Sunday, December 30, 2007

Hey everyone,
So how is everyone? Things here in the Philippines are crazy at the time being. I guess new years is a much bigger deal then Christmas because everyone is out doing stuff and selling fireworks but i think ill try to stay away from the fireworks for the time being. This last week was so buisy with xmas and all but its ok. Plus the zone leader left early to be home for new years so i am now holding on to the cellphone and all the problems that come with it. It is hard being the District and zone leader at the same time. Im way happy at the time being because i dont think i will be transfered this next transfer. I requested to president that i would like to stay here one more transfer to see my baptisms before i go and be a zone leader some where else. When i told some of the people with baptism dates that i might have to leave they cried and it kind of hurt my feelings so i made that request and i think it will be granted. We have 8 people who are supposed to be baptized in January all of which ive got to seen progress from day one of their teaching so im hoping to get to watch them all the way through baptism. We are teaching these two little girls who are way cute, i want to bring them home with me. I gave them a reading assignment in one of our pamphlets and then on the follow up i asked her what she understood about repentance and she gave me a better answer then anyone ive ever heard, like better then most members and for sure better then my understanding before i went on a mission and she is only 12 years old. Basically everything is going good im just stressed at the time being but once they get a new zone leader here ill be good again. I got lots of ideas for this next transfer to help the work progress so im excited to start January and try some new stuff. well i better run.

Elder thompson

Elder Thompson with the two little girls that he is teaching

Bryce with his new sword

Merry Christmas...

Although Bryce is far away this Christmas, he still managed to stop by our annual Thompson Christmas Party this year for a visit with Santa...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELDER THOMPSON!

BRYCE TURNED THE BIG 20 YESTERDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! WE MISS YOU!!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Hey everyone.

Well guys things are going great here in naga mission. If you guys are wondering what i did on my birthday, I worked. We actually gave a lot of baptism dates this last week. Im not sure but im thinking i will be transfered so im trying to set the area up for whoever comes in after me. We have baptisms planned every week from now till febuary. I got to baptize someone this last week which was the first baptism ive had in a long time because usually i get transfered before my investigators get baptized and i think that is what will happen now. this week i dont know what is going to happen i think i might just spend a couple days here in tabaco helping them because even the members in tiwi said they wont accept me into their houses on christmas. well ill keep this update short but i love you all and wish you all a happy christmas.

love elder thompson

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hey everyone!

Well this week ill try to give you guys a better weekly update because i have kind of been slacking off. Well this last week was a little different but we still were able to work hard and reach our goals. The grandpa of some of our best investigators died so they were a little busy this week but they went to church and we will be giving them baptism dates this upcoming week. We also had our branch Christmas party with all the members and it was way fun. We played all these crazy games and ate a lot of weird food but it was fun. I had to give a spiritual thought at the party then i had to give a talk at church and on Tuesday i have to give another talk at their primary program thing. Its awesome here in tiwi and i have gained the trust of the members by getting lots of people who were less active back to church and also lots of investigators go to church so the work is getting very good but its just too bad that i think ill be transfered before i get to see my investigators get baptized. last night i had i dream im going to be transfered to Goa zone on the 3rd of January so i guess we'll see what happens. One thing is for sure, i will leave whoever replaces me with a TON of baptisms. I want whoever replaces me to think im a good worker. We are going to have 2 baptisms this week and they will be confirmed members of the church on my B-day so thats cool. These will be the first baptisms ive seen since i was a trainee. I guess i've just never stayed in an area long enough to see the fruit of my labors but its ok as long as they make it to the waters of baptism im happy. This week im going to be so busy its crazy. I have to interview two more people, i have tons of appointments, we have Christmas conference, and half the bulan zone will be sleeping at my house. Well i better go now but hope your all doing good back in the good old USA.

Elder thompson

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Hey everyone

Well its been one awesome week. Me and my "anak" (trainee) are tearing it up here in tiwi. This last week we dropped a lot of investigators who werent really progressing then started to look for good ones and we found a lot. We had 6 investigators go to church last week and it should of been 8 but two of them never got picked up. 3 of them went to church after we had only taught them one time so im WAY happy. We have baptisms planned for the 15th and then again for the 22nd so im very happy. My favorite investigator will be confirmed a member the same day i was, dec 23! Its been a long time since i had success like this and im ready to receive some blessings. My companion also got a guitar (after asking president if he could) and so ive been learning to play hymns in my free time which is actually not to hard to do the basics because i can already read hymns because of piano i just needed to be shown where middle C was on a guitar but maybe when i get home ill try to learn a little more. well that was basically my week but i got to go ihi so i better run.

elder thompson

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Hey everyone!

hows life back in the USA? wow i totally forgot about thanksgiving but then my mission president was like "happy thanksgiving" So a lot has changed for me here. On wed. i got to go to Naga for the first time since i got here but its cool. I went there for a training session for trainers because i am now a new TRAINER! AND HE IS AN AMERICAN! its kind of wierd because he is my first american companion and i had to do a little adjusting because ive adapted to filipino ways but its still fun. It can get a little quite in the house and i dont know if he is just quite or if im just not very used to talking in english because to be honest if i talk too much in english now it can hurt my head kind of bad. Well everone im doing good and hope to hear from you all soon but i better go.

