September 24th letter

Oí todos!

Unfortunately, this week wasn't awesome. We had rain for a few days, which is good because the climate was starting to get really dry, but it slowed down our work a lot. 'I' is smoking more, W doesn't really have much desire to go to church, and there is another rapaz [guy] F - he is super cool, 19 years old, dating a member of the church. He knows the church is true, has absolutely no problem with the commandments (unfortunately he has to work on Sunday nights), is really like happy all the time, has supportive parents...we had a baptism interview marked for Saturday and his baptism for Sunday, but when we went to his house on Saturday he had left for São Manuel for something with his job. He called us later that day and told us that he just doesn't feel ready to be baptized. We are really, really hoping that he can be baptized this coming week, but Elder Hill will have to go to Campinas tomorrow and I will go to São Manuel, so we'll have a lot less time this week to work with him. This next week's not looking good...we will just have to work super hard and have faith that God will help us somehow.

I've focused my studies recently a lot on faith. Faith is, something I don't really understand yet. I re-read my letter from last week, and whoever wrote that letter wasn't me! It was some faithless complainer missionary. On Saturday I made a list of four things that a missionary with faith in Christ will do, and I'm trying to apply these things personally. I found out that I don't have a ton of faith! A missionary with faith in Christ will not fear, because he knows that Christ will help him. A missionary with faith in Christ will follow the commandments and rules, because he knows that Christ will bless him. A missionary with faith in Christ will be happy, because he knows that Christ loves him. Shoot...I forgot the fourth one...how embarrassing. [Had to pull out my study journal for this one... A missionary with faith in Christ will work hard, because he knows that's what Christ expects of him]

Thank you very, very much for the thoughts mom! To be honest, you humbled me a little bit. I should not be so occupied with measuring other missionaries against my so-called meter stick. I need to focus more on making sure I do my personal best. I also need to focus more on the strengths of the other missionaries instead of lifting myself up by pointing out their weaknesses. I don't think I expressed this in the last email, but my concern also had to do with the fact that there can be peer pressure from other missionaries to bend the rules (to answer your question dad, it's usually stuff to do with following the daily schedule). Fortunately, I was put with Elder Hill, who is better than many other missionaries at keeping and defending the rules. I'm sure that if I just continue trying my best to follow the rules, things will turn out alright.

I seem to be taking a lot of pictures of food...I've included more this time as well. It's probably because we have to be careful to not look like tourists and take pictures while proselyting, meaning that the number of pictures I can take outside is limited.

AJ's lemon meringue pie

Elder Hill and I made lemon meringue pie. Nossa, foi da hora [Holy cow, it was awesome]. All it was, was lemon/lime mousse with a bunch of crackers around like a crust. It was so good. How do you guys make mousse there in the States? That also reminds me about that Chocolate Mousse Pie you made a few times I think. Here's how to make mousse here in Brasil if you want to try it, maybe it will turn out good: 2 parts (1 part is like 200g or something) condensed milk, 1 part heavy cream, 1 part juice from lemons/limes OR 1 part milk with some juice mix powder stuff.

Tchau Tchau!!!  Eu amo vocês!
Elder Bradford

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Here's our district going to Piracicaba for the multi-zone Conference

I ate cereal for the first time here a few days ago. Cereal is kinda expensive so missionaries don't buy it often. Coconut-flavored corn flakes - that's something they don't have in the States! [also, notice the pouch of milk instead of a carton/jug...this is common in many countries]

We made corn dogs on our last preparation day!! Foi muito legal [it was really cool]

September 17th letter

Oi Família! Mais uma semana de loucura! [another crazy week!]

In answer to your question, the Palavra de Sabedoria [the Word of Wisdom] is a very difficult obstacle for many pesquisadores (investigators) and new members. That and the Lei de Castidade [Law of chastity]. Just like in the States, many many people smoke, drink beer and coffee, and a bunch of people do drugs too. There are a lot of stupid fathers and husbands who go drink every day and neglect their families - believe me, I've seen it many times already.

Family Night with ____ and his family

We do have another investigator, 'I', who I may have already told you about [referenced in my August 29th letter].  I included a picture with his family from Noite Familiar [Family Night] we had with them last week.  We made pancakes, maple syrup, sort of that buttermilk syrup but with some powdered juice thrown in, and whipped cream (yes, they have whipped cream here...it tastes a lot better than in the States, but you have to whip it up yourself or spend a ton of money on the ready in-the-can version). It was a lot of fun and they loved the pancakes! I ended up giving them a pancake recipe and the buttermilk syrup recipe.

