February 28, 2012

Sorry folks, no email from Cameron has arrived this week.  Hopefully soon!

Cameron's Mom

Spoke (posted) too soon - here we go.  Yay!

So first let me explain why I'm writing today. Yesterday was a normal day of work and today was our P-day since we got to go the temple. It was a great experience I loved it in Portugues. And the best part was that I understood everything. I barely needed any help with anything. But it took up our entire P-day. So we have permission to do a few things throughout the week like wash clothes and the clean the apartment and such. We also have Zone Conference this week. That slow the work down even more this week. When you have lots of events like this it's really nice because it breaks up the routine, but it also seems to slow time down. And kind of kills my rythm (is that how you spell it).

 

As far as the email process there are about 3 lan houses (internet cafes) within 10 minutes of my apartment. We pay 2 reais (just over a dollar) for an hour of time. Which usually comes out to be just enough time. The live emails are fine I just end up running out of time after a few emails. Don't worry, not breaking any rules. And yes I can open and look at photos.

 

Curitiba is a place I really want to come back and visit. There is so much more to Brasil than what I'm seeing. I really want to visit all parts of the country.

 

The discussion of the mark about the dark skin has come up many, many, many times already because there are quite a few missionaries that have dark skin. We've come to the pretty much the same conclusion. And if you read the second Article of Faith, it's clear that it's no guilt of their own. By the way the quote page is great. I loved the one you sent. It's nice to have something different to read. Speaking of things to read I bought a Portugues bible today at the church store by the temple. It was 30 reais, but it is a nicer quality than the one they gave us. The one I got in the MTC is falling apart already. The bible here is very different. It doesn't have all the footnotes and helps in the back. This is because the Catholic church still has a powerful influence over religion here and they won't let the LDS church print a version in Portugues.

 

I don't need another blanket. There are always blankets in the apartments that some missionary bought and left. So when you show up, you just wash it and use it.

I should get at least one package on Thursday this week. I haven't sent one yet because I haven't had the chance to go to 25 de março which is the big shopping area where I want to buy a few "things" to send home. Your patience will be rewarded. But all the packages I have gotten so far have been in perfect condition. Nothing broken or stolen.

 

Sometimes I do miss the direct contact with technology. It makes things so much simpler. I hope for future missionaries that the church starts giving iPads to all the companionships.  I heard they are already testing that us in New England and such. Don't know if that is really true. I heard from a friend of a friend of a friend, you know, that really reliable source.

 

I'm still waiting for the photos of my new niece. I hope everything goes well with the trip to Jeremy's. Show her pictures of me and repeatedly say, Uncle Cameron. I expect those to be her first words.

 

So with the water we usually have a culligan type thing in our apartment. But as strange as it may seem, a bunch of 20 year old boys with a limited amount of money have trouble buying new ones all the time. I always use the water bottle with the filter. You can drink the tap water pretty safely, but if I have a filter why not use it. We drink a lot of soda in members houses. Lots of juices too. I have only had real handmade juice a few times. But even their juice from packets (they call it juice in dust) is super good. Maybe I'll send a few home for you to test out.

 

Leap day will a very special day. We'll be teaching people about the Gospel!! But other than that. Nothing special will happen. Just another day.

 

As far as investigators we have one man (20 years old) that is progressing towards baptism the week after this one. He is living with a returned missionary so it was only a matter of time. But there is a big problem here of people not recognizing that we are preaching of THE church of Jesus Christ. Everyone's response is, "sure you can come talk with me, all churches that teach about God are good." And yes all churches are teaching good things and bringing people closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior, but it's really hard for people to really comprehend our message. Eldorado is a very simple area, in terms of money and education. The people are really nice and receptive though.

 

That's all I can think of for this week. Até proximo semana. Te amo.

Elder Cameron Bruce

February 20, 2012

So on Christmas Day and around that time, we were doing quite a few exchanges. I wasn't living there officially, but it almost felt like it. That apartment is in Marapé and it's where the Zone Leaders and another companionship live in Santos. I don't know the address, sorry. The elders are Elder Brown, the Samoan that is a BYU running back (he redshirted), the really tall one with brown hair is Elder Platt, and the blonde is Elder Bredell, who coincidently served here in Eldorado also. Weird right?  

