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| Mean Star Wars shirt my family gave me for my birthday! |
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| This is the par 4 that I drove. My ball is to the left. |
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| Temple lights |
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| New socks for Christmas! Minions!!!!! |
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| Shirts given to us from Salus! |
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Monday December 28, 2015
Christmas week was mean!
Monday- The week started off great with a fun preparation day. For preparation day we went and golfed at a golf course about 10 minutes from our flat. First let me tell you about "golf courses" in New Zealand...they are not in the most prime condition to say the least. Pretty much the courses are Columbia Park on steroids. So instead of Columbia Park being a par 3 course it is turned into a normal par 72 course. With that being said, we still had heaps of fun golfing! The highlight of the round came on the second hole when I drove a par 4, which was about 290 yards. Unfortunately, I did not make the eagle putt haha, but I did manage to find the birdie. I have now gotten my companion to fall in love with golf so that is pretty cool as well. The funniest part about these golf courses is that there is no sand anywhere on the course. I wasn't a big fan of bunkers back home anyway so it's all good with me haha.
Tuesday- Road trip!!!!!!!!!!! Hamilton!!!!! Tuesday we spent all day in the car driving to Hamilton! It was fun to be with the Elders from Nuhaka and to just relax and talk. I was also mean and made the Nuhaka Elders drive their car to Hamilton so I could chill in the backseat haha. Tuesday night we arrived in Hamilton and went and dropped off our stuff at our motel. After we went to the motel we got to go to the Christmas lights at the temple! I love the temple so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although it was very beautiful on the outside and there were people singing beautiful Christmas Hymns all I wanted to do was go inside. I love the temple. It is literally the best place on earth. Please don't take for granted how close the Columbia River Temple is to Kennewick! I don't think I would be able to live in Hamilton haha. I think I would be too tempted to sneak away and go to the temple! The lights were beautiful and we also got to go into the visitor center which is next to the temple. We watched a really good Christmas video and it was a way good experience.
Wednesday- Christmas conference!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Christmas conference was way fun! It was way cool having all the missionaries together at the same time. I love singing hymns with all of the missionaries; it definitely brings a special spirit. The highlight of the conference was performing the mission haka. Over the past few months we have been memorizing the words to our mission haka. Then at the Christmas conference we learned the actions to the haka. Unfortunately I learned the actions at the beginning of the day so by the time we performed it I forgot all of the moves haha. Now when I say perform, you are probably wondering exactly what that means. Well let me tell you it was pretty legit. There was a huge camera crew! They even had an aerial drone that had a camera on it. So while we performed the haka we were being recorded. I'm not sure if we will get the recording or what, but regardless it was way cool. Pretty much the entire time I just did random actions, stuck my tongue out, and made funny noises. Uncle Brett if you are reading this you probably know what I'm talking about haha.
Thursday- Christmas Eve was not too exciting haha. We just drove back all day long. We did get to eat a Christmas Eve dinner with Matiu and Geraldine at the park so that was way good.
Friday- Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! Christmas was a miracle! So it's Christmas morning and I'm sitting trying to do my mom’s Christmas activity with my presents. For those of you who don't know, for Christmas my mom gave me and my sister (Katie, also on a mission in Italy) heaps of little packages labeled with scriptures that we had to read for hints to figure out what was in each package. As I was opening the gifts the phone rang. I looked at the number and it was long as! I was like, that is a funny looking number. So I answered the phone and guess who it was?!!!!!!!!!!! Kathryn Brunson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was like, “what the heck how did you get my our number?!!” She was like, “your mission president gave it to me.” I was so surprised to be talking to my sister, it was kind of hard to take it all in. It was hard to hold back my emotions because of how surprised I was. We had a great time catching up with each other and I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for him helping us to be able to talk with each other. It definitely made my Christmas! Shout out to my older sister for being the best older sister a guy could ask for. Kathryn Brunson is the peacemaker of the family. I definitely would not be where I am at today without her great example. I really look up to her and she always knows how to help me with whatever I'm going through. I have no doubt that she is the best sister missionary in the whole world. I'm so thankful for my older sister!
Saturday- Guess what day it is???! Skype day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Skyping the family was so awesome!! It was so good to see the familiar faces that I truly love. It's amazing how much more you appreciate your family when you cannot see them every day. My advice is to treat your family like it’s the last time you will see them. Always appreciate your family!!! Love them and serve them!! If you do those two things you will have a successful and happy family! The skype call was way good, sadly it went by way too fast! To be quite honest, it only felt like I was talking for 10 minutes. The other part that is bad about skyping Elder Brunson is that he tells the longest stories. So I spent way too much time talking haha. It was way awesome though and I'm so thankful for the technology that we have to be able to stay connected with our families.
Sunday- Well I spoke for the bejillionth time in church haha. I talked about member missionary work! I told them that nobody can say they are afraid to do missionary work if a 9 year old little girl can do missionary work. Then I talked about Emma and told them of the great missionary work that she does and how I really look up to her for that. If you want to know how to do effective member missionary work talk to my little sister! Member missionary work is so important! The members should be the full time finders and the missionaries are the full time teachers. I wish I would have done more to help out the missionaries when I was home. So if you are home than help out the missionaries in your ward. They need people to teach in your home! So find someone you're friends with and invite them to take the missionary discussions in your home.
Well if you're wondering what we are doing today we are golfing again haha!!!! My companion is now in love with golf, that is all he wants to do. I told him that when we get off our missions I will teach him how to golf and he can teach me to surf. Well I better run. We are in a hurry. I love you all so much! Thanks for reading my emails! And thanks for all of your prayers and support!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Christmas week was mean!
Monday- The week started off great with a fun preparation day. For preparation day we went and golfed at a golf course about 10 minutes from our flat. First let me tell you about "golf courses" in New Zealand...they are not in the most prime condition to say the least. Pretty much the courses are Columbia Park on steroids. So instead of Columbia Park being a par 3 course it is turned into a normal par 72 course. With that being said, we still had heaps of fun golfing! The highlight of the round came on the second hole when I drove a par 4, which was about 290 yards. Unfortunately, I did not make the eagle putt haha, but I did manage to find the birdie. I have now gotten my companion to fall in love with golf so that is pretty cool as well. The funniest part about these golf courses is that there is no sand anywhere on the course. I wasn't a big fan of bunkers back home anyway so it's all good with me haha.
Tuesday- Road trip!!!!!!!!!!! Hamilton!!!!! Tuesday we spent all day in the car driving to Hamilton! It was fun to be with the Elders from Nuhaka and to just relax and talk. I was also mean and made the Nuhaka Elders drive their car to Hamilton so I could chill in the backseat haha. Tuesday night we arrived in Hamilton and went and dropped off our stuff at our motel. After we went to the motel we got to go to the Christmas lights at the temple! I love the temple so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although it was very beautiful on the outside and there were people singing beautiful Christmas Hymns all I wanted to do was go inside. I love the temple. It is literally the best place on earth. Please don't take for granted how close the Columbia River Temple is to Kennewick! I don't think I would be able to live in Hamilton haha. I think I would be too tempted to sneak away and go to the temple! The lights were beautiful and we also got to go into the visitor center which is next to the temple. We watched a really good Christmas video and it was a way good experience.
Wednesday- Christmas conference!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Christmas conference was way fun! It was way cool having all the missionaries together at the same time. I love singing hymns with all of the missionaries; it definitely brings a special spirit. The highlight of the conference was performing the mission haka. Over the past few months we have been memorizing the words to our mission haka. Then at the Christmas conference we learned the actions to the haka. Unfortunately I learned the actions at the beginning of the day so by the time we performed it I forgot all of the moves haha. Now when I say perform, you are probably wondering exactly what that means. Well let me tell you it was pretty legit. There was a huge camera crew! They even had an aerial drone that had a camera on it. So while we performed the haka we were being recorded. I'm not sure if we will get the recording or what, but regardless it was way cool. Pretty much the entire time I just did random actions, stuck my tongue out, and made funny noises. Uncle Brett if you are reading this you probably know what I'm talking about haha.
