December 28

Its been a good (And lonely) Christmas XD I love the christmas season but I just couldnt get into the spirit this year without family. Timo wasnt feeling it either since his family is currently in the city too. so we just kinda hung out with him this week.

Tuesday- Tuesday my companion wasnt feeling so well. He decided he was ok to work, so we started working a little bit, but he started feeling bad again so we went in earlier. When hanging out in the house, Timo invited me to play uno with him and his family (and thus started the card game tradition)

Wednesday-  my companion didnt feel well enough to leave, so we stayed home again, and I played cards all day. 

Thursday- Christmas Eve!! We were going to try and work, but my companion didnt feel well, and Timo wanted some company.

We were asked to help someone in the morning to build a grave. The people here, build houses to put on top of the grave, so we helped gather and carry the materials to build the house with. it was great, and hard work. My companion wasnt able to help a ton.

Friday- Christmas!!! well... Talked with my family! And...We had a Christmas party and it went well. We had a lot of less actives who have been missing for a while there (the majority also showed up on sunday)

Saturday- Well.. we started working again, and my companion started  feeling bad again so we only taught a couple of lessons and went home again.

Sunday- Hoeft was feeling really bad. He woke me up at 5am with severe stomach pain and diahrea. sooo... we went straight to the doctors house to wake her up. We were in the clinic and he got an IV, but we missed church, sadly, and we were the speakers, and 2 of 4 priesthood holders on the island right now. 

So obviously... we took the day tranquilo again. A few members came by to see how my companion was doing, and apparently church went well even without us there :) which is good.

Monday- Well... With the sickness and being in the house a lot, the house has gotten messy. So I spent my morning cleaning, sweeping, pulling weeds, washing dishes, etc.  until it was time to take Hoeft to the clinic again. Hes feeling a LOT better now, and i  think we will end up going to work tomorrow :) pray for health for us :)

Well. That pretty much explains our last week. There has been a lot of illness out here, and other issues, but the zone is working through it all, and everybody is still happy and loves to be here. I never get any complaints from anyone here- I have to draw it out of them to figure out if they are sick. I love being here :) I love my island and being a missionary here. Im just excited to start being able to work again :) A working missionary is a happy missionary. Although ive been kept busy with other administrative things since Ive been in the house.

anyways- the Bradburn rant is over.

 I love you all! Remember to pray and read your scriptures. Obey the commandments. Let the spirit light up your life :) 

Elder Bradburn

Machi Senigua

Tule Bander

December 21

Well.. this week has been a little bit eventful..

Monday- All the missionaries came for Zone Conference :) It was pretty
fun. The assistants brought us pizza and The Cokeville Miracle. That
was a really really good movie. It made me cry :) I encourage all of
you to see it :) I would have to say it was one of my favorite church
movies, and it was really well done.

The Conference itself went pretty well :)

Tuesday- All the missionaries left, except for the assistants to do
Divisions with us. (we also recieved Hna Bean to our airport and saw
off Hna Anderson... Hope youre doing well at home Sister Anderson!!)

Me and Elder Machado went to the Jungle to help Timo in his farm :) It
went pretty well out there. The day with the Assistants went pretty
well. Although the day ended at 5..... Silahs from another community
came, so it was manditory congress for everyone, Tuesday through
Thursday. We actually had to go too. It was really really interesting.
President Martinez (branch president of nargana) translated for us :)
It was pretty cool. I actually enjoyed it :)

Wednesday. Well.. we were asked for help from an old investigator,
Miguel, to help him carry his canoe out of the jungle. The was they
make their canoes, the chop down a tree in their farm, and carve it
out, and then you have to pull it to the nearest river. It took 8 men
(including us) 3 hours of pulling to make it all the way to the river
xD im guessing it was just about a mile. and later, we worked for the
time left, and went to congress again

Thursday- We did Divisions with Ukupa :) Things went pretty well. I
hung out here with Elder Mann, and we worked pretty hard throughout
the day :) It was actually pretty nice.  We also went to congress
again :)

Friday- We went to the jungle again to help Lucio out there :) We also
practiced some things we learned in congress- They taught how to be a
good son-in-law (helping your father in law, walking in front and
cutting down things to obstruct the path so he doesnt have to, etc)

When we ended divisions, my companion started feeling sick, so we took
his temperature, and he had a fever of 104! so we when straight to the
clinic on the island. They think he either has Zika or Dengue
(probably Zika) and so that killed our next couple of days. Poor kid
was miserable. He started feeling better yesterday (sunday).

We didnt even go to church so we didnt get the members sick- its a
mosquito born illness and the church is on the coast- lots of
mosquitos.

Monday- well. today we spent chilling out :) its been a good day.

Anways. Sorry to be so uquick. I feel like ive been running short on
time ever since I was put here in Playon :P there is just so much more
to write about now xD Im doing well here :) Me and Hoeft get along
great and we are working as hard as we can, amid the illness.

anways. Yall have a good week! love yall! Merry Christmas!!

-Elder Bradburn

P.S. Remember Christ in the  Christmas Season. We are showing people
Alma 7:10-14. It talks about Christ and his birth, and the suffering
he went threw for us. We are also inviting everyone to think of a gift
they can give back to the Savior- to show our gratitude for what he
gave us (using his atonement, following the commandments, improving.)

December 14 - Christmas season

Things are starting to get Christmasy out here :) I was already
starting to feel the Christmas spirit, but now there are decorations
and christmas hymns being sung by all, all over the island :) Its
great :) Still nothing like back home, but Im getting a new christmas
experience out here.

