Coming Home

We just heard from Jordan's Mission President.  Due to the Nicaraguan doctors inability to diagnose Jordan's virus/parasite/sickness, President Russell felt it was a good idea for Jordan to come back to America for medical help and try to gain back some weight.  He will be arriving at the Idaho Falls airport tomorrow, January 2, at 11:30 pm.  As soon as we can get Jordan healthy, President Russell is excited to have him back.  Your prayers for Jordan would be appreciated.
Bryce

tener un feliz año nuevo!

Well we have spent all the morning walking around looking at houses today (The Mission President’s wife saw where they lived and told them to move).  Every place we look at is either super nice and more than 130 dollars a month or it is so crappy we are not allowed to live in it!! So it is really hard to find a house to live in, but we will keep on trying!
Since it is almost New Years, I thought I would share my New Year’s goals for 2015.
• To be healthy and not die (haha)
• To work hard on my Spanish!
I am feeling pretty good today. I don’t know when I am going to have an endoscopy, but I think I am going to have one this week.
We took a tour of a historic Catholic cathedral this morning.  It had an awesome view to take some sweet pictures, but I don’t have any way to send them because we are at the church and the computers do not have USB ports and everybody is really angry.
The lady that does our laundry also feeds us lunch every day, she is super cool! I really like her. Her family is my Nica family.
(Jordan told us a story about doing a baptismal interview over Skype on Christmas day; since Jordan’s trainer is the District Leader, Jordan get to accompany Elder Asencio to the interviews.  This girl, who Jordan has never met before, at the end of the interview, asked Jordan to baptize her because of his red hair, so we asked if it happened).  Yes I baptized her but she wasn’t from our area but it was pretty cool to do that. I am feeling good. I don’t know when I am going to have an endoscopy. But i think I am going to have one
I can really tell a difference in my hair imagine what the color will be like in two years!! (We commented at Christmas that his hair is redder than we have seen it since he was a baby)
We don’t have very much time today, so I think I have to go! But things will be better next week!
LOVE Elder Bronson!
P.S. I tried not to use as many hahas to help you guys out!

Doctor Results

I thought I would post a letter that we received from Sister Russell (Jordan's Mission President's wife).  She is such a wonderful and caring lady!  She has eased our fears some.

Brother and Sister Bronson,

I can imagine you are concerned after Elder Bronson's email this week.  Please know that we have been in constant touch with Elder Bronson.   He reported to us on Dec 6  that for several days he had consistent, aching chest pain directly under his sternum. He reported that it worsened when he ate and that he was also having a lot of diarrhea especially in the night and when he woke up in the morning.   This could have been gastritis.  We sent the information up to the Central American Missions Area Doctor (AMA), Dr Cragun.

He responded that it did sound like gastritis and prescribed medication, which Elder Bronson purchased and began to use, along with instructions to aviod greasy spicy foods and chocolate. Elder Bronson followed instructions, but after a few more days, did not improve.  I sent him to the hospital (which is where all the doctors also have their offices and any regular doctor appointment is done at the very nice, private Vivian Pellas Hospital in Managua).   He had a battery of tests done and the doctor told him to return the following day.  

Again I sent the results to our AMA in Guatemala to be sure we were handling the situation correctly to help Elder Bronson. 

Although in the hospital the doctor checked Elder Bronson for possible dengue, his results came back negative.  AMA also confirms it negative.

As you can see, Elder Bronson has not been feeling well, but we are doing all we can and double checking with our church physicians, to help him get better.

President and I have seen Elder Bronson in person four times in the last seven days with all the new chapel activity in Granada.  We actually saw him yesterday for interviews.  I have him on rest and increased fluids as we wait for additional test results to come in .  He could have a parasite, and the tests will let us know. Depending on the parasite, treatment can range from nothing to medication 2x/day for 5 days.

Despite it all, Elder Bronson remains happy.  Like ALL American Elders, he has lost some weight.  Many of our elders lose thirty pounds from the drastic change in lifestyle.......no fast food places, no open fridge, hours and hours of walking each day  and daily sweating.  I am constantly watching them and their weight, knowing that many will be thinner due to change in circumstances.  