Thursday- Christmas Eve was not too exciting haha. We just drove back all day long. We did get to eat a Christmas Eve dinner with Matiu and Geraldine at the park so that was way good.
Friday- Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! Christmas was a miracle! So it's Christmas morning and I'm sitting trying to do my mom’s Christmas activity with my presents. For those of you who don't know, for Christmas my mom gave me and my sister (Katie, also on a mission in Italy) heaps of little packages labeled with scriptures that we had to read for hints to figure out what was in each package. As I was opening the gifts the phone rang. I looked at the number and it was long as! I was like, that is a funny looking number. So I answered the phone and guess who it was?!!!!!!!!!!! Kathryn Brunson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was like, “what the heck how did you get my our number?!!” She was like, “your mission president gave it to me.” I was so surprised to be talking to my sister, it was kind of hard to take it all in. It was hard to hold back my emotions because of how surprised I was. We had a great time catching up with each other and I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for him helping us to be able to talk with each other. It definitely made my Christmas! Shout out to my older sister for being the best older sister a guy could ask for. Kathryn Brunson is the peacemaker of the family. I definitely would not be where I am at today without her great example. I really look up to her and she always knows how to help me with whatever I'm going through. I have no doubt that she is the best sister missionary in the whole world. I'm so thankful for my older sister!
Saturday- Guess what day it is???! Skype day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Skyping the family was so awesome!! It was so good to see the familiar faces that I truly love. It's amazing how much more you appreciate your family when you cannot see them every day. My advice is to treat your family like it’s the last time you will see them. Always appreciate your family!!! Love them and serve them!! If you do those two things you will have a successful and happy family! The skype call was way good, sadly it went by way too fast! To be quite honest, it only felt like I was talking for 10 minutes. The other part that is bad about skyping Elder Brunson is that he tells the longest stories. So I spent way too much time talking haha. It was way awesome though and I'm so thankful for the technology that we have to be able to stay connected with our families.
Sunday- Well I spoke for the bejillionth time in church haha. I talked about member missionary work! I told them that nobody can say they are afraid to do missionary work if a 9 year old little girl can do missionary work. Then I talked about Emma and told them of the great missionary work that she does and how I really look up to her for that. If you want to know how to do effective member missionary work talk to my little sister! Member missionary work is so important! The members should be the full time finders and the missionaries are the full time teachers. I wish I would have done more to help out the missionaries when I was home. So if you are home than help out the missionaries in your ward. They need people to teach in your home! So find someone you're friends with and invite them to take the missionary discussions in your home.
Well if you're wondering what we are doing today we are golfing again haha!!!! My companion is now in love with golf, that is all he wants to do. I told him that when we get off our missions I will teach him how to golf and he can teach me to surf. Well I better run. We are in a hurry. I love you all so much! Thanks for reading my emails! And thanks for all of your prayers and support!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Things were a bit shaky this week.........................
There was an EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!! Hahaha it was nothing new I guess. I think New Zealand sits on a fault line and so Wairo gets small earthquakes all the time. Last night though we definitely had the biggest earthquake since I have been in Wairo. I was lying in my bed, trying to fall asleep and then all of a sudden the whole house started shaking. Our beds were rocking back and forth and it was pretty crazy. At first it scared the poo out of me. I know my mom probably doesn't appreciate me using the word poo haha but it is the only way I can explain it. I think my mom was hoping that going on a mission and turning 19 would stop me from using words like poo, but it hasn't quite worked it out of my system haha... no pun intended. Anyway, so I was lying in my bed and all of a sudden the whole house started shaking. I was quite frightened and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I finally realized that we were experiencing an earthquake. If you haven't ever experienced an earthquake I want to tell you it's one of the coolest things ever. I quite enjoy the feeling and the surprise that it gives you haha.
I want to also say how jealous I am to all of you who got to go to Star Wars. I think I might have chosen the worst time to be on a mission and picked the worst movie to miss. With that being said, I think all of you who are in the comfort of your own homes in the United States should be jealous of me getting to represent Jesus Christ. There really is no place I would rather be. So tempt me with Star Wars, BYU football games, snow, and good American food and I will still choose to be where I am at. I love New Zealand and I'm so glad to be representing our Savior, Jesus Christ during this special Holiday. I don't think there is a better time of the year to be wearing His name on my chest than right now. I'm so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ which can overcome all things.
I will now try and give a rundown of the days in the week. I probably won't cover them all because of time, and some of them I don't really remember what happened haha.
Monday- Preparation day was rubbish hahaha. So we went to Gisborne to go shopping. Turns out that I still hate shopping, who would have guessed haha. Shopping is the worst, especially when you spend heaps of time doing something you hate and you don't find anything. So lo siento Brunson whanau. Woah everybody watch out I just used three languages in one sentence haha. It's funny to think that I haven’t really used much Maori in my letters home. I do know a little bit of Maori, but not heaps.
Tuesday- Tuesday I gave my first District Meeting training. To put more pressure on me, the Zone Leaders came too haha. Everyone said it was good so I think it must have been alright. Tuesday night Elder Barbosa and I started our exchange with Elder Wark. Elder Wark is a traveling assistant for the mission president. A little bit about Elder Wark; he is from Scotland and has a mean accent. Elder Wark is the man! He taught Elder Barbosa and I heaps and we had a really good time being with him. Tuesday night we did a role play where Elder Wark played the role of his older brother back home. To make a long story short (which I don't do very often) Elder Wark said that we had the best role play he has ever been a part of on his mission, which is pretty mean because Elder Wark goes home this transfer.
Wednesday- Wednesday we finished up our exchange and had some really good lessons! We had heaps of fun teaching our investigators with Elder Wark. I think our two investigators who are set for baptism fell in love with him as well. They loved his accent so much and their family lines go back to Scotland.
Thursday- We went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went to Gisborne with Elder Fellingham and Elder Barbosa stayed in Wairo with Elder Griffin. We had a mean exchange!
Friday- It was my birthday! The day started off really good. We ran up a hill in Gisborne called Kaiti hill. It is a way hard run, but it was so awesome! Elder Fellingham is a good runner so he ran me into the ground. I ran the hill previously when I went on a different exchange with Elder Fellingham. This time we did much better! It was a great birthday present to be able to go running! Friday morning we drove back to Gisborne and had our weekly planning session from 10-12. For my birthday the other Elders shouted my lunch and so that was way nice! We went to the fish and chips shop and had a mean feed. Overall my birthday was way good, but definitely different haha.
Saturday- We meet some way nice people Saturday! It seemed like everywhere we went we got invited to come in. I think we had the most success getting into people's homes this week than all the other weeks on my mission combined haha. We had some good lessons that came from that and we are really excited to start working with the people that we met.
Sunday- Partaking of the sacrament, it's the best! I think that is all I have to say about Sunday, and all that really needs to be said.
Monday- What are the Elders going to be up to today? We are going golfing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited to go out golfing again. Hopefully I will play a little better than last time we went out. We should have loads of fun no matter what so I'm way excited for that!
The church is true!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Things were a bit shaky this week.........................
