Mi queriodo familia, [my dear family]

¿Como estan todos? [How are you all today?] All is well here it was very cold this morning and it very hot right now…the sun is strong, and I am very red as I am told almost every day. Thanks you all for your letters it has been nice to come home at night and lay in my bed reading them.

I had fun yesterday dragging one of our investigators out of bed for church …He was kind of sick, but that’s okay. I am really looking forward to General Conference next Sunday, especially for our investigators to have the opportunities to hear the Prophet speak. I hope I will be able to understand it in Spanish. The work is going well here and I am really getting to know the area and the people. Next week is transfers I hope I am still here, although I’m sure I will be because my trainer has been here for 7 months.

As for your questions… I got the letters form Nick and Bishop, please tell them thank you and that all is well… and I will write them if I ever get a chance. I also got a dearelder [letter] from you, Kerry and Dad. I think, they were all from a month ago… so I guess it takes 4-5 weeks to get them because I am so far from Mexico City. Thanks though I really enjoyed reading them. I copied my pictures to CD and will be mailing them next week! Oh yea, I got the picture of Kerry and Isabella…¡carumba [wow] she is cute! Please, get my proxy ballot for the election… ¿By the way when is it and who is everyone voting for and why?

Wow, Mom tell Margaret and the Hurts congratulations for me! That’s awesome!

¡Santa Vaca! [Holy Cow] Kerry you got $2,100 for you car! That’s unreal. What a week Kerry. I’m glad to hear you are okay… and that your Spanish is improving. I am loosing my English and it is hard for me to remember how to say very common things… also to form full sentences, so if this is all jumbled you know why. Yes, I also find I have to concentrate a lot when listening to conversations, especially because Mexicans use a lot of slang and have 7 words for one thing. 

I email from an internet cafe a few blocks from my house. It’s about time I love you all and look forward to hearing from all of you.

Love Bryce

[Tanda] Much of this letter was response to questions I had ask him in my letter so that is why it sounds a little like a one-sided conversation.

¿que tal Familia?

¡gracias por sus cartas! [thank you for your letters] I haven’t had time to read them (except mom’s and Heather’s) so I am printing them off and reading them later. So this week I had my first companionship exchanges with my District Leader Elder Morales. It was for  24 hours. and went well, half of our day was spent in interviews for baptisms. The work has been interesting.

Pachuca, as my companion describes it is a big hotel. The people here have another house or visit family and are gone allot. Its kind of strange, and difficult to meet with investigators regularly. My spanish is improving. People have been telling me recently that when I first came here I didn’t understand but now I am talking allot more and that they understand me. I still need to work allot on conjugating correctly though.

Allot of our time the past two weeks has been meeting with and searching for members to update the church records… allot of the dates, addresses,etc. are missing or incorrect. Usually it is hot during the day and cool in the mornings and nights and it rains allot. We are working allot and looking for ways to strengthen our little ward, which is fairly new. One thing we’ve been doing is choosing a family each week to give a copy of The Book of Mormon to at the end of Sacrament Meeting, then in the following week they tell about there experiences. It has been going well so far. Oh mom …my knee is fine, I am healthy as ever.

My Mission President sent a great quote with his letter this week… “Confidence is contagious, so is lack of confidence.”  Vince Lombardi

…I am going to check right now about the cost to copy my pictures to CDs.

Sending a package through the mail isn’t a problem, but I thinks its better to use DHL or another carrier…. by the way I really don’t need anything right now so unless you really feel the need, a package isn’t necessary. However pictures would be nice, especially of Isabella, I don’t know if I can receive them through the email, but try.

Well it is about time. I love you all very much!

Bryce

Well today and tomorrow are Independence day in Mexico, so I have to be in the house by 6pm. We spent the morning cutting the grass in our very small back yard. It was good. On Wednesday we had a combined zone conference where we learned about positive affirmations in the mission from the church psychologist for all of Mexico. Affirmations are amazing.

[Tanda] I had asked Bryce some more questions (in italics). His answers follow.

Where in Mexico is your companion from?
San Louis… its north of here

Was he born in the church or is he a convert?
born a member

How many are in his family?
he has 2 brothers and 2 sisters he is the oldest

How well do you get along?
We are getting along very well (it is a process and a choice)

What is your daily schedule like?
leave the house at 11, work, eat with a member at 2ish, work, return at 9

What do you usually eat?
corn tortillas, soup, pasta, rice, tacos, enchiladas, etc; the tacos, etc. are very different here

Is the money you get enough to cover your expenses if you are careful?
yes, I am getting very good at budgeting

How is the Spanish coming?
poco a poco [little by little]

Have you taught any lessons in Spanish yet?
every day now, whether they understand what I am trying to say…?

What is the ward like where you meet?
very small …its a Ward

Have you had to speak or pray in Spanish at the church yet?
I spoke two weeks ago …every 3rd Sunday is mission Sunday

What is the Mexico City temple like?
it’s closed for remodeling, it will be rededicated in November I think on the 16th… the Prophet will be here!

