January 9 2012

Dear Family,                                                                                       

Hey how are you doing??? So I am finally out in the mission field it is a lot different!! We were so blessed to have the stuff in the CTM! So I tried calling you in the airport but I tried to have you pay for it!! But you rejected the call twice so I didn’t worry about it!! Well let’s say that I am really home sick!! Like I want to be home so bad!! The days seem like forever now!! So my new companion is Brazilian his name is Elder Olieviar he is from Goiana somewhere in Brazil he said by Fortaleza!! His family consist of 5 people his parents then him and his twin brother then his little sister!! He is way cool he can speak English really well so he is helping me a ton!! Our area is Araucaria I don’t know how to spell all these funky Brazilian words!! Hahahah but we live in this house that is in front of another house! There is no building code here so it is really interesting! It’s a small house,  really small bathroom I now have to throw the toilet paper in a trash can and that is so fun!! The house is like dirty I really don’t like it, we sleep on mattress on the floor because it is cooler that way! We basically don’t have breakfast and dinner!! I have made pancakes 3 times this week because I have to eat something! The food is good down here every day we eat at a different member’s house so I am very grateful for the members down here to make us a nice lunch!! We don’t go out proysletying till about like 2 in the afternoon because the morning time is used for study! The first night in the field was interesting we went to a member’s house to eat dinner because my companion was leaving and that was their good bye present to him! This family is not all members it is the mom and the son that is members and the dad is one of our investigators so we go over and talk and teach!!  The Portuguese is coming really slow which is making it even harder to be out here because I am getting really frustrated that I can’t talk or understand people!!  The lady that fed us dinner my first night her name is Joana we visited her the next day and was talking with her because she schedules who we go and eat with and she told my companion that she had a dream about me before I arrived in this area and that me and my companion are going to really good things here that was a really cool experience!! Then the next day we went over to there house again because they were going to take us over to there friends and we were going to teach them and Joana was inside talking to one of the lady’s and they got talking about gifts and the lady told Joana I don’t believe in gifts!! And Joana said to her there is a gift at your house right now and the lady was like what are you talking about!! And Joana said to her do you see that American outside teaching your husband and his friends and the lady was like yes I see him!! Joana said I had them over for dinner last night and he didn’t say word and now look he is teaching so that is a gift! The lady was like ok then walked away!! I have ran into some weird people here one lady she is a naturalist doesn’t believe in god and then I talked to another lady after I talked the naturalist one that is a macumba which means a voodoo person so that was pretty interesting!! Oh trying to get everything in my suitcase was a joke but I did get everything back in some how!! I packed it like 5 different times and couldn’t get everything in so I had one of my buddies that is still in the CTM help me his name is Elder Johnson he is from Sandy!! He is a cool dude!! So after another 3 time we finally got everything in!! Which was like a miracle!!  I love how my spelling has gone out the door!! So we were teaching this guy named Daimon and his mom yesterday and we were talking about the plan of salvation (when I say we were talking I mean my companion was talking) and my companion looks at me and says invite them I thought he meant to invite them to pray and read the Book of Mormon! But he said for baptism and I was like alright I invited him and he said yes I always thought that I would feel the spirit really strong when I was going to invite some one to be baptized but I didn’t feel anything I was like what he said yes and I don’t feel the spirit something is wrong here!! So after that I really want to feel the spirit when I invite some one to be baptized so ya!!! Well that is about my week I don’t know where Elder Een and Elder Morris went but Elder Haweks is in my district which is fine because he does not bother me anymore!! Sizes for BYU stuff um my size or bigger! The Brazilians don’t care for size as long as it is BYU stuff so ya!! I love and miss you guys so much you mean the world to me and I really want time here to fly by!

Elder Gray

Elder Gray's First Companion

Train in Elder Gray's First Area

Kitchen in first Area

Bathroom in first area