Well sounds like a great trip to Idaho. I'm glad everything went well and everyone is doing well (minus Eric's hamstring). I'm doing great. The area is going really well and this next week we will be having a baptism. His name is Milton and he loves the church already and wants to bring his whole family into the gospel. We are really excited for him. The missionaries found him through the English class.
The English class is definitely our biggest tool for finding people to teach. I have been teaching it basically since I got here. I think Elder Kolb was getting tired of teaching it for like 6 months. Also he is a little bit of a quieter guy. I have a new found respect for teachers now though. It gets really frustrating and stressful sometimes. Especially because everyone expects to be able to speak English after like one class. They are like you already speak Portugues, I just tell them that I studied Portugues everyday for like 6 hours for two months and now I have been living in Brasil for almost 8 months in order to be able to speak at this level. It wasn't easy. Something I have figured out is that most people want to take the path of least resistence. Whether it's in career choices, religious decisions, or even in schooling, people want what is easiest and suits them the best. A lady we were teaching and thought was progressing pretty well, told us that she doesn't think she will keep going or anything because Sunday mornings are her only time off, so she will just go to a different church on Saturday nights because it's easier. Not because she thinks that church is true or anything, just because it's easier. It's sad when people aren't willing to work for something.
The house is fine now, we had some people come over and they went up in those little hydraulic lifts to check the power lines that went to our house. They switched something out and we haven't had any problems since then, so I think we are safe. The power went out one more time, but that was during a wind storm so I figure it was because of that.
So the weather here has been pretty miserable. We have had one day of sunshine since I got here. Every other day has been cloudy and rainy. But oh well.
So today Elder Kolb and I were playing catch with his football, and obviously it progressed to the point where we were as far away from each other as we could throw it, and the ball may or may not have slipped a little out of my hands, it then proceeded to go a little off course, and since all walls in Brazil have spikes on top of them, we had to have a funeral service for his football today. I feel pretty bad, and since you can't get American footballs here, I think it would be best if you could help me out replacing it. His ball was a decent one, it was a Wilson and it was the NFL one, that says like National Football Conference and American Football Conference, in little writing under the NFL symbol. Soooo yeahhh.
Also my Nikes that I brought with me are falling apart. I would request another pair of Nikes, running shoes like those ones dad and I were looking at at the PX. Kind of a mesh material, light shoes, colors don't matter too much to me. Just not too crazy. The Nikes I have are 9.5.
Well that's all I have for this week.
Até mais. Te amo.
Elder Cameron Bruce
Sao Paulo
My Home For the Next Two Years
Thursday, June 28, 2012
June 19, 2012
Wow. That is some very upsetting news. But I am very happy for the knowledge we have of what comes after this life. That it isn't just the end. I'm sure Judy is a lot happier now. And I remember reading something that Bruce R. McKonkie said about suicide that we can in no way make a judgement of the person because usually there is a more serious depression issue behind it, where the person loses control and that only Heavenly Father is truly able to understand the situation.
Well I'm glad that it sounds like Lebron is starting to play like he really wants it. Who had the first games at home? Kind of a bummer that Tiger has no killer instinct any more. I stand by the fact that his colapse wasn't the crash and marital issues but it all roots from when Y. E. Yang showed the world that he is beatable, or maybe he just showed Tiger that he is beatable. Oh well.
Well off to mom's email. Tchau
Elder Cameron Bruce
Well I'm glad that it sounds like Lebron is starting to play like he really wants it. Who had the first games at home? Kind of a bummer that Tiger has no killer instinct any more. I stand by the fact that his colapse wasn't the crash and marital issues but it all roots from when Y. E. Yang showed the world that he is beatable, or maybe he just showed Tiger that he is beatable. Oh well.
