September 5. 2011

Querida Família!

Sounds like it is really burning up there. We had a nice day of heat and humidity yesterday, but it is back to rain and cold today! But I got a scarf from Brandon and Alyssa this week! Well Alyssa anyways...unless Brandon is learning how to knit, hehe. But that is crazy that it is getting so hot, and that I am in winter and you are in summer! All the Brazilians can´t believe how hot it is in AZ too. But what is weird...Rio Grande do Sul is one of the hottest places in Brazil! All the missionaries from all over Brazil in our mission say it is worse here, it is a (different kind of heat). You supposedly leave the shower sweating....yaaaa..

Mexico sounds pretty awesome! Especially that the dolphins are being so playful. I´ve never seen the dolphins throwing food around or anything like that, snap some pictures? Speaking of pictures...where are the pictures from Amanda´s baptism! How are Diego and Maria and fam doing? Pretty excited to hear that Bentz is serving in their hometown! Way cool! Testimony meeting sounds very animated there; did you really have someone waving their cane in the air?? Our testimony meetings are great; we always have a good number of people waiting on the stand and a lot of youth! There is a huge group of youth here. They are all really excited to share testimony...some stories, but testimonies too :).

I´m glad you enjoyed the baptismal picture! It was so awesome being there and helping with the baptism. You should be getting some more pictures next week...!

The talent show had a lot of non member youth and some non member parents to watch their youth sing in English, so it was a success! And this Sunday we gained 3 new investigators during church alone. Laís is one of those 3. She is a friend of one of the youth and we taught her in the capela this Sunday and she has a baptismal date :) The other 2 are really promising too!

Torrin is getting his call this week!! WOOO! Wow we are going to have a lot of missionaries out.

Mom my stomach is fine! I am a big boy and managing my diet :) I had a close call a few weeks ago but that is because I didn´t use our filtered water bottle at the house of a member and I am not accustomed to the water. But I was fine, didn´t get sick or anything.

 Wow, cookies and coke at 11:30 at night in Mexico? You all are having too much fun without me. All the members want me to make American cookies for them hah. Your lips are swollen?? What? Haha perfect, huge lips and huge queen Latifa glasses. Ha! Joking!

Haha mom I am already struggling, majorly, to respond to all of the letters! But I appreciate the lookout :) But if you would like to do send an address, go ahead! I am making a collection. I already got an email from a friend of Chelsey Merrell. Ha. Oh and she is in Moscow right now teaching English?? What?

The shirt gun and mascots sound awesome! Send some pics when you get them.

We went to the Porto Alegre temple Friday! It was amazing! They are all so different but each is really something special and different. There is a different spirit there. I am sending plenty of pics for you all :)

General conference is coming up!!! WOOO! I am so excited! It really is Christmas for missionaries! You all better listen up, I will be quizzing you the following Monday...

So our (Mom) here, Irmã Teresa, has a nonmember husband that we are getting pretty close too...He likes us to call him dad. Ha! But we helped them do yard work Thursday and we are gaining a lot of confidence! We will be teaching him soon :) But Irmã Teresa always says that I need to be a fan of the Corinthians, a soccer team in Sao Paulo. One time I had to say that I love them to sit at her table haha. But her son lives there, São Paulo. It was going to be a surprise, but she spilled the beans! Her son is bringing with him a professional Corinthians jersey for me in October. WOO! But let’s see how transfers go next week...yikes. But she is always looking out for us and com certeza, feeding us.

Paulo, we can´t get find Paulo or family in house, even though we planned. Left a not over there so we will see how this goes.

Ronaldo & Isaías- They are getting ready for their baptism this Saturday at 4 in the afternoon! :) They have nothing that would prevent them from being baptized and they are ready.

Laís- Her mom is just really uneasy about the church right now, she is espirita. So she wants to be baptized the first week end of November. She is a friend of Lauren, a member in the ward.

Kevin- Kevin has 16 years and is on line dating a member in São Paulo. She said he had to go to church and he really likes it. He is a cool kid! We are meeting with him this week and see how it goes.