The other couple that I only have one photo with, where we are standing, is actually the President of the Interlagos Mission, remember the driver took us to their mission home on accident?

That Elder is Elder Larson. He and I were buds in the MTC in Provo, we lived in the same room and had the same class. He was in a different district in Brazil since he got here before me, but now we are in areas close to each other and we talk all the time at meetings and stuff. He went to BYU before the mission with me. I recognized him when we first met. He lived in J hall which was right behind Merrill where I lived. We also had the same music class spring term. So we both kind of knew each other. He is from Connecticut.

So basically nothing different is happening here in Eldorado. Everyone left for the Baixada for Carnaval. The only difference is less people and not all the stores are open. Really nothing else. We don't have to be home early or anything. Presidents only advice was be smart. I thought that Mardi Gras would be related. It just makes sense.

So we do have Zone conference this week. On Thursday I think. I'm excited. I love to hear President and Sister Tanners' talks. They are always real good. And it's nice to see all my friends and have something different to do. Normally the members prepare something, yes. Rice, beans, and some kind of meat. Basically what I eat everyyyyy day. It's usually pretty good though. 

As far as the dinner calendar goes (which for us is a lunch calendar since they give lunch here) the relief society takes care of everything for us and just gives us a list with the names and dates. Here in Eldorado lots of times the members just pay for us at a restaurant called Coma Bem (eat well) and we go there to eat. That's already happened 4 or 5 times. I'll take a picture for you. Restaurants and everything commercial is verryyyyy different here. Almost nothing "chain" exists. The only chain stores you'll see are actually American, like McDonalds.

We haven't done any splits yet. Every time we have marked to do them they have fallen through. It's a little difficult to find someone to help us out. We sometimes go out with just one member, Patrick, he is a convert of 5 months and is super solid in the church already. He basically converted his mom alone, and now he is working on his dad. Of course we're helping and teaching the lessons to him, but he is there everyday talking with him about the church.

Speaking of churches, I would like to give you a brief breakdown on the churches we encounter here. We get a lot of I was born Catholic and I'm gonna die Catholics. They are the hardest to really teach. Then there is the giant Evangelical wave that has come through Brazil. There is the Universal, Mundial (world), Assembleia, and others that aren't as big. It's really interesting to talk with these people. Most people that are evangelical are relatively active in their churches. They are very nice and receptive but usually aren't looking for a change in their lives. There are very few atheist here. Almost everyone belongs to a church. 

I'll try and send some more photos. I need to take some first though. Ha ha. My memory card is full. I'll buy another one, but they are overpriced here, that's why I asked if you could send one. :) (or two...) And while I'm asking for things just a few more ideas. Remember these aren't dire needs and you don't need to send these immediately, just ideas. But here they are, Kraft Mac and Cheese. I can't believe I haven't asked for that already. Next some pens, they are really expensive here, and you only buy them one at a time, they don't sell packs, and they are the really basic ones with a cap, I don't know why they don't have better ones, but I thought it would be easier to just ask you. But I like the pilot pens the one I have has Pilot G-2 07 written on it. Pilot is the brand, G-2 is the model, 07 is how thick the point is. If you could send some in Black and Blue, and maybe red, that would be wonderful thank you. And one more request, since it is actually pretty cold here during the nights because buildings here have absolutely no insulation, could you send some PJ pants? If you want to get some cool cartoon character ones, like batman, that's ok with me. Thank you.

Oh and I got the valentines package!! Thank you. The coin purses are perfect, and the laminated patriarchal blessings and line of authority are awesome. Thank you. The Brazilian roommates are loving the American candy too. Yet another thing that is way overpriced here, and just not as good. I think it's because they like salty treats more that sweet for the most part. So they don't really focus too much on candy here. Oh and my roommates names are Elder J. Santos (because there already was another Santos he gets a J) and Elder Souza (who is our DL). Elder Larusso is my companion. 
So Valentine’s Day is called Day of Boyfriends and Girlfriends (Dia dos namorados) it doesn't translate to English very well. It is some other day in the year. I don't know when. Absolutely nothing changed here for Valentine’s day.  

