July 4th letter

Opa!

To respond to your questions - I am feeling more comfortable with the language. I can converse with the Brazilian missionaries; some other people we meet don't have the same patience! Understanding what people say is still difficult but it's coming along. I need to work on pronouncing my words better. Sometimes I will roll along and slur stuff together to try to sound authentic but no one understands me. The key is learning what to slur and what not to (same with speaking English well) - but right now I should probably focus on just not slurring at all!

During winter here it gets pretty chilly and sometimes rains. Today and yesterday were relatively warm... well I'm looking outside now and its getting cloudy today so it's going to be cold. But, we have had some very hot days so far. I don't want to imagine how hot it's going to get during the summer...

So about my missionary items - I'm sure my clothes will last me my mission but beyond that I'm not sure! My shoes are holding up fine, my luggage got a little damaged on the trip from Campinas to Botucatu but it's still fine (the piece on the bottom that helps it stand up straight by itself got knocked off). If anything I wish I had brought more black socks...I have just enough if I do laundry every P-day, but sometimes I have to do laundry the day after or so. I might have to pick up an extra pair or two at the supermercado [supermarket].

Baptism of P

Então [So], we had a baptism this last Sunday!!! It was P, the rapaz [boy] I told you about in the last email. Elder Hill was the one to baptize him - but we have another rapaz, K, who agreed to have me baptize him two Sundays from now. Yeah! I'm excited! We made contact with him a week ago on the street and he agreed to meet with us. When we taught the Restoration he was really receptive.

It's funny how there are so many people walking around who are already willing to accept our message. It's all a matter of whether you act on the moment and open your mouth and talk to them, or just let them walk by. If you have faith, you will act. I know now that I didn't really understand faith that well until my mission. I don't think anyone can understand faith until they are placed at their edge, until they are placed in a position where they are forced to step into the unknown, having complete trust in God.

When I see someone to talk to, I have to have faith that when I open my mouth the Spirit will fill it with the words I need to say, in the moment I need to say them. There's been a lot of instances when I haven't had that faith. And then there have been some when I have had it - and I know God makes sure you're blessed now and then for exercising faith.

Ok, my time's cutting short. Talk to you next week. Love you all.

Elder Bradford

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AJ's first haircut in the field  (we found out the next week this was a joke...he had it cut at a salon in town)

View from the missionary house in Sao Manuel (A city near Botucatu)

June 27th letter

Opa!!!

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

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Some pics AJ included with his email (click on them for a larger image)...

AJ and Elder Hill

AJ and Elder Hill's humble abode

Some young men from the ward playing soccer (futebol) with the missionaries -- I wonder how much those basketball hoops get used

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.

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."

June 20th letter

Oi todos!

To respond to your question real quick [about his boarding having a mold problem] - President Tanner already knows about the mold issue - it was one of the first things he told us about the house when we were over at his place two weeks ago. I think I'll need to wash some of the place a little better today. We've contacted a member of our branch who works in real estate - he is working on finding a better house for us. Our only option so far is an apartment quite a long ways from the church building.

Haha, the stove works fine [we asked about the (propane?) tank connected to the stove, pictured in the previous post], we always have the windows open so it's not a problem. Sometimes I look at the conditions we live in and try to remember that I will return to the conditions I'm used to in a couple years. But it's also important to remember that millions upon millions of people deal with the same conditions or worse for their entire life, and that I have it pretty good compared to some other missionaries! Heck, we have a hot shower, plumbing and everything.

Pretty much all the food that we've had with the church members has been amazing. Always beans and rice, lettuce and meat (usually chicken or pig). Sometimes we get potatoes or pasta also. There's this one dish called feijoada. You cook black beans with pork and various stuffs, and then you pour it over rice. It's very good, except some people like to stick bones and big strips of fat in there. It probably makes the overall stew taste better though.

