Dear Family and Friends,
Hey, great story about the Bishop, mom. I think I saw a video of that story on Mormon Messages. [Watch this – it is an amazing story I just saw at Time Out For Women – Shelly speaking here -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU ].
Hey Dad, too bad so few students showed up to your institute class. Maybe the ones who didn't show up were busy, or they were like me and hadn't gone on a mission yet and don't fully understand the importance of the gospel. As far as Mother's Day goes, I don't have any news about the whole skype thing yet. All I know is that here in Brazil time, I have church from 8:30 to 11:30 AM.
So, we did a lot of door contacts this week, but we weren't able to get into people´s houses. They said to come back a different time this upcoming week, so we will. Hopefully we will get to teach some people. We taught one family though, but I am not sure if they completely understood our message. We will go back though. We were also able to visit I******* again after 2 or so weeks, and it turns out that she is still trying to quit smoking. I feel sorry for her, she is going through a lot of withdrawals and it doesn't help since everyone around her smokes too. Overcoming addictions is not easy. My advise is: Don't get trapped into one. But I do know that she has felt the spirit of our message and she knows there is good reason for overcoming this addiction.
Same companion. Same ol', same ol'. Oh some new news actually: we got a slip at the Zone conference and there are certain movies that we are allowed to watch on p-day, like The Singles Ward, etc. Cool things like that.
So recently, other than focusing on investigators and sharing the gospel of course, I have been thinking of what exactly I was going to do as a job some day. My patriarchal blessing said I would be successful in whatever occupation I choose. So I have been narrowing it down and praying about it. I did receive an answer, so yes, God does answer our prayers, but the only response was that I needed to make the decision myself. Maybe you guys could give me your opinions. I want to make a decision but I know the first step is serving a full-time, honorable mission. The mission comes first and so does the Lord.
Love you guys. Stay strong in the church. I was reading a general conference talk and the speaker said that when it comes to trials, some people will come closer to Christ and others will push themselves away. Be the one that comes closer.
Love you all!
Elder Kevin Brady
Monday, April 30, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
April 16, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Life is going fine on the mission. I am still in this area. I have not been transferred yet at this moment in time. So this may be the longest I will be in an area. What luck, too, because this area is the largest in the mission (about 8 cities or so) and it has the most hills. I love it. I really do...
We had a zone conference this week and thankfully the president got up and told everyone to follow the teaching patterns of Preach My Gospel and "The District" DVDs 1 and 2, instead of doing the two part lessons that have been used before. I hated the two part lessons. One elder spoke for 20 minutes of the lesson and the other Elder spoke for 45. Sometimes the other elder would give a testimony every now and then. So things are better when we teach. Also, we were told that we need to follow the English version of Preach My Gospel because there are mistranslations in the Portuguese one. For instance, according to the Portuguese PMG: to find out how some of the Lamanites used their time wisely, we can go to chapter 121 of Helaman [for those not familiar with the Book of Mormon, there are only 15 chapters in Helaman].
I saw the last session of conference this Sunday and that was the only session that I will get to see, which I´m fine with, of course, because the way that they do the audio dub here is not so great. It sounded like two people were talking to me and my brain was trying to listen to the talks in Portuguese and English at the same time. I got a terrible headache from trying to concentrate. If ever you have the time you should try listening to conference in a different language. All you do is just switch the language on lds.org and you will have conference in a different language.
Not much has happened in our area besides that. We are still trying to find people to teach. Hopefully this week is the week we will find some people. The gospel is the greatest message on earth today, and people don't want to hear it, and don't always understand when they do. It's irritating at times, it really is.
I love you and love your letters. You guys are awesome!
Love,
Elder Kevin Brady
PS -
Oh and the tarantula was in the baptismal font. I guess it wanted to be baptized...
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
April 9, 2012
Hello Family and Friends,
Good news! I got a new camera! Bad news, the cheapest camera that I was able to find was a $152 American and it feels like a toy camera. There was a Sony camera but that was about R$500 (reais). I do not know how much that would be in American; more than 200 bucks I think. But at least I have a camera, and you guys can see that I am doing well, and that I am not dead. :)
Good to hear that Easter was awesome. One of the members gave us some food for Easter. We ended up getting food poisoning, but - shhhh - don't tell them. It tasted good, and that's all that matters.
This week was tough. We didn't get an opportunity to teach a lot of lessons. This area is hard, but we have to push through. We are starting an English class this week and I hope that will help us make a lot more contacts. Hopefully, things will turn around.
This coming transfer, next week, either Elder ******* or I will be moved to a new location. Don't know who it is yet. If it's me, then this will be my eighth transfer on my mission. If not, I will beat my personal record of eight weeks in one area. No idea what the mission president is planning.
I do not sing at church or baptisms very often because they don't do a lot of special music in the meetings here. The president has also asked us not to sing in the choir so we can spend more time contacting and teaching, so we listen to the president.
I may need deodorant soon...
That's about it for this week. Hopefully, the next week will be better.
I love you guys, and the Church and Gospel are true!
Love,
Elder Kevin Brady
Monday, April 9, 2012
April 2, 2012
(Just a little new friend!)
