May 23rd letters

Oi! Tudo bem com vocês?

I'm actually able to read the Portuguese Livro de Mórmon much faster, but I still have to take it word by word. I need to work on applying the new words I find to my lessons, so I can use them in speaking instead of just being able to read them. Irmão Mauricio said that the language in the Livro de Mórmon is not far different from the Portuguese spoken by people today - in fact, he said there are some people who speak exactly in that manner.

He also said that the outskirts of Campinas are total redneck territory. Yes, they have rednecks here, called caipiras. They have a funny accent, plaid clothes and everything.

Real quick, I have like a minute left, here's a quote from a talk given by Elder Bednar (translated into Portuguese and back into English): "The gospel of Jesus Christ serves to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." :P interesting, huh?  I'll follow-up later today with a missionties letter.

Love yall!
Elder Bradford

The following is a letter received later that day (click on it to view):

AJ enjoys an American treat

AJ's time in Sao Paulo at the MTC is winding down, so we decided to surprise him with a good 'ole American chocolate shake on his preparation day this past Wednesday.  The picture was taken at Mr. Cheney Cookies, which is across the street from the MTC.  They cater to the many American missionaries that make their way through the area (we placed the order via their website).  His companion, Elder Norman, is apparently quite taken with the event...they treated him with one as well.

Here's a street-view snapshot from Google Maps of their location (you can use the 'Location' link below the picture to see more of the street):

May 16th letter

I haven't told you about the weather here! Now that it's getting into winter, it rains quite a bit. And when it rains, it RAINS. Big, heavy raindrops, not drizzle. So it's not so different from my home weather. Also, I haven't taught you guys any Portuguese! You should send me some phrases or words and I will try to translate them. I have committed myself to read the Livro de Mórmon in Portuguese. So far I have read Alma 14-16. It is a very poignant section, and it really struck me in a different way this time as I read it, probably because I have to read it really slow!

I can share some more comments about the Holy Ghost - O Espírito Santo. We had a lesson a few days ago by Irmão Vilas Boas, where we watched a talk given by Elder Bednar. He explained that we don't always have to identify promptings we have are from the Holy Ghost. I didn't understand it fully, but what I got from it is that I just need to focus on doing the right things, working hard, keeping covenants, and the Holy Ghost will work through me whether I know it or not. How do we obtain the Spirit? We do what we're supposed to. It is a common misconception that we must have a really spiritual feeling inside in order to claim the Spirit is working through us, but it's not always the case. As long as we are doing the best we can, God helps us.

Eu amo vocês! Elder Bradford

New Mission President Announced

We've been made aware that AJ's upcoming mission president, Pres. Marshall Tanner, has been experiencing some health issues and will be headed back to the US in July (he will have served for two years).  AJ will serve under him for about a month, as he's headed there in June.  The following was included in the Church News on May 5th regarding the new mission president and his wife:

Carlos E. and Lilian Perrotti

Carlos Eduardo Soares Perrotti, 49, and Lilian de Souza Perrotti, three children, Brazil Campinas Mission; Jardim das Vertentes Ward, São Paulo Brazil Stake. Brother Perrotti serves as a counselor in a stake presidency and is a former bishop, branch president and missionary in the Brazil Curitiba Mission. Institute director, Seminaries and Institutes. Born in  São Paulo, Brazil, to David Roja and Vany Soares Perrotti.

Sister Perrotti serves as a counselor in a stake Young Women presidency and as a seminary teacher. She is a former stake Young Women president and counselor in a Primary presidency. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, to Walter and Mercedes Moreno de Souza.

The following information about Pres. Tanner and his wife was published in the Church News in 2010 when they were called to serve in Campinas:

Colleen B. and Robert M. Tanner

Robert Marshall Tanner, 63, and Colleen Bonner Tanner, seven children, Brazil Campinas Mission; Ocean View Ward, Huntington Beach California North Stake. Brother Tanner is a former stake president and counselor, bishop, branch president, ward young single adult leader and missionary in the Brazilian Mission. Partner, Sheppard Mullin. Born in Santa Monica, Calif., to Stanley Robert and Kathryn Lau Tanner.

Sister Tanner is a former ward Primary and Young Women president, counselor in a stake Primary presidency, temple ordinance worker, ward young single adult leader and mission secretary in the Brazil Sao Paulo Interlagos and California Long Beach Missions. Born in Orem, Utah, to James and Alma Hobson Bonner.

May 9th letter

AJ responds to a number of questions we sent him the previous week...

We went to the temple today. Instead of doing endowments like usual, my companion and I did confirmations.  They have a beautiful baptistery. There were ten or so Elders doing baptisms. It was all in Portuguese! A pretty cool experience!

[What have been your highlights and biggest challenges so far? So do you feel ready to go teach?] The highlights at the MTC have been definitely feeling the Spirit. It is very easy to feel it here, if you try. At quite a few devotionals the Spirit has hit me hard. We also have an hour long film every Sunday and the Spirit is super strong there too.  This last Sunday, we watched the Testaments - a sort of drama about Christ coming to the Americas.  I feel ready to teach, but I would rely heavily, very heavily on my companion! I can teach lessons but I am struggling with understanding the responses of the investigators.