Maria and Vitor- they both know they need to read and pray but won´t. We are trying to accompany them as best we can but they are not progressing and we will leave them in the area book for the future.

Maria-Another Maria with a son, William that just gained 16 years and a daughter, Stephaney, with 10 years. They are new as of this week and we will check back with them. But they are really receptive and open. I really think they are going to give this a chance, to test God.

Vlademir- He was a street contact and his fiancée Karina is receiving the Jehovah’s Witnesses for visits...but she can decide for herself :) we cleared a few things up for her. She has a little girl, Náthalyi that is 4 or 5. They want to get married in our capela too so we are going to bring bispo over there to talk to them. Lucia who is a neighbor, I think, was there too; she is elderly and pretty stuck on her catholic traditions, not religion, traditions.

Things are going great! The work here is improving and I am hoping that I don´t get transferred next week!

Love you all and loving the work! Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts. Stay safe and have fun! :)

Elder Bradley J. Dawson

June 8, 2011

Well boa tarde!

Thank you for all the details, I thought I would have to pry them from you. I am glad everything went so well and mom is recovering. I was praying for mom a lot and I knew that the Lord would take care of her. That sounds like a killer diet plan though. Are there going to be any repercussions from the scars or anything else?  But it is good that Ashley will be home from school and will be able to take care of mom.

That HOBY experience sounds fun, sounds like Ashley had a great time too. I m glad it was a great experience. That will help her a lot with prom planning coming up. Ashley has EFY coming up soon right? 

I got the pizza party announcement. Thank you! I still have to schedule it when I go out in a minute though. You don’t have to do Mr. Cheney’s, I only sent that email because you got a free cookie if you did. I like snail mail, it is fun! And that way I get awesome pictures from Miley, Anya, and Zander!

Oh and I do not know my departure date yet, sorry! It should be in 2 weeks from yesterday though. We will see. 

So things are amazing here! Continually learning and having fun! We went to the temple this morning and it was way good! The Sao Paulo temple is my favorite I think, well it is hard between that and Mesa. They are just different. But I took some good pictures! Oh and we are not allowed to take our cameras out during p-day, they are too worried that we will be targeted and they don’t want us looking like a bunch of tourists. But I am on the top floor and will get some awesome pictures! The weather has been perfect, short sleeve white shirt and I’m good. Yesterday we were out during our gym time and Elder Sroka and I were working out when it started POURING! It was awesome! I felt like I was in a marine commercial or something, it felt so good. And something I learned from some Brazilians from Porto Alegre; it gets freezing, like -6 Celsius and then super hot in the summer! (Winter for you – weird). I have started sending home little candy wrappers with my letters, they are way good! I love the food here! There were no beans today on the rice and beans bar and I was actually really disappointed. I think I was supposed to be born Brazilian, except for the whole freckles, red hair, and I have to have sunscreen on to walk to the mailbox thing. Oh and Elder Lambrechsten, Claudio, and Perkes just got here from Provo. They were in our old district, so that is exciting!

Love you all and I am doing great.

Quick suggestion for everyone: Try reading Christ’s story from Gethsemane through the resurrection in each of the 4 gospels. First read day Gethsemane, then judging, then atonement, then resurrection, then Holland’s talk on the Atonement.  It is way fun and way good.

Love you all,

Elder Dawson

May 9, 2011

Boa Tarde!!

Sorry it is so late!! I have been writing letters all day! I just hope they "stay up to par". Things are going great here! We got to go to the temple this morning and did a 6:50 session...early, but good! It has been raining all day here. Utah is bi-polar! It snowed last week...everywhere, it was gone by the end of the day; it was hot a few days ago (by hot I mean nice), and now it is raining all day! Make up your mind!

 But things are great, really. I am learning so much and we have an appointment with our "investigator" Helena and her daughter Paloma tonight...in an hour actually. We are going to finish the first lesson and I have got the first vision down in Portuguese so this will be fun. You just can't let fear be a factor. Fear does not allow the spirit to teach through you. So, I know what I know, and that's all I need to know for now and the spirit will do the rest. If you could pray for Helena and Paloma that would be great, tonight we are asking her to pray about Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, and if the spirit directs, baptism too. I feel like we might have a date tonight.

