This report-out is
Elder Bryson May’s last report as a full-time missionary. What an incredible journey! Brian and I had front row seats to all the
experiences from beginning to end. We
are both in awe at the spirit and capacity to love, as the Savior loved, within
Elder May. Are there things he missed
out on being on a proselyting mission – Sure.
But in the end, his mission was perfectly perfect for him. It reaffirms my testimony that our Heavenly
Father knows us – individually and perfectly.
We could not be more
proud of Elder May. And we are blessed
to be his parents. We love him more than anything and couldn’t be more proud of
him! Enjoy!!
Hi everyone! This was a very busy final month and I’m
excited to tell you all about it! We had our YCSM Sports Spectacular, Elder
Lott and I went to a YCSM Mission Orientation, there was a party at Elder
Clifford’s house that Dayton and I got to go to, there was a Zone Social for
Mesa, my very last Leadership Council, and a separate zone social for Gilbert.
I got to enjoy a dinner with the mission leadership with Dayton and a bunch of
other missionaries for our departing dinner, Save the Family threw me a surprise
party, there was my very last mission council, I was able to give Dayton his
gift, and finally, Elder Lott threw me a surprise party.
On Saturday, August 4, we had our monthly mission social
activity. The activity was our YCSM Summer Sports Spectacular! We had a bunch
of different games like Corn Hole and some version of soccer. Elder Lott and I
got asked to come up with a game so we decided to create Angry Birds. We found
exercise bands for the slingshot, we found some spike balls to be the birds,
and then we took tables and cardboard boxes to be the pigs. As AP, it was my
first and only time conducting the entire event which was pretty scary. If I
moved an inch to the left or the right while holding the microphone, it would
go in front of the speakers and cause an awful screeching sound. We had at
least over 20 missionaries that gave their farewell testimonies that day,
including Dayton and I. We even Elder Bowen sing “I’m Still Standing” for his
testimony. I think out of the entire event, Dayton was the only one that
cleared out an entire table full of boxes with one ball. I held the ball and
started going back more and more. I would move around and try to get the angle
perfect and every time I would move, I would ask Dayton if this is where he wanted
it. Once he said yes, I let go of the ball and he knocked over every single box
of about 6-8 boxes and completely cleared the table. It was so awesome to see
that happen! I also know that when we took our mission picture, we took one
good normal smiling picture and then after that, I asked if we could do a
certain funny picture of our group. I heard at the storehouse that there were
missionaries that were learning how to “dab” for when the pictures got taken so
I asked to see if we could do a missionary group dab picture. Needless to say,
the results were exactly what I had envisioned and I’m so grateful for all of
our missionaries.
On Tuesday, August 7, Elder Lott and I as the Assistants to
the President, were asked if we could go to the YCSM Missionary Orientation
that evening. We both were so excited and immediately tried to figure out how
we were going to get there. When we were informed about it, we were having my
last district meeting while I was district leader at the Bradshaw’s home.
Sadly, no one came to participate in my district but fortunately, it gave us
more time to prepare for this orientation.
Because I didn’t know about the orientation until just a
little bit before it started, Elder Lott and I were informed that the meeting
was final dress. Because Elder Lott was already at the ROC all day, he was
still dressed up. Because I was at Save the Family before the district meeting,
I was not dressed up. Luckily, Parker, the Bradshaw’s oldest son, told me that
it would be okay if I borrowed one of his white shirts and a tie. Parker is
just so kind and selfless and hilarious. I put on one of his white shirts and
because I was a little big bigger than he was, the long-sleeved shirt only
covered up to about half of my arm, but it worked! Elder Lott and I then went
to that meeting and just had the best time meeting new missionaries. We got to
meet Elder Sapon, Elder Yeaman, Sister Rowan, Elder Cluff, as well as some
others as well as their parents and their stories. I got to learn that Elder
Yeaman was going to start taking Dayton to the temple, even after his mission.
It was so fun to meet everyone, to hear testimonies and answer questions, to
hear my own testimony and welcome all these new missionaries!
On Friday, August 10, Dayton and I went to Elder Clifford’s
house for a missionary get together that was put on by him and his parents. His
parents were so kind to Dayton and I. They had me park on the driveway so it
was easier for Dayton and I to get out of the car and into the party. Not only that
but they wanted to know all about Dayton, they helped me lift him up the two
giant stairs in front of their house, and they always left a spot for him
either at the table or at the couch. He and I loved playing bingo together,
charades, and just talking and meeting his family. We had a blast!
