3/24/12

 

Hey Mom!

Well it sounds like a kind of crazy week.  Yes i did get Grandmas and Grandpas card.  Make sure that you tell them that i said thank you and that i will be writing them soon.  Well this week has been really fun.  We had a couple of runs to the air port and back because we got a senior couple in.  The Elder was actually a companion with President Smith while they were here together.  It was kind of fun hearing them talking about the mission and about old comps and old missionaries and their lives.  It was really odd and interesting and me and elder gudmundsen talked and we both said that i would come back and be a senior couple and he would be the mission president and we would have that same conversation hahaha!

Well we are having another baptism at the church this week from another set of Elders whom i love!  they are a really good companionship.  Yes Elder Mondragon has a little sister and they live in Salt lake somewhere bnut i cannot remember where.  Today for my birthday there are some members who are taking us out to lunch and then after that we might go bowling but we dont know for sure yet.   Btw i might be getting a suit cut if that it ok?  There is a member who will do it for 3000 baht and that is fabric and he doesnt charge for labor.  I will tell you before i go fabric shopping because i have to go to china town and look first but this brother is actually a female clothes designer.  He owns a shop in china town and he said that he really likes cutting dresses for females more that cutting suits but he now does both haha so when you all come here we can stay here for two weeks and he will have dresses done for the girls and suits for the boys hahaha.  But ya i will tell you how much it costs first and if it is over i will just pass.

Not much has happened this week.  We did have one investigator and her daughter.  The daughte has changed so much for the better but her mother hasnt seen that at all.  The daughter has gotten an answer and she gave a really powerful testimony. I could see that they did not have the best relationship in the world and it made me more grateful for the relationship that i had with you and Dad.  The opprotunity to actually grow up in the gospel with you two.  I know that this is a gospel of families.  I dont plan on going up there alone because i know that you all can be right by my side and i will be by your side.  i am really excited for that day!  I love you so much Momma and sorry if i did answer all of the questions in case that i missed something hahaha but i will talk to you next week.

Elder Bryce

3/16/12

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Hey Momma! 

Ok i just wanted to let you know that everything got to me yesterday and thank you for the drivers thing.  I dont know what it is called in english so that last one will sound a little weird.  My companion is very grateful now that i can get my thai one and then i can start driving and he can relax now.  He doesnt like driving very much.  Well this week we have a baptism!!!!!!!!!!  She is an awesome lady!  She married a man from america and she has been an investigator for a long time now and she only recetly got serious oabout learning because she was having some family problems.  After really starting to learn and areally notice the love of God in her life everything in her life started to get better.  From what i have heard is that even her relationship with her husband is really good now.  Her husband works with the American army and so he is traveling a lot so he doesnt really get a chance to learn with us but he said that he will support his wife in this because he said that it has helped them so much.  We were able to sit down with him and teach him the restoration and the spirit was just so strong!  Things were amazing.  About half way during the lesson his wife put her hand on his lap and he grabbed it  and it was just so adorable and you could tell that they really loved each other and that the Gospel had really help her develope more love for him.  He also is now forced to read in the Book of Mormon because she cant read and so he has to read with her and she wants to read it all of the time so that is really good! hahaha.

I love serving in this branch so much!  ok these two branches.  All of the members are really nice here and we never run out of people to teach and they have said that next week will be the first week that we wont have a baptism here for a very long time.  Normally people are baptized every week here even though our district includes the Aps and us and we dont have hardly any time to actually go out and invite haha.  this week was really fun in the office and the opprotunity to get to see what happens here is really fun.  Random things that the president needs us to do is really fun and really great.  We get to go to the mission home a lot and everytime that we go there, we get rootbeer and some other american treats like pop corn and cookies and stuff.  I have been eating so much foreign food these last couple of weeks it is crazy!  I actually missed eating thai food a lot so i think for every meal that i eat i am going to try to eat thai food as often as I can.  I really do love spicy food now!  I thought i would never like it but i really do love it now. 

