Tudo bem

Date: April 27, 2011

Area: Itaporanga, Sergipe
Companion: Elder Lopes
From: Fortaleza, Brazil

Hey Guys!
How is everyone? I hope that you guys had a great Easter weekend! That´s cool that you guys went to Leeds, this week was just another normal one for me. We worked hard, but nobody went to church on Sunday, so all of our baptisms fell through except for one. We´re gonna try and baptize Marimar this Sunday. and we found a few new people to teach we´ll pass by there tonight.

Yeah I still haven´t gotten and letters or packages, I´ll get them on the days of transfers. I´ll email Cody once he leaves the mtc because he only has a half hour.

 I hope I go to a good area, I´m excited to skype with you guys, I hope I can find a good computer to use.
Then I´ll make my hump day after that!

That´s cool that Brooke´s doing a project on Brazil. oi - hey,  ola  - hello, obrigado - thank you,  por favor - please, tudo bem - all is well.   She could talk about the world cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. if she needs any more info just email me.

 I took a pic of a huge spider that we saw. it was literally the size of a plate. We were walking on the train tracks and we saw two of them.

Not a whole lot going on, I still haven´t gotten my debit cards so I´m pretty low on money, but my mission debit card got here last week. it´s in the mission office.

What are the kids up to? anything exciting, I hope that softball is going good for Brookie! how´s dad´s work going? does Brian have everything worked out for graduation?

How´s Kevin and the rest of the cousins?

But yeah sorry my email is kinda lame, but there´s not a whole lot of new things going on.

but I love you guys!!! I hope you have a great week and that everyone stays safe!!!

with love,
Elder Ludlow

I hit the 11 month mark this week!

Date: April 20, 2011

Area: Itaporanga, Sergipe

Companion: Elder Lopes

From: Fortaleza, Brazil

Hey guys!!!
How are you guys all doing? I´m doing good, the work here is going alright. We´ve still got some baptisms marked for the next few weeks, hopefully they´ll work out. it´s so easy to mark baptisms but it´s freakin´ hard to get people to go to church! so we´ll see.

It´s still really hot here, but the rainy season is starting. I hope that it cools down soon. The city I'm in is way hot cause there´s no wind.

Yesterday we went to district meeting, and after I did a division with my district leader, it was pretty good. I spent p-day at a members house we made food and played some board games.
(I was online the same time as him -I asked him what games he played and what food they made) 
We played a game called war, I sucked. and we made hamburgers.

That´s rough that Brookie´s team has lost the first 2 games. I hope they do better, but it sounds like she´s doing really well. I hope she´s having fun.

I hope my package comes soon, President Beynon will come down in a week or two, so hopefully it comes then. I haven´t gotten any new documents, just a copy of my visa. No I didn´t get letters. And I really suck at sending letters. I keep writing people but I forget to send the letters.

My rash is about the same, I dunno when I´ll go to the dermatologist, they said they´d make me an appointment.

I hit the 11 month mark this week! That´s crazy it´s going by really fast. I should have just a few more weeks here in this area!!! I´m thinkin I´ll leave the area.

But yeah I´m doing good here fam!!! Not really anything going on!!! I haven´t been taking pics, but I´ll do better!

My testimony is growing stronger everyday. I know that the gospel is true and this is where I need to be.
I love you all! be safe and have fun!!!
with love ,
Elder Ludlow

This week was good, other than losing my wallet

Date: April 13, 2011

Area: Itaporanga, Sergipe

Companion: Elder Lopes

From: Fortaleza, Brazil

Hey family!!!!

This week was good, other than losing my wallet. We worked really hard and have taught a lot of lessons. right now we have 6 baptisms marked, so hopefully they will all work out and we can baptize a whole bunch of people at the end of the month.

We also had interviews this week, it was really good. I really like interviews.

We´re trying to set up a dermatologist interview. My rash is still the same.

No I still didn´t get a letter from the young women.  I got letters from grandpa and grandma and the stake presidency.

Thanks for the email Brookie, I hope you have a good spring break and that Bubba feels better.

It´s going good with Elder Lopes, he´s gonna take an English test so I´m trying to teach him English.