I spoke with Elder Bronson tonight. Again, he was happy and upbeat, and very polite.  However, he states that he is not feeling better. And also that he is not eating very much because of the stomach pains. That said, we still need to get Elder Bronson to feel better.  Dr Cragun suggested we send him to a trusted Gastrointerologist to determine the cause of his stomach and chest pains. We will be calling for an appointment with the specialist tomorrow, If not available tomorrow, then Friday. 

I will let you know what I know, but please feel free to contact me at anytime.  Please know that although not feeling terrific, Elder Bronson has a smile on his face when I see him.   We will continue to do all we can to get Elder Bronson better, sometimes the test results just take a little while.

Sincerely,

Hermana Russell  

Dengue Fever

I bet you guys thought I wasn't going to write today!   News for this week: Reyna hasn't been baptized yet because she broke her leg on the island of Ometepee.  She hasn't made it back to Granada yet, but hopefully this Saturday though!! We are teaching a man named Julio Cesar who has had missionaries since June, but now finally we are getting him baptized this Saturday!  Also we have been teaching a girl named Deleska, who we are baptizing this Saturday as well!! So this week is looking really good! We also contacted a family and the dad is super positive.  After our first visit, he decided to read a pamphlet about the restoration that we gave him.  Afterwards, he opened up his Bible and started to read in Amos about tithing.  On our second visit, he was like here is some money for my tithing that I need to pay! Ha-ha.  He is super awesome!

I’m not sure if this is one of the things I am not supposed to tell mom or not, so I will let you decide.  It sounds kind of bad, but it really isn't that bad.  I will be good by next Monday.  I guess I have dengue fever and I have a parasite in my stomach.  I named him Julio because he is a pain, but I kinda like him. The parasite is inflaming my stomach to make it look like gastritis, so that is why I have the chest pains! Ha-ha, I’m freaking mess.  We are not taking the advice of the Managua doctor concerning the parasite; instead we are consulting the LDS area doctor in Granada.  We should have an answer tonight or tomorrow.

Here is something funny. I have been in the hospital all day and I had my first IV.  I was super bummed that I didn't get to take a pic because I didn't have my camera!  They had to take a blood sample and they nurse kept poking me and couldn't find my vein.  The as she hits it, I started to feel super sick and wanted to throw up and stuff. Then boom, I passed out.  When I woke up, there was like three nurses with alcohol wipes rubbing my nose and stuff.  I thought it was funny and started to laugh.  The the nurses were really worried because they thought I was crazy! After a couple of hours, they put some fever reducer in me and boom, I passed out again.  So right now I am super weak and if I stand up to quickly things get swirly and crap.  Ha-ha, but I am fine now.  We just got back to Granada, but if I am not doing well tomorrow I have to go back. The president will be able to take me because tomorrow he is interviewing our whole zone.  So he will see how I am doing and decide what to do I guess. It really isn't that bad, I will survive. 

I am running out of time on the computer, I love you!  Talk to you next Monday!

Elder Bronson

Jordan seeing his Nicaraguan haircut

Too Much Spicy Foods

It is crazy that I have been out over three months!! Hunter is 13, a teenager, what the crap! Haha.  To answer your questions; I haven’t opened the mosquito repellent or the mosquito net yet.  Aloe is my savior here and I can buy it here! They also make a really expensive aloe drinks.  I haven’t bought one yet but I want to try it! The ants are much better.  We have been doing a lot of home repairs, so we don’t have ants, rats, or bats in it anymore.  That is a big plus! Also, for the first time in 9 weeks we have a toilet that flushes!  Before we just had to plunge everything down, but we had a guy redo the pluming so it actually flushes! He said I don’t know how, but all the pipes were just chuck full of crap!!! hahha (that needs to go in the blog).  

We found out today when I was in a meeting in Managua that we can write or call or both or skype or all three on Christmas! So that will be good!

Now a story that I am not sure qualifies for an only you dad or for mom too?  I am fine to start off, but I have been having a lot of chest pains.  It was getting a little scary, so we called the doctor.  So the doctor said I have something that starts with a g and sounds like arthritis, I can’t remember the name, but it is like gastritis.  My stomach is enflamed and pushing on my chest, so when I eat and walk I have a lot of pain, but it is fine we push on.  He gave me pills to take and said I would be fine in a week.  Also, no solid food this week, is rice a solid?

