A Tribute to Bryce

Bryce Growing Up...

2012-01-31T11:38:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-01T13:56:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Homecoming Talk Oct. 2008 Prayer

2011-12-29T07:24:00.000-08:00

1. Who do we pray to?

Elder Faerch, Elder Christensen

There is a surprising number of people in the world today, even amongst us members of the church, who do not fully understand who or what we pray to. In Preach My gospel the very first line of the very first lesson that we teach says. “God is our Heavenly Father. We are His children. He has a body of flesh and bone that is glorified and perfected. He loves us.” To me you couldn’t explain anymore clearer than Preach My Gospel does about who our Father in Heaven is, and this is who we pray to. Not some spirit that doesn’t have a body that just floats around everywhere, we don’t pray to the mother Mary, or the Holy Ghost, we don’t even pray to Jesus Christ. We only pray to God, our Father in Heaven. There are so many people in the world today who are confused about the true nature of God, we are so blessed to be taught at a young age in Primary the Difference between God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, there are so many people who don’t have a clue who they pray to. Thankfully if someone is sincere and has pure motives, God will come down and help them to there own level of understanding. As members of the only true and living church, we know who God is, but how often do we stop to think about who we are actually praying to? There was a senior missionary couple who I served closely around.. And I had many opportunities to speak and interact with this particular couple, Elder and Sister Ward. Now Elder ward shared with me something that I will always remember and that I have thought about and used every day since he shared this special bit of information with me. He was at our boarding for some reason or another and we got talking and the subject of prayer was brought up, and he told me “I can never pray until I can see who it is that I am praying to.” Well I thought about this for a while and it made a whole lot of sense to me. How often do we take the time to think and to visualize our Father in Heaven? It can make a world of difference in our prayers. When we can see who it is that we are praying to our prayers become more meaningful, more sincere, I have found that it is easier to understand what my Father in Heavens will for me is. The bible dictionary helps us to understand why we need to learn our relationship with God to have meaningful prayers. It says. “As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand towards God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children) then at once the prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Many of the so called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship.” I know that what the bible dictionary says is true. When we come to know who God is our prayer will flow naturally, we won’t have to worry about our clumsy thought and we can just pray, and this will benefit ourselves and others greatly.

How do I pray? Why am I praying? Homecoming Talk 2009

2011-12-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

2 How do I pray? Why am I praying?

What is the order of prayer? When should I pray? God has given to His prophets instructions about how and when He wants us to pray to him. How to pray is very simple. God does not want it to be difficult for us to communicate with Him. He loves us and wants very much to hear from us. We first start by addressing Our Father in Heaven. Any respectful way to do this is appropriate. Next we can express gratitude for our many blessings. Then we can ask about anything that concerns us, or for direction or guidance. Finally we always close in the name of Jesus Christ. It is that easy. As a missionary I had made up a card with these four simple steps of the order of pray that I could carry around and give to people who were concerned with what to do and say when they pray. It had 4 simple steps. #1. Address Heavenly Father. #2. We thank thee…#3. We ask thee…#4. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen. I remember giving one of these cards to a young man about 16 years old who was concerned that he would not be able to pray, I quickly gave him one of these prayer cards, and explained to him how to use it. He agreed to pray, and he prayed the following. Heavenly Father……. We thank thee for blessing us…….we ask thee for…..blessing us. And then he concluded his prayer. Well his prayer was very short… maybe didn’t make the most sense, but he had probably the most important element we need in prayer. He was sincere. He was willing. He never had really prayed before but he was willing to give it a try. Now that is the order in which we should pray for most occasions, and with this order of prayer There is a special language we use, we show our greatest respect when we pray to God. We can do this by using words like Thee and Thou instead of saying you. We take time to think about the desires of our heart, rather than mumble out meaningless words and sentences that do not come from the heart. Now this is how we should pray, but just as important as knowing how is when. This answer is very simple though and can be found in 2 Nephi 32 V. 9 where it says. 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ…. We always need to be praying. Just before I came home I had an interview with my mission President. President Probst... and we discussed about how many times a day we pray as missionaries… and we came up with 30 prayers a day could be quite a normal day. He told me that lots of missionaries will go home and will not feel the spirit like they did when they were on a mission and it discourages them… he said it was because they were not praying like they used to. If we are always praying at every opportunity, we will always see the Lords hand in our life; we will always feel the spirit. Last about the order of prayer is we need to always remember to close in the name of Jesus Christ. He is the one who makes it possible to return to live in Gods presence, He is the one that makes anything good possible. Now that is the order that we most often use when we pray, and it is an important part of prayer, but still like I mentioned before, sincerity is the most important thing we need in our prayers. One thing that I have been able to learn that makes sincere prayers even better though is sincere prayers with a specific purpose. I have come to learn that sincere, specific prayer with a specific purpose, get specific answers with specific blessing. Now I know that Heavenly Father knows what we need, and He wants so much to give it to us, but unless we ask for it, He will most likely not give us that which we desire. The scriptures tell us “Ask and ye shall receive knock and it shall be opened unto you.” (Share story of investigators asking specifically to know if the Book of Mormon is true.) Now that we have established how we pray, let’s go over why we pray. Well if you think about it whenever we pray it is because we want something… I’m not saying that we are selfish, but when we pray we have a purpose we want to get something done. Whether its we want to have a safe trip as we travel, or we want our food to be blessed, or we just want to express our thanks to God because we have been blessed so much, and we want Him to know of our gratitude. There is always something we should want to accomplish in our prayers. God is this way also He always wants to get something done, he doesn’t do things that don’t have any meaning. The trick though is we need to be willing and able to find out and accept what it is that God wants for us. We may think we already know what we need, what we want accomplished. But God really does know so much better. I think that the key to finding out what it is that God really wants for us is simply diligence and obedience. If we do what we have been asked and continue to do it, regardless of what the outcome may be, we will prove ourselves worthy to do Gods will, thus God will revile His will to us because we will do something with the instructions that He gives us. When we can accomplish this we will have a perfect understanding of why we pray and what it is that we need to pray for.

Installment 3 on Homecoming Talk Oct. 2008Elder

2011-12-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Elder Swasey, Elder Ronny, Elder Christensen King Williams town South Africa

3 Recognizing, and responding from answers to prayers.

I don’t think it is always easy for us to recognize answers to our prayers. God makes us put forth some sort of effort on our part usually and He works in this pattern to cause us to learn and grow. Elder Richard G. Scott says that our responses to prayer often come a piece at a time until we receive the whole answer. When me and my companion would go and follow up on a lesson that we had taught to an investigator, we would have them explain as much as they could to us, and then we would help them with the parts that they were missing. We could have easily just re-taught them the lesson, but we knew that when they had to think and participate they would gain so much more from our visits. I think the same principal we used is very similar with what our Heavenly Father does. He could easily just tell us everything we need to know, but then the effort on our part is lost and we won’t grow. Answers to prayers are always available, whether its yes, no, go here, go there, do this or do that, be patient I’ll take care of it, or answer could be simply use your best judgment it will be fine. We just have to be able to be in tune with the spirit enough and listening and we will always find our answers whatever it may be. Being in a place that is conducive to the spirit will always help with us accomplishing this task. (Tell in Your own words I remember an experience I had just a few months ago, were my companion and I were preparing a meeting for the missionaries in our area, we knelt down and prayed before we started planning …. Nothing…. In a place where the spirit could prompt and the spirit prompted me that we needed to pray again. We responded to the prompting that we received and then the revelation flowed) When we respond to the answers that we have identified that God has given us. He gives us more. Because we have proven that we will respond. As a missionary you get to watch the restoration dvd many times, and you begin to be able to quote it. One of my favorite quotes from that film is a part where…… I contend that God has given to each of us the ability to think… to reason for our selves. And it is true although we should always seek instruction and guidance from our Heavenly Father, we should also use our own skill and judgment for many things. For example God will probably not tell you what flavor of ice cream to buy while you are at the store. PMG explains this really well there is a quote by Dallin H Oaks in PMG under the chapter following the spirit where it says.

Prayer...Sacrament meeting talk Oct. 2009

2011-12-15T20:02:00.000-08:00

4 Expressing Gratitude

We need to account for what our Father in Heaven has given us. One of the best ways to do this I have found is each time you receive a specific blessing that you have been in need of, as soon as you can kneel down and express your gratitude to your Father in Heaven, and tell Him about what you plan on doing with the blessings that you have received, this makes you much more likely to receive further blessings. In my first area in Kwa Magxaki My companion and myself prayed specifically to be led to a area where we would find someone who would receive us and be baptized, we felt prompted to go down Mqokolo street, and our prayers were answered as we soon later found Nceba and some of his friends. I will always remember that day, we knocked on his door he was there studying with some of his friends and he welcomed us right in, we taught what I thought was the best Restoration that had ever been taught, the spirit was so strong, immediately after we got out of his home we offered a prayer of gratitude, and it felt so good. From that time on every time we taught Nceba it was a awesome spiritual experience, a few months later Nceba was baptized and some of his friends soon followed his example. ( Nceba then did this and that … I got to go to Magxaki just a few weeks ago, and he will be leaving for mission this next year…) When we receive answers or blessings and then report on them. We will receive more. I can relate this to when we would ask the members for people to teach, If we gained there trust and they gave us a referral, if we acted promptly with that referral and treated it like the gold that it was, and then told the member who gave us the referral about how our visit went with there friend and asked further for there help, they were always willing to give it.

The picture is special because Lena just had her "farewell" and is going to serve in Canada! She is going to be a great missionary just like her brother. This picture is one of the last we have of Bryce ...a few days before the accident. He was wearing this coat that he got at DI...a girl's coat. He loved it.

How Can I Make Sure that My Prayers Reach Heaven?

2011-12-01T14:39:00.001-08:00

Brad looks a little strange with his arm suspended. This is his reception and he had a picture taken with his friends...his arm is where Bryce would have been in the picture. I think he was probably there. It is hard to see all these boys grow up but Bryce stays 21 years old to all of us.
I was searching my Documents and found Bryce's original talk that he gave when he got home from South Africa. I thought I would post it. It is pretty darn nice. I will start at the end and work my way to the beginning for reasons that will reveal themselves as I continue to post.

5 How can I make sure that my prayer reaches Heaven?

In Enos verse 4. Enos says that he did raise his voice high that it reached the heavens. When Dallin and I were younger and we gave a not so heart felt prayer, our mom would say something like “ well I don’t think that one made it past the ceiling. So to conclude my talk I would like to speak real briefly about some things that can help our prayers to be heard, and to help them to go past the ceiling up to Heaven. I was reading Nephi 2 v. 16 this week and I found a place where it explains why Nephi’s prayer was heard, why they reached Heaven. In verse 16 Nephi says “having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me..” Great desire is what caused Nephi’s prayer to be answered as he received a visit from the Lord. How do we gain a great desire? What is a great desire? I think it would be safe to say that a great desire is anything that is on the same course as what God desires, or basically we could say anything that will help us and other to gain eternal life. Those types of things are great desires. We can also have our own desires of the world, that wont really help us to achieve what God’s desire is, we often come across our own desires of the world and get them mixed up with the things that we think are of the most importance and we often wonder why we receive no answer. In those times if we could stop and evaluated what it is we are praying for, we could soon come to the realization that we need to get our priorities straightened out. I know that God would be willing to help us do this. When the Lord visits Nephi He even tells him why he had Great Desires and why his pray was answered in verse 19 the Lord says “Blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart.” Nephi was diligent therefore he was also obedient. He did what was right what he knew he was suppose to do, this made him eligible for the spirit and when we have the spirit we have great desires. This is how we make our prayers reach Heaven; our great desires carry it speedily all the way. While I was serving in a place called George there was a single mother named Sonja who felt the spirit as she learned about the restoration, she acted on the instructions she received, she followed the spirit and gained great desires, she had been smoking heavily and drinking coffee and tea for over 20 years, but was able to stop in one day. Her great desires caused her to know that she could change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; she came to know that her desires could be the same as Gods. Sonja was baptized; her family came hundreds of miles for Christmas and found out that she had joined the church. They promptly left after hearing that news, condemning her for what she has done. Her co workers gave her a hard time, and she received many other trails, but because of her great desires and the answers she received from prayers which led her to be able to experience the healing power and peace that comes from the Atonement, she was able to withstand those trails. She was able to make the 14 hour trip to Johannesburg to go do baptisms for the dead a few months later, and after membership in the church for a year she was able to go back and to take her endowments out. She has remained active and strong in the church despite the great adversary because her prayers reached heaven and came back to her with peace and direction. I know there is so much power in prayer, I know that God knows us and loves us. He does answer our prayers. I know that the pray of the prophet Joseph Smith was answered, when he prayed to know which church was true. I know that God and Jesus Christ did appear to him, and he was soon later called to be a prophet of God. I know that we still have a prophet on the earth to this day, even Thomas Monson. I know that the Savior Jesus Christ lives. I know that He suffered for each and everyone one of us so we could be made clean to return and live with our Father again. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Three Years Ago

2011-10-22T20:27:00.000-07:00

This Sunday our friends are speaking in church. They are going to serve a mission in Mozambique. I thought they would probably be going to Africa! They are the parents of Bryce's best friend. We are going to miss them. I know they will be a great blessing to a country that Bryce loved. It just seems strange that it has been 3 years since Bryce came home. He was frustrated that he couldn't find a job but was excited to go snowboarding and kept wishing it would snow. He always wanted it to snow...even in the summer. It is pretty amazing that he was sent somewhere with no snow for two years. He survived...just barely. He found a part time job and worked hard to get in shape for snowboarding. I just wanted to mark this time because I always think about how nice it was to have him home and to see how much he learned and matured on his mission.

