February 4, 2013

Answer to DAD:

Wow the first 19 year old. Must be a little strange. Our mission doesn't seem to be getting any more missionaries than usual. At least not yet. It does always take longer to get to Brazil so we'll probably be a few months behind because of visas.

Ward missionaries that really work are AWESOME!! (Dad was just called as assistant ward mission leader) I feel like they can really make a huge difference in whether or not someone gets baptized or not. I feel like the ward missionaries main responsibility is to be a friend. Also they need to help teach and encourage, but mostly they need to be the normal person (non-missionary) that shows them how great the church really is. 

You're headed back to the hospital. (Dad will now work at Madigan hospital again) Are you excited about that? Any news on jobs in Utah? 

Well sounds like you had a fun week. I'll give a better update on mine in the email to the mother. 

Com amor,

Elder Cameron Bruce

Answer to MOM:

Olá familia,

I'm doing well. Everything is alright here. This week didn't have any particularly special events. ______ was confirmed. Other than that we mostly had disappointments this week. Many investigators didn't go to church this week. Bummmmmerrrr. But __________ did. He is 12 years old and I think he will get baptized this week. We'll see. 

The district however was great this week. The zone leaders baptized two men and another ward baptized one also. I had a ton of interviews to do this week which are always fun. Except in one of them. I did an interview for the sisters and the man had drunk coffee. So he couldn't be baptized this week. I made some goals with him and he will be baptized next week. The worst part is when we came back into the room with everyone, and his wife (a less active member who is going back to church) was already planning his baptism for Sunday. I had to tell her that this Sunday wasn't going to work, but in the end everything is alright. Also I did a division with our ZLs and I stayed with Elder __________. He is from Snohomish. It was real fun. He is from the same group as Elder ____________ so he will go home in March.

The glasses still haven't made it to me. But this week we should be getting letters and such. Did I already ask for Mapeline? I think so. 

So dad's news was quite exciting. Do you like the new car? Seems real chique (Portuguese word for fancy).   

_______ is already getting ready for a mission. NUTS. He needs to start praying to get a call to Brazil. 

Well thanks for all the love and support. That's all for now. Tchau tchau.

Com amor,

Elder Cameron Bruce

January 28, 2013

Answer to DAD:

So I got the packages with the shoes. Thanks a bunch.  The beef jerky  tasted real good. Oh and my comp didn't like it at all. He actually thought it was horrible. He is actually a picky eater. It's funny to be on the other side of the story now. Haha. I understand what everyone was saying for so many years now.

The glasses haven't gotten to me yet. I don't know if there was a mix up in the office or something, but next week we will be getting packages again, so we'll see.

Being District leader is going well. On Sunday it was a little crazy. Saturday night I was going to interview a man for baptism, but for some reason he had to go the the hospital and we had to do the interview on Sunday. A member took me to their ward during Sunday school to do the interview. Lot's of hassle but it turned out alright in the end. 

Oh and also ______ was baptized. I'll try and send some photos of the last few baptisms by email. I have been waiting for the memory card to fill up to send some photos home. But it doesn't ever seem to end.

I have been in Santo André since October. It's been about 4 months or so. I'm guessing I'll stay here until March to finish Elder _________ training.

Well I'm off to the mother's email. Tchau tchau, boas compras.

Elder Cameron Bruce

Answer to MOM:

I'm doing well. I'm real happy today because yesterday was a super good day. ____ was baptized. Her mom came to the baptism which is the first time she has come to church, we'll keep working with her. _____(her brother in law) also was there and talking with some other missionaries and he said he is feeling closer and closer to be ready to be baptized. And the other missionaries in my district had some baptisms. Woot. Goot week. Oh and we had a meeting with an Apostle and inspection/interviews with President. A crazy week in all. But these kind of weeks are always more fun.

So let me talk a little about the meeting with Elder Bednar. It was super interesting. First off, he is really funny. After saying some joke or something he stopped and said, "Now you may think, 'what is he doing? You can't joke around and feel the spirit.' That is a false tradition. It's called the plan of HAPPINESS." He talked about a few other false traditions, such as how we normally take notes in the church, we write words or phrases that the person says. He said that we will never review them and probably lose them. So in the end we take notes we won't use and can't find, How dumb is that? (his words) But then we got into the real discussion he taught us about three of his talks, Ask in Faith, Converted unto the Lord, and a devotional he gave Learning by Faith. Basically the theme was that we need to be agents and not objects. We were created to act and not to be acted upon. He used an example of another false tradition in the church. Oft times to end a sacrament meeting the benediction is offered by some one who uses these words, "bless those that aren't here this week that they might be here next week" he said that those words are practically faithless. He said the prayer should be "Father we see many empty spaces here where our brethren should be, protect us as we leave to visit them and bring them here next week." He said the only thing we need to ask for from God in this situation is that he inspires us so that we don't all visit the same Brother. I gave a talk on Sunday and basically discussed these topics. He also taught that we have another false tradition. We say that Joseph prayed to know what church was true, that isn't the whole truth, he prayed to know which church was true to know which one he should follow. Asking in faith requires action. Or at least a promise of action. That is the real intent that Moroni was talking about. And that's why we challenge people with baptismal dates before they receive an answer. So that they can show Heavenly Father that they are willing to act.