Dear Family and Friends,
We have three investigators. and hopefully they will come to church at some time. We have struggled with people following up on the commitment to come. And it can be frustrating at times, especially since they have already received a witness of the truth. Now I understand how Heavenly Father feels about me most of the time. Face-palming up in heaven wondering why I make stupid decisions. It can get irritating. I get it now.
The branch president likes Elder*******r and I, and the fact that we are actually doing things since the last 5 groups did nothing. Don't have a baptism scheduled at this time, but hopefully that will change in the days, or weeks, to come.
So recently, I have just been in a bad mood about the mission, wanting to give up, and thinking about times when life was so much better and blah blah blah blah blah. I realized that that was what was stunting my growth. I wanted things to be easy. Well guess what, it won't be and I need to get used to it. I need to get over myself, as me and my other friends would say. Get lost in the work. Didn't make sense before, but I get it now. I was too worried about myself and if I was good enough - until something just said "Hey Elder, shut up, who cares about you. You are on the Lord's errand and he has only asked you to do your best. Now go and stop being a baby." That was the answer to my prayers and fasting. Whether it was the Spirit, or just myself telling me, it helped.
So, my attitude is starting to turn around. I am looking at the mission with a new perspective. If ever I find times to be hard, I just got to tell myself "shut up, get to work, do your best." Makes sense to me. But seriously, we cannot be beating ourselves up on not being perfect, or that we aren't worthy or something. If the Lord has called us to do something, and we are keeping the serious commandments, the Lord trusts us to fulfill it. And through him, we are definitely able to do all things.
I love you all and your support, and enjoy your letters.
Love, Elder Kevin Brady
PS To Katrina:
Hey great to hear things are doing well back at home. I liked the comments from both kids; however loving and interesting they were haha. I didn't know you taught Relief Society, but I am sure that is a great calling. I am sure Gordon did well on the bar. A favorite candy that I have not found in Brazil is skittles. Why do you ask?
March 26, 2012
Hello Family and Friends,
It is cool you all are going to Nauvoo. I've never been there. Don't know what it's like, but I am sure it's awesome. I almost went with Dad, but then he didn't take me and sent me a brick or something. Well, hopefully you all enjoy it over there. I won't be seeing General Conference this weekend, but maybe different one [from earlier?]. I might not be able to hear Priesthood Session as well, just because of where our area is.
This area is extremely difficult. The members are not helping at all because they say they have references but they never give any. Please be sure to give references to your missionaries because it helps so much. We have to come up with a ton of different ways to find people. We are probably going to start a English Class and find people to teach through that.
This week was awful since we had to go to a different area and do divisions because one Elder had to go to Floripa for a Visa and we had to stay in that area with his companion. My companion got a bunch of letters and I got none, so that was sad. But of course, the work is more important so I should focus on that. We made 18 contacts this week and no one accepted. Note: when I say contacts, or going out contacting, that generally means tracting. This is me confusing Portuguese with English.
I hope things get better. This has been a very trying area, and we are, I guess, trying to get better. The thing is, I am a person that doesn't necessarily follow others, but I don't tell others what they can or can't do, or should or shouldn't do. I just can't do it. I will say, "we should work harder", and if they say no, I won't argue. Won't fight. So if people slack off, I won't fight with them. Most of the time I won't tell president either. I literally can't do something like that, unless they start getting into my business. If they start attacking me, I will talk and leave, but if not, then I will say my piece and let at that. So it appears to some I am a slacker, when really I just don't tell people what to do.
That is my week. My companion is not too bad. He has made a goal to try a lot better this week, so we can get some success, and I am not complaining. I'm kind of getting bored of not having any success over here. I would so love to be able to preach the gospel again.
I love all of you. I love receiving your E-mails.
Love,
Elder Kevin Brady
Sunday, April 8, 2012
March 19, 2012
Dear family,
So to answer the questions about the camera, I don't have a possible way to buy a camera at this moment and time because I don't know how much money I have on the debit card. All the cameras around here are at least R$ 200 so I don't know how much that is in American money. Maybe around $125 or something. So if I know how much I have in the bank, then I will get the camera. Until now I have been trying to use some pictures from my companion's camera but his camera is freaking out so it is not working too well.
Wow that's cool to hear that it is snowing over there. Looks like Extreme Climate change is actually happening. Don't worry though, according to a member over here, the church is actually building a rocket ship that will bring us to a new planet and we will soon be leaving. We won't need to worry about Extreme Climate change anymore.
We actually had a lunch without any rice on Saturday. Instead it was just Pizza. My favorite was the bacon pizza. It was very weird not having any rice. But it was the best lunch ever. The irmã wasn't there to cook and so the husband didn't feel like cooking, so he just bought some take home and bake pizza. It was good stuff.
Cool to hear about Dad's new calling. The best way to learn about the gospel is teaching it. Because you have to go through all the studying and everything. I can only study the four same materials during my mission, so by the time I'm done, I will have them all memorized... in Portuguese. Then I can come back and read them in English and understand everything. haha just kidding. The language is coming along. Now I just need to pay attention to people because sometimes I just don't want to talk. Or listen. I think I struggle with listening a lot. Even at times when I do start listening, someone will say something that makes me think and then I focus on thinking about that and they have already changed subjects and then ask me a question and I respond with a answer that they didn't want and so they think I don't know the language.