That is about it for this week.  Not much has happened jsut the normal stuff.  Thank you again for the packages it was really great.  Next week i will email you pictures of the baptism so you can see that i actually am doing work out here hahaha.  I miss you all and thank you Mom and Dad for everything that you have sacrificed for me to be here.  Mom and Dad,  I will pay you back by getting those steps made that Adam promised!  Tell Kit that i miss him and to get ready to go on a mission soon.  Tell everyone that i said hi and that i am doing well.  Also tell Cassidy Blake that i have not gotten a single letter from her.  A couple of other questions that i have had going in my mind.  How is Brittanie and her Husband?  I think that is about it for that.  I agian jsut wanted to say how much i love you Dad and Mom.  I love everyone back at home and that is about it for this week.  I hope for everyone to have a good week.

-Elder Bryce

3/9/12

 

Hey Momma!

Ya i thought they were supposed to send a letter to you before i was actually called but now they might not send a letter at all.  Im doing great.  Really there is nothing to worry about and my back is getting better now that i am doing really good exercises and getting back into shape.  I will have to tell you this momma.  Im tired all of the time hahahahha.  I once asked my trainer when i first got into country if he had ever felt rested.  He said no.  And now that guy is Ap and he talked to me last night and he said that he has never felt more tired in his life than now haha.  So basically i will probably always look tired until the day that i come home hahaha.  I really am tired everyday but what is more important is that i am more happy than i have ever been in my entire life. 

I really dont know why i am so happy and so tired.  I would have never thought that this work takes this much out of you.  By the end of the day my spirit is exhausted and so is my body. I go home every night feel like i could just sleep for ages and not want to get up the next morning.  I even have started getting grey hairs here and there so now i cannot make fun of you or dad anymore hahaha but i have really never felt better in my whole life!  I really love it so much.  The only tiring thing is when you are trying to get someone to progress and they wont do their part and it drives us insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i have a smile on my face everyday and so does my companion hahah this last week one of the members told us that he loved us being around because we both just smiled and it is a real smile! 

Ok so for the story of the week.  Ther ewas one day that was so much fun and it was so crazy too.  We had meetings all day long and then we had to go to my last area and teach a foreigner over there and then teach someone close to our house.  With traffic it is about 30 minutes to do all of that.  The first guy that we taught is tony.  He is from California and born in oakland.  he is just an awesome guy,  His wife was born in Thailand but as a little kid she moved to the US with her family and she cannot speak any thai.  She is a member and he is now investigating.  he is really interested and really now wants to be baptized.  He was just a really cool guy and it was weird to teach in english for the first time in a while because now everything that i do is in thai.  My english has gotten worse and some of the members in the other branch cannot understand me sometimes and now i have thai people saying that i do and say things like a thai person would and that really freaked me out because i have only been here for 8 months.  by the way is that very long?  I really have lost all track of time here nad it really just doesnt exist in the mission.

I want everyone at home to know that i love you all.  I am doing really well with my health and my new calling is a blast!  I have an awesome comp and i get to work with the best people here.  I love this work and i know that theere is nothing better in my life that  i could be doing right now.  I lvoe you and I know that the Lord is watching over you.  Well Mom you dont have to wait too long to hear my voice so just hang in there for a little bit hahaha.  I love you Dad and Mom.  I love you Adam Steph Micah and Savvanh.  I love you Matt Rachel Maija and new baby.  I love you Cassie.  I love you Ciara. 

Elder Bryce

3/2/12

 

Hey Everyone so this is really going to throw you off but my p day is now on saturday.  You should be getting a letter in the mail soon but i am now an office Elder.  That means i have a lot of responsibilities now and i still have to get regular missionary work done too!!  I also get to drive this coming monday!!  I just have3 to go to the embassy and get a lot of paper work done and then i get a thai drivers liscense and i start driving all over the place.  We also now live with the assistants to the president and im not sure if you remember my old trainer Elder Gudmundsen but he is the new ap and his old trainer is the other one wo it is like a huge family reunion.  It is going to be way fun and way busy at the same time though.  All i ask is to pray for me and my companion that we will be able to do everything that we need to do. 

Mom and Dad,

          

 You can now send stuff to the office and i get it instantly so you dont need to sorry about transfers anymore hahaha  i am the one who gets all of the mail all of the time so now i dont have to worry hahaha.  I also get letters instantly and i can send them a lot faster too!  There are a lot of things that are really nice about being and office Elder.  The only thing that i dont like is that we will have to be at the office until 4:00pm everyday putting in member records and taking care of anything else that the mission president wants us to do.  His office is now right accross the hall so he has us do a lot of different things for him and other people in the office and we also have to answer the phone and mostly it is other missionaries calling for random stuff that we cant really do but we have to tell them that we will try but that is about all i know about the office now.

