Week 9

Well.. this week has been a good one. One thing I have learned- when you are in Provo, everybody who is LDS gives you free food or wants to give you a ride! It is super crazy. Me and Elder Sanchez were walking down the road and a Kolache shop (similar to Danishes) called us in and gave us all of the Kolache thingies that they had left on stock! How crazy. 

So starting on.. I think Monday last week, my eye started to get swollen and red and it hurt a lot. We called the nurse and she told me it was probably a sty and that my eye would continue to swell and to put hot packs on it until it got better. I felt so silly walking around and taking pictures with one swollen eye XD I will add some pictures of that at the end.

On Tuesday, I got a camera and a new panama flag :) super cool. The mission office has gotten to know me really well because I'm in there every other day to get mail, drop off my shirts, get new shirts, or to talk to president. We were also informed that the mission had purchased replacement spanish scriptures since mine were ruined when the APs left my luggage in the rain. Sister Caldwell told us to go to the MTC to go retrieve the scriptures. Well, we had a few appointments and things, and then we went to the MTC. When we got there we were informed that the bookstore was closed, so we had to come back another day. It was literally like an hour long walk from our house. We were so upset haha. We were late for an appointment for a baptismal interview because of it. My companion is the Dsitrict Leader so he has to interview all the convert baptisms :) My blister grew 3 sizes that day.

Wednesday! We had a trainer's meeting. It was super cool and president had a lot of good advice for us. A lot of things that will definitely help me now in the mission, and will also help me serve in callings for the rest of my life. He told us a few things about transfers and areas and things and that we are NOT being picked on by him or by the Lord. We are needed for specific tasks. One Elder might lead by being the junior companion his whole mission. Another might be leadership and be Zone leaders and APs their whole mision, while other elders might be area builders and ALWAYS put in struggling areas. Nothing will ever be perfect. We won't always be in the perfect area with the perfect companion. Our struggles help us to grow.

He told us to KNOW WHO WE ARE- and don't compare yourself with others. Have confidence in yourself, because everybody has different talents and skills. But my favorite piece of advice that he gave was this: Be the kind of missionary that your mother things that you are. 

Wednesday we also finally got into the MTC! for all of you who do not know these two facts: I am serving in an ipad mission, so I have an ipad. and second, wednesday is the day of new arrival missionaries to the MTC. Me and my companion were taking a few pictures on our way to the book store with the ipads and one of the sisters with a dork dot (the orange missionary dot that they give new missionaries) ran up and screamed "oh my goodness! Do I get on of those? Is that in here?" I felt so bad having to explain taht we were from the Provo mission and NOT in the MTC XD It was seriously one of the funniest moments ever. 

Thursday was great! We met a guy from Panama who gave me a bunch of advice about how to survive in Panama- including the fact that Panamanians talk REALLY fast. He also said the people are really friendly and like to touch you when they talk haha. I will have to get used to that. 

Friday was a HUGE struggle. We have a baby who lives underneath us who has never cried the entire time I have been here EXCEPT THURSDAY NIGHT. He cried ALL night long. I am SO excited to hve kids now. It is s a struggle to work when you are so totally exhausted. We also had a district lunch on friday :) that was super fun.I also got fish for dinner... fish is the only food that I can't stand, like I almost throw up when I eat it. But I am not mean enough to say I don't like it so I forced myself to eat it. It wasn't that bad, but I still didn't LIKE it. It reminds me that before my mission my dad told me: Once you are set apart as a missionary, you gain the ability to eat anything. I am so very thankful for that gift.

Alright! So saturday. THE BIG DAY. We started out going to do service for Hma Tapia. We helped her build a couch. it took 2 hours and a lot of confusion. however, when we walked in the door, ONE OF OUR INVESTIGATORS WAS THERE. Turns out that they are related. So we got to talk to him a lot while helping him build the couch for hma Tapia. was a really cool experience. One of our investigators got baptizedsaturday night :) It was so amazing. My first baptism. It is amazing to see the change in people after they are baptized! My companion did the ordinance and I gave the talk on baptism- in Spanish. It surprised me how well I was able to communicate the things I knew were important in a language that I barely know. It was amazing to see how happy Maria was after getting baptized :) I'm happy i was able to be a part of that. 

Sunday! we bore our testimonies in church. I was so nervous about the spanish but It always surprises me how the spirit helps me communicate. 

That is all the time that I have for today! I love y ou all so much! enjoy your week :) don't forget to pray :) As we follow the commandments, our father in heaven will help us with our challenges. I have seen that in my spanish and with our investigators. 

Love, Elder Bradburn