Tuesday- well... Just about everything fell today. I got a little bit
frustrated. We talked to just a few people, but nobody was home. So we
went wandering the island and contacting people and got rejected by
basically everyone xD but whatever. I love this island, and the people
inside of it. Im going to keep working my hardest :)

Wednesday- Talking to Timo and Ultiminio in the morning, I got a
little bit emotional and upset about people not listening to us. As
Geoffrey R Holland says in "Missionary Work and the Atonement" - "This
is the truth, isnt it? Why do the people reject it? Why do the reject
us?" Timo told me that on our small island, there are 7 churches. And
everybody is set in stone to their church. Theyre like political
groups, and if they start investigating another, they get kicked out
of the group. So nobody wants to try any other churches. Nobody from
other churches even want to talk to us- Some lady told us that she
couldnt talk to us anymore because the members of her church started
talking bad about her.

So, we are just trying to march along and preach the gospel of christ.
Even though we keep getting rejected. I dont even care about trying to
convert people necesarily to our church- I want to bring these people
closer to Christ. To help them see his goodness and doctrine. Maybe
then some of the vain traditions will start to go away, and these
people will start to understand.

Thursday- We started divisions with Tikantiki. Bush came to be with
me, and Hoeft went to be with Nelson in Tikantiki. It was a great time
being with Bush. the only problem is that to do divisions i have to
stay alone for a while.. the boats pass by at 6 to get my comp, and
then drop off bush at 2PM. so im left alone for a good chunk of time.
But its alright. I hung out with Timo while I waited :) We got to
work, but it was a slow day, because of the travel and everything.

Friday- We went to the jungle with Timos brother-in-law, to help him
gather coconuts in Timo`s farm. This farm is SUPER Far away. we had to
walk  over an hour to get there, we left at 8, got there at like 9:15,
and worked till noon, and got home at like 130ish. It was soooo tiring
xD We talked to Nigga, and gave him a Book of Mormon :) that was super
cool.

Saturday- Welllll I hung out by myself again to finish divisions. My
companion got back, and he was miserable from the travel, so we had
another slow going day. Timo needed some help with thigns, so we
helped him out as well.

We talked to Cerezo about missionary work, and he had a few good
questions about different things. I love that guy :) Hes started
coming to church a lot :)

We also talked to Eustolio. Im super proud of him. He out of nowhere
went super inactive, and now he is coming back :) hes started being
the same old man that I used to know :)

Sunday- Well.. today we came out to church, and helped gets things
ready. After church, we stayed to help save all the tithing and fast
offerings for the last 6 months into the computer xD boring but fun.

Anways. Im emailing today, because tomorrow we have Zone Conference,
so I wont be able to write tomorrow. Im excited for it :) we are going
to get to see The Cokeville Miracle with the zone :) Conference will
be great :) itll be great to see everyoe :)

So I will let yall know how conference goes tomorrow :) Love you all.
I gotta get going so we have lessons and stuff tonight :) so yall take
care and ill talk to you next week :)

December 7

This has been a pretty good week. Things are a little stressful, and we have had illnesses in the zone ( including my companion) but we are working through it all :) This week has also been rough because all the youth left the island for summer vacation :/ they all go to Panama for vacations to hang out. So we lost all of our deacons teachers and priests, and also 4 positive investigators. So, the area is a little rough right now. but its whatever :) we are working hard and loving it :)

Tuesday-  the Elders of Ukupa showed up this morning at our house, on their way to Ustupu. They had to go and teach the area to the sisters. Today was mainly a day to unpack for Elder Hoeft, and we had to run some errands for Timo.

Wednesday- Straight day of work! yay :) it went pretty well. Me and Hoeft are getting along really well, and we actually teach pretty well together. Im happy for that :) We found out that one of our investigators, Cerezo, isnt married to his wife. So we have to figure that out so he can get baptized. but he is a boss :)

We helped another investigator, Nigga, put some leaves on his house for his roof. He also asked us to go help him next week to go search for more leaves in the jungle, because he needs people to carry them for him :) Who is always willing to help?? the mergimala (the gringos)

Thursday- CONSEJOS!!!! freaking christmas miracle. We got Mission Leadership Council to work over skype. San Blas has not participated in Consejo for over 8 months. and we now have participated :) It was great. I was even able to make some comments, eve nthough the connection was bad. but it was nice :) ALSOOO happy birthday mom :) Love ya! I was going to attatch a video but my camera is broken.. sorry :)

also, Nigga sent us some fish for helping him out :) hes a great guy. 

Friday-  Elder Hoeft got sick :/ so we spent the day in the house. we got to talk and get to know each other a lot better :) which is always good

Saturday- We went with Igwa to his Yuca farm in the jungle :) that was fun. He gave us some yuca to take home and we ate fried yuca for dinner :) Elder Hoeft accdentally forget the bag of yuca that he was supposed to carry xD and me and igwa didnt notice.. poor elder Hoeft. 

Our plans for the rest of the day fell, but we had a few impromput lessons with some new investigators :) we were looking for a ponga so we went to the lady who is the ponga lady, and decided to teach her :) it was a pretty positive lesson :) m excited to keep teaching her

Sunday- Sunday was alright. Hoeft starting feeling sick again, so we took it slow. 

Monday- Wellllllllll we went with domi to his private island. Hes a less active member. We helped him clean it all up and make it look pretty so he can get permission to start using it as a tourist island. I have to say me and Hoeft did a good job :) annnd.. my camera fell in the ocean... I was taking a selfie on the beach, and a wave came and i slipped and fell in with my camera :( dang it. its not sitting in a bag of rice in the house.. hopefully it dries out...

anyways. Life out here is going well :) things are a little stressfull, training elder Hoeft in Blas AND training him as a Zone Leader, but things are going well :) im excited for th rest of this change to come :) Next monday, the assistants are coming so we wont write until tuesdasy or wednesday (or maybe sunday) so we will talk to yall later!

