking go into his office and there is him and Sister Clark sitting there smiling at me so that made me feel better! So they told me about Gentry, and then boom I was crying! I am very sorry to hear that about Gentry! All I want to be there so bad to give her a hug and tell her that everything will be alright! I remember when you told me about when she was going to doctor´s in the previous letters and I remember getting so frustrated because I thought for sure that it would be no big deal and that it would be gone very soon and I remember asking God why me? Why right now? I would pray for long amounts of time to get an answer on why! It came to me that it is a trial for us to get over and to learn from it and grow and become stronger from it! Ya it is definitely tough being out here so far away! President Clark shared a scripture with me it is found in D&C 100:1 It is a good scripture and I know that it will come true I have faith that it will. Gentry´s words of advice from big brother! Hold your head up high and strut your stuff girl! Ya you might lose your hair but don´t worry about it if someone judges you upon that, just know that they are in the wrong! Gentry Heavenly Father loves you so very much, I have come to find that out here about how much he loves you and knows you! Gentry, I know that you’re going to have a lot of time on your hands. I challenge you to pick up the Book of Mormon and read it! And read it to find knowledge from it, you will read certain scriptures and you will be like wow that applies to me so much at this time! Mark those scriptures and write why they mean so much to you beside them! The next thing is to pray as much as you can! I have never spent so much time on my knees praying to the Lord! Gentry, this is time for you to get very close with you Heavenly Father. I know that your testimony will grow so much through this time in life do know that I pray for you and for the family every time I pray! That is so I prayed for you all last night! and I was like I am going to the temple tomorrow with a legit purpose wanting some answers as the movie was playing I was falling asleep and then when it came time to go through the veil I was totally awake I got in to the celestial room and I was sitting there telling heavenly father hey buddy look I am struggling out here these past three days have been terrible first because I was told by my district leader that me and him could never be friends and that he doubts why I am on a mission! So I wasn’t to happy about that! then I found out yesterday about you and I was sitting in there tell him father I need help I don’t know how I can do this I need family to be ok and it is hard and I don’t know how much more I can take of this and I am like crying at this point and he tells me Colton your going to be fine your family is in my hands and I will watch out for them and I need you to focus on what is at hand and learn the language so you can be the best missionary you can be! And I just felt the spirit so strong at that moment and I have never felt like that I was so comforted and felt so great! Ah I can’t describe the feeling but I know everything will be great Gentry I know it will I know you will be a survivor and that this is a trial for me and for you and for the family! I love you very much and I know how strong you are this will be easy do remember that God does not give you trials in your life that you can not over come!! Love you! That is my temple experience by the way! Words from your big brother!

Love, Colton

President Clark, Elder Gray, and Sister Clark

November 30 2011

Dear Family,                                                                                                              November 30 2011

Hey so I am actually feeling pretty good! I still have a cough and a runny nose but my throat does not hurt! So that is great! This week went by really fast we just got a ton more American missionaries today so that is cool I didn’t recognize them man Portuguese is messing with my spelling! That is tight that McKay is going to Spain me and him will be able to communicate a little bit when I get back home! How is gentry doing??? You will probably get a letter in the mail from me either today or pretty soon I sent it out last week! Ya I didn’t bring my camera with me today I will have to so that I can send you some pics! Ya the ice cream was good it had mashed up cookies in it that made it better which is always a good thing and it felt great going down my throat! so things I need um face wash, some candy would be nice, um I actually want more notebook paper its really expensive down here um maybe a bottle of Tylenol pm I have been having a hard time going to sleep, um maybe some more ties! If I think of anything else I will right it in a letter and bring it with me the next time I email. Try and think of things I might need! um so do you want to hear a funny thing?? k so me and elder een were in the bathroom doing some listern and this Brazilian comes in and was like what is that I was like listern and he didn’t know what it was so we got him a cup and gave him some it was so so so so so so so so funny I almost peed my pants!! hahahahahahahah he was telling us that stuff is no good it hurts and then he called us macocos luco which means crazy monkeys!! hahahahah so funny! um I don’t if I have told you during my night study in the classroom me and my companion go over and teach some Brazilians English and they teach us Portuguese and this time my companion was in the restroom and the Brazilians asked if I could teach them the restoration so I was ok! Started telling them in English and they were no you have to tell us in Portuguese and was like serious I cant do that and they were like try and I was like fine! So I got telling them in Portuguese and I actually did the whole lesson thing in preach my gospel in Portuguese which is really exciting! So Portuguese is sticking a little bit more in my head which is an obvious good thing because it is about time it does! Um in need Colton Ferre’s address so I can write him a letter! so gentry said that a lot of people want to write me it would be better if I could get those letters soon so I can write everyone back and maybe when I get out of the mtc I will send them and then they will get my address out in the field! Um or I can send it to them ASAP and then you would have to give them my new email address! Um nothing new really! I have gotten super close with president Clark and Sister Clark! So that is super legit!! That is a very good thing! I haven’t received your letter this week or f you have sent one so I really hope that I get one! How is everything at home?? How is dad doing????

Love,

Elder Gray

Life in The MTC

Letter # 3

Dear Family,
k so this week when better by better i mean faster which is always a good thing! um i am actually feeling worst! like it is really really bad! i woke up today with my throat slowen and feeling like i was going to puke witch is noa bom!! i missed going to the temple today because it was so bad!! i went to the mtc doctor he gave me some pills to help but i need like a zpak to get rid of it! i have never felt this bad since i got my tonsils out!! i got some good news i can receive packages down here!! i was talking to this pecanha dude that is high up here at the mtc and he was telling me that we can recieve packages! he said that you could have it fedexed down here but we would have to put duty free on it so i wouldnt have to pay to get it out! or you can send it through a flatrate box and send it to me! when you take it to send it and you have to declare what is isn the box it is better to be complete honest and not lie about what you put in the box! so they fixed eggs but it was nasty they were like rubbery! which is not cool! lunch and dinner there is allways meat and rice and beans!! let gentry know that i have been praying for her like none other! i love her very much and i also love the family very much ! as you have asked before about how long does mission ties take for me to get the letter? usally two days but there was one that you sent me on November 14 i didnt get it tell the 22 which blows because i would of loved it that week! A goodthing to do is probably to google all the hoildays in brazil and dont send mail on that day because everything close down for the hoildays! i really want some pictures of people from my farwell so when all the brazilians come and show me there family and friends and i have only one pic to show them like go to costco and print some out and send them down here! how do i send my pictures to costco again??? gentrys ideas of just sending a huge envolpe with all the letters in it is a good idea but not for me to send back in one envople they weigh the envoples and it cost more to send a bulk one back! i know this cuz they did it for elder een and he went to send it back like his family sended it to him and it cost him more than if he was to send it seperately! Brazil is messed up!! it is really starting to warm up down here and its getting pretty hot! they have sheets for us to use so i use them and we get new sheets about once a week! as far as the language is going for me it is really tough and i have learned more but when we go to teach are fake investigator here i cant remember the words to use!! i wrote another big letter to the family today and i wrote grandpa back to!! so that is about it for my week here! I know kind of boring! oh i forgot to tell you that i met anderson silvas cousin here he is really good at ji-jitsou and he is teaching me so that is fun! and i have a boxing coach that is teaching me how to box! it is always fun to do those kind of things at night when nothing is going on so ya its pretty legit!!
Love Elder Gray