Elder **** gets a lot of nose bleeds because of the altitude changes and the dry air. He already lost a handkerchief because of the blood. It was funny, it looked like he killed someone with his handkerchief. It was at a public restroom too, so he was worried someone would come in and see all the blood. That was the fun of this week.
A lot of the members are now practicing their English with us since we are Americans so we have mixes of Portuguese conversation and English conversations. Or sometimes we just talk about American bands.
The baptism fell through because the investigator went out of town this weekend and so we have to postpone the baptism for a later date because she needs to come to at least two sacrament meetings before she is baptized. Hopefully she will come next week. I think something important came up. She has a problem with smoking but she is trying to stop now which surprised us just a little, but I am sure it was because of the priesthood blessing we gave her. That helped a lot I am sure. She has great faith and that is something that I find at times I need to work on even more. I read everyday about the faith in the book of Mormon and I constantly ask myself that if I was in that situation, would I be able to do the same thing. Faith is the first principle of the Gospel and probably the most important since everything else falls into place afterwards: repentance, baptism, holy ghost, endure to the end. Faith and works. Don't forget works. You need to show you have faith with works.
I love you all and the gospel and church and book of Mormon is all true. That is why I am out here on the mission preaching the gospel. I wouldn't if it was not true, or I would be wasting two years of my life leading others astray. Is that worth it? No. The Gospel is most definitely true.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Kevin Brady
So to answer the questions about the camera, I don't have a possible way to buy a camera at this moment and time because I don't know how much money I have on the debit card. All the cameras around here are at least R$ 200 so I don't know how much that is in American money. Maybe around $125 or something. So if I know how much I have in the bank, then I will get the camera. Until now I have been trying to use some pictures from my companion's camera but his camera is freaking out so it is not working too well.
Wow that's cool to hear that it is snowing over there. Looks like Extreme Climate change is actually happening. Don't worry though, according to a member over here, the church is actually building a rocket ship that will bring us to a new planet and we will soon be leaving. We won't need to worry about Extreme Climate change anymore.
We actually had a lunch without any rice on Saturday. Instead it was just Pizza. My favorite was the bacon pizza. It was very weird not having any rice. But it was the best lunch ever. The irmã wasn't there to cook and so the husband didn't feel like cooking, so he just bought some take home and bake pizza. It was good stuff.
Cool to hear about Dad's new calling. The best way to learn about the gospel is teaching it. Because you have to go through all the studying and everything. I can only study the four same materials during my mission, so by the time I'm done, I will have them all memorized... in Portuguese. Then I can come back and read them in English and understand everything. haha just kidding. The language is coming along. Now I just need to pay attention to people because sometimes I just don't want to talk. Or listen. I think I struggle with listening a lot. Even at times when I do start listening, someone will say something that makes me think and then I focus on thinking about that and they have already changed subjects and then ask me a question and I respond with a answer that they didn't want and so they think I don't know the language.
Elder **** gets a lot of nose bleeds because of the altitude changes and the dry air. He already lost a handkerchief because of the blood. It was funny, it looked like he killed someone with his handkerchief. It was at a public restroom too, so he was worried someone would come in and see all the blood. That was the fun of this week.
A lot of the members are now practicing their English with us since we are Americans so we have mixes of Portuguese conversation and English conversations. Or sometimes we just talk about American bands.
The baptism fell through because the investigator went out of town this weekend and so we have to postpone the baptism for a later date because she needs to come to at least two sacrament meetings before she is baptized. Hopefully she will come next week. I think something important came up. She has a problem with smoking but she is trying to stop now which surprised us just a little, but I am sure it was because of the priesthood blessing we gave her. That helped a lot I am sure. She has great faith and that is something that I find at times I need to work on even more. I read everyday about the faith in the book of Mormon and I constantly ask myself that if I was in that situation, would I be able to do the same thing. Faith is the first principle of the Gospel and probably the most important since everything else falls into place afterwards: repentance, baptism, holy ghost, endure to the end. Faith and works. Don't forget works. You need to show you have faith with works.
I love you all and the gospel and church and book of Mormon is all true. That is why I am out here on the mission preaching the gospel. I wouldn't if it was not true, or I would be wasting two years of my life leading others astray. Is that worth it? No. The Gospel is most definitely true.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Kevin Brady
March 12, 2012
OK Family and Friends,
I have lots of stuff to answer in so little time. I guess I will start off with some of the questions. The area I live in is fine and things are getting better. For instance, I just noticed the other day that it is getting slightly easier for me to get around the mountains. So that is good. We just got a baptism scheduled and that is really good. It is planned for the 31st of this month so hopefully it will all work out, and woman who is getting baptized has a daughter that has also shown interest in being baptized. We gave the plan of salvation lesson to them and we used Elder *******'s little cut out picture type thing of the Plan of Salvation that his family sent to him, only they were all in English. Like it had cut-out-drawn earth and star and sun and moon, things like that to help the investigator understand. I thought it would be cool to have a set of those, but in Portuguese. That might be more effective.
The members are excited that there will be a baptism since the last one was more than a year ago. The members are very cool and I enjoy them. The branch president had us over for dinner this week and we had pizza and a conversation about music in America and Europe.
To answer Tessa's question of where I will go to college after the mission, to be honest, I don't know.