Africa Bound...we are sure going to miss them!

Just Arrived and Named....

2011-10-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Just a few hours old and making cute faces already!

Welcome to Winston Bryce. It is so fun to have our grandchildren sharing names with Bryce. At the beginning of the year, Spencer Kim was born. Bryce was the only one in our family with the middle name of Kim. Now Spencer shares it with him and his grandpa.
I think Bryce would call Winston " Little China Man". Trust me...I know. I also think Bryce is very familiar with this sweet new member of our family. I hope he was nice to him....no chubby bunnys or jumping on his back.

Speaking at ER Training

2011-09-21T13:10:00.000-07:00


Outside the Emergency room of Utah Valley Hospital

A year ago I ( Bryce's mum) went with a friend to start tap lessons. As the year progressed I learned that our teacher was a nurse in ER at Utah Valley hospital. One day as I was visiting with her and some of the other ladies in our class, the thought came to me that she might have known about Bryce. I told her about his accident and asked if she remembered anything about it. She did and she was the nurse that admitted Bryce. I was very humbled to think out of all the people in Utah County that my tap teacher in Elk Ridge shared that significant day with me. Later she asked me if it would be alright if Kim spoke to a group of doctors and nurses about our experience since he rode in the ambulance and was with Bryce the entire time from the accident to the end. Time passed and just this month, a date was set and on Monday I met Kim in the hospital conference room filled with talking, eating, noisy people while a presenter was up front explaining a service that his company provided. Several people took turns speaking and each time they were given a sign that told them they had one minute left, etc. Everyone was talking fast to get through their material. I wondered if Kim was prepared to condense and be as fast with his recounting of Bryce's accident. When his time came there was as a hush that settled and the hurry was gone. I was surprised and relieved for Kim. It was not the easiest of things to talk about and as he got to the part of the end of the doctors and nurses trying to do what they could for Bryce, the tears rolled down his cheeks. I just sat there telling myself to smile. I did okay but there were Kleenexes being handed up and down the rows and sniffles behind me. Kim said that it was difficult to talk when he saw the tears in others eyes. It is a sacred thing to talk about death to those that work hard to stop it. He got no sign telling him to finish up and it was very quiet but after he concluded there was a group of doctors and nurses that filed around him and expressed their sorrow and shared memories of that day. We got to meet several that were there that day...people who said they recognized us and those that remembered easily the events of Bryce's accident. That amazed me. I can only say that from the depths of my heart and Kim's, we felt such a sense of gratitude for this group of people and all they tried to do for Bryce and for them remembering him and sharing their grief with us. It was sacred to us. Their faces were a blur that long ago day but their desires to help Bryce, to do all that they could and the way they treated our family will always stay with us. That is one reason why Brooke, Dallin and McKay are having their picture taken moments after saying good bye to Bryce. That is why I like this photo so much. To the casual observer, it is a picture of our children somewhere but to us, on that day, it is a reminder of a loving Heavenly Father, a sacred experience, a special angel looking over us and the goal...our family can be forever.

What Elder Utchdorf wrote

2011-05-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

I was reading some of Bryce's letters the other day. It was definitely a Bryce day. I don't know what started it but it continued throughout the day and into the week. I saw lots of Rav4's, heard a certain song that I heard once right after the accident that spoke directly to me, saw mothers that knew Bryce and had a son that had died...the list goes on. I laugh and cry because it is like Bryce is poking me through heaven. It is hard for me to explain unless you are a mother that has lost a child. Then I have found you know exactly what I am talking about. So here is the point. I re-read a letter sent to me from who was then Elder Utchdorf. I love this part:
Bryce is in the best place he can possibly be at this time. Your beloved son continues to be involved in the work of the Lord and is safely in His hands.
I know this is true and it makes me very happy. It reminded me of being in Tokyo in the temple with Kim and Dallin. This was the end of Dallin's mission. As they were praying for the missionaries, I thought...oh--I have no more missionaries. Then a voice as distinct and clear as can be came to my mind...no mom. You will always have a missionary.
It doesn't get better than that!

Sweet Daffodils

2011-05-03T07:43:00.000-07:00

Last night after FHE, Kim and I went for a walk. Kim seemed to have a plan and when we came near the cemetery, he indicated he wanted to go see Bryce's grave. I was anxious to get in a good walk but followed.
Last Fast Meeting I had talked about the daffodils in our yard. They were a sweet reminder to me of the resurrection. My friend Tammy brought me bulbs the fall following Bryce's death. I was excited to see them in the Spring and have enjoyed them the past two seasons.
We were surprised to come to Bryce's headstone and see daffodils. Kim lifted up the vase and there was a note on the plate under the vase. I just stared. I slowly walked away after that wondering who would put the flowers there. My daffodils have long since faded in the yard. I have found that it really means a lot to me when others talk about Bryce, tell me things that they remember, and are patient when I go on and on about something Bryce said or did. I thought that time would heal this heart but I am beginning to think the hole is permanent. That's okay because the Lord has filled that hole with sweet moments just like last night.

May 13, 2007 Mother's Day Phone Call Home

2011-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

I was reading my journal and found a summary of a phone call home from Bryce:

In Port Elizabeth ward there are 85 % white, 15 % black and no coulored.

Zone Conference is on Tues. and they have taught a Pastor. He has read 1/2 of the Book of Mormon and they have set up an appointment with Pres. Egan so he can ask him questions.

Tyler asked Bryce when the last time was he had pizza and he said yesterday. They have weird ingredients like bananas, Russian sausage, etc. He still doesn't like to eat smiley ( goat's tongue, goats head). He can eat yams now, beet root and anything but tells people he is allergic to soda pop.
He talked about townships and that they don't go there at night because everyone burns their garbage ( no garbage collection) and they would smell like bonfire. He gets to hear Bob Marley being played and says I probably enjoy it more than I should. His apartment is small. There is just the two of them. There are 100 in the building. They are on the 2nd story. All the houses are cinder block with barbed wire and glass around perimeter. There are police men with armored cars and machine guns everywhere. The crime is mostly with the blacks and racism is common.
They do service in the mornings then have lunch, do tracting, visit members and get referrals. He says tracting is a lot like video games. They keep finding ways to be creative to talk to people and to keep from getting bored.
He just finished reading "Our Heritage" and said it was really good.
He doesn't mean to be ungrateful but everyone sends him Swedish fish...variety is nice.

His questions: Is my room still painted? How's Provo Canyon construction going? Mom...do you miss Elder Christensen? Mom: I am so grateful that you are on a mission! Do you get homesick? I figure I am down here for only 2 years and it will be gone before I know it so I had better make it count because I will be home before I know.
Question from Mom: How do you know how to make meat pies? I 'm a missionary. I just figure it out.

Skateboard beginnings

2011-02-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

Snowboarding

2011-02-27T15:17:00.000-08:00

Jan 7 2011 Celebrating Bryce

2011-01-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

Can you tell what they are doing? They all look pretty funny and they are trying hard to spell BRYCE!

McKay is making an angel in the snow...just what Bryce is --and would be in the snow if he could!

5 Guys restaurant...eating hamburgers ( close to a steak which is what Bryce would be eating)

Playing Bryce's Sunday standard...Boggle --some like it more than others

Cute Willy and very pretty Shelby

Jess always brings me flowers. She left flowers on our doorstep the week Bryce died. I love them! ..and Jess. ...and Brad. and all Bryce's friends. They are so good to me!

Mziwamadoda and Bryce

2010-11-15T08:15:00.000-08:00


Elder Christensen and Madoda's baptism

I was missing Bryce and for some reason thought of Madoda. I knew he had served a mission after being baptized and so I checked Bryce's facebook and there he was so I sent him a message. It was so nice to know how he was and this is what he said:
I am doing great, thank you. Bryce and I were very close. In fact, I can't talk about the blessings of the gospel without talking about Bryce and Devin. The Lord blessed me through them. The best part about life is that we can always look unto Christ for comfort, strength, and hope. I look forward to seeing Bryce again and meeting The Christensen family. Thank you for everything Sister Christensen. . . Have a blessed week.

Bryce, Andrew and Forever Young

2010-11-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Last night while I was walking to church for "Chocolate Night" I saw three of Bryce's friends. They were pulling skateboards out of their car trunk. That really made me smile because I knew Bryce would have been right there with them if he could. They had gone to the skate park down the street from us. When Bryce was younger, I would drive past and look for him and his friends. I was seldom disappointed because there was always someone that was boarding that was Bryce's friend. That park is a sweet reminder now as I drive past it most days. In August, Bryce's friend from England posted this video in remembrance of Bryce. It is about as perfect as I can think to remember Bryce by. I really can see him in heaven boarding. You may wonder why I keep posting. It is very therapeutic...my way of keeping Bryce close. This video does a great job. Thanks Andrew for sharing it.

President Bateman and What Do You Say?

2010-10-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Friday is my day to serve in the Provo Temple. It was the Open House for President Bateman and his wife as they finish their service and President Daines takes over.   During my lunch break, I waited in line to shake their hands and thank the out going Presidency. I have had some special experiences with the Batemans. President Bateman was in the temple this past Jan. 7th when we went to do sealings. He wondered what we were doing at that early hour on a Thursday morning so we told him it was the anniversary of Bryce's death. After the session, I wrote him a letter to tell him how it went and he has shared our experience of sealing parents to sons from South Africa at many Stake Conferences throughout Utah Valley. How do I know? I have had people tell me when they hear President Bateman speak. This past week, Kim had someone at work tell him that President Bateman was at their Stake Conference the past weekend and spoke about a returned missionary from South Africa that was killed in a car accident.   So I told President Bateman about that and his wife asked me if it was alright to continue to tell the story. I assured her that anything that was about Bryce always made me happy and I loved to know he was telling our story.
That night, McKay had lots of friends over to celebrate his 29th birthday. We have all the missionary plaques up on our kitchen wall of our children and I look at them often. Several times his friends would ask about our children and I would tell where they were, who was married, etc. They would see Bryce's picture and I would talk about his mission, etc. It was clear to me that none of them knew that Bryce was gone. It made me reflect on the people that are usually in our home and know our history and we talk about Bryce as much as we do about our other children. It makes me really happy when there is someone that asks about him or wants to know more. It makes him real. It was hard for me to not say anything about the accident and to just pass over where Bryce is or what he is doing.   I am learning though that it is okay and those that need to know will ask.
I am grateful for those that let me talk all I want about him. They are very patient and kind. I had no idea that healing would continue to be a part of my life almost two years later and I am grateful for all the mothers that understand and keep pulling me along with them. I am grateful for my children letting me talk about Bryce and not saying...move on Mom. I am grateful that Kim listens and understands and feels just like me. I am grateful for those experiences that come at unexpected times that lets me know God isn't tired of listening to me either.
One last note.   Bryce trained an Elder from Madagascar. His name was Nambinina RANDRINIRINANIARIVO .   I still can't say his last name. He started writing to me every Monday --the same time as I would always get an email from Bryce when he was in South Africa.   He has continued to write now that he is home.   That is pretty tender.

