Dear Mom, Dad, Eric, and Belle,
Your letter was
relatively short this week which is both good and bad. Because of this,
I'll be able to be more detailed and make up for the things I was going to send
last week but couldn't. Speaking of that...did Eric ever get his
letter?!? You'll all be happy to know that I got Mom's letter, and Eric's
letter, and the pie, and the popcorn. You guys are spoiling me!! Haha! My roommates love it, however. :P
So a week ago from
today was an incredible experience: The MTC celebrated their 50th
anniversary. Needless to say, for the entire week preceding, rumors
abounded that "the monsoon" was coming (I'm pretty proud to say that
I came up with that). But...that night arrived and Elder Russell M.
Nelson, and Elder Jeffery R. Holland showed up. Incredible. Elder
Nelson was the main speaker so Holland only bore a quick, but powerful,
testimony of missionary work. Very inspiring. Elder Nelson's talk
was wonderful as well, but it mainly focused on the history of the MTC and
incredible missionaries through the ages.
This week was really
hard on my district and zone. Elder Snyder (an Elder who switched from
Cantonese to Mandarin a couple of week ago and is now in my district) broke his
back about three years ago and he has been having some pretty severe
pain. So much so, that he has had to undergo several MRI's already and
there is a HUGE chance that he'll need surgery and an equally large chance that
he'll have to go home. We're seemingly dropping like flies out
here! Anyway....we fasted on Thursday as a Zone and it was incredibly
spiritual. We fasted again on Sunday. I pray for him and wish him
the best. He is an incredible individual and I know that the Lord has
great things in store for him. The night that we began our fast, he had a
prompting that he should extend an open invitation to give blessings to those
in our district who wanted one. So the eight of us gathered in his room
before bed and he blessed Elder Bishop and Elder Dagenais. INCREDIBLY
spiritual. I just felt the love of the Lord so much in the room that I
began to cry (and I don't know how much of a crier I am).
I need to address a MASSIVE
misunderstanding. I don't know how this happened, but my companion isn't
and never was British. Sorry to disappoint. There's a British Elder
that I'm rooming with who I get along swimmingly with, but my companion is from
Mesa, Arizona. And I don't want it to sound like we are at odds or
anything, it's just that he has this tendenancy to correct me on
most things I do (ex. calling me stupid for wearing my watch on my right
hand). Make sense? He's actually a really good guy, and we've had
some great experiences together thus far, we're just very different
people. No worries though! I love him all the same! He's a
smart guy with a lot to bring to the table!
This is kinda random, but could you guys type all of my hand-written letters
up, I don't wanna lose 'em. Ok...now comes the section full
of random things I wanted to say, so this will be beyond all over the
place. I get $6 a week on a pay card kind of thing that I can use to buy
my supplies and things, so don't think you need to keep sending me supplies all
the time. I use it to buy soap and things like that. It's not
much, but it's enough for now. Snacks I want sent to me....I don't know,
something yummy that I wouldn't normally get that I can keep in my room would
be great....and maybe a drink or something. :) Surprise me!
Also....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send some hair
paste or product. I can't get it here and I may die without it (jk). :P My Branch President is really cool. He served in
Taiwan, but so long ago that they didn't have a Mandarin branch at the
MTC. He had to learn in the field! He actually can't even read pin
yin, only characters. Pretty funny stuff! Great man though.
He likes to correct us on our tones and pronunciations. :P I was thinking
today that you guys should try practicing Mandarin a little so when you come
out to pick me up, you guys can know a thing or two! I'll send my grammar
books and things home when I no longer need them. That'll be like six
months from now or so, but yeah.... My mission is moving like lightspeed. It doesn't surprise me in the
slightest that people say it's fast. I'm trying to soak it all in, but it
just moves too darn fast! Elder Snyder actually has an incredible
story. He was kind of a partier, and he was flat drunk one night when he
received a prompting that he needed to clean up his life and serve a
mission. Everyone thought he was crazy, but he did it. He is an
incredible man. I wish I could give more detail, but I still have that
dang time constraint. Please send my baptismal clothes if you get the
chance...along with the pedigree chart...I think I'll need 'em in the field. Thanks for sending Jordan's address. That's
fantastic! I get a lot of letters from people, it's great! I've
felt the most intense outpouring of love ever. Missionaries are probably
(aside from the prophet) the most prayed for people in the church. I feel
invincible in a way (not like a teenager does though).
So...this is what I've
heard about Taiwan recently. Supposedly you can't sit on the toilets in
fear of Hep C, so you have to master a squatting technique (Elder Bishop's brother
served in the same mission). Sounds pretty funny. I'm gonna get so owned.
I get to play
basketball and four-square a lot. I run quite a bit now too. I'm trying
to build some endurance and shed some pounds. Dad would DIE if he had to
eat the food here. Everything is either covered in fatty sauces/cheeses
or deep fried...not to mention it tastes like plastic. It's SO GROSS!!
Sometimes, when I'm not
working as hard as I feel like I need to, I think of Dad. I think about what it would mean
to him to be in my shoes. I think about how hard he would work if he
had the opportunity that I have. I definitely came out for the right
reasons. It makes me work
harder. It makes me want to be a better missionary. I had a feeling
yesterday that so many people in my life are angels (in a manner of speaking),
sent down to earth to help me. Everyone has their "angels," I
just feel like the Lord is really looking out for me. I love you guys and
I think about you all the time. I pray for you. I often think about
what I can do to make you guys proud and live up to my name (not that I'm here
just for you, because I definitely came out here to serve the Lord FYI).
It motivates me. I've already written mom's letter; I'm just waiting on
pictures to print (YES! PICTURES!). You guys will likely get that letter
on Friday.... I have a few more things to say but if I say them all now,
I'll have nothing for next week! I now know what Nate meant by the MTC
feeling like groundhog day. :P Please ask more questions and tell
me more about home! I'm not upset that I missed the Super Bowl that much,
but I would KILL for some of mom's cooking right now. Seriously.
Anyway...I love you. A lot. Zaijian.
Love, Elder Bry ;)
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