There was an EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!! Hahaha it was nothing new I guess. I think New Zealand sits on a fault line and so Wairo gets small earthquakes all the time. Last night though we definitely had the biggest earthquake since I have been in Wairo. I was lying in my bed, trying to fall asleep and then all of a sudden the whole house started shaking. Our beds were rocking back and forth and it was pretty crazy. At first it scared the poo out of me. I know my mom probably doesn't appreciate me using the word poo haha but it is the only way I can explain it. I think my mom was hoping that going on a mission and turning 19 would stop me from using words like poo, but it hasn't quite worked it out of my system haha... no pun intended. Anyway, so I was lying in my bed and all of a sudden the whole house started shaking. I was quite frightened and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I finally realized that we were experiencing an earthquake. If you haven't ever experienced an earthquake I want to tell you it's one of the coolest things ever. I quite enjoy the feeling and the surprise that it gives you haha.
I want to also say how jealous I am to all of you who got to go to Star Wars. I think I might have chosen the worst time to be on a mission and picked the worst movie to miss. With that being said, I think all of you who are in the comfort of your own homes in the United States should be jealous of me getting to represent Jesus Christ. There really is no place I would rather be. So tempt me with Star Wars, BYU football games, snow, and good American food and I will still choose to be where I am at. I love New Zealand and I'm so glad to be representing our Savior, Jesus Christ during this special Holiday. I don't think there is a better time of the year to be wearing His name on my chest than right now. I'm so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ which can overcome all things.
I will now try and give a rundown of the days in the week. I probably won't cover them all because of time, and some of them I don't really remember what happened haha.
Monday- Preparation day was rubbish hahaha. So we went to Gisborne to go shopping. Turns out that I still hate shopping, who would have guessed haha. Shopping is the worst, especially when you spend heaps of time doing something you hate and you don't find anything. So lo siento Brunson whanau. Woah everybody watch out I just used three languages in one sentence haha. It's funny to think that I haven’t really used much Maori in my letters home. I do know a little bit of Maori, but not heaps.
Tuesday- Tuesday I gave my first District Meeting training. To put more pressure on me, the Zone Leaders came too haha. Everyone said it was good so I think it must have been alright. Tuesday night Elder Barbosa and I started our exchange with Elder Wark. Elder Wark is a traveling assistant for the mission president. A little bit about Elder Wark; he is from Scotland and has a mean accent. Elder Wark is the man! He taught Elder Barbosa and I heaps and we had a really good time being with him. Tuesday night we did a role play where Elder Wark played the role of his older brother back home. To make a long story short (which I don't do very often) Elder Wark said that we had the best role play he has ever been a part of on his mission, which is pretty mean because Elder Wark goes home this transfer.
Wednesday- Wednesday we finished up our exchange and had some really good lessons! We had heaps of fun teaching our investigators with Elder Wark. I think our two investigators who are set for baptism fell in love with him as well. They loved his accent so much and their family lines go back to Scotland.
Thursday- We went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went to Gisborne with Elder Fellingham and Elder Barbosa stayed in Wairo with Elder Griffin. We had a mean exchange!
Friday- It was my birthday! The day started off really good. We ran up a hill in Gisborne called Kaiti hill. It is a way hard run, but it was so awesome! Elder Fellingham is a good runner so he ran me into the ground. I ran the hill previously when I went on a different exchange with Elder Fellingham. This time we did much better! It was a great birthday present to be able to go running! Friday morning we drove back to Gisborne and had our weekly planning session from 10-12. For my birthday the other Elders shouted my lunch and so that was way nice! We went to the fish and chips shop and had a mean feed. Overall my birthday was way good, but definitely different haha.
Saturday- We meet some way nice people Saturday! It seemed like everywhere we went we got invited to come in. I think we had the most success getting into people's homes this week than all the other weeks on my mission combined haha. We had some good lessons that came from that and we are really excited to start working with the people that we met.
Sunday- Partaking of the sacrament, it's the best! I think that is all I have to say about Sunday, and all that really needs to be said.
Monday- What are the Elders going to be up to today? We are going golfing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited to go out golfing again. Hopefully I will play a little better than last time we went out. We should have loads of fun no matter what so I'm way excited for that!
The church is true!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Monday, December 14, 2015
Summer!
It's so weird to think that in the states it's winter right now. It has been way hot the past week or so here in New Zealand. The weather here is so bipolar though so you never really know what to expect. One day it will be way hot and the next day it will be freezing cold. Sometimes we have all four seasons in one day! One of the days this past week was like that. We woke up and it was freezing cold, but by the end of the day we were in short sleeved shirts. This summer is supposed to be one of the hottest summers in New Zealand and I'm not too sure how I feel about it haha. Elder Barbosa hates the summer, which I think is really funny because he is from Brazil! He says it gets way hotter where he lives but that he just surfs all day so it doesn't bother him.
This past week was a good week. We didn't have heaps of success but we worked really hard. I will just talk about a couple highlights of the week and then we will be heading to Gizzy (Gisborne) for preparation day…going to do some Christmas shopping! As my family knows, I'm not too much of a shopper so we will see how much shopping gets done haha.
So I don't know what's happening to me, I could very possibly be turning into a frog. I have never had a wart in my entire life until I came out on my mission, then I got two! One on my finger, which isn't too big but the other one was on my big toe and it was massive. The wart on my big toe has been bothering me for the past couple months because it is in between the joint on my toe. So after a long day of walking it will be pretty sore. Turns out Elder Barbosa had heaps of warts on his hands so we both thought we might as well get them removed. So Tuesday we drove to Gisborne and got some warts removed haha. I think I might have to go back though because the wart on my foot was ingrown so I will need them to freeze it again.
Tuesday morning before we got our warts removed we had a pretty sad but good experience. So last week we were knocking on doors and we ran into a lady named Coral. Coral was way nice but said that she had been meeting with the JW's. We talked to her for a while and finally got her to agree to meet with us. We were super pumped because she just seemed like a really good person who would accept the gospel. Well Tuesday morning came around and we went to visit her. So we knocked on the door and Coral immediately said that she felt really bad but that she couldn't meet with us. She said that she would feel like she was turning her back on Jehovah. So we talked to her for a little bit but ended up leaving without really teaching her anything. As Elder Barbosa and I drove away we just felt so down. We had been so excited for her to hear our message but she wouldn't even listen to it. We were sad because we knew how much our message could help her and we just wanted her to know that Jesus Christ’s church is on the earth today. Elder Barbosa and I pulled over to the side of the road and started talking about her. We decided after a while of pondering that we should go back to her house and just bear our testimonies. I wish I could tell you that there is a happy ending to the story, that we went and she was converted by our testimonies. Unfortunately that did not happen. But I'm still so glad we went back and shared our testimonies. The spirit was so strong and I increased the strength of my testimony just from going back and sharing it with her. Hopefully one day missionaries will knock on her door and she will remember what she felt as we bore our testimonies with her. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints is Jesus Christ church on the earth.
Thursday we had zone meeting in Gisborne. I have been to Gisborne way too many times in the past week haha. We are going today too and then we have an exchange on Tuesday with the zone leaders so I might be going there again! Zone meeting was way good though, I learned that I have a lot to improve on as a missionary haha. I think that is about it for the week haha! I'm loving New Zealand! Missionary work is way harder than I expected but I love it!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Summer!
It's so weird to think that in the states it's winter right now. It has been way hot the past week or so here in New Zealand. The weather here is so bipolar though so you never really know what to expect. One day it will be way hot and the next day it will be freezing cold. Sometimes we have all four seasons in one day! One of the days this past week was like that. We woke up and it was freezing cold, but by the end of the day we were in short sleeved shirts. This summer is supposed to be one of the hottest summers in New Zealand and I'm not too sure how I feel about it haha. Elder Barbosa hates the summer, which I think is really funny because he is from Brazil! He says it gets way hotter where he lives but that he just surfs all day so it doesn't bother him.
