Elder Matthew Wright Gagon - Brazil Curitiba Mission

Elder Michael David Gagon - Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Michael: December 28, 2011

Dear family,


WOW Christmas skype was soo satisfying. I hope everyone agrees even though it was only a quick minute for everyone to talk with me, it was super for me to talk and hear a little from each of you. Kind of sloppy but it was great, sometimes when you guys couldn磘 see or hear me I was still listening but all in all it was marvelous. I hope you guys could feel the love that I could.

Full of surprises! Nate your parents are leavin on a jet plane? Candace you live in South Mountain?

I wish I could claim that it was my genius when you guys asked me to speak some Portugues and Ademir started talking. He was right by my side and as soon as he understood anything that was said he took it as an invite for him to talk ha. He thinks he did something extremely cruel by showing you guys that mango and felt so bad that he got [the Michels] address to send mangos there when he gets the money.

On Christmas we ate lunch with a lady whose only son is on a mission and she is crazy for him to get home in 2013 to say the least, and has been waiting for his Christmas call ever since he left in June. When we got back home Ademir called her to see if her son had called yet and when she answered the phone Ademir was inspired to say 创Hey Mom创 and we could all hear her scream (translation) 创OH MY BAABYYY!!!!!``. Maybe you had to be there but it was FUNNY

hey Nick- h-h-h-HAPP-py birthday!! Can, that's so funny about Natalie's boot hahaha. That磗 sweet to hear you guys went skiin.

So this week I saw the famous upside down house around here, it's so funny lookin, I told Ma about it- you guys shoul all look it up on goog.

Jor- that's louco you've house huntin. Gotta be kinda fun too. location location location创.

Matt- Have you gotten letters from the Stake high counselmen saying to write about how to better prepare for a mission? Could you have Elder Melo write it for me? That was way funny what happened during your division.

The other day we were knocking doors and as we approached the next house a guy opened his 创garage创 about to go somewhere on his bike, we talked to him and he said something like 创cant you see my Bob Marley hat? I'm too cool for you goody good preacher boys创 (no not really) but he didn磘 want to hear our message but he led us inside to meet his neighbor. When we entered in the garage my companion said 创Are you sure you wanna leave your bike out here?创 and he said 创Ya no problem, No one around here messes with my stuff创 so we go inside, and as soon as his neighbor lady laid her eyes on us she said 创NO THANKS I`M REALLY BUSY`` so in about 90 seconds we got back outside and where is the guys bike?! It was gone like Christmas. hahaha I laughed so hard (afterward) and was truly amazed at what had happened.

Well fam we're all hopin, and thinkin, and prayin, and lovin, planning that the drought comes to an end this week and Gean, our 12 year old neighbor will be the first in his family to become member of the true church. He's got a great family that love us and really need the gospel, and for sure one day will accept it, but as for now he's the only one that got up to go to church with us and that is morally worthy.

I love you all to pieces.

Elder Michael Gagon



Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Matt: December 21, 2011

Dear family,


This week was pretty good. Not good in the sense of people getting baptized and or confirmed, but it was good to really thrust in the ole sickle with my might. This week I did a division with Elder Melo. He´s a friend of Michael´s from the CTM and pretty much the Regina George of the Brasil Curitiba mission. Anywho we were walking through the streets of the dirty dirty and as we approached a house to clap it, this dog left the shade of the fence and started looping behind us. Right when we clapped hands this dog started going crazy and barking ferociously and approaching us like we were a couple of T-bone steaks. Not being a general lover of dogs, nor wanting to get bitten by this one, I bent down to pick up a (imaginary) rock. This dog got scurred and started high tailing it out of there, continually barking at us in the exact moment that a car came cruising up the street. Elder Melo was like, "AAH it´s gonna get hit!" and even though the driver honked and slammed on the brakes it was all too little too late. The dog got SMACKED by the car and after bouncing a good three or four times got up and ran off in the other direction. I´ve never laughed so hard in my LIFE!!!! It was SOOO funny! I was in this laugh attack when a teenager who was in the front yard of the house we were going to (and also watched the events unfold) came up to the gate and said, "That´s the third time that same thing has happened to that dog." ha ha ha making me laugh even more. It was awesome!!!!!!

Other than that this week has been another of toughness. Some elects saying that they don´t want to be baptized anymore, many others just not going to church. Just your same old same old missionary frustrations. But not all is sad and dreary in Curitiba. Just yesterday I went to the office where I received a PACKAGE from Natalie and Nate with a profesh family Christmas card and SKITTLES and American Deodorant!!! It was masterful. THank you Natalie and Nate.

