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| This is my favorite picture so far! How come the silent attack dog is barking in the picture? haha |
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| This is my one dollar golf club. |
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| Elder Rios, the man! |
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Monday, August 31, 2015
Wow it sounds like the Brunson family had
a great week at Mt. Rainier and Camp Zarahemla!
I'm
not sure my week can compare but I’ll attempt to tell you about it. So
first off I will tell you guys a little more about my companion. His name
is Elder Holmes and he just turned 20. He
is from Saint George, Utah. He is a real funny guy and is super good at
doing voice impressions, so that reminds me of my papi. His best
impression is probably the Grinch. It is pretty crack up when he does that
one. He didn't play sports in high school but he really likes sports. He likes a lot of things I like. He really loves movies so we talk about the movies
we like in our limited spare time. We both really love Jimmy Fallon
too. Funny story actually! So we
both love watching Jimmy and one day we went to a nursing home to visit this
old lady from our ward. She had the T.V. on and guess what show was on? Jimmy Fallon!!!!!!!! We both wanted to watch
it so bad, but we were good missionaries and didn't watch it! (I miss watching Jimmy. Last year in school during my computer apps
class I would finish my work in two seconds and then watch Jimmy Fallon for the
rest of class, it was the best!) Anyways
back to my companion. He is a really
nice guy and we get along but it’s his first time training and he has only been
out 6 months. He has a great testimony
and loves the gospel but I feel like I'm really far behind. He doesn't exactly train me all that much, so
I have kind of felt like all the learning has been put on me. It’s really hard
to say anything to him too because he kind of just says everything is fine and
not to worry. He is a great guy though and he has a ton of
knowledge. He has 2 sisters who are both married and a 12 year old
brother.
Now the question you have all been waiting for (all meaning my mother)…did I eat
goat? So last preparation day we had planned to eat goat for my companion’s
bday. The Filipino, Elder Gutierrez was so excited to cook it. However, when we
got to Amy and Logan’s, which are our investigators who live out on a farm,
they were frantically trying to get one of their cows up. So here is the
story. They had this cow that was giving birth to twins. The first
cow made it out alive but the second cow died inside of her. This somehow
made the momma cow pinch a nerve which caused her to lose the feeling in the
back of her legs. Most farmers at this
point would just shoot the cow, however, Amy and Logan are really poor and
shooting the cow costs $2,000 so they decided they would try and help her to
walk. So they got a tractor and attached the cow to it and lifted it up,
then we as missionaries held a board up to the cow’s butt so it wouldn't fall
over backwards. It is really hard to explain but we ended up spending p-day
trying to support a cow. I stepped in cow poo a couple of times which wasn’t
very pleasant haha. It was cool though that we were able to serve on our pday!
Elder Gutierrez was so sad though and he
kept trying to convince his companion (the district leader) Elder Rios, to come
back Tuesday and have another preparation day since we served. Elder
Rios shut that idea down real quick haha.
Tuesday we went on a companionship exchange which was
great! I went with Elder Rios and we had
a ton of fun! I felt like our day was
way more productive than the other days on my mission. The thing was we weren't
seeing any more people than we normally do but we were trying much harder to
find people. Elder Rios taught me a lot and he is a great guy. We
get along really well, we are really similar and he thinks it is really funny
how much my mom did for me in preparing for my mission. He will ask me where I got something and I
will always say, "I don't know, my mom got it." So now when he asks me where I got something
he just says, “Should I ask your mom?” He
calls my suitcase the pharmacy because I have so much medication. He told me to thank momma Brunson because on
the night of our exchange he had some stomach acid so I gave him some tums and
it really helped.
Friday night we had a movie night at the church. We watched Ephraim's Rescue. I forgot how much I love that movie. RT watched
that movie with us one time when we were driving home from Utah. We
thought we would get a bunch of investigators to the movie night but we only
had one so that was sad. But it was
really good none the less and my testimony was strengthened just by watching
the movie. The power of the priesthood is real! And it’s real because we have the same
priesthood authority that Jesus Christ held when he was on the earth! Elder and Sister Belliston came and put the
movie on. They are the Senior couple from Gisborne. They are super nice. They were supposed to send a picture of me and
Elder Holmes but I didn't know your email since it’s new. I tried to give them dad’s work email but I'm
not sure if I remembered it right. Also
she was going to try and add you as a friend on Facebook mom. Also they have really good friends serving a
mission in Denmark so they were going to see if they know Grandma and Grandpa
Ottley.