This past week was a good week. We didn't have heaps of success but we worked really hard. I will just talk about a couple highlights of the week and then we will be heading to Gizzy (Gisborne) for preparation day…going to do some Christmas shopping! As my family knows, I'm not too much of a shopper so we will see how much shopping gets done haha.
So I don't know what's happening to me, I could very possibly be turning into a frog. I have never had a wart in my entire life until I came out on my mission, then I got two! One on my finger, which isn't too big but the other one was on my big toe and it was massive. The wart on my big toe has been bothering me for the past couple months because it is in between the joint on my toe. So after a long day of walking it will be pretty sore. Turns out Elder Barbosa had heaps of warts on his hands so we both thought we might as well get them removed. So Tuesday we drove to Gisborne and got some warts removed haha. I think I might have to go back though because the wart on my foot was ingrown so I will need them to freeze it again.
Tuesday morning before we got our warts removed we had a pretty sad but good experience. So last week we were knocking on doors and we ran into a lady named Coral. Coral was way nice but said that she had been meeting with the JW's. We talked to her for a while and finally got her to agree to meet with us. We were super pumped because she just seemed like a really good person who would accept the gospel. Well Tuesday morning came around and we went to visit her. So we knocked on the door and Coral immediately said that she felt really bad but that she couldn't meet with us. She said that she would feel like she was turning her back on Jehovah. So we talked to her for a little bit but ended up leaving without really teaching her anything. As Elder Barbosa and I drove away we just felt so down. We had been so excited for her to hear our message but she wouldn't even listen to it. We were sad because we knew how much our message could help her and we just wanted her to know that Jesus Christ’s church is on the earth today. Elder Barbosa and I pulled over to the side of the road and started talking about her. We decided after a while of pondering that we should go back to her house and just bear our testimonies. I wish I could tell you that there is a happy ending to the story, that we went and she was converted by our testimonies. Unfortunately that did not happen. But I'm still so glad we went back and shared our testimonies. The spirit was so strong and I increased the strength of my testimony just from going back and sharing it with her. Hopefully one day missionaries will knock on her door and she will remember what she felt as we bore our testimonies with her. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints is Jesus Christ church on the earth.
Thursday we had zone meeting in Gisborne. I have been to Gisborne way too many times in the past week haha. We are going today too and then we have an exchange on Tuesday with the zone leaders so I might be going there again! Zone meeting was way good though, I learned that I have a lot to improve on as a missionary haha. I think that is about it for the week haha! I'm loving New Zealand! Missionary work is way harder than I expected but I love it!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Monday, December 7, 2015
December?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes mother I received my Christmas package, thank you heaps haha!
I have no idea where the year has gone! I can't believe that it is already December, and I can't believe it has already snowed twice in Kennewick. Too crazy! This past week was really good and I’ll share some good highlights from our week.
1. I got called to be the District Leader. I'm not actually sure if this is a highlight or not haha. I think I would be fine with being a missionary with no callings my whole mission, but I don't think that the Lord works that way. Anyone who knows me knows that things like being a district leader stress me out. My mom talked about stress in her letter to me and she said that the girls in the family have a tendency to worry a lot. Either I'm a girl or it runs in the whole family haha. Kevin does not stress though so let's hope I'm not a girl haha. I'm very excited to lead the district though, both Wairoa and Nuhaka are tough areas so I want to really keep them pumping. Elder Barbosa and I worked really hard this past transfer and we want to have more success this transfer. When we had our baptism with Tinika and Ricky it was the first baptism here since February. So we are hoping to find more people to baptize this next transfer. Elder Barbosa is probably the hardest working missionary in the mission. Yesterday was fast Sunday and it was 5:00 PM when I pulled into our neighborhood. Elder Barbosa said, “What are we doing?!” I was like, “We are going home to have dinner.” He was like “what?!!” He wanted to keep working haha. I was like, “Man I love your enthusiasm but I'm starving” haha. He is the best son ever though. We have had heaps of fun being companions over this last transfer. I'm very excited to get to spend one more transfer with him. I'm way worried though that this transfer is going to fly by! The whole mission is getting together in 3 weeks for a Christmas Devotional. It is going to be way fun! We are going to be learning a missionary haka. One of the members wrote a haka for our mission and we are all going to learn it. I'm stoked!
2. This week we had our Ward Christmas party! It was so much fun! We played heaps of games and it was fun to run around with all the kids from the ward. We played tug of war with the whole ward and a game where you tie a balloon to your leg and try and pop everyone's balloons with your feet. The best part about the ward party was that we had 5 investigators there. Antonia and Anastasia were two of the investigators (they are sisters) and they also brought their little brother Liam and Antonia brought her son Taylor. Even better than coming to the ward party they both came to church on Sunday! It was way good to have them at church and we are really working hard with them. Antonia is about 24 and has a partner, and Anastasia is like 20 and has a partner as well. So we have a lot to do to work with them still, but they are really making good progress. Back to the ward Christmas party though. After all the games we had a mean feed! We had sausage, hamburgers, and chops. It is funny how much different our ward party is in New Zealand compared the ward parties I am used to. It was heaps of fun though!
3. I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!! It is by far the hardest work I have ever done but I love it so much. It is so great to spend my whole week surrounded by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have realized how little I really involved myself in the gospel back home. I wish I would have studied my scriptures more and read the words of the prophets and the apostles! I love listening to the conference talks so much! My advice for the week is to surround yourself with the gospel. Find ways to be more efficient with your time so that you can really give some time to studying the gospel. Being a missionary is amazing! I love the people of New Zealand, and I love Wairoa so much! I can't believe that I'm going to have to leave Wairoa at some point. I think I could serve my whole mission here.
Bad news for the week haha. I possibly have gained 16 pounds since being in New Zealand haha. Today we went to the pharmacy to weigh ourselves because I was curious if I have put on any weight haha. Well turns out I have added quite a bit of cushion haha. Which was actually surprising, because I don't feel like I'm eating very much. Do I look massive in my pictures haha? I'm really hoping that scale was just broken haha but who knows. If I have already put on 16 pounds in my first area I think I might be in trouble.
I love the mission and I love Christmas. I'm so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he loves me and knows me. I know that he loves each and every one of you and knows you personally. I know he has felt everything we have ever felt, and that he is always there to succor his people. He is always waiting for us to grab his outstretched hand.
Elder Brunson
December?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes mother I received my Christmas package, thank you heaps haha!
I have no idea where the year has gone! I can't believe that it is already December, and I can't believe it has already snowed twice in Kennewick. Too crazy! This past week was really good and I’ll share some good highlights from our week.
1. I got called to be the District Leader. I'm not actually sure if this is a highlight or not haha. I think I would be fine with being a missionary with no callings my whole mission, but I don't think that the Lord works that way. Anyone who knows me knows that things like being a district leader stress me out. My mom talked about stress in her letter to me and she said that the girls in the family have a tendency to worry a lot. Either I'm a girl or it runs in the whole family haha. Kevin does not stress though so let's hope I'm not a girl haha. I'm very excited to lead the district though, both Wairoa and Nuhaka are tough areas so I want to really keep them pumping. Elder Barbosa and I worked really hard this past transfer and we want to have more success this transfer. When we had our baptism with Tinika and Ricky it was the first baptism here since February. So we are hoping to find more people to baptize this next transfer. Elder Barbosa is probably the hardest working missionary in the mission. Yesterday was fast Sunday and it was 5:00 PM when I pulled into our neighborhood. Elder Barbosa said, “What are we doing?!” I was like, “We are going home to have dinner.” He was like “what?!!” He wanted to keep working haha. I was like, “Man I love your enthusiasm but I'm starving” haha. He is the best son ever though. We have had heaps of fun being companions over this last transfer. I'm very excited to get to spend one more transfer with him. I'm way worried though that this transfer is going to fly by! The whole mission is getting together in 3 weeks for a Christmas Devotional. It is going to be way fun! We are going to be learning a missionary haka. One of the members wrote a haka for our mission and we are all going to learn it. I'm stoked!