As far as my visa goes...no news yet, keep up the prayers though! Try praying for Brazil and their consulate? Elder Bennett and Johnston will be leaving tomorrow morning with 3 elders from another district. The lord can do what he wants with his missionaries, if I need to be in a holding mission in St. George for 6 months, fine by me. I could fly to Sao Paulo though, after a week maybe. We will see.

I have gotten to see Parker a few times actually! We got a picture together in front of that giant map yesterday too. On his camera though, we will grab another. Everyone is doing fabulous! The language comes hard for some. Please pray for them to get past this trial!  As for my Portuguese, Irmao Jones told me I was the best in the class yesterday! Jones got back from his mission in Joaa Passoa 7 months ago and before that he lived in Brazil for 3 years because his dad was a mission president there. I love that guy, Irma Halverson too. He is actually from Ahwatukee...or however you spell it. He is there right now. Please keep them in your prayers; they are great guys and the reason we learn Portuguese so fast (them and the Lord of course).

Elder Baldree is gone??  But I am glad that they are all doing well, they were great examples to me before I left. Make sure you get that to them please.

Amanda gave you a mother's day card?! Wow! She really is trying to take my place in the family huh!? Haha! That is awesome though. I know she will be reading this so here it is: Go for it Amanda! I dare you! But just remember, I still have that little eraser monkey and bad things will happen to him if things don't go my way... Just kidding! But I do still have it.

I am glad everyone likes their letters, I know I love mine! Sorry if there are a lot of misspellings in them...I don't know how to spell in English anymore, just Portuguese! Awesome! And I just want everyone to know this... Mom just wrote me and said that I am "the best letter writer!" Boom! And you can't go back out, so I will retire as champion! I am glad you liked my mother's day card Mom, meant every word. And I knew it was a birthday card! I just liked it so much....

Happy mother's day to all those females in the family! Sorry if I didn't put that in my letters! 

Tell Uncle Ron “Hi” if he is still there! Ron, Pablo, Dad, and I will have to go scuba diving right when I get back! Tell Pablo that I am deeply sorry for him. This is the Lord's plan for him and anything is possible. He will be in my prayers continually.

Daniel told me about going to Disneyland, that is crazy! That is awesome though. D-land was my favorite. Everyone is way jealous of my Mickey Mouse apron too! They all want it soo bad. Tell Daniel to come to our garage and look for the magical boot; I think you know what I mean. 

Parabéns Kyle!! Legal! (lay-gow, it means cool) It won't be too long before he is out here! Quit your crying Aunt Stacy ;)!

I'm glad she enjoyed the letter (Ashley). Tell her to be expecting about 5 more from some new missionary buddies of mine! I joke, I joke!....maybe.

I heard about Sam, that is awesome! I am jealous! I actually got a small note-letter thing from him in the mail the other day. Can you get me his address??

All the little things are going great! Laundry is a piece of cake...when all the machines are working. And we shined our shoes yesterday!

And Dad, my room was always clean!...before Ashley would come in and mess it up every morning! But we actually got "exalted" on our room last week! So no need to worry about me, all is well here. I dominate 4-square, just for the record. The Polies grip the ball, so do the Orientals, but I give it right back. I think I actually beat Daniel's record, but I didn't count. But the field just opened up so we have started playing sand V-ball!! I love it!

The language is going great and the church is still true :)

Thank you everyone for the letters! I love them! Oh and pictures! I love love love pictures!

I don't remember if I said this last week but: I know our Savior loves us. He didn't just experience our sins but sorrow, anxiety, and heartbreak too. I like to believe that he was able to feel our good experiences too, those of joy and conversion. My goal is to bring His Brothers and Sisters to the truth and limit His suffering. This is my work. He does not till the vineyard alone, not anymore. He has a divine love I wish to acquire.

 Love you all,

Elder Dawson

Another Letter from Bradley!

So our schedule got switched around and we now have p-day on Mondays! So here I go with my second letter in a few days. Oh and I had to get a TDAP shot because although the outside world says they are good for 10 years, the MTC says they are good for 5. So I paid for that and am going to be sending you an order form to bill the insurance company.