'I' still drinks and smokes occasionally (we've been working with him almost two months).  Everybody who has these habits indicate they want to get rid of them (except for those who have completely given up on themselves), and some people try and fail, but it takes a true conversion, a real resolution to say that's enough, to completely stop and leave those things behind. Fortunately, we can help these people because what we have to offer is a conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ, an opportunity to repent and become clean again through the ordinances of the gospel. It's no coincidence that the attitude needed to kick the habit and stay clean, is the same attitude developed through application of the gospel, especially application of the Atonement through repentance.

'I' is an awesome guy, he understands the doctrine very well, he likes going to church, he's actually told us he knows the church is true - but I don't think he's quite gotten to that point of resolution of saying to himself "ok, I'm going to quit right now". He's had a sign from God already. We went over to his house last Wednesday with M, that guy who went through rehab and is active now. M gave him a ton of encouragement, and we talked with him about getting this one medicine to help him stop smoking. He agreed to start using the medicine (his idea actually) and completely stop smoking from that moment. After we left he got really nervous. He smoked the one cigarrette we left with 'emergência' written on it. He got in the shower and began to pray, asking if this is really what God wanted him to do, to stop smoking. Right after he finished, he heard a 'beep beep' of the delivery guy in front of his house with his medicine (yeah, they deliver medicine here on motorcycles. They deliver everything here on motorcycles. They even have motorcycle taxis). So after telling us this story, he said that he knew it was a sign from God. It helps when these things happen, it reminds us that we are not battling in vain, we have God on our side. But like I said, he hasn't had a real determination yet...when the medicine ran out he started to smoke again, and he was going to be baptized yesterday. I really hope something hits him this week and he decides to take charge of his life.

That's it for now.  Eu amo vocês bastante!! Beijão!!
Elder Bradford

September 10th letter

Oi familia!

Jabuticaba (Brazilian Grape) tree

Hey! You didn't respond to my questions! What is a jabuticaba!? [we did look it up, but forgot to respond...to the right is a picture of one].

Thank you [aunt] Tina for being willing to send stuff! As for style of t-shirts, the most popular ones here are those with a lot of English words on them. Making any sense, though, is not a requirement. kkkkk. I've only seen a few T-shirts that actually arrange English words in such a manner that you can draw some sort of conclusion from reading it. What I mean by 'conclusion' is like, oh I can see from her shirt that she likes surfing, or, he's from the hood. Most of the time they find a bunch of words that look cool and print them in snazzy fonts. I'll have to take a picture of some and send them to you guys. Understandably, the Brasilians get a little offended when you laugh and mention that the English on their shirt is misspelled or doesn't make sense.

So really quick about W, the guy we baptized. He's still drinking and smoking. It really sucks. Every single time we pass by, we motivate him and he tells us, yes, I can do it, I'll stop right now. But come the next day he's smoking and drinking. It's so frustrating!! This week we are going to pass by with a guy named M, who used to be into drugs and smoking but he's clean now and also an active member of the church. Hopefully they can become friends and W can get the support he desperately needs.

Sorry for my really boring email. I type really slow still. I will try to make a more action-packed email next week.  Eu amo vocês! Beijão!! [I love you guys! Big kiss!!]

Elder Bradford

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I tried a recipe for cheesecake that I saw in a livro de receitas [cookbook] here. It was kind of weird because it was made with eggs and had to be baked (don't know if it's supposed to be like that).  But it turned out okay...I know what to improve next time. Elder Hill and I ate it with peaches. hummmm! (how they say yum here).

I had to take a picture with this dessert an Irmã [Sister] made for us yesterday after lunch.

The names on the list are people we were expecting to go to church yesterday. Most of them had told us in person that they would go, the others are people that already go frequently. The ones that have checks next to them are the ones who actually went. That's Sundays on the mission for ya.

[Here's how to eat a jabuticaba (I filmed this in October or November of the same year)]

September 3rd letter

Oi Família!!

I'm super excited for your Choose the Ride bike ride to the Portland temple this coming week. I wish I could be there - but I will pray for you guys, so when you get to mile 25 and can't go farther, just remember I'm here in Brasil praying for you!

So about your question about temples in Brasil, there was a time when it would take a trip of several days to get to the closest temple. The people in the north part of Brasil especially had to make a lot of sacrifice to make it to the temple, which is one of the reasons the dedication of the Manaus temple was a big deal. Today it's not as hard to get to the temple, but not anywhere as easy as it is in the States! To get to the temple would be a 2-3 hour drive by car from Botucatu or 4 hours by bus. I think the district here organizes a van to take people to the temple once every month. The people here don't make very much money, so going to the temple makes a considerable dent on their budget.