2. This week we had our Ward Christmas party! It was so much fun! We played heaps of games and it was fun to run around with all the kids from the ward. We played tug of war with the whole ward and a game where you tie a balloon to your leg and try and pop everyone's balloons with your feet. The best part about the ward party was that we had 5 investigators there. Antonia and Anastasia were two of the investigators (they are sisters) and they also brought their little brother Liam and Antonia brought her son Taylor. Even better than coming to the ward party they both came to church on Sunday! It was way good to have them at church and we are really working hard with them. Antonia is about 24 and has a partner, and Anastasia is like 20 and has a partner as well. So we have a lot to do to work with them still, but they are really making good progress. Back to the ward Christmas party though. After all the games we had a mean feed! We had sausage, hamburgers, and chops. It is funny how much different our ward party is in New Zealand compared the ward parties I am used to. It was heaps of fun though!
3. I love being a missionary!!!!!!!!! It is by far the hardest work I have ever done but I love it so much. It is so great to spend my whole week surrounded by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have realized how little I really involved myself in the gospel back home. I wish I would have studied my scriptures more and read the words of the prophets and the apostles! I love listening to the conference talks so much! My advice for the week is to surround yourself with the gospel. Find ways to be more efficient with your time so that you can really give some time to studying the gospel. Being a missionary is amazing! I love the people of New Zealand, and I love Wairoa so much! I can't believe that I'm going to have to leave Wairoa at some point. I think I could serve my whole mission here.
Bad news for the week haha. I possibly have gained 16 pounds since being in New Zealand haha. Today we went to the pharmacy to weigh ourselves because I was curious if I have put on any weight haha. Well turns out I have added quite a bit of cushion haha. Which was actually surprising, because I don't feel like I'm eating very much. Do I look massive in my pictures haha? I'm really hoping that scale was just broken haha but who knows. If I have already put on 16 pounds in my first area I think I might be in trouble.
I love the mission and I love Christmas. I'm so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he loves me and knows me. I know that he loves each and every one of you and knows you personally. I know he has felt everything we have ever felt, and that he is always there to succor his people. He is always waiting for us to grab his outstretched hand.
Elder Brunson
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Monday November 30, 2015
Thanksgiving!
This is the first year I'm thankful I didn't eat thanksgiving dinner haha. I'm not sure anyone will recognize me when I get home, so it was probably for the best that I missed out on the extra calories haha.
Transfers week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess where I'm going?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wairoa haha. As it stands right now I will still be training Elder Barbosa. Who knows, maybe President Rudd will call later and relieve me of my duties haha. Hopefully I'm doing a good enough job so that won't happen haha. I did hear some really good transfer news though! Elder Bowmen from my intake is coming to Nuhaka!!!! He will be in our district so I'm super pumped for the next transfer. It is going to be heaps of fun! Elder Bowmen is like 6ft 5 and loves to play basketball. All we did at the MTC during our lunch break was play basketball..... well until I smashed my ankle haha.
This week has been pretty crazy! I will try and give a little recap.
Monday we went golfing for P-Day!!!!!!! I learned that you shouldn't tell your mother that you are going to work on the Christ like attribute of patience before you go golfing. Heavenly Father must have a sense of humor because I literally played the worst round of golf ever haha. I snap hooked almost every drive. Guess what hole I didn't snap hook my drive?!! Of course as you could guess haha, the last hole! Everyone should be proud to know that I didn't break, smash, throw, or eat any golf clubs. I remained pretty calm given the circumstances haha. I was smashing my irons though! I would have played way better if I just hit irons off the tee. Monday night we went on a mini exchange with our zone leaders. I went out with Elder Harmon who had served in Wairoa at the beginning of his mission. He is going home this week!!!!!! He is way nice and I learned a lot from him.
Tuesday we had district meeting in Wairoa and afterwards I made some mean crumbed venison. Yes believe it or not Elder Brunson really did make crumbed venison. Well I should say, Elder Landis and I made crumbed venison. I did the hardest part though, cooking the venison. Elder Holmes and I made crumbed venison before but it wasn't very good haha. We cooked it way too long so it was way chewy. This time I cooked it and it was literally perfect! It was way soft, and it must have been cooked all the way because nobody has died haha. After the mean feed, I went with Elder Fellingham to Gisborne on an exchange. We had a really good exchange! His teaching style is way unique so I learned a lot from him.
Wednesday was crazy haha. Wednesday morning Elder Fellingham and I decided to go running for our workout. I was so pumped because I have only got to run once since being out on my mission. We ran up this massive hill. Elder Fellingham is a skinny fella so he is a way good runner. I think I almost died a couple of times on the run. When we got back we were both coughing up our lungs haha. Wednesday morning we got a call from Elder Harmon, the other Zone Leader, that Elder Landis had to come up to the doctors in Gisborne. We had to wait ages for Elder Landis to be able to get into the doctor though, so we ended up spending pretty much the whole day in Gisborne. On our way home we decided to stop and McDonalds to get a treat for our ride home. As we were standing in line a member from one of the Gisborne wards came up to us and started talking with us. They ended up buying us all mac attacks! Let me tell you what a mac attack is haha. A mac attack has two Big Macs, a medium fry, and a medium drink. They bought each of us one, which probably cost like $50! It was way nice of them! So if you are reading this letter go find a missionary and spoil them with something good. Don't worry mom, I didn't eat both of the Big Macs haha, I gave one to my companion haha.
Thursday- Don't remember Thursday haha
Friday- Did some service at sister Dison’s house haha.
Saturday- This is turning into a 3 day recap haha, not a week recap
Sunday was a mean day! Ricky got the Aaronic Priesthood! The Stake Patriarch is related to him, so he came down to Wairoa so he could give him the priesthood. It was a very good experience and Ricky was way happy to get the priesthood. Tinika is doing very good as well! It truly is amazing the changes that have happened in their lives. It still amazes me every day with what they have been able to do. Sunday afternoon we had a mean lesson with one of our investigators who haven’t really been progressing. Their names are Charlie and Stephanie. They are in their 30's and have 4 kids. We haven't really been able to teach them much. However, Sunday afternoon we had a really good lesson with them. They committed to reading The Book of Mormon every day this week and also to read The Book of Mormon picture book with their kids. They are an amazing family and I love them heaps. Their boys get so excited when we come around and see them.
Well I was able to remember 4 out of the 7 days haha. This past week was really good and I can't believe that I am going to be leaving Wairoa in 6 weeks! I love the people here and I don't really want to leave. I think I could serve the rest of my mission here, I'm sure the people would get tired of me though! I love this gospel. Happiness comes from keeping the commandments, and when we keep the commandments and keep our covenants we can be sure that we will have eternal happiness. I can't believe it snowed in Kennewick haha
Love,
Elder Brunson
Thanksgiving!
This is the first year I'm thankful I didn't eat thanksgiving dinner haha. I'm not sure anyone will recognize me when I get home, so it was probably for the best that I missed out on the extra calories haha.
Transfers week!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess where I'm going?!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wairoa haha. As it stands right now I will still be training Elder Barbosa. Who knows, maybe President Rudd will call later and relieve me of my duties haha. Hopefully I'm doing a good enough job so that won't happen haha. I did hear some really good transfer news though! Elder Bowmen from my intake is coming to Nuhaka!!!! He will be in our district so I'm super pumped for the next transfer. It is going to be heaps of fun! Elder Bowmen is like 6ft 5 and loves to play basketball. All we did at the MTC during our lunch break was play basketball..... well until I smashed my ankle haha.
