Dear Family,

 

I think its week 6 I do not know.  This week has been really rollercoaster like.  I will explain.

 

We are excited because we asked Roberto to be baptized the 7th of Mayo his birthday and he has excepted.  At first we were not sure if his answer was firm, but on Sunday him and his wife were looking at the baptismal font and he said, I want to be baptized.  He is the brother that I felt was in the road to damascus.  So I am excited for that.

 

We also got to go to the temple in San Salvador this week!!!!  It is a beautiful temple, really nice of course.  I like a painting in the front of Christ with a nephite and lammanite girl one on each side. 

 

Then on Saturday we did service from 7 in the morning till 230 in the afternoon with the whole district for a family in one of our Elders area.  We chopped o macheted bamboo large and small and cleaned the branches off with machetes (dont know how to spell).  Then we bundled them and carried them about a mile or so to the hut of the family we were serving.  The logs are long and heavy.  Most the elders could only carry 5 in one bundle.  It takes two people to carry one bundle.  But me and an Elder from Mexico took 10, and then I returned and carried a large log with my comp, and then I returned again and carried another 10, and THEN I returned again and carried 15 with a Elder Taylor.  Elder Taylor said if you do this I will have so much respect for you, I said you dont already after 3 loads.  I went for the most trips and carried a lot each time.  The husband of the family and his friend were so amazed.  I didnt understand all that he said but he said something like I have never met any woman with as much physical or spiritual strength as you.  I think the friend asked me if I was married, but he was kind of drunk I think, the family didnt really want him around. And the wife gave me a really big hug for a long time.  The huband gave me a hug too, but I didnt hug him back because its a rule, so i just said de nada and hoped he would let go haha.  They are a really nice family.  So of course we are all sore from the service but its nothing compared to the next story.

 

So I have a misquito bit at the middle of my arm, my elbow pit.  Its exactly where my backback strap hits when I put on my backpack, so who knows how many germs it has seen.  It started getting infected and I scrubbed it and put neosporin on it and bandaged it.  Well it didnt hurt all of Saturday during service.  But that night it started to hurt so I thought tomorrow I will call the nurse.  Well it was about the same in the morning but during church which starts at 8 it started going crazy and its swollen, hot, and red.  I called the nurse because I needed something right away.  The doctor thought mabe I had an allergic reaction so he had me take antibiotics and benadryl.  The benadryl was awful I couldnt walk, think, just sleep.  Well it turns out with all the drama that the nurse had me take half as much antibiotic as I needed because she confused it with another antibiotic.  But I was so out of it I just couludnt think about it.  But when the doctor called me last night he was mad.  He asked me why I was taking half as much and I will no engergy could only say because thats what the nurse told me to take and he said you know better you are a nurse.  But I couldnt think I was so drugged up.  I would cry but I just dont have the engergy.  My arm is like an elephants.  It hurts so bad.  I got a blessing last night and after my fever broke.  But then the doctor called and was mad so I couldnt sleep well because I had sleeped all day and I was worried about him being mad at me.  I am not mad at the nurse though, I should of said something and she was in church at it was just loco. So yes my arm has a staph infection, welcome to Central America.  My blessing said that I will be able to rest to day and work on tuesday so I am having faith in that.

 

Anyway for this reason I dont realy feel like writing or doing anything.  Well I want to but I have no energy.  I really am having a good time.  My district leader asked me how many missions I had been on, and I laughed and said how old do you think I am (this is before he had seen or met me it was over the phone).  He said it was because I had adjusted so well to the mission that it was like I had been on one before.  Sometimes I am frustrated, but for the most part I am happy.  Its just this one incident with my arm that puts a damper in my week.  I thought about not tell you all about it, but I want prayers so I did. 

  

Anyway I dont feel much like sharing more details of my week, I am so tired.  I have to switch cold and hot packs on my arm and it hurts.  So I wont send pictures this week just sleep.

 

Love you all, I hope to recover quickly and get back out there.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Mary Anne Bryce

Santa Ana Week 2!