Keep the Faith!

Merry Christmas.... Christmas is a hard spirit to catch on a hot tropical island xD

Elder Bradburn

November 30

Well, Im quoting my old companion Elder Perkes on this one. As Guna
Yala Zone Leaders, we live 5 weeks in paradise, and 1 week in hell, to
make our 6 week change. and that was particularly true. Even though it
was thanksgiving xD I hada very humble thanksgiving. Ill get into that
a little further down in this email

Tuesday- Well.. Tuesday. Tuesday was a rough day. It was the day
Perkes said goodbye to everyone. We still didnt have changes, but
president said it was sure enough that he should pack and say goodbye
to everyone. so we went around saying goodbye.. several people cried,
and i almost cried too. These people are amazing. Im never leaving. I
refuse

Wednesday- We flew in to the city. I didnt have my passport or my
panamanian ID, but they let me through anyways xD silly people. but
whatever. We couldnt do anything because we still didnt know changes,
so we couldnt buy anything. Because.. at this point, rumor had it that
we were getting Hermanas in the zone again... and they have different
purchasing needs. So we sat around and didnt do much.. it was a waste
of a day

Thursday- We found out changes at like 1 pm. so it ate away most of
our day waiting for that. The rumors were true... Elder Mann got
pulled out of Ustupu, and Hermana Anderson went back. Her companion is
Sister McGowan :). Elder Barker and Perkes also left. My new companion
is Elder Hoeft :) We shared an apartment in the MTC so we already know
each other pretty well. Hes a great guy.

we started buying everything today. We just went to pricemart and let
the sisters run off on their own xD

Thursday night, a family invited us over for tacos xD its a reminder
for them every thanksgiving of their humble beginnings. Their first
thanksgiving as a couple they had no money, and threw together
thanksgiving dinner  from what few things they found in the fridge.

Later, i bought myself egg nog and ice cream xD my city trip tradition

Friday- We finished shopping, and I confirmed our travel plans for
Saturday . More stressful time trying to prepare everything and pack
everything to go. I went to bed at around 3am, and woke up at 445 for
the car.

Saturday- 445am  We got everything ready, but our car didnt show up
until 630. WAY TOO LATE. its a 3-4 hour drive to the port, and all the
boats leave by 9 or 930. We got there, and couldnt find a boat. So,
luckily I know the port workers pretty well, they offered to let us
leave our stuff in the office and give us a ride over to Carti, to
spend the night. So we all just got screwed xD it was fun though. We
had a pancake hot chocolate party, just the elders, the sisters had to
figure out their own party xD

I was able to confirm pongas for everyone (we all had to take separate
pongas, because there wasnt enough space on one ponga for everyone...
I also set up a deal with certain ponga drivers to take the food for
certain elders every 6 weeks.. for example- Etilio and his boat from
tikantiki, will take food for us to nargana and tikantiki every
change)

Sunday- we got to port early, and everyone got to their areas safely.
We all showed up too late for church though...  We bought a new stove,
that was a lot hotter than the other, and my oil caught on fire :/ so
we had a scary oil fire but everything turned out alright in the end.
Our branch president got burned though :/ poor guy

But ya. thats my crazy week xD 5 weeks of paradise, now starting :) I
hope I stay here for a while. I love it here, and I love this people.
This has been a great privilege for me, serving the Lord here. I could
have never asked for a better experience on my mission. Anyways.. Im
out of time :) so ima let Elder Hoeft write now.. and im going to sing
with my new english hymn book :)

Love yall :) take care!

Elder Bradburn
Machi Siniqua

November 23

Hey! how are you all doin?! Ive been doing a little of thinking
lately. Ive been thinking about the place Im in. It looks like an
island paradise, and everybody in the mission wants to come here. But,
nobody realizes how hard it actually is. The work here is hard, we
have to work through crazy native american traditions, and these
people have no sense of time so most lessons fall everyday xD its just
crazy.

Anyways- here goes my week-

Tuesday- We started divisions with Ukupa today. I stayed and hung out
in my area with Elder Sharp. We had a good couple of days. We still
didnt have water, so we had to carry water for the hna. to wash
clothes and to cook with, and carry our bathing and drinking water (we
carry water from a well on the other side of the island... its
"bathing only" but we boil it and assume its ok...........)

Beacuse of all the rain, the river in Ukupa overflowed and flooded a
lot of the houses in Ukupa. So we helped the Panama Support group load
food and stuff to take over to Ukupa. Im not sure why they are
donating $100`s of dollars of food to the pueblo... they all have food
and the only thing is that they have water in their houses xD The only
thing they really need is drinking water, because the river is dirty
when it rises like that xD

Wednesday- Today some guy walked up to us and said his name was
Luciano Muñoz and that he would go to church on sunday, and he wanted
us to visit him on saturday. I asked Timoteo who he was, and he said
he died like 10 years ago. (Saturday we went back to the house... the
family told me the guy died like 10 years ago..  I guess we are
supposed to teach his family)

Today was started drinking rainwater from the roof. and... our roof is
kinda made of leaves and is like 15 years old xD so the water was
yellow. I filtered the water through a shirt, to get the bugs and
floaties out of it, then boiled it, then filtered it again... still
tasted funny... xD

Thursday- Well, today we finished divisions, and Ustupu came to our
island because Bartleson is headed home so they came to drop off mann
to be our companion for the next few days. we split up into 2
companionships for the day and doubled worked out area :) It was dope.
We got tons of work done :) It was nice working with bartleson one
last time before he went home