I've noticed that I am kind of Liberal and not as much Conservative. No wait, I think that I am so conservative that I actually appear liberal. I think that is what I am trying to say. But all and all, I think that I would actually put down at this moment in time, that I am a member of the independent party, and after my mission I will join the "my rent is too dang high" party because my rent is too dang high.
That is my report for this week. I love all of you and you guys are awesome. The church is true and the beauty of it is that we can improve every day, no matter what.
Stay strong,
Elder Kevin Brady
I have lots of stuff to answer in so little time. I guess I will start off with some of the questions. The area I live in is fine and things are getting better. For instance, I just noticed the other day that it is getting slightly easier for me to get around the mountains. So that is good. We just got a baptism scheduled and that is really good. It is planned for the 31st of this month so hopefully it will all work out, and woman who is getting baptized has a daughter that has also shown interest in being baptized. We gave the plan of salvation lesson to them and we used Elder *******'s little cut out picture type thing of the Plan of Salvation that his family sent to him, only they were all in English. Like it had cut-out-drawn earth and star and sun and moon, things like that to help the investigator understand. I thought it would be cool to have a set of those, but in Portuguese. That might be more effective.
The members are excited that there will be a baptism since the last one was more than a year ago. The members are very cool and I enjoy them. The branch president had us over for dinner this week and we had pizza and a conversation about music in America and Europe.
To answer Tessa's question of where I will go to college after the mission, to be honest, I don't know.
I've noticed that I am kind of Liberal and not as much Conservative. No wait, I think that I am so conservative that I actually appear liberal. I think that is what I am trying to say. But all and all, I think that I would actually put down at this moment in time, that I am a member of the independent party, and after my mission I will join the "my rent is too dang high" party because my rent is too dang high.
That is my report for this week. I love all of you and you guys are awesome. The church is true and the beauty of it is that we can improve every day, no matter what.
Stay strong,
Elder Kevin Brady
March 5, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
Well things are much better than when the week started. So about being sick . . . yeah well, later on Monday I threw up as we got off a bus to visit the ward mission leader and so he took me to the ER and I waited about an hour there before they gave me a list of medications. Then the next day I went to the ER again since the medication didn't do much, waited for 30 minutes, had to get hooked to an IV and get some drug pumped into me, and then had to wait another 30 minutes after that so they could take out the IV and give me another list of medications. (I had so many (doctor prescribed) meds in me that I passed out at home). As I was receiving my last IV, blood started bleeding back into the tube. I was not particularly in the mood at the time to give blood, so I was getting extremely impatient with the whole free health care hospital and the extremely long waits. The good news is that I am perfectly fine now, I have just completely lost my appetite. Literally. And don't worry I am not addicted to any of the medications either.
So that covers my health for this week. And because of my sickness, we weren't able to go out and proselyte as much as we wanted. We only had a total of 4 lessons this week. Two investigators and the other two were with less active members. We did some tracting this week (since we've been white washed) and out of all the contacts we made, we only had two that looked somewhat promising. We will visit them tomorrow. We didn't have any investigators show up yesterday but that doesn't get me down too much. Actually the only thing that is a stumbling block for me is the freaking hills that are all over this place. Hills or mountains, same difference. After this, running around Disneyland will be nothing.
My companions get into a lot of arguments. Most are just friendly debates and rarely are they ever full of contention. But unfortunately it happens at times, so I made a goal (don't know how long this will last) that I will cut down on the whole arguing thing with others. Contention definitely does not leave a good feeling afterwards. Don't get me wrong though, my companion and I are great friends and we get along really well. Most of the time it is just debates between us that become heated eventually because we both have the problem of wanting to be right. I'm working on it.
I have learned how to make pastels, a type of Brazilian food that is fried, and I enjoy them a lot. You take this circular tortilla type of dough thing called a pastel, then you add whatever you want in it, fold it in half, seal it, drop it in hot oil and fry it, and then eat it. I want to lean how to make the actual dough, because I want to come home and show you guys pastels. There are both normal pastels and dessert pastels. Good stuff.
Questions: What is the address to Katrina and Gordon, and what is the address to Michelle and Drew? Does Gordan have a brother or relative that lives in Dallas, Oregon (as in Dallas Texas)? my companion wants to know. Elder ******** and I would like to know, because of a debate we had, how long are the people in Survivor on the island for and how many people are usually on the show? Not to be rude, but why again did Emily get such a short haircut? She doesn't look like a boy, but still...
Well that's it for today. I love you guys! The gospel is true and as President Joseph Fielding Smith (I think) said, sharing the gospel is the purest form of kindness we have today!
Love you all!
Elder Kevin Brady
Well things are much better than when the week started. So about being sick . . . yeah well, later on Monday I threw up as we got off a bus to visit the ward mission leader and so he took me to the ER and I waited about an hour there before they gave me a list of medications. Then the next day I went to the ER again since the medication didn't do much, waited for 30 minutes, had to get hooked to an IV and get some drug pumped into me, and then had to wait another 30 minutes after that so they could take out the IV and give me another list of medications. (I had so many (doctor prescribed) meds in me that I passed out at home). As I was receiving my last IV, blood started bleeding back into the tube. I was not particularly in the mood at the time to give blood, so I was getting extremely impatient with the whole free health care hospital and the extremely long waits. The good news is that I am perfectly fine now, I have just completely lost my appetite. Literally. And don't worry I am not addicted to any of the medications either.