Super cool.

Interviews went well. President was super happy with us and how things are going. He also loved the apartment. Sister _________ (an elderly couple missionary) said we are the only missionaries who use a table cloth (bonus points). Also I made cookies for them. Sister _______ grabbed the recipe ;) needless to say I think we are in pretty good standings to win cleanest apartment.

The whole mission here memorized 3 Nephi 5:13 a few months ago. In Portugues though.

That's a great story from President Warning. I think I might use it next time I give a talk, which in this ward is bound to be pretty soon already. I have given a talk in November, December, and January now. But tell him thanks for the great lesson.

So the small Preach My Gospel is an official product or no? Sister and President Tanner have one, and many missionaries made there own at some stores and such. I would happily accept one if you want to send it. In Portuguese Obviously. Haha. 

So the glasses haven't made it here yet. Don't know whats up with that. Oh and you sent Phase 10 right? Not Uno. 

Oh and feel free to throw some mac n cheese in any package you send. Just because I'm not picky anymore doesn't mean I don't love the classics. ;)

Well that is all for now. Até mais

Elder Cameron Bruce

P.S. Hoje falta exatamente sete meses até eu voltarei para casa. Aí sim.

January 21, 2013

Answer to MOM:

Well I'm doing great this week. Healthy and happy.

_____ is progressing towards baptism and we have a date marked with her for this weekend. We are going there tonight with the LZ's to make sure everything is going well. _____ is doing great, and ____ is going to church pretty consistently. He has made some friends in the church which I think will really help him. But I think things with him will just move a little slower. Our only other real baptism potential right now is a young man that is 12 years old. He is the grandson of a member and went to church on Sunday. The Stake President visited our ward and he went to Sunday school with the youth. I think he really helped with _________ (the young man). The Stake President here was a Mission President in Minas Gerais (another Brazilian State).

Oh and our bishopric got reorganized. They just changed the counselors. We also got a new young mens and young womens President. I'm excited to be able to bring a lot more youth to the ward.

The glasses will probably get here on Wednesday since we will be having interviews and house inspections. Our house is uber clean and decorated and we WILL win the cleanest house again.

Oh and I don't remember if I said anything but tomorrow Elder Bednar will be visiting our mission. Woot woot. The meeting will be in Sao Judas and the whole mission will be there. I'm excited to say the least.

I don't think I need anything else in the package. That sounds good already. I guess I could look into re soling the shoes but I have heard that it never works out as well as new shoes. Elder Perrell was thinking about getting his re soled but decided against it.

I don't go to Sunday School with the members. I go to the new members class every week. A little bit of a bummer because the sister that gives the class is awesome. Everyone says her classes are super good. But oh well.

Nothing about Carnival yet. I mean all the wards are planning their camping trips but, everyone says here in Santo André especially far from the center, nothing happens. So we will just work as normal probably.

Well. That's all folks. Até mais. Tchau

te amo

Elder Cameron Bruce

Answer to DAD:

This week should have a baptism and if not two, next week will have one also.

To stay in shape I get up every morning, do some stretching and them some push ups and sit ups. That's all. It still is impossible to gain any weight. And I feel like I am definitely eating more than I used to. Oh and I don't ever play sports. It's a bummer. Because we can't play soccer, and we can't have more that 4 missionaries together on a P-day.

Well that's all for this week stay tuned for more news next week.

Com amor,

Elder Cameron Bruce

January 14, 2013

Answer to DAD:

Well this Sunday was actually great. The ward had about 80 people which is a big improvement. First off, in the last two weeks two new families moved into the ward which is going to help a lot. They'll get put to work real quick. Also a bunch of less actives that we have been visiting came. The ward is finally planning activities. Actually what is surprisingly really helping the ward is a little activity that Elder _______ and I started with the youth. We had them come to the chapel every Thursday night and we would always leave a little message (5-10 min) and then just let them play Uno or ping pong. We started challenging them to bring friends or less actives and they are doing great. But one night the Bishop was doing interviews and some members and less actives (adults) were there, they started playing around a little too, and now every week the group is getting a little bigger and bigger and we are using it to integrate investigators and less actives. 

