Elder May - March Email

This Elder has my heart and exemplifies the service the Lord would perform if He was on the Earth today.  He truly is amazing and we love him so much.  As we watched General Conference and reference was made to the number of missionaries serving, my heart was overwhelmed and humbled knowing that Elder Bryson is one of them.  We love him so and are oh, so proud of him!  Enjoy!!

March Email:

Hi everyone! Just another classic month has just passed by for me! March was a very long and exhausting month but just the same old events had occurred. I don't know if it did for anyone else but for me, March felt incredibly long. We had our leadership council, I went to Save the Family with a friend named Emily, we had our mission conference with Elder Porter, and finally, I went to the Easter Pageant with Elder Ferrell.

Our leadership council was super good! It was the first time for me that I was given as assignment and I was actually able to follow through with it. I was able to speak alongside Elder Tassainer, Elder Hawks and Haws, and Elder Begay. I was able to speak on district meetings and their importance. I talked for way longer than I was supposed to and I didn't even notice. I felt pretty bad for taking up other people's time but I think that whatever God wanted me to say during it, that it must have had some impact on the people around me.

My sister-in-law asked me if I could take one of her sisters, Emily who was about 16-17 years old, with me to Save the Family to volunteer during spring break and it was so much fun! Everyone loved Emily there. People were telling me that she was so kind and loving to those around her, she was super smart and getting it done without needing supervision and she just kept asking for more tasks to help with. Emily and I would talk during the car rides and I got to know her a lot better and she would tell me all about the service that she was able to do and how much of a difference that she was able to make while she worked there. I had coworkers asking me if she could come back after spring break to continue to help at Save the Family.

I was recently asked by the Pugmire's if I could give a tour to them on Save the Family and what it is that we provide. For those of you that don't know, Save the Family helps homeless families with minor children find a home and reach self-sufficiency. We have classes and we do lunches for our clients and we have case management programs and youth classes and career development specialists and anything we can do to help out the families that we serve. It is not an LDS charity. My service mission is involved a lot with Save the Family and helping with whatever Save the Family might need. Anyway, when the Pugmire's got here, they did not tell me that every single member of the YCSM leadership was also going to be there. I had the Mortensen's, the Thornock's, the Bradshaw's, the Pugmire's and even Elder and Sister Edwards from the Quorum of the Seventy here to see Save the Family and what it is that we do. It was super nerve-wracking but it was so great to see everyone be so excited to see everything about Save the Family.

The March mission conference was a blast! I was able to spend time with my two best friends both while serving and not serving, Elder Taylor Ferrell and Elder Dayton Hayward. Elder Ferrell sat behind us in the chapel with Dayton and I sitting at the front. I had kind of a unique experience with Elder Hayward on that day. At the beginning of the meeting Dayton kept falling asleep. I asked around on what to do and the people around me just said to let him sleep. The longer that I let him do this, the more uneasy I was getting and I started trying every way that I could to wake him up. He would wake up, yawn, and then go back to sleep. That's when it hit me. Dayton's spirit was asking me, pleading with me to try and keep his body awake so that he could focus but his body was just so tired that it couldn't handle being awake at the time. Dayton kept asking me and I didn't want to give up on him so I tried every possible way that I could to keep him awake. Slowly, he kept his eyes shut but he started to have a bigger and bigger smile with me sitting next to him in the chapel while listening to Elder Baker and Elder Porter. 

 I lied. I actually have two unique experiences with Elder Hayward that day. After the conference was over, people were taking things down and I had just moved Dayton to the side while waiting for his dad to come by. Elder Baker walked up to me and Dayton and asked me how I speak all the time to Elder Hayward. He continued to tell me that he had watched me all day and wanted to try the same ways that I speak to him but he wanted to see if he could have a conversation with Dayton. I was already kneeling on the floor next to Dayton so Elder Baker did the same. He put his left hand on Dayton's right knee and then I put Elder Baker's right thumb into his left hand. As soon as Elder Baker grabbed Dayton's hand, Dayton squeezed right around his hand and his whole face lit up and he started smiling like crazy. Elder Baker started to ask him questions vocally and Dayton would blink or not blink and then soon Elder Baker and Dayton went silent and I could tell that they were actually talking with each other and having a conversation. It was beautiful to watch. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of that and I just love Dayton and Elder Ferrell. They are two of my very best friends. My mission would not be the same without them.

