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