Run till the finish line!
[Editor's note by Bryce's dad: My wife and I had a fun Mother's Day phone call with our son, Bryce, who has 5 more days left on his mission in the Mexico City East Mission. We are so excited to have him come home!]
[from Bryce]
Today we got our hair cut. My companion called his family (in México, Mother’s day is always on the 10th).
I also did some last minute shopping. 
I also started to dejunk some stuff and packed. Tomorrow is District Class, so I still have to prepare that [Bryce teaches the class]. On wednesday, we will be working hard, and on Thursday, we will work and visit all my converts to say good bye and take pictures.
Friday morning, I will go to the temple in the morning with a brother from the ward and my companion will stay here with the Assistants. All of my generation [missionaries going home Saturday] will enter the temple for a session, and [afterwards] we will have some activities and a class on the perpetual education fund. Then in the evening [with the mission president] we will go eat tacos at La Onda! mmm… TACOS!!! I probably won’t sleep at night, and early Saturday — like around 5:45 AM — we will head to the airport.
I know that this week is just going to fly by so I am going to work harder than ever to do all I can while I’m still here, and in my last few days of full-time service!
Have a great week! I love you all and I will see you are talk to you soon!
-Elder Packer
¡¡¡Happy Easter!!!
¡¡¡Happy Birthday Heather!!!
I hope you are doing great!
…and to everyone, Happy Easter!
It is SO hot!!! I am sweating like a pig! And to think it’s only going to be getting hotter…
It’s been a strange and busy week. I have been serving with Elder Padget (a new American missionary in my district) since Thursday and it has been a pleasure, even though he can speak very little Spanish and can not pronounce the “R” to save his life, the people react in a special way to his warm spirit and positive attitude. I’ve learned a lot from him, and one of those many things is what pure motives really means.
So… I am going to get a greeny! Yep. I’m going to be training my last cycle! I’m excited, and nervous, because I know that means that I will be even busier and that means the time will be going by even faster. However I am grateful for this new opportunity to serve, teach and learn. As before, I am sure I will learn more than I teach. I often wonder why the Lord is so good to me and all of us.
General Conference was wonderful and I am grateful for the guidance I and others received. It is incredible how the Lord can answer my specific prayers and those of millions of other in the same moment. I love the Lord! I also found it incredible how all of the talks where so in line, even though there were no assigned themes. I felt that two of the strongest themes were prepare the children and protect the youth. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my notes with me right now to share all of my favorite thoughts, however I do remember a few.
Joy and happiness don’t come from circumstances, but faith in the Lord. That is a lesson that I am learning more and more, its not where we are, who we are with or the blessings or trials that we are going through that determine our state of happiness. We need to be creators of circumstances not creatures of our environments. As Elder Bednar clearly stated, we are to act not to be acted upon, and faith is not merely believing, but acting. It is our works, that are in accordance with the teachings of Christ that determine our state of happiness! I love the clear example stated that if we are struggling and turn instead and focus on the needs of another rather than our own needs, than we will quickly become happier and our burdens will become light. I know that this is the truth and that we will be happy and at peace in any season in any place and with anyone as long as we follow the teaching of the Master!
I am grateful for the teachings and the works of Jesus! For his perfect example and mercy. May we all exert ourselves to be more like Him is my prayer and hope.
I love you, my family! I pray for you and desire your well being!
-Elder Bryce Packer
Welcome back to the mission field!
¡Bienvenidos al campo misional! [Welcome to the mission field!]
Hola Familia,
Here I am, very happy out in Bautizaluca (Ixtapaluca)! [Pronounced eextapalooka. South-east of Mexico City.]
San Francisco is the name of my area which is a soon to be branch of the ward Los Heroes (which is the Assistants area). And it is amazing here! My companion, Elder Alacantar, and I are working harder than I have ever worked in my whole mission! It is his last cycle in the mission. He is a really exceptional missionary, we’ve been running in the mornings, studying hard together and have contacted thousands! Really I feel great and can say with 100% there is nothing more I could have done! I love being able to give that type of an accounting to the Lord at the end of every evening! And that’s what we’ll keep doing everyday!
Our district is the “dream team”; two of the best zone leaders are in my district as trainers. Ixtapaluca is the most successful part of the mission and President just wiped it clean and put in some of the best missionaries to just explode the place. It’s just nuts, nothing like this has ever happened in the mission before. Our district includes: Elder Carretero and Elder Padget in the Aylotl ward, and Elder Winters and Elder Cordova in the Izcali ward. [Bryce is the District Leader.]
“Todo por el Señor” [Everything for the Lord] is my theme for this cycle. I will stay humble and 100% focused and know that the Lord is going to support us in our goals and give us the strength and the inspiration to complete them.
Well, take care all, we’ve got to get back to working! I love you!
-Elder Packer
Mmm…good times
Well, I wasn’t here this weekend for my preparation day, because Elder Fillerup, one of the assistants, finished his mission Friday so President sent me to work with his companion for the weekend. I had a great time in Ixtapaluca with Elder Christensen. We baptized there and in my area Aragón and have a baptism for next week too in Aragón, however tomorrow are changes [transfers] so I won’t be here.
