I wanted to share the letter I wrote to President Bulloch.

We’ve been having some pretty difficult days where our appointments have all fallen through, and I’m not going to say it wasn’t difficult. Especially so since we’ve been working hard every day these past weeks to become “misioneros de exito” [missionaries of success] and not just working hard and being exactly obedient, but going the second mile, hablando con TODOS [talking with ALL] testifying of the truths of the restored Gospel, exercising at 6:30 am on preparation day, etc.

Yesterday all eight of our lessons fell through, however we contacted in the street, knocked doors, asked for and contacted references, even visited part member families… and at the end of the day—nothing. It was frustrating and I thought maybe we’ll go eat tacos or I’ll go to bed early, I was a little discouraged and ready find a little comfort in something.

After a comment my companion made, I remembered part of the letter I wrote myself: “Trials come that they may prepare you for the blessings or spiritual experiences you are working for. After the blessings come trials, that we may be prepared to receive again greater blessings.” As missionaries, we teach every day that one of our purposes in life is to be tried, to prove to the Lord that we are really His children. Isn’t it the same as missionaries? Now I know it. If we are obedient, working hard and love the people when everything goes well, great! Who doesn’t? However, I believe it’s when everything goes wrong yet we still give our best, that determines if we are truly “misioneros de exito” and representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that the Lord has great blessing in store for me, blessings that He cannot give if I don’t pass the test. I’m going to do it!

-Elder Packer

mmmmmmmmmmm… Happy happy birthday Isaac, and Spencer, and Kristi! I hope you all had a special day! January is just a happy month full of birthdays in our family. And I’m sure it will be even more so since I plan on having 12 children, which means it very probable that at least one of them will be born in January.

Kerry, how’s it back in Peru? ¡Escríbeme! y dígame ¿como estas? Quiero saber que está pasando con mi carnal, que son sus planes. [Write me! and tell me how are you? I want to know what is happening with my family, what are your plans?]

How’s the pregnancy going Kristi? You were looking pretty big in the picture you sent me a few weeks ago! When is your delivery date?

Emily, that’s unfortunate to here that your offer was one upped, that’s okay though, it just means that there’s something better. Keep up the search!

So, the training with Elder Cambria continues to go well; he is learning fast. It’s always a little hard to be in a trio, however I have two of the best companions possible so it’s gone rather well. The work is progressing in our area and we have been spending the whole day in the area on Fridays which has helped us to keep focused on why we are here.

Yesterday we went on divisions with one of our converts, Jerry, who was baptized about 5 months ago and is excited to serve a mission. All of the appointments that we had fell through so Jerry got to learn a little about how missionary work is hard.

I know that this work is hard, however I am excited to be able to go back into the field and work all day long! One of the reminders I wrote myself in the letter I received from myself last week was to stay focused and continue working throughout the last months and days of my mission, because there are specific things that the Lord has prepared for me to accomplish during the remainder of my mission, and I know if I don’t accomplish them, I will regret it forever. And regret is one of the worst feelings possible, so I think I’ll do without thank you.

Have a great week! I love you all!

-Bryce

Hola Familia,

Well, it’s been another eventful and busy week (just like I like them). Among the many things that have happened are: First, we received 12 new missionaries on Monday and spent the day training them. Tuesday was the big changes [transfers] meeting; all went well with the busses so I was relaxed. I also bought new pillows for all of the missionaries, so they were really happy to receive those.

On Thursday, we moved the assistant’s house to Ixtapaluca (which is really far away) then closed and opened two houses. So I was driving and hauling all day. During this long travel we experienced a miracle as I almost got into a serious car wreck, however I don’t know how, we did not wreck with the car who abruptly stopped in front of us, or flip the van, or hit the bridge, or run over a man selling food in the street… all of which almost happened. I thank you all for your prayers and know that, YES, the Lord is protecting us!

