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

September 21

Well :) another week has ended. A week that finally involve no traveling, however still didnt involve much real work :/ Its always nice being in our area at least :) Our recent converts pass by the house all the time so its not like there is nothing happening. Theyre great kids :) With Bartlesons still broken foot (lame doctor) we havent been able to get out of the house much... so this is going to be another summarized week to keep you all from getting too bored haha.

Basically, this week, the only thing that happened was an attempt at divisions. Our district leader, Elder Barker (from my MTC group) was going to come do divisions wiht me so we could get some work done in our island- buttttt the ponga (speed boat) screwed up and we couldnt catch a boat ride to trade bartleson and barker. so, we tried again on friday, and our ponga never showed up.. again. so we canceled. and then 3 hours later, it showed up, and expecte us to still travel with them. we had already cancelled our plans!! Lame people..

Today has been pretty good :) I always love sundays :) theyre great days to think and to partake of the sacrament. We get to remember and renew our covenants, and complete our weekly repentance process. Today I got a unique view of the sacrament- a view i havent had in close to a year. there were no priests that showed up so me and my companion were asked to bless the sacrament :) It was a great experience i havent had in a while :) ANY PRIESTS READING: dont take for granted what you are doing- you are standing in place of the Savior and helping all who partake to renew their covenants, and to finish their repentance process. Its an amazing opportunity.

anyways :) thats pretty much my week in a nutshell.. tomorrow we have Zone Conference, so we get to take another lovely motor boat out to Playon Chico. Hoping we dont drown in te ocean :) haha. itll be fun. President is coming this time around! itll be a good time :) thank you all for staying tuned :) Heres to hoping ill have more missionary work to talk about this week (I should- im going to stay in nargana with Elder Taylor for the week- so ill havethe opportunity to work this week)

anyways. Love you all! take care of yourselves! Bap Dummad bemar bendake gusgu. Nuegambi :)

-Elder Bradburn (Machi Siniqua... translated.. "short boy" even though im taller than all the men here, thats what they call me xD)

September 14

well... as the title implies... im back on my island :) not a lot else to report on... I didnt throw up on the trip back xD so thats a good thing. I said a prayer before so i think i had a Little help. this week has been super boring... not much has hapened.

 

on Tuesday, we went to the doctor.... the verdict on my companions foot... the doctor sees nothing on the x-ray. soooo.. the doctor said to go back to the island, and walk on it for two weeks, take pain medication, and hope that it breaks bad enough that we can see it in an xray (Im not sure if thats logical... maybe Brother Whipple could give me some insight on that) but ya. sooooooo I organized our travel on thursday because we got the ok to head back :) 

 

Wednesday- well... We got ready to leave. and an island didnt get some things on their list of stuff so we had to go shopping for them- it made our day stressed and complicate, but its all good :) we got to buy a few more things that we didnt have as well

 

Thursday- the travel- travel went well. it was a lot faster tan expeced, and like i said, i didnt throw up. so that means it went pretty smoothly xD

 

other tan that, things have been quiet out here. we have had just acouple of lessons since we have been back. the chapel is close, so we have been having important lessons there, because my companions foot is bothering him a lot. 

 

so thats basically the summary of our week this week. its slow, and aggravating, butttt teres nothing we can do. satan has worked hard to keep me out of the game- ive definitely learned the important of WORKING WHILE I CAN. working hard because who knows the next time ill get sick xD

 

annnnyways. I love yall tons! thanks for keeping up with me and my life :) take care of yourselves, and live your life to the fullest :) and DONT FORGET TO PRAY :)

September 7

well... this week isnt going to have a long explanation... to make a long story short... We are still hanging out in the city. We went to the doctor tuesday, and he ordered an xray, told us to come back wednesday. I am not even kidding, when we walked in on wednesday, his desk lady said he was out of the country. Getting eye surgery in both his eyes. Sooo... my companion has a blind doctor outside of the country. Convenient. So President set us an appointment with a new doctor... the following tuesday (aka tomorrow) and then we will see what happens. 

Our week has basically been doing nothing. The Zone Leaders came out to buy everybodys stuff for blas, so I got to help with that. But other than that, not much has happened this week. 

I got to have an interview with president while Ive been here :) He let me know that ill probably stay where im at for a while- Im very happy where Im at :) its super tiring living on an island with poor living conditions, but I really enjoy it. I wouldnt trade it for anything :) Not even for Cardenas (the area where all the foreigners with money live... its a cushy sister area.. they get to speak english) 

But anyways :) Things are great. I love it here. Panama is a great country :) and I love the Tule people. theyre amazing. I know my Father called me to be where I am. I know Im meant to be here. And i am so blessed for that. not just because that place happens to be where I am, but because in this place, I can feel its where im needed. I know its where my Father needs me to be :) I wouldnt trade this or anything :)

Love yall :) glad yall are keepin up with my story :) 

Cedomalo :) Cuidase

Nuegambi :)

August 31

Well... its been both an eventful and uneventful week. there isnt a whole lot to write about though. so Im not even going to break it up into days... just the important things that happened.