Well, there´s not a whole lot more to write about seeing as everybody is saving email stories and questions for the Christmas skype Sunday at 4:15ish Brasil time (11;15 Utah time, 1:15 NYC time).

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

Love,

Elder Gagon

Michael: December 21, 2011

Dear family,


This week was better but I think Tuesday is always a horrible day right in time for me to report home... We had 3 investigators in church, all adults that would´ve been baptised until one admitted that wasn´t really married to her hubby, and the woman of another couple only wanted to be baptized if her husband were, but has decided to go back to her church cause her husband is a raging alcoholic that relapsed and is pretty unteachable.

Well fam I don´t have much else to write, the good that´s going on is mostly just the happiness I have inside as I share the gospel with everyone. I asked a guy yesterday if we could share our message with him and he said ´´No because if we were to sit down we would just argue and fight´´ but it was my pleasure to sit with him, pray with him and for him, and calmly testify to him of the Lord´s restored church & gospel and see how his posture changed. He´s not gonna be baptised now but maybe one day he´ll visit the church- but for sure his vision of us was changed.

Apostasy of the week- I´m not sure if you guys heard as many outrageous things on your missions as we do but I decided to share one from yesterday. We´re teaching a family and the 12 year old son said he had bad news for us but was shy to say what it was and finally spit it out that his friend´s mom told all his friends that we bathed in oxen blood. (temple baptistry?)

YA THE PLAN IS ON. 4:20 Brazil BH, MG time. I´m pretty sure its you guys Pres doesn´t want me to see, not so much you guys see me but what can ya do?

Matt- The missionaries here joke about avoiding everything, pictures, music, that has to do with the temple to not get trunky.

I´m pretty sure I´ve seen Sis Castellano. I know the name but don´t remember the face. What does morena even mean??

Jor- it was great hearing from you! Thanks for the email in all the hustle and bustle. Valeu for the Christmas treat!!

Nick - I´m falling, you´re falling, we´re falling, WHALE!!!

Enjoy this time of family, good-doing, and rememberance of our Lord and Savior´s birth.

I love you all, thanks for your prayers, I need them now.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Matt: December 14, 2011

Dearest most marvelous family of mine,


MAMA MIA NÃO ACREDITO!! QUE BENÇÃO DO CÉU! MICHAEL AND THE WHOLE FAM-DAMILY SKYPING FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! Surely the Lord has headrd our prayers and this will be a Christmas call to remember. I will also call at 4:15 ish (Brasil time) to get in on the multiskype action....That is if it´s ok with Michael. I know it´d be like splitting your few precious minutes on the Christmas call, but I think it´d be worth it.

This week was a goody. We didn´t baptize anybody or get anyone to church, so that really sucked, but other than that it has been a great week. Christmas is in full swing down here in Curitiba and we had our mission Christmas conference yesterday. It was splendid. I could really get to feel the importance of this special season and appreciate the birth of the Savior. Also we had a regular Christmas feast with not a single bean to be found ha ha so that was great!

I just got back from doing a session in the southernmost temple visited by any Gagon relative ha ha (probably true) and it was AMAZING!!! Minha nossa I would exhort all of you to hire a baby sitter and go do a session before Christmas. Vocês irão fazer isso? The spirit of God, like a fire, was burning brightly. It was such a great experience to be able to learn new things by doing the same old stuff. The temple is truly God´s house.

This week I did a baptismal interview with that lady that I was teaching forever ago, whom I think I mentioned in one of my previous emails. Anywho she is super elect and ready to be baptized but wanted to wait til she was "ready" and after a good long talk she should be getting baptized this weekend.

I am super sad to hear about Deb Larsen. I wasn´t as tight with her as I was with her husband, but Ken Larsen was undoubtedly the greatest scout master to ever serve. That man opened my eyes and shaped my life and the lives of others during a very pivotal (and difficult) time of life. I never expressed my grattitude to him like I should have, for all the awesome camp outs, car rides, and pack meetings, but por favor send him my deepest sympathies.

Michael- Apparently there´s a Sister Castellano in your mission who has a sister serving (treinadora woo! GH) here in my zone. Apparently sister Castellano in BH is morena and aqui ela é clarinha e ambas conhecem seu Presidente.

