Sweet Moment

"We were walking in an apartment complex after visiting a few places unsuccessfully.  We walked by a car pulling in a parking spot without really noticing it.  A few steps later we realized that our car was on the other end so we turned around.  We saw a black lady unloading groceries so we decided to help her out.  Most people say "I got it, I got it," but she let us help her carry some water bottles upstairs.  When we finished she asked us about what we did.  We told her about the two year mission, where we were from, and a few basic beliefs.  She then told us that her name is Philomena (how it sounds) and she is from Liberia.  She was touched by our story and immediately reached into her purse and pulled out thirty bucks.  We refused and told her she could thank us by letting us talk with her and her family about the thing that made us come on the mission and why we were out walking.  She would not give in because she told us about her kids and how she couldn't imagine if they were doing this with no money.  She made us promise to take it and spend it on food.  She offered her information and told us to call her when she had some time. 

It was not long but one of the best moments of my mission -One of the small succeeds, if you will!  We will go back as soon as we can to look for a great one."

Transfers

We found out today that Bryce will be moving! Here's a little bit from him:

"I will be...........leaving Centreville. I am not sure how I feel about it. I think it will be a nice change, because I am getting a little tired of seeing the same desk, fridge, couch :). nah I would be fine staying, but I'm so glad I stayed here for 4 transfers because I wouldn't have had the chance to work with the youth or the ward as much like we did in the last six weeks. Ending on a good note is great.

I am going to Belmont Ridge! Up by Ashburn (Ashburn zone) and it sounds like.....many sighs......I will get to break in my bike. Tiny area. My comp is Elder Bigler who is even taller than 6'4'' Elder Donaldson. Yikes. But he seems really nice. I can't pull off helmet hair.

I will miss Elder Donaldson. We had some good things going and we had a good time. "

And a few pictures before they said goodbye:

Old companion, Elder Donaldson

And he ran into his friend Isaac, from BYU!

Lots of Pictures

Transfers are next week, so we'll see where our boy goes! He's been in Centreville for four transfers.

"something cool"

After transfers Bryce will be staying in Centreville but getting a new companion, Elder Donaldson.

Here's a little story from Bryce last week:

"So this week we had something cool happen. 3 months ago Elder Gubeli and I had a referral from Temple Square to see this girl named Katie. We tried to call her and go see her, but we could not ever meet her. We tracked her street and her neighbor told us that she was a college student. Knowing she was out of town, we ended our efforts. This was in early October. On Tuesday, while on our way back to our apartment from Clifton, we came to her street and I thought we should try because it was Christmas break. We knock on the door and a girl answers. I asked, "Hey, is it Katie?" Her response will resonate with me forever: "YOU CAME!!!!!!!!!" She then proceeded to excrete excitement all over the doorstep. She did a mini dance and felt like she had no choice but to get a picture with us. I was ready to sign an autograph and start my own tv show when she explained to us that she had been on vacation in Utah with friends over the summer and went around temple square and filled out a sheet of paper to have missionaries come. She mostly just wanted to meet with us and learn more about who we are. We set a return appointment and taught her and her mom a few days later. They both said that they would read the Book of Mormon and consider baptism. She goes back to school, but she knows how to find missionaries thanks to the awesome mormon.org and this experience."

It's Cold Here

Elder Paswaters and I are doing very well with our success! We have been able to find many people. The struggle we are having is that the people we find tend to be elusive after our first meeting. It is very frustrating having appointments fall through and not getting through over the phone. Man I've left more messages on my mission already than the rest of my life!

But it's the one success that makes it all worth it.

We got to go up to the temple  visitor's center and help with traffic on sunday for the festival of lights. It was cool but holy smokes its cold here!

Well I hope that all of your Christmases are Merry and that there is love in the room from the floor to the ceiling.  Merry Christmas, happy holidays! (Nsync christmas anyone?)





Update

Bryce has a new companion named Elder Paswater who is quite the hard worker and is really excited to get started. Bryce is also glad he speaks English :)

"The last six weeks started very slowly and ended with a bang.  Elder Paswaters came in on a very rewarding note.  Ill relate a story that put the icing on the cake:

After transfer meeting, Elder Paswaters and I were street contacting in a parking lot for a bit.  We ran into a lady whom we set up an appointment with for Tuesday.  Yesterday we went to find her on 'Big Yankee Ct' She had given us the house number of 13913.  We could not find it anywhere! So we turned onto a different street and found the same number on that street.  We were not sure if she made a mistake or gave us the wrong address, but either way, when we knocked on the door, 18 year old Chante opened the door.  She told us she had been looking for a church to go to and invited us in.  We then talked to her and her boyfriend.  Right before we started teaching, Her 12 year old brother came out of no where into the room and asked us, "How do you baptize?" Devante just set us up for the easiest invite I have ever had.  All 3 said that they would be baptized and will be at church on Sunday.  We will see them again on Thursday.  

I started to play a game with myself.  Whenever I think of wanting to be home I just really put myself there and what I would be doing.  After a few weeks I would have to go to school and do homework, get a job.....do homework.  and other things like that! So that lifts me out of it every time.  No offense but I'm ok being here! I have to convince myself of that around the holidays.  :)

Thanksgiving was good.  We got to just hang out with Quinn and Raina.  Hanging out is nice.  Teaching is good too but sometimes its nice to be able to just chill."

Miracle

This email was sent to Bryce's mission as well as leaders in every ward in his mission. He sent it to us, just for fun:

"Dear President Albright,

We first met Blake on September 5th. Elder Gubeli and I were sitting in sacrament meeting at the Centreville Stake Center when we saw a tall man stroll into the chapel in basketball shorts and a T-shirt. He came in right after the sacrament so we did not have a chance to talk with him before the meeting started. It was a testimony meeting and we watched as Blake soaked in what was being said. There were a couple minutes left in the meeting when we saw Blake stand up. We thought he was probably just going to let someone through the isle. But we were oh so wrong. He walked slowly but surely up to the pulpit! He delivered a simple and humble testimony about the beautiful Spirit he felt in the chapel and how much he had enjoyed the members sharing their testimonies. The meeting closed and we jumped up and introduced ourselves! We led him to Sunday School and scheduled a lesson for that evening. Blake told us that as he went door to door as a salesman in the area, the LDS members kept inviting him to attend the LDS church meetings here at the Stake Center. Two families on one street both convinced him he should investigate the Mormon church. Blake’s dress quickly went from gym clothes to a shirt and tie with polished shoes. His countenance followed the same transformation. Blake became the newest member of our church yesterday Nov. 19th. What a blessing it was for me to be a witness of this miracle!

Thanks,

Elder Church"