elder thompson

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Hey everyonesorry ive gotten so lazy on my weekly letters. Well our new mission president is changing things up a little bit here in naga mission. Usually we have transfer announcements on wed. but we had them earlier this morning instead and im not transfered but my companion is. Me and the zone leader have to go to naga on wed. but thats also a new thing and so i dont know why we are going there but they think it is training on how to become a trainer and i hope that is true because being a trainer would be kind of fun. Im just happy i get to go to naga for a day because i really have never been to naga yet and i will get to see almost every missionary in the whole mission which is also cool. Everything is still crazy right now and i guess we dont know everything that will happen but its way exciting. also as far as my area goes im way excited to not be transfered because next transfer i will get to see some fruit from our labors and have some baptisms...........hopefully. i have one good story though that happened this transfer that i forgot to tell you guys. So i had some clothes stolen in my last area so my mom sent me new one which all got stolen in this area, sorry mom. So i was kind of mad about that and we had a suspect and one day we leave the house to go tracting and my comp is like , "hey there is our suspect" and i was like "yea and he is wearing my shorts" the idiot was wearing my favorite shorts i got made in sorsogon so we went back to the house and i changed into my combat boots to kick his but but my comp said that i probably shouldnt do that so we went to the city police and told them. they said there is nothing they can do even if he is wearing them but they agreed to go there to ask questions to hopefully scare him from robbing again but when we got there he was gone. we started asking people questions and then the guy just walks out of a house wearing my shorts and we pointed at him and he took off running. we chased him but he was fast and had a huge headstart and then he ran through a rice field and got a way but he wont be coming back to this town any time soon so now we dont have any problem with theft but if i see him again i think ill just take things into my own hands...............joke! well thats a good story and i better go now.love elder thompson

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hey,

Well everyone i hope you guys are doing as good as i am because im having a blast out here in the Philippines. Well this last week it rained and then it rained some more and then it rained some more. It rained so much that the bridge we take into tabaco actually ....... i forgot the English word......fell down i guess. well ya it made going to tabaco kind of fun and actually a bus fell in with it. we had an amazing week and saw some real progression with our investigators. we gave a man a baptism date for Nov 17 and help one family fix a lot of problems and hope to see them enter the waters of baptism soon. earlier we had a fun costume party type thing and watched a movie. thats right, we are aloud to watch cartoons if approved by our president. so ya that was my week.

love elder Thompson

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Hey everyone

Well things are going good here in the philippines. Im actually having a way good time here in tabaco zone because all the missionaries here are way happy. earlier we went to a water fall and did some cool activities. I saw my blog (thanks shiloh). I also read the comment of Becky hamblin and becky im in a different mission then elder ray but when we get home we will for sure hang out. well everyone to be honest i got a lot to do today so i need to be kind of fast so sorry.

Love
elder thompson

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Hey everyone,

Well i was transfered this week. I am now down in tabaco zone in a little area called tiwi. I am so happy. My area is amazing and EVERY night we have a dinner appointment so maybe ill gain those 22 pounds i lost back. Also my new companion is SO AWESOME. He is nice, humble, patient, and a good cook. Im also the new district leader here in tabaco which is crazy. As the district leader im in charge of doing the interviews for all the people being baptized in our zone and we have a lot of baptisms coming up so i will be very buisy this next week going to everyone elses areas to give people interviews which should be kind of interesting. Here are some pics of me and my new companion also some others. well life is better then ever here in the mission field.

Love elder thompson

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Family and friend

Well its been a wierd week. So transfers are getting close so everyone is getting a little antsey and people are getting a little tired with each other. This last week though these people in my area named their baby after me. The way cool thing was i got to bless it in church the day after it was born. I think that was the strongest spiritual experience in my whole life. I think i want to have a kid now so i could bless it but i guess i better wait 2 years. besides that not too much. ill tell you next week how transfers goes.

elder thompson

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Hey friends and family

Well things here are going good as usual. Transfers are getting close again and i think i might spend at least one more transfer(6 weeks) out here in tula-tula. Its not the happiest area but we are starting to see results from all our work so thats cool. Im actually feeling kind of dead right now. Ive worked WAY hard the last two days and today we went to the volcano and hung out for our p-day. Some crazy lady there wouldnt let us pass on this one road but i talked to her for a little bit and then we couldnt get rid of her. She was like ,"you can not enter because you are not believers." she was Very, very crazy but sometimes crazy people can be kind of fun. well thats about it for me.

Love elder thompson

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Hey everyone,

So life here is about the same as it always is. I walk a lot, it rains a lot and there isnt a lot of people. All in all life is good. We had some really good progress with some of our investigators this week. They went to church and after church we were able to teach them and the tatay(dad) was there too. hopefully in october we will have a lot of baptisms here in Tula-tula. Also some EVIL,EVIL man(or woman) stole my garment bottoms off my clothes line. This area has a lot of challenges but sometimes challenges are fun. love you all and i hope your all doing good.

