Free Masons

Queridissima mom,

So yeah I did talk to My Mission President about all that jazz (side note: us coming to pick him up at the end of his mission). He said that you guys would be able to come and get me here. We will work out the details later but for now I would start working on the visa stuff if I was you.

Oh and yeah I freaking baptized M! (someone who befriended me on Facebook) He's my future missionary!

But anyways this week was good. We were thrown in to a bunch of tight situations this week. One drunk guy stopped us on the road today and started saying all this random stuff. He started trying to tell us that we were worthless blah blah blah so  we stood there and listed to him make a fool of himself for a good 10 minutes, it was a good laugh.

Drunk people are crazy.

We had a moment of pride on Sunday when we got to church, there was a small group of Sumos and the Bishop standing in the doorway discussing the situation of one of the inactives in the ward named E. they were saying things like "we need to send the Elders to his house"  "We need him active in the ward again." Then I showed up with him and his equaly inactive wife, right in front of the Bishop and Sumos. (oh by the way Sumo means High Preist.) and the Ward Mission Leader. BOOYAH!  They were all like "hmm yes... the Elders are working very well..." "Yes I see them doing contacts in the favela" "Fine work ma' boys!" 

So yeah I had to really struggle to not let that one go to my head. 

But anyways today I'm going to have lunch with this guy in our ward who SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER smart he knows SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPER deep doctrine and has already taught me a ton. He's a free mason, but he's inactive in the Free Masons. On the mission I have developed an increasingly large interest in free masonry. Did you know Joseph Smith was a mason? so was Brigham Young!

Maybe one day I will be one ... who knows?  You have to be invited.

Elder Tagg

Elder Tagg's Face

Today on Facebook a young artist named Matheus befriended me and sent me this portrait of my missionary son.  I am overwhelmed!  So wonderful to see that face.  So choice for this young man to share his talent with me.  Anyone can snap a photo.  This means so much more.  THANK YOU!!

Elder Tagg portrait by Matheus Misquita

Family Letters back and forth

Dear Nathan,

I hope you are having a great time on your mission.  I have been having a lot of fun lately.  
We went to the beach and I got a T shirt and some toys. Audrey and I are planning to 
have our own rooms when Evan leaves for college.  I can't wait!  I will have the bigger room.  

Summer is almost over.  We are going on another vacation in 2 weeks.  We will go to Utah.  
We are going to see a play called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.  
I can't wait.  It's gonna be a lot of fun. 

So what have you been up to?  I miss you.  

Love E

PS we just had a party to celebrate Evan getting his eagle.  My favorite part was the food.  We had bacon!  

Hey!

Wow you guys are going on a lot of vacations! Luckies! 

I like bacon too. (But im getting too fat for bacon)

Love ya

Elder Tagg

Helloooooooo Nathan TROY Tagg the 2nd

What is UP?  Do you like your new companion?  I said that last time but you 
didn't answer so I'm asking again.  

My favorite game on Mom's iPod is Plants vs Zombies. It's pretty dang exciting.  
Basically you plant the plants and the zombies are trying to eat the plants and 
take over the board.  You are trying to prevent that.  

I like pizza.  We got new grill with a pizza stone and it makes pretty dang good
pizza.  Drew wants us to make ribs.  What kind of food are you eating in Brazil

Love ya miss ya 

A

PS write me back again.  I loved that

Hey!

Yeah I know that game! I used to play it too. I actually beat it!  It is a lot of fun.
Here in brazil I eat a lot of rice and beans and avocados and mangos and bananas.
(Did you know that there are like 8 different kinds of bananas? I thought they were all
just bananas).  The milk here is gross. So I always buy this stuff called toddy, or nescau,
which is chocolate powder to put in milk. 

Pizza here is waaaay different. I also like coxinhas, bolinhas de queijo.
(translation: drumsticks, cheese balls) stuff like that.

And my comp is awesome!

Love you!

Elder Tagg

Dear Nathan

Hi brother.  How's things?  I played Millionaire's Hoedown for the court of honor.  
I pretty much knocked it out of the park.  How are you doing on your mission?

How is your area?  Stuff like that.

I miss you.

Love, D

Hey D,

Things is good.

If you aren't better than me at the violin by the time that I get back, you better be ready
fer a spankin! I am doing good on mission.

My area has a lot of hills.

The other day I was looking through the hymn book in portuguese and there is a song
in there called "santo! santo! santo!" (see if you can translate that) (means Holy Holy Holy)
It remindered me of you.

