Elder Ryan Bird

Hey Mom,
Its great to hear from you and of all the great things that go on back home.

That is quite a coincidence that happened at Cam's graduation. Not to mention that I still can't believe that he graduated already. I'm getting too old for this. I was just thinking the other day that I have to grow up and soon I'll be following in Cam's footsteps. Soon I'll actually have to get a life, a job, and marriage. I can only imagine so many of my friends have already done so, I guess when I get back I'll find out who exactly.

Wow...my last package is on its way. It did occur to me that in the upcoming weeks will be our last phone call. I can't remember exactly which day it is (I'm too lazy to look right now) but just so we don't have to plan later, I'm assuming that we'll do the same thing as we've always done for phone calls. Calling time is what I'll be announcing in the upcoming weeks. My time is about up...

I did read Chris' email and I'm stoked to have another sister-in-law. He did mention that they'll be getting married a month before my arrival due to family issues, but I'm not one to hold Chris back. If you need to, you can print off a paper face of me and hold it up in every photo that I need to be in. I wish happiness to the happy couple, Chris and Amber.

I used to know what an Itinerary is...I can't tell if I should be excited to hear that you got 'my itinerary.' Is that a paper that basically says that I'm coming home, so don't forget to pick me up at the airport? Maybe you can clarify something for me then. Elder Grant in the office keeps telling me that I'll be going home on August 16th, but some Elders tell me (just missionary gossip) that it'll be the 17th.

Anyway, this last week was Semana Santa, but we didn't see hardly anything here. So, I passed the mission without any problems with Carnival. Elder Garcia told me that here in the DR that there are only problems in the capital. Sounds like the capital is just the center of problems here in the DR. Sounds like a blessing to be in the campo (depending on how you view it). I keep myself safe here in the campo, but the people themselves admit that they're 'brutes' as they say. They admit that they're slow learners and not very intelligent. That just goes to show what I've dealt with for 2 years.

This last week was a pretty empty week. Most people were out vacationing, so we couldn't do a whole lot this last week. We worked the whole week, but we could only do so much. This upcoming week should be better for us. But at least we had a baptism, Santa. She's a sweet little girl and was really excited to be baptized. We had what I call a 'campo baptism' where basically we show up with about 5 members and plan the baptism (talks, opening/closing hymns, etc) on the spot. But that's how I've spent my whole mission. That's something else I've learned that's important. I want to support baptisms by attending them when they happen (even if I don't really know the person). I can really see how important it is to the person who gets baptized.

This last Sunday I offered to play the piano here in the branch and I did so. What was even better was that they didn't tell me until the meeting what hymns I was going to play. So I was a little rusty with the hymns I had to play (luckily they were all hymns I've played before), but it was much better than when I played a year ago in Ocoa. For not having played for 1 year, I didn't do too bad.

Anyway, our next investigator on our list is named Clarinel. No its not a typo, her name is Clarinel and her mother is named Claribel. Isn't that just wonderful? She's been a longtime investigator and was receiving the missionary lessons before Elder Garcia got here. When I got here, Elder Garcia told me that she won't get baptized until she truly feels that its right. So that has been our focus with her. We put a date/goal with her to get baptized on the 21st. So in these upcoming weeks, Elder Bird and Garcia are going to whip out the best of what they've got.

Well, that's all I got for now. I'm glad to hear that the family is doing just great and hope you all have a great week! Love and miss you all!

Love,
-Elder Bird

Hey Mom,
Glad to hear about your week and all that's going on back home. These activities that you've been in charge of sound like they were just a BLAST! Makes me kind of jealous of the youth now. I can really see what you mean now when you said that the last couple of weeks have been hectically busy for you. But sounds like you'll get a little of a break right now.

Wow....Cam's graduating this week!?!?!?! Dang...that's a sign of the times. But I guess that you guys warned me ahead of time that it was coming up. Does Cam have any post-graduation plans? Will he just keep working where he's at or does he have another job opportunity?

Well, I find it kind of interesting that you asked me to tell you more about how things are here in Azua now. What's ironic is that this last weekend my agenda just disappeared. Although I haven't written down my daily "stories for home" anymore (which probably explains why there are fewer stories nowadays) I lost my agenda for the first time in the mission. Luckily I lost it in week 1 rather than another week.