Monday.... we had a family home evening with our landlord and his family. and, during the opening him the hermana asked me if i would give te class part. so, I talked about helaman 5:12, and how we need to be built upon the rock of our redeemer. Afterwards, we always play a game. we were playing what would be called "cops and robbers" in english, and my companion stepped on a rock or something... and broke his foot. so, we were given two days of rest, and then the misión nurse decided we had to go to the hosptal. The hospital... is 7 hours in boat, and 4 more hours in car away from us. 

Now. hospital was out of the question. Why? we had baptisms on saturday. so we talked with president, and he said if my compnion stayed OFF his foot, we could stay for the baptisms and come to the hospital on monday :) 

sooo... Baptisms were a success. We had 7 baptisms :) Bello, Exler, Lain, Ronilka, Kankiler, Calvin, and myireth. The are all great kids :) I actually got to perform baptisms for the first time in my misión :) usually we get a priest to do it, but we couldnt this time. so, saturday we marched out to the beach to do our baptisms :)

It was super cool, watching each of these 7 teenagers come out of the wáter as new kids :) walking into the ocean they were all screaming and loud, but as son as they came back out of the wáter, they stayed quiet till the end. One of the kids came out of the wáter and even said "no more sins.. Im clean". Im just super proud of these kids :) I hope we stay in touch and that I can one day see them go on missions :) one day.

well :) thats pretty much my week in a nut Shell. there wasnt much leaving and teaching, due to the school Schedule and curfew hours (kids get out of school at 530, and have to be inside by 6... I almost got a kid put in prison for the night because he was being my companion). but it was a good week :)

This next week will be an interesting one, we are going to the city and not come back here til probably friday. itll be an interesting week to write about! Itll be the first time ive seen a car or a real building in 3 months. or eaten ice cream. Theres definitely going to be ice cream involved in the next week xD

I love all of you! Im greatful for the impact you have all had on my life, whether youre family, bishop, seminary teacher, close friend, etc. You have all had an impact on me and helped me turn into the man and missionary i am today :) I can only imagine being a father, after being so attached to these kids and baptizing them, what it will be like to see my children taking the correct steps in their lives. watching them struggle, get better, and grow. 

Im greatful for the góspel i have in my life. A missionary recently told me about a book that explains that Faith, is not knowledge. or it wouldnt be faith. so we cant say "I know" in our testimonies, because we DONT know. however, after Reading this book, it also explains that faith, can eventually turn into knowledge. Even if you havent seen proof. that Faith and acting on faith, can bring knowledge. and I CAN say, I know Christ is my savior and my redeemer. I know that I am his representative as a full time missionary. I know that I am a child of my Heavenly Father and he carefuly watches over each and eery one of his children. I can honestly bear testimony of these things :) I love you al. keep Reading the scriptures, keep looking for truth. As we find truth and light, we wil have a greater capacity for more. 

Elder Bradburn

August 24 - Still on Ustupu

Well. Its been a pretty good week :) Things on bunny island are going
pretty well. Im in Paradise!! Lets jump into my week...

Wednesday- Wednesday was an interesting day. I dont really like
divisions, but it was cool to be with Barker, from my MTC group. So i
guess it wasnt al bad xD We had to find him a boat ride back to ukupa
for the next day,  go buy clean wáter, and a few other small errands.
so we didnt start work work until around 4. At 4, we went and talked
to the excommunicated guy that we have been teaching. hes a great guy,
and has a huge desire to be baptized again. President Carmack is
coming to interview him in october :)

Later that night, we taught the Word of wisdom to our group of
teenagers we are teaching!! they are getting baptized this coming
saturday :) super excited. they are all really good kids. I love them.
We just have to get permission to baptize them from their parents.
thats a lot of work when they dont live on the island xD

Thursday- Well. Elder Barker left at 5am, and I went to the chapel to
exercise and spend the day alone until 3. i hate being alone. its a
really weird feeling. especially when you cant work. it just makes me
feel lazy because i have to do nothing in the house. but ya. bartleson
got back and was tired from traveling, so he emailed home (where he
was, there is no internet) and then we rested for the day.