All the church members are very friendly. My companion makes a lot of conversation with them. We had an exchange two days ago - Elder Hill went to São Manuel, and Elder De Oliveira came here. He is sort of the quiet type and it was way different at the house we went to for lunch because neither of us were really into conversing with the members - me mostly because I can't understand what they're saying.

It's funny to hear that both Elder Espiritu and Elder Childers have both been bitten by dogs! There are a lot of dogs here in Botucatu. At least half the houses here have one or more dogs. How the houses work is they have a gate or doorway at the sidewalk, and past that you have the yard or driveway and then the actual house. It's why we have to clap at the front of peoples houses instead of knock doors. It's annoying because you'll be walking down the street and all these dogs will be barking at you from the other side of these gates. Some pretty vicious dogs too. However, whenever weve been inside peoples homes they calm their dog down and they just slink off.

Also, there are a lot of stray dogs and cats here. In one day walking around you'd probably see 10 or so stray animals. One time we were sitting in a large, covered bus station and there must have been 6 stray dogs walking around or sleeping under benches. Its really sad! Its also a hard problem to fix. Of course the stray dogs are never aggressive, since they rely on food from humans.

Finally, Happy Fathers Day!!! Just so you know its kind of cool going through a similar, life changing experience that you had, Dad.

Eu amo vocês muito!!  Thank you for all your support and love!!!

Elder Bradgefordge (how they pronounce it here)

First Week in Botucatu

Alô todos!

I don't even know how to describe the experiences I've had this week. So I'll start by answering your questions so far!

Elder Hill is pretty cool, he has the language pretty much down and he is fantastic at getting to know the people and becoming friends with them. He is constantly emphasizing to me that I need to be more energetic, more animated when talking to people. I've never even considered improving in that way before my mission, but I can see now where I need to improve. I thought my Portuguese was decent when I left the CTM, boy was I wrong. He is teaching me to slow down when I talk and focus on matching the genders in the words, because I am trying to speak quickly and slurred like the Brasileiros but no one can understand me! Sometimes when we do contacts, I give our introduction and ask if we can pass by their house sometime - when I'm done sometimes they just stand there and look over at Elder Hill, and then he rephrases it and they understand. One time I gave the prayer in this investigators house, and when I finished she said "Amém. Não entendi nada, mas Amém!" [Amen. I did not understand anything, but Amen!]  Elder Hill emphasized to me that it is more important to be able to communicate through the Spirit than through Portuguese, but sometimes its very hard to remember that!

About having an American companion, Presidente Tanner actually told me in my interview that I was going to be with Elder Hill, although I had no idea who he was. He said that they used to always pair Americans with Brasileiros, but he recently decided to change because he found that the transition was a lot smoother for the new American missionaries who are paired with Americans. I was actually hoping for a Brasileiro mas, tudo bem! [but okay]

We're not sure why the other Elders were transferred out of the area (I don't even know why its strange, but everyone else I've talked to seems confused about it). We are serving in the Botucatu 1st Branch.  In effect, Elder Hill and I reopened the area. He knew nothing about the area also so we spent some time this last week getting to know the area and the people. Our branch president is President Gabriel, who is awesome. He is a very spiritual and emotional man.

This last Sunday we didn't have our normal meetings because of the dedication of the Manaus, Brazil Temple.  It was very cool. We went to our chapel and watched it live on the projector screen. Elders Cook and Uchtdorf were there and both spoke. We were actually asked to attend two sessions, and each were a little different. It was kind of funny when they went to spread the mortar or concrete or whatever it was on the cornerstone, because President Uchtdorf would make little humorous comments and us American missionaries would be laughing throughout, but the Brasileiro members had no idea why we were laughing because the translator was only able to pick up and repeat in Portuguese an occasional phrase.  Anyway, for next week both of us will be speaking for sure, and I think I'm playing the hymns but I don't really know yet what's going on with that.

Almost every day we have lunch with members, and they do not hesitate to feed us bastante! [ample]  As for breakfast and dinner, we have to take care of it ourselves, but we stick with really simple things so there's no problems there. We've only had to cook so far eggs, french toast, pasta and hot chocolate (not that you really cook hot chocolate).

