First Letter From Brazil May 25, 2011

Dear Family,

Wow! I don't know where to start. First off, the keyboard is a little weird so this will look a little weird and not make a lot of sense probably.  To answer questions, yes, I am exhausted! We got in really early that morning we flew in and we didn't get to sleep. We had free time but I didn't want to sleep because so we would continue to have jet lag. The two districts that reported to Provo on April 20 combined into one.  It is a total of 11 Elders and 3 Sister.  I love having the Sisters in our district...they are frankly just more mature that the rest.  Kind of funny news, I am the district leader. I thought this kind of weird because I am also training my new companion.  Yes, I am new too.  He was in my district in Provo too. I love the kid; he has got a sweet spirit.

So I don't know how to change paragraphs or anything, so i will just space it out. We got into Sao Paulo around 7:15 in the morning last week and just continued the whole day.  There were missionaries coming in from all over the United States.  Missionaries who were waiting for visas. There are about 150 missionaries here right now and it is about half Brazilian. (in a MTC able to handle 6500)  I love talking to all the Brazilians and I am getting better! One of them asked if I was from Brazil the other day. It is awesome. And if I ever want to tease one of the other Elders I just say something pretty fast to a Brasileiro and they don't know what I am saying! So fun!  Like I am writing Elder Dossena's girlfriend...pretty funny. The MTC here is awesome! I love it! It is a lot more relaxed, so I am glad I went to Provo first because I got the work down and now I get to apply that schedule here.  But it is amazing!

So in Provo there is a myth that the food here in Brazil MTC is horrible. NOT SO! I love it!  It is actual food, not cafeteria food. I crave rice and beans at meal time now, it is awesome. They have a few main dishes, a ton of fresh fruit and pretty much anything else you can think of.  Today I had shishkabobs-pork chicken and beef- with fresh fruit salad, some random fruit, rice, and guarana (Brazilian soda) of course! Love it!

Sao Paulo is crazy. We are on the 6th floor, highest, and it is nuts.  Huge building and little favelas as far as the eye can see in every direction.   Oh and we went to the temple this morning, that was way cool.  It looked beautiful!  It is in the middle of this massive city jungle place and it is just awesome.  Our Branch President works there too so we got to see him and his wife.  On the way back we saw some big favela and a lot of jungle and a lot-a lot of city.  It is about an hour drive.     

So the Portuguese is coming along better but I don't have the time to study words and grammar like I want to.  But that is because I am talking with a bunch of Brazilians who teach me new words and correct me!  And they all want to learn English so it is a win-win situation.  Especially at meal time, you pick some Brasileiros, sit down, and enjoy!

Sounds like everything is crazy there! Like always!  I can't believe Ashley is finished with school tomorrow, weird.  She will be graduating when I return!  And your calling sounds awesome mom!  You might have to come down and teach in Relief Society here!  I could translate if you would like.  Which reminds me, the one thing I miss about Provo is the devotionals.  We watched a DVD here, still good, but not the same.    

I am glad everyone enjoyed their phone calls last week!  It was hard keeping everyone together in the airport and calling everyone, but it was fun and well worth it. That sounds like a good project for Ashley, we will all like that!  I wish there was something that could be done for Tobias.  Poor little guy, he will be missed.  Can you send me a picture of him per chance?  I have one with Lucy in the background but that is it.

Well I am about to go wander the city  for p-day, you know, go to the post office, get some food, buy shampoo and some other things. All so awesome!  Another thing I love, they have everything over here! Could you look something up called Mr. Cheney's Cookies?  People get mail and stuff through that.  I am sorry I don't have more time! There was a lot to read and little time to write!

Love you all, don't worry about me, and watch out for each other.  I am being obedient; I just have to patient with the Lord's work and language now.

Love you all!

Bradley's Arrival in Sao Paulo

Bradley flew to the MTC in Sao Paulo on Wednesday May 18.  First he flew to the Detroit, Michigan airport where he had a couple hours to wait till he headed down to Brazil. Bradley arrived in Brazil at about 6:30 am (Brazil time) on Thursday. We don't have much more information on what happened from there but we know he made it safely to the MTC. Bradley's Mission President sent over a picture of all the missionaries (including Bradley). We think Bradley's p-day will be Tuesday or Wednesday and we cannot wait to hear from him! Of course his mailing address has changed so please send all letters to Bradley's address below. The cost to send a regular letter to Brazil is 98 cents. We will get more information on where to send packages and bigger items soon.

