Feeding lions, tigers and monkeys. Lots of pictures.

Email #59
Area: Motupa
Companion: Elder Downs

Hey Everyone,

Well I am okay I am just emailing late, because it was so packed today at the mall that we go to and near the mall that is where we email at in the internet cafe. But it was too busy because Christmas and tomorrow is a holiday as well and we just couldn't even find a place to park. So it was pretty bad and we almost were going to have to wait to go shopping tomorrow as well. We managed to go and do that. The village is really good and it seems like the people are starting to warm up to us and see that we are not devil worshipers. So that is a nice relief, but yet still people are too busy or something to see us or they are just to stubborn and don't want to learn or anything! But I really like it and it is going good so far and we are having a lot at church too. The village is our only area we go to, so we walk everyday haha. So I will be getting in pretty good shape so that will be nice!!!! I have bought a lot of fruit so I bring that and there are a ton of mango trees and stuff so the mangos are a good snack in the area!!

Comp is really sweet, we get along the best in the district and we pray together at night when we go to sleep and stuff just like I did with my son. So we get along great and so that is good!! I loved Elder Going, yeah I think so but all my comps have been great. I can't really pick and choose the best to the worst haha. No we don't get fed more, it is just I am trying to budget my mission card to see how I can do it and we only go out to eat on Mondays usually now. Before we went out to eat a lot more and I bought pants and a gps in Secunda as well. But I am not sure what I am going to get for Christmas OHHHH and I almost forgot I GOT MY HUMP DAY PACKAGE!!! It was so nice and I guess mine is the only one that has come in for awhile!!! So that is way nice!! No it is safe I just don't want to take it because you can't really swipe your card anywhere in a village anyways haha so I just bring some cash with me and getting a new card would be hard!! I sent heaps of pics today like 72, so hope you like all of them so make sure you look them. So yeah investigators are okay we have a few that are doing good, but a few are annoying and won't do anything. So hope that you have a good week and that you are keeping well!!!

Love,
Elder Bryner

Zone Conference

His new flat

Building on the right is where they hold church

Elder Bryner, Elder Downs...

Young wildebeest

Nice kitty kitty, don't eat his thumb

Ouch there goes his thumb

There are some claws on that cat

Hope those guys are watching and he doesn't get chewed on, Elder Bryner is looking a little red

hmmm...looks like Elder Bryner needed some help

Tiger eating a chicken

Map of their area

Book of Mormon in braille

Wow...that is too hot, 12/5 and 110 degrees

Couple missionaries with President and Sister Dunn at zone conference

Elder Cook and Elder Bryner

Sporting his Colt pride and there is that tongue :-)

Hot, Hot, Hot

Email #58
Area: Motupa
Companion: Elder Downs

Hey Everyone,

Not much to report on, but I am writing this before I read your email. So we had a pretty good week. Had good lessons with everyone, and unexpected people came to church without their fellowshipper so that was interesting to see. Haha something crazy on Friday, we went to district meeting and it wasn't too hot, but we got back to our flat and it was way hot. So we wanted to see how hot it actually was. So we set a temp thing outside and it got to 110 and more, but we brought it back inside because that was hot enough to make us freak out and take a pic of it!!! We went into the area a little bit later so it wasn't as hot then, but luckily had and umbrella with me so I was shaded don't worry, I know you might ask if I wore sunscreen, no but had an umbrella and sat in the shade. It was too hot to even be in the sun for a minute!! Never experienced that kind of heat before and luckily it wasn't humid either and usually it is so that was nice! It is just going to get more and more hot and humid here especially in January! Haha it is quite hard to sleep at night and sometimes I am wondering to put my g's in the freezer and swap out middle of the night haha!! Yeah Sis Campbell is the nicest senior couple and Elder Campbell too of course. There is one couple that is awesome that we don't really see that often. Yeah she is a sweet and sincere lady and I was hoping to hem my pants in my last area, but I am glad I didn't, I trust her more than anyone else! We take water everyday, I've always done that since I have been on my mission I don't trust people's water anywhere! We are there until 6 to 6:30, we leave before it gets dark, either senior couples take us and there is a couple that teaches English in our area so they usually take us home, but like once a week the other guys pick us up and no we don't get the car any day haha! The other guys pick us up and take us emailing and shopping. But skyping might not be too long because there are 8 elders plus the senior couple and time zones are some that are the same like 3 of us are from the states, but as time gets closer I will let you know for sure. The night before I will call and set an exact time with you or something like that. Haha it isn't that hot at night I am exaggerating a little much, but there has been a couple nights where it is hard to sleep. I have a fan so most nights it is nice! Yeah I got word that I have a package so we will see which one it is hopefully my hump day that would be sweet, but yeah they will probably bring mail up when the conference is. Hope that you have a good week!!!!