Jordan- There are two RMs in my area that served with you in Interlagos. One of them was Elder Augusto who was a verdinho when you were in the end of your mission. The other´s name is Ríquiel. He´s has red hair which is slowly receding back his scalp.. They both said you sang really well and that your area baptized like crazy which makes me wonder, was there another Sister Gagon from Sandy, UT serving with you?

Nick- =" Here I could´ve gone with option A: dodging the claws and take him out with a spinning back kick to the head, or option B: taking the claws to the face and roll around on the ground and cry like a little girl...... Should´ve gone with option A- AAAHHHHHH!!!!"= PS You should probably stop wearing women´s clothing.

Dad- you rock. Thanks for the email.

mom- ditto

ILYTM

-Elder Matt Gagon

Michael: December 14, 2011

Dear family!


So good to hear from you ma, pa and Nickle pickle this week!

Well I´ll get right down to it, Presidente Parrella is going to let me skype you guys! When I asked him I mentioned it being cheaper and easier to be able to talk to my extensively big fam that resides in varying distant lands. Anyway he said Yes if it were without the image but I´m wondering if I really heard him say that or if I imagined it if-ya-know-what-I-mean.

This week we taught a guy named Marcio. He´s not all there because of how much alcohol he´s consumed in the past, and we was preparing to be baptized- after our lesson w/him around lunch time he walked down the street with us, and when we knocked on the next door he stayed there, and when they let us inside he came in, and long story short worked all day long with us haha and the next day too. He would approach people and say ´´Hey can we teach you guys our doctrine?´´, and then he´d take control of the lessons and say ´´first we need to say a prayer´´ and he´d kneel down, put his hands on his chest and offer the prayers which never ended in the name of Jesus Christ or with Amen, just came slowly to a halt. It was so entertaining I just let him be. We´d invite people to church and he´d say the craziest stuff like ´´Ya you should go the library there has over 1300 books.´´

Worked 2 days with us but when Sunday morning came around he stayed in bed. So things continue in this slump I´m in.

I ate a HUGE banana this week. It wasn´t long at all but when I closed my hand around it my middle finger couldn´t touch my thumb! you couldn´t get it all in your mouth you had to take bites out of the sides.

Nick- I laughed way hard even though I dont remember where THATS A LOT OF NUTS is from.

Bro, my memories of the Alta library is making false photocopies of my attendance records to turn into Coach Ham so I´d get out of doing up-downs for my tardies. And I always wondered if anyone in the last 12 years actually checked a book out?

I don´t know why but I didn´t see your beard pic- but send your Christmas dance pic on down. You´re SBO and your date is 15? ha jk, I know how you felt in sem, Bro Smith or Dingus asked me what day sweethearts was my sophmore year. ´´The 10th!´´ ´´And your birthday?´´ uh...

Matt- me hijo #2 chama Elder Martinez. Stop calling our sisters Shirly! kk.

Jor- whats a slanket?

Al- How oft do you have the missionaries over for din? How are their messages? Do they grill ya for referals?

Ma- what is melancholy exactly? I often wanna rewind the tapes of time also. I still haven´t found the Elder from Aunt Gina´s ward. Lots of Pakistanians serving missions in New York?

Dad- No, nobody mentioned Lisa Laursen´s death. Carumba. Any news on what Jeremy or her kids are up to would be great. Well Dad I think after having served a mission I will have become somewhat a self sufficient and strong person, and I am determined to do all I can to repay you and maybe even strengthen you a little bit.

So if Drew is in Mozambique he must be speakin the same lovely language as Matt and I. NEAT-O!

Well fam- I´m gonna use the member´s skype account. his username is: ademirrdesouza

If anything goes wrong his number is 3130231554. /I think that´s leaving out a few numbers at the beginning that you need to call internationally. 00500 or something? You can look back at my email from last mothers day or christmas and compare...