Two Years From Today

2010-10-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

Thinking of you today Bryce. Hope there is lots of snow where you are!
Don't forget to write in your journal...I will want to hear all about your adventures when I see you again!

Read Last...end of Bryce's letter to President Probst

2010-10-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

I have learned how to manage time and money and how to be self-reliant.
I have learned how to cook some crazy things.
I have gained a love for many different cultures and a love for the country of South Africa and the Saints in this great country
I have learned of the importance of team work and unity
The list could go on and on, but I truly have gained so much from my experiences serving here in SACTM. I know that the true Church of Jesus Christ has been restored today by the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that we are being led by a prophet of God today, President Monson. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and sent His son, Jesus Christ to pay the price for us to return to live with Him again. I know that the Savior lives and suffered and bled for me that I might live again. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. --Oct. 2008 SACTM

Letter to President Probst continued

2010-10-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

I have learned how important it is to develop good habits as soon as possible.
I have gained the ability to recognize quicker the temptations and traps that Satan leaves for us, and how to best avoid them. I also have come to see how Satan can destroy the greatest by small means.
I have experienced the most difficult days and weeks of my life while serving a mission. I have also never felt the Spirit in more abundance and have never been more aware of what Heavenly Father wants for me.
I have learned the importance of a good first impression, and how important quiet dignity is, where ever we are, whatever we are doing, we are always being watched.
I more fully have come to know that God is there and He answers prayers and I have more fully come to the knowledge of how He does it.
I have experienced the sorrow that comes from people I love choosing not to act upon that which they know is true. I have also experienced the joy that comes from seeing people's lives changed as they embrace the gospel.

Letter to President Probst continued

2010-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

I really have come to love my family and have gained an understanding about why families are so important. My mom has a little wall section at home with pictures of the missionaries from our family and above the pics, the scripture 3 John 1:4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." As I have been able to see the effect of what the gospel and truth and light does for a family, some of my most favorite experiences have been communicating with my family each week and knowing that every single one of them walk in truth, with my little brother leaving for Japan to serve a mission just weeks after I get home. It just is a great feeling.

Two Years Ago

2010-10-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

Bryce wrote a final letter to President Probst before returning home. It reflected much thought and maturity and I would like to post a section of it every few days. It is probably the most precious letter I have and I am so grateful that President Probst thought to send it to us.
What have I gained, learned and experienced in the South Africa Cape Town Mission that has blessed my life?
Well of course there are too many things that I gained, learned and experienced while serving a mission to even write down a fraction of those things so I will attempt to highlight some of the more important things, in no particular order:
The First Presidency message on page V states: More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among it's children.
I feel that my view of what happiness actually is, has become much clearer...those things we do in our life that make a lasting impact and cause others and ourselves to change for the better, bringing peace into our lives and lasting satisfaction--a clear view of what is important.
These things bring lasting happiness into our lives, and I know that it is possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Family Information Sheets

2010-09-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

Every year after Christmas, usually on New Year's Day, our family would fill out Family Information Sheets. This did not seem to be a particularly fun activity for anyone but Mom and there was a lot of complaining through the years. However, when it was time to plan Bryce's funeral and during the viewing, as his Family Info sheets through the years were passed around, it became a great revealing time of how Bryce thought and what he liked and didn't like. There hasn't been as much gripping now...mostly because everyone is older and they know that there are good things about recording what we think about. Here is the last sheet Bryce filled out: 10 Nov. 2008 He had just come home from South Africa.
Favorite Candy Bar: Cadbury Tempo   Favorite Food: Mexican   Movie: Don't Know Place to Go: The Canyons   Color: Blues and greens and browns   Friends: Willy, Brad, James, Pete, Kell   Family Activity: Boggle   Hymn: Be Still My Soul # 191   Story: The Never Ending Story    Scripture: 2 Cor. 4: 17-18
Thing to Do: Snowboard, make sweet music and movies and pictures Holiday: Christmas..Duh! Vacation: Lake Alice...Duh!   Family Traditions: Lake Alice   Moment of my Life: Birth   Sport: Snowboarding   Season: End of fall and beginning of winter   Teacher: Mr. Call...well probably because I knew him the best
Music Group: Mason Jennings   Game: Step to ( played while snowboarding)   Restaurant: One where I don't have to pay    Fast Food Place: Taco time probably...I haven't had fast food in America in 2 years --in South Africa: Zebro's   Store to Shop in : Ebay   Web site: Gmail.com    Picture or painting: Me kicking Dallin   Three things I feel I do well: Look good, snowboard, listen to good music.   My motto or words to live by: Never give up! Never surrender! Someone I would like to be like and why: Of course Jesus Christ because I promised I would do my best to be like Him.   What I would like to be doing in five years: Be married, have a nice job, making sweet moview or something.   If I had $1000 to spend in one day I would: buy a season pass and new snowboard, if I had not done that yet ( he did buy a new snowboard, a pass, new pants, two new jackets..heavy and light one.....) My hopes for our family this year: Everyone but mom and dad, Dallin , Ty and Nat to have either a boyfriend or girlfriend depending on what they are of course...no gays.   Personal goals for this year: physical--be cut and eat good, snowboard hard and good/ double back flip on snowboard.   Mental: get good grades   Social: Get a girlfriend   Spiritual: Finish Standard works.
The irony of Bryce being gone is that I probably know more about him now than if he were still here. He wrote, video taped, recorded things that I wonder if I ever would have seen or read if he was here.

Letter from Andrew

2010-08-30T12:56:00.000-07:00


Andrew is the one with glasses

We got an email from Andrew on Bryce's birthday. It was great to hear from him...he lives in England. He was never Bryce's companion but served in some of the same areas. Here are some of the things he had to say--thanks Andrew for sending it!:

On his birthday, I want to tell you a funny experience I had with him.

It had been a long day on exchanges in Port Elizabeth, and being new to SACTM, I wasn't really used to the Bikes that Elder Christensen and Elder Later enjoyed. Of course, the considerate Elder Christensen planned to park the bikes for the evening and do some contacting and knock a few doors. I say knock, but I mean ring buzzers of the gated properties of Walmer. We got to one house which was behind a fence and lowered at the bottom of a hill, which had a long twisting drive up to the gate. We walked to the gate and pressed the buzzer...the conversation went like this:

Man: Who is calling?

Elder Christensen (EC): Hello we are missionaries from...

Man, abruptly: I'm sorry, who are you looking for?

EC: Well, we're missionaries and we share...(cut off)

Man, abruptly again: Please state the name of the person you are looking for.

EC: Well, we share with everyone in the home, we are...

Man: Please state the name of the person you are looking for.

EC: Everyone, we are from the Church of...

Man, Very Angry: Please state the name of the person you are looking for!!

EC: Well...whats your name?

The Man hung up, and we laughed and laughed. The Man was terribly rude and would hardly let Bryce finish a sentence, but it didn't phase Elder Christensen. He was resilient and kept such a positive spirit with him. I learned so much from that one experience, that rejection, hardship and trial do not need to be miserable - we could rejoice in the journey and instead of having bad feelings towards others, we could happily go about doing our duty with a smile on our face. I took this lesson through the rest of my mission with me/ Bryce's wit and positive attitude made missionary work with him a absolute joy, and even a year later while serving as district leaders in East London together, we still laughed about it.

Bryces Friends

2010-08-29T09:46:00.000-07:00


Cooking Steaks in Our Back Yard--Bryce's 19th Birthday


Bryce's Friends Today

One of the "rituals" Bryce loved to do with his friends would be Macey's runs and cooking steaks over the grill with them. He was pretty much a carnivore before going to South Africa but learned to like other foods during and post mission. These cute boys have come over for Mother's Day, Bryce's birthdays, and on Jan. 7th. They have come individually at different times to introduce their girlfriends, to bring flowers ( that would be Jessica), and to see how I am. One particular memory was a day I was out in the front yard weeding the summer after Bryce's death. I was really struggling with my thoughts and emotions when Brad drove up and came to see how I was. I told him I thought Bryce had probably nudged him. I am so grateful each time I see these friends because Bryce cared a lot about them. They camped, shot guns, did paintball, fished, sat around the campfire, cooked, came home for lunch, played guitars, played Halo, rode long boards, and just hung out and did very weird and crazy things together. They have taken really good care to make sure I know they haven't forgotten Bryce. I sure love them.

Bryce's 21st Birthday--The Real Bryce...from his journal

2010-08-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well I am 21 today. Yipee! Sunday was great. Nozoko came. She is awesome. She didn't get fellowshipped for much but she stil liked it. She has really good questions. She wanted to go to the fireside with Elder Koliker, Sister Mkosi said she would call her and go with her but she never di. It was a pretty frustrating experience. Mbleldo brought a friend to church. The Johnsons fed us a dessert before our DZ. It was so rich and i was stuffed and then we had to go to our D/A. I suffered it hurt so bad and there was even a dessert. Sister Muuh had the Olympics closing ceremony on and Jimmy Paye came out of the ground and started playing the guitar "a Whole Lot of Love"...we quickly got them to turn the TV off because it was trunking me. Yesterday was nice email. They were playing Michael Jackson the whole time then we went to Cape Point. It's a really nice drive. We met up with Elder Nielsen, Farr, Baker and Seely. We played with penguins for a bit then checked out Cape Point for a while. It was pretty sweet. We took lots of awesome jumping karate pictures. It was a fun day. Then we had an appointment with Nozuko. She is awesome. She knows the church is true. She's gonna get baptized soon. I can feel it. Well I think I poisoned myself during lunch. There was a war going on in my belly and the toilet took the casualties. We had like nobody for Sacrament today. I got omo in my eye and it has been hurting all day. Elder Bean set up a surprise party for me @ Mbdelo's. He played the drums and we had this not real good cake with tons of frosting from LuLu's bakery. I am now on exchanges with Elder Smith.

Birthday Month and Thinking of Bryce August 26, 1987

2010-08-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

I belong to a missionary mom group. One mother asked us to write what things our missionaries learned from going on a mission. I wrote a few things about our returned missionaries and this about Bryce:
I had one son in particular that I was never sure if he really was going to serve a mission. He was not exactly loving church activity while growing up. I would drop him off for Young Men's and found out later that he would walk inside the church and walk to the other end, leave and go visit friends. He struggled with fasting and paying his tithing. He didn't want to do scouts or Duty to God. I was thrilled when his last year before applying to go on a mission, he began to change and his heart soften. He was thrilled when he was called to South Africa. I have been able to read his mission journal and in the beginning, he wrote that two years was a very long time. He wrote it several times. He actually got home sick which surprised him because he was always happy to leave home.
Things began to fall in to place eventually and all that he had been taught at home, began to make sense to him. He read the Book of Mormon with a desire to learn for the first time and picked up great study skills as he tried to live the mission rules. He always avoided all service projects as a teenager and now he learned that he liked to help others and had many opportunities in his mission to help the members with their homes, yards, and to participate regularly in Helping Hands.
When he left for his mission, his plans were to return and spend the winter snowboarding and working at Park City. When he returned, he re-took tests that he had bombed in high school and applied at UVU and BYU and was accepted at both. I know his mission gave him direction. After he returned, he continued his morning studies of the scriptures, placed goals he wanted to accomplish on his wall by his light switch and had names of his friends that he wanted to help activate, how he was going to do it and the date he would complete his ideas.
He also came home with a desire to do things with his family. He apologized several times while on his mission to his grandmothers for staying home when we would go to do things with them. He promised to do better. As soon as he got home, he made the trip to see one of his grandmothers and took her to the temple.
Bryce was blessed by going on a mission, our family was blessed and I think he continues to serve the people of Africa.