Friday- We took Bartleson to the airport super early in the morning to
get him home :) It was sad seeing him leave. We had a little bit of
extra time at night.. soooo... we used our time ranking the entire
zone on Zombie Apocalypse Survival xD we rated the zone based on
intelligence, strength, dexterity, endurance, and then added up their
numbers to figure out who is best equiped for a zombie apocalypse xD
Me and Perkes tied for first place xD

Saturday- Most of our lessons kind of fell today.. it was kind of lame
:/ but whatever,

Sunday- Well, we went to church and stuff like normal :) I love going
to church. Ive been consistantly blessing the sacrament every week
since I got here :) Its a cool opportunity. I havent been able to do
it for a long time :)

After we had ward council :) we have gotten ward council started :)
its great. Our little branch has progressed a lot because of that
simple meeting to discuss the needs and everything :) Its great :)

Monday- This morning, since we are sure elder Perkes is leaving, he
wanted to go up and hike in the jungle for the last time before he
heads out of here. so we hiked for about an hour to a spot with a
really cool view and then went back :) It ws great. And now we are
emailing :)

Well... This neext week Im headed out to the city wednesday, to get
stuff for the zone. so the next time i email will be mostly about the
city trip :) love yall :) stay strong in the gospel!

Remember, members are missionaries too. I forgot who said this but "if
you dont have a name tag on your chest, now is the time to paint one
on your heart" help out the missionaries- we need it! more people get
baptized from member referrals than from our own efforts.

anyways. Love yall! have a great week!

Elder Bradburn
Machi Siniqua

November 16

Well... we are finishing up our last week of the change... Next
Tuesday I head to the city to buy food for my zone, and to help any
other new missionaries come out with us. We arent sure whether my
companion is going or staying, but we need to figure out changes
sometime this week to organize divisions and things for companionships
who have someone leaving... All over the mission elders are sometimes
left alone for a few hours during changes, but in our zone elders
would have to be left alone for 2 or 3 days.. which is way too much
time. So we have to figure out divisions and things in advance to
avoid that :)

Monday- Our Zone Conference went pretty well :) We had kind of a Zone
Council and it went pretty well. The electricity ran out in the
chapel, so we had to finish it at home xD kinda lame but oh well :)

Tuesday- We went out to the monte with our man Igwa :) he is probably
the most legit and hardest worker here on the island. We helped him
canoe out to his farm, hiked 30 minutes to get to it, and then chopped
out forrest for 4 hours. and in the end, we helped him carry back the
fully grown platanos (those things are heavy) It was fun :) I love the
monte

We went back to have a lesson with a guy named Nigga, but we realized
when we tried to teach him how little spanish he actually spoke. the
first lesson we somehow got through without realizing. Sooo... we need
to work on getting a translator. I can tell this guy is super prepared
for the gospel- we just need to overcome the language barrier with
him. Its crazy that he absolutely knows he can barely understand a
word, but recognizes us as respresentatives of Christ and accepts us
in to talk to his whole family. that takes a lot of faith to
legitimately desire to hear a message that you cant understand.

Wednesday- Well. It was mainly a slow day. We went around between
lessons and when lessons fell to talk to the ward leadership to invite
them to our Branch Council Meeting on sunday.

There was some random gringo guy walking around our island that
morning, slightly lost. We gave him directions, and found him on the
way back home, walking in the wrong direction. So we took him to our
little store on the island, and talked with him on the way. At this
point in time, all we learned is his name is John, and he´s from
Wyoming, and he ws driving a motorcycle from Chile, back to wyoming.
But, there are no roads between panama and columbia, so he hitched a
ride cheap with his motorcycle from our columbian boats that pass
through here.. although to this point in time he has taken 3 weeks to
get from columbia to panama xD

Thursday- I headed out to Nargana, and do to ponga complications, we
were stuck me, Stracener (nargana elder) and Bush (Tikantiki elder).
It was fun :) I love those elders. We had a great day together. We
helped stracener out with his area. Bush needs to be a Zone Leader
somewhere- hes a great missionary.

That night i went to do the Baptismal Interview. My first :) The kids
name is Eggbert, and hes super legit. He is definiely prepared to be
baptized :) I love that kid. Hes originally from Ustupu. Hes in
Nargana for school or something.

Friday- Well, me and bush went to the docks to get our ponga bck home
(him in tikantiki, and me in playon) but the ponga was delayed by 4
hours... (very very normal for pongas) and.... our gringo friend with
the motorcycle happened to be there! We talked for like the entire 4
hours about his story and everything. He was going to college in
Seatle Washington, and he was bothered by the atheism and stuff in the
science department. So, being sick of that, decided to "find God" and
loaded up his backpack, and started walking. After a few months he
wound up in Texas, and decided to go to mexico. he stayed with a
family and helped out on there farm for food, and was with them for 2
years. When he decided to leave, the grandfather gave him a donkey and
a new pair of boots. he hiked down toward south america with his
donkey, and somewhere 5 years later, in the jungles of Peru or
Paraguay, a snake bit his poor donkey, and he put the backpack back on
his own back. he stayed in chile for a while, and worked construction,
and decided to start making his way home. So he bought a motorcycle,
and started driving up through Brazil and on up here. Hes headed home
now. I asked him why he decided it was time to go home. His emotion
and words were the same ive heard from every missionary ive known
going home- "I love it. and ill miss it. But its time for a new
chapter in my life"

I wish you well John. I hope you find the church again in the states :)

I got back to my area, and we got to work (After some rest, lunch, and
showering) but most of our day kind of fell through.  it isnt too bad
i suppose. We had problems with an less active member who was upset we
didnt show up, but it wasnt our fault. He isnt even home 90% of the
time when we have appointments with him.