This last month, our zone had the most points in the mission.  You receive points by bringing people to church, teaching, baptisms etc.  We were invited to a BBQ at the home of President Russell. It was super awesome and we had a lot of good food!!! As a companionship, Elder Bachez and I are working so hard, well when we aren’t at the hospital or the doctor’s.

We went to Managua on Wednesday, just me and my companion, so we took a bus. We were going to the hospital for a checkup for Elder Bachez.  Usually it is about an hour to Managua, but there was a ton of traffic.  We were on the bus for 3 hours, which made us late for the appointment.  The doctor had gone home so we have to go back next Wednesday.  Also, we are going to be in Managua tomorrow for a meeting we have with President Russell. We were in Managua last Tuesday as well, because we needed to buy stuff for our district. Oh yeah, I am the district leader’s companion, I may have forgotten to tell you that (we are also the only elders in the District, so it is kind of given hahaha).  So many days of work lost L.

Elder Baches is super awesome, I like him a lot! He speaks Spanish at almost 150 mph, but it is really helping me learn how to understand Spanish.  Elder Asencio spoke more slowly and distinctly.  Elder Bachez is fast and machetes everybody, so I am learning a lot from him!! so that is good!

Yesterday was La Policima, which means basically everyone goes out and parties and sings in the street.  It is a little bit like Halloween, where families go house to house, but instead of getting candy, they sing and chant things to the Virgin Mary.  Because of that, it was hard to find a cyber-café that wasn’t full and because of that, I didn’t have a lot of time to email.  So I will tell more stories next week!

Love,

ELDER BRONSON

Hospital for Thanksgiving

Wow this week was crazy!! To start it out, on Wednesday, I was supposed to go on splits with another elder while all the other elders in our zone went to the change meeting in their suits. I was in my working clothes when I dropped off my companions at the bus. As I went to go on splits we find out that the elder I am going on splits with needed to go to the meeting as well!  So I ended up going to the meeting as well without my suit, looking like a fool!! So that was awesome! When I got there, I worked with the elders in Managua but nobody told us when the change meeting ended. At the end of the day, we showed up at the meeting, and you guessed it, the bus for Granada had already left!! It was already 20 min away, so it had to turn around and come get me which is where I met my new companion! He is super cool I really like him! His name is Elder Bachez who was born in El Salvador but lives in Guatemala now.  My new zone leader is Elder Asencio, who is in a 4 sum companionship! So that is cool!  As we are on the bus, I asked Elder Asencio, “hey who is your companion?” He said somebody and I said, “Who”, because I didn't hear him.  He said su. In Spanish su means him, her, and you, so I thought he was saying me, but he was saying this other guy. I was super confused. Anyway, we get to Granada and my companion is having crazy stomach pains, so we went home for the day. Then in the night, he was having problems; groaning and couldn’t sleep. I am freaking out thinking he is going to die or something. So we called the Hermana Russell, the Mission President’s wife and she says come to Managua, we have a clinic we like to use. So we get there and they send us to the hospital (which is nicer than any hospital in the states) it was so freaking nice, I kid you not. Why did they send us there you may ask? Because my companion, Elder Bachez’s appendix was going to explode, so they take it out immediately. He had a two and a half hour operation and then 2 hours of recovery and stuff. So what was I doing for four hours? I was with President Russell having a four hour interview!! It was a little scary!! I think I passed, because I am not coming home right now, haha!  He is a great man! The best part about being in the hospital for three days is the food. First day breakfast was an omelet. Lunch was steak. Dinner was steak. Second day breakfast was eggs and bacon. Lunch was a sandwich. Dinner was chicken. Third day breakfast was omelet. Lunch was a hamburger and dinner was steak!! It was super good! Super twanni!! (cool) haha.  That is how I spent my Thanksgiving, so don’t feel so bad for me. I have also read close to everything possible to read in your mission! The the last couple days we have just been chilling in bed, but tomorrow I get to go to Managua for a meeting and Friday to the hospital again, so I won’t be working much this week either!!