Well off to mom's email. Tchau
Elder Cameron Bruce
So I have done two divisions so far and strangley enough I had to stay in our area where I don't know anything. Usually the LD stays in his area to show the other missionary how a good area should be. But the areas of the others have been weak and needed some baptismal interviews done, and since that is Elder Kolb's duty I stayed in my area, completely lost. Haha. It was fun though. I did divisions with Elder Castro and Elder Teixera. Both Brazilians with over a year. It was cool, being on divisions is really fun actually. So there are only three companionships in our district, including ours. And yes we still have Zone Leaders, they are just in another district. Funny story, Elder Perrell came to Mauá too, so we see each other all the time.
Elder Kolb has been here since January. So looks like he'll be leaving soon, which I hope means I get to be a senior this next transfer. We'll see how it goes. I work out, but not to the same level as Elder Kolb, I spend awhile stretching and then just do some sit ups and push ups, and now pull ups because he has a pull up bar. That's all for me. I'm not trying to stay in shape for football or anything.
So the weather here is so weird, it heats up and then cools down, sometimes in the same day. So I am still good on hot chocolate. Thank you.
Oh I got the other package by the way. Thank you very much. We are enjoying the Milky Ways quite a bit.
So each class of English has about 20 students. We teach Tuesday nights a basic class, and also on Saturday morning, an advanced class and a basic class. It is a great source of contacts and investigators. We teach them in the chapel. We have our own keys.
So we went to the temple today. President Tanner went with us, and he brought his daughter and son in law. It was pretty cool. It's in Português and they use very old proper Português which I think sounds so cool. I wish everyone talked like that.
So Laura's husband served in Belo Horizante, Ai. Haha. They are known for having an accent, kind of like a Canadian accent where they say ai a lot. There are a lot of missionaries here from Minas Gerais (the state where Belo Horizante is the capital).
Lauren went to Costa Rica? WHAAAAA? Does she speak Spanish fluently now? That's awesome. Maybe we'll be able to communicate when we both get back. I mean in a language other than English.
Tanner is growing up too? What? It's going to be really weird to come back to all the little deacons/almost teachers, being priests already. They'll always be deacons to me.
Well, I have sad news, my camera is slowing dying...... The picture quality is just getting worse and worse everytime I look at it. Right now, it's like the pictures were taken by a really bad cell phone. I didn't notice for a little while, but sadly some of the pictures I have from saying goodbye in Diadema are really bad quality. So, I hate to ask but would it be possible to get a new one? If so, just be sure that it uses SD memory cards ( I think that rules out all Sony digital cameras), I don't need anything too fancy, it just needs to take nice clear photos. Also I am starting to run low on contacts, so if you could send a few more boxes that would be much appreciated. They don't seem to last as long here. I don't know why. Maybe it is because of all the pollution here. I don't know.
Oh and one last thing. Just food for thought, but I think it would be really cool if you guys came down here to pick me up. Obviously that is a ways in the future, but it's never to early to start planning. I think it would be really great to show you around and visit people and for you to meet President Tanner and Sister Tanner, and all sorts of cool stuff. But you know, just a thought.
Well that's all for this week. Tchau, te amo.
Elder Cameron Bruce
Elder Kolb has been here since January. So looks like he'll be leaving soon, which I hope means I get to be a senior this next transfer. We'll see how it goes. I work out, but not to the same level as Elder Kolb, I spend awhile stretching and then just do some sit ups and push ups, and now pull ups because he has a pull up bar. That's all for me. I'm not trying to stay in shape for football or anything.
So the weather here is so weird, it heats up and then cools down, sometimes in the same day. So I am still good on hot chocolate. Thank you.
Oh I got the other package by the way. Thank you very much. We are enjoying the Milky Ways quite a bit.
So each class of English has about 20 students. We teach Tuesday nights a basic class, and also on Saturday morning, an advanced class and a basic class. It is a great source of contacts and investigators. We teach them in the chapel. We have our own keys.
So we went to the temple today. President Tanner went with us, and he brought his daughter and son in law. It was pretty cool. It's in Português and they use very old proper Português which I think sounds so cool. I wish everyone talked like that.