So that covers my health for this week. And because of my sickness, we weren't able to go out and proselyte as much as we wanted. We only had a total of 4 lessons this week. Two investigators and the other two were with less active members. We did some tracting this week (since we've been white washed) and out of all the contacts we made, we only had two that looked somewhat promising. We will visit them tomorrow. We didn't have any investigators show up yesterday but that doesn't get me down too much. Actually the only thing that is a stumbling block for me is the freaking hills that are all over this place. Hills or mountains, same difference. After this, running around Disneyland will be nothing.
My companions get into a lot of arguments. Most are just friendly debates and rarely are they ever full of contention. But unfortunately it happens at times, so I made a goal (don't know how long this will last) that I will cut down on the whole arguing thing with others. Contention definitely does not leave a good feeling afterwards. Don't get me wrong though, my companion and I are great friends and we get along really well. Most of the time it is just debates between us that become heated eventually because we both have the problem of wanting to be right. I'm working on it.
I have learned how to make pastels, a type of Brazilian food that is fried, and I enjoy them a lot. You take this circular tortilla type of dough thing called a pastel, then you add whatever you want in it, fold it in half, seal it, drop it in hot oil and fry it, and then eat it. I want to lean how to make the actual dough, because I want to come home and show you guys pastels. There are both normal pastels and dessert pastels. Good stuff.
Questions: What is the address to Katrina and Gordon, and what is the address to Michelle and Drew? Does Gordan have a brother or relative that lives in Dallas, Oregon (as in Dallas Texas)? my companion wants to know. Elder ******** and I would like to know, because of a debate we had, how long are the people in Survivor on the island for and how many people are usually on the show? Not to be rude, but why again did Emily get such a short haircut? She doesn't look like a boy, but still...
Well that's it for today. I love you guys! The gospel is true and as President Joseph Fielding Smith (I think) said, sharing the gospel is the purest form of kindness we have today!
Love you all!
Elder Kevin Brady
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
February 27, 2012
Dear Family,
Well it's great to hear how everything is going in Hawaii. I'm sure the play was awesome and everything. Thank you all for celebrating my birthday by eating pineapple ice cream. That sure means a lot to me. Tell all my friends that I say hello to them too. I did wait to open all of my birthday presents and even waited to read the cards as well, until it was actually my birthday. I did open the awesome book of Christmas letters that you sent me mom, before my actual birthday, though. I loved reading the letters and re-reading about my childhood again. I loved the Reese's and peanut butter and syrup too. I thought the gifts were all awesome. And I also liked getting the Ensigns. I love reading the one about the Book of Mormon because it has so many interesting articles and I learned things that I have never really thought about much. Thanks again for the presents and the cards. I did enjoy the small cards too.
This area is very different. It has more hills than any other area I have been in and our house is in the center of the area which is in a small valley between the mountains. The church is on a hill and we need to climb about 50 stairs just to get to it. The area is also in a jungle, so that means that there are a bunch of crazy animals around that I have never seen before. Actually, yesterday, before a meeting, Elder ****** and I found a tarantula in the baptismal font. Elder ******** took a picture of it, and I would have too, but someone stole my camera last week, so I don't have a camera anymore. So for the rest of the mission, I guess I will just borrow my companion's camera to send you guys pictures.
The members here are much different than the rest of my mission. This is probably the first ward where the members actually walk the walk, as they talk the talk. This ward dresses the most modest out of any of the other wards, especially the Young Woman. I was actually surprised. I always thought that because it was a warmer climate, people dressed slightly different here in Brazil. This ward however proved me wrong, considering the fact that Joaçaba is actually one of the hottest cities if not the hottest. I definitely appreciate the modesty.
The elders quorum, actually the whole ward, wants to get involved with missionary work as much as possible. I feel kind of bad about it because these past few months since November, they have had some not-very-hardworking missionaries here. But now that me and Elder ****** have arrived, the ward members want to go on divisions every day with us if possible. These people also want to give us references. This area is full of great people, and they are very knowledgeable in the gospel. They also want the Young Men and Women to go proselyting with us to get some missionary experience. This ward is very excited about missionary work. In fact, last night, we split up to go home teaching with the members so that we can get to know everyone.
This Area I can see will be very rewarding because of both the efforts of us missionaries and of the members.
Well, that about wraps it up for this week. I love you guys and enjoy your letters. They mean a lot.
Love, Elder Kevin Brady
PS-I woke up this morning not feeling well and I have gotten worse. Hopefully it is nothing big, but if you could just keep me in your prayers that would be great.
Well it's great to hear how everything is going in Hawaii. I'm sure the play was awesome and everything. Thank you all for celebrating my birthday by eating pineapple ice cream. That sure means a lot to me. Tell all my friends that I say hello to them too. I did wait to open all of my birthday presents and even waited to read the cards as well, until it was actually my birthday. I did open the awesome book of Christmas letters that you sent me mom, before my actual birthday, though. I loved reading the letters and re-reading about my childhood again. I loved the Reese's and peanut butter and syrup too. I thought the gifts were all awesome. And I also liked getting the Ensigns. I love reading the one about the Book of Mormon because it has so many interesting articles and I learned things that I have never really thought about much. Thanks again for the presents and the cards. I did enjoy the small cards too.