Thursday I completed 20 months in the mission! And that’s helped me realize we need to be wise how we use it. The same day I got a letter I wrote myself on the 16 of July 2008 (18 months to the day). I wrote it in the MTC and my instructor mailed it to me. It’s pretty interesting! And if I can later, I will share some of it with all of you.

The other thing that happened is because of some special changes that need to be made. I received my replacement as Financial Secretary! It’s Elder Cambria from Philadelphia, PA. He’s a really excellent and humorous missionary! So that’s going to be exciting! In 5 weeks I’ll be out in the field full time again!

Well, last and best of all is we have a baptismal service today at 5 pm, His name is Gerardo and he is a miracle conversion… he used to be an Evangelist preacher, and is a very knowledgeable, but sincere and humble follower of Christ. I am grateful to have been able to be part of his conversion!

I love you all and thank you for your love and support! May the Lord continue to bless and protect you!

-Elder Packer

So, a few days ago I got a package from the young women in the ward with some very nice letters and some candies… including gummy burgers mmmm.  Please be sure to tell them all thank you. They all wrote about how great you are, mom… and how proud you are [of Bryce]. Amanda Arnold wrote her testimony in Spanish which was impressive! Here are a few of the questions they asked, if you would be so kind to reply to them:

1. How is Mexico? — Mexico is great, there are a lot of people and they are very open and social. Most of them live very humbly. The food is delicious… well not all of it
2. What is it like this time of year? — Hot during the afternoon (like I’m sweating) and cold at night (like I use a coat); very strange. It’s a little drier because it hasn’t rained in a few weeks but it’s still quite green. The leaves don’t change color here.
3. What was your favorite talk from General Conference? — see my letter from that week.

This week we have a conference with Elder Johnson, who is the Area President. And as you can imagine, I am very excited for that! Things are going well with Elder Lauterio and we are continuing to learn together.

In our area, we are trying to focus more on working with the members. We have been praying to know how we can help the members get excited and participate in missionary work and how we can help our converts and the youth of the ward to have the desire and preparation to serve a full time mission. The idea we’ve come up with is to divide our area into sections and to assign ward missionaries to each section. They will have a list of part member families and less actives that live in their section and we will accompany them on visits. We’re also planning to have a meeting once a week to teach and practice principles from Preach My Gospel, and review the needs of the families being visited. It’s going to be work to prepare everything, but I know it’s going to pay off. We’ve also shared these plans with the Bishop and he is working on calling ward missionaries to help us.

I am excited to have more member participation, and know that it will help the members participating and being visited to be nourished by the good word, to have a friend, and to have a responsibility. (The three needs for retention and a lasting conversion.)

I love the Lord, I love the church and the brethren, I love the people where I serve, and I love my family!

Have a great week!
-Elder Packer

Do you have any more ideas on how we can work more with the members?

[translated below]

Hola mi bella familia,

Esta semana  fue excelente, y ocupadísima Ya como saben los fines del ciclo son mucho pero mucho trabajo por los secretarios. Aparte, mi compañero Elder Muñoz ya terminó su misión ayer y yo le dejé en el aeropuerto, entonces solo tengo un compañero Elder Lauterio, quien es buenísimo.

Tuvimos dos bautismos muy buenos en domingo de José Carlos y Sergi Miguel. Vamos a poder más en nuestra área este ciclo, y ¡estoy tan animado por eso!

Estoy bien y de buena salud y muy muy feliz. Todavía estoy aprendiendo como ser mas organizado y diligente y como amar y servir mas. ¡Estoy muy agradecido ser un misionero! y reconozco que el tiempo es tan precioso y corto.

Perdóname, porque la carta es cortita. ¡La chamba esta pesada ahorita!

¡¡¡Les amo muchísimo!!!

Hello my beautiful family,

This week was excellent, and as you know, already terribly busy. The cycle [transfer] ended, which make much more work for the secretaries. Besides, my companion, Elder Munoz, finished his mission yesterday and I left him at the airport. So I only have one companion now, Elder Lauterio, who is very good.