This week has been pretty crazy! I will try and give a little recap.
Monday we went golfing for P-Day!!!!!!! I learned that you shouldn't tell your mother that you are going to work on the Christ like attribute of patience before you go golfing. Heavenly Father must have a sense of humor because I literally played the worst round of golf ever haha. I snap hooked almost every drive. Guess what hole I didn't snap hook my drive?!! Of course as you could guess haha, the last hole! Everyone should be proud to know that I didn't break, smash, throw, or eat any golf clubs. I remained pretty calm given the circumstances haha. I was smashing my irons though! I would have played way better if I just hit irons off the tee. Monday night we went on a mini exchange with our zone leaders. I went out with Elder Harmon who had served in Wairoa at the beginning of his mission. He is going home this week!!!!!! He is way nice and I learned a lot from him.
Tuesday we had district meeting in Wairoa and afterwards I made some mean crumbed venison. Yes believe it or not Elder Brunson really did make crumbed venison. Well I should say, Elder Landis and I made crumbed venison. I did the hardest part though, cooking the venison. Elder Holmes and I made crumbed venison before but it wasn't very good haha. We cooked it way too long so it was way chewy. This time I cooked it and it was literally perfect! It was way soft, and it must have been cooked all the way because nobody has died haha. After the mean feed, I went with Elder Fellingham to Gisborne on an exchange. We had a really good exchange! His teaching style is way unique so I learned a lot from him.
Wednesday was crazy haha. Wednesday morning Elder Fellingham and I decided to go running for our workout. I was so pumped because I have only got to run once since being out on my mission. We ran up this massive hill. Elder Fellingham is a skinny fella so he is a way good runner. I think I almost died a couple of times on the run. When we got back we were both coughing up our lungs haha. Wednesday morning we got a call from Elder Harmon, the other Zone Leader, that Elder Landis had to come up to the doctors in Gisborne. We had to wait ages for Elder Landis to be able to get into the doctor though, so we ended up spending pretty much the whole day in Gisborne. On our way home we decided to stop and McDonalds to get a treat for our ride home. As we were standing in line a member from one of the Gisborne wards came up to us and started talking with us. They ended up buying us all mac attacks! Let me tell you what a mac attack is haha. A mac attack has two Big Macs, a medium fry, and a medium drink. They bought each of us one, which probably cost like $50! It was way nice of them! So if you are reading this letter go find a missionary and spoil them with something good. Don't worry mom, I didn't eat both of the Big Macs haha, I gave one to my companion haha.
Thursday- Don't remember Thursday haha
Friday- Did some service at sister Dison’s house haha.
Saturday- This is turning into a 3 day recap haha, not a week recap
Sunday was a mean day! Ricky got the Aaronic Priesthood! The Stake Patriarch is related to him, so he came down to Wairoa so he could give him the priesthood. It was a very good experience and Ricky was way happy to get the priesthood. Tinika is doing very good as well! It truly is amazing the changes that have happened in their lives. It still amazes me every day with what they have been able to do. Sunday afternoon we had a mean lesson with one of our investigators who haven’t really been progressing. Their names are Charlie and Stephanie. They are in their 30's and have 4 kids. We haven't really been able to teach them much. However, Sunday afternoon we had a really good lesson with them. They committed to reading The Book of Mormon every day this week and also to read The Book of Mormon picture book with their kids. They are an amazing family and I love them heaps. Their boys get so excited when we come around and see them.
Well I was able to remember 4 out of the 7 days haha. This past week was really good and I can't believe that I am going to be leaving Wairoa in 6 weeks! I love the people here and I don't really want to leave. I think I could serve the rest of my mission here, I'm sure the people would get tired of me though! I love this gospel. Happiness comes from keeping the commandments, and when we keep the commandments and keep our covenants we can be sure that we will have eternal happiness. I can't believe it snowed in Kennewick haha
Love,
Elder Brunson
Monday, November 23, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
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| Elder Barbosa, Ricky, Tinika, Elder Brunson |
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| Tinika and her son Rick |
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| Tanika and Elder Brunson
Monday, October 23, 2015
Miracles!!!!!!
Man we had a mean week this week! I'm
going to try and write a good letter but I'm kind of distracted... you know why??........We
are going golfing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so pumped haha. It feels
like ages since I’ve golfed and I'm ready to swing a club again. We are
golfing with the Zone Leaders (Elder Harmon and Elder Fellingham) and we are
golfing with the Nuhaka Elders (Elder Landis and Elder Hawkins). We all
golf except for Elder Barbosa haha. Elder Barbosa is really excited to go
golfing for the first time though! It should be way fun! The course
isn't very nice but I really don't mind haha. Mom, I promise I won't
throw any clubs either haha. I will be working on the Christ like
attribute of patience while I'm golfing haha.
Man we had so many miracles this week I can't
even count them. I will start with one of my favorite miracles
haha. It is probably one of my favorite miracles because it is the
definition of Elder Brunson. So a couple of weeks ago I left my camera
out in the rain and it got drenched. The good news was the camera still
worked. The bad news was it wasn't working very well haha. I did
not tell my mom about the incident because she just spent a lot of time and
money to try and get me a cord for my camera so I could connect it to the
computer and be able to send pictures home. I was very frustrated because
I didn’t want the time my mom spent to buy and mail me the right cord to be
wasted. Well, to make matters worse, my camera literally stopped
working. It kept saying low battery and then it would just shut
off. I knew there wasn't a low battery because I had just put brand new
batteries into the camera. I was stressing out about it all week because
I really didn't want to tell my mom I broke my camera. Also I'm too cheap
so there was no way I was going to buy another camera haha. Well the day
before the baptism I had a bright idea. I decided to say a prayer and try
to see if I could get my camera to work. I said a prayer and I
immediately had the brilliant idea to put new batteries in the camera. I
really didn't understand why I would do that because I had already put new
batteries in the camera but I did it anyway. Guess what?!!!!!!! The
camera started working haha! It was a simple prayer and I have a
testimony that Heavenly Father answers even our simple prayers.
Next miracle! Tinika and Ricky were
baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was such an amazing experience getting to meet
them and see their progression. Tinika getting baptized really was an
amazing miracle. Last week Tinika had not been able to keep the word of
wisdom. She was trying really hard but she just couldn't give those
things up. I was stressing out because she was having her interview on
Wednesday and on Saturday she still wasn't keeping the word of
wisdom. I wasn't sure what we should do.
We had already fasted for her but she was still struggling. Well Sunday came
around and Elder Barbosa and I fasted for her again, and guess what?!!! She was
able to keep the word of wisdom all of Sunday. Monday night
we had family home evening at Tinika and Ricky's house, and guess what?!!! She
was able to keep the word of wisdom all of Monday as well!!! We
decided that we were going to have a group fast for Tinika, so our ward mission
leader, Tinika, Ricky, and Tinika's sister Carol all fasted for Tinika to be
able to keep the word of wisdom to prepare her to be baptized. Guess
what?! She has been able to keep the word of wisdom without any
problems. The amazing thing is that she has had a heavy addiction to
cigarettes her whole life and was able to just quit. We asked her how she
was able to do it and she said through prayer and fasting. Every time she
felt tempted she said that she would pray for the strength to overcome the
temptations. My testimony has grown significantly and I know that through
prayer and fasting we can overcome anything. Tinika is an amazing example to me
and she has come so far since we started teaching her. It has been such
an amazing experience to get to teach her from start to finish. I have
seen both her and Ricky progress so much! The Baptism day was amazing! They were
both so happy and there was such a sweet spirit at the baptism. I feel
like I could come home now haha. Nahh just kidding. There are heaps more people waiting for the
same blessings that Tinika and Ricky just got. I know there is no way
that Tinika could have just given up her addictions without there being a
loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers. The quickness of her giving
everything up had special power behind it, and there is no way our Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ were not behind her, lifting her up. I love being
a missionary and getting to see the happiness that comes into people's lives
from keeping the commandments of God.
