Bryce Growing Up...

I picked up binders to put them back in a bookshelf and noticed Bryce's journal that I kept as he was growing up.  Jan. 29, 1989 I wrote:
Bryce is 17 months old.  He is getting cabin fever.  When he wants to go outside, he pulls down all the coats ( his is too short to reach) or gets his boots.  He likes to play the piano and dance to music.  He is very cranky at church.  The new schedule is right at his nap time, 12:00 p.m. His vocabulary is: bye, bye, bird, and MOM!  However he babbles incoherently all day.  He likes to talk on the phone alot.  He can carry a five minute conversation all by himself. When he wants a bottle, he gets one and brings it to me.  He still sucks on a nuk. 
Feb. 5 1989  Bryce likes to talk alot during FHE.  We don't listen to the lesson--we just laugh at him.  He's good entertainment.  He can climb up on his horse and high chair now.  If he wants to get down he shakes the tray and if he doesn't want to get down he hangs onto the tray so you can't take it off.  
Feb. 12, 1989   Bryce loves to seat on the baseboard heaters--he uses them as chairs.  He also stands on the kitchen heater and watches the deer in the back yard.  He really has cabin fever.  I usually take him out in the afternoon and he walks down the middle of the street.  He hates to have his hair washed and cutting it requires several people to hold him down. 

Mozambique and What Donna Wrote

These are Willy's parents with Sister Kimball in the MTC.  They are now in Mozambique serving as Welfare Directors for our church.  Donna and I email as often as time allows...they are pretty busy.  This morning I got an email from Donna about Bryce...this is the second time she has met someone that knew of him while serving in Cape Town. This is what she said:
Well today after church we were just hanging around the chapel trying not to wonder why we were there and we met this fellow who spoke perfect English. The missionaries introduced us and it was this Brother Million and his new wife. They were just visiting for the holiday's.
His real name Million Magaia. Well as we visited he said he served in Cape Town so when I asked when sure enough it was during Bryce's mission. And when I asked about him he said which one. I said the blond one. Was he killed he asked and I said yes. He said 'yes, I knew him. I did not serve with him but he served with my best friend Elder Tete'. He also said he was around him so much. He said everyone loved this missionary. He said he was a very CALM missionary and people liked this about him.
He said he was doing a very funny thing. He wondered if he ever did this when he got home. He said Bryce was saving all the money his grandmother sent him and when he got home he was going to take his grandmother out to a nice lunch.
He also said how sad everyone was when they learned of Bryce's passing. He just talked about being around him,his calmness, what a good missionary he was and he said on their mission they were taught very much to keep good journals. I told him about Bryce's journals. He said he has struggled writing in his since home but now he will work harder to write more. He said the missionaries serving at the time he was there were a very special group of missionaries. He said all were very good missionaries and that their mission president taught them so much. He said President Egan tried to teach them everything he knew while he was their president.  He kept commenting on how much he learned on his mission and how lucky he was to go on his mission.
I of course had a hard time listening to him without crying the whole time. I told him excuse me for taking so much of his time and being so emotional. He said thank you for taking him back to his mission again. I told him I needed to go right away and send you an email.He wanted me to let you know how great a missionary your son was and how much they all loved him.

Bryce's Homecoming Talk Oct 2009

 Hello it is good to see everyone today. Well I really enjoyed my time serving a mission in South Africa, I am great full for all of the support that I have received while I have been gone, I know there are other’s out there that have had to choose between Serving a mission or having there family and friends accept them. I am especially great full for my family. I am happy that Dallin has the opportunity to now serve. I am excited to be back at home… everything is still a bit strange for me right now. I am already missing many things that I got to experience while I was serving in South Africa. I had so many experiences that have helped others and myself to grow in the gospel, one of the things that I got to experience the most was receiving direction and answers from prayer.  Over the past two years I have had the wonderful opportunity to teach many people about how to use the power of prayer.  As I have taught I have seen that there are many things that people don’t quite understand about prayer… I have also been able to enlarge my own understanding about this wonderful source of communication and guidance that we can have with our Heavenly Father. Today I will be speaking about 5 different key points that have helped me to use the power that can come through prayer. I pray that some of the things I share may be of benefit to you as it has been for me. The five points are.

1.     Having an understanding of who it is that we pray to.

2.     How do I pray? Why am I praying? What is it that you want? Be specific.

3.     Recognizing, responding, and understanding answers to prayers.

4.     Expressing gratitude and Accounting

5.     Making our prayers reach Heaven.