The following evening, Saturday, August 11, was the Mesa
Zone Social event that was put on by Elder Lott. We had a game and movie night
by playing outburst together and then watching the movie Aladdin. Dayton and I
were together and our team won by just one point! It was so much fun because we
all had to work together to get points on certain topics such as every game
console that has come out to celebrities that were born in Australia. It was a
pretty intense game and we had a ton of people together at Sister Bradshaw’s
house. Dayton was smiling the whole time and I just love the time that we get
to share together.
It was my very last leadership council this past month on
Friday, August 17. Apparently for both Elder Lott and I because he also had to
bear his testimony that night, just like me! We were able to talk about
struggles that we were having as our mission. I can proudly say that even if I
don’t know every single missionary, I am happy to say that Elder Lott, Elder
Tassainer and I would speak about every individual missionary in our mission
and how to best help them. From the zone leader, to the district leaders, from
the missionaries that only had one week left to the missionaries that started
their 2 year mission in a week. We would make sure the two zones were equal, we
would plan social activities with the district leaders, and though we couldn’t
make companionship’s without authority, we would make sure that every
companionship was running smoothly and we would assign temporary
companionship’s until something definite had been created. Elder Lott and I
designed the weekly reports and figuring out exactly how to make the
time-sheets better and figure out what exactly we could do for each of our
missionaries and how to better support them. I loved all of the missionaries
that I was able to work with and help support.
I just want to say that I especially love Elder Lott and all
the work that he does. When Elder Hulme left, Elder Lott was by himself for a
little bit and was able to control all 8 districts by himself. When I was
called, he was so excited to hear that I was the new AP. He trained me and
supported me in every way that I could’ve ever imagined. He and I spent
countless hours together, either in meetings, AP meetings, district meetings,
or zone councils. We also spent a lot of time helping all of the new
missionaries at the Bishop’s Storehouse. He has even visited Save the Family
and have met all of my favorite coworkers and has even been ready to help out
there when we need an extra hand on someone to speak in Spanish for us. He has
now thrown me a surprise party which I will talk about later, he has driven out
over an hour to bring me a card from Elder Keim, and he and I can be talking
about the missionaries over FaceTime for several hours without even realizing.
He loves all of my friends, and he loves Dayton especially the most which is
how it should be, and now he and I think the exact same when it comes to
missionaries. He now also makes sure that whatever the missionaries do, that
there is a way that every single missionary has a way to participate if they
would want to. He is the perfect Assistant to President Pugmire and he is a
perfect example of Jesus Christ as he has taught me to be a better missionary
and person.
Again the evening after on Saturday, August 18, I was able
to host my event as Assistant to the President and play District Projector
Jackbox Party Games. Elder Atkin was able to schedule the church building,
Elder Tassainer brought a ton of desserts, and Dayton and I got to be in charge
of the games and making sure that things ran smoothly. We didn’t have a ton of
people, but that was okay! We had a few people from each district be able to
meet up and be on teams and get to know each other better. My parents were even
able to play too which was awesome! Yeah there were a couple of bumps in the
road with technical difficulties and such but life wouldn’t be fun without some
obstacles to overcome! Dayton was there to listen to me with everything going
on and he was ready to win every game that we played, which he exactly did!
The day before I got released, Tuesday, August 21, I was able to join a few missionaries that
started with me for a YCSM departing dinner. I was able to go with my parents
to the Pugmire’s home, enjoy hamburgers, and enjoy company with Elder Hayward,
Elder Guthrie, Elder Burrell, Elder Hillman, Elder Clifford, Elder Taylor and
Elder Bowen and each of their sets of parents. I was also able to see the
Mortensen’s, the Pugmire’s, the Bradshaw’s and Elder Lott there. I am so
grateful that I was able to spend time with all of these people and I’m so
grateful that I have been able to work with each of these missionaries
individually in some way. I was able to first start as a service missionary and
have orientation with Elder Hillman, I’ve been able to serve at the temple with
Elder Hayward, I’ve been able to serve at the storehouse with Elder Guthrie and
Elder Bowen, I’ve been able to work at the ROC with Elder Burrell, I was able
to enjoy a party at Elder Clifford’s with Dayton, and I was able to spend time
in Elder Atkin’s district with Elder Taylor. I’m so grateful to work with all
of these missionaries and I’m so grateful to the parents that help them with
each step and for my parents for supporting me with my entire service mission.
