From A Place Where Everyone is a Minority

"Countries of people I have met so far:

Ethiopia, Iraq, China, India, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Vietnam, Kenya, Ecuador, Japan, Peru, Somalia, Nepal, El Salvador, Afghanistan, Columbia, Honduras, Barbados, Turkey, Venezuela,  Morocco, Laos, Bangladesh, Iran, Tibet, Thailand, Russia, Mongolia, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Caribbean, Palestine, Puerto Rico, Burundi, Zaire.

Notice which continent is missing? Weird."

-Bryce

Updates and Pictures

Transfer week came and Bryce will be staying in Oakton where he has spent his first two months, but he will be getting a new companion; Elder Hougaard. Two wards are now being combined into one so they will be covering almost twice as many as before. This new area is struggling so they have their work cut out for them. He's pretty excited to get going.

Here are a few pictures of his weeks previous to the transfer:

Bryce and his first companion Elder LaRochelle

Breakfast with Missionaries

Haha, would you let these two in?

Quote #1

Bryce has an unique (or some may say odd :) way of describing certain feelings and ideas so I thought when I find them in his letters and emails I'll post them for all of you to enjoy. Hopefully they'll be helpful in some way but most might just make you giggle. Here's number one:

(after discussing a young member in a troubled family)

"I have had a pretty dang easy life, I guess that means I need to work hard so it's not so easy, and...so I can make it easier for others."

A Moment to Remember

(taken from his latest email)
I was on exchanges with Elder Ika in Herndon on Tuesday. We were biking through a town parking lot when a car stopped, called us over, and the lady said, "Can you teach me the discussions?" We at first thought she was a member and it was a joke, but after further questioning, she was dead serious. She said, when can you? We said, are you free right now? She said, sure! So we taught her outside her house and found out how she knew who we were and what "discussions" were.

She was in the military in Germany for a while and found missionaries there. They taught her at least three lessons but then she got injured while in Iraq and had to come home immediately. She had some minor memory loss, but still remembered the missionaries. Like many investigators say, she felt she was missing something in her life, my guess was the feelings she had when she was with the missionaries in Germany. She was driving home yesterday from DC and really thinking and asking God what she should do to fill that void. She looked up and saw a billboard on the freeway of the DC Temple. She kind of laughed and said, "Ok, if I see the Mormon missionaries I will let them teach me and bring religion into my life." She drives right by us before she even got home. Coincidence? I don't think so. We just happened to be in that area in the ten second window of her driving by.

This was a wonderful experience. It stinks that I don't get to continue teaching her, because I will be back in Oakton, but I'll get updates. Her name is Tery. Cool, huh? Elder Ika has been here for 20 months and said he has never had something like that happen and was hoping he would get the chance to be a part of something like that. The bike ride home after was very nice. Herndon is great for biking. Beautiful.

Thanks again to everyone for the help, prayers, packages, and love! Mosiah 28: 1-4. (end of verse 3 especially). That's how I try to look at everyone. Regardless of the earthly habits that have overtaken them and the appearance of struggling people, our Heavenly Father sees all of us as full potential and great beings. I try to look through this lens and see what he would see so that I am more motivated to help the whole world!

The product of DC humidity

The only way to keep semi-cool in the heat wave :)