06/19/13

Ola família!

Hows everyone doing?

So U have some news this week, I am training a new missionary! He is from São Paulo and got here today. I hope I'm up to the challenge. Also I stayed in my area in Ipés which I didn't think would happen because I've already been here for 4 months. So that means I will stay in the João Pessoa mission. Congrats on graduating Mom! Thats super exciting! I was super happy to hear that, and that you got me a new debit card, because mine expires next month in July. So I think you could send it in a letter, and just put a few picture of Jesus and the virgin Mary on the part that you seal on the envelope. I dont' know. We had a Conference with President Hall last week, it was super good, he talked about Christlike attributes and how they help in the mission. It was also the last one he will give before he finishes his mission. I think it will be super weird to get a new mission president. So on Tuesday night we had a family night with one of my favorite families here in the area, and the family of the bishop. They had me make cookies, and they bought Açai. And we ate dinner. It was super good and I got super full haha, but the Dad of the family said something that really made us happy, that his family and the ward can trust in us missionaries, and that me and Elder Wilkins were like a part of their family. It was super cool. So something that will be funny today and tomorrow will be seeing everyone again, because the Zone Leaders said I needed to pack my bags because I would be leaving the house, so I went and said bye to everyone. But as it turns out I stayed here. They put another group of missionaries in the area next to us and then told me I would live like a half hour walk from my area, but our house is in are area, so I ended up staying. So saying hi to everyone again will be fun haha. We always walk around with the book of mormon in our hands, and its amazing how many people ask us about it. I'm jealous of Tyler at football camp, I miss it, if it's possible do you think you could send me a football? Sucks that Nates got sick, barfing sucks. Get Better little man, actually not so little, he has gotton big, at least it looks like it in the pic you sent mom. One more thing, mom do you think you could get on my facebook and add all the people waiting to be my friend? A bunch of people have said they are waiting for a response. If not, I can have a member log on for me, but I'd rather you do it. I love you all and hope yall have a good week!

Com amor,

Elder Brady Simpson

PS i have pictures to send, but I forgot my camera in the house. On monday I guess! Oh and I havent had problems yet with mosquitos, sometimes I get bites on my ankles, because they stick off the end of the bed while I sleep, but thats about it!

06/10/13

What up yall!

Hows everyone doing? This past week for me was pretty good, except nobody went to church with us, I think cuz it was raining though. So about the guy that knocked, he didn't show up to our appointment and we didnt know how to find him so we lost him. Kinda sad. The other family that we are teaching went on a trip this Sunday and so that kinda screwed up our plans, but the dad has a month off of work starting now so we should be able to teach and baptize them this week.. I hope. So I  have a couple funny stories from this week. On Friday we played soccer with the boys from the other ward, and the other elders, and me and Elder Wilkins showed up and were saying stuff like oh we don't really know how to play and we are gringos so we will be bad sabe? Then when we started playing we destroyed them haha. Elder Wilkins had three goals and I had two. Elder wilkins even made a header. It was super funny because everytime we scored or did something good everyone that was watching would get super excited and start cheering. It was 2 legit to quit. To be honest my knee hasnt been as bad this week, i think it might be because after playing soccer, the rest of my leg has been super sore haha, im so out of shape now. I think summer is gonna be the hardest part of being on the mission, because I know all my friends and family are at home doing cool things. So about Kelleys friend in texas that doesn't have church clothes, tell her that the type of clothing you have is not what matters at all. The Lord knows that she doesn't have the clothes with her and the Lord knows that she has the desire to go to church. We get people at church here in t shirts and jeans and any kind of clothing really. What you wear is not that important. Its all about your attitude. The other funny story I have is from Saturday, we did splits with another group of elders, and guess who I went with, Elder Taylor, my comp from the MTC. It was so much fun. We messed around a lot, and taught a lot of people. So it started raining and two super cute girls passed by in their car and asked us if we wanted a ride, But we said no, because we were close to where we were going. Then it started freaking pouring. and the person we were trying to talk to wasn't home. We started wishing we would've taken the ride in the car haha. We did get to walk along the road of the beeach in the rain though, it was pretty cool. Everytime that we passed a puddle of water Elder Taylor would jump in it to try and splash me, my shoes are still wet today haha. It was super fun. Thats really all the cool things that happened. We have transfers next week. Hope you all have a good week. Love you guys!

