So to answer your questions and stuff...
As I mentioned in a previous letter, I am the organist for the branch! I actually play the piano during sacrament meeting - they have a keyboard also but it is broken. I enjoy playing with the congregation and I'm learning new hymns. Of course, being known as the branch pianist also means that at any given time I can be called out to sit down and play something. During a baptism last week, I was volunteered to play the opening hymn. And then immediately after the baptism, the person directing the meeting announced "now we will enjoy some music on the piano by Elder Bradford." So I got up, "Anything?" I asked. He shrugged. So I just started from the beginning of the hymn book and played through a few of them a couple times. It was kind of cool because I was able to improvise, but still a little nerve wracking. Then, this last Sunday, the members of the new Relief Society (here it is called Sociedade de Socorro, or more commonly 'Soc Soc') each gave a talk in sacrament meeting. One of them that spoke has a really good heart, but much of her talk was spent burning the ward for not cleaning the building or loving other people. Then from the pulpit she said "I would like to close by singing a hymn. Elder, would you accompany me?" uhhhhhhhh. So I got up from the congregation and looked what hymn she had turned to. I had to laugh because it is a pretty difficult hymn and the only reason I could somewhat play it is because I was asked to practice and play the hymn one time in the CTM - other that that, I had never played the hymn before in my life! So I sat down and sort of muddled through - it was a little embarrassing, but I was sure the members understood the position I was in.
So, each Sacrament meeting I've seen about 50 or so people - there are many inactive members, but it's still a branch. I'm not sure about the frequency of baptisms before our arrival - we haven't had anyone baptized yet, but we have firm hopes for a few people for this upcoming Sunday! We have this one rapaz [boy] whose name is P, he's 11. Everyone in his family is baptized except him and his father. They went inactive 2 or so years ago, I'm not sure (I'm not understanding all Portuguese yet!). After meeting with him he actually called us and told us he wants to be baptized this upcoming Sunday! He is well prepared and I really think it's going to happen. We also have L, who unfortunately is really hard to get a hold of. We have passed by his house many times but only met with him twice. He is another rapaz and he's really awesome at futebol. Out of all our activities, futebol always gets the most people to come. I don't know if he will be ready for this week, but if not, it will be next week.
To answer another question - we rarely spend time going from door to door. Usually what we do is meet with investigators and members, and on the way we make contacts. Fortunately, about half the people we talk to on the street agree to meet with us in their house. Many others contest they are Catholic or Evangelical and don't really have interest in our message. And a few are drunk.
Love you all!!
Elder Bradford
Some pics AJ included with his email (click on them for a larger image)...
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| AJ and Elder Hill |
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| AJ and Elder Hill's humble abode |
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| Some young men from the ward playing soccer (futebol) with the missionaries -- I wonder how much those basketball hoops get used |
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| AJ indicates this "awesome thing" is called a Pizza Frita and is one of his favorites in Brazil. In doing some looking on line, it appears to be fried dough and served similar to a scone. |
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| As AJ explains it: "So I made the buttermilk syrup the morning of Elder Hill's birthday! Everyone loved it. We weren't able to find buttermilk anywhere, so I just did regular milk and squeezed a bit of lime juice in there. It turned out really good. I think I will be using the recipie several times on my mission." |