[Do you feel acclimated? Do you have any "down time" where you can just play the piano?] I feel mostly acclimated - sometimes the food makes me gag a little but it's overall pretty good. You reminded me - I never told you guys I was able to play piano for the missionary choir a few weeks ago. Every devotional (we have 2 a week), we have a few musical performances. There are a lot of opportunities to do music here, for sure.  We have a few hours of study time a day, in which we may go to a classroom with a piano and practice a little. And then there's occasional down time and a convenient piano nearby. I've found that I am good at making jazz arrangements of hymns!

[What are your responsibilities as assistant to the Branch President?]  The branch consists of four districts, around 30 missionaries or so.  The district leader communicates to me any issues or concerns they have and I help resolve them.  So far there have been problems few and far between.  My biggest responsibility is managing sacrament and priesthood meetings.  I delegate all of the things needing to be done for these meetings except for the talks -- in sacrament meeting, the president just randomly picks four missionaries to give talks - yay!  There is also a meeting with the district leaders that I conduct.

[So, are you still on the 9-week training plan...any chance of it changing to 6 weeks like the other recent missionaries?]  Haha, no we are 'stuck' with the 9-week plan.  Many missionaries feel bad for us upon hearing we are a 9-week district, but I'm fine with it.  Also, we received two roommates a week ago.  Elder Ferreira is from Argentina and Elder Maciel is from southern Brazil.  Elder Ferreira speaks a little English and Elder Maciel speaks none, so it's a little more of a challenge to communicate with them.  I'm going to try and practice teaching a lesson to one of them this coming week and see how that goes.

[Dad is giving a talk on the Holy Ghost in a couple of weeks...have you had any recent experiences he could share?]  We have talked quite a bit about the Holy Ghost, because it is absolutely critical for conversion!   And because of this, it is important when teaching someone to help them understand when they receive promptings from the Spirit.  You have to pinpoint situations in which they feel the Spirit so that they can do a comparison -- or you ask them what are they expecting the Spirit to feel like.  Irmao Vilas Bons said something very interesting -- you cannot read a book written by revelation and believe it without revelation.  So, the Holy Spirit is something someone must feel and understand for any change of heart to occur, and for the Livro De Mormon to affect their life.  This also means that we must teach with the Spirit, because he will carry what we say past their ears and to the heart.  That is what I'm learning to do.  It is all about preparing sufficiently beforehand, but still teaching in a flexible manner, relying on the Lord and not preaching your "own understanding".

I just want to say that I have been sooo grateful these last few weeks for the example you and dad have set for us with your strong testimony of the Church and of Jesus Christ.  Thank you for your prayers and love -- I look forward to sharing experiences with you next week!

LOVE YOU! Amo voce!! Tem mais!!!

May 2nd letter

Ola todos! [Hello all]

Thank you for the article! [we sent AJ a recent article regarding the growth of the church in Brazil] It was a very interesting read. One prominent example of Brasil's growth is Sao Paulo itself. Have I told you how huge it is? Words cannot describe it. You know how big cities in USA, like New York, have one center colossal pile of skyscrapers? Well, in Sao Paulo, there are several of these. It's not like you enter downtown one way and come out the other end in half an hour. Here, you are always surrounded by skyscrapers! One of my teachers said that Sao Paulo, including the metro areas, houses 22 million people!!

Ha, so I think I know why John Brady's son never sent pics home. It's actually against MTC rules here. Of course, the MTC rulebook says nothing about it. I had to go up and ask the secretary to the president in order to know. So unfortunately, I can't send any more pictures via email from the MTC.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!!  FELIZ ANIVERSARIO!!

We watched a very... ótimo [superb] devotional given by Elder Bednar at the Provo MTC. The gist of the talk was that any question about the church can be answered with doctrine - doctrine meaning gospel truths fundamental to salvation. Sometimes we answer questions with applications, which are actions taken which are more or less loosely based on doctrine.

An example he gave is the question - How do we improve home teaching? You can try gimmicky applications (he gave the example of having each family bake a cake on the first of each month, and the sooner the home teachers do their home teaching, the fresher the cake...makes sense, right??), but unless the elders understand the doctrine behind home teaching (Moroni 6), it's not really going to go anywhere. He said, "True doctrine understood changes attitude and behavior."  What I felt during that was that I need to make sure I teach core doctrine, and get out of the way of the Spirit, the real teacher.

I liked your comments on stress! It's all just a mental thing. When we don't have the Lord to help us, it can seem like we have muito [many] burdens on our backs. But with the Lord, and when we're busy doing His work, everything appears clearer and we are able to handle our responsibilities much easier. I like Mosiah 24:13-15 (Another scripture brought up in Elder Bednar's talk).

Unfortunately, I can't call home on Mother's Day - there are over 200 missionaries here, it'd be hard to coordinate. Since I'm out of time, I will give my thoughts in my missionties letter.

Boa semana! Eu amo voces! [Good week - I love you guys]

Elder Bradford