We had two very good baptisms Sunday, Sergi Jose Carlos and Miguel. We will still be in our area this cycle and I am so excited about that!

I am well and healthy and very happy. I’m still learning how to be more organized, and diligent and to love and serve more. I am very grateful to be a missionary! I acknowledge that time is so precious and short.

Forgive me, because the letter is short. The work is heavy right now!

I love you so much!

I’ve been having a great week! And what made it even better is on Wednesday I got your package. It was great; by far my favorite thing was the audio recordings of everyone. I listened to it while doing some financial reports… then went back and listened to it again. I’m sure I will listen to several times more. It’s been really enjoyable to hear all of your voices and what you’ve all been up to. Thank you all and thank you, especially dad for putting it together!

So last week the new SUD (LDS) version of the Reyna Valera Bible in Spanish became available to purchase. Pretty exciting, so I bought mine. It has all the JSTs, footnotes and references to the other standard works of the Church, maps, etc. I think it will really contribute to the ability to feast on the word of God for Spanish speaking members. It is an exciting time to be in Mexico doing the Lord’s work!

Speaking of exciting times, tomorrow is GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! (that’s why I’m writing you all today). I am so so so excited for General Conference, to be able to receive the spiritual nourishment, strength, and guidance that I need to continue progressing personally… and to help others do the same.

So I have a new companion. Changes aren’t for another 2 weeks however, Elder Muñoz my companion is finishing his mission so he goes home on October 15, which means he needs to train his replacement as the Materials Secretary, before he leaves. His replacement is Elder Lauterio, who is also from Hermosillo, Sonora. He is a great missionary and really excited and enthusiastic, which is always a blessing in a companion.

Like always we’ve had a few adventures this week, the first happened when Elder Lauterio joined our companionship and Elder Livingston (one of the other Secretaries) went to his new area. Since it was his last opportunity to drive in the mission he drove to our mini changes meeting. When we got there everyone was excited to see who was coming into the offices and where Elder Livingston was going. We greeted everyone, made the changes and then said goodbye, and were off. Well, they were off… we were in our area so we started to get ready to go to work. Then I got thinking, “Who has the keys to the van?” … Yep, Elder Livingston was on his way to Ixtapaluca (its as far a way as it sounds) and the keys to the van with him… and without a cell phone. To make it short, it is amazing how through the church you can get a hold of just about anyone.

I’ve been having amazing personal studies, feasting on the Book of Mormon. This week I have been studying in Alma 17-27 and in Helaman 5. Two things that have contributed so much to my studies are these; first I’ve been recording in my study journal all the answers I find in each verse and the question beside the verse where the answer is found. Also I’ve been reading out loud, trying to focus on the punctuation. You won’t believe how this really helps to make the scriptures come alive and really feel the events recorded as if you were one of the people living them. You should all start keeping a study journal, if you don’t already have one. Looking for specific information while reading and read out loud, trying to really feel what you’re reading. I promise you will all have amazing experiences if you make the effort to feast on the words of the Book of Mormon everyday!

Dad, I’ve been thinking about what you’ve been studying in “Preach My Gospel” The self evaluation “Attribute Activity” is great [page 126], and something I’ve been doing that helps is highlighting any of the points that are a 3 or less. Then they become a daily vocal affirmation and a daily scripture study topic. Keep up with you studies in “Preach My Gospel” it was designed to help people progress and improve (and not just the investigators).

Have an amazing weekend and pay lost of attention in General Conference (take notes). I look forward to hearing all the great things you’re about to learn (we’re about to learn)! Remember that the Lord said, “Give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you… For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth.” D&C 21:4-5

I love you my family!
-Bryce

Oh, yeah … Congratulations Kristi and Bob! That awesome that I’ll be having a new nephew!!! …And that’s super funny what Isaac said.