A couple of weeks ago, AJ emailed his dad about working out a surprise. It consisted of AJ calling home as a birthday present to his mom. He got permission from his mission president as a make-up call for Mother's Day (he was in the Missionary Training Center and unable to make a phone call home due to the large number of missionaries). So, we were able to have a Skype call with AJ this past Wednesday (and yes, mom was a bit surprised). Unfortunately, we weren't able to 'see' him due to lack of a webcam on his side, but had a great conversation. He provided an entertaining missionary introduction in Portuguese, which was great to hear. He sounds like he's in great spirits and enjoying the work. We received the following brief letter shortly afterward...
First of all, Happy birthday to mom! I won't have a lot of time to write because of the call but I will try to write as much as I can!
In response to your question about our daily missionary schedule, I am pretty adjusted to it - except it is still really hard to get up at 6:30. I also really get into writing in my journal, so sometimes it's hard to get to bed by 10:30. Other than that it's fine. There are some things about the culture I'm still learning. Brazilians tend to be really open to sharing what they have. When we have visits with families they will often offer bread, cake or at least something to drink. The Brazilian missionaries are open to sharing their food and clothing and sometimes they expect the Americans to do the same. I used to keep the peanut butter I brought and the other goodies sort of hidden in my luggage, but I decided to just leave them on the cabinet along with the other food. Stashing away food is seen as a rude American trait in the eyes of some Brazilians.
In regard to colored CTR wristbands, I think they would be cool to hand out. Elder Hill has some CTR rings and the kids love them.
Ok, I need to head out! Love you! I enjoyed seeing you guys!
Elder Bradford