With super love,

Elder Michael D Gagon

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Matt: December 7, 2011

Querida amada bondosa família que está norte daqui,


Wassup? So family before I forget I have once again been liberated to use skype to call yallsies this Christmas. Let us all fast and pray that Michael can join us. I have been told to only talk for 45 minutes, but the Holy Ghost told Nephi to cut off Laban´s head, so I´ll just follow the Spirit I guess kkk. Anywho, I think it would be a great idea for yallsies to have a family night and come up with good topics to talk about and questions to ask so that my precious minutes aren´t spent saying, "Wow! So.... What´s new? Oh yeah you said that in your email.... What else?" ha ha. Anywho on to the goods. This week was kinda like in olden times when they would tie up bad guys behind a horse, and give that horse a spankin so he would just giddy on up out of there with them bandits there behind just dragging along in the dirt and the mud and the blood and the beer. But it is good. Our teaching pool is getting a remodeling after some really receptive people just can´t give up praying to Maria or sleeping in on Sundays or not reading The Book of Mormon ever and like things, but that´s not to say we´re not having success. Just yesterday my companion and I were being dragged behind the aforementioned horse (not literally Mom, cool your jets) and we both felt like we should head up to Anjela´s house to get a milk shake. We went there and she wasn´t even home, but her sister who lives in Ohio was there and accepted to hear about the restoration of the gospel and even accepted a date to be baptized on December 18th if she receives an answer from God that it´s all true. We also taught a lady with 35 dogs. Not as cool, but interesting nonetheless. Also we are just working with some of the same eleitos that surely will be baptized before years end.

Drew Gagon is on a mission? Since when? Is it true that in Africa they have to go to church for 6 months before they can get baptized? Apparently not if they all go to church for 6 months just to not show up the next Sunday to get confirmed.

Natalie- Congrats on the New Years Res. If you wanted to send those pics, send em on down.

Jor- HA HA HA HA HA slanket!

Michael- Seu filho Argentino é elder Martinez or Olmeiro? There´s a Uruguayano that knows those two here in my zone. Elder Palácio nome dele.

Nick- How´s the eagle coming? Making it rain in J Jazz?

Sisters- I don´t know which one of you (actually com certeza not Alison) but one of you has failed to give me a very important invite to my dear friend Gavin Rice´s wedding. He got married in August and surely he sent it before hand, surely I couldn´t be there but it would be nice to get it anyway, and surely you must not understand just how much a missionary loves receiving mail.

Candace- I´m pretty sure it was you because it´s been since I was a junior companion that I´ve heard from you...If you want to read Alma 60:6 de novo feel free.

Well gang, I love you all. Think of interesting things to talk about on christmas so it can be magical,

Elder Matchu Gagon

PS
Ok WOW I just barely saw the pics of Nate and Nick with beards. MINHA FRICKIN NOSSA!!!!!!! Nick, you look like Grizzly Adam´s blonde cousin. Holy cow I am in shock and awe that your beard is Chuck Norris-esque! Holy cow, I had my doubts when you sent me last years football pics with your semi-real mustache, but now you have proven yourself a true brute lumberjack testosterone pumped jacked up monster!!!! Holy nossa, with your hair all long like and your beard you look like the bare chested, creatine powered version of Rhett.


Nate, your beard is cool too.

kiss on the forehead

-elder matt


Michael: December 7, 2011

Dear family!


This week was tough cause we didnt get almost anyone to church. It´s tough to cut them and start fresh looking for people that have enough drive to get up Sunday morning to go to church.

I grew my beard out for 1 day. I didn´t shave cause I usually shave in the shower. I wasn´t showering cause our cursed electric showerhead went out. I think I bring the cold-shower curse with me wherever I´m transfered to. I jump roped 180 times in a minute this week which helped me tolerate a quick rinse in the showe on of these days.

My Pres is going to let us go to the ward Christmas lunch tomorrow :)! I´m waiting for a call back to ask about skype.

Everything down here is as perfect as it could be, I´ve got a great comp, a burning testimony, but just can´t seem to find success in this work so really nothing perfect at all. I´d prefer it the other way around but I´m doing some deep pondering and everything to turn this ship around.

I thank you all for your prayers and all your emails are great! I imagine your voices and picture your faces in my head and feel the love in your words.

Dad- Make sure you cheer loud enough since it´s your last year of J-Jazz watchin!

Sounds like your days are filled with plenty of fun times. That´s AWESOME what Drew´s got going on in Africa. Where is he?

Jor- That´s cool you saw meus sogros the Douglas´s kkk. Who´d have thought that by 2012 only their last 2 kids would be single.

Nat- What a great idea to get a head start on your new years resolutions!

Our mangoes were going bad cause we werent eating em so one night I just ate em all up all ate once! Send all the pics you got on down.

Matt- That was a sweet finding story! PS It´s one of the church Presidents not PMG that said home teaching is missionary work to members and vice versa. haha I rememb a talk someone said ´´Ít´s John 3:16 that says For God so loved the world...´´ Not PMG pg. 39.

Nick- Take it from me, it´s not as easy as it looks to say No and laugh it off when someone asks if you´re an Eagle scout.

I love you all like Elder Scott loves Jenean.*?!!!!!

Bundle up.

Elder Michael D. Gagon