This area is very different. It has more hills than any other area I have been in and our house is in the center of the area which is in a small valley between the mountains. The church is on a hill and we need to climb about 50 stairs just to get to it. The area is also in a jungle, so that means that there are a bunch of crazy animals around that I have never seen before. Actually, yesterday, before a meeting, Elder ****** and I found a tarantula in the baptismal font. Elder ******** took a picture of it, and I would have too, but someone stole my camera last week, so I don't have a camera anymore. So for the rest of the mission, I guess I will just borrow my companion's camera to send you guys pictures.
The members here are much different than the rest of my mission. This is probably the first ward where the members actually walk the walk, as they talk the talk. This ward dresses the most modest out of any of the other wards, especially the Young Woman. I was actually surprised. I always thought that because it was a warmer climate, people dressed slightly different here in Brazil. This ward however proved me wrong, considering the fact that Joaçaba is actually one of the hottest cities if not the hottest. I definitely appreciate the modesty.
The elders quorum, actually the whole ward, wants to get involved with missionary work as much as possible. I feel kind of bad about it because these past few months since November, they have had some not-very-hardworking missionaries here. But now that me and Elder ****** have arrived, the ward members want to go on divisions every day with us if possible. These people also want to give us references. This area is full of great people, and they are very knowledgeable in the gospel. They also want the Young Men and Women to go proselyting with us to get some missionary experience. This ward is very excited about missionary work. In fact, last night, we split up to go home teaching with the members so that we can get to know everyone.
This Area I can see will be very rewarding because of both the efforts of us missionaries and of the members.
Well, that about wraps it up for this week. I love you guys and enjoy your letters. They mean a lot.
Love, Elder Kevin Brady
PS-I woke up this morning not feeling well and I have gotten worse. Hopefully it is nothing big, but if you could just keep me in your prayers that would be great.
February 20, 2012
Hello to my family and friends,
This week, as I may have explained last week, I was with Elder ****** as a companion, and we didn't really do much. We kind of just went to a few members houses and we prepared someone for baptism. We did have another baptism. That was cool. The only thing is, all the members thought it was just a bishop/missionary baptism so no one showed up. It was just six missionaries, the bishop and his wife, and then three other people showed up after the ordinance. Oh, and the family of the girl who was baptized was there too. The big news is I will be transferred again to a completely new area, with a new companion this Wednesday. I will be going to Joaçaba, and my companion will be Elder *******. Cool fact: Elder *********'s dad served a mission in Thailand. So, when it comes to this area, I don't really have too much to say about this week.
So right now, I can't even think of what I'm writing about. Happy late Birthday to Emily. I don't remember if I said that last week. I can't believe I have been here on the mission for 8 1/2 months already.
There was someone that was American that came in our ward today and gave a talk about doing service towards others and how having charity can make us great people. He used the movie Groundhog day as an analogy and how it was about a guy who was completely selfish and then he becomes completely charitable. I thought the talk was pretty good.
That is my report this week. Sorry it's short. I love you guys.
Elder Kevin Brady
This week, as I may have explained last week, I was with Elder ****** as a companion, and we didn't really do much. We kind of just went to a few members houses and we prepared someone for baptism. We did have another baptism. That was cool. The only thing is, all the members thought it was just a bishop/missionary baptism so no one showed up. It was just six missionaries, the bishop and his wife, and then three other people showed up after the ordinance. Oh, and the family of the girl who was baptized was there too. The big news is I will be transferred again to a completely new area, with a new companion this Wednesday. I will be going to Joaçaba, and my companion will be Elder *******. Cool fact: Elder *********'s dad served a mission in Thailand. So, when it comes to this area, I don't really have too much to say about this week.
So right now, I can't even think of what I'm writing about. Happy late Birthday to Emily. I don't remember if I said that last week. I can't believe I have been here on the mission for 8 1/2 months already.
There was someone that was American that came in our ward today and gave a talk about doing service towards others and how having charity can make us great people. He used the movie Groundhog day as an analogy and how it was about a guy who was completely selfish and then he becomes completely charitable. I thought the talk was pretty good.
That is my report this week. Sorry it's short. I love you guys.
Elder Kevin Brady
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
February 13, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
I really do not understand people when it comes to food. I don't get why people think that a bowl of fruit for desert is a great treat. That makes no sense to me. How is anything healthy fun to eat? I can't think of anything that is healthy that is fun to eat. Why even have dessert? I fill myself with the main meal, the food that actually tasted good, so why is there a need to have dessert? I don't get it at all. They get so upset here if I don't eat a lot at the main meal, and then they expect me to have room for dessert? What is wrong with people here? And they get upset with me if I don't eat enough! Why get upset? Why not think, "oh well, more for me." When I have missionaries over and they say that they don't like the food or something like that, I will just respond with, "Then don't eat it." If they go home starving, that's their problem. I will not make fish though. I find fish to be the most offensive food to give to missionaries. I am lucky that I haven't had to eat it yet, but I know that if I do, I will only eat two bites, or I will literally throw up. Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like fish.