Yeah I am playing soccer here, they have a nice giant turf field where we play with the young men. We didn't play today because they are all at a camp. They have this camp every year during Carnaval to take the youth away from all the bad things that are happening in the world. It's a pretty big deal here. 

Well that's all for now, until next week. Te amo.

Elder Cameron Wayne Bruce

Answers to Dad’s letter:

Yay you have a job! I laughed out loud when I read that you were going to Joanne’s Fabric with her. Oh man. 

I have the same feeling about Carnaval. The members here talk about it with such a negative connotation. I'm really happy I left Santos before it started. It's probably full of sin right now. 

That's awesome that Landon will play at BYU Hawaii. Tell him congratulations for me. 

For some reason lately I've missed watching sports a little. I think it is because I was at a conference and I was talking about them with Americans. It was sad how little we actually knew about what was going on. I remember the name Jeremy Linn because my friends and I joked about him being the next big thing. That's awesome that he is actually doing well now. I hope it continues.

I don't think I have dreamed in Portugues but then again I don't remember even talking or hearing anyone talk in my dreams for a long time now. I do think in Portugues a lot though, and I've already had to erase quite a few Portugues words in this email. It’s really progressing living with only Brazilians for 4 months now.

Have fun at work!!

Elder Cameron Bruce

February 13, 2012

So transfers are super trunky. Everyone that is getting transferred or has a companion that is getting transferred meets up at a giant bus terminal. Everyone has their bags packed and some people are actually going home. It's cool though because you get to see and talk to alot of people that you don't see very often. It was super cool. I work in Eldorado, a neighborhood in Diadema. It's a little hilly here. But not too bad. It's also wayyyy cooler here. I wake up in the morning cold. That's a sensation I haven't felt in a little while. People complain of the heat still but I think it's great. It does rain almost every day for an hour. And it rains hard. The work is also progressing here a lot more. The people are a lot humbler. It definitely is a poorer area. My companion, Elder Larusso, is great. He actually passed in Embaré where I was. So we talk about the families and stuff there a lot. I will try and get my address for you next week so that you can look at our house. We live on the third floor of what is a mix between a house and an apartment. It has a kitchen, then our bedroom, the bathroom, then another bedroom, and a veranda after that. It's all in a straight line, one room to the next. Well not really the bathroom is to the side and there is a hallway to pass through. Elder Larusso has 9 months on the mission and is a really good teacher. I'm learning a lot from him now. He is from Espirito Santo, a state just north of Rio. He has been in this area since I arrived in the field so he knows it pretty well. It's actually a really small area. Which is nice. 

The chapel here is being reformed so we are meeting in a rented space above a super market. It's actually pretty cool. I'll take some pictures so you can see. The chapel should be done in a month or so I should be here for sure when it's dedicated. We will be giving tours and holding lots of events to try and get people to come see. It's in a rather prominent place in the city.

I was going to ask if you got the photos. If you have any questions about them just ask I'll do my best to respond. Quick request. Could you send a camera memory card? An SD card is what they're called. As big as you can find 16 GB or something like that. I am going to just save my memory cards and bring them back with me. Speaking of which I think I'm going to send a package home here in a little bit. After I get to go to Vinte Cinco de Março, a super cheap shopping street. The package will have some presents and some things that I don't need here that you can hold on to for me.

The Elder that talked for 5 hours is Elder _______. He actually passed here in Eldorado, the people here don't remember him too fondly.... The name of the aquarium is just the aquarium of Santos. It's in Ponta da Praia in Santos.

We should be going to the temple in March, the missionaries in the Baixada, the area by Santos, only go every 6 months but all the areas closer to the temple, like the ABC and Sao Paulo areas, go every 3 months, but March will have the whole mission going. I'm excited to go through in Portugues for the first time, in the CTM I went but it was with all Americans and they have the session in English.

I was talking with a member and was wondering if Mardi Gras and Carnaval are related somehow? Just a thought. They seem kind of similar and they are almost at the same time.

Tell Lindy and Travis congratulations for me!