Are the Mountains rough like the Rockies or more like the ones in the east?
Kind of in the middle, lots of volcanic rock, the mountains are big

Is the area desert or green? You said it rained a lot, but the pictures I saw on line looked like it was very rocky and dry?
its green, but there are rocky and earthy parts too

Are you happy?
I choose to be every day

Oh, Edwana Klaasesz accused me of having your face again. It’s a great face, I’m glad that we share it!
I AGREE! however I have your face, you had it first.

Well I’ve got to go. Love you all very much and thanks for all of your emails!

Bryce

[Tanda] I had written and asked Bryce a bunch of questions (in italics). His answers follow.

First question, who is your companion and where is he from?
Elder Cardenas de San Louis, from Mexico.

Bryce lives with just one companion. Elder Cardenas de San Louis.  They live in a house.
My house is nice, its small, big for two people in Mexico though and in a gated community called Pitahays we rent it from members that live in northern Mexico.

Bryce wishes he was sleeping in a hammock.  He sleeps in a bed that feels like a floor, but by it’s time for sleep he LOVES IT! They do not have a maid, cook or anyone to wash their laundry and shop for food.  In other words…
We have to do it all ourselves.  Its nice though we have a washing machine …kind of (I’ll send a picture sometime) and we eat with the members for lunch around 2-3ish and they don’t really have dinner in Mexico.  The clothes are line dried of coarse.

I looked up Panchuca it said that it is 8,500 – 9,000 ft high have you had any problems with the altitude?
Nope  but I live in the lower part of Pachuca… it was originally a mining town for 500 years.

I don’t drink the water,  but I’ve accidentally used it a couple of times… I’m fine and the natives don’t even drink the water!

It also says that Panchuca means “windy beauty” and that their is a constant wind out of the northeast and that it is one of the coldest places in Mexico.
Yep it really windy here and it rains ALOT!

I asked Bryce if he needed a coat, or long sleeve shirts.  He said that some sweaters might be nice every once in a while.
I am nice and warm.  I’m ok almost all of the time, the natives think I’m crazy when they all have scarfs and coats on when its cold.

Who are your investigators?
Agostin Piña who is 20 really neat person and has a baptismal date but we are having challenges actually getting him to the church… he came to the Temple Visitors center with us a few weeks back.

We are in a  ward. It is a new ward formed from splitting a larger ward and its very small. We have a new chapel which is very nice.

Do you walk?
WE WALK ALOT! and bus a lot too and vans and taxis also.

How much computer time you get each week?
I have one hour of computer time. However I have to write the Mission Pres. and secretaries in this time too and I type and read in Spanish really slow. How ever last week I got you DearElder.com [letter] from the 17th of Aug. and Kristi’s from who knows when and the end of your DearElder was cut off too.

Oh, please tell Kristi congratulations for me, I’m going to be an uncle! [for the ninth time]

What is your mailing address to your apartment, in case we want to mail letters, photos, etc.?
ONLY mail letters to the mission address.  You can mail anything there, but only single sheets through pouch, everything else through normal mail.

[The address of the mission home is on the Current Address page.]

Thanks for your letter mom! It really made my day! I think about you all and pray for you a lot… were going to have to make up for lots of time when I get back.

Last Lunes [Monday] I went to Mexico [City] to immigrations for the last of my visa stuff. I got to ride the metro there; it is insane! I’m sure people die. And I got to see Elder Covington (my old companion) and Elder King my old roommate in the MTC. that was very nice. And today the whole zone went up into the mountains to a campground kind of thing and played soccer and cooked food. It was awesome. Well I’ve got to go. I wish I could say more.  I Love you mom, and all of you.

Bryce

[Here's a short note to Shayne]

Hey Dad,

I read your letters last week and this week. It sounds like things are going well. You are an awesome dad and a great grandpa. you can help me out to when I have kids.

love, bye, Bryce

Hi everyone,

Things are well here in Pachuca. My area is so far from Mexico City. So last miercoles [Wed.] we took a bus to Mexico City at 5:45 am to the Temlpe and MTC to hear Elder Jeffery R. Holland who came to our mission to speak. It was amazing, I love how he speaks with such great boldness and authority. He started by telling about how Preach My Gospel came about and ended by talking about the importance of having obedience to do the Lords work His way.

We went to Mexico City again on sabado [Sunday] with 6 of our investigators to El Centro de Visitantes at the Temple. It was good, we watched Testaments and took a short tour.

Mexico is interesting the houses are all concrete and stucco and they don’t really creen en la basura [believe in trash cans] :6 The food is great, and I haven’t gotten really sick from it or the water yet

Any hoo, hope to hear from ya’ll soon. Adios.

Love

-Elder Bryce Packer

[Pachuca is a city about 40 miles NE of the edge of Mexico City]