Anyway, I mentioned that my new companion is Elder Garcia who only has 2 more transfers left in the mission. He and I met in my first zone in the mission when we went on a intercambio in the Tamayo area. He's just as cool as I remember him being. He's from the part of the country that everyone calls "Cibao" which is just basically the Santiago mission area. But he's a stallion and we get along very well.

This week in Azua the entire district is having a campout for all the youth. This week is "Holy Week" being the week before Easter. What I find to be ironic is that although they call it "Semana Santa" it is a time when everyone just goes out and parties like no other. So, the branches here in Azua have a week long camp that they have where they just basically hide all the youth from things that they'll see people do here. Last year I was in Ocoa which is a pretty tranquil place and I imagine that Azua will still be fine as well. I've been told that things get crazy in the capital. One thing I'm looking forward to is if we get any traditional Dominican Easter food. They have a bean drink that's pretty good that I've had a handful of times called "Habichuelas con Dulce" (Beans with sweet is the exact translation). Beans in a drink sounds weird and it really is, but it's good.

We have a baptism planned for this week, her name is Santa. She's about 13 years old and is going on this week long campout. Which makes it difficult on us missionaries to teach her, but we've got everything sorted out so that she has everything taught and we'll have a chance to review everything with her Friday night.

Azua is a little infamous for being a pretty brutal area. It is hot here, but we've had some very weird weather this last week that has just been killing the missionaries out here. We'll leave the house with a little bit of cloudy shade, we'll find a member to leave with us and leave their house in scorching heat, and then we'll return to the house in rain. This is something that is a little strange for Azua, but I just think its rainy season here. So for that we're just the pawns in Mother Nature's game.

This last week I've had a bunch of confidence boosters, one of them being able to understand my companion when he speaks. So I've been pretty good this last week. Now I did mention that this is an area that's pretty brutal. We have a lot of people who aren't home when they say that they'll be. I think in a day we'll have about 10 people "fire us" as we say. We'll show up and no one is home. It seems like that's pretty big here.

I did have a fun talk with the District President here in Azua. One thing that he told me as advice to my companion and I is that he said there's a big difference in the missionary work when you work from your heart. You treat people differently and you do the same things but in a different way. He mentioned to us how important it is to just get to know the members. That's something I want to focus on in Azua. Not to mention I want to talk to my companion to see what we can do to help animate the branch with everything. We'll see what we can do to hopefully get me playing the piano in church. If I can get time to practice I'll definitely do it, if I can't practice I'll have my limitations. But there's lots of work to do here in Azua.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Things are going great right now and I hope you have a great week!

Love,
-Elder Bird

PS. What's the status on my classes for BYU?

Hey Mom,
I guess this is where I have to apologize for what happened last week. If you want a confession, the power in the city went out (which doesn't happen so often in the neighborhood where we live) and the internet center didn't have any backup power. So I feel bad that I wasn't able to give you some input for my LAST missionary spotlight. But I'm glad that dad was able to pull something off. I guess you were well prepared with all those questions you've been asking me.

You certainly seem like you've been hard at work with your calling. I found it funny when you mentioned that for your activity you "printed 550 sheets of $100 bills." I was thinking that with a calling like that, I won't have to work in the future, you can just take care of me =P So how did this "Game of Life" work? Were the youth given X amount of money and had to make certain choices depending on the kinds of activities?

Well, you guys seem to have a lot of fun back home. I'm glad to hear about all the things you guys do. Keep yourselves busy and enjoy what you have, that always makes me smile =) Especially hearing about family visits.

So, first things first for this week. This week is transfer calls week. We got the call last night and I'm going to be Zone Leader in Azua now. Going here to Azua will now make it so that I'll have been in EVERY single zone outside of the capital. So I'm for sure a "campo" elder. One thing I do have to admit is that I can only count the Barahona zone because the old Neyba zone was combined with Barahona. So, I'm stoked. My companion is Elder Garcia who happens to be a very good friend of mine. Back in Neyba I went on an intercambio with him when he was in Tomayo. That's when I first met him and I've been saying "hi" to him every chance that I get. Who would've thought that we'd be companions? I'm looking forward to this upcoming transfer. The only downside is that Azua is notorious for being hot. But, I was "born" in the old Neyba zone. I'm used to the heat. Although I may be a little rusty since I've been freezing here in San Juan.

