Getting transferred to Murray Bridge, Light the World

Email #45
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Touti

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

Man so I have just had the most crazy busy week of my life!!! There is just so so much I have to tell you it is unreal. First off, I am getting transferred today to Murray Bridge! Have two new companions who are both Samoan too!! One has been out about 12 weeks now and the other is a brand new missionary so going to be an exciting transfer!! Really sad to go, it has been an amazing experience here in Grange! It is something I will never forget! Spent close to half my mission here, so it will always be a part of me! Excited to serve in Murray Bridge though! I will go where the Lord wants me to go with full confidence that it is where I am meant to be! Will update you next week about all of that as I know more.

This week we had many great Christmas activities and ways to light the world. Was pretty busy one starting off with a baptismal interview i went to that took some time to get to haha but it went really well!

We also had zone conference this week and man that was so cool! Probably one of the most memorable days on my mission! First we had trainings of coarse that were really great actually! Learned so so much from them! Very spiritual as well! Then we filmed our Christmas skits and those were pretty dang fun to do! Hope I will be able to send you those. Then with multiple zones, we played the mission version of "Speak Out". It really made it feel like we were a family having like a family game night. It was just so crack up and really good to have a good laugh with each other! Then we closed the night with watching "Ephraim's Rescue". I have never watched that all the way through before, but that was just a perfect close to the night. Probably one of my favorite movies now. Such a great time and I feel more close to the mission then I did before! Feel much more like a family to me. President and Sister Parker even got us all Christmas stockings full of cool stuff! They are the best!!!!!


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

Through the week we have been trying to do all that we can to light the world by doing service for others. Probably the coolest was going to an apple orchard way out in the hills. Was a few hours drive, but once we got out there it was beautiful. Took plenty of pics and videos. I just handed the camera to the missionaries with me as I drove us there. We had all the elders in the zone there. Basically we just picked apples, but the reason is different. So last October there was a massive hail storm that damaged all the crops up there, so we went in and picked all the bad ones for them. It was such a hit that they have been looking for volunteers to help them. Was a really good day though up there, enjoyed the fresh air and nature of it all. Saw some wildlife like Koala bears and stuff like that, so that was cool. Not quick enough to take a pic though. The drive was probably one of the best parts of the day. I really miss driving through canyons and nature, so this was a great thing for me. As a thank you they gave us heaps of cherries! I made Cherry/TimTam/chocolate milk shakes and wow!!! I think it beats Iceberg or at least pretty close!

The picking crew

Heaps of cherries as a thank you

Our district

Shoes from home finally wore out

Christmas stocking from President & Sister Parker

Zone conference pictures from Sister Parker's Blog

Service project car ride up to the orchard to pick apples

Christmas spirit is pretty high

Email #44
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Touti

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

This week was really good! We got off to a really good start with our district P-day! It was probably one of best that we have had! We went to semaphore beach and played sport and had a BBQ and was such a fun time! I really like my district at the moment and my area as well. With transfers coming up soon I am getting nervous again. It is so weird with the mixed feelings I get when it comes to transfers. It seems every transfer there is something holding me here that I don't want to miss, like this time around is Christmas! I really want to be here for Christmas now, because if I go to some random area I won't know anyone where as here I know everyone and their dog haha. Not sure how it will go...

I have been able to play piano a little bit yeah. I will have to get one of the sisters to send you this video and pics they have its pretty crack up. We are preparing for the skits today and practicing with the zone and then on Friday for zone conference we are recording them. Not really sure what we are doing yet, but the sisters ideas are pretty funny. The Christmas party looked pretty dang good! Was it a good turn out?

The Christmas spirit is pretty high here especially with the members! We are getting fed all the time for it haha, so that is good (and bad since I'm gaining weight I'm sure). We went over to the Gabeharts house and even made gingerbread houses, so that was really cool, I haven't actually made one myself for a long time. I have noticed a lot this week the relationship that we have with the members at this point. A lot of them are genuinely nervous that I will be transferred which is really weird because I didn't know I had that good of a relationship with them. Guess I just have been here so long that I am almost part of the ward at this point lol. Sister Collins has been here for a whole year now in this ward and she is going home end of this week:(. You can really tell many of the members are super sad about that. She has made a huge difference here in the ward. She spent 2/3 of her mission here anyways haha.


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

Yeah was a good week for us as well. It was kind of a slow one when comes to the work and our investigators overall for sure. With Christmas coming up, everyone is really busy, including ourselves with volunteer work and members and everything but been slow with finding for sure. Our current investigators are doing really well though! Man got one story for you that comes to mind for sure.

