July 18th letter

Opa todos!

I want to respond to Dad's email first. Oh, I have already noticed how prominent a reputation is here in the mission. Whenever we have exchanges I try to be an example of following the schedule, and also with my companion. He's not really too bad with the schedule.

Haha, I don't know where you're looking, but these past few days have been freezing cold [we wrote him saying we noticed it will be 80 degrees later this week in Botucato]. Right now I'm trying to type with stiffened fingers due to the cold. It might just be that the houses have poor ventilation - many times the sun has been out and shining but its still chilly outside and even colder inside. I am so glad I brought sweaters! Especially the thicker gray one, which is for some reason uncommon here. I kind of wish I had brought sweat pants, but really that would just be more weight and less space for the majority of my mission. We don't really wear our suits at all, only with meetings with the Presidente and sometimes to church.

Okay, some other stuff - a member handed us two avocados. Elder Hill just wants to throw them away. I would like to make guacamole or something delicious out of them (btw, its true that here avocados are eaten with sugar, its actually really good). Mom could you include or send a guacamole recipe? For some reason I've become a lot more interested in cooking stuff. Today I'm going to try to make Oreo balls.

Okay, I neglected to mention this in last week's email but I'm going to share a funny experience. A member of our ward whose name is Z took us out to eat at this restaurant. It was really good, but I felt a little sick afterwards. I shrugged it off thinking I had just eaten a little much.  We walked around, visiting people, and I started to feel more and more queasy, my head felt clammy, all that jazz. I offered a silent prayer that I would be able to make it through the day. We were walking around and I told Elder Hill I wasn't feeling great. So we walked into a bar to get some Coca-Cola (the remedy for upset stomach here). Elder Hill pointed out the bathroom, I walked in and BLEEEEEGHHH threw up in the toilet. When I finished another guy came in wanting to use the bathroom. Uh, um momento. I walked over to the bartender and asked if he had any paper or tissue, and he said no. Oh well. I must have been really in a daze because I just returned to the bathroom, rinsed my hands off and left, the toilet still with puke all over the seat. When Elder Hill and I returned to give back the Coca bottle and cups the bartender handed me a roll of tissue paper, gave me a look, and told me to clean the mess up. So I wiped it up. What a memorable experience. I'll let you decide if you want to include that in the blog! [how could we not!]

Elder Bradford

---

Some pictures from AJ (click on them for larger image)...

This is our zone. BOTUCATU!  We had transfers yesterday (Elder Hill and I both stayed)

This one is an inside joke. I found this at our local supermarket (the cheapest brand too). I have some friends who will appreciate this.

 Pictures of our chapel in Botucato. A nice building isn't it?

July 11th letter

Opa todos!

I don't have a ton of time to write today but I will write as much as I can. We're having a churrasco [barbecue] with the missionaries in our zone to celebrate Fourth of July (although it was last week).

So to answer your questions - I'd have to get out a map but I think we walk 8 or so miles a day. About P's family, they are all already members except for his dad. He isn't interested in taking the lessons. Right now we are also teaching two of P's cousins and they agreed to be baptized in two weeks!

KKKKK (kah kah kah kah kah - how brasilians write laugher, like our 'lol' or 'hahaha') and also my companion didn't cut my hair [referring to the picture he sent last week]. I'm fairly sure there is a missionary rule against that. [Actually there is no rule against that -AJ] No, we went over to a local salão de cabeleleiro [salon hairdresser] and I got my haircut there.

So we had a second orientation on Monday with the new Mission President, Presidente Perroti (pe-HOE-chee). It was all the same stuff we learned in the first orientation, but now that we can understand a little Portuguese it was easier. Presidente Perroti is pretty cool. Unfortunately, we had to leave in a hurry after the orientation so I didn't get a picture with him and his wife (Our 4 hour trip between Campinas and Botucatu only has two departure times each direction per day).

Thank you for sending that article about keeping our mind in the middle. Sometimes I use the fact that I'm new as an excuse for myself to slouch back and let my companion take charge in everything. But if I push myself even farther I know God will bless me and help me become the missionary I need to be - Going back to that whole faith thing. Uchtdorf is awesome!!

I want to talk about some of our investigators real quick, since I haven't really done that very much. J and S. An unmarried couple that was passed to us when we arrived in the area. They have already been taught all the lessons. When we arrived, S was smoking 15 cigarettes per day. We talked about the Word of Wisdom one visit and set a goal for her to slowly cut out cigarettes. J at that time did not smoke but drank socially. He agreed to give up drinking. Things were fine until about our fourth visit (about 3 weeks ago). I won't go into all the details but during our visit with S who was already in an emotional state, J stumbles in, drunk as can be, and S is in tears. They share some bitter words with us - and at this point I'm just frozen, I have no idea what to do. Elder Hill manages to very boldly, yet in a manner inspired by the Spirit, basically call them to repentance and promise blessings. I bear my testimony and we have a prayer and then leave. Two days later we were walking in the area and I suggest to Elder Hill that we stop by their house. He made a comment like "I really don't want to" but we decided to go anyway. When we arrive S is full of smiles. That night after we left from our intense visit with them, she decided to give up smoking for good. Till today she has not picked up a cigarette. The same can't be said for J, he still drinks (ironically, worse than before we started to visit him). But it is truly a miracle that S was able to stop smoking cold turkey.
[Near the end of my mission I found out that she got married to J and was baptized! -AJ]

Declaring repentance is one of the most difficult things to do on the mission - but can you count how many times the prophets and disciples declare repentance in the scriptures? I have a testimony from this experience that declaring repentance has its blessings, however hard it may be.

OK, tchau! Eu amo vocês!!   Elder Bradford

PS:  The picture I included is of the closest thing to Oreos they have here. We made dirt (crushed Oreos and chocolate pudding) last night. Oh foi bom demais! [it was really good]

Letter from President Tanner (mailed June 7th)

We received the following picture and letter from President Tanner this past week - his tenure as president completed soon after AJ arrived...

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

---

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

---

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."