Mosiah 2:41 is still my favorite
scripture:
“I
would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those
that keep the commandments of God. For
behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if
they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby
they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are
true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.”
I love you all heaps!
Love,
Elder Brunson
|
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
Happy
Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's
mama's birthday and I'm not even sure how old she is haha! I did remember
to put two spaces at the start of my first sentence though haha. My mom
was giving me a hard time because I haven't been putting the customary two
spaces before I start my sentence. We will see how long I can go without
forgetting to put two spaces. When your mom has held your hand until you
are 18 years old, you don't really know what to do without her haha.
Including her correcting every single one of my English assignments. I'm
not really sure if it is cheating, or if it's just getting extra help.
All I know is without my mom I would never have passed any of my English
classes. I know my mom will continue to help me pass my classes in the
future ;) I think the Brunson kids are the only kids who have the right
to say that they have the best mom in the whole world, and that is because of
the simple fact that it is true. I love my mom heaps. She is the
most selfless, loving person I have ever met in my whole life. I didn't
realize how much I looked up to her until I came out on my mission.
Everything I attempt to do is to be like my mom. I obviously don't do
anything close to as good as she does, but I always look to her example.
Mom you would have been a great missionary. Someday you will be a great
missionary when you and papi hit the streets haha. I think every Monday I
could just email about my mom and tell everyone how great you are. If you
want to have a fun afternoon, you go and hangout with mom. Mamma Brunson always
makes sure that her kids are happy campers. Even when she takes us to do
ridiculous things like shopping, she always makes sure we have a good
time. Some of my best memories have come from spending time with my mom
running errands. She is always there to talk to, when you need someone to
listen. I wish I would have relied on her more when I was at home.
It's true I'm a mama's boy haha.
I
absolutely love Elder Holland's talk from General Conference; I just keep
listening to it over and over again. I love when he says, “No
love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ
than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child.”
I know that my mom has this kind of love. She truly is an amazing woman, and I look
up to her so much.
Let's
see, what did we do this week? Last preparation day we went to those
caves where Elder Holmes almost died. This time we had a little bit more
light than last time. I was the only one smart enough to bring a light haha.
It all worked out though and we had a really good time. We took some
sweet pictures in the caves that I will have to send to you.
Last
week was pretty much a normal week except for the fact that we had to make
a surprise visit to Gisborne. Elder Barbosa still had
not paid for his bike so we had to drive up to meet one of the senior
couples in Gisborne. I don't know if I ever told you about when I paid
for my bike haha. I just put $650 in an envelope and sent it to the
mission office through the mail haha. I don't know if that was the safest
way to do it, but oh well. It got there safely haha. So Friday afternoon
we drove to Gisborne. When we got to Gisborne we had to wait for like an
hour for the senior couple to arrive. Then we were going to help some missionaries
move their stuff out of their flat and into a new flat, however we did not
end up moving them so that was a waste of time. Then we drove back to
Wairoa and our whole day was pretty much gone.
This
week we have really been focused on helping prepare Tinika for baptism.
She is still having a tough time with the word of wisdom so we have been seeing
her heaps to make sure she can be ready. We have been praying heaps
so hopefully she can be ready for her baptism this weekend. We
are way excited for them! You know how I told you that Ricky is the
man?! Well he really is the man. He saved our week this week.
This week was kind of long and we didn't have heaps of success but Sunday made
everything worth it. Ricky brought two more friends to church; their
names are Chelsea and Bradley. Ricky has already been bringing his friend
Tarquin who we should hopefully be baptizing soon! Now we have two more
potential investigators as well.
Hopefully they will all be coming to family home evening tonight.
The work is really moving along, and we are eager to see heaps of success these
next two months. I love being a missionary and I am humbled every day to
get to represent Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful to have an infinite
atonement which allows me to overcome my many weaknesses. I'm
forever grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ.
Love,
Elder
Brunson
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
This week flew by!
Monday- For preparation day we went to the beach! The Nuhaka Elders were busy so Elder Barbosa
and I decided to just go down to the beach for the day. When we got there one of our investigators
happened to be there. Can you guess who it was? Matiu! Matiu
is the man! He makes traditional Maori
instruments and makes heaps of traditional things out of wood. (I sent a picture last week of me playing one
of his instruments.) He also goes all
around New Zealand and plays the traditional instruments for people so that it
way cool! Matiu stayed and chilled with
us for about an hour. It was so
hott!!!!!! It was fun to hang out with him! Matiu will hopefully be baptized sometime next
transfer. He needs to get married first.
Their wedding is planned on November 28th so sometime after that he
will hopefully be baptized!
Tuesday-
Tuesday night we started an exchange with the Nuhaka missionaries. I was with Elder Hawkins a missionary from
England! He seems way cool and we had a
really good time! The only bad part was
I got absolutely no sleep that night! Elder
Hawkins snores like a grizzly bear... no joke! I don't think I have ever heard a human being
make the noises he did in his sleep. Even when I somehow managed to fall asleep, my
body would be jolted awake from his non-human noises. I think they were actually scaring me in my
sleep haha and that's what was waking me up. No jokes I think I got like 2 or 3 hours of
sleep at the most. It was terrible!
Wednesday-
Wednesday was pouring rain and freezing cold!!!!!!!!!! It went from like
70's to 30's overnight, it was insane. Luckily we had heaps of people to see that day
so we weren't out in the bad weather much. It was literally the most rain I have ever
seen in my whole life! It didn't even
let up all day. Usually if it rains hard it is off and on, but that was not the
case. It rained hard ALL DAY!!!!!! Wednesday night we drove to
Gisborne for Zone meeting. We stayed in
the Zone Leaders flat with the Nuhaka Elders. It was so much fun! We played a couple games of Monopoly Deal
which got pretty intense. I had never
played Monopoly Deal, which is weird because I think Katie and Amanda love
it.
Thursday-
Thursday we had a mean zone meeting! I learned heaps and everyone really felt the
spirit it was way cool! Elder Barbosa and I shared the miracle moment of the
week! We talked about the two people we
met from Germany haha. Everyone really likes my storytelling (unlike my family)
so I'm starting to build my rep haha. Elder
Rios was the first person to love my storytelling haha. Whenever we were around
people or missionaries who didn't know me he would have me tell them my losing
my luggage story haha. I love telling
stories, maybe I should become a professional storyteller for a living haha. After Zone Meeting we went to Carl's Junior
haha. Yes they have CJ's in New Zealand!
My burger was way mean but my shake was very disappointing. It was by far the worst shake I have ever had
in my entire life. It was so watery it
wasn't even funny. It was like I was
drinking cookies and cream flavored water.
Friday- Highlight of Friday, I met an Italian
guy!!!!! I was like, “My sister is serving a mission in Italy!” He invited us
to sit down outside his house and we talked with him for about an hour. I shouldn't say we talked with him though
haha. More like we listened to him for an hour. He gave us a history on pretty much everything
that has ever happened in this world. He
had some very interesting views, and he sure love Barack Obama ;) Every time we
tried to talk he just talked over us haha. I was hoping that he was going to be
keen but he really wasn't.