Te love!

Elder Tagg!

Hi Nathan 

How is my missionary son doing this week?  I hope you are getting along okay and working 
hard to make those miracles happen.  Sorry to hear about your companion having difficulty.  
I think it's a real compliment when a mission president gives you a struggling companion.  
He has placed you in a position to help.  I know you can do it- hang in there Elder.  It sounds 
like you are coming up with ways to make missionary work less hard for him.  Use your creative 
mind for good.  Be obedient and all will turn out for the best.  Obedience+ Faith= Power.  
A little something I picked up at a wedding ceremony once by a Mr Ralph Bradley.  
(it was actually my wedding).  

SO things here have been crazy busy with Evan's court of honor on Saturday morning.  
We had the gym all decorated and set up the night before with tables chairs and a few centerpieces 
but as I left I just thought it could be better with more interesting decorations. I couldn't really 
purchase anything fancy at that point and I was tearing the house apart all day looking for those 
blasted stuffed eagle toys I bought for your court of honor with no luck.  So I had a stroke of genius 
and decided to make camping be my theme.  I brought a boat load of stuff like sleeping bags, 
air mattress, lanterns, hiking boots, mess kits, MREs, rain poncho, compass, on and on.  I pretty 
much went crazy with camping decor.  It turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself.  Drew played 
so well on his violin.  The slide show was awesome (but too long).  The food was bagels from 
Einstiens.  It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun.

We had a non member neighbor there with some sweet missionary contact in line for the food.  
Brother L swooped in on her pretty good too.  So that was nice.

My brother Eric started chemotherapy this week.  It turned out that his deeper tissue samples 
all came up positive for osteosarcoma.  Not good.  They offered to give him just comfort care but 
he's not ready to give up without a fight.  They are turning over every stone to look for treatment 
options.  He blogged about having faith the size of a mustard seed.  

We all fasted for Eric today- it was a pleasure.  Fasting for me is so much easier when I have 
a good cause.  

Well I hope you are not too bummed about this news.  All will be well.  I believe this.  

I love Nathan.  He's awesome.  Keep up the good work. The church is true.  I know it with 
all my heart.  I bore my testimony today.  The spirit was strong.  Fight the good fight and win Elder.

Love you the most

Mom

Hi Mahm!

So my comp is staying! And he's doing a lot better! I have to encourage him every day. One thing Sister Broadbent said to me was that sometimes your goals are different with some companions... like sometimes your goal isn't to get your companion up at 6:30 but to get him up in the first place. That really hit me, she told me a few stories about her daughters who served. It made me understand a lot about how to love my companion. 

But anyways I baptized this dude! (ok I know it wasnt me who baptized him I had almost nothing to do with it.  It was the Lord who did all the work. I am just a tool in the hands of the Lord. The glory is not mine but that of Christ I know I know I know. I just said it was me who baptized him to avoid having to explain all this, but then I felt bad so I ended up just typing this all out anyways and it was a huge waste of time)

The Lord did all the work

Dear Elder Tagg,

I hope you had a great week.  This week has been tough on several fronts.  We found out that uncle Eric's tumor is back.  It has gone behind his eye and into his brain.  It is inoperable and he's already had the maximum amount of radiation.  Things to do not look good.  He is going to start chemotherapy yet again to try to fight the tumor.  

Mom has been especially sad and teary.  We held a special fast for him today.  I feel that our Father in Heaven knows us personally and hears our prayers.  They are not always answered as we would like to have them answered but they are heard and will be answered by a kind an loving Father in Heaven for our eternal welfare.  

Evan's eagle court of honor was held on Saturday morning.  There was a good turn out.  We had Einstein bagels and Panera pastries.  I presented him with the eagle award just as I had done for you.  Do you remember the Eagle Neckerchief I presented you?  Well since you left it, we decided to make it a tradition that father would hand it down to son.  I presented it to Evan and will present it to Drew too hopefully.  Mom made a fantastic slide show for Evan and I really felt the spirit watching it.  He leaves in 9 days for Utah State.  I don't think he really knows what he's getting himself into but I hope he figures it out quick.  I will really miss him.  