Let's see, I last wrote you Saturday...So yesterday was amazing, I could not wait for sacrament meeting, it already feels like I have been here for an eternity and I just wanted to take the sacrament! I felt like I was missing something. It was so awesome, I love being able to act in Christ's name and take upon myself the responsibility and blessing of representing Him. But sacrament meeting is a little strange too...everyone is a little worried because everyone has to write a talk and they will call two random missionaries to speak that week! But after Sacrament meeting we had some study time and a temple walk. It was amazing! It was such a nice day, cool, the sun was out, you could feel the spirit, and the grounds were flooded with missionaries! Nothing better! I took some pictures, just don't be surprised if there are about 100 Polynesians in the back of every picture, they have a fascination with hopping it peoples pics...we have something in common, I jumped in a lot too haha. For dinner that night we had, no chicken cordon bleu, but ham with mashed potatoes and gravy, SO good! I guess they only do the famous chicken cordon bleu once a month. But after some more studying we had a fireside where Irmao Allen spoke, head of missionary something. He is also in charge of all of those funny LDS commercials you see. He showed us some for way back in the day and it's funny because at the end it just says "THE MORMONS" hah! But he gave a great talk on loving your companion and the 4 steps to doing something. 1: the honeymoon 2: the hostile 3: the grin and bear it and 4: the acceptance and re-adjustment. It is so true; I think just about every missionary went through this. But after that we had film night and we got to watch the Joseph Smith movie which is my favorite, No man, except Christ himself, has done as much for the Lord's gospel as him. I look at my challenge ahead, and this can apply to anyone, and think "This is the least I can do, Look at Brother Joseph". He was such an inspiring man, not once did he waver or take any credit for himself; he put God first in all things. I hope to be like him with my teaching, him and Christ.

So this morning we got to go to the temple! First of all- the Provo temple is gigantic, it is crazy how much bigger it is than the mesa temple. Anyways, the session was pretty much all missionaries and it was amazing, as always. You can feel the spirit so strong there, it truly is the house of the Lord, you can feel his presence there constantly, like he is sitting there with you, constantly pulling you into His embrace, I can't wait for next Monday when we get to go again. When we were leaving the temple it was raining pretty hard, we would have got drenched for sure, but elder Claudio, Lambrechsten, Perkes and I said a prayer asking that we would be safe running back, because we thought we had to run and didn't want to die running down the hill in the rain. As soon as we opened our eyes from the prayer, the rain had stopped; there was a light mist and nothing else. The Lord truly does answer our prayers, we just asked for safety, but He brought us complete protection. It's funny, we are completely surrounded by the spirit every day and we watch ourselves progress in the language miraculously, but it is something else to watch the Lord work a miracle right in front of you like that. After that we went to the copy room and got some things- irregular verb chart with all the different tenses, hymn book reference from English to Portuguese, and I got my schedule copied so I could send that home to you. I know you will love that, mom. I dare you to try and follow my schedule for one day!

So we have been exhausted and I have got a cold now. I think I have figured out why. When Joseph Smith came back from seeing the Lord and His Son, he fell on his bed and passed out, we read about this happening all the time to different prophets, look at Amon. The same thing happens to us, our enthusiasm keeps us going, but we are in constant connection with the Holy Ghost and our Father's spirit, this fatigues the body greatly. But we must have faith and go on. Mexico sounds super fun, Mom I know you told Brandon not to brag about it in his letter but let's be honest, that was never going to stop him, tell me all about it!

I am about to be kicked out so a quick story. The first night Elder Lamb and I were teaching this really rough guy about God's love and hope. Well he said "now I’m ballin and fallin!" Look that up in the book of Ebonics chapter 47. Elder Lamb then pulls out his bible and says, “What book was that again??" We all loved it.

I love you all, and I love the Lord. I know that Christ Atoned for all of our sins and that through him anything is possible. Remember that he felt all of our troubles, anxiety, stress and all, I love you all so much, don't worry I am safe.

Ciao

Elder Dawson