Saturday- We contacted two of the people from the area
book. They are sisters and their names are Anastasia and Antonia. I have contacted them once with Elder Holmes
but we didn't really get to teach anything. Then Elder Barbosa and I ran into
them in the street the other day and had a pretty good lesson with them. I love Wairoa because it so small. I pretty much know everyone in the whole town
and you run into everyone you know pretty much every day. Anyway, we went to
their house Saturday night and had the meanest lesson ever! The reason they had been dropped by previous
missionaries was because of the Church's stand on homosexual relationships (no
they are not homosexual) but they do have family who are. I was so worried about going to their house
and trying to resolve this concern. Well
the Lord took care of us and we actually ended up resolving their concern! We answered heaps of their questions and the
spirit was really strong! It was way
mean and we invited them to church and to this fireside that we were having at
church Sunday night! They said that they couldn't make it to church but
that they would come to the fireside.
Sunday- Right before church Elder Barbosa and I got a
call from Brother Maehe (2nd Counselor in the Bishopric) and he asked if we
could fill in for two speakers. We of
course said yes because we are the missionaries haha. I gave a talk on faith and it was the longest
talk I have ever given, I spoke for 25 minutes so that was pretty crazy haha. I
have now spoken 3 times in this ward haha. Some of the other missionaries say
they never have to speak in their wards. Sunday night was a mean
fireside! A Maori fella named Herewini
Jones came and gave a presentation. He studies culture and relates family
history and culture to The Book of Mormon. You guys should definitely look him up!
Antonia and Anastasia came to the fireside and they said they really enjoyed
it! We had a feed after the fireside and
I got to try muscles! They were way
good!!!!!!!! I had heaps haha. I also had heaps of other food! I don't think you will recognize me by the
time I get back.
My testimony is growing heaps and I love
doing the work! It is far from being
easy but it is definitely worth it. I
don't know how I could forget! Tinika’s
son Ricky is set for baptism!!!!!!!!!!! They are both set for November
21st! We are so excited. Ricky is 12 and he is the man! Sunday he
stayed for all 3 hours of church and came to the two hour fireside! He is way
cool! When we first started teaching Tinika he wasn't very interested, but now
he loves seeing us and is really progressing heaps. Tinika still has some
things to work on but I know the Lord will help her to be prepared! I love New Zealand!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
Tracting! Halloween! and Germans!
Mom you can no longer say that I haven't ever
had to work hard in my whole life haha. This
week Elder Barbosa and I smashed it! I
have literally never been so tired when I go to bed as I have been this week. I think we have knocked on about every door in
the entire town of Wairoa. Wairoa isn't
very big so it doesn't take long to cover the entire town. We haven't actually knocked all of the doors,
but I'm sure by the end of these 12 weeks, we will have knocked almost every
door. Elder Barbosa loves working hard so it is great to have him as a
companion. He is the man! Our teaching pool is so small that when I run
out of ideas, we just go knock on doors. It's not very effective to say the least, but
it's better than driving around in circles, or wasting time at a member's home.
We also have done heaps of street
contacting! I like street contacting but
it's not very effective in Wairoa. We
have one main street in Wairoa that has several shops on it. So when you try and talk to people on the main
street they are all going somewhere and don't want to stop to talk to you. With that being said, we found heaps of
potential investigators from street contacting this week. We had some really keen people but sadly our
return appointments with all of them fell through. One of them was an empty house haha. The other
one hasn't been home and her Aunt keeps telling us to stop wasting time. The other one was a 15 year old girl named
Evening who we invited to church but she didn't come. I'm hoping we are able to work with those
people, especially Evening because she is searching for which church she wants
to join. Although we didn't have heaps
of success with return appointments this week we did set one of our
investigators for baptism. I don't know
if you remember the mean exchange I had with Elder Mathews who is an assistant
to the president. Well we found two
sisters, Tenika and Carol a couple of weeks ago and taught them the restoration
on the street. Well Tenika has come to church the last two Sundays and we set
her to be baptized for November 21st!!!!! We are super pumped. We are
also teaching her son Ricky (12) and his friend Taquinn (15). They both went on a youth trip to Gisborne
this weekend. I hope they had a really
good time! They are both keen on getting
baptized so we will see how it goes.
Halloween was so lame haha! Halloween isn't really big here. There were
heaps of kids on the main street trick or treating but other than that it was
pretty lame. It is nothing like what it
is in the States. Mom I loved the candy corn that you sent me!!! I ate my last couple of pieces yesterday to
celebrate Halloween in the States. The costumes here are also pretty lame. Everyone was pretty much dressed up as a
zombie, so everyone looked the same. Elder Barbosa and I talked about going and
dressing up as missionaries to try and get lollies. The town is too small
though and everyone would recognize us so we decided we should not haha.
Alright you are probably wondering about the
Germans haha. This week we had two crazy experiences. On Friday night
I had no idea what we should do. It was 8
o'clock and the people we usually see on Friday nights were
gone. So we drove to one of our less active member’s house named Senie. He
lives by himself and a car we didn't recognize was parked outside of his house so
we thought that we better not interrupt him. We decided to say a prayer and ask Heavenly
Father to help us find something to do. We
decided to go to our go to spot....Marine Parade (the main street) and guess
what???!!!! There was nobody down there haha. By this time it was 8:20. We
decide to go back and try Senie again. Guess what??!!! The car was gone!!! But
also guess what?!!! I forgot my USB and our plan was to show him a Mormon
message. So we drove to the flat and got
my USB and we were about to drive back but I looked over at Elder Barbosa and was like,
"Do you think we should go to Senie's?" We both felt like we shouldn't but we still
had no idea what to do. I decided that
we would drive to Marine parade and no matter what we would just get out and
start walking. We saw a couple people
but they were all really busy. We kept
walking and I was like man, we really need to find someone! Than out of this parking lot came a guy that
looked like he was in his 20's. We end
up talking to him and his name was Nicholas and he is from Germany! He is just traveling around New Zealand for
fun and was just staying the night in Wairoa and then going to Napier in the
morning. We ended up having a mean
lesson with him! We taught him the
Restoration and then gave him The Book of Mormon and invited him to read and
pray about it. He said he would and he
was really pumped! It was a mean lesson
but we were sad that we won't get to see if he reads and prays about The Book of
Mormon. Elder Barbosa and I talked about
how mean it would be to have him come up to us in the afterlife and be like,
"Do you remember me?" and then he tells us the story of his
conversion. Who knows what will happen haha. Well if it is not crazy enough to meet a
German in one of the smallest towns in New Zealand, listen to this. So Sunday Elder
Babosa and I were street contacting. Guess where we were street contacting?! Marine Parade haha. Well we ran into this girl who was 25. We start talking to her and guess where she is
from?!!! Germany!!!!! We were like, no way!!!! I asked her if she
was with Nicholas. She said she wasn't
and that she was just with herself. She
said that she was just traveling around New Zealand for fun (same as Nicholas).
We told her about Nicholas and she
thought it was the coolest thing ever. We ended up teaching her about the Restoration
and gave her The Book of Mormon and invited her to read and pray about it. It was also a mean lesson! She wasn't as keen
as Nicholas but it was still way mean. We than asked her where she was going next...guess
where?!!! Napier!!! hahaha We were like no way that is where Nicholas just
went. We than told her that they were going to meet up and they were going to
talk about The Book of Mormon and then become members of the church. It was so crazy haha! Elder Barbosa and I are hoping they meet up,
fall in love, become members of the church, and live happily with their family
forever haha. It would be one in a
million though. But I think it was
already one in a million that we found two Germans doing the exact same thing
in Wairoa.
I know that Heavenly Father does answer prayers
and that he loves each and everyone one of his children. No matter what choices we make He will always
love us!!!!!
Love,
Elder
Brunson
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