Drew and I went home teaching today.  He gave the lesson.  He taught about reaping what we sow.  There was a great story by Elder Uchdorf about a seed seller who received a call from a customer that the seeds were not growing properly (this is only part of the story).  The customer was upset because the seeds were growing zucchini instead of pumpkins.  The clerk checked in the records and found that the customer had been sold zucchini seeds and not pumpkin seeds.  The customer replied something like "yes but I planted them in the pumpkin patch".  You can't grow pumpkins from zucchini seeds no matter how you cut it.  What a great lesson.  We reap what we sow.  

Continue to sow seeds of hard work, faith, obedience, and testimony Nathan.  Let your mind be single to the work.  

I love you dearly.  I pray for you every day.

Love,

Daddy-O

Hey Dad, its your son

Sadly I am running out of time because I took some time to write the rest of the fam today. But I am truly upset to hear about Eric. But I konw it will be alright. He's a fighter.

Love

Elder Tagg

Not The Missionary I Was 6 Month Ago

Hey Mahm!

So I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosososo happpy that Evan got his eagle! Yeah the guys who do the interviews are butts. I got boy scout Hitler as an interviewer.

Yeah so now I'm in Ala Baeta Nevis! it's still Sao Bernardo but it's in a different zone. But yeah, this area is enormous and has 

TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOns of hills.

This ward has a lot of potential, but the area is really unorganized. There is a giant slum on one end of our area that is impossible to work in because nobody has a car and nobody can come to church, and its filled to the brim with inactive members. So basically it's just like my first area in Brazil: Eldorado. (remember Eldorado? nick named outer darkness...). So we are trying to find people to work with on the other side of our area... but the problem is that everybody we find on the richer side lives in the giant slum. So yeah, it's a little bit of a challenge. But I'm not the missionary I was 6 months ago. This transfer we will have miracles! I'm planning on working a LOT with the members. We split the area with Sisters, but there is no division line well established. My new companion is M.P. He's a dude from Rio de Janeiro (they call guys from Rio Careokas, it doesn't make sense. they just do).  He's a really cool guy, but he struggles a lot with a lot of things. He's really smart and teaches really well. I am finishing his training right now as LD. But yeah he is having a really hard time right now, but I'm really doing every thing I can to motivate him and to encourage him to work. We've been doing contact challenges, where one challenges the other to do something crazy in his next contact. It's been a lot of fun. Some of the challenges are a little strong though. A gente brinca. (translation: we play)

So right now I give my area the following ratings;

members: 9.5

investigators: 5.01

companion: 1-10

organization: 0

Swank :11.6

Love, Elder Tagg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. I dont have any photos of my mug (I had asked him to show me his mug in a photo in my last letter) to give you right now, but here is my face pressed on the keybord:

 trj8bvhjvg

 its not the same, I know... but it's close. 

God is Real. I can feel it

Hey Mahm!

So I got erythang that you sent except the messenger bag and the third pants and ties :) Everyone in the zone was soooo jealous because I got 3 packages and 1 letter at interviews with the president. Don't worry, I shared with erybody. I told them to thank you so you might be getting a few random emails in Portuguese... just so that you know why. (Btw thanks).

This week was a blast! We had a few crazy experiences. One guy said that he thought that God was a group of alien intelligences and then he started to give us his schpill of how he thought that the ten commandments were written with a laser and how Elias was captured by aliens and just all this crazy junk. 

We also got rejected a bunch this week. I think the Brazilians are a little annoyed about the world cup. Well at least Argentina didn't win. 

Well R was confirmed. Then he got the Aaronic priesthood, then he gave it to his son. All in under 30 minutes. Yeah there were a lot of hands on a lot of heads yesterday.

We got transfer calls this morning and it turns out that I'm leaving, staying LD. I'm kindof bummed out... The last time I was transferred I cried like a baby. There still haven't been any tears yet, but I know that they will come. Dangit. This is the worst part of the mission. Always. I don't have anytime to say goodbye or anything. I don't know who my next companion will be.

The mission is a good representation of the plan of salvation. First of all, it's a choice. You come out and you learn things here that are impossible to learn elsewhere. You can't compare one person's mission to another person's. It's impossible. Your mission is unique. You learn how to LOVE, how to be away from home for a while. Then you go back, and before you know it you have the rest of your time in front of you. One day we all will go back home to our Heavenly Father. We learn things in this life that we could not learn at home. I know that God is real. I can feel it.

I love you!

Elder Tagg

Hey Dad,

So I got transferred.

I have been thinking a lot about how fast this year has gone by. If the second year goes by so much faster, I don't know how i'm going to catch it all. I have been pondering a lot; What will I do this next year? What will I change... what will I learn?  It's a lot to think about. I am kind of bummed about having to leave Planalto. I have spent most of my mission here. But I knew it for a while now... My work here is done. I feel the Lord is pleased with my work. I'm on to bigger and better things!