So Laura's husband served in Belo Horizante, Ai. Haha. They are known for having an accent, kind of like a Canadian accent where they say ai a lot. There are a lot of missionaries here from Minas Gerais (the state where Belo Horizante is the capital).
Lauren went to Costa Rica? WHAAAAA? Does she speak Spanish fluently now? That's awesome. Maybe we'll be able to communicate when we both get back. I mean in a language other than English.
Tanner is growing up too? What? It's going to be really weird to come back to all the little deacons/almost teachers, being priests already. They'll always be deacons to me.
Well, I have sad news, my camera is slowing dying...... The picture quality is just getting worse and worse everytime I look at it. Right now, it's like the pictures were taken by a really bad cell phone. I didn't notice for a little while, but sadly some of the pictures I have from saying goodbye in Diadema are really bad quality. So, I hate to ask but would it be possible to get a new one? If so, just be sure that it uses SD memory cards ( I think that rules out all Sony digital cameras), I don't need anything too fancy, it just needs to take nice clear photos. Also I am starting to run low on contacts, so if you could send a few more boxes that would be much appreciated. They don't seem to last as long here. I don't know why. Maybe it is because of all the pollution here. I don't know.
Oh and one last thing. Just food for thought, but I think it would be really cool if you guys came down here to pick me up. Obviously that is a ways in the future, but it's never to early to start planning. I think it would be really great to show you around and visit people and for you to meet President Tanner and Sister Tanner, and all sorts of cool stuff. But you know, just a thought.
Well that's all for this week. Tchau, te amo.
Elder Cameron Bruce
Monday, June 11, 2012
June 11, 2012
MauAH. The accent is on the last A. The area is great. It is definitely a little better off than Diadema. Also it is a lot bigger. The name of the area is Parquedas Americas. My companion is Elder Kolb. He was at BYU with me. I knew him by sight. He only has one more transfer than I do. So we are very close in mission time. He also just became a District Leader which will be interesting since it means I will have to do divisions or splits more often. Oh well.
The new apartment is nice. We live alone. It has a bedroom, an empty room (other elders used to live there) a kitchen, a study, and a service area to wash clothes and stuff. There has been some issues with the electricity and I have taken a few cold showers because they heat water up with electricity here. That was pretty miserable. It is surprisingly cold here. Also there is no insulation in the houses so you really feel it a lot more. It makes it really hard to get out of bed at 6 30. But Elder Kolb gets up to work out right at 6 30, which really helps me. He is a big guy. He played football all through high school at a big football school in Missouri. He lives in Joplin. He is the oldest of four. First on a mission obviously. He was a defensive end and a guard/tight end.
At transfers we didn't stay long because he had to go to a training to be a LD (District leader). So I didn't really see anyone. But that's ok. They don't really want you to stay around there any way.
I didn't get the package or any other mail. They don't give mail at transfers. I think there are too many missionaries there and it would be a really big hassle.
The temple dedication was really interesting. President Uchtdorf presided and dedicated the temple. He was really funny while they were sealing the cornerstone. Elder Cook was also there. It was interesting because they used a translator, and I didn't think he was very good. I felt kind of bad for anyone that didn't speak English. All the Americans agreed that a lot of the message was lost in translation. But oh well. It was still really special. We watched it in our stake center which is ENORMOUS. I would say the same thing about our chapel. Which is slightly smaller than the stake center. They are both very similar. Three stories, with just a ton of rooms. The chapel can be opened up to the cultural hall which just goes back forever. I'll take some pictures next week for you.
The weather in Mauá has been really wet and cold. It's rained everyday at least for an hour since I got here.
I can't believe Dallin is going to be a priest already. That seems crazy!! And all the others too. Wow.
But I am not currently in need of anything. By the way, next week I'll be going to the temple so I might email on Tuesday. So don't be alarmed if I don't send an email on Monday.
Well the adventure here is just beginning. I think I'm really going to like this area. I'll let you know more about the area next week. When I actually know more about it. Oh I'm teaching English again, and this time there are some pretty big classes. Apparently that's where most of our investigators come from. So yeah.