I'm excited for this call that I've had. Azua is the center of the 'campo.' So there are a few more responsibilities that I'll have just because I'll be in Azua. The assistants called me today to tell us how everyone will be transported and Elder Falor mentioned to me that I'll actually be helping out with transfers there in Azua. Azua has the transfer chapel for the campo. So this'll be fun.

Last week I had some good experiences. One on of my several intercambios last week I was able to go with Elder Foster who happens to be from San Diego as well. If I remember correctly, I think he technically lives in Oceanside but just tells everyone he's from San Diego. Our zone is full of missionaries who really put their heart into what they do. On these intercambios I've seen that I do the same as well. For a while I've been thinking that I've just been in a mindless routine. But being with another companion really showed me what I really do. Elder Foster and I had some pretty tranquil lessons and I felt really good about the work I do.

A specific thing that happened with another intercambio. I was with Elder Sanchez and we had a pretty bad day. Everyone wasn't home and things just weren't going too well. Both of us were pretty bummed when we finish the night with 2 great lessons. We had an investigator whose husband happened to be there when we passed by. As mentioned before, we have to deal with the Law of Chastity a lot here since everyone who lives together here isn't married. This specific husband told us that he can't ever be baptized because he "has two wives." Here, we were able to share with him that it was possible, but he just needs to make some changes in his life. I shared with him Jacob 2:26-28, 35 (the commandment and the consequences). We invited him to start making some changes by first praying to know that these things are true. Elder Sanchez and I left that lesson feeling much better. I love intercambios and I try and make them as great of an experience as I can for the other Elder. When we passed by again last night, the husband wasn't home but the wife was. In talking a little bit more about the subject I could definitely see that she described verse 35 when it says "ye have broken the hearts of your "precious/beautiful?" wives." I have come to see how sad people become when they don't follow church standards. They're here to protect us and avoid problems. This husband wanted to have his way and wasn't concerned about how his was was. I hope that he took our message to heart.

Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. I have learned a ton in this last transfer. Not to mention that Elder Sanchez taught me with this lesson to "be direct." Not to mention that I have to be a little more bold, but not overwhelming. I hope all is well back home. I love and miss you all. I complete 20 months tomorrow!

Love,
-Elder Bird

Hey Mom,
I guess I need to explain why I'm writing so early in the day. Last week I mentioned that we'd be having a temple trip, it ended up getting postponed to this week. Being in San Juan we can't leave early enough in the morning to get to a morning session on time, so we had to postpone it to tomorrow and we're going to travel to the capital today. For that, I'm writing home right now so that I just at least get the chance to do so.

I have to admit that I kind of chuckled at your comment of my amazing memory. I guess here in the mission it seems that with some things that I have a terrible memory. I guess that my memory is selective. Some things I can't remember well, but I certainly remember what my missionaries need to have. I guess that I just have certain strengths....and many weaknesses. But I remember the 'stupid cow' story specifically cause it caught my interest and it wasn't too long ago that I read it. I find it funny that it was fairly recently that I finished reading general conference talks only to have general conference next week.

I certainly know the 'sweet' and 'bitter' experiences that you mentioned. The mission is full of them. Although I have to admit...the bitter is usually greater in number, but the sweet is greater in strength. So in the end...it typically balances out pretty well. I imagine that that's just how life is.

I'm excited to hear that Jordan Walton is heading out soon. Its "mission season." A bunch of missionaries will be leaving, and a bunch will be coming home. At the end of missionary season, a very special Elder here in the Dominican Republic will be returning to his home in San Diego. Keep me posted as missionaries come and go. I love hearing about it.

Well, I'd say that like you I just had a normal week. Nothing extraordinary from the norm. We had a very interesting District Conference for all of San Juan yesterday. President Almonte was there himself and gave a talk. He had a topic that appealed well to me. His focus was calling people to act. His basic message was that we won't be given all of the answers, we need to look for them. He had a quote from Joseph Smith that I've never heard before. "Pray to the Father as if all depended on him, then act as if all depended on you." I found it to be quite a motivating talk to get off the couch and do something.

Anyway, sorry for the short email, but its all I got for now. I hope all is well back home and that you all have a great week!

Love,
-Elder Bird
PS. Letters were sent out this last week (finally xD)