Love 

Elder Tagg

R Gets Baptized!

Dear Mom

So I re-sent you those pictures. I hopes you get them.

Yeah I hit a year this week :(

This week was great. R was baptized. It was amazing and there were tears EVERYWHERE, even from R. Which was odd because he's a big tough guy covered in tattoos. It made me realize that nobody is immune to the spirit of the Lord.

We worked our butts off this week. If I had to have a butt replacement for every time I had worked my butt off on my mission I wouldn't have time to work in the first place. I would probably just go buttless... yeah sorry for that one - I probably need to work on my virtue. I have changed on the mission I promise.

Brazil got their pants handed to them by Germany. And then Holland. And then Germany won the world cup and became four time champ. One more and they'll be tied with Brazil.

Actually I was with Elder P on a division when Germany played Brazil. At 40 minutes during the first tempo (half?) it was 5 to 0 and we were all like, "uhh, I think we should probably head home before the riots start." So we left the favela (slum) we were in before halftime and started running for home. It was empty on the streets. not even one person was not watching the game. we got home and then we got the call to pass on to all missionaries that they were to get home immediately and not leave to work for the rest of the night. But it wasn't even that bad. Brazilians like to complain a lot about stuff and sometimes they will get angry enough to start breaking things, but they also forget really fast. Within 24 hours, it was all back to normal again. there are a lot of 7-1 jokes going around now. people are calling it the "eterna 7-1" because this is going to be eternal. I was at the store the other day and I asked for six breads and the lady was all like, "você tem certeza que não quer levar sete?" ("are you sure you do not want to take seven?") and then we laughed. Because it was funny.

But your son is doing just fine, Momma. I have been thinking about that also. About you guys coming down here when my mission is over. I am also thinking about extending my mission, but not for a whole transfer. Because that way I will be able to catch the sealing of R and T at the very end of my mission. and I kind-of already promised him that I would. So it's already settled. Maybe if we time it right you guys could meet me at the São Paulo temple. And maybe you could meet R. I will talk to my President tomorrow about it, because we have interviews with him tomorrow. vai ser dahora. (will be dahora?)

And by the way thank you for the pants I got. I only got THE BLUE ONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (if you didn't get that you aren't my mother) the other packeges eu ainda não recebi. (I have not received)

And yes, I want Dad's ties. I will never ever ever evereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverevereverever trade them. 

Love 

Elder Tagg

Poor Poor Elder T

Nice!

Elder F, R, and Elder Tagg

Elder T and R

Baptism Day for R

Solid Investigator

DEAR MAHM

So this week was was great we worked hard. On Saturday we taught English to a bunch of Brazilians. Then on Sunday we get to sacrament meeting and we had 2 new investigators at church - M and Dô. Then guess who just decides to MARCH ON IN, UNINVITED? it was R!

So if I haven't told you... R is a ex investigator whose wife is an inactive church member. He has a brother in law on a mission right now. Elder T and I were really making progress with him, until he disappeared. So he lives in a closed apartment building and we lost contact with him. We would pass by his house a lot and wouldn't be able to talk with him.

But anyways. R walks in and sits down. and i was all like duuuwaaa?!?! so i got up and plopped myself down next to him to say hi and he says, "Elder Tagg, eu quero me baptizer." (I want to be baptized) straight up. he already stopped smoking (a common problem here in Brazil). He just wants to be baptized like NOW!!! so we decided to pass by his house later on that day.

We also taught these super crazy evangélica people (that's like the religion that everybody is here, there are like 58713945087124714561243238 different evangelical churches here). When we prayed at the end the wife left the room and then came back with a veil over her head and was all like "esto pronto agora" (I'm ready to go?). It was weird to say the least.

Then we taught our recent convert P about the plan of salvation again and my companion brought up outer darkness and pauloma was all like "whats that?" and then we had to explain about outer darkness to our recent convert.

But anyways that night we taught R and he is solid! He reminds me a lot of Elder Blake

SHOUT OUT TO MA

HOMEBOUI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TE LOVE MEU IRMÃO PREMORTAL

But anyways R is awesome. at the end of the lesson they offered to buzz my hair for free... seeing as I was in desperate need of this and I am dirt poor, I accepted. 

tchão, amo vocês

Elder Tagg