That´s crazy that Brian´s graduating soon, it´ll be 2 years since I´ve graduated! that´s really weird. I hope he has everything in order to graduate.

Today for p-day we had a zone activity. We had a barbecue and played futebol and volleyball, it was fun, but I didn´t have my camera.


I found this picture on another missionary blog


Is it snowy there still? it's starting to rain here more than usual.

I hope that everyone has an awesome week.

I know that my mission is a really important time of my life for me. I know that everyone here needs to hear the gospel and that I was called to baptize them, I know the church is true, that the Book of Mormon is 100 percent true. in the name of Jesus Christ, amen...

Love you all, Bradley

Lost my Wallet

Fri. 4/8/11
Hey guys I lost my wallet today on the bus. I guess it fell outta my pocket. I'm stressin out! so I lost my drivers license and both debit cards, my church and personal one. so you'll have to cancel my personal one. lucky I didn't lose any money, but I hope no one uses the card. the secretary's will transfer my balance to my companions card so I have money. sorry I know this is a pain but if you could send me a new card. I love you all very much!!!
Oh and I met Elder Whitaker today he's in my zone, he's cool.
love you
Bradley




Saturday 4/9/11
That´s good that they cancelled it. I called the Secretaries and they will move my balance to my companions card and order me a new one. They told me to use the lan house and make sure that you cancelled everything...
I lost my drivers licence, but I don´t think I need it. I also lost my Brazil i.d. I think they can get a copy of that. I´ll talk to President Beynon on Tuesday, we have interviews and I´ll get a new Temple recommend.
I´m glad that it got cancelled, its been my worst fear on the mission to leave something on the bus.
My zone leaders got robbed this week the guys held up the bus with a gun and took their phones.
But Love Ya, be safe...
Bradley

Turtle Reserve by the beach

Date: April 6, 2011

Area: Itaporanga, Sergipe
Companion: Elder Lopes
From: Fortaleza, Brazil


Elder Ludlow & Elder Lopes
4-6-11

Hey everybody!!!,This week was alright, Elder Lopes and I worked hard and found a few people to teach, but it´s still going kinda slow. We´re working with a few different families, but they don´t seem to be that promising. We´re gonna try and mark a lot of baptisms this week. We are teaching a girl named Vivian and her family. She´s probably our best investigator.

My cold went away, and my rash almost went away but it´s back. I´m gonna have to go see a dermatologist. I´ve had it for over 3 months now...    it´s still really hot here, I think that that´s the problem with the rash.

I saw that it was snowing in Salt Lake when we watched General Conference. Conference was really good. the whole thing was in Portuguese though. I really felt the spirit when President Monson spoke. I reallly like conference and I learned a lot. We should be getting the Ensign in English and Portuguese. but they usually take a while.

I´ll send a package home with Elder Thomas. I´ve got a few things together already. This week I got a letter from Dad and a card from Grandma Hall. I wrote to all of my grandparents this week.

I´m really excited for my package. I hope it gets here safe and that they don't open it or anything.

Good luck Brookie with your softball game!!!  I hope that you do great!!!

It's not bad to speak only Portuguese, I´m trying to teach Elder Lopes English.

But yeah I´m doing good minus the rash. I´m having a hard time sleeping at night cause of it, but it´s alright I only have 4 more weeks in Itaporanga. I´ll upload some pics. a member from another ward took us to this turtle reserve by the beach.

Love you guys!!!
Elder Ludlow

Excited for General Conference

Date: March 30, 2011

Area: Itaporanga,Sergipe

Companion: Elder Lopes

From: Fortaleza, Brazil

Hey family!
How´s everybody doing?
    I´m doing good, this week was kinda slow. I´m still getting used to being senior companion and everything. It´s not bad it´s just that now I have to think about the numbers of lessons we teach and baptisms we mark, etc... but  it´s good it got me excited to work harder and find more people. This week we completely started over with our teaching group because we were wasting our time with people that weren´t progressing, so we´ve just been making a lot of contacts. We don't really have any great investigators right now.

   But yeah my companion is a pretty good guy. We get along pretty good. He´s from Fortaleza, a few states north of Alagoas, it´s good to be with a Brazilian to speak Portuguese a lot more.