Any way, so I have been switched with a different companion, yet I am in the same area, Rio Tavares. My new companion is Elder ****** and he seems kind of quiet so hopefully we get along. The ward that I am in is very cool, and there is actually an American family that lives here in Brazil, but all of their kids were born here, so they learned Portuguese before English. The dad teaches the cello or something like that, so that is awesome.
The English classes are going well also, and we have a few investigators that are new from them as well, and we gave out 16 Book of Mormons to all of them which is awesome.
Not much else is going on. Just trying to get by. Serving here is great, and I love serving the Lord every day here.
I love you,
Elder Brady
I really do not understand people when it comes to food. I don't get why people think that a bowl of fruit for desert is a great treat. That makes no sense to me. How is anything healthy fun to eat? I can't think of anything that is healthy that is fun to eat. Why even have dessert? I fill myself with the main meal, the food that actually tasted good, so why is there a need to have dessert? I don't get it at all. They get so upset here if I don't eat a lot at the main meal, and then they expect me to have room for dessert? What is wrong with people here? And they get upset with me if I don't eat enough! Why get upset? Why not think, "oh well, more for me." When I have missionaries over and they say that they don't like the food or something like that, I will just respond with, "Then don't eat it." If they go home starving, that's their problem. I will not make fish though. I find fish to be the most offensive food to give to missionaries. I am lucky that I haven't had to eat it yet, but I know that if I do, I will only eat two bites, or I will literally throw up. Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like fish.
Any way, so I have been switched with a different companion, yet I am in the same area, Rio Tavares. My new companion is Elder ****** and he seems kind of quiet so hopefully we get along. The ward that I am in is very cool, and there is actually an American family that lives here in Brazil, but all of their kids were born here, so they learned Portuguese before English. The dad teaches the cello or something like that, so that is awesome.
The English classes are going well also, and we have a few investigators that are new from them as well, and we gave out 16 Book of Mormons to all of them which is awesome.
Not much else is going on. Just trying to get by. Serving here is great, and I love serving the Lord every day here.
I love you,
Elder Brady
February 6, 2012
Beleza, família (and friends).
Just to let you know, Beleza is slang for what's up in Portuguese. Sounds like you guys have had an interesting week. I don't even know what I did. I forgot it all. Anyway, Michelle is in my prayers as well and I hope everything goes well. But of course, it's the Lord's will and not ours. And yes it is true that I did used to kind of hate the beach (partly because Oregon beaches are rainy and cold), but I always had the choice of going there if ever I wanted to. Now I don't have the choice (if I want to keep the mission rules – and I do).
Not much happened this past week to be honest. Actually, I think the most excitement that I had all week was the English classes we are teaching and having to go on divisions with Elder ********* (one missionary who was in my district at the CTM) and going to the health center for his physical therapy. The rest of the week we went on divisions with the other Elders to learn the area and make contacts. I don't always like making contacts. I used to be afraid, but now it's just boring especially when people don't want to hear our message. But contacting people (strangers) has to be done so we can get to the good parts of the mission and start teaching people.
My companion is cool but there are times when I have no idea what is going on. Sometimes I feel like he and the other couple of missionaries in our area leave me out of the conversations (or maybe its just that I go off into my own world) and so I don't know what is going on. I don't mind, I just go into my own world, or I get my sense of fun with the other Elders in my apartment.
The other Elders are really cool and I enjoy being with them. Elder ******** just got his Christmas package and one of the presents was Pass the Pigs. Remember that game? its the best ever. Now, maybe not this package but the next one...I don't know but if I happened to find pass the pigs in there...My goal in that game is to get piggy back and get kicked out of the game. But, yeah, about the other Elders, we generally talk with each other and hang out at night.
That is all I have for this week. The language is coming slowly as always. I can understand fairly well “if” I concentrate. Emphasis on the "if". Sometimes I feel like my mind has exploded and my concentration has been shot. So that is the hardest thing for me.
Hey, you guys should send photos. I will next week or this week if I have time. Today I don't since someone else is using my camera to get pictures. I have a lot of pictures. I may need to get rid of some and save the good ones.
I love you all!
Elder Kevin Brady
Just to let you know, Beleza is slang for what's up in Portuguese. Sounds like you guys have had an interesting week. I don't even know what I did. I forgot it all. Anyway, Michelle is in my prayers as well and I hope everything goes well. But of course, it's the Lord's will and not ours. And yes it is true that I did used to kind of hate the beach (partly because Oregon beaches are rainy and cold), but I always had the choice of going there if ever I wanted to. Now I don't have the choice (if I want to keep the mission rules – and I do).
Not much happened this past week to be honest. Actually, I think the most excitement that I had all week was the English classes we are teaching and having to go on divisions with Elder ********* (one missionary who was in my district at the CTM) and going to the health center for his physical therapy. The rest of the week we went on divisions with the other Elders to learn the area and make contacts. I don't always like making contacts. I used to be afraid, but now it's just boring especially when people don't want to hear our message. But contacting people (strangers) has to be done so we can get to the good parts of the mission and start teaching people.
My companion is cool but there are times when I have no idea what is going on. Sometimes I feel like he and the other couple of missionaries in our area leave me out of the conversations (or maybe its just that I go off into my own world) and so I don't know what is going on. I don't mind, I just go into my own world, or I get my sense of fun with the other Elders in my apartment.