Love,
Elder Bryner

Excerpts from Dad's email:

We go emailing a lot sooner here haha. Yeah I am getting used to the area now and loving it so far! Just to walk and see all the people and what they are doing and their lifestyle is way different than what I have seen and yes for sure the poorest in SA. It is definitely humbling to see what these people put up with and have to do just to get by. Yeah I am more scared to come home now that it grows closer because of real life. now I dont know any different and I know that is was like that when I came out but it is different than that. Yeah there are things I miss but this is more fun than anything and yeah for sure there are days I just want to lay down and die cause of the heat haha. But like you said, in the end it is worth it and it is the best thing that anyone could do and it for sure beats having to go to school and work. Now it seems to be that I need to go back to school haha!! Well people here are a little different, they think we are devil worshipers and have things in our back packs that we use to suck people's blood. I was on exchanges when this happened, but someone wanted to look in our bags because of rumors of that stuff. The stuff just keeps getting more and more weird, some of the people yell fire at us when we pass so that is a little annoying, but funny at the same time!! So taking pics of the area and at people house is going to be a bit hard, but I will at members houses well try to! Yeah service projects can be dangerous, but normally we just help people carry their water to their house so that isn't too bad. Yeah I will be cautious! So that is pretty much what I had for you this week. It will be nice to put up the Christmas tree together next year and the next one might be Jaren's turn to miss haha but we will see!!

These pictures are from one of the couple missionaries in his area.

Hahah yeah I know some of them, but the chapel looks different I think that it was at a different place. It is about the same as the one we have now.

Transferred to Motupa Limpopo

Email #57
Area: Motupa
Companion: Elder Downs

Hey Everyone,

Here I am in Limpopo, It is so hot here haha, but a few times during the week it has been nice and cloudy and a little rain which helps with the heat but not the humidity. I email at a shop, so I am just checking how the computers work and everything before I start plugging all my stuff into them and making sure I don't get viruses and stuff. But my area is called Motupa and is a village. We walk everyday and we get dropped off in our area and takes about 30 minutes to get there from our flat. This is the nicest flat I have stayed in since I have been here so that is nice, but at night sometimes it is a little rough trying to get to sleep because it is too hot. We walk on average 3 to 5 miles everyday and the people thinking that we are satanist, haha some of them. The members are way cool and we have a group. There are 40 people on average at church, but 20 of them are primary age haha!! We stay in the town Tzaneen so it is pretty nice here. The internet is pretty fast, but we will see how pics will go next week.

My comp is from Kansas and just got done training last transfer. So this is my second time doing follow up training so I could be with him for 2 transfers. We have 4 senior couples and 8 missionaries in our district. There are only 3 from the states, one from Czech Republic, One from New Zealand, other from Netherlands, Port Elizabeth, and Malowi! Very unique district. I think that I am the oldest on mission in the district, so that is definitely weird!!! We have about 5 really good investigators and we just had a confirmation yesterday so they baptize here haha! People listen, but they get prosecuted for joining the church so staying active is sometimes hard for them. We have about 10 less actives that we work with. We work with a really sweet member named Bongani and he is about 17 and is going on his mission next year. He goes out with us everyday. They don't speak Zulu here, so I have to learn another language haha it is called Spedi. So a lot different than Zulu, but I got the hang of it so far. I can greet everyone and even say "stay well" and "thank you". So I will be speaking it fluently in no time. The chapel isn't like Cosmo City, but is a small building and a tin roof. Next week I will send pics of it. Haha my companion looks like Clark Kent, his name is Elder Downs.

It was a sure change coming here and it took about 5 hours from the mission office to get here, so don't send letters for awhile. There are two areas being white washed, but mine is not one of them. The town Tzaneen and a village called Modjaji. We have the heaviest village you could say, or the most village you can get haha so it is very interesting how people are here. Just like you would see on the tv. Old magogo's (grandmas) with big bags of water on their head as they walk. Kids playing in the street. Mango trees every where, which I love mangos now haha! So far I love it and it will be a good time here. I definitely sweat like no other, so I will be slim pretty soon! My comp is pretty cool so far. I will for sure miss Secunda and the people there and even members were telling me that I better invite them to my wedding. They would definitely come so I can't forget that!!!!! Well that is pretty much what I had for you, not much else happened. I am pretty content, but I still think about my last area a lot and wonder why I left. I do like it here so far, so that is good at least. This past week was just the longest week of my mission so far. I am sure I will say it again haha, but we will see hopefully it goes faster but not too fast! Next week I will send pics. Have a good week!!!

Love,
Elder Bryner

Thanksgiving dinner with the district