Okay so I just wrote a grand email and then the internet didn't work
and I don't want to type it all again. So I will summarize the main
parts.

Happy bday to or happy birth to Summer Grace, happy late bday to
Jordy, I pray for you and love you you are my fav bro in law, happy
late bday to Audry, I totallly forgot because there is no way she is
one.

A shout out to Clare Smith who sent me a card all the way from the
Czech Republic, and to Phil Lollar, thanks Phil it meant a lot to me.


This week we had a multizone conference.  The spirit was strong even
though I didn't understand it all.  It's getting easier to understand
President Cordon.  He told us to study the last week of Christ's life
this last week end and study the resurrection on sunday.  Of course I
was happy to do because Easter is big in our family, I missed dad a
lot.  But it was sad because they didn't sing any easter songs in
church.

I asked someone to be baptized this week who accepted.  Its kind of
hard to be excited though because I can never understand him because
he is old and I think at times not all there kind of like some of our
cousins are not all there if you know what I mean.  But I am excited
for Fam Lopez.  The husband is not a member but the wife is and they
have two little children.  We had an activity at the temple on friday
with the whole mission and our investigators.  I taught in Spanish
thank you very much about what primary is.  I will tell you more about
this family next week when hopefully the internet works.

Also this week I helped build a hut from bamboo sticks and cardboard
and chopped wood.

This week has been interesting because all the famlilies seem to be
fighting.  We walked in on a fight in progress that was escalating to
more than just verbal and I wanted to flee but we said okay one at a
time and we listened for a long time and then taught.  The husband
asked if all my family was members.  I said yes, he said he speaks
english becasue he is a english teacher.  He said its different here.
I said, I know I am from the US and all my family is members and its
different but my family is happy because my dad puts God first, and my
mom next.  If you want to show love for you son then love your wife, I
could tell he loved his baby son a lot so i told him its best to love
his wife.


My testimony of prophets is strengthened because The Proclamation to
the World is so so important, I would say more but dont have time.
The prophets truely know.

Well I want to hurry, ahh the dumb internet!

The area Doctor his wife Elder and Hna Drake and I, this is their
fourth mission and they are so funny and cool.

My comp in CCM, Carlos, and I
- Carlos was the chef that said - we have a lot of groups that come
through the CCM but your group was different I dont know why but they
were different and he teared up, and he gave me recipes. 

Learning how to make pupusas.

Washing my clothes.

Teaching about primary with other missionaries.

Guatemala MTC Week 2

(Hermana Bryce is on the first row, third in on the right side with the red shirt!)


Dear Fam,  This week I am going to try to email all of you
individually so I will make this one short.  I am doing great.  I am
off cloud 9 on cloud 7 or 8, which is not bad but its just not cloud
9.  but its not good to be on cloud nine all the time.  The spanish is
coming slowly but its coming.

So i forgot to tell you the first week of provo, that in my group that
entered the mtc was the first missionary from ethiopia.  i have a list
on a paper of the things to tell you, so i am trying to catch up.  i
forgot to tell you that my old district leader was a blonde version of
Jorden Marble, not as funny as Jorden, but everything else about him
was exactly, it was weird and fun.

This week for devotional Elder Martino, the area
presidency 70 whatever we call them now spoke.  We had an interpreter
for us, and I sand with one of my companions and two tongan elders for
the spirital number.  We sang teach me to walk in the light one verse
english one togan, and one spanish.  I was volunteered the day of the
devotional.  this sunday all the hermanas in our branch are singing a
special number.  sometimes i sing in the shower and all the latinas
say i sing so beautiful.  which is partly true, because they cant sing
worth a darn.


We had our first sacrament meeting here and it was sper fun.  We left the
door open so the lighting was like being outside and  i could hear all
the birds outside.  The weather is perfect here, its like being in san
diego so sometimes its hard to focus because its like being on
vacation.  We went to the temple two days ago too.  If you look at the
shape of the Guatemala City temple that is the shape of a lot of the
rooms.  We had our session in english so that was nice.  And our older
sister with us took us around the temple and showed us the sealing
rooms.  It was fun.