That's all for this week. Tchau
Com amor,
Elder Cameron Bruce
The new apartment is nice. We live alone. It has a bedroom, an empty room (other elders used to live there) a kitchen, a study, and a service area to wash clothes and stuff. There has been some issues with the electricity and I have taken a few cold showers because they heat water up with electricity here. That was pretty miserable. It is surprisingly cold here. Also there is no insulation in the houses so you really feel it a lot more. It makes it really hard to get out of bed at 6 30. But Elder Kolb gets up to work out right at 6 30, which really helps me. He is a big guy. He played football all through high school at a big football school in Missouri. He lives in Joplin. He is the oldest of four. First on a mission obviously. He was a defensive end and a guard/tight end.
At transfers we didn't stay long because he had to go to a training to be a LD (District leader). So I didn't really see anyone. But that's ok. They don't really want you to stay around there any way.
I didn't get the package or any other mail. They don't give mail at transfers. I think there are too many missionaries there and it would be a really big hassle.
The temple dedication was really interesting. President Uchtdorf presided and dedicated the temple. He was really funny while they were sealing the cornerstone. Elder Cook was also there. It was interesting because they used a translator, and I didn't think he was very good. I felt kind of bad for anyone that didn't speak English. All the Americans agreed that a lot of the message was lost in translation. But oh well. It was still really special. We watched it in our stake center which is ENORMOUS. I would say the same thing about our chapel. Which is slightly smaller than the stake center. They are both very similar. Three stories, with just a ton of rooms. The chapel can be opened up to the cultural hall which just goes back forever. I'll take some pictures next week for you.
The weather in Mauá has been really wet and cold. It's rained everyday at least for an hour since I got here.
I can't believe Dallin is going to be a priest already. That seems crazy!! And all the others too. Wow.
But I am not currently in need of anything. By the way, next week I'll be going to the temple so I might email on Tuesday. So don't be alarmed if I don't send an email on Monday.
Well the adventure here is just beginning. I think I'm really going to like this area. I'll let you know more about the area next week. When I actually know more about it. Oh I'm teaching English again, and this time there are some pretty big classes. Apparently that's where most of our investigators come from. So yeah.
That's all for this week. Tchau
Com amor,
Elder Cameron Bruce
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
June 4, 2012
The birthday was great. We had an activity on friday night and turns out they planned a surprise celebration for me, that I already knew about, but I acted surprised for them. It was really nice and they brought all sorts of cake and goodies. They sang Parabens (literally congratulations, but it's their birthday song). I do feel old. I don't like this 20 thing. The years of wanting to be older have already come and gone for me. Oh well.
Well big news, I got transferred, tomorrow I'm going to The Mauá Zone. I don't remember what area, and my companion will be Elder Kolb. I only know a little about him, he was at BYU the same time as me, but I haven't ever really talked to him. I hope he is a cool guy. We'll see. Also Elder Perrell is getting transferred, which is a huge bummer because it means two new elders here who won't know the area or our investigators. I'm really worried about some people, but hey, you got to have faith in President right? I know it's all for a good purpose.
I think I might know that Elder Brown. He is from Salt Lake too. That's awesome. I'll see if he knows anyone up in Canada.
And yes I remember my Baptism date, strangely a lot of people don't remember. Seems like it would be something significant. But I'm really excited for the dedication. Also awesome news, yesterday was Stake Conference and we watched a transmission from Salt Lake, and President Monson, Elder Anderson, Sister Dalton, and President Gonzalez, all spoke to us. It was really great. And a surprise. A good one of course.
And I'll be sure not to scratch any bug bites. Has that sickness made it to Brazil too? Because São Paulo is a pretty highly populated and advanced area. But oh well.
Well that's all that has really been going on for me. I'm sure next week I'll have more to say about the new area. Até semana que vem.
Elder Cameron Bruce
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