Yeah, it was a long ride from the mission home to our area - I think about 3-4 hours, compared to the hour or so from the CTM to the mission home. We basically get a debit card to pay for our food, some personal items, utilities and I think rent. I don't know, so far Elder Hill has taken care of the utilities and rent.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIE!!!! I cant believe you're 10 already!! We were just talking to a young lady yesterday who was 10 years old, and I thought about you. I sent a card for you about a month ago, I was hoping it would reach home by now. Hopefully it gets to you soon!

In regard to prayers in my behalf, I need help leaving my comfort zone and just talking and opening up to people, and help with Portuguese. Those are the two things I'm struggling with most, and the things I don't want to face but I have to! Being out here is all about picking yourself up and continuing on. I pretty much slaughter Portuguese everyday, and being the perfectionist I am, I don't want to mess up so I hesitate to talk to people. But like you said, I need to get these thoughts out of my head, and not hesitate to talk about the gospel! Thank you for your spiritual thoughts by the way! They are such a huge help!

Eu amo vocês! Atê,

Elder Bradford

Arrival in Campinas Mission and Botucatu area

Oi!

So this past week has been an adventure! We left the CTM Tuesday at around 11:30am, took a mission vehicle for about an hour to the mission home in Campinas, which was gorgeous. We had lunch, and an orientation with the assistants to the president, and interviews with the mission president. President Tanner is a cool guy and has a great sense of humor. Sister Tanner was really nice too. After the orientation, we all rode the mission vehicles to the mission office and received an orientation from the secretaries. With my little Portuguese knowledge, I was able to understand the majority of what was said during the meetings - we will have another one in a few weeks.

Then we got our companheiros! Okay, so my companheiro is Elder Hill. He is from Farmington, Utah. All else I know about him is that he's a cool guy, er, Elder. Today is our P-day so we haven't taught any lessons yet; however, we're meeting with three investigators later today and doing contacts! I don't know what to expect - all I know so far is that I can barely communicate with the people here. Anyways, we were running late so we missed the bus to our area after the meeting of the companions, so we ended up staying at the mission home last night. We got to talk with Sister Tanner, President Tanner was gone at a meeting for most of the time.

The next morning President Tanner drove us over to the bus station, which is huge! It's like a mini airport. We met up with some other Elders and took a huge charter-like bus to the city Botucatu. Then we hiked (literally) to the home of the Elders we were with, stayed there a while, and then left and took the public bus to our mission area (Botucatu 1st Branch). I think the bus had square tires...I didn't look. At some parts it was literally like riding a roller coaster. Which is fun, unless you're standing and trying to stablilize four pieces of luggage.

We got off the bus and hiked some more and found our humble abode. I sent some pictures [see below]...it's really not as bad as it looks.  The previous missionaries left a total mess throughout the house so we are going to clean it up. Anyways, I'm here safe and sound, and realizing this is the real deal - I am actually doing what I've only read about or seen on TV.

OK, that's all for tday. Eu amo-os todos! [I love you all!]

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The Campinas mission office as captured from Google Maps street view

Botucatu is located in the west portion (left side of map) of the Campinas Mission.  The mission boundaries are outlined in blue above.  Click on the picture for a better view.

The kitchen at AJ's new place -- nothing like cooking with gas!

Good thing he brought clean sheets with him!

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The following are pics AJ provided from his last week at the MTC...

As AJ explains it:  "This is a bag of bacon flavored fried chip things I bought at a snack store. I don't like them...I think I ended up giving them away to another Elder.  Elder Norman thinks they might actually be dog treats."

Picture of AJ's roommates at the MTC

AJ's district at the MTC. From left to right: Elder Doggett, his twin brother Elder Doggett, Elder Bradford, Elder Reed,  Irmão [Brother] Vilas Boas, Elder Justisen, Elder Illum, Elder Conner, Elder Maughan, Sister Leal, Elder Norman, and Sister Hazelden.