Friday- the higlight of our day, was a lesson with a kid named Joel.
hes 20 years old, and goes to some kind of evangelical church. hes a
good kid, and says he believes in everything we say... but that it
doesnt mean he should change churches. lessons with him end up being 2
hours because its "our lesson" and then his testimony about
everything. I just want to get the priesthood and the restoration
through his head!! he would be a great member, and very religious.
either way, i wanna keep up with him. hes a good kid :)

We taught the law of chastitiy to our group of Young people who are
getting baptized xD that was a fun one. teaching 9 teenagers between
12 and 18years old the law of chastity xD it was all god thought :) we
got them to be serious enough to understand the doctrie :) theyre
really good kids :)

Saturday- Well... we got up at 4am... a group of kids in the branch
wanted us to train them in basketball... so we got up with them xD so
early. its imposible to play basketball before the sun wakes up haha!
xD

we had to make up sleep later xD well. my comp did. I just stayed
awake. we were supposed to go give service in a farm in the mountain
today, but 1.it started raining like crazy, and 2. they didnt tell us
until that morning that there was a Central America missionary
conference broadcast.. so we tried to watch it, but it basically
failed drastically. it ended up being just a waste of time.

We had some cool lessons. I also baught a cool painting :)

Sunday- I gave a talk in church :) we give talks like... twice a month
in our branch.. but its all good :) I love church and taking of the
sacrament. my favorite part of every week :) Sundays tend to be
tranquilo here. we had to help a kid with some english work, and so I
took that time to make a bunch of agenda covers for my planner :)

Anways. thats pretty much my week this week!! this coming week is the
last week of the change... so next tuesday we will recieve changes...
i shouldnt be leaving but anything is posible. PRaying I stay, but Ill
go wherever the Lord needs me. I FEEL like im going to be here for a
while. So we will see what happens :) I love you all! thanks for
keeping up with what Im doing out here :) I appreciate the support and
emails that yall send me!! Everybody have a great week :) Remember to
pray

Bap Dummad be bendakoe (literally translated Great Father Will Help
You.. meaning... God bless you)

-Elder Bradburn

August 18

well... Another week (4 days) have past since we last spoke! so much
and yet so little has happened xD ill just jump into my week (we did
zone conference)

Well.... Saturday (because we emailed friday) saturday turned out
interesting... my companion kind of hurt his foot. he somehow bruised
his heel and split open the side of it... so he hasnt been able to
walk, but has been trying. and basically his mom got super made at him
and he realized that he should probably rest up a bit. so we rested on
saturday. I decided to take advantage and clean the house... so I
literally took everything away from the walls and swept EVERYTHING. I
organzied my companions stuff (I figured it would make him feel better
to have a clean area..) and then sprayed the house with insecticide to
keep all the stinkin bugs away from us. it was fun. I also found like
3 crabs living in our house. one of them was huge... its beause its
been raining and we sleep with the door open because its hot... crab
poop is actually pretty big xD

We taught english class later that night, and it basically destroyed
us. the kids are starting to get hard to control during that time. I
dont know why they get so hyper with us. we have had to threaten to
stop teaching english class. but its all good.

Sunday- We went to church :) I love going  to church. we had 60 people
there that day :) it was pretty cool. we have been having pretty good
attendance. after church, we had to go and charter a ponga to take us
to zone conference the next day... all the pongas on the island said
no... and then in passing Salmos 23 told us that they made a mistake
and were traveling the next morning! miraclesssss.

Monday- We left super early, in the middle of a rain storm. the water
was pretty choppy but it wasnt too bad. We got to playon chico at 630
am xD super super super early. but... its the only time a ponga left
Ustupu.

Conference was fun. we got personal life jackets from the church (they
are stinking huge...) and medication to prevent malaria. which im
super happy to have. we are now taking doxycycline daily to keep away
the malaria (and it also happens to kill any other bacteria in the
body) so its all around a helpful thing. We played soccer and ultimate
frisbee the whole day. it was super fun :)

We talked later about the importance of preparing for war... how we
prepared all our lives for a mission, and now in the mission we need
to keep defending ourselves and preparing not only for our time here,
but also preparing to defend our families after. Elder Alonzo (our
area 70) said when he came to visit that our success as missionaries
and preparing ourselves can be measured in 5 years when we have
started a family. it was really cool. just thinking about how we are
really preparing for the rest of our lives, and learning to be serious
about whats important in life.

Tuesday- well... thats today. our district leader decided to do
divisions, so im currently back on my island againm but with Elder
Barker. We were in the MTC together :) itll be a good couple of days.
We didnt get back till 2 because the pongas dont pass by on their way
here until 11am. but ya. itll be an interesting couple of days :)

So... our computer broke today... so im again in the age of borrowing
peoples computers.... so dont be surprised if i cant find a computer
once in a while. but ya :) i should be able to communicate every pday.

anyways :) thats where we are at! i love you all! dont forget to keep
building your walls and towers to protect your cities... defend not
only your weaknesses but also your strengths.satan is looking for the
smallest weak spots in our armor, and we need to be ready and waiting
for him when he tries. its too easy to fall into his traps!!

anwyays :) I love you all. thats all i have for today. Im sorry it
wasnt much, but Ive spent a lot of time off my island or my companions
been sick. this week will be better... his foot has healed, so we are
going to hit the ground running :) talk to you next monday!!!


Dios Les Bendiga
Bemar Nuegambi
Bab dummad be bendake
-Elder Bradburn