The best part of the week was we went to the ¨DI¨ of Nicaragua so you can imagine how nice it was. I was able to find 10 books of the teachings of the prophets, like teachings of John Taylor in English for 5 corbs a piece, so that was sweet!! But all in all, I have had a pretty good week!!

Love you,

Elder Bronson

PS, we have no time to write this week, so no pictures.

The Birthday Party

All is well here in Nicaragua!! It is crazy to think that it was only last year that Dason and I did the all-night promotion for Travis wearing ghillie suits, it feels forever ago and yet not so long ago. The days go by so fast here, well except from 12 to 3.  During that time I think I want to go home and die because it is so hot. I can’t think straight and I have a headache.  But come 4, when the sun starts to go down, I can think again.  It is still hot but I just don’t have a sun on the back of my neck! 

All is going well, but we do have changes on Wednesday, so we will see how that goes! I could go somewhere else! I don’t know! There is a chance that they would both leave and I would have to teach the area to my new companion, which would be extremely hard! You never know, but we find out about changes tomorrow night!  It is also possible, I could go somewhere that I cannot write for a while; so I am not dead if you don’t hear from me next week!! 

Also, something kind of scary is Elder Asencio has started to have chest pains. Not pains like breathing, just pains like where his heart is!!!! I was like, we need to tell somebody. He doesn't want to tell anybody encase it is nothing. What is his deal? So, in an email today, I told President. 

One last strange thing; Elder Hartley is having bloody runs and joint pains which is a sign of a strange virus  called chikungunya, which would be extremely bad if he has that! It comes from mosquito bites so that is good, haha, there are only like a million mosquitoes,but I think I will survive!!

Now for the story of the week; we were invited to eat dinner with some of the members, which was exciting because it doesn't happen much.   I guess we were pretty excited!  So when we arrive there, there were 8 teen-aged girls there and they were all dancing with each other with romantic music on; it was super weird! We were invited in and we sit down. We find out the one girl who lives there is having her birthday! She really wanted us to be there, except we didn't know we were having a party. It was super weird, but they stop dancing and bring out a table for four people: me, my two companions, and the birthday girl! Everybody just sat there and watched us eat, while there was some romantic Spanish music on. So that was strange.  As we are eating, she says, “What do you think about my friends..............?” So I turn to Elder Hartley and say in English, “uhh, we got to get the freak out of here!!” So we say, “They look young!” Hahaha, anyway we finish eating and then she brings out cake! It was the best cake I have ever had, because I haven’t tasted anything that good in 12 weeks!!  Here is the worst part of the story! I received your package at a meeting we were at right before we went to the cita for dinner! Elder Hartley got one too.  So we had to go to the birthday party with our big boxes, so guess what she thought... that they were for her! As we were getting ready to leave, the mom said, “do you want to see her open the boxes?” I felt so bad saying no it is mine, but we did and we left!  You guessed it; they were not at church on Sunday!! I am staying strong and I put the package in my suit case so I will not open it until Christmas.

 Something awesome, my suit case is growing a ton of mold; so that is great! Also, I had to throw away the blue Easter tie because it had mold on it from a rain storm that was super bad. I laid it out to dry, but it didn’t dry quickly enough, I guess!!

Okay I want to mention about the help members are in missionary work. They are always good to have with you in lessons. For example, we are teaching a girl named Reyna and she is super positive about the Church! She was progressing, just slowly.  Then we found a member that was one of her friends and is ward missionary in the Sisters’ ward! So we invited her to a couple of our lessons and Reyna progressed super-fast!! We are baptizing her this Saturday. Reyna and her friend went to Jeno Tepee (he-no  tep-ee) and are teaching some of her family that lives there!! How sweet is that?!?!

Another example of the help members give us is on Sundays.  We currently have 22 investigators who swear on all things that are holy they would come to church on Sunday. Every Sunday, we go on splits with three priesthood brethren of the Branch to “collect” our investigators for church. This last week, we weren't able to go with any of them! So my two companions and I rushed around before church, but we were only able to get to the houses of about 16 of them to remind them. Then only had two actually came to church!! So members are very useful in the mission, when you get their help!!

Love

Elder Bronson

Two more baptisms to complete a forever family

Elders Hartley, Bronson, and Asencio 

My District

My District, the Gatos, during Zone games, which we dominated