Saturday- Saturday, pretty much everything fell, and it was weekly
planning. So we did what little we could, and then went to plan our
week :)

Sunday- We had an INSANE thunderstorm during church. We were positive
lightning was going to hit the chapel (luckily it didnt...) the rain
was so loud that we couldnt hear the speakers even with a microphone.
Our appointments all fell through because of the rain, so we tried
contacting houses and everyone in the street. Everybody rejected us xD
we gave up around dinner time and went to go eat dinner, and then left
again to talk to a few less actives. We read scriptures with them, and
luckily they were home and willing to listen :)

DUDE I JUST REALIZED. Christmas is right around the corner :) my
favorite time of the year :) Im gonna buy a baby christmas tree for
our apartment xD itll be cool.

Anyways. I need to get going. I love you guys, and hope you have all
had a great week :) We week was super tiring, but it was great :)
things are rough, but Im always happy :) Remember, Christ suffered for
our pains and sorrows too, not just our sins. Yall have a good week!

An wisi Bap machi mae (I know the Son of God lives)

-Elder Bradburn
Machi Siniqua

November 9

Well... another week has gone by. holy cow time goes super fast! Im so
busy all the time that the weeks just fly by anyways. My time is
getting short fast, and im just trying to be the best I can in the
time that there is left.

Tuesday- well, Tuesday we had a bunch of lessons and stuff set up, but
just about all of them except for one fell. Im starting to see just
how hard this area can be sometimes. Ustupu ws great and people were
always there when they said- but here people are impossible to
pindown. "elders, come back tomorrow at 3" show up at 3... and nobody
is home.

We were going oto go on divisions with Nargana, but we felt Carti and
Tikantiki needed a visit more, and Nargana didnt need it, and we had
already done divisions with them.

Wednesday- Wednesday was Mission Leadership Council... we usually try
to wtch it through skype, because we are so far away, but it didnt
work out this time xD sooo it was basically a waste of time. Other
than that, it was a really slow. we also prepared our travel to
carti/tikantiki.

Thursday- We headed out. I went to Carti. Literally within like 30
minutes of arriving... President Carmack showed up at the Elders´
house. that was crazy xD he came to drop off some snacks for the
elders. that was pretty cool :)

The day in Carti was great. those guys are doing pretty well :) Im
proud of them- they are working a lot harder now than they were
before.

Friday- well.. We traveled back. the ponga that i chose... well....
one of the 2 motors exploded partway. so it took forever to get on our
island xD dang it. i have terrible luck with pongas. Our day went
slowly.. I had lessons SET for every 30 minutes. like that we had
talked with people before hand and set the lesson. Literally, every
one fell through. we found a few people to teach, but those were
spontaneous lessons. we did find a few new investigators though :) a
guy named Nigga and his family :)

We also sent our suggestions for changes to president... we both feel
like my companion is probably goign to leave this change... we will
see what happens. we also sent our suggestions for everyone else in
the zone.

Saturday- Not much happened today either.

Sunday- I gave a talk in church about the family :) it went really
well. the other guy before me took almost the whole time so i
essentially just bore my testimony.

not much happened either.. we had a few lessons that went well, We had
one lesson that got interrupted but everything is fine now. but ya :)

Monday- well, today is zone conference. so we are getting all the
missionaries here to do the meeting. this is my first zone conference
as a zone leader. it should go well :) I will bring it in my next
email :)

Well... that is pretty much my week this week :) Im super busy and
stuff all the time now, but Im glad for the opportunity i have to love
and serve all the missionaries in the zone. things are going well for
me :) Im grateful to be a missionary, even though my area is a little
hard at times, its just great :) I love this people. Anyways. im out
of time, and we have other missionaries showing up that we need to
help out. love you all! talk to you later!

Elder Bradburn
Machi Siniqua

November 2

Another week out here on Little Big Beach (the name of our island
translated). its been a pretty good week, a little stressful, and a
little bit tiring. but as always, im enjoying myself out here :) Im
happy doing the Lords work.

Tuesday- Tuesday was a rough day. we had lessons lined up for all day,
but literally every single lesson fell through. Ive never had that
happen to me out here. The people here in Playon are a little harsher
than Ustupu, so people arent always there when they say, and some of
the time wont even listen to us. So we spent about 7 hours walking
back and forth trying to find anybody to teach. but every plan and
back up plan fellthrough. but thats alright :) we were at least
trying.

Wednesday- Well, we were going to help Igwa start building his new
house, but he had to go fishing so we rescheduled for the next day.
Today, we got some better work going. Most of the people we wanted to
visit wer ehome, and willing to talk with us :)

Thursday-  Well, at 7, we started work helping Igwa to tear down the
kitchen at his mother in laws house, so he could build his house
there. (the tearing down took probably 30 minutes xD) Tule houses are
built with 12 super heavy thick logs (two in each corner of the house,
and 2 supporters in the middle) so we spent 5 hours that morning
digging the holes, and putting in 15 foot logs into the holes, just
the 3 of us xD it was really hard work, but i enjoyed it.

That took a really big part of our morning and stuff, and we werent
able to study in the morning. so we did what we could during the day,
and when congress started (we cant teach during congress) we went back
home to study.

Friday- We helped Igwa put in all the other posts. My official job was
the hole digger. i dug all the holes for the posts :) and then helped
raise the log in. it was really fun work. Our work day was really busy
and all over the place. we had people change appointments, not show
up, and all kinds of things, but we got to teach pretty well. We
taught a cool old guy named anostasio about the plan of salvation, and
it seemed like things started to click for him a little bit :) He came
to church on sunday (hes a less active)

Saturday- Our Branch President, Timoteo, needed some help in his finca
in the monte. So we went with him to go help out there. we were there
from 7am until 2pm. it was super hard work. when we got home, there
was no water, so we had to go to the other side of the island and
carry buckets of water back to the house to bath xD but it was fine.
That did kind of interrupt our plans for the day though... we had to
go and explain that we had no water to everyone.. normally it wouldnt
be bad to go and teach without showering first... but we came from 7
hours of heavy monte work cutting down trees and stuff.

we had a great lesson with a guy named Miguel. He seems like he could
be a great investigator. he agreed with everything that we said, and
whe nwe invited him to church, said he would go :) (he didnt go :()

Sunday- Fast sunday :) It went well. I cant understand anything that
happens, so I caught up on journal writing during that time :) we had
a few really cool lessons and stuff.but it was mainly a tranquilo day
:) things went well.