Tchau!

Elder Brady Simpson

06/03/13

Ola Família

This week was pretty good! We have a family that we are starting to teach, but they live in a different area so its kinda hard. They visit our ward though, because the dads girlfriend lives in our ward and they are planning on getting married sometime soon. So we went all week with out seeing them, and on Sunday one of the girls showed up at church and asked if we could teach her yesterday afternoon. So we went over there and marked her baptism for next week, she has already been to church a ton and likes it a lot. So it looks like we will teach her everything this weekend. It super cool when we find people that God has already prepared to accept the gospel. Also another cool story from yesterday. We were sitting in sacrament meeting, when my comp turn to me and said there was a guy outside knocking on the gate to the church. Weird because the gate was open. So we went out there to talk to the dude. It turns out he was looking for work, but we went ahead and invited him to watch the rest of the meeting with us, and he did. He ended up crying during the testimonies and closing prayer. We marked an appointment with him for tomorrow and  I hope he shows up. Our transfers are the 19th. I have no idea if  I will stay in this mission or if I will go to the other mission. I will find out on the 18th I think. Congrats to Cams for graduating! And it sounds like school is going good for you too mom! You ll graduate here soon and be one of the best nurses in the city! It would be super cool to get your Bachelors degree. Would you have to go to BYUI or do online classes? That story from the 70 is super cool. I hope this week goes well for y'all and i have some pictures I will try to send of the cake I made from the package and stuff,  Idon't think so though!  My knee has been okay, it was kinda an easy week on it. Some days it hurts a lot, and some days not so much. I love you guys!

Tchau!

Elder Brady Simpson

05/27/30

Ola Família,

This week was pretty good, but it was pretty slow teaching wise. I went to physucal therapy everyday, so that took up alot of time and made it hard to go visit a lot of people. Physical therapy here is so much different than it is in the states. I did exercises once, and then it hurt a lot that day so they didn't have me do them anymore. Lets see what else happened this week... We got a call from President Hall one day, telling us he needed us to go to the hospital, because one of the missionaries was there. So we got there and it turns out one of the guys got hit by a bike, pretty hard. He went to cross the street and stepped back again because a car was coming and a bike hit him as he stepped back. He ended up breaking a bone under the eye, or part of the eye socket, so he is gonna need surgery this week. We also got super lucky this week and at church a family brought another family that seems super cool and interested and they have already visited the church 3 times, so I think that's where our focus will be for the next few weeks. It's always best to get references, because we can knock on doors and talk to a lot of people but 1 out of 100 will be baptized but with references it's almost everyone that gets baptized here and I'm sure the number is a lot higher in every mission. So Cam is gonna graduate huh? Congrats buddy! And about the Hymn books, no they don't have the American songs, the hymn book here is only like half the size because a lot of the songs don't translate, and a lot of the songs have different meanings in Portuguese. It sounds like school is going well for everyone and that everyone is doing all right. And no you didnt offer to buy me a yearbook when I was a senior. Its crazy that football is starting up again, I wanna play so bad, I miss it a ton. So the good news is that the package came, the bad news is that I will have to pay a tax on it, but luckily I have the money because of the dollars I traded in last week! Its good that the missionaries are cool, one thing I've noticed is that when the missionaries are bad or not cool with people it kills the area they are working in. Nobody wants to help, and a lot of the times the members are really closed with you. Then for the next people that come it sucks. That and the members are the key to missionary work. Alright well I think that's all I have for this week, I love you guys and hope everything goes smoothly for y'all this week.
Com amor,
Elder Brady Simpson

PS. I have some cool flip flops too, and a sweet tan line. But its not as bad as everyone says mom. And they said don't be barefoot in open grass fields and dirt fields, because that's where all the nasty stuff is.


 

05/20/13

Hey Family!