Love, HNA BRYCE

The Guatemalan MTC!

so they told us that we couldnt write on pday beause we wrote early
but we get to!!!!!!  so more about the ccm in guatemala.  its almost
right next to the temple, there is an eye center and a gas station and
then the temple but we can see the temple from a lot of our windows.
the buildy is L shaped and my window is the third floor over the
enterance to the ccm.  the other side of the building is the house of
guest.  they house rms from guatemala and help them get jobs, and
families going to the temple from far away i think.  one of the former
ccm presidents was an x-guatemalan military or something like that so
he made them put more fenses and barbwire around the ccm, the front
has nice fencing and a guard in a buiding that controls the gate.  and
then around the ccm there are gaurds with guns.  we can only leave to
go to the temple with a teacher or we go contacting at the temple with
a teacher so we are really safe.  so the food, i have to tell you
about the food.  its amazing.  we have a man that heads up the
cafeteria that is not concerned about feeding the masses as much as
making it tasty and its real eggs not powder like in provo, and pretty
much good mexican food all the time.  and juices.  jimica juice,
watermelon juice.  and they serve cute up fruit at every meal.  and
the bread is amazing.  they have two hot sauces at every meal one is
lime and spicy and i love it and the other one is red.  the nativos
look at me funny when i put a lot of spice on my plate and sometimes
they think its too hope.  i love the food because it reminds me of
arizona.  one morning we had rise milk cereal like dad used to have
mom make when we were little with cinnom and sugar.  anyway, just so
you know i am eating amazing food. the only probably is they said eat
everything they serve you.  i can get pretty full. but sometimes i
have to tell them not to put something on my plate and i feel bad.
okay so in my last letter i said i love being a missionary, and this
is why.  we were practicing a first contact with our teacher, our
teachers play an investigator they had on their missions.  and while
we were teaching i thought to myself, i love this this is fun.  i like
my teachers they are good.  we had an interview with our male teacher
one on one and he told me that he loved that i was always smiling and
being happy.  i told him i didnt have spanish before my mission like
the other norte hermanas and he said he would rather have a class for
of people like me who are happy than people who are really good at
spanish.  and he said i will be able to make people smile and share
the gospel with just my smile.  that made me happy.  i try to get to
know all the nativos.  we talked to one and she said she likes to make
doll cothes and i said my mom does to.  i show them pictures of you
all and they think you are beauitul.  one came up to me and said i
look like her sister.  the maintence guy here said, have you heard of
bete miter, you look like her. haha all the nativos girls and boys
know me, the boys like to practice their english and say sister bryce
sister bryce how are you.  we are so lucky to be here, there are only
6 north american (norte) sisters here.  ther eare about 110
missionaries here in all. two branches.  so i am super lucky.  i wish
my elders from provo could  be here, they were really good. anyway i have one
minute left.  i love you all very very much.  keep praying for me and
of course i always pray for you.  love love love you.  oh and by the
way dear elder still works, get it in by sunday at noon utah time and
it will get to me by wed.  bye love hna bryce
Hermana MA Bryce

The Palmers!

Mary Anne and the Palmers in the MTC!

IMPORTANTE:  The best way to write me is through dearelder.com.  Its free at the MTCs, it used to be free for forgein missions but I heard they charge now but it cost money to send letters anyway.  Its like writing an email but they print it out and it gets to us fast.  In provo they print them at 12 and at 5 so i get it the same day and we love it!  It seems so long till P-day and we only get 30 min on the computer.  Plus if you send me a dearelder letter it shows your address and I can write you back, good idea si?  Don't send me sweets please, I don't really like them.  Well at least not for awhile, because they feed us a ton in the MTC and all we do is sit, but I eat salad and work out and I haven't gained wt so thats good.

