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!