I miss you all, isn’t crazy that it’s already been a week since mother’s day? Time is going by fast, at least this last week did. I haven’t got the package yet, but I have faith that it will come one day. I got a card from grandma and Grandpa Grover, but I know I have another letter waiting for me at the mission office so it’s probably the one from Grandma Simpson! We do have subway here, but I don’t know if they accept subway cards ha-ha I sure hope so. It sounds like everyone at home is doing super well. This week for us was pretty good, we had another baptism! Of Flavia the mom of the kids we baptized last time. Also she threw us a party for my birthday with cake and other goodies, it was pretty cool! I made cookies and brownies this week too, they came out pretty good, its a lot different making them here than in the states ha-ha. So when I was cutting up the chocolate bars to make chocolate chips one of the other guys was like it’s a lot easier if you just crush the bars, and it reminded me of the time I made brownies at Sister Creers house and I volunteered to crush the Reese’s cups, and then she told me that there was no crushing in her kitchen, but that I had to carefully cut the Reese’s into 16 pieces. I responded to the other elder with the same thing, that there is no crushing in my kitchen. It was pretty funny to me, but not to him, because he didn’t get the joke... ha-ha Lets see what else, oh we also did service this week and help Flavia and her family move houses, it was pretty fun, my knee was dead after though. Lots of times it’s just like a steady throbbing pain, and lots of times my knee just feels exhausted. It gets pretty annoying. Oh and yesterday, we got to church and the bishop came up to me and was like Elder Simpson can you do me a favor, and I responded with sure. Then he told me I would be the first speaker. So I ended up speaking about prayer. I’m not sure if anyone listened to me though ha-ha. Our bishop here is super cool though. I have a funny story from this week for y’all. So we were at Flavias house, teaching here the baptism interview questions, and filling out the form, when her youngest kid Davi who is 2 walked in and gave the largest loudest fart I have ever heard from a baby ha-ha, and to make it all worse it wasn’t just a fart. But when he walked in the room he was standing behind me and everyone looked at me first like it was me that did it, but no, it was the baby. We all had a good laugh. I think that’s about all I have to say, I hope you guys have a superb week and good luck with everything. Hopefully the birthday package will come this week!

Love you guys,

Elder Brady Simpson

05/13/13

Hey y'all!

It was super great talking to you all yesterday. I don’t really have anything new to say today, I think I said it all yesterday. We do have a baptism planned for this week so pray that it doesn’t fall through. It’s to finish a family so it will be super cool. The rest of this family is super excited that the mom will be baptized. Good luck on your test mom! One thing I’ve realized from being on the mission is that I actually miss studying and learning. Weird huh? who would’ve thunk. Super cool that Elder Woolf and his fam passed by! He was probably the coolest missionary that ever went to our house. I Love you guys and hope you guys have a good week! Tchau!

05/08/13

Como vai?

Its sounds like everyone is doing super good at home! Cameron is crazy! Tell him not to change in the mission; everyone likes the crazy guy’s ha-ha. I think it is weird that grandma and grandpa are already done with their mission. Time went by super fast. Doesn't it feel like Christmas was only a couple weeks ago? Congrats to Kelley with Buddy Club and Miamaids ( menina-moça). I don' wear the jacket that I came with, its way to hot here, Cameron might though because it rains a lot more there. I heard it rains almost every day there, but not like for a long time sabe? Alright so let’s get to the big news: I have some. I got my MRi read and it turns out that I have a degenerative process in the medial meniscus, and maybe some small tears, at least that’s what the doc here said, I dont know how good their info is, because it is Brazil. He told me to do 10 sessions of physical therapy and then if there is still pain to go see him again. So I don't need surgery for now. The worst part is that normally people don’t have this problem until they have 50 years or so. So as soon as I know more ill keep you updated. We also had 3 baptisms Sunday! So far I have baptized 8 people here in this area. 5 of them are from the same family. We baptized a brother and sister of the girl we baptized a couple weeks ago, and her aunt. And I think maybe the stepmom a lot less, but it seems like we are still being blessed. Kind of cool. Also a cool story from this week. We did service at the bishops house this week, building a ceiling, everything here is built from bricks and cement. So we had to make the cement and lift it up to the ceiling with buckets and guess who the guy that got to lift the buckets. Me ha-ha, the best part was the BBQ we had after. The BBQ here is super different; they only cook the stuff and Shish kabob skewers and only put salt on the meat while it’s cooking! It turns out super good every time. Transfers were this week and me and Elder Wilkins stayed in our area. I use my iPod a bit, but also you can tell cam to put all the music on a pen drive because here they have little speakers that you just plug a pen drive into. It’s a lot easier and cheaper. So on Sunday I think I will try and call at like 3 your time so 7 my time. Also I might call you on the phone today to get it all figured out. Alright? Well I think that’s all I have for now! Até Domingo!

Love you guys!

Elder Brady Simpson