Thats basically my week :) for once i didnt have to travel at all!
super happy about that :) able to work in my own area with my own
companion. Sharing the gospel with my Tule brothers and sisters :)

Anyways. I hope you all had a good week, and will have a good week to
come :) Love you all! Fight through the hard times to make it to the
good... the Lord will always bless us if we try to do whats right and
endure to the end

-Elder Bradburn
Machi Siniqua

October 26

Well.. this week was pretty crazy for me. We went on divisions to get
them out of the way, and me not knowing the area super well, i was the
one to leave. Which isnt that bad but i basically spent a week living
out of a bucket xD (I travel with a 5 gallon bucket... they are easier
to carry than a bag, and they can work as a seat if you need one, and
they float.. so my luggage wont sink with the boat)

Anyways :) Tuesday morning I got on my way out to Nargana! I stayed
out there with Elder Taylor. Things were pretty good out there.
Nargana is a good island, and like Ive said in the past, its a little
more city than the rest. there arent many traditions, the people dont
walk around in traditional clothing, and they dont speak the language.
But I have some friends out there so it was nice to be there for a
minute.

That day we worked in their area, and we contacted a less active
member sometime that afternoon when we helped him dump water out of
his sunken canoe (canoes dont sink.. they just fill with water and
float under the surface..) and he said we could go back to teach him
later that night. We went back later, and that lesson was amazing :)
him and his family were like the postercard of a happy, church going
family :) the only problem is he works in the city  ( although he
attends church there) and his family is inactive. but he doesnt spend
enough time around home to be able to take them to church :/ it was
great though.

in the lesson, they gave us a corn flake drink, and afterwards taylors
stomach started to feel bad. So we ended our night there, and he ended
up throwing up later that night. Needless to say, he wasnt feeling
well enough the next day to go out and work. So we hung around close
to home and talked about our missions and life and our families :)

Then, on Thursday, I took a boat back to Playon, to take another boat
with Barker to head back to Irgandi. Ive never been out there
before... first thing we did when we got there, was bathe, In Irgandi,
the missionaries bathe in the river. so does everyone else in the
village. so you can imagine the difficulty of that... When we were
there, a man named Crespo was there. Crespo is an old wheel chair
ridden man that the missionaries help bathe and get dressed and
everything. He wasked us to come by later and play dominoes with him
before we got him ready for bed. so after we bathed, we ate dinner,
and then went to talke with Crespo :) Hes a cool guy.

In spanish, the word "ganar" means to win. you conjugate it like this
in past tense I- gane. you- ganaste. he-gano. we- ganamos. yall-
ganaron. and every time Crespo won at dominoes he would yell
"ganaste!!" xD he was a cool guy.

Friday morning we made the long long walk to Ukupa. basically, we
walked along the beach for an hour hauling our luggage to the other
village. Ukupa, and irgandi, are both basically camping lifestyle.
they live in the church, but the churches there are a little run down.
when you have to go to the bathrrom (irgandi had working toilets) you
pop a squat behind the building, over near a hole in the trees and
stuff. some mysterious way, the poop disappears before the next time
someone uses the bathroom.. we think its the crabs...

Friday we worked hard. Ukupa and Irgandi are both very traditional,
and friday night there was congress at 5, so we had to stop teaching
early :/ but we were able to visit some great people. including a man
that let me play his guitar :)

xD my flips flops are falling apart (they actually broke this morning)
and they have holes in them and just look bad. and an investigator
told me "elder. you have money. buy yourself some better flip flops"
xD it was really funny.half the time i go barefoot because the flips
flops dont do much. but now they broke.. so i guess im forced to buy
some new ones.

Saturday, was District Conference in Ustupu (the equivalent of stake
conference). soooo.. we all headed out there. From Ukupa... we took a
canoe with a 15 horsepower motor on it. with like 25 people in the
canoe. plus luggage. The poor driver thought we were going to sink. So
did I. Buuuut. eventually we made it. after 5 hours. In a normal boat,
which has at least 135 horsepower, it takes like an hour and a half.

Once in Ustupu, all my old people there basically attacked me running
down the street :) it was like a mosh pit with me in the middle :) Man
I missed everyone there.  Conference went well, and it was sad to
leave, but Im glad I got to see everyone again :) It was also nice
getting to talk with President Carmack about stuff with the zone and
everything. hes a great guy.

we left sunday afternoon, and they literally had to drag me into the
boat because all the people from ustupu wouldnt let me leave xD they
kept holding me back. Im hoping ill get to visit again later :)

Anywways. thats pretty much my week :) It was crazy busy, a lot of
fun, and all over the place. buuuut. im glad to be on my own island,
in my own area, and able to work with my own companion for the whole
week. We have no plans until next week :) its great.