Oh and this week I got to do my first baptismal interview. It was super interesting. It's basically like teaching a normal lesson, but it's one on one, which allows you to be far more serious and personal. It was cool. The man wasn't baptized. But only because he still isn't sure if he should or not. During the interview we said a prayer specifically about baptism and he said that he felt it was the right thing to do, but he said that he thinks he only felt that way because I was there. He needs to feel it when there isn't an outside influence. I tried to explain that if you feel it's the right thing to do, especially when there is a true representative of Christ with you, it probably means it's the right thing to do. But he said he was going to pray and if he felt the same way while he was alone, he would be baptized. I only know that he didn't go to church and wasn't baptized. A little bit of a bummer. But I'm sure the Elders there will keep working with him.

com amor,

Elder Bruce

Answer to MOM:

Feel free to edit my emails. You can cut out whatever you think best. I put my trust in you.

The Hymnals and Christmas letters both got here, I'm still waiting for the glasses. And I was hoping to ask for some more mapeline before you sent the shoes, but oh well. No problem. Next time you send a package though, can you put in a box or two of mapeline? 

Bem, espero que a senhora tenha uma boa semana, até mais!

com amor,

Elder Cameron Bruce

January 7, 2013

Answer to MOM:

We have been having really hot and really rainy weather. One or the other, nothing in between. Roasting hot or POURING rain. It's good though. The rain does make it a little harder to work. 

So I stayed in the same area, I'm training Elder _______. He is from Goais, it's close to the capital Brasilia. He is 24 years old and has been a member 5 years. His mom and sister are also members. He has a fiancee waiting for him back home. 

Also I was called as a District Leader. Elder Perrell was transferred to the Baixada and is a Zone leader there, so I took over the District here. It's going fine, nothing different yet, but this week I think I will get to do some baptismal interviews which sounds fun.

Oh and as a trainer I basically just carry more of the load. And when we study together we have to study a program called 12 weeks. So I just teach him and do a little more of the teaching in the lessons. But he is good. Since he is Brazilian there isn't a language issue and he does really well already.

Well that's all for this week, Thanks folks. Tchau

Com amor,

Elder Cameron Bruce

Answer to DAD:

I'm grateful that you think and pray for me all the time.........

Well 2013 has been real busy for you guys. It's been pretty much the same thing here. I am training a greenie now. It's cool, I like to talk a lot in the lessons anyway. And now I make pretty much all the decisions since he is completely lost haha. It makes me think about when I was being trained. At least he speaks Portuguese.

And I'll probably stay here another transfer since I'm training. The training last two transfers and normally President leaves the two together until the training is finished.

Com amor, 

Elder Cameron Bruce

changes

We've been informed we need to be careful about what is posted on a blog.  I will now edit Cameron's letters so they may not make a lot of sense.  I have to remove names, etc. and anything too personal.  I will just include some basic information.
Cameron's Mom

December 31, 2012

Happy New Year to All!

Answer to DAD:

Are you liking the new laptop? HP is a solid brand. I saw a computer with windows 8 in a members house. Super cool I thought. But obviously I didn't get to play with it at all. 

So sounds like Christmas was nice and calm and all. Same thing here. 

Amanda's sister is getting ready for baptism. This new year/Christmas time is always a lot harder to teach and work and all. People aren't as receptive.

I can't figure out the last acronym that you sent. I can't remember what else you normally say. Haha. 

I'm going to go read mom's email now. Tchau tchau.

Answer to MOM:

I'm doing great. Everything is going well here. Oh big news I'M GOING TO TRAIN!!! Woooooottttttt. I'm super excited to have this opportunity. President called today and asked if I was up to it. I SAID YES!!!!!!! Haha. I'm really excited. 

Yeah we were only supposed to talk for an hour. So we were quite obedient. 

We played cards for the rest of the day. We really did nothing. The guy that was shirtless is the son of the man that talked with you a little later. I thanked them a bunch already so no problem.

No it didn't rain it was suuuuper hot. Unbearable almost. And when we went home we just went to bed.

So on the bottom of my shoes it says that they are size 42 and there is no other number. Maybe the 42 is the Brazilian number. I don't know. Let me look real quick. The only number is 42. 

Everyone is going to get married before I get home. (Lauren Falter) What's up with that. No one wants to wait for me to get home?

What Brandon? He has to buy Honda. He is the only rebel in the family isn't he. But that sounds like a pretty sweet car. (Mazda 3)

I read your email but I didn't have time to reply before the call.

Tenha uma boa semana. Tchua te amo.

Com amor,

Elder Cameron Bruce