 

Okay so this week, so much to say in so little time, the highlights are:

 

DEVOTIONAL:  This weeks devotional we celebrated 50 years of the PROVO MTC.  Elder Nelson and his wife Wendy and Elder Holland and Pat came, along with Elder Jensen of the pres of the 70 and lots of other visitors.  Their talks were so good.  Before the opening song and prayer Pres Brown of the MTC said Elder Nelson requested that he annouce that such-in-such % of the flordia votes were in and Mit had 47% of them, I don't know how it turned it out in the end.  You are free to update me.  Elder Holland just had a short talk but he kept saying we have an obligation to honor the calling in which we stand in.  He kept saying obligation, "I can't think of another work, but you have an obligation."  Which was an interesting word because it pops up a few times in my partriacle blessing.  Elder Nelson gave a history of the MTC and dedicated 5 buildings that had been renovated, I live in one of them it is named after the first sister missionary.  And I got to sing in the choir and everyone said they saw me on the screen, I was about 3 rows up from the conducter dead center! 

 

And then, for the closing song we sang the song that goes Victory Victory, through Him that redeemed us.  I cried and cried because Dad always sings that song and I need victory in my life. 

 

CLASS/ESPANOL:  I am slowly learning espanol, I am learning how i learn so I can study more effectively.  We are suppose to speak it all the time but my comp doesn't a lot so its hard.  And I want to wake up early because we don't wake up till 6:30 lame, so I want to wake up early and read El Libro de Mormon, but they look down on that because it is disobedience to the schedule. But I talked to Heavenly Father about it and said, if He approves this plan then He can be my alarm clock to wake me us so I don't bug the other sisters and I will get up and study.  I say this because today I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep, I might as well read.  I love my teachers, our 1st "investagator" turned into our teacher it was weird, but I really like him.  He did one on one teaching with my comp and I and the Spirit was really stong. 

 

TRAVEL PLANS:  I leave the Provo MTC Feb 14 for the Guatemalan MTC.  We leave at 4:30pm from the mtc, fly to los angelos, then leave Los Angelos at 10:45pm and get to Guatemala at 5:30 am and get to work.  I can call from the airport so stay up late that night.  If Michelle has a shift that night we may be chatting.  I only have some numbers memorized so send me your numbers on dearelder.com.

 

THE GILA VALLEY: I have seen Elder Steven's of the Trina Steven's family, can't remember her husbands name, Elder Mayberry the Skinners know him, Alex mom you were in the temple when he was endowed, and another Gila Valley elder but I can't remember right now and its killing me. 

 

Well the MTC can be stressfull, its definately a roller coaster.  I am learning a lot, and learning to apply the Atonement which has been the best blessing of all.

 

I miss you all more than I can say, it gets worse when the sun goes down I get home sick really bad.  I prayed for each of you individually in the celestial room in the provo temple today.  In RS on sunday we had a general RS board member and she played a song of her grand-daughter singing I love to see the temple off her phone and it sounded like Hannah and I cried, I was like come'on lady you are torchuring me. 

 

Well I gotta run to dinner, and fold laundry, and go to class and get back into spanish mode.  I love P-day, but its hard to get back in the groove.

 

Love,

 

 

Hermana Mary Anne Bryce

Provo MTC Week One!

I made it safely to the Provo MTC!  For the boys who remember their first week - yes its probably the same as yours. 

 

I am learning spanish it seems super fast for me, but not so fast compared to others in my district.  But I have to remember not to get frustrated.  Its hard right now because I am in the back of the class and another hermana is in the front and she is majoring in French, actually she is one semester off graduating so she knows all the rules and grammar of french and its a lot like spanish.  So when the teacher says, do you understand she sepaks it all well and I am lost in the back.  I am always asking questions.  They said we are going to move the desks every week so that will be good.  I like our district mucho mas.  Of course, my personality has not changed and I get along better with the Elders than the Hernamans.  The Hernmanas are great too.

My teachers are super nice.  They only speak spanish to us so its hard.  They said to not worry its only the 4th day, but it can be stressful.  There is so much I can say about how things are run here.  They have changed it to focus on the investigator, which is good.  But we teach fake investigators so far and its a little weird but I still like it.

PS there is rumor that the 1st presidency is coming for devotional for the 50 years of MTC next week.