Because of the vast distance between Elder Ferrell and I, we try to do something together each month as a companionship. I noticed that we hadn't done anything together this month so we decided to go the Easter pageant together, just as our companionship. He had never been there before and I had been there only once but it was a super long time ago. We were able to go around these giant crowds and we saw one chair at the very front row. Well, we sat there and it turns out that they were reserved by a family. The mom asked us that the family that was coming didn’t make it and she asked if we could stay there with her family. She has a nephew that also has a physical disorder that causes him to use a power chair so when she saw Elder Ferrell there, she immediately loved him and was thanking me a ton of times for helping him as I do and for him for being there. Their family was so kind and the Easter Pageant was spectacular! 

This was a summary of my most recent month. It’s crazy to think of the amazing experiences that I have been able to be a part of because of my service mission. I am so grateful for the YCSM program and I am grateful that when I came home early, that there were people in my life that didn’t give up on me and pushed me into serving a second mission, a service mission. I am so grateful to everyone who have helped me get to this point and I am so excited to see where my mission takes me next!

Love,

Elder Bryson May

 

 

 

 

 

Elder May - February Email

I feel like each month I say that my heart is full or my cup runneth over when I read our Elder's monthly email but this month, it is even more so.  I have seen more service from Elder May, much more than he even added to the monthly report.  Anyone who knows him knows that he is the first to lend a hand or offer help but more than that, he feels the needs through his Christlike love for others.

For those interested in knowing more about the Arizona Young Church Service Mission (AYCSM), please ask Elder May or myself.  It is such an inspired program plus it is one of our favorite things to talk about.  We love him and oh, so proud of him!  Enjoy!!

Hi everyone!

 Wow, this was a wonderful month. Not a whole ton happened for me, which is probably a good thing! There were a lot of things that happened for other people that I was able to be a part of and this was probably the busiest month for my mission that I had to start planning things out and make enough time for everything. Actually the biggest bulk of my time was with Elder Hayward and all of it was just so much fun. In February, there was Elder Hayward's birthday and dinner with his family, there was the YCSM Mission Olympics, there were times that I went proselyting with a missionary who needed a companion, and then there was a big anniversary party for my Operations Manager at Save the Family, a talent show that I got to support and be a part of, and finally, the last Saturday of February where there were so many things going on that I was awake for 20 hours straight, 4:30am-12:30am! 

 Elder Hayward's birthday was on February 5th. He invited me to his house to celebrate a chunk of his actual birthday with him! I was able to go with him and his caregiver, named Hayden, and the three of us went to Institute together. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the teacher there and as a bonus, my aunt Verla was in that class too! After that, we had some extra time so we went to the park right by his house and fed the ducks and went around the giant pond that they had there. Hayden taught me how to use Dayton's left hand just a little bit more. Together, Dayton and I would put part of a cookie into his left hand and then, when I would flick Dayton's wrist, he would let go. Together, Dayton and I fed cookies to a bunch of ducks at the park. It was insane how many ducks started showing up once they knew that we had chocolate chip cookies for them! 

As I was driving home from Dayton's house, I had the most perfect birthday idea for Dayton! I got two white T-shirts and went over to the Atkin's house. Elder Atkin and I have been friends for over 10 years so I am at their house pretty frequently these days. We took markers and outlined the number "21" and wrote "I Am" on it so that Dayton could have a shirt that said "I am 21" on it. After making Dayton's, I didn't want Sister Hayward to feel left out. Her birthday was only 2 or 3 days before Dayton's so I wanted them to be able to have matching shirts so I made a shirt for her as well. We drew different lines around the numbers and I had the idea that missionaries should color in those boxes with their own designs and then sign their names on it so Dayton could remember who wrote on them. I felt like people from Dayton's district and zone should be the ones to color them in. The next day, I went to House of Refuge first to get missionaries at that district, and then I went to the Gilbert Temple for more missionaries there. After that, I still needed and wanted more people so I went to Lauren's Institute and got a TON of missionaries there to sign it. 

 Elder Hayward had asked Elder Haws and me if we could join him to celebrate his birthday with his whole family. I was able to give Dayton his gift then and he and his mom loved them. After that, we drove to his dinner. I don't think the three of us were expecting to be a little bit further from each other as expected but I got to bond a lot with Dayton's youngest siblings, Colt and Talya. They both wanted to sit by me so I sat in the middle and I got them both to just want to talk with me and I not only love Dayton now but I love their entire family so much! Every time that I talk with Sister Hayward on the phone, I can hear Talya asking if it’s me and when I’ll be back at their house with her.