              

  My mission work is really cool!  We are supposed to look over 2 branches.  one of them is an all thai branch and the other one is a Foreigner branch.  there are a lot of different things that i now do in english that i used to do all in thai and now it is a little hard getting the languages mixed up because there are some things that are just eaiser to say in thai than they are in english hahaha.  This last week was a little crazy with moving and stuff but we got a lot of work done in my last area right before i left.  My last comp Elder Mondragon is actually training and really good things are starting to happen in that area.  2 people other peiople will be getting baptized there in the next few months and it was really sad when i left because they both want me to be there for their baptism but i cant go unless i get an investigator to go there too.  I love the people so much there.  they were all just so funny and just really good to the missionaries.  they helped the work a lot and the work is now exploding over there.  I miss it so much but im excited to get to know the two branches here.  We hardly ever have to worry about food because members constantly give us food and we are invited for meals all of the time. in the thai ward and the foreigner one as well.

                 

Well my new comp is pretty cool!  his name is Elder Buckner.  He is a really funny guy and i already love him a lot!  He is really willing to serve the Lord and everyone around him.  He has a really good heart and he is really good at what he does.  Him and i have been getting along great already and things seem to be getting really fun right now and it should be fun this next transfer.  Other than that i really dont have anything else for you this week. 

I love you so much Mom and Dad and the whole family!  I hope all of you will have a good and safe week this week and I will pray for all of you this week.  Sorry i didnt give you a heads up but here you go and i will talk to you next week!

-Elder Bryce

2/26/12

 

Hey Dad!

Well it sounds like you had a really good ward conference.  Make sure that you tell President Bangerter that I said hi and that i am doing really well and maybe share some of the stuff that i share with you guys every once in a while.  Also tell his counselors and the Bishope that i said hi and that i am doing well and that it is just way fun being here.  It sounds like you have been working on cars more and more since i got out here.  Im pretty sure that every emial that i have gotten is a new probelm with a different car.  The good news is that i will be able to help more when I get home.  Cars here would drive you insane.  They just dont fix things until they cannot move anymore.  they just keep things moving until they literally cant move anymore. haha If you can maybe send me picture of sean when he gets home.  I really cant seem him being very tall but i guess i will have to see.  I dont think that i am giong to be gettting much taller just a little bigger although you would be proud.  I have been out of shape for a while but i got a 6:30 mile on the tredmill and so it wasnt very accurate but it felt super good and i didnt feel very tired so when i can get out I will try harder to get my mile time back down.  Not a whole lot has happened this week.  Honestly just time has been moving so fast!  I have been struggleing to keep up with it all.  I felt like that it was just pday yesterday and i had just emailed you.  Time is going so fast here.  When you said that it was almost my year mark i just couldnt believe that it has been that long but it has gone by so fast! 

The weather is getting hotter and hotter here.  A lot of people are getting sick because of the really random changes in the weather but for me it is just normal.  this year has been really hard and really odd for the thai people jsut because of the flooding and the weird stuff that has been going on with the world and everyone.  Well it sounds like skiing was really fun.  How is CC at snowboarding?  could she beat me down the mountain?  There is a place in Bangkok that they have snow here!  I really want to go there and just feel what snow feels like agaiin.  That is the main thing that i have missed about earthly things is just seeing and touching snow and when i heard there was a place here i go so excited and i told the member that they would have to take me there in the future hahaha.

hi momma!

Make sure that you tell the randalls that i am praying for them.  I'm sure that Jacob is in a better place and who knows what was going on in his life.  I just feel said that he didnt get to serve a mission.  Tell the whole family that I love them and that i really did respect Jacob.  He really was a good kid. 

Ok first i did not eat the duck thing.  It tasted weird and it just was not good at all.  I have eaten some really weird stuff here before and that was probably the worst oen of them all.  The thing that i am holding is probably s cell phone.  We use them here.  we have to have our phone with us at all times just incase if president smith calls and we use them for making appointments and basically doing everything that we have to do.  Not going to lie i hate using it because i just dont like talking and using the phone! 