On my last day at Save the Family, Wednesday, August 22, I
remember walking into work and being stopped by a coworker named Steve. He told
me how sad he was hearing that it was going to be my last day and then he told
me that he was excited to share a slice of cake with me. In my mind all I could
think of was “Cake? No one mentioned anything about having cake today...” The
whole day was super quiet and ominous and I didn’t see Laura for a majority of
the day. I remember talking to some of my coworkers like Nicky and April and
sooner or later Laura, telling them that Steve told me that there would be cake
and I have made it to the end of my work shift and still, there was no cake to
be eaten. They all just played it off like Steve must have just been confused
about something or that he just told me that to work harder. Needless to say
that my last hour at Save the Family had me very unmotivated! Right before I
was about to leave, Laura asked me to follow her to the kitchen. The kitchen
door was shut, there were no coworkers to be seen and no one was in their
offices so I knew something was up but I walked into the kitchen and I was
blown away by the amount of people that were in there, wanting to celebrate and
congratulate me! Laura said she told everyone about it the day before and just
needed to keep it secret for less than 24 hours but Steve already had spilled
it to me in less time than that. Still though, the cake was delicious and I got
to enjoy my entire team with me at Save the Family!
Laura is the best operations manager I could’ve asked for.
When I first came to work, I was very shy and introverted and afraid of what
had just occurred in my life. Laura took care of me emotionally and started me
on tasks that were simple and together, we were able to move to more and more
tasks that were more difficult and important. She helped me grow into who I am
today. She helped learn to talk to people that I never knew, she taught me what
defines homelessness and how to best help anyone in need, and love people, no
matter their struggles. She showed me the Family Housing Hub and I remember
that one day, her and I drove out to Phoenix to see this exhibit of each
person’s different identity. It was way more fun than I was expecting!
Together, we went to each booth around the exhibit and filled out different
note cards, first about our age and gender, all the way to questions that
really made us think and have really thought out answers. My answers could have
been completely different than Laura’s and that’s okay! Her and I enjoyed
desserts together, our first choice was this chocolate and peanut butter
brownie which was delicious. Then, her and I decided to try this brownie that
looked very strange to me but we both decided to go for it. The brownie was
pumpkin and lemon mixed, two of the grossest things to me. Laura loved it and
she loved to watch me slowly eat this brownie out of respect. I still remember
that as one of my favorite memories of Laura and I together at this exhibit in
Phoenix. She let me be the first
missionary to help in a Mesa nonprofit, she let me have my district meetings at
Save the Family, and she was okay if I needed to leave for family or missionary
business. She is so kind and she is so funny and she has helped me so much that
I am just so grateful for her and everything she has done for me.
After I was released, Dayton gave me a beautiful book of us
serving our missions together as well as matching shirts of the Arizona Gilbert
Mission. After receiving it and feeling his amount of love for me, I only knew
it was fair if I gave him a gift in return. I decided to make him a video of
all of his service in his mission as well. I decided to have the theme be his
YCSM Mission Marathon, showing all of the different marathons that he has run,
as well as all of the medals that he has received, but there was only one
marathon that exists like his mission. A lot of the credit goes to Sister
Hayward, who had a lot of the pictures and videos ready for me to use. After
creating the video, the day had been chosen but I felt like I could’ve given
him another gift, just like he did. I felt like there was more that I could do.
I have had a missionary coin for a little while now so I worked with Elder Lott
and my parents and we took some ribbon, cut out the sleeve for the coin, we
threaded the ribbon through a small hole we made in the leftover pocket of the
coin, then we used Velco for the ends of the ribbon to go around his neck. With
help from family and friends, I was able to create a medal for Dayton for his
most recent marathon, with the medal at the bottom being a missionary coin of
the Army of Helaman, “to bring the world his truth.” I was able to show it and
give it to him that following evening, Friday, August 31. Dayton and his family
absolutely loved it. He loved the medal and the video and I just love him so
much.
Dayton is so awesome. I still remember when I was first
hearing about my service mission with the Pugmire’s, they mentioned that I was
going to do endowment sessions with a missionary that has cerebral palsy. That
was the first thing that really made me think about this service mission. I’m
so grateful that I accepted and I was able to enjoy the journeys that he and I
have shared. There have been numerous occasions when people have visited us in
the celestial rooms and have shared their stories with us. Dayton and I were
able to meet Tony’s mom and learn about Tony’s story in the Tucson temple. Tony
also has cerebral palsy and her mom was unsure about if he would be okay being
in Tucson temple for the open house. She had been praying that she would know
if Tony was going to be okay. The next day, she went to the Gilbert temple so
that she could get her answer in the celestial room and it just so happened
that I was taking Dayton through the temple for an endowment session that day.