Im so very greatful for the opportunities that the Lord gives me to
serve him, and his children who need to be brought unto Christ. Im
greatful I can share the gospel with so many people and bring a light
to their lives :) Im also greatful for the opportunity I have to help
the other missionaries in my zone, and help them work in their areas
and help them with any problems they have. Its just great :)

Ani nuedi :) Pab dummad an bendaisa bastante :) love you all! yall
have a great week, and dont forget to pray. or go to church. or to
read your scriptures. or any of the other commandments. It will bless
your lives :) I promise. Ive seen it in a lot of peoples lives :) talk
to you all next week! chauuu! nadeeee

-Elder Bradburn
AKA Elder Braboon or Machi Siniqua

October 19 - Playon Chico

Well... This was the city week. Not a whole lot of missionary
interesting things happened, but we were super busy all week. We flew
in on Tuesday, and I was able to email, but the craziness started
Wednesday. Wednesday all the new guys in the zone showed up to the
Assisstants house, and we gathered all the money for the zone and
divied it out to the elders. We luckily had a representative for every
island in the zone, except Ustupu, so the burden was a little lighter
on our heads this change :)

Wednesday, we went to buy everything we needed in Albrook. Albrook is
the Bus terminal for the entire country, but its also the country´s
biggest mall. Normally, missionaries are not allowed to enter, but we
have an exception because thats the easiest place to find all the
stories we need in an easy place. (I hate going there anyways... its
all worldy in there xD) We helped all the new guys get around Albrook
(that place is huge.. and easy to get lost in if you dont know where
you a re going).

Thursday, we got in all the last minute shopping. We went to
Abernathys to buy fishing stuff, knives, flashlights, etc. (personal
items) and to the distribution center to buy scriptures, white ties
for mola, etc. That night we didnt get any sleep (referring to me and
my companion) because we had to make sure everything was packed and
ready to go, and I had to pack my own bag and then we cleaned the
whole house, because we were 6 missionaries living there, and it got
pretty messy. We finally got to bed around 3, and the car showed up to
take us back to Blas at 5 Friday morning.

It was awesome seeing the wonder and awe in the Elders´ faces as we
drove out there and got on the ponga (the boats that take us out
there) and passing by all the islands and things :) It was really
cool. Reminded me not to take for granted that i have the opportunity
to be working here with these people.

Friday we basically died once we got home. We unpacked and slept. The
travel is hard and the trip is stressful. I fell asleep around 4pm and
woke up to my alarm at 530 am the next morning. crazy xD I remember
answering a phone call from Ustupu at 930 but I think I fell asleep
during the phone call xD

Saturday was a rough day because we were still super tired xD we took
the day easy, and set up appointments for our next week, and decided
to plan out our change for the zone (including divisions) Nothing too
exciting happend.

Sunday We got back to working hard :) We had a few lessons with some
less active members, some really cool people that ive come to love. We
also had a lesson with a new investigator named Ceda. She was a cool
lady. We needed to bring a member named Igwa to translate the lesson
for us, because she didnt speak any spanish, and we dont know enough
Tulegaya to teach a full on lesson. We ended up going back to the
house early to take numbers :/ numbers always turns into a long
process xD even though we only have 2 districts in our zone it seems
like the phone calls end up going way too long.

Today, well, today was a normal day. We have a bunch of divisions set
up for this week, so we have been getting pongas for travel. Because i
still dont know the island super well, my companion and i decided that
for this round of divisions ill leave, but the next time i get to stay
:) this week I go to Nargana on Tuesday, and to Ukupa on Thursday. And
then we have a District Conference in Ustupu on Saturday/sunday so ill
get to see all my old friends and recent converts there :) Im super
excited for that :)

Im so very thankful for the many blessings that I have in my life. Im
grateful that im able to serve the Lord and that Im able to do so here
ina a place so beautiful and learn from a totally different culture.
Im so grateful for that. Im grateful for family and friends that ive
made so far, and that i still have more time left of my journey (of
the mission, and of my life) and Im not going to take a single moment
for granted :)

I love you all! talk to you next week!

-Elder Bradburn

October 13 - with photos!

Well. this week is officially my first full week as a Zone Leader. it has definitely been a long one. but I definitely have enjoyed it :)

Basically my week started off with My first day of work in my area on Tuesday. That went really well. I really like the people we are teaching. There are definitely some great people who have a lot of potential if we can keep them coming to church and everything :) 

Wednesday, we had divisions scheduled with Nargana, and I didnt feel comfortable with the area yet, so I went to Nargana, which was fine with me because I have a lot of friends and stuff there :) So I headed out there. MY time there was pretty good. The Elders were working pretty well there. I enjoyed being there for a couple of days :)

Friday, me and Elder Perkes (my companion... the crazy bald guy in my photos) did surprise divisions with Carti and with Ustupu. He went to Ustupu and I went out to Carti. Carti was a little bit in ponga... Theyve had some bad circumstances including chicha fuerte (a tradition where basically everyone on the island gets drunk from homemade alcohol) and stuff that affected the work and the laziness kind of stayed around. 

I headed back to my area and we were able to get a couple of good days of work on saturday and sunday :) I dont have a lot of time to go into a lot of details. One of the people we are teaching is named Igwa. He is married and they are both baptized, but his wife is kind of dragging him down... We are trying to strengthen them both and keep them coming :)

Another guy we are teaching is named Dini. His family is really cool. they are starting to come back to activity and their 2 daughters are going to get baptized soon (they have 9 and 10 years)

Sunday Irgandi came to our island because both elders had to travel to the city with us. Laird is headed home and Sharp needed to do immigrations work. 

Monday, we were going to write, but they are reconstructing the chapel and destroyed the room with internet... so we waited until today to write :)

As the Zone Leaders here, we travel to the city every change to buy food for the zone and bring the new people out to Kuna Yala. We got here today and this week we will be working to get everything bought and bringing new people out. 