Elder Bradley J. Dawson

Brazil Porto Alegre South Mission

Brazil Missionary Training Center

Rua Padre Antonio D'Angelo, 121

Casa Verde

02516-040 Sao Paulo - SP

Brazil

May 16, 2011

Haha,

You mean,

Oi Elder Dawson,

Yes, I am still an elder! I'm glad my little prank worked, but you almost hung up on me when I called with flight information! I am SO excited to fly out! I have a bunch of pass along cards and a Book of Mormon ready! And when we get to Sao Paulo I am totally making contacts left and right. Ha, I guess I might be able to call from both airports, we will see. And I do not have Ashley’s cell phone number but that would be fun to call her too.  Please talk to Brother Merrell to make sure it is alright!! About Dad's letter, I never got it through 'dear elder’; it was like an email confirmation thing on my email. Oh well.

I am sick of correcting spelling and grammatical errors so from here on out, I’m sorry.

I will be sending home a lot of pics soon! They are missing some funny moments from the past few days, but they are still good. Thank you for giving my new address to everyone. I don't even know what my address will be! But, yes my schedule has changed with my leaving Wednesday. Today was supposed to be p-day but they have a whole in-field orientation thing today...all day. It is slow moving, but good. It is mostly telling the Elders and Sisters not to do anything stupid and how to make contacts so far. Tomorrow will be my new p-day, but that doesn’t mean a second letter ;). I don't know how I am going to fit everything back into my luggage! And do a 24 hour flight! Haha!  I have a plan for not watching the movie, so it will be okay. Besides, there is plenty of Portuguese for me to learn still, and we are never done learning about the gospel.  The second we think that we have got it, is the second that we give up.

So I guess 30 something Elders got their visas this week. There will be 19 of us flying out Wednesday morning. I am a travel leader so we will see how that goes. There are only 3 elders not leaving from my district, Elder Lambrachsten (companino), Elder Claudio, and Elder Perkes. They are awesome guys but I guess there is something for us to learn wherever we are. There are about 8 Elders at the MTC here that will be in my mission. I am pretty sure I am the only one not from Utah.  It is ridiculous how many are from here.

About Sister -----, she is still having some problems; it looks like she will have to go home. She has trigerminal neuralgia. What can you tell me about that? It was the SADDEST thing this Sunday. We were in a going away fireside and I was sitting next to her, all of a sudden she started having a lot of pain to the point of tears. I was so close to bawling my eyes out, I practically did. I know God has a plan for her and this may be a trial. I trust in His plan, but that doesn't mean we can't pray and fast. I started a fast immediately. It is just crazy. She was so nice and sweet after too. She was smiling ear to ear and acting like nothing happened. I told her that she needs to do whatever it takes to get better, after all, she has the life after and the millennium to do all the missionary work she can. She really liked that. I hope she gets better.

Oh man, books books books. I don't know how I am going to pack it all! My backpack is going to be filled to the brim. I have grammatical books, conjugational books, pronunciation and then a copy of everything I have in English in Portuguese! Ah! We will see though. I guess we actually get more weight than we thought, like 70 lbs or something.

Sounds like the whole Stugo situation is going well! Let me know how everything goes and Ashley’s decisions about prom.

I am starting to run out of time because I had to read your emails so this will be short.

Tell Ashley that if she wants I have several elders that would enjoy letters ;).  I haven't found anybody worthy yet...or if I ever will, I don't know. Torrin's letter was great! I enjoyed it! Keep 'em coming!

I will have to address things later on the phone, but it was good getting your emails/ letters and thank you!

Really quick, give this to Kyle:

I would prepare by reading the Book of Mormon and focusing on charity: the pure love of Christ. Focus on His values and principles.

Effective missionaries need to work work work. It is not your two years, it is the Lord’s.

My life is infinitely better because of serving. All decisions are made by the spirit and who knows what is better for us more that God.

I love you all

I know that God listens to our prayers and that Christ has felt everything we feel. Everything. Keep up the prayers and fasting for the people of Brazil and sister ------ and talk to ya Wednesday!

Ciao voces amo,

Elder Dawson