Love elder thompson

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Hey-

Not much has really changed life is just same old same old. The work here in my area is getting a lot better. I started using the branch leaders and missionaries and it has helped A TON! not much to report but I love you all.

Elder thompson

(Bryce & his companion taking their 6 month pill to kill any worms in their body.)
(Bryce & his companion eating some yummy Jello)
(Bryce with his last companion)

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Hey everyone
Well ive had a BIG week so i actually have things to tell you guys. First off i was transfered to a mountain village place caled Tula-tula. Really there is like nothing there so i dont know what im really supposed to do especially since im a new SENIOR. Its kind of exciting and a little scary knowing im in charge of an area and im also a follow up trainer. My comp, elder andres, Is a hard worker and very nice but doesnt speak english so today is the first time ive spoke english in like 4 days. Its ok because it will help me learn faster. also When i first came to my new area i lost my wallet which had; 6,000 pesos(my whole support for september), $80, My lisence, social security card, and temple recommend. sorry dad. so its been a little rough lately. Also lets just say my appartment is a little small. these are some pictures of it but this is after i cleaned it. I dont have any water and im not really sure where to get any so ill have to figure something out or starve i guess. There is really like NO houses but there is a big army base so .............yeah, they're nice to me. Actually the army guys dont harrass me about being american as much as normal people but they always want me to drink with them. I guess my next 6 weeks will be a very big advanture and im excited to be assigned here.

Love elder thompson

Sunday August 26, 2007

Hey everyone

Well things here in the mission are same old same old. We have transfers this week so im kind of nervous because ALL my investigators have baptisms soon and i wont be here for them but i guess thats ok and maybe i wont be transfered. O real quick ill tell you a cool story. So the other day we are teaching a lesson and a WAY crazy laidy walked into the next door neighbors house who just happens to be my favorite investigator. She didnt do much but it was way crazy and it took a lot of people to get her out of the house and then she just walked in the middle of the street and almost got hit by a bunch of cars. so there is my crazy story for the week.

love elder thompson

Letters from Bryce

(Bryce sends an email each Sunday to update everyone on what is going on. I have some of them saved and thought I would stick them on here. Each week I will post his new email.)

Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007
Hey everyone
Well transfers are coming up so im feeling kind of nervous about that. I know that more then likely i wont be transfered but i kind of feel like i will be but i dont know why. Besides that not much to report. I went to >some cool waterfalls with my branch. Also language seems to finally be coming along. Well keep me in your prayers.

Love Elder thompson

Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007
Hey everyone
Well i wasnt transfered but my comp, elder gavino was. We were way close but my new comp, Elder alapag, is very hard working and im excited for this next transfer. My new comp is actually the district leader for my zone so ill be able to learn a lot from him. Besides that not much has happened just a lot of traveling because of transfers. Language is comeing a long much faster now and i understand whats going on now for the most part. I cant wait till im able to say ANYTHING i want.

Love elder thompson

Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007
Hey everyone
So its been a good week. Me and my new companion have been working hard and found a lot of good new families to teach. Everyone here is so nice to us but i wont lie, sometimes its really hard to be a minority. I hate being called "joe" but patience is the key. I worked a whole day with an elder from my batch, meaning he started his mission the same time i did. It was actually one of my best days and i was way happy because it showed im now getting the language down a little better. I also got the worst haircut of my life today. Its ok it girl repelent. One more exciting thing is I got recommended for senior, which doesnt mean ill be one but its a nice complement. Things here are going good. Keep sending the love and support. 535 days pa!

Love elder thompson
Also to all those who asked, Its not humid here.(in my opinion)

Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2007
Hey everyone
Well things are going good now in my area. My investigators are really starting to progress and go to church so ive been way happy lately. Too bad ill probably be transfered before i get to see the fruits of my labors but its ok, i think thats just how the mission is. Nothing too cool to say but ill just keep it short.

Elder thompson

Sorry i forgot one thing cool. One of my investigators had a kid and named it Bryce after me. I love these people. I promised her if she named him bryce he would be "pogi" or handsome.

Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007
Hey everyone.
Things are going great here in Abuyog, sorsogon. We have some really good investigators now who are always going to church and we have a lot of poeple who will be baptized in sept but im kind of feeling like i wont be here because transfers are aug 30 and ive been here for about 3 months now. What ever happens i know ill be where the lord wants me. This mission has been the greatest blessing in my whole life and has humbled me a lot. love you all and hope your all doing good.

Elder thompson

Loving the Mission Life

Pictures from the life of a missionary...Here are some picture that Bryce has sent. (more to come)

Bryce with pet "Larry" until they found out that pets were not allowed. Then they had to get rid of him.

Bryce's Farewell

Bryce had his mission farewell on December 17, 2006

The Whole Family

Bryce with Dad & Mom

Uncle Bryce with Kadence

Getting The Call

Bryce received his mission call on November 25, 2006. Lots of family and friends showed up for a little party to watch him open his call. He was called to serve in the Philippines Naga Mission and was asked to report to the MTC on January 10, 2007.