It was only a short time after that before I got to spend more time with Elder Hayward. Elder Haws became busy in helping out with the Mission Olympics so I got asked if I could spend some more time with Elder Hayward! He and I were on Team Canada and overall, we won like two or three medals. For the ski shoot, I would push Dayton to the next target and then he and I would put the gun in his left hand and shoot all the targets. Our team got the silver medal in that. 

My favorite event that day was the Ice Skate Race. This was the event when people would have to slide in their socks to the end and then turn around and come back. Elder Mortensen told me that I should just sprint Dayton to the end and then sprint back. Well, when I did that, everyone on Team Canada just assumed that that was actually what we were supposed to do. So Team Greece is going all slow and sliding in their socks or whatever while Team Canada doesn’t play by the rules and we just sprint back and forth and Elder Mortensen wasn’t able to stop their enthusiasm. Needless to say, Team Canada easily got the gold medal on that event. 

 So I haven’t really gone proselyting at all since I’ve been home except for to just be there so there’s the companion part but I went out on Saturday, February 17th. I was with an Elder McKee and he had only been out for 4 months and he’d never really talked to people and I had no idea what the sayings were but I was fine with talking to people. It was kind of fun to not even talk about the gospel with these random strangers. People kept saying no to us, and it was starting to mess with Elder McKee’s motivation. Just a piece of background, I guess we had like 7 or 8 appointments or visits to go check out and everyone said no to us. I still had like 2 hours left with the guy, so we decided to just start tracting. I don’t know who even came up with that word. I know what it means for missionaries but it’s not even a word. I’m curious about that. Anyway, all the other stuff that I haven’t said about this is just details that you don’t need to worry or ask about.

Very last house. That’s always how it starts. We walked up the driveway, there’s overgrown weeds everywhere and cigarette butts all along the ground. Also there’s a weird like burnt oil drum on their driveway? You know how people do those fires in an oil drum looking thing? I think that’s what it was. He had told me that they’d tried this door before but the guy always said that he wasn’t interested. Well anyway, we knock on the door and a woman answers. Elder McKee does all the sayings and she says she knows exactly who we are. She’s not interested in the church but she knows the missionaries and she said she was fine with doing dinners and giving them rides and whatever they needed, but she wasn’t interested in coming back to church. Elder McKee almost started talking again but I butted in and asked her why she wasn’t interested in the church. I guess you also normally don’t do that but I just went with the HG okay?? She told us that she used to be LDS, she quit going to church because people had said mean things to her because she was a single mom with two kids and that since they didn’t know her story, she was very hurt that no one was helping her and everyone was being mean to her. So she’s been technically inactive for about six years. And that’s why she wasn’t interested. Elder McKee had no idea what to do. He told me he grew up in Utah, never even questioned about leaving the church and that he’d always grown up in it. I told her that it is very hard when you feel alone and that I know what it is like when wards don’t want anything to do with you or that you feel judged for your every move. I told her that these wards aren’t like that though; they are the most welcoming wards that I have ever been to. She heard my story and then finally got it. Like GOT IT. We, as missionaries, aren’t just robots telling people to join the church, but we are all humans with different stories and we want to share how the gospel has helped each one of us grow more. After hearing my story, she asked Elder McKee if he could come back next week and start up the missionary discussions and she will start reading the Book of Mormon again and she will start thinking about going back to church. It was so awesome.

 My operations manager, Laura, has now been with Save the Family for a grand total of 26 years. On the day of her anniversary, I was working here and secretly made her a gift. I took a deck of cards, took 26 card out of the deck, hole punched each one, ran a binder ring through them and then glued pieces of paper to each one. I then had different coworkers of Save the Family write different notes on these pieces of paper on why they appreciate and are grateful for Laura. As far I’m aware, Laura loved it when I gave it to her. She truly is the best operations manager for me. She listens to all of my stories, she laughs at all of my jokes and she pushes me to be better. She gave me the opportunity to serve my mission and I will be forever grateful for her. Not only that, but we were able to plan this giant surprise party for Laura. It was pretty fun! About half, if not more, of the staff was able to be in attendance and we all got to have lunch and listen to the different stories and adventures that Laura has been able to be a part of.

 That same day, Elder Hepfinger invited me to his talent show for the different kids that he is able to mentor and I loved the activity there. They were all so funny and enthusiastic and Elder Hepfinger did such an amazing job. I was also was able to see Vasa there and be able to get to know him a bit better. I think it’s crazy that he’s at that program too! 