Last night was super stressful with the phone because basically every area in the zone had changes, and some elders were out of money. and travel is expensive here in Blas. So we had to figure all of that out. We are bringing 3 new elders out with us :) 

Sorry this isnt as detailed as i would like it to be. I guess they never are :P I need to be less busy xD Im greatful to be busy though :) its better than doing nothing! I love you all and thanks for continuing to red my emails :) Take care everyone!

Nuegambi

Bap Dummad be bendake

Cedomalo

October 5 - Playon Chico

This week has definitely been.. full of surprises. excitement, and
sadness. Basically, we got back from Nargana on tuesday afternoon. so
we werent able to get a whole lot done. Tuesday night president called
me to ask me a few questions, which i thought was a little weird.

To give a little background, Elder Teichert, my ex comp and now ex
Zone Leader, went home last wednesday.

Wednesday morning ( I assume through no coincidence with the phone
call the night before) the Assistants called me and Bartleson. Crap. I
was worried I was in trouble for something. annnnndd.... they let me
know I was the new Zone Leader. I thought it was a joke, but seeing as
im currently writing my email from Playon Chico, It wasnt a joke.

We spent the end of that week saying good bye to everyone :/ I got the
call Wednesday and left Saturday at 5 am :/

we went throug the island taking photos and getting contact info of
everyone i know. The nice part of living on an island, is that it isnt
too hard to say goodbye to everyone in just a couple of days xD

So, jump forward in time, Its now saturday. We struggled to set up
conference here on playon chico for the afternoon session (could work
for morning :/) but luckily we were able to see all other sessions. I
absolutely love conference :) Hearing from out Living prohpet and
apostles is something so unique that only we have :) God really talks
to his prophet who leads and guides the true church of Christ. Not
that Im not fluent in spanish, I dont like listening to conference in
spanish. I just like hearing the emotion in the original speakers
voice. Its sooo nice. If a speaker speaks english, i wanna listen in
english. If they speak spanish, i wanna listen in spanish. its just
hard to pay attention to the translator xD

Greatful for that :) The rest of our sunday night was spent collecting
numbers from the zone and making sure there were no problems in the
zone- luckkily nothing too major :)

Im hoping this week ill get to know the members and investigators a
little better on our island :) hope that Ill be able to have something
a little more real and interesting to talk about.

Next Tuesday we travel to the city for changes to bring the new guys
out to Blas, so that will be exciting :)

Everybody take care! Sorry I didnt have much time to organize this
email too well, but thats pretty much the summary of my week. Dont
forget to start ponderizing! its such a great idea :) Me and my
companion, Elder Perkes (the bald guy in my photos in the past) are
going to do it on our whiteboard :)

Remember to be greatful for everything that we have :) for the
prophets and apostles that speak to us today, and the gospel we are so
lucky to have in our lives. Always help those around you- here in kuna
yala a huge part of our time is spent in service. We help people in
any way we can and its amazing :) sometimes the people dont speak
spanish and all i can say is "An bendake" which means "I help" but at
least they know that there are 2 gringos on the island that are always
willing to help :)

TAke care of yourselves this week! Talk to you all later! love ya!

Sept 28

Sooooo... a close friend of mine recently let me know that all of my emails start with "Well" soooo... i thought i would change things up :) (Sarah) This week, I spent in Nargana. It was pretty fun, but I am so glad to be able to go back to my island tomorrow!!

This week wasnt super interesting so Im not going to make this super long. Ill just give a general overview. 

Monday- we had Zone Conference, and Interviews with PResident :) I love getting to talk with president. Hes an amazing guy :) We had some cool talks and stuff and a great conference. We also got to see the movie Freetown. That movie, for those who ahvent seen it, is SUPER GOOD. We got to see it in Conference :)

Tuesday- Bartleson had his appointment in the city, so I went to Nargana to stay with Elder Taylor. Since Mondays they normally get water from the river, There was no drinking water. Nor bathing water. The Elders here, normally go in a ponga up the river to get water. its like a 30 minutes trip. BUT- the ponga driver was gone, and we arent allowed to drive motors. sooo.... we took the ponga, took off the motor, and paddled what was essentially a motorboat withough a motor as if it were a canoe. 6 hours, aching muscles, and 300 mosquito bites later, we got home. Basically.... We died until wednesday night. We were in such p´pain that we had to call the mission nurse xD I thought I threw out my back paddling. I also tore up my hands with blisters. a week later and they are still bleeding xD

Wednesday- DEAD

Thursday- We started leaving. but Elder Taylor got sick so we werent able to do a ton... he couldnt stay away from the bathroom long enough to do any real work, but we did walk around a bit to say hey to everyone :)

Friday- Copy and paste from thursday, but add a few lessons

Saturday- the day i packed to leave. Turns out, due to a few complaining customers, the caars to transport my comp from the city got there late. so, they got there too late for most pongas. but they found a special ponga that only went to nargana. so we got stuck until Monday (today)

Sunday- Church, etc, todo cool with sacrament and everything :) The District President showed up too. Cool stuff. I like him when he isnt angry XD

Monday- wellllll... long story short.. no ponga. however, i think it might partially be Heavenly Faathers will because we got to teach lessons to the columbian boats at the docks as well. It was cool. We spent 6 hours talking to them about gospel topics and answering questions and stuff :) we even got one guy to download Gospel Library on his phone :) They were cool guys. half of them were drunk but maybe something stuck.

Andddd thats pretty much my week :) Bartleson has the OK to start working full boar now, so we are going to hit this week RUNNING because im dieing to start doing SOMETHING. we should be showing up tomorrow :)

Hey, and nobody forget that we get to hear from our dear Prophet and the modern day apostles and prophets this coming weekend :) im super excited- hoping we get our computer fixed so we can watch it... im confident the Lord will make it happen :)  Love yall! have a good week!

Bap Dummad be bendake