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
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
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
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