What a powerful answer for her to receive! It’s amazing that even though Dayton
does not communicate verbally, I am grateful that I was able to learn that he
communicates through blinking and relying on the Holy Ghost.
Not only is Dayton awesome and I’m so grateful for him, but
I also have to give a shout-out to Brother and Sister Hayward. Every day,
Sister Hayward will get everything ready for Dayton. She will bathe him, get
him dressed, feed him, and also take care of 5 other smaller kids at the same
time. She will have him ready for the temple and would always drive him to the
temple for me until I had the courage to do so myself. She does this every day,
but also would get him ready for the temple about 3 times a week. He would go
to every extracurricular activity like our sports spectacular or mission
conferences. There were multiple times that Dayton and Sister Hayward would
invite me to the siblings events too, like Amity’s basketball games and
Kresenya’s volleyball games. Once Brother Hayward gets home from working all
day, he will get Dayton ready for bed, as well as help Sister Hayward with
dinner and helping the rest of the family get ready for bed. He is in charge of
family prayers and scripture study and making sure that Sister Hayward gets the
time and rest that she deserves. Missionaries on teaching missions always have
at least one family that just absolutely love that missionary and some of them
stay in contact even after the teaching mission is done. I know that the
Hayward’s are my family. I love their whole family and I love Dayton so much. I
love Brother and Sister Hayward and I am so grateful for everything that they
do for my best friend.
On Saturday, September 1, it was just a normal day for me.
I did a lot of work at home and was just spending time with my brother, Hayden
when my mom asked me to take my younger cousin, Peyton, to Chik-fil-a for
dinner. Peyton and I not only went there, but then we went shopping at her
favorite store, Target, and then went to Sonic afterwards for drinks. When
Peyton and I got home, I was walking in with all of these drinks when I hear
someone coughing by the door. It totally sounded like Dayton to me but I just
figured that I had the sound in my mind. I open the door to see all of my
friends and family surprising me and celebrating for the end of my mission. I
was speechless, but at the same time, I was holding all of these drinks for my
family so I didn’t know what to do. I slowly put the drinks down and just started
hugging everyone. My absolute favorite moment was when I opened the door and I
saw Taylor there and he just says “Hey, what’s going on....oh yeah! Surprise!”
and then everyone else noticed and yelled surprise too. I was able to spend
some time with Taylor Ferrell, Elder Michael Tassainer, Elder Wesley Atkin,
Elder Larence Lott, Dayton Hayward, and my wonderful mom, dad, and brother. It
was such an awesome feeling that all of my friends and family loved me so much
that they all secretly prepared a party for me without letting me know. We had
hamburgers for dinner, played my favorite party games, took awesome photos, and
had all of my favorite desserts and candy bowls ready to go. Elder Lott even
planned on Dayton being there and made sure that he could enjoy having his own
cotton candy and ice cream for himself. There were streamers and balloons all
around my house, it was just awesome. I’m so grateful to all of them and how
much they love me.
My mission has been an incredible experience. I owe a lot of
understanding of my mission to Elder Taylor Ferrell. Being my companion for 14
months, he was one of my favorite companions and has become one of my very best
friends. He taught me a lot being a service missionary. For those of you that
don’t know, Elder Ferrell has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. His muscles aren’t
as strong as they should be and it’s a little bit more difficult for him to as
much as he wants to do. He has to do physical therapy every day for about an
hour, as well as something called cough assist that helps him breathe for about
another hour each day. I’m so grateful that I was able to learn to be his
caretaker because of the different adventures that I’ve been able to do with
him. I was able to live with him for 3 weeks while his family was out of town,
I was able to travel to California for a week so that he could learn to be
independent. One of my very favorite things that he has said to me was when I
was asking why he is so happy about his disability that he was given. He said
“I could either laugh about my disability or cry about it. I would rather laugh
about it.” Because he had a physical disability and I have a mental disability,
we would often call each other, one regular person. I would help him physically
with anything he needed, and he would help me stay calm and focused on what
mattered most. If I had a problem, he would always take time to listen to
anything that was on my mind, if it be stuff with family or myself, or my past
in the MTC, or stuff going on in the service mission or my role as a district
leader. Even though he was always 40-60 minutes away from the district meeting,
he showed up every week to the meetings. He became my gaming buddy and him and
I still talk almost daily even after our missions. We give each other gifts for
Christmas and for birthdays, if we are able to. Our houses are about an hour
away from each other by car, but we always made sure that we spent at least a
weekend or a few days each week spending time together. He helped me think a
lot more about the service mission and what it means to maintain the Lord’s
vineyard. There were a couple of times that I had to change what the activities
were or that they could work with Elder Ferrell and Elder Hayward. We would
have the entire choir come down to the bottom of the stage so that Ferrell and
Hayward could participate. My biggest goal after getting to know both of them
was that each individual missionary knows that they are all equal and important
in this mission, regardless of their disability. Elder Ferrell and I always
found a way to get past ramps. I wouldn’t walk down stairs unless there was a
ramp right next to me for Elder Ferrell. I’m so grateful that I have a best
friend like him in my life. I love him so much and I’m so glad that we got to
serve so long together.