I did not get a package on transfer day, but tomorrow I should because we have a training with President Mazzigardi again. 

I still don't know what the rules for Carnaval will be. Some elders say we can't leave others say we just have an early curfew. I should find out in that meeting with President tomorrow. And I did know Tom Brady's wife is Brazilian. She is all over the place here.

By the way, about flights and related things here in Brazil, Brazilians are taught that the first person to fly was a Brazilian called Santos Dumon or something like that, and that it wasn't the Wright Brothers. I would love to do some research on this but obviously I can't. I've already had a few discussions about this topic with Brazilians.

As far as the language goes, I already have got the question if I was from Brazil a few times. The accent is starting to fade away. I still have some troubles especially when the Bishop randomly calls on you to bare testimony in Sacrament Meeting, it was a little nerve racking for me, but it went fine. I feel pretty comfortable with the language. I live with two other Brazilians. Elder J. Santos, and Elder Souza. Us four together make up our entire district. It's kind of funny we all live together.

Well that's all the news so far here in Eldorado. Até mais. Te amo.

Elder Cameron Bruce

Feb. 12, 2012

Finally received some photos!

Rainy Christmas Day 2011  Embaré, Santos

February 6, 2012

I always look forward to Mondays too. It's great to hear from everyone. I just wish I had a little more time on the computer every week. But it's ok.

I can't think of anything else that I need or anything. Some candy is always nice. (Skittles, I've been craving them) We get the Liahona every month, it's in Portugues but I'm getting to the point of almost reading as fast in Portugues as English. I don't know how good the retention is though.... Oh and yes I got the package with the bed sheets thank you very much.

I haven't had much contact with the Sister missionaries. I had some in my district for 2 weeks then they were emergency transferred. Plus we aren't really supposed to have much contact with them.

As far as apartments go, we finally moved into our new apartment. I'm sorry I don't know the number. But we live on the third floor and it was pretty horrible carrying everything up there in 38 degree weather (Celsius). I don't think I have ever been sweatier in my life. And Elder Lobo was in division so it was just me and two other Elders doing everything. 

But after all my hard work I only get to enjoy the benefits of our lovely new apartment for one more night, because I'm getting transferred! I'm getting sent to Diadema. I don't remember which ward. My new companion will be Elder Larousso. I don't know him at all. I just know he's Brazilian and has about 8 months on the mission. I'm excited for a little bit of a change. I am really sad to leave this ward in Santos though. They are really awesome. I'm going to go visit some families and say goodbye today, because I leave tomorrow.

Luana is doing great.  She already has a bunch of friends and is very active. She brought her father and brother to church for her confirmation and they were very interested. I hope Elder Lobo and his new companion (he is going to train again so he doesn't know who his companion is) work with this family because I think they are really special.

Not much else happened this week. I can't remember anything special. Well I still have some time left. If I think of anything I'll send another email. I have to go read the one from Dad and see who won the superbowl. 

Te amo 

Elder Cameron Bruce

Boooooooo giants. I really wanted the Patriots to win. What happened to their offense? Only 17 points? Oh well. 

There is one member in my ward that likes American sports. But he doesn't really follow them and he doesn't understand them at all. So he tries to give me updates, but they never really make sense. Like an AFC team and an NFC team playing each other in the first round of the playoffs.... But other than him, I hear nothing about American sports. Some people knew the super bowl was yesterday and asked me about it. But really everything is soccer here. They live soccer. It's crazy. They're obsessed. 

So with BYU's team who is leading the way for them? Is Davies back and playing well? 

So I think Mardi Gras and Carnaval are the same week. I think they are related somehow. Luckily I'll be leaving Santos before Carnaval. Up in Sao Paulo it's not supposed to be so bad. 

A member in my ward where I ate lunch yesterday was saying that he works for Colgate and that there was a huge dental convention in Sao Paulo last week. You should have come. By the way, are you already planning out the return trip in 2014 for the World Cup? Sao Paulo will have a few games. 

As long as Liverpool is included, the other ones will be perfect. 

Well I can’t think of anything else to say either. Hope you have a job soon. 

Elder Cameron Bruce