The other Elders are really cool and I enjoy being with them. Elder ******** just got his Christmas package and one of the presents was Pass the Pigs. Remember that game? its the best ever. Now, maybe not this package but the next one...I don't know but if I happened to find pass the pigs in there...My goal in that game is to get piggy back and get kicked out of the game. But, yeah, about the other Elders, we generally talk with each other and hang out at night.
That is all I have for this week. The language is coming slowly as always. I can understand fairly well “if” I concentrate. Emphasis on the "if". Sometimes I feel like my mind has exploded and my concentration has been shot. So that is the hardest thing for me.
Hey, you guys should send photos. I will next week or this week if I have time. Today I don't since someone else is using my camera to get pictures. I have a lot of pictures. I may need to get rid of some and save the good ones.
I love you all!
Elder Kevin Brady
January 30, 2012
Olá Family and Friends.
First off, no I don't get letters from any of my friends who are on missions. I would like to receive them, like Elder Brady and Elder Craft, but so far I don't have anything. Sounds like things are kind of busy for everyone. I can't believe Tessa woke up to a flooded house. I remember when our basement flooded. Dad got a bit "concerned" about that. Michelle is in my prayers and I hope everything turns out to be fine. We just have to keep on pushing. I liked Scott's letter about the DVD “17 Miracles.” That is a great movie. I am grateful that I do not have to go through all that the pioneers went through, but I am also grateful for what they did for us.
This new area is really nice and yet irritating at the same time. Our area is the south of the Island of Florianópolis, and it is very beautiful, but the beach is almost always in sight, and I miss the beach so much. I get upset about that a lot. ;) I am also in the center of Florianópolis as well. I like the city too. I feel that I would like to live in the city after my mission. Country is cool for only a few days, but after that it just gets boring, since there is nothing to do. On a mission we have things to do all the time. But when I am serving in the country, I noticed that P-Days are just boring.
My companion is pretty cool and he helps correct my Portuguese whenever I speak wrong. He is Brazilian. He is learning English as well, since it is the rule on the mission. So I correct his English whenever he speaks wrong. It works out. We made a goal that I will know how to teach the first lesson completely by the end of this transfer so that I will not need any more help with that. A lot of the time he is on the phone since he is the AP so while he is doing that back at the apartment, I go and hang out with the other staff in the apartment. Elder *****, Elder **** and Elder *****. Elder ***** is from Oregon, and the others I think are from Utah. Something like that. They are pretty cool.
When I first arrived in the area, I had to help out with all of the transfers. The first few days I got very little sleep. I am guessing that is why right now I have a Sinus infection. One thing I learned about the missionary staff very fast is that they get very little sleep. My companion and I will be moving to a different apartment very soon because it will be better for us to stay closer to our area. Unfortunately we will be downsizing tremendously because the staff apartment is very big. Actually, it's bigger than it needs to be.
That's my report for this week. Not much about investigators since we haven't been able to teach anyone yet. I think I will be sending out handwritten letters today for everyone so look out.
Love you all,
Elder Kevin Brady
First off, no I don't get letters from any of my friends who are on missions. I would like to receive them, like Elder Brady and Elder Craft, but so far I don't have anything. Sounds like things are kind of busy for everyone. I can't believe Tessa woke up to a flooded house. I remember when our basement flooded. Dad got a bit "concerned" about that. Michelle is in my prayers and I hope everything turns out to be fine. We just have to keep on pushing. I liked Scott's letter about the DVD “17 Miracles.” That is a great movie. I am grateful that I do not have to go through all that the pioneers went through, but I am also grateful for what they did for us.
This new area is really nice and yet irritating at the same time. Our area is the south of the Island of Florianópolis, and it is very beautiful, but the beach is almost always in sight, and I miss the beach so much. I get upset about that a lot. ;) I am also in the center of Florianópolis as well. I like the city too. I feel that I would like to live in the city after my mission. Country is cool for only a few days, but after that it just gets boring, since there is nothing to do. On a mission we have things to do all the time. But when I am serving in the country, I noticed that P-Days are just boring.
My companion is pretty cool and he helps correct my Portuguese whenever I speak wrong. He is Brazilian. He is learning English as well, since it is the rule on the mission. So I correct his English whenever he speaks wrong. It works out. We made a goal that I will know how to teach the first lesson completely by the end of this transfer so that I will not need any more help with that. A lot of the time he is on the phone since he is the AP so while he is doing that back at the apartment, I go and hang out with the other staff in the apartment. Elder *****, Elder **** and Elder *****. Elder ***** is from Oregon, and the others I think are from Utah. Something like that. They are pretty cool.
When I first arrived in the area, I had to help out with all of the transfers. The first few days I got very little sleep. I am guessing that is why right now I have a Sinus infection. One thing I learned about the missionary staff very fast is that they get very little sleep. My companion and I will be moving to a different apartment very soon because it will be better for us to stay closer to our area. Unfortunately we will be downsizing tremendously because the staff apartment is very big. Actually, it's bigger than it needs to be.
That's my report for this week. Not much about investigators since we haven't been able to teach anyone yet. I think I will be sending out handwritten letters today for everyone so look out.
Love you all,
Elder Kevin Brady
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