It is something that i have never liked using and now i have to use it all of the time.  People also do not speak very clear on the phone here and it is sometimes hard to understand them. 

If you want i can go ahead and send that card back.  It doesnt have a whole lot of pictures but i will go ahead and send it probably next p day.  Im pretty sure that matt put more holes into the wall than i did.  He is the one that threw the ninja star in his room and i just put those things in the wall for my hammock and a couple of other things hahaha. 

Well not a lot happened this week honestly.  We did meet a person who was really prepared by the Lord.  It turns out that she read the old translation of the Book of Mormon a long time ago and she cried everytime that she read it.  We have been wanting to teach her for a while and we were just about to go out and work while we were eating lunch at a members house and she wouldnt let us leave until we taught her.  We planned on getting another appoijntment with her but she really wanted us to teach her and so we did!  It wasnt planned but all we talked about was the Book of Mormon and Prayer.  She loved it all and said that she was going to read and pray everyday to know if these things were true.  We were both just blown away!  She is 25 years old and is already a very powerful employee in a major bank in thailand.  She is stressed all of the time but she said that she knew that if she would do this that Jesus Christ could help her because of what she read in the Book of Mormon when she was younger.  She is a n amazing person!  She is just quiet and so humble and was put in our path by the Lord and He gave us the opprotunity to meet her and teach her the gospel. 

I love this work that i am doing!  I love being here and serving my brothers and sisters here.  I love the Book of Mormon!  I never understood it before but now i just get it!  Just reading a little bit each day has helped me so much and whenever i have felt down or that Satan was trying to get at me I just open that Book and it all just goes away!  I love it so much. 

I love you Mom and Dad for everything that you have done for me.  Thank you so much for supporting my mission.  I know that you are all making sacrifices for me to be out here.  Thank you so much!  I lvoe you so much.

Elder Bryce

2/19/12

Dad,

That sounds awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Im pretty sure if Bracken and I

ere there we would have gone down in a heart beat!  I was talking

about the mine with one of the missionaries and he said that he wants

to to out there and explore too one day because he has never done that

kind of stuff before haha.  Thtat all sounds really cool!!!!!!!  I

just remember the mine and all of the stuff that we did there!  I feel

like being out here is kind of like a trip to  the mine.  Exploring

new places and just looking at amples that look like a regular rock

with nothing special but once you grind it up and test it then you see

all of the precious metals in side or even just looking at the dust

through a microscope!  It is really the same with missionary work.  I

was wondering one day why we had a lot of wierd members and then i

realized that they were the most humble and the ones that were the

most like Christ.  Christ himself didnt hang out witht the "popular"

people but he sais that he was around the sinners and the publicans.

The people who were not liked by the regular crowd.  There really are

some odd but awesome people here!  I love the people here so much!

They are all just awesome!

Mom,

That is way awesome about all of the missionaries that i am hearing

about.  Mom if you could get me Jesse's adress and i will write him

that would be great.  I really really want to talk to him and just get

him to really get out here on a mission because i know that there is

nothing better in anyones life!  really I cant see what would have

happened to me if i had not been out here!

Only sister duke calls me that.  It is because thai people cannot say

our name unless they speak english very well and even then it is

really hard for them to say it hahaha.  I have a lot of different

names now because in my last area they all just call me elder Rafe and

here they call me a lot of different things so everyone is really

confused who i actually am.  Well i think that i will be moving this

moves.  I really dont want to ut i have a feeling that i am going to

be moving.  Not much happened this week but I did tell CC a really

cool story in her email so make sure that you all read that one.  I

would type it again but i am almost out of time.  The only thing that

i really need in starbursts and razor heads.  That is the only thing

that i need.

That is about all for the day.  I still have to email President Smith

and tody i responded to all of the emails!  By the way what kind of

stuff have you heard?  I have not heard anything so we are kind of

confused.  I guess it is not to big because we would have heard more

from the church but we have not gotten anything.

I love you so much Mom and Dad and everyone!  I really wish you were

here and could just work right along side me!  I love you all so much

and I will pray for you all to have a really good week!

Elder Bryce