The Hot Pots and Bryce...Ringtones

2010-08-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Bryce. He is holding MY cell phone that took he took over when home from South Africa. I used to get his friends calling and I would have to explain that Bryce did not have his own cell phone yes...this is my cell phone. He took it to the Hot Pots in January and forgot it was in the pocket of his swimsuit. Thus the demise of my cell phone. Bryce was rather happy because he got a new cell phone out of the deal when I went to replace my ruined one. He tried to make recompense by downloading new ring tones for me. I never knew what ring tone my mom had until out of the blue a long time later when Bryce was gone, she called my cell. It was the Beatles, Eleanor Rigby. Ahhh...look at all those lonely people. It brought tears because I knew he was trying to remind me to remember the Grandmothers. His sister Kira was given the song, "Under Pressure" which was appropriate considering she had just started her first job as an RM. My hubby got a Beatles song also...She Loves You ..yeah, yeah, yeah. Brooke's song....You're Beautiful....I saw your face in a crowded place. I always thought that song was a little strange but Bryce had it as a ringtone before his mission for his friends. His ringtone....Bob Marley. I don't know the name of the song but he loved Bob Marley. His ears could pick up the music of Bob in the Townships and it always made him happy.
I was sad when I got home with my next new cell phone a month ago and none of the ringtones had copied over. Neither did the picture of Bryce, Dallin and McKay that I had as my wallpaper. Bryce has a tube of toothpaste up his nose, Dallin has a grapefruit and orange for eyes and McKay is in the middle of them looking cool.

Kim and I went up to the hot pots yesterday. We like to do Bryce things in August. It was a beautiful day, no one was naked and there were few people soaking in the warm water. We had to hurry because I had a meeting so we got up there, tested the water, said yep these are the hot pots, and hurried back down the trail. It was great.
I am glad Bryce had some adventures when he got home. Even at the sacrifice of my phone. Thanks Pete.

chameleon in South Africa...a pet

2010-07-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

This was a pet that Bryce and Elder Nielsen kept for a while.

Funny Bryce Wrote in Journal

2010-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Aug 7, 2005
This is my journal. I don't like it...it is dumb but I have to write in it because I live in a communist household.
August 21, 2005
I am so awesome! I will be 18 this Friday and I am the coolest person ever!
August 29, 2005
Well my birthday was pretty cool except the girls from Highland came over then it wasn't as cool but still way fun. We had a way cool barbique with steak and played lots of Halo. There was like 20-25 people4 there.
Sept. 11, 2005
Well, I'd rather not write in you today but I have no choice, like the majority of my entries...which influences the way I write. The end.
Oct. 30, 2005
Dear Diary, today I blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah I am awesome.
Nov. 13, 2005
Weather this Nov. has been crap. It hasn't ever really snowed on the mountains yet and it's not cold at all and Park City and The Canyons are suppose to open this week but they might not have enough snow.
Jan 8, 2006
Goals: improve 1. mourning prayers 2. Book of Mormon 3. 500 savings to 3,000 4. Read 5. ACT 25 6. Bless Feb. ( I can't tell what that means--Bryce's writing always needs interpretation)
Feb. 12, 2006
It has been the new millennium for a little over six year now and I still don't have a flying car or a robot that does things for me that I don't want to do....what a rip.
Feb. Mystery 2006
I will make this entry brief because I need to pee...I am me.
Feb. 26, 2006
Today is my half birthday. Yesterday I landed my first 720 degree and rode it out that means I am cool ( with full gidbage).
April 30, 2006
I went to SLC yesterday to date some Brigham City honies ( girls) It was pretty fun. We went on top of the biggest building in Utah it was neat. My date's name was Allison...probably.
May 12, 2006
I don't want to write but it's Mother's Day so I will. It is hot outside and I caught 3 horn toads yesterday. Their names are Mark, Vebrou, Leprey.
May 21, 2006
I went to Brigham City with some guys and we bowled and golfed and boated. It was fun then we got home and did gymnastics and barbaqued.
May 28, 2006
I graduated, started landscaping, and my big toe hurts! It's not fun but it pays okay and it will do.
July 23, 2006
I got my mission call in June to South Africa Capetown. I'm done with landscaping and work at Rocky Mountain ATV and make $9 an hour stocking things. I like it...it's pretty good job.
2 Nov. 2008
Wow 6 years of journal in 30 pages...that's like 5 pages a year or .20 pages per month. Wow. Well Sunday I woke up early and sat on the stand ready to give my talk. There was a youth speaker then Dallin then we sang and then it was me to finish. I was suppose to speak for 15 min. but there was 30 mins. left but I spoke for 30 min. with no problem. It was actually kind of fun speaking. I guess that's because I was well prepared.

Solofonirainy Fanambinantsoa Randrianirinaniarivo is home!

2010-05-31T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hello! sister Christensen how are you doing myself i'm doing verry well i'm very happy to write to you to day because i can do that again from now i finished , mission on the 28- 05-2010 and i'm home now i just want to thank you for all the letter that you wrote to me throughout my mission i realy appreciate all of them my mission was very nice i realy loved it it was also very nice to see my family again i love them and i know God love my family also yesterday was Mothers day here in Madagascar so that was a wonderful time to spend with the family especialy after not seeing them for two years i i shared my testimony yesterday at church it was nice it seems as if i changed to another area because there are many people which i do not know in my ward you know what i already had a calling and i will be the first counsular ofd the bishopric pray for me so that i can accomplish my new calling here in Madagascar the situation is not very good at the moment because of the crise politic so i realy dont know what to do at the moment i need a help if you can help me to continue on on my life because here its very bad many people are struggling to find job or school but i know God has a plan for me whene i came home i lost all of my stuff at the airport i do not know where they are now and im using some of my brother clothing thats all here after mission seems a litlle dificult but its fine tell me about whats happening in your side thats all Sister Christensen have a good week

Bryce trained Elder Ronny. After Bryce's accident, Elder Ronny began writing letters to me each Monday morning just like Bryce did when he was in South Africa. Later he had to stop writing to anyone but his family on the internet and this is the first letter we have gotten for many months. I hope everyone that knows Fanambinantsoa will remember him in their prayers!

Something Bryce Said in His Missionary Journal Dec. 15, 2007

2010-05-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I think Heavenly Father knew how weird and depressing today was for me so I think he blessed me by playing Bob Marley everywhere I went ...it was good.

This is painted on Bryce's bedroom wall.

Stake Conference at BYU April 11 2010 Email from Thoughtful Mary

2010-04-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well today we had stake conference and we had the privilege of hearing from President Bateman the Provo temple president. Well He talked a lot on temples and the miracles that happen there. Then he began telling the story about a very honorable missionary who served in South Africa. I knew right then he was talking about Bryce. He continued telling the story about Bryce and how he passed away. The noisy boys behind me suddenly went silent and it seemed that everyone was paying attention.
Then he eloquently spoke about some of the miracles that happened in the temple with your family after he passed away. Of course I cried as he told the story and it was amazing to hear how silent the room got as he talked about the blessings of the temple and the miracles that were seen because of the faith of my good friends. It was really a great stake conference and it made me love the temple so much more. I thought about how sad it was to lose Bryce but how many people's live have been blessed and will continue to be blessed. As i looked around the room I could tell there were several other people who were moved by his words and I thought to myself, "I'm so proud of Bryce, I'm glad I knew such a choice spirit." Then I thought of you, and your family and how strong you have been and how such a tragic event has blessed so many lives and will continue to do so. I love you guys so much, and I just thought I would share that experience with you.

My reply to Mary:
Thank you Mary for sharing those tender and sweet thoughts. I appreciate it very much. I would have liked to hear President Bateman tell about it. I got a phone call Sunday afternoon from Peter...he served in SA with Bryce. He must have been in the same Conference as you because he was walking home and called on his cell to tell me about it. He heard it twice because he called on Bryce's anniversary just as we had finished at the temple and I told him about it then. I have had experiences since then with Bryce. I told Kim this morning that I think Bryce is trying to make it up to me for all the grief he caused me growing up. He wants me to know he is working with our family and the people of South Africa and helping serve others. He was always trying to get out of the service projects in YM! I was in Shopko and Romona Payne was there with her 33 year old son, Randy. He has Down Syndrome. One of her other sons served in Japan and when he, Brian came home, found that he had cancer and he was gone in what seemed like a few months. Romona was Dallin's piano teacher. Ramona's brother and family live in Japan right now. His son was hiking in Durban South Africa with his companion and other Elders and fell to his death. I have become good friends with his wife Chris. Long way to tell you that while we were talking in Shopko, her son Randy kept saying...Brian, Bryce Brian, Bryce...missionaries. They are happy. They are happy. Randy knows. The temple has always been a very special place for me but now even more so, it has connected me to Bryce and opened my eyes. The irony is that with all my understanding, I still struggle to do what is right. It is a challenge for all of us even with all we know and have. That is the beauty of this mortal life. Thanks again Mary for taking the time to write down your thoughts and feelings. It is of great comfort and joy to me and my husband. We miss our Bryce even with all the understanding we have. It is such a reminder how each person makes such a difference in this world.

Here is an excerpt of a letter I wrote to President Bateman about going to the temple on Bryce's one year anniversary. I wrote it because President Bateman saw us at the temple and asked us why we were there at that early hour in the middle of the week. I wanted him to know about our experience: Yesterday we attended the temple to begin our day remembering Bryce. It had not occurred to us to do sealings but upon entering the temple, decided that would be a good thing to do. In the middle of our session of sealing daughters to parents, a sealer came in with more names. They were sons to be sealed to parents. As my husband and I were proxy, the sealer commented that the names we were doing were from

South Africa

. We felt our son close by with a great big smile on his face. I will remember that experience forever. It just felt so good.

2005 11 20 Bearded Ladies song

2010-03-19T16:05:00.001-07:00

Funny Bryce

A Little Bit o' Bryce

2010-02-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

This is Darla. She makes me look like a giant. She is very small and a jogger. She has some of Bryce's knee tissue and tendons so she can run...no more soccer but she can run! We went to Arizona to visit Kira for her birthday and were able to meet with Darla and her daughters. It was pretty close to heaven to be with her and share. The interesting part of all this...Darla lost her son ( same age as Bryce) in a car accident a few months after Bryce's accident. It is times like these that tell me Heavenly Father is very much aware of our pain and sadness and does all He can to help us heal. This was very much a healing time and a great way to celebrate our sons!

Spontaneous talks 21 May 2008

2010-02-01T19:53:00.001-08:00

1. How to Introduce the Book of Mormon to investigators. The Book of Mormon is worth more than it’s weight in gold. I’m sure if we went around handing out slabs of gold everyone would be eager to receive one. They would be thinking of the new Golf they could buy or all of the KFC they could eat. The could think of many things they could get with that gold, and they would be so happy to receive it. But instead of giving out slabs of gold worth thousands, or millions of Rand, we are giving out exactly 404 sheets of thin paper with a cheap blue cover worth about 10 or 15 rand. In worldly measure anyway. Now a lot of people are still very eager to receive this Book worth 15 rand, most people love anything that is free. But if they could see the real value of the Book of Mrmon. If they could see why it is worth more than it’s weight in gold, imagine how wealthy they could become. Members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints are wealthy…

The Final Bend

2010-02-01T07:12:00.000-08:00

Song lyrics from a song Bryce worked on while in South Africa

And it seems everything’s turned gray

Where you walk the wind blows the other way

It’s not as easy as you thought

Can’t find your money don’t know what you’ve bought

The pain inside won’t come out

Makes you worry it makes you doubt

So the storm is on its way

Is there shelter, is there a place to stay?

It might seem like this road will never end,

But just wait till we make it round the final bend

We’ll rest take that burden off your chest now

And we’ll float around the whole hemisphere.