That´s cool that you guys got new chicks. they look cute.
Congrats Brookie on the good grades, that sucks that you´ve been sick. I´ve had a bad head cold for a few days now, but I´m getting over it already.

So 6 Americans are coming next week and 16 missionaries are coming next transfer. so hopefully the visa problem is getting worked out.

I´m excited for General Conference next week. There won´t be very many Americans there so I bet It´ll be Portuguese. but it should be good I'm excited.

I wanna bear my testimony that this church is true and that I´m here to help people to be baptized. I'm glad that I decided to go on a mission, and I know that this church was restored by a prophet of God.

I love you guys!!
Be safe everyone, this computer sucks so I can't send pics. Have a great week.

te amo muito, me sinto saudades de voces.
(Love You, I miss you guys)


Elder Ludlow


hey dad, i hope that your birthday was great and i want you to know that i´m doing great here in brasil. how old are you now? i hope that work and everything is going good! the mission is flying by after this transfer i´ll make a year. tell grandpa happy birthay too. i´m excited for the hunt in 2012!!!

love bradley

New Companion

Date: March 23, 2011

Area: Itaporanga,Sergipe
Companion: Elder Lopes
From: Fortaleza, Brazil

Elder Ludlow And Elder Smythe baptized Joseane this week

Hey family,
       How´s it going? I´m doing good! we had transfers and I´m staying in Itaporanga for round 3!!! My new companion is Elder Lopes from Fortaleza, Brazil. I barely met him last night but he seems pretty cool. He has 6 months in the mission, so I went up to Senior Companion this transfer. I dunno I'm pretty excited I'm making a lot of goals and evaluating myself to improve as a missionary. I'm trying to work out again. I´m a lot skinnier but my body is kinda weak. but I´ve lost between 12 and 15 pounds in this area.

       But yeah Elder Smythe and I baptized this week! It almost didn´t happen, it almost fell through various times, but it all turned out great. we baptized a girl with 17 years and she´s really firm, she stopped drinking coffee without us even inviting her. We´re gonna work with her mom and brother now, the mom went to church and really liked it so hopefully we can baptize her too. we should have a few baptisms this transfer.

     Brian s mullet is nasty. lolol

     Thanks for the pics of my 3 new cousins. They all look really cute!

     That's nice that its starting to warm up back home. its officially fall here but it feels hotter than ever its gonna start raining a lot here pretty soon. I cant wait for winter to arrive again.

It sounds like the visa problem should be getting better soon but I don't know. there´s a lot less missionaries here then when I arrived because of the problems. (Elder Whitaker is still in St.George waiting to go to the Maceio, Brazil Mission)

I only took one photo this week and it was the baptism.

I love you guys and I know that this church is true, and I'm so happy to be here on my mission.
Stay firm everyone!!

Love Elder Ludlow

This will be the last week of this transfer

Date: March 16, 2011

Area: Itaporanga,Sergipe

Companion: Elder Smythe

From: San Fransisco, California



3-7-11

Thinking spot by the river - where we go when the going gets tough , haha



 Hey guys, how is everyone?
    This week was pretty good. We are working hard and we had 8 investigators at church on Sunday. We are gonna try and baptize a 17 year old girl on Saturday, she is definitely an elect... we´re not 100 percent for this Saturday, but she wants to be baptized. she just doesn´t really know when. Tomorrow we´ll try and get her excited and ready for this weekend. she´s living all the commandments, and has really no problems, and she´s talking about serving a mission already. So we´ll  just try and get her excited.
And ther´es a less active family that has been coming to church, they gotta get married, then we can baptize the wife and 3 kids, so if I do stay here at least finally we´ll have some decent people to work with. It kinda sucks that all of our success happened on the last week of the transfer.But as of now we have that family of 4, and also that José that really wanna get baptized but they need to get married. if I stay I might have to pay for part of the weddings, but we´re trying to find a free wedding they have them every once in a while.It sucks cuz almost nobody is civilly married here they just live together.

     But were almost positive that Elder Smythe will go, but the branch president hinted that we both will leave. But I dunno I´m not gonna get my hopes up I´m just preparing to stay in Itaparanga for  ROUND 3!!! But it´s a little better now cuz we actually have people that aren´t lazy and for sure we´ll baptize next transfer. I´ll probably be with a Brazilian. but yeah I´m chill with whatever happens.
My rash is a lot better, the pills are working and it´s a lot smaller.