About Presidente Perrotti, I think he's a cool guy. He has that kind of youngish-stake-presidency countenance. He has a good sense of humor and jokes around with the missionaries, but he is also serious about the work. He has an energy about him that drives the people around him to do better. I've only talked with him briefly 3-4 times so I don't know much about him. Elder Hill says that he likes Pres. Perrotti, but he misses Pres Tanner as he was more like a 'grandpa' for the missionaries.

Ok, what do I want to talk about today?? Not very many awesome things have happened over the last 4 days. We have had a few negative and interesting things happen, which I hesitate to write about. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the exact same there in the Harmony Ward as it is in the tiny Botucatu 1st Branch...but the people are not! Sometimes things happen here in the church that would be considered out of place in the States, but it's just because the Church is mostly a first or second generation thing here. The processes, traditions, and etiquette we take for granted and are expected to know in the States are new to the people here. For example, yesterday during testimony meeting a lady got up just to ask the congregation for someone with the priesthood to go visit her grandson, who is going through a dark time and was in jail recently. I think she bore her testimony too, but I don't remember for sure. There was a comfort blessing given one time in Elder's quorum, and the president asked everyone in the room with the priesthood to join. So, we had 20 people gathered around the guy...we left some new investigators sitting there thinking what on earth.  Things like that are done out of good intentions, but I just thought that was interesting.  Some of the members here have some of the most powerful testimonies of the gospel I've ever seen. The youth like to hang out and goof around just like in the States.

So yeah, that's about all I have time to write!  Eu amo vocês! Abração!  [I love you! big hug!]
Elder Bradford

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AJ out in the sticks of Botucatu

August 29th letter

Oi família!

So we had transfers this last week and guess what? Both Elder Hill and I stayed! Neither of us thought it would happen. Generally after the 12-week training period it is switched up. But looks like God knows I have something more to learn from Elder Hill or Botucatu. I don't know what that is yet...

To respond to your questions [based on some comments in AJ's last letter]:

• Yeah, that was my first time at the Campinas temple. Unless you live in one of the three zones close to Campinas it's something that's really, really rare to do. Elder Hill hasn't even been inside the temple yet.
• The pizza in a cone is actually something they have here in Botucatu. It's a lot cheaper to buy a regular pizza so it's not very common in Brazil, so it's sort of a cool oddity thing.
• We actually had an English class going for a while, but less and less people were going and now we only have one kid interested (we just go to his house and teach him a little). I suggested to Elder Hill that we make something to advertise the class, but his experience has been that the class does very little to forward missionary work. So, we're going to suspend the class for now.

Ok, a few things. First of all today is my last P-day on Wednesday. Starting next week it will be on Monday. President Perrotti decided to change it [new mission president as of July].

I was trying to remember... how is condensed milk used in the US? Like, what kinds of things are made with it? I was wondering because I've noticed that condensed milk (and Creme de Leite, which I'm guessing would be like a heavy cream) is used way more here that in the US. It's put in juice sometimes, also in any type of creamy dessert. We've made a very simple version of mousse a few times already. It's just 1 part condensed milk, 1 part Creme de Leite, and some juice mix powder (Tang is the most popular one here - it's a different Tang than in the US), mixed in a blender and chilled.

I want to write real quick about 'I', an investigator.  We found him about a month ago. He is married and has two daughters, M is 6 and K is something like 7 months. The six-year-old reminds me of Ellie a little bit. During our visits she likes to play school and teach me new words in Portuguese. I get out my little notebook I use for writing down new words and phrases and let her draw and write in it - yesterday she was drawing a jogo de futebol [soccer match] with Corinthians versus Santos. She also gives the best prayers you ever did hear. I have to keep myself from laughing at times but her prayers are so sincere ("and thank you for sending these two guys to help my daddy quit smoking"). 'I' is working on quitting smoking and drinking, it's been a long process but we're getting there! Yesterday night he expressed his desire to, when he is baptized, continue on the path and never leave the Church. SO, he knows the Church is true! It's awesome. His wife is more hesitant, but she hasn't gone to church yet...she's planning to go this coming Sunday.

M's t-shirt with a bunch of 'ragefaces'...it's an internet thing

I included a picture of M (a different fellow) wearing a shirt that he and his class made. You guys might not understand why the shirt is cool, but I have some friends who do. It's interesting to note that pretty much all the internet jokes and cliches are as popular in Brazil as they are in the US.  Everyone uses Facebook too.

Like Dad said, the mission time is passing quickly...almost 1/4 of the pie is gone.  Eu amo vocês!!

Elder Bradford