Missionary Jeopardy

2010-01-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

I was thumbing through one of Bryce's missionary journals today and found a Jeopardy game that he made for a district meeting. Most of the questions were quite difficult, identifying particular scriptures and quotes, or knowing what was taught in the last district meeting. But I had to chuckle when I read the 4th question in the "Random" category. Question: Who sang "Bennie and the Jets." Answer: Elton John. Bryce had a great sense of humor.

Bryce plays a halloween song (November 2009)

2010-01-03T10:07:00.001-08:00

This is probably the last song that was recorded of Bryce playing his guitar.

What to put on grave!

2009-12-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

I couldn't figure out what to put on Bryce's headstone. I didn't want a wreath or poinsettia or a Santa Claus. I decided to put nothing but then Kira made bough of pine with snowmen. We went over to BYU later and did some shopping. I saw the sign Gone Snowboarding and after thinking about it for a while, knew I needed that sign. It was perfect and I was happy because it was just what Bryce would want.

Pretty Bryce

2009-11-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

I'm Cool

2009-11-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

Bryce's Journal Entry on May 1st 2005
This pen is purple but that doesn't mean anything. Well, I'm cool. How are you? I hope your doing good because you should be doing good because you are so cool. Well I think this is a long enough journal how bout you? Of course you do because you are me the end.

2009-11-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

Today I was looking at pictures on Bryce's computer. I found a bunch I have never seen. Here is one.

Cape Town Blue Daisies

2009-11-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

This spring, I saw these Cape Town Blue Daisies and thought of Bryce. I didn't get them but later, they were placed on his headstone in a pot by a friend. I planted them later that summer when they needed more water, in our backyard. They didn't really start to blossom a lot until it turned cold. That was a lot like Bryce--he loved the cold and seemed to thrive while the rest of us would stay in the warmth of our homes.

Baby Blessing Summary 1987

2009-11-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

Bryce's grandmother found a letter I had written to her after we blessed Bryce. I think they were on a mission. I don't know if I have a copy of his blessing anywhere so this is a special find and interesting to see in retrospect.

Bryce was reserved for this time for a reason for his family and for the church.
He was blessed with a perfect body, perfect spirit and as each develops they will be blessed and protected from the wickedness and negative influences in the world today.
He was blessed with the light of Christ and to be able to follow that light, to receive and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and to become a righteous warrior in Heavenly Father's army.
By following the Lord, Bryce will be prepared for a specific work that He has in store for him.
He was blessed with the ability to learn quickly from the righteous and good examples of his brothers and sisters and parents.
He was blessed to not accept or be influenced by the poor examples surrounding him.

One Year Since Bryce Got Home

2009-10-24T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is a fun picture because there was someone in it I didn't know until this week. That would be Steven ...the tallest elder in the back row. We had a great time learning more about Bryce from Steven. He just got home from SACTM in August. One of my favorite stories he told was about Bryce and Elder Fanambinantsoa Randrianirinaniarivo. Elder Ronny as we fondly nicknamed him is from Madagascar. He is the cute third missionary from the left over next to Bryce. Bryce was his trainer. Elder Ronny continues to email us each week from South Africa. His English is pretty good! He taught Bryce some French. Bryce would write it like "dairy-ere". Too fun. So Steven told us when Bryce couldn't work out for one reason or another, he would have Elder Ronny sit in a chair and he would get under it and lift them until he got his work out. Now we love Elder Ronny even more. It was so fun to hear all the things that Steven remembers about Bryce. Good things just keep coming. Thanks Steven!

Pulling Strings

2009-10-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Pres. Monson announced the construction of temples in Brigham City (hometown), Ft. Lauderdate (Tyler's mission), and Sapporo Japan (Dallin's mission). The one in Brigham will probably be a remodeling of the tabernacle into a mini temple, something we've expected for some time. Southern Florida has needed a temple for some time with over ten stakes in the area and a six hour drive to Orlando. I think Bryce has been busy putting forward the wishes of his family members. Thanks Bryce!

Bryce and His Missionary Journal

2009-09-17T17:52:00.001-07:00

One thing that Bryce did not like to do was write in his journal. Even when he understood the value of writing, he would make comments in his journal of how much he didn't want to write. The irony was that he was actually a very good writer and made many profound analogies. One of his last emails home talked about finishing his journal and finding out that the other Elders had written 3 and 4 journals in the time he wrote in one. "You would be proud of them mom" was his comment.
I have been typing up the journal to send to Bryce's brother in Japan. He has wanted to know what Bryce was doing when he had been out the same amount of time, etc.
Today I was typing his April 2, 2007 entry. I knew when he began that he had a dream that it would be something revealing. He always wants to dream about snow and snowboarding but this one was different.
2007 April 2 So it is 6:30. I just woke up and I think I may have had a dream with significant meaning.
Hopefully I will remember why as it started with me riding in the back seat of a taxi. Later as we drive along I find myself singing with a terrible squeaky high pitched voice. Then I find myself walking around some houses in a suit with a suitcase or possibly a guitar, singing now in a deep pleasant voice. I am on top of a hill and I can see the ocean. The tide and the waves look big. So I walk down towards the ocean to get a better look. When I get near the bottom the tide is really high and gets me a bit wet so I hurry up the hill to avoid getting wet from the next tide. But the next tide is even higher so I continue to rush up the hill. The next tide even higher and rising at a rapid rate. By this time I am rushing up the hill as fast as I can but the next tide is a monstrous wave and it blasts me high into the air. As I fly into the air and realize my situation, the only thing in my mind is the R.E.M. song “It’s the end of the world” I am completely calm as I prepare to die, and then my dream is over. I later have a dream where I am learning how to surf. It was a strange dream maybe it means nothing, but I felt strongly that I needed to remember it. I think it could possibly have something to do with death obviously or possibly the 2nd Coming. Something to do with being ready perhaps. Then maybe the surfing part is after this life. Who knows. I don’t think I have ever written down a dream before today though. Interesting.

Bryce's journal has made me laugh and cry within minutes of each entry. He writes funny poems, comments about the people of South Africa, says stuff off the wall and then ends with spiritual insights. It is clear that he loves those that he teaches. It is clear that his testimony continues to grow and be strengthened with
each month that passes. He is just beginning to understand the power of goal setting and charts a course of self improvement. ( April 2007).
This is a picture of Mdoda. He is now on a mission for the LDS church. Bryce had just come from hearing General Conference when he had this dream and he was so happy to see Mdoda, Nceba, and Zolanie. Lunga had put in his missionary papers. Bryce was seeing the fruits of his labors and it touched him deeply.

Bryce Video Slideshow

2009-08-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Bryce

2009-08-26T06:15:00.001-07:00

Since Bryce has moved on, it has been very comforting to have companion and friends write that they have felt his strength and missionary spirit continue on and have offered prayers that he will teach those they love in heaven that haven't accepted the gospel. Heaven seems nearer when someone you love is there!

New Title for Bryce....Matchmaker

2009-08-13T06:12:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the newly weds...Crystal and Spence Melander. Spence and Bryce go way back. I missed their reception which made me very sad but couldn't be helped so I took a present over to Crystal's family home last night. As I was talking with her mom and she found out that I was Bryce's Mum, she told me that Crystal and Spence attribute getting together to Bryce. It was fun to hear that after Bryce's accident, Crystal that knew Spence and knew Bryce, called Spencer to see if he needed someone to talk to. They got together and the rest is history. I was happy to get to hear that and sad that we weren't able to go to the reception to meet Crystal. Congrats to the cute couple!

Aloha O'e Bryce Kim Christensen Until we meet again (1987-2009)

2009-08-04T04:09:00.000-07:00

Aloha O'e
Submitted by Scott Claude, a friend of Bryce

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali
Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele
E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko
Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai
Ke hone a`e nei i
Ku`u manawa
`O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha
A loko e hana nei

Chorus:
Aloha `oe, aloha `oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace,
A ho`i a`e au
Until we meet again

Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani
Nâ pua rose o Maunawili
I laila hia`ia nâ manu
Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

Chorus:
Aloha `oe, aloha `oe
E ke onaona noho i ka lipo
One fond embrace,
A ho`i a`e au
Until we meet again

Thank you Written to Home Teacher

2009-07-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Today our neighbor who happened to be our home teacher before Bryce left on his mission, paid us a visit with an old envelope. Inside was a thank you that I had made at least 4 years ago. Dallin had addressed the envelope and inside Bryce had written thanking our home teacher for helping him with some scout badges. It was signed by Bryce and Dallin.
Bro. _____ my mom wants me to give you this card. I don't know why you would want it, but she is getting really ornery about it so here it is. Thank for helping me with Scouts and taking me flying and boating they were both way fun.
I was impressed that this great home teacher hung on to that thank you and had to laugh when he told me that it was probably one of a kind. He should see some of the doozies I happened to stumble across through the years! Pure Bryce.

Bryce and Dewgoolicious

2009-07-12T14:22:00.001-07:00

Serving others

2009-07-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

Bryce wrote some pretty profound things: in his journals, letters, etc. One thing that I have consistently found as I've been going through his "small plates" (missionary notes journal) is that he loves to quote himself. I really get a kick out of that. Here's an "Elder Christensen" quote that I stumbled across today.

“To love someone you must serve them, to want to serve someone start by serving them.” Elder Christensen

Missing Bryce --6 months down

2009-07-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

It has been six months since Bryce woke me up in the night and told me he had just gotten an email from BYU saying he had been accepted. BYU had started on Monday and it was now Tues. He was all signed up for UVU and the next morning when he came up was insistent that he go ahead and attend the classes he was enrolled in just for that day. I couldn't figure out why he didn't want to go straight to BYU and get started until later when I realized that he had made arrangements with friends to meet them at UVU and he said to me that morning that he just wanted to go to his classes! So he came up Wednesday morning just in time for family prayer wearing his favorite red jacket from DI that was really a girl's jacket from a club in England. He ran out the door after prayer only to return to give me a hug and his dad a fisted high five. He drove off in the RAV4 that we had just gotten the week before, nervous to start his first day of college. I have reflected often on that morning with the light coming in from the dining room window as we knelt down in a circle. I am grateful that the last remembrances of Bryce are kneeling together in prayer and for my morning hug good bye. I had an 18 year old friend of Bryce's in Africa write me that Bryce would tell how I would wake Bryce up each morning when he was home before his mission for family prayer. Bryce began the tradition of a "stair prayer" as we began to call it because Bryce never made it all the way past the stairs to come up for morning prayers. He would park at the top of the stairs hoping for a few more minutes of shut eye while everyone else gathered near him. I am grateful that when the family was younger, I insisted that they never leave the house without giving their mom a hug good bye. I know Bryce is in a better place but he has sure left a hole in our family, especially at prayer time and in my heart. Love you Bryce.

Bryce Riding an Ostrich

2009-07-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Bryce and 6 month mission mark April 2007

2009-07-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Bryce Leaving His Mark

2009-06-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

Kim and I went to The Canyons on Monday. We just wanted to feel closer to Bryce so we went where he loved to go and spent his last days on earth. It was straight up and we didn't make it to "99" but we did feel some healing and closeness as we stood on a peak, looking out over the resort. When we came home and I was sweeping the back patio, I began to make a mental list of places that Bryce left his "mark". The picnic table had cuts where he attempted to skateboard on the top of the table. There on the patio was the epoxy that dripped from his long board that he was building. In the garage was the shape of his long boards cut into the carpet as he was sawing the wood. In the kitchen were the chairs with scratches in the seats from his shoes as he stood on the chairs. The facing on the long cupboards have gaps in the wood where he hung on the doors as he would stare into the shelves looking for food. In our bedroom is the dresser with long cuts made by a nail or pen on the facade made by Bryce when he was bored joined with squiggly lines on the desk in the Den. In his room are his famous painted walls sporting Janis Joplin, Bob Marley, Sherlock Holmes blowing bubbles, Mr. Handy and Anonymous.
These marks that were once a source of frustration and contention between us at times are now a source of comfort and reminders that Bryce truly did live and was full of life and always doing something in our home. Thank heavens for little boys.