Tracting experiences huh? Hmm that is a hard one, we have weird experiences every day haha. One that comes to mind this past week would have had to been with our friend P..... So p.... is a funny dude, he right away opened up to us when he knew we were from the church. We basically got his whole life story in 20 min lol. That was the initial contact and he is one of those people that don't really let you put a word in easily. So we set up a return appointment and man my companion was so nervous for that lesson because we knew how much this man talks. So we go in and somehow taught him the restoration and he seems to understand it. It is hard to keep him focused on the subject at hand. I seriously started laughing in the lesson at one point when I look over to my companion and his face is in his hands hahaha. I don't think P.... noticed one bit haha. So yeah that was a struggle, but still trying.

Love ya heaps!

Elder Bryner and his gingerbread house

Elder Bryner's gingerbread house

Elder Touti's gingerbread house

Aussie dessert

Elder Bryner playing piano at retirement home

District P-Day

P-Day activities, Elder Bryner is in the light grey shirt and blue shorts.

Feel the spirit of Christmas

Email #43
Area: Grange area of the Firle Zone
Companion: Elder Touti

Excerpts from Mom's email:

Hey Mom!

Yeah transfers are on the 17th, but even if I am transferred I still have time to email so we could still figure out skyping. Yeah it is hot, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Only had one 40 degree day so not to bad, but supposed to get hotter sometime. Haha yeah time has basically felt the same to me. Has gone fast, but also feels like I have been here my whole life!

Well this past week has been really really good! We have had a lot of exciting activities going on and things like that. First this week we went to an old folks home to sing and play games with them as a zone. That was really cool! It was part of the Light the World initiative that we are participating in. We are still looking for another service project to do on the 26th as well. The elderly there seemed to love it! We have some great singers in our zone, so luckily they could drown out my horrible singing haha. I asked Sister Collins to send you the pictures for that. It doesn't quite feel like Christmas without the snow and everything, but I can feel the spirit of Christmas for sure! We were able to talk to each of them and get to know them. I even beat this one guy at chess and I haven't played that since I was little, so he was pretty impressed with that but didn't like losing haha. There was this other lady who could play piano in a unique way. She plays all by ear and kind of just hits the notes close to the correct keys, but it actually sounded alright. It just was cool, because she had some form of dementia I think.

Saturday night we had our Ward Christmas Party! Now that was pretty cool! Definitely was the best ward activity that they have put on since I have been here and was a pretty good turn out. We had some investigators even show up, so that was pretty cool too! They put us on the spot and asked us to be a part of the young men's skit last minute and even asked us to sing... Luckily with the sisters, but still we only practiced 20 min before we went on haha. Think it went okay though. Santa made an appearance as well and we got to take photos with him, didn't know what to ask for Christmas though haha. Lastly last night we had our Christmas missionary fireside up by the mission office! Was a great turn out to that as well and the spirit was so powerful during it! With all of these Christmas activities, it has really brightened up our week! Looking forward to the rest of this month as well as the spirit of Christmas keeps rolling forth!

Love you Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!


Excerpts from Dad's email:

Hey Dad!

Yeah my week has been awesome! Work has slowed down just a little, but still going well. Found 3 New investigators during tracting. Fun fact, we call it Game Time here haha. Guess just makes us feel for pumped for it:). "What time is it Elder? That's right, it's Game Time!" haha. Pretty funny, but something the mission has done a few months back. Makes a difference believe it or not. Like I said before, we do minimum 3 hours tracting a day so that is a big focus as a mission.

The Christmas season is definitely here even though there is no snow. Everyone here has felt it! Man especially F... holy cow! So at the Christmas party he was the host, even cracked some pretty funny jokes! At the missionary fireside, he gave a talk about how the Gospel has changed his life! That was pretty great to be there for! He has been killing it! Everyone there had great comments about it afterward and even a lot of people told me that by the way he spoke made it seem like he has been a member for years. We went by his place yesterday to have some cake with them for their daughters birthday right before the fireside and he told me that he only had a few points written down so most of it came from the heart. I didn't even see him look down to read anything! We are going by again tonight for dinner with them so that will be good!

So the next few weeks will be pretty cool. Today we are having our district activity having a BBQ and playing sport over by the beach. Then next week we are having our zone activity putting together our Christmas skits that will all be on video haha. Don't know how it goes never been here for that, but they do it every year. Idk what else they do here, but sounds like Christmas here is even great for the missionaries!
Love you!

Visiting with Santa!

Lucky dog!!! He got a new obedience collar.