I am so excited to have changes and just be a normal missionary again, even though I loved my time as a [financial] secretary. Yes, that means my preparation days will return to Monday and I won’t be driving in traffic, etc. I don’t know where I am going yet, however I know that I am going to be a District Leader again. That will be good because Elder Cambria (my replacement) will be able to call me with the questions he will inevitably have. I know—I was there!
Well, that’s about the only little time I have to write today, I just wanted to let you all know I am happy and excited and that I love you all so much!
-Elder Packer
P.S. Thank you all for writing me… I haven’t been able to read your letters yet… it is the most email I have ever received in one week. [Bryce's birthday is today.] Pretty crazy, I’m 25, Huh? We are capacitating [orienting] the new missionaries so we are going to La Onda a tacos restaurant like always, so I’ll even get a b-day dinner!
I’m in one of the largest cities in the world!
Well, there is lots to tell, seeing that everything is crazy different now. First off, I’m in one of the largest cities in the world! I am in a trio, which is pretty cool. My companions are Elder Olson (the old financial sec. who is training me) and Elder Muñoz (who is the material’s secretary). They are both great! Our area is right across the street from the temple!!! It’s amazing!!! Our church service starts at 2 pm. In my old area, it was at 8:30 am, so that will be hard to adjust to! I was so tired yesterday in sacrament meeting and fell asleep a few times. :/
We live really far outside of our mission boundaries, like 40 minutes. It’s in the West Mission, that’s because we are in the Church/Mission offices Monday-Friday 8 am – 3:30 pm, From there we drive to our area (about an hour with traffic) and work our area till 9 pm then go home (another 30-40 minutes). There are also two other missionaries that are secretaries, Elder Livingston and Elder Lechuga. They also live with us… so our-house is HUGE and about fifteen minutes from the offices. We have our own washer and dryer, two bathrooms, workout equipment, and bunch of other stuff.
The mission home where the Mission President lives is also about 15 minutes from the offices. The offices and our houses are in the downtown of Mexico City! I am actually in the offices right now at my own desk. 
(We have permission to use our own computers to write home and all that is pretty sweet)! We are the only mission with our offices in the church office buildings, which means I am in the same building as the Area Authorities!!! …And yea, we have fans and air conditioning in the offices.
Also you need to know that you need to write me earlier in the week because, as secretaries, our Preparation days are on Saturday! Another crazy thing is I am going to be getting a Mexican drivers license… and driving our huge mission van all over the mission! Mexicans are also the craziest drivers, the whole country is covered in speed bumps (including some of the highways) it’s the only way they can keep people from speeding too much and to stop at intersections. So that will be another adventure!
We also had a funny experience my second night with the secretaries. We were waiting for the assistants outside of their house, in our big white van (you know the sketchy type that mobsters use in the movies) when the Mexico City SWAT team came with several squad cars and their SWAT van and surrounded our van. They all got out in their bullet proof vests with their big guns and all and we had to all get out…we thought we were going to get stripped down, but luckily my adventure didn’t go that far! We explained who we are and why we were there and that was all. (I guess there are some problems in that area and someone called the police.) Afterwards we took their picture, hehehe.
Well, I am sure there will be much more to write later.
I love you all and hope you are doing well!
Bryce
Oh yeah, I will also get mail faster, because it comes right to where I am, and I found out that you can’t mail stuff through FEDEX because they charge a bunch of taxes, however the US postal services comes fine.
New calling as financial secretary
It’s been a crazy week. Where to start? They had a three day multi-stake youth activity here and me and my companion went to help one of the days. The coolest thing is I saw two of my converts from Pachuca and three of my converts here went, too!
Okay this will probably be short, SORRY. However I have to finish packing and visit all of our converts today.
Wahoo! I have changes [transfers]. My zone leaders told me at about 4:30 pm yesterday, however I thought they were joking and still didn’t know who had changes yet, then right as I hung up with them the Mission President called me (which isn’t too often) telling me that the zone leaders were going to call me and tell me had changes, then my heart almost stopped as I prepared myself to hear that I wasn’t going to have changes, however he hold my that he was calling me to tell me that I was going to have changes and to tell me what I would be doing (which he normally doesn’t do). He said that the Lord wants me to be the Financial Secretary for the mission and that it is one of the most trusted positions in the mission, that I will be handling the funds of the mission, and that it is by far the person who works closest to the Mission President (even more that the assistants). He said it is something that will help to prepare me for a life time of church service and that he wanted me to keep this confidential until he announces it tomorrow (but that I could tell my family.
I have to say that wasn’t a call I was expecting. :/ However, I am super excited. I don’t know all I will be doing, but I think my area is in Mexico City which is cool because that’s where I wanted to go. Before, when I was in Pachuca, I told everyone when they asked me that I wanted to come to Chimalhuacán… and that’s where I am and have been for the past half year… so I guess I need to be really thoughtful of what I want, because it seams to become reality. Amazing how these things work out, huh? Well, I’ve got lots to do! I love you all very much, you are all in my thoughts and prayers, and I thank you for you prayers and support!
Les Amor! [love]
- Elder Packer
The two photos are of the leadership training about a month ago. (I am standing next to my cousin Elder Reed, on my right, in the brown suit).