The Cheese and Jam parable

2009-06-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is a parable that Bryce wrote to explain how important it is to share your testimony of the Book of Mormon with investigators. Rather than giving you his interpretation in full I will post just the parable and you can make the connections that best apply to your own life.

The Cheese and Jam parable

I was in my first area on mission in Kwa Magxaki when the concept of cheese and jam was first introduced to me. I thought that was crazy—all I needed was cheese, jam would just make things gross. The idea was introduced to me by an African, so I figured it was just an African thing, they eat a lot of crazy things, I wasn’t even going to consider trying this cheese and jam idea.

Then, not too long after this, the concept ofcheese and jam was brought to me again, I was promised that it was good. It was another African who told me about this, I thought surely this is an African thing, I’m just going to stick with my cheese.

And so I remained in the dark, not willing to even try. Then sometime in a new area, the concept of cheese and jam was brought to me once more, this time by an American. So I guess it’s not just an African thing after all. I was assured once again that it really was good and that I just needed to try it. We had all the materials needed, it would be so easy. So this time I was persuaded, I gave in and tried the cheese and jam, and they were right—it was good.

Thank you

2009-05-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Thank you from our family to all those that came and "decorated" Bryce's grave site. It was fun as we came back several times during Memorial Day to see that someone else had been there and left something. It was a very nice day. Thank you from the Christensens.

Bryce's Last Letter to his Mission President in South Africa

2009-05-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

President Probst--What have I gained, learned and experienced in the South Africa Cape Town Mission that has blessed my life?--by Elder Bryce Kim Christensen
Well of course there are too many things that I gained, learned and experienced while serving a mission to even write down a fraction of those things so I will attempt to highlight some of the more important things, in no particular order:
The First Presidency message on page 5 states "More happiness awaits you than you have ever experienced as you labor among it's children." I feel that my view of what happiness actually is has become much clearer, those things we do in our life that make a lasting impact and cause others and ourselves to change for the better, bringing peace into our lives and lasting satisfaction, a clear view of what is important. These things bring lasting happiness into our lives, and I know that it is possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
I have really come to love my family and have gained an understanding about why families are so important. My mom has a little wall section at home with pictures of the missionaries from our family, and above the pictures the scripture 3 John 1:4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." As I have been able to see the effect of what the gospel and truth and light does for a family, some of my most favorite experiences have been able to communicate with my family each week and knowing that every single one of them walk in truth, with my little brother leaving for Japan to serve a mission just weeks after I get home, it just is a great feeling.
*I have learned how important it is to develop good habits as soon as possible. I have gained the ability to recognize quicker the temptations and traps that Satan leaves for us, and how to best avoid them. I also have come to see how Satan can destroy the greatest by small means. I have experienced the most difficult days and weeks of my life while serving a mission. I have also never felt the Spirit in more abundance, and have never been more aware of what Heavenly Father wants for me.
*I have learned the importance of a good first impression, and how important quiet dignity is, where ever we are whatever we are doing we are always being watched.
*I more fully came to know that God is there and he answers prayers and I have more fully come to the knowledge of how he does it. I have experienced the sorrow that comes from people I love choosing not to act upon that which they know is true. I have also experienced the joy that comes from seeing peoples lives change as they embrace the gospel.
* I have learned how to manage time and money and how to be self reliant.
*I have learned how to cook some crazy things.
* I have gained a love for many different cultures and a love for the country of South Africa and the saints in this great country.
*I have learned of the importance of teamwork and unity. The list could go on and on, but I truly have gained so much from my experiences serving here in SACTM.
I know that the true Church of Jesus Christ has been restored today by the prophet Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that we are being led by a prophet of God today President Monson. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and sent his son Jesus Christ to pay the price for us to return to live with Him again, I know that the Savior lives, and suffered and bled and died for me that I might live again. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

skateboard contribution

2009-05-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

Decorating Bryce--Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

We walked over to the cemetery today ( Sunday) in between rain storms and enjoyed seeing a little skateboard and a pin wheel.

What is Bryce Doing Now? Things His Mother Read

2009-05-20T07:33:00.000-07:00

"When men are prepared, they are better off to go hence( heaven)...The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work; hence they are blessed in their departure to the world of spirits. Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings and emotions, and are often pained therewith." Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 326
"...those who labor so diligently in their mortal estate to establish the cause of Zion would not be denied the privilege of looking down upon the results of their own labors from their post mortal estate...they are as deeply interested in our welfare today, if not with great capacity, with far more interest, behind the veil, than they were in the flesh...Sometimes the Lord expands our vision from this point of view and this side of the veil, so that we feel and seem to realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which separates us from that other sphere." President Joseph F. Smith, Conference Report, April 1916, p. 1-8
What do people do in the spirit world?
"Apparently, righteous people in the spirit world are organized just as they are here, arranged in families and quorums. Priesthood operates there as declared: "When the faithful Elder, holding this Priesthood, go into the spirit world they carry with them the same power and Priesthood that they had while in the mortal tabernacle." Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 132 and D&C 124:130. The blessings of the priesthood are thus present in the spirit world. One elder who passed beyond the veil and returned spoke of the order he saw there: "While I was in the spirit world I observed that the people there were busy, and that they were perfectly organized for the work they were doing. It seemed to me a continuation of the work we are doing here---something like going from one stake to another. There was nothing there that seemed particularly strange to me, everything being natural." --Dale Mouritsen, Ensign, Jan. 1977 p. 49

A Frog Named Jiko--Journal Entry from Bryce March 23, 2007

2009-05-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

I caught a frog and named it Jiko and put it in a pot to keep him but he got out of the pot so I decided I needed to get rid of him, but I didn't want to put on a shirt and go outside, and the balcony was too high to throw him off, so I put him on the edge of the balcony to let him make his own decision. It was interesting to watch him jump from side to side, peeking over the edge, contemplating suicide. I have never felt so much concern or interest for a frog ever. As it paused at the edge, it was intense. I could feel my heart pounding and then Jiko made that terrific leap of death. As he lay motionless on the pavement below, Elder Later proclaimed him dead, but I had faith in my Jiko. I knew he was strong. we were very close. As about seconds that passed by seemed like minutes, we waited for signs of life. Then Jiko made the victorious leaps away from the pavement, proving he had what other frogs didn't. He was daring and brave. he was the greatest frog that had ever lived...he was my Jiko.

Bryce's small plates

2009-05-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't quite finish in time for Mother's day, but here is half of Bryce's notes from his mission. Click on the picture and it will open a pdf of Bryce's small plates 2007-08. These have been a joy for me to read because it is Bryce--uncut, raw, and uncensored. Most of his notes are spiritual reminders he writes to himself about things he wants to do and who he wants to become. Enjoy.

Bryce Songs

2009-05-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

I was going through Bryce's computer a while back and found some more songs that Bryce had been working on.

I created a site to host all of his music. You can find it here.

A Mother's Prayer May 3, 2009

2009-05-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

An experience with Bryce and Dallin came to me today. In Bryce's missionary journal he has an entry that he highlighted and in a different color of ink wrote as a preface: Mom prays for a miracle. Then he tells how he got my Hulu Nativity set that I love. It's a great story but this experience that I remembered today happened shortly after Dallin got his driver's license. It is not what you see in the photo, which is Dallin watching Bryce do a flip on his board in the back country at Canyons. The time I am remembering happened early one Saturday morning when Bryce had arranged a ride to the Canyons with friends but there was no room for Dallin. Dallin really wanted to go and called everyone he could think of that might want to go snowboarding with him. He finally found a friend and asked if he could take the van. I was not feeling real comfortable as it was snowing and he hadn't driven to the Canyons more than once maybe. He begged and even though I did not have a good feeling about it, let him take my car for the day. So off he went and for the entire day I prayed several times that he would be safe driving to and from the Canyons. It was before any of us had a cell phone. I was so relieved when I saw the van drive past our house just as it was really getting dark. I assumed it was Dallin taking his friend home and was surprised when Dallin and Bryce walked in the door together. I found out later that Dallin had asked his friend to meet at the end of the run at a certain time so they could head out before it got close to closing time. Dallin said he waited and waited and finally 1/2 hour later or more than the time arranged, his friend found him. Bryce was also headed to the car with his friends not knowing that Dallin had come to Canyons. He spotted Dallin far away and started calling to him and got his attention. Bryce told his friends he was going to go home with with his brother and when he caught up to Dallin, he volunteered to do the driving. Bryce was a good driver in the snow and since it was getting dark, Dallin was more than happy to let him drive. I have reflected on the coincidences of this experience...how Dallin left later and Bryce actually seeing his brother far away in all the crowd and leaving his friends to drive his brother home. That really isn't something he would normally do. I know a mother's prayer was answered that day. Dallin may have been just fine but I know that Someone wanted me to know that my prayer was heard.

Headstone complete and placed at gravesite

2009-05-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

When the rain let up enough this afternoon we went for a walk and had a pleasant surprise as we approached Bryce's gravesite in the cemetery. His headstone is now in place. Eventhough it is quite simple there are some powerful reminders of Bryce's love of the mountains and a favorite scripture he had on his missionary plaque. We wanted it to stand upright (like Bryce) so that we could see it when there's snow on the ground. We're guessing it was installed yesterday because it was not there Thursday evening when Brooke and Mom strolled by. It was fun to discover it while the sun was shining and to see that someone had already been by leaving some beautiful flowers.

Bryce's Surprise 21st Birthday in Langa CapeTown South Africa

2009-05-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

This was sent by a companion from Lindon, Utah. Elder Bean will be home next month. They weren't companions very long but had some good experiences together. This is their boarding and the food that was brought to wish Bryce happy birthday in August 2008. His mom was grateful because she didn't get anything sent off...she saved it for when he got home.

Bryce's Surprise 21st Birthday in Langa CapeTown South Africa

2009-05-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

More Comments This Week April 20, 2009

2009-04-21T18:16:00.001-07:00

He always astounded me with his absolute discipline and obedience in all that he did , his courage to do what was right when others wouldn't and his dedication to the Lord and His work. I will remember Bryce as an example of true joy and service. I will miss his hair cuts. He cut my hair many times and did a great job!
( To Bryce) You were one of my last three 'sons' on mission and Ii will miss you. See you on the other side, was what I said to you and Ii never got to see you again, now I can say see you on the other side again, and this time I KNOW I will see you again.
Forever touched.
“He was indeed a very humble person, Down to earth, ever had that smiling face. We shall miss him very much. May his soul rest in peace. He had a mission to do in the spirit world. I also wish I was like him; am grateful I met Bryce in this life."

Bryce as a Little Guy

2009-04-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

13 August 1989 ( from Bryce's mom's journal entries)
Bryce has adopted the old hat that Mckay used to wear day and night. Several people made comments as we visited the Plant for Thiokol's Family Day yesterday. "Where can I get a hat like that?" When Bryce is awake his energy level is at 100%. He'll bounce around the living room floor as if he was on the trampoline. He isn't very shy and responds excitedly to feedback given to him. Occasionally he goes on hugging sprees hugging everyone in sight whether they are family or not.
3 Sept. 1989 ( From his mother's journal entries)
Bryce is taking all the kids being gone to school at day pretty well. He enjoys not being teased. He did want to be part of the group however and brought his clothes to me on Thursday and stood patiently while I changed him. He then put on his old hat, got his lunch box and stood at the door until I opened it. He went out the door and started down the street towards school. when he saw me following, he hollered, "Go away!". When I kept following him, he hit me with his empty lunch box and yelled again, "Go away". He made it to Cherry Street before he got tired. ( Bryce was 2 years old).
April 14, 1994 (From Bryce's journal)
This Saturday stunk. We went to the mall to get stuff for our trip to Moab for the drive but we didn't. We were supposed to get me a bike helmet but we didn't. We were supposed to go out to eat but we didn't. We were supposed to go to the movie but they left me.