I’ve
been able to do so much because of my mission. I feel like none of it would’ve been possible
without others. Yes, I was able to help many people but I wouldn’t have been
able to do it without all of the support of my family, and all of the help I
have received from my friends. For my mission, I was able to help those in need
at the MTC, come home from my mission, learn what a service missionary is, and
become a pioneer. I can’t help but feel so grateful for my journey and proud
that I was able to work at Save the Family. I was able to be the first
missionary in a nonprofit in Mesa, and now there are over 29 different
nonprofits that have missionaries and are requesting more. I’m grateful that
Save the Family loved what I was doing and I’m grateful that Laura opened her
mouth and told other nonprofits about service missionaries and the work that I
was doing so that all of these missionaries now have a place that they can
serve the Lord more fully. I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of the
Arizona Young Church-Service Mission and I was able to help bring service
missions around the world. Because of my work, thousands of missionaries and
more will now have the opportunity to serve a service mission. There may come a
day that you don’t have to specific qualifications to serve a service mission.
I love each missionary and all of the different abilities that they have
because it gives us unity for our service mission.
Elder Keim gets stressed kind of easily but he makes the
most beautiful artwork. Elder Martineau took a few days to trust me, he told me
that he had to verify with Elder Lott to see if I was trustworthy but after
that, I love hearing about his projects that he is working on all the time and
everything going on in his life. A couple of our missionaries have Down
Syndrome but they are the happiest missionaries ever. I was the only missionary
that was able to work with both missionaries with physical disabilities
throughout my mission and theirs. Some people worked with one or the other but
I was able to be with both of them all the time. They are both now my greatest
friends and I love them both so much. I’ve never liked the term disability. I
don’t see our missionaries as having a physical, mental, or emotional
disability. I think the best word is difference. Because of our differences, we
are united. Each missionary is a little different so I have learned to
communicate with each missionary differently. I love the conversations that I
can have with each of them. I want to become an occupational therapist now
because of my mission, so that I’m spending time with people like them all of
the time.
I’m so grateful for my mission. I think I will have forever
have more and more thoughts about this mission that I won’t be able to get them
all in my head for just this report. I have loved my time as a missionary, as a
District Leader, as a Zone Leader, and as an Assistant to the President. I am
forever grateful that so was able to be a Young Church-Service Missionary. Even
though the name is being changed, I know that I was able to be a pioneer for
the first mission when it first begun. I love my family and everything that
they have done for me. My parents have always listened to my stories, they have
helped with every gift that I’ve made, and they’ve always found a way to let me
serve others. My brothers have always been there to help me lift me up, and
they’ve been the best brothers and my best friends throughout my entire life. I
have the best friends too as they help me as much as they possibly can. They
care about me so much and I love every friend that I have. I love my mission
and I’m so grateful for it each and every day. This is the most perfect mission
for me.
Love,
Elder Bryson May
May 18, 2016 - August 22, 2018
List of Companions:
Elder Eric Davis: 9/17/2016 - 12/10/2016
Elder Thomas Phillips: 12/10/2016 - 3/2/2017
Elder Taylor Ferrell: 3/2/2017 - 4/15/2017
Elder Dayton Hayward: 4/15/2017 - 6/3/2018
Elder Larence Lott: 6/3/2018- 7/14/2018
Elder Gray Martineau: 7/14/2018 - 8/22/2018
 |
| The words on the cake were words that each of my family lot about me |
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