That's cool Bri is playing the guitar. Elder Smythe has one and I´ve been practicing a little, it´s like impossible to learn during the mission though. I don´t really have time, but I really wanna learn.

That's cool that the kids are staying busy. Brooke is doing softball, and bubba´s lifting weights. I need to work out more, I have a fat gut. but I´ve lost a lot of weight in this area and my stomach is a lot smaller. when I eat I feel full way fast.

Yeah I saw the Japan earthquake, that's good the missionaries are safe.

I´m way excited for the package!!! I´m really needing one.

I'll send pics.

Love, b rad

eu amo voces!!!
(I Love You Guys!!!)




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Our Thinking Spot

 



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I´m doing good don´t worry about me

Date: March 9, 2011

Area: Itaporanga,Sergipe

Companion: Elder Smythe

From: San Fransisco, California

Hey family!

     How´s everything going? This week was pretty good. I thought that like nobody would go to church because of carnival, but we had 5 investigators at church, that was definitely a miracle. But we won´t be able to teach them till tomorrow and they live really far away on a ranch. We´re gonna have to take a bus then walk like an hour, an inactive member just decided to go to church and brought a bunch of neighbors and stuff.

     But so far this week the city is literally A ghost town, everything is closed and theirs no one in sight, everyone went to the beach, so we´ve been trying to work but we have just been kinda chillin. We went down by the river on Monday and hung out at our thinking spot. (where we go when the going gets tough. ha ha.) we tried to go hunting for birds with a slingshot, it was pretty funny.

     But yeah not a whole lot to say, I´m doing okay. This week was better than the last few. It sounds that the family is all doing good, that's crazy that theres snow still, its so hot in my area cause there's no wind here. I can´t wait till it starts to get to be bearable again...

     But yeah I´m outta things to say, just a pretty normal week, we don't really have any super great investigators, they all fell through. We´ll work hard this week now that carnival is over.

     Love you all very much, I´m doing good don´t worry about me, I know that even though things get hard, the Lord blesses me in so many ways, and I'm very grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission, I´m learning and growing so much and having a good time.!!!
Much love
Bradley

9 months!

Date: March 2, 2011

Area: Itaporanga,Sergipe

Companion: Elder Smythe

From: San Fransisco, California

Bradley has been out for 9 months! YAY, I can't wait until May when we get to talk to him and he hits the 1 year mark!

Hey Fam!
This week was good. This area is just really hard. basically all of our baptisms fell through and José was the only investigator at church. we haven´t really gotten a hold of Lú in a while, I think she´s kinda avoiding us so I dunno, hopefully we´ll talk to her this week and mark her baptism again and get her to church. the other three ladies fell through, they were on their porch and ran inside when they saw us coming and pretended like no one was home lol.

So yeah it´s a little bit rough here. I´m loving it with Elder Smythe though, he´s a really good guy.

But yeah we spoke again in church on Sunday, it went pretty good. I spoke about faith in Jesus Christ. but no one really pays attention besides the president and one other guy.

It would be really nice if you sent a package, especially if I stayed here for round 3. with some food and treats and stuff. this transfer is only 5 weeks so it´s like half way over already. I don't know if I´ll stay. Elder Smythe is for sure leaving because he´s been three here.

So I weighed myself and I´ve lost like around 10 pounds since I´ve been here in Itaporanga. we have lunch 2, maybe 3 times per week. we just make something easy in the house but its hard to eat for so cheap. I cant wait for my mom´s home cooked meals again!!!

McKay emailed me, he seems to be doing great! I told him how the mission flies by. sometimes theirs rough patches but you look back and realize how fast it goes by.

This week is carnival, like the biggest holiday of the year. Everybody just gets drunk and party for like a week. I think it´s kinda like mardi gras but a lot bigger. we have to be inside by eight this week. but we live in the busiest part of the city so its gonna be really loud all night.

Sorry guys, I still haven't taken pics, I´ll for sure take more and send them next week..

But yeah not a whole lot going on, we´re just doing our best to get this branch up and running again.
love you guys!! be safe,
Bradley