Letters From Around the World

2009-04-11T16:17:00.001-07:00

This past week we have received two emails from South Africa, one from Australia, and a letter from St. Louis, Miss. Here are a few excerpts:
"On the level that I knew Bryce throughout the years, I can say, without a doubt and without hesitation, that his dealings with his fellow men were just. He had a good head on his shoulders and was in no way self-serving. He was easy to relate to and easy to trust. He was always worthy of that trust."
"We are all allotted a portion of time, however long it be, and the precious and critical gift of agency. We purchase experience, growth and knowledge with the time we've been given and are indeed stewards over these crucial earthly blessings. I've come to a more real understanding of these things this past couple of weeks. My prayers are tears that go out to Bryce and his family especially. I can't imagine how tough that would be but I guess, if it's any sort of consolation, compensation or comfort, this event has helped a simple missionary in the ...mission to put things into perspective. My family and my God can be happy to know that for these past 18 months, their son has worked hard, been obedient and striven to improve and learn much, but they can also know that the last quarter of the Lord's mission that I'm here, is going to be EPIC! I'm going to push, pull and struggle my very best in giving my ALL. So in regards to these last 6 months, and in the spirit of Pennywise ( Bro. Hymn Tribute), " Elder Christensen...Bryce, my brother, this one's for you!" Thanks Bryce.
"I Loved Bryce as my own and had an email from him just before he left - he was one of Heavenly Father's choicest sons and his love for the wonderful work he did here was an example to so many. i wish I knew sooner I feel so bad about only contacting you now. we are so lucky to have the gospel in our lives it doesnt ease the pain or make things easier but it gives us the comfort of knowing that we will one day be reunited and that this isnt the end. we will smile again and hug and laugh. There is not much I can say that will help, but I can tell you that your sacrifice in letting us share Bryce for a short time was such a blessing to me .. his sense of humour and love helped me so much and really will always be with me...THANK YOU. "
"Oh and when he was over here in Africa he loved talking about you guys so for a long time I have felt like I had known you. He use to tell us how you( his mom) would wake everyone up and you guys would all go do your family prayers, ...I felt so touched a while back when I spoke to some of the other members and they shared what they loved the most about Bryce while he served here. He truly has touched alot of people down here. I hope to one day be a good of a missionary as he was while he served here. I am still busy with my mission papers and I am really excited to go serve already it fells like everything is taking forever, but I need to be patient I know that the Lord is on my side."

Bryce and Brady - Channel 16 space dancers

2009-04-08T09:44:00.000-07:00

Bryce and Brady - Channel 16 cowboys

2009-04-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Bryce's Award Winning School Spirit 2005

2009-03-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

Bryce's Last Missionary Daily Planner

2009-03-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Bryce's Missionary Daily Planner: 13 Oct. 2008

Notes/To Do List
Home talk: make sure they hear my testimony
* You grow from doing what you learned from your calling after you're released.
*As long as you can get up and put on your socks you are expected to go to work.
*Make a list of what the Lord is not pleased with.
*Repentance is a good positive thing
*don't go back to how you were
*No longer a child, can't act like a child
*"Remember Lot's wife" Luke if we are constantly looking back it blocks us from moving forward from seeing the wisdom of what the Lord wants for us."
If there's things you wish you had done differently, let go so you can move forward.
*Justification is making things right.
*Sanctification is becoming whole
*Ask is it I? Mosiah 2:36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom's paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved--
*If you go home and try to live the life you lived before, your life will be miserable.
Only look for girls that are capable of your highest spiritual level.
* If you can marry above you--do it.
*If they are not willing to rise to your level don't deal with them
*Marry someone who makes you want to do better
*Don't do anything you don't plan to do forever--don't be a phony
*Stand when sisters come in
*It's easier for 2 to make it than one
*You usually marry the people you date
*Don't let others push you back to where you started. Always look to improve.
Learn to swallow your pride

*Think first, understand first then you can be understood.
*Don't ever give advice before it's asked for. When they ask for advice, they will appreciate it--when you give advice that is not asked for it is a lecture.

November 2008 Bryce and Eli

2009-03-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

What He Wrote in Preach My Gospel on the side bar

2009-03-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

In Bryce's Preach My Gospel, sometimes he would write insights he had. Here is one that is under The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The reason for Jesus Christ is so we can return to live with our Father in Heaven. When we sin we are spiritually wounded, cut, scraped, bruised and so on. When we repent we are fixed, bandaged up from our sins. Jesus Christ is the Spiritual Doctor. If it were not for him, our wounds would never heal, and we could not progress. Can you imagine every time we got cut we would continue to bleed forever. Every bruise and broken bone would remain. This would be the state of our souls if there were no Jesus Christ. We would get worse and worse until we could not function spiritually. But this is not so. We can be healed of our spiritual wounds as soon as we allow the Saviour to heal them. We can only allow Him to heal us when we truly repent and are converted to the Atonement and it's effects.

Bryce and things he said on mission

2009-02-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

What Did He Say?

The MTC is a lot, a lot, a lot of spiritual and brain work. I’m not used to this much thinking, but it’s good.

The juice is amazing and other than juice drinks there is only carbonated drink, yea I don’t care that I can’t spell, I’m still a good person.

It’s awesome being on a mission. You learn more important things than you ever would without a mission, and it’s great.

Being on a mission is good and hard. I street contacted a guy with three thumbs…I kinda tried to avoid the hand shake, but it happened anyways, it was kinda weird.

Yeah, I haven’t really eaten anything too weird, but I have seen a lot of weird things that I could have eaten.

Everyone offers me carbonation and I have to offend them kinda because I can’t drink it, I tried once and almost died.

The other day we met this guy and we were going to shake his hand but it was dirty so he just stuck his wrist out for us to shake…but I wasn’t sure what he was doing so I rubbed wrists with him…It was awkward—he looked at me really funny and I laughed hard about it later.

P.S. I know I have a creepy smile in the MTC picture.

Okay, here are some things that are weird down here. Albinos. I’m sure they are nice people, I almost even got the courage to talk to one, but it’s weird.

Yeah, I am bummed about grandpa…I knew I would never see him again when I left…now I am crying in a smokie internet café and feel…girly…oh well.

Please get after my friends for not writing. .they’re not busy.

Yeah, I don’t give details about how I feel and stuff mom. You know why? Probably because I’m a guy…sorry that is just kind of how it is right now.

I have snowboarding dreams all the time.

It’s hard work being on a mission, but it’s worth it. Being out here on a mission now and thinking about what my life would have been like had I not come, is scary ..all the people I was suppose to teach and all the things I was suppose to learn and grow from would be gone, and I don’t think I would know what to do if I was still at home.

I hope I like him but he seems too competitive, and he has a bad hair cut…we’ll see. I guess it just depends on me. ( His new companion)

We don’t have an iron that works and my shirts aren’t so wrinkle free anymore.

…we got out and my bike had been stolen…they even took my girly helmet with bright pink and blue and yellow stripes…I guess people need to be safe when they steal….so we walked home and ordered pizza—it was nice I haven’t had pizza for a long time.

After we came home and such I made these mini pies and as I was making them and tried one I was thinking about the comparison between pies and people. The crust or outside of the pie is important. It tells a lot about the pie on a first glance. How big the pie is, how fresh it is and how long it’s been out of the oven. We can guess which kind of pie it might be from the shape of the crust and it usually lets a little bit of the inside of the pie seep through. The same is with people. We can see how old someone might be…sometimes even their career. We can even smell them sometimes. People let parts of their insides out by the way they talk or the way they carry themselves as they go about. These things are all very important. But with the pies I made, the crust was really good, but the insides weren’t all that great and I realize that the crust was important but it’s not what makes up the most of the pie. The insides were. So even if the outside wasn’t that great but the inside of the pie was really good, the crust wouldn’t have mattered so much. But it can go the other way as well. If the crust was terrible, even if the insides were great it would have ruined the pie. Just like people, we all know it’s what’s inside that counts. But people will usually never taste the inside if the outside is so horrible that it doesn’t seem worth it to get to the inside.

This week we helped this lady in the ward load up her truck with stuff to take to the dump. It was crazy at the dump. There were hundreds of bums digging through garbage looking for food and hundreds of stray dogs. Bums coming up to you surrounding you and begging you for money. “Please Daniel, please,” that is what some bum was saying to me. It was a crazy experience …I will never forget it…it was unreal.

I’ve given lots of haircuts. It’s cool to see everyone at zone conference and to be like…oh yeah—I cut his hair and his hair and so on.

Sorry that my emails haven’t always been that informative. It’s just that my brain is like a butterfly jar and it’s full of all different kinds of butterflies ( thoughts) and it’s difficult most of the time when I go to the email shop it’s like the butterfly jar has been opened, and there are butterflies flying around everywhere and I can see them, but it’s hard to just focus on one long enough to describe it until it flies away. But when I am at my boarding the environment usually allows all or most of the butterflies to be in the jar with the lid on so I can look at them and describe them. So if my emails ever leave you hanging just know that the butterflies are out of the jar.

Sister Peggy made this huge mac and cheese casserole thing. It was way good and we had tons. Elder Maremela had like twice as much as me and I had enough that I thought I was going to explode and I’ve got a good 50 lbs. on E. Maremela, so I was impressed with his eating skills.

…I ‘m going to work hard because there are a lot of families who need what we have.

Well, I cut my hair today…I have administered over 30 haircuts on mission to people from 5 different countries—that’s pretty cool eh?

…the last few weeks have been the hardest of my life, so I just haven’t felt like writing. Sometimes I just want to get hit by a car or something so I can have a break.

Bryce wakeboarding

2009-02-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

I (Tyler, his big brother) have been trying to digitize one tape each week from Bryce's personal stash of home videos. This week was wakeboarding in 2005 with his friends. This was his first time so there isn't anything too impressive and I'm only uploading two short clips (I can send you the longer, 30 minute version if you want).

Bryce Sings

2009-02-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

Today I found a tape of Bryce singing some of the songs he wrote while in High School. They're short songs and kind of hard to understand, but still pretty funny. Here they are:

Bryce and his board

2009-01-28T12:15:00.001-08:00

I finally found some footage of Bryce with his board, so I through a bunch of short clips together. Enjoy!

Videos of Bryce

2009-01-27T11:20:00.001-08:00

I've started uploading Bryce videos to youtube. You can see the ones I've got so far by clicking here.
Here's a sample of what you'll find...

Bryce telling anyone and everyone that they are, in fact, "codfish." (He liked Peter Pan).

Bryce on his mission with a meercat on his shoulder.

Note: If you have any video clips with Bryce please email them to me and I'll get them posted (tylerchristensen@tyandnat.com). Thanks.

For Those I Love and Those Who Love Me

2009-01-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

When I am gone, release me -- let me go.
I have so many things to see and do.
You must not tie yourself to me with tears.

I gave my love, you can only guess
How much you gave to me in happiness.
I thank you for the love that you have shown,
But now it's time: I travel on alone.

So grieve awhile for me, if grieve you must,
Then let your grief be comforted by trust.
It's only for awhile that we must part,
So bless now, the memories within your heart.

I won't be far away, for life goes on:
So if you need me -- call, and I will come.
Though you can't see me, or touch me, I'll be near
And if you listen with your heart, you'll hear
All my love around you, soft and clear.
And then when you come this way alone,
I'll greet you with a smile and "Welcome Home".

Mom's cooking

2009-01-21T03:27:00.000-08:00

I was remembering yesterday how just a couple of weeks ago Bryce had told Willy to make sure he let him know the next time I made my Mexican Enchiladas. Well I served a spanish mission and learned how to make what I think, are the very BEST Chicken Enchiladas. I guess Bryce heard from Willy how good they are and he wanted to try them. Well, just a couple weeks ago i made these delicious enchiladas and Willy told Bryce to come over right after church and eat some. Both Bryce and Brad showed up to eat the pan I had saved for them. They both scarfed them down so fast and Bryce told me 2 or 3 times he thought they were really good. Then I asked... "Bryce, aren't they the BEST enchiladas in the whole world!?" he shocked me when he replied, "yeah, they're way good.... almost as good as my mom's." WHAT! "almost?" i answered. Bryce looked at me and smiled, I could tell he was being careful with his words. "they're really good" he said, "but.... my mom makes really good ones too." I sat there for quite some time and tried to force Bryce to tell me they were better than his mom's cooking. Then I tried to get him to say they were equally as good. It was useless. Bryce confirmed that he loved my enchiladas, but they still didn't top his Mom's delicious cooking. I think I'm going to have to try your enchiladas Wynette.