Last but not least, my Saturday. A few days after Elder Hayward’s birthday, they asked Elder Haws and I if we wanted to go to the Phoenix marathon for Dayton as he tries again to qualify for the Boston Marathon with his friend, Ryan. Last year when Elder Haws and I went, him and I got caught in a ton of traffic and road closures that we weren’t able to make it until after Dayton had crossed the finish line so this year, I was a little over-prepared. I woke myself up at 4:30am and left my house at 5am. I drove all the way out to Phoenix and got through a ton of traffic, using one road that wasn’t closed off, getting myself into the prefect parking spot at about 5:40am. The race didn’t event start until 6am. I was going to just sleep in my car but that’s when I realized that I could see the finish line from my car and the announcer starting talking through the microphone and all of the speakers were booming around everywhere. So, I did what anyone else would do and I played on my phone for about an hour before getting bored and decided to go wait outside. I am so glad that I brought a jacket as it was only 30 degrees outside and I couldn’t feel my fingers. Anyway, I was just walking around for multiple hours waiting for people that I decided to start helping random strangers with setting up their booths and things like that. 

Sister Hayward had crossed the finish line right around 8am and that’s when her whole family showed up and time went by a lot faster. Dayton crossed the finish line at around 9:12am, qualifying him for the Boston Marathon! He was so excited! He had the biggest smile that I have ever seen on his face. I loved it so much and I am so proud of him for qualifying for the Boston Marathon. His smile was so infectious! Every time that I saw him, I started to smile and just wanted to be next to him, talking with him about how proud I was. He is just so amazing and I love the bond that we share. People often ask how I am able to communicate with him and it is definitely through the Spirit and guessing. He is just so awesome. There are not enough compliment words that I can think of to describe him.

After that, as I was driving home, I was asked by Elder McKee if we could go out proselyting again. That took me from 12pm – 3pm. Then, after that, I was helping set up a game night that I did with a few of the district leaders and some close friends that I have been friends with since before my mission. We just played games for a long time during the night and they were there from 4pm – 9pm. After that, I was taking people home and listening to their stories which didn’t get me home until midnight. Then, after cleaning up and everything, I was in bed at 12:30am.

 So, as you can see, my month had a lot of things to do as opposed to last month. There was a lot of craziness and a lot that I needed to plan for but I am so happy and grateful that I got to be a part of it all. Service to me has become second nature and the more I think on it, the more grateful I am for my Heavenly Father and all of the miraculous things that He has given me. I am so grateful for my family and for my friends. The longer that I have been on my mission, the longer my email list gets of people that I wish to hear my stories. I love you all and I am excited for March!

Elder May - January Email

This month was difficult for Elder May as well as on our family to watch him struggle.  He does not do well with being told no or to slow down to take care of himself.  Missing the opportunity to speak at zone conference was very difficult for him.  But like he mentions below, learning to love himself and be patient with himself is what this teaching opportunity was about.  Love him so much and am so proud of him.  Enjoy!!

Hello!

This month was probably the most difficult month of my mission so far. Because of beautiful blessings that I have been given with my missionary power, I haven’t really gotten crazy sick on my mission at all so far. That all changed with this month. It started out with just a cough and a weird tickle in my throat but then the next day, I was coughing nonstop and I’m still not exactly sure what had caused it. I would cough and, the amount of my coughing would make me out of breath, and the force of me coughing forward would cause me a headache. I wasn’t able to sleep at night without waking myself up by coughing for 5 minutes nonstop and then try again to fall back to sleep without coughing myself awake. 

The worst part of the problem was that I was unable to serve. By day 3 or so, I had gotten so bored of being at home. All of my service missionary friends were out serving so I was unable to keep up a conversation, I didn’t want to work at Save the Family and represent myself as a missionary and only do like 10% of the work that I normally could do and I couldn’t go to the temple with Elder Hayward because I was still coughing too much and I would panic in fear that I would make him sick because of me. It was truly a tough month for me. I was unable to spend time with Elder Ferrell due to this because of the same reason. I was unable to go to the zone mission conference and I had to cancel assignments and meetings due to my illness. 

I have learned a valuable lesson however. There is a difference between being selfish and caring for yourself. Something that I have been working on recently is trying to learn the difference between the two. During this time, I was unable to help others which just made me feel awful but it is not selfish when you need to care for yourself. I’ve been practicing a lot lately on making decisions based on how I truly feel rather than just trying to make others happy. You are only selfish when you have cared for yourself and you still don’t care for others. It is not selfish when you are looking out for yourself and you are trying to help yourself grow. This is still a difficult thing for me to learn but I am grateful with the experience that I have been able to gain so far. I’m looking forward to the next month and whatever experiences lie ahead of me.

Sincerely,

Elder May