~ Mary Wollenzien

I'm going to miss that funny kid.

From my Ward Primary...out of the mouth of babes

2009-01-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Sister and Brother Christensen: I'm so sorry about Bryce. He was a really good man and he dressed nice. --Zach Staheli
Some days are bright. Some days are gloomy. But when Bryce is around it's all ways bright! Love Alyvia Dietz
Dear Sister Christensen: I'm sorry for what happened to Bryce. But I'm glad he's up with Jesus. Love Wiliam Dietz. P.S. I'm sure that Brad will miss his friend.
I'm sorry about your son! but I know he is doing just fine! Jacee Holt
Hope you can get happy again soon. Sincerely, Carrie YOung
Dear Sister Christensen: I am so sorry about what happened. If we can do anything please call us we would love to help. I leave you with my best wishes. Love: Alexis Johnson
From Kelli Crotts: I feel bad for you.
Dear Mrs. Christensen: I'm so sorry about Bryce and I hope you feel better and I remember that Bryce was a great snowboarder and skate boarder and that he was really, really, cool. He always was really nice to me and that everybody loved him and so did I! Sincerely, Gunner Gordon P.s. You're awesome and I love you.
I'm sorry that your son died. I will think and pray for your family. Sincerely, Torrie Grant
Srooy that happened from Aubrey Hatfield ( big heart drawn with Mourn with the ones who mourn and comfort the ones that need to be comforted.)
I hope you can feel better. Ashlee.
Remember that he is very happy up in heaven with people he knows and loves.
Be Happy. We know where he is. We all love you and him. He is being a missionary there too. By Sydney Tanner
Dear Sister Christensen: I'm glad you are my teacher. I'm sorry and I hope you feel better. Mikaya Broomhead.

Elder Christensen by Sophie Ridley

2009-01-14T19:31:00.001-08:00

Note from Spain--Elder Tanner/ friend from childhood and ward

2009-01-14T09:35:00.001-08:00

Good Morning, Well, that email took some time to sink in, those are two very sad events. I appreciate you telling me and hope you will send my condolences to both families. I appreciate the friendship I have had with Bryce, he sent me a letter or two while I have been on the mission. I really appreciated it because we weren´t real close when we left on our missions but there was still that friendship between us. He was an incredible person. I want you to know that things are going very well here. We are all healthy and happy. I hope you don´t mind but I am going to keep the email short, simply because news like that is hard to respond to. I do want you all to know I am well and not to worry about a thing. I am going to take some time to think, I will also put a few thoughts on paper so the Christensen family can put together that book you were talking about. I am very happy to hear about all the missionary efforts going on in our ward! That's great that Matt Stewart will be serving. We have an incredible ward full of great leaders and a lot of unity. I find it appropriate to share my testimony of the plan of Salvation. I know with a certainty that we are children of a eternal family, that our Father in Heaven loves us. He shows that love by the very smallest of blessings in every day of our lives. He has given us everything necessary to be happy in this life and to have an incredible hope of something even better in the life to come. We must simply take advantage of this knowledge He has given us through the restored Gospel.
I love you all very much and hope you have a good week, being grateful for
all the blessings we have in the many forms that they come!!
Love Jordan

Message from Spain ...Elder Beatty and long time friend

2009-01-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,
Well... I really don't know what to say. I don't think that I can feel that Bryce has passed away. It has been so long since I have seen him that it is unreal. We had a lot of good times together. I will never forget them. He was always a good friend and I will never forget the times we had doing stupid things or riding some type of board.
Tell Wynette that I will come and visit her, just as I did before the mission. Bryce will always have a special place in my heart.

Life is something that is fragile. We have to live it to the fullest everyday. God really has created a sacred plan for us, and he has thought of every single last detail. I know that families can be eternal. That is why we have made the covenants that we have, we can live with each other forever. I'm thankful for mom and dad and for the covenants that they have made so that if anything happens to us we can be together in the eternities. I'm also thankful for my friend's parents, especially Bryce's; they will be together after this life. I know it... without any doubts or reservations. Much can be learned from each experience that we have, we only need to look for it. Along with Bryce's family, I will also be learning from his passing for a very long time.
I'm at a loss of words this week. Know that I love you all very, very much. I hope the best for all of you. Be safe, have fun, you never know when it will be your last.
Love, matthew
p.s. I'm thinking that there might have to be a mandatory snowboarding trip made on the 7th of January every year, I'll pay.

Tribute from Pete Carroll--fellow missionary , dear friend, sounds like Bryce if you listen closely

2009-01-14T08:02:00.000-08:00

For Bryce:

1. Bryce was good. He was inherently good. He was trusting. He unassumingly expected nothing but goodness from you too. And with me he got it. He brought out goodness in me.
2. Bryce was clean. He had a spiritual purity that I respect. He was also physically clean. I am sure that he exerted a great deal of patience with me when we used to live together. He went out of his way to be clean. This is a facet of God’s character that he understood. He knew that the spirit resides in orderly places. He took better care of his teeth than anyone I have ever known!
3. Bryce was an excellent teacher. He knew the gospel was true and he understood it clearly. He made sure that others knew the same. There was an engaging nature to his teaching. He did not fear saying the clear-cut things that are sometimes skirted around because they are difficult. He taught those things in a great demonstration of being bold without overbearance.
4. Bryce loved purple Gatorade.
5. Bryce loved his family. He loved his roots. He spoke particularly highly of his parents. I never knew another missionary to express respect for great parental influence with such frequency. He recognized the blessing of righteous parents. He was proud of his whole family – and rightly so.
6. Bryce was accommodating. The Lord, who, among other things, allowed him to train many new missionaries, recognized this. He was put in many uncomfortable situations. He bore it. His reaction was never “I give up”. For this he was greatly blessed.
7. Bryce was fun. We cooked together. We snowboarded together. We loved doing missionary work together. We mutually laughed.
8. Bryce was faithful. He was not afraid to follow the council of prophets. I know that he believed in the Plan of Salvation. I know that he knew that the plan is true because of the way he taught it and the way he lived it.
9. Bryce was diligent. He recognized the urgency of the work of the Lord and acted accordingly. I know that he, even now, recognizes that urgency. And I would suspect that, even now, he is acting accordingly.

I love you, Bryce. I am a better person because I knew you. I will miss not having you here in mortality, but I pray that one day I will see you again. Until then, keep well.

Love,

A Friend

Thoughts from his misisonary brother Elderdallinchristensen.blogspot.com

2009-01-14T07:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a tough week, but I've been very blessed. It was great to see you on Wednesday, but very bittersweet. It sounds like you've had a lot of people to talk to and a lot of support. I'm glad that you were able to talk to all of Bryce's friends. Hopefully he inspired a few of them to be better.
It's sort of funny, you mentioned reading through Bryce's journal, and Kira mentioned specifically that Bryce had so much potential that she never quite saw. I guess I got a different perspective from all of the other kids because I lived with Bryce when he was in high school. I definitely saw that potential that Kira talked about. But he definitely down played everything and tried to lay low. But it was amazing after his mission to see that he was starting to really live life to the fullest.
It's amazing how much comfort and peace I have had this week. Especially on Wednesday and Thursday, as soon as the day was over and my missionary duties were done, my thoughts and feelings came over me like a flood. I feel like the Lord allowed everything to be suppressed so that I could do my work, but once the work was done, I got everything rushed at me. So nights are definitely hard because I have time to think. During the day, I am usually so busy that I don't have time to ponder or think too much about anything but missionary work.

Message from companion: Elder Richard Bean

2009-01-14T07:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,
It was tough hearing about my dear companion Bryce Christensen. After faithfully serving a mission and being my companion from July 21st 2008 to September 2nd 2008, he was killed in a car accident near Provo, Utah. I have been thinking what I could say that could express my thoughts and feelings; scriptures came to mind –
D&C 7:2, "…Lord, give unto me power over death, that I may live and bring souls unto thee." He was a very diligent companion – who loved and cared for the people he served.
D&C 202:36, "Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full."
D&C 138:57. He is continuing to do what he does so well.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family – one of great faith. I know he and his funny personality are doing great work in the next life. To tell you a bit of who he was:
-It was his idea to name every piece of furniture in the boarding.
-We also named our swimming pool outside "garth" (we never used it, don't worry) – "Give it to Garth!!!"
-We had a contest to see how many pieces of gum we could chew in our mouth.
-We celebrated his 21st birthday party in the house of Bro. Mbulelo. We played drums, ate cake, and sang songs. 30 people came over and celebrated it with us – all because the sound of the drum.
-He loved small cookies called "buiscuts". We bought many of them (about 2 cents each)
-We taught Sister Nozuko who was baptized about 6 weeks after he left the area. He was a major role in her becoming converted.
-He influenced so many other people he met including me. What a wonderful brother.

Bryce and Fashion

2009-01-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hi! I'm Kelsey Hall,I was in Bryce's ward in Spanish Fork. Dallin is a really good friend of mine and your dad is my Stake President.

I didn't know Bryce extremely well, mostly because of our age difference. I was a little sophomore in high school when he was a senior. I do remember watching him on the Spanish Fork channel and wondering why on earth his hair was so long ;) He was very good at his video productions and I know that he had a great love for it.

What I will always remember about Bryce though is his interesting taste in clothing. I would always see him around school wearing his cargo shorts, and a t shirt with a sports jacket over the t shirt and carrying a briefcase of some sort. Almost like he was sporting a business man look to go along with his skater look :) I was never really sure why he would do that, I guess it was just Bryce's way of expressing himself.

I also know that Bryce was a great example to his brother Dallin. Dallin looked up to Bryce in a lot of ways and I know he missed him while he was in South Africa. He was also a good example for our ward, we all loved him very much

If I die before I wake, at least in heaven I can skate

2009-01-12T23:27:00.000-08:00

I was able to see quite a change in Bryce from before and after his mission. However, it should be noted that even before his mission, though he may have wanted to do crazy stuff and disobey his parents, he never did. Sure he had crazy hair and was a “skater,” but the great potential he had was always very visible to those around him. Let me give you an idea of one of the noticeable changes I did see.

On Friday, I was able to read a few entries from his journal before his mission. I can’t remember the exact wording but it went something like this. “Nothing happened today. No, nothing at all. I am writing in my journal because my mom is making me. If I am reading this, it is because I have no life. So Bryce, if you’re reading this, get up and go do something to make me proud.” This is how the majority of the entries were—doing things because mom was “making me.”

Upon returning from South Africa, I was talking to Bryce in his basement room for a good while about school, dating, snowboarding, girls, living arrangements, skateboarding and dating and girls. I tried to convince Bryce that he should talk to his dad about applying to BYU and live in a student ward to meet new people. He made it very clear that he was going to stay at home that semester, not because it didn’t sound fun or because he didn’t have the money, but because he wanted so badly to be there for his parents. He explained that it would be too hard on them for both he and his little brother (Dallin would be leaving in a few days for the Sapporo, Japan mission) to leave at the same time.

Bryce honored, respected, and looked up to his parents so much. He wanted nothing more than to make them happy and make them proud, and he sure did.

Before visiting with Bryce’s family, I tried to find anything I had that would provide for them another memory of Bryce. I was only able to scrounge up a few minutes of skateboarding footage we had taken a few years earlier. Bryce wanted to make a skate video together at that time and wanted to call it B.R.B. You see, Bryce thought he was so clever because it was a play on words. It would stand for Bryce, Richard, Brian, and also for Be Right Back (meaning we will be right back with another video). I now think of Be Right Back as a reminder that Bryce will only be gone for a short time.

Bryce never did take my advice about moving out (thankfully) but I found through my visit with his family that he did take the advice about talking to his dad and applying to BYU. He was accepted to winter semester on Tuesday morning (the day after winter classes had started).

I hope heaven is a halfpipe. I love you man. You will be missed.

--Brian