Sunday I gave my first talk since being out on my
mission! I made it the whole 15 minutes
without a single note! I was a little
nervous! People think missionaries
aren't human but we are, we get nervous! I had to ask someone after I gave my talk if
it was in English or not because it sounded Chinese to me!
I love you all, thanks for reading my emails, and thank you
to all the people who have influenced me in my life!
Did Berek get his mission call? I keep thinking about him. He is going to be a great missionary!!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Monday, August 23, 2015
I realized after reading Sorella Brunson’s
email that she kind of gives a summary in the subject headline of what she is
going to talk about but I'm not that cool so I'm just going to get right into
it! I can't believe it is already time to write home again! I feel like I was just writing and I really
don't have too much to say haha. Also, my weeks here just kind of mix together
so I have no idea what I have and haven't told you about my mission.
Katie started her last letter talking
about loving the people and I can second that! The people here become your family and become
your best friends. I know my love for
the Maori people will only continue to grow as I learn more about the culture
and continue to strengthen my relationship with them. They are some of
the most humble people I have ever met. They don't have much but what
they have they give to everyone! They also have so much faith! They are not scholarly people by any means but
they have faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and they know that the gospel will
help them overcome any trial in their life.
We had a real funny experience with
brother Mahe, the first counselor in the bishopric. He came up to us
after church and was like, “Elders I think my wife needs a blessing. I gave her a blessing but it didn't work. I think I'm running out of powers!” It was funny because even though he was
lacking in his own faith to heal her he had faith that a blessing from the
missionaries would surely help her.
Elder Brunson really is learning a lot and
really improving as a person on this mission.
Here is a list of areas where I'm
improving:
1) I am clean shaven every day.
2) I floss my teeth every day- this is truly
a miracle because I hate flossing so much!
3) I now know how to wash my clothes for
myself. I don't need my mom to do it for
me anymore.
4) I can iron a white shirt, pretty amazing!
5) I keep a clean and tidy flat- Yes, I am
pretty much my mother of our apartment.
6) I have learned how much I love my
family. You don't understand how much appreciation you have for your
family until they are gone! The amount
of respect I have for my mom has grown so much. All the Elders here make
fun of me because my mom has done everything for me. I told them about
losing my luggage and one of the Elders almost died laughing. I told him you packed all of my stuff so I
didn't recognize any of my bags. I really do wish that I would have done
more to help get ready for my mission. I put all the weight on you and
that wasn't fair. I wish I would have helped out more around the house as
well. When you are on a mission all you do is serve for two years, and in
one month I have already realized how little I did. When I get back I will make up for it momma
haha.
This week we had a great experience with
working with members and the perfect timing of the Lord. So Friday we were at our Bishop’s
and he told us that for some reason he had his cousin Lehi's name in his head
and thought we should go see him. Elder Holmes had never met Lehi before
but we told him that we would go visit him on Saturday. Saturday came
around and so we went over and saw Lehi. When we got there we could
immediately tell that he didn't want anything to do with us. We kept trying to talk with him though and he
slowly started to open up. He told us that his family was going through a
rough time. He told us that his nephews
had just gotten in trouble with the law the day before up in Nuhaka (which is
20 minutes away). We had just been with the Elders from Nuhaka at lunch
and they had told us about this big brawl that went down is Nuhaka the day
before. One guy ended up in the hospital
(he was scalped with a hatchet) and some other people were injured. We told Lehi that we had heard about it and we
chatted a little more about that. I felt impressed to ask him when the
last time the missionaries came and saw him. He told me that it had been
over two years ago. I had a feeling that was going to be his answer and I
said that I found it very interesting that missionaries hadn't been to his home
for over two years but now the day after this big event happened and his family
is now going through a really rough time we show up. I testified to him
that it was an obvious sign that he has a Heavenly Father who loves him and
knows his needs, and will always be there for us when times get hard. He
got a little emotional and it was so cool to see the change in him from the
beginning of the visit to the end. It would have made the story even
better if he came to church Sunday, but he didn't. It wouldn't surprise me if he shows up
sometime soon though!
Now for a really disgusting story! So in our flat we have a laundry room, and the
laundry room absolutely reeks. The reason it smells so bad is because
there was a rotting pumpkin along with garbage bags that were who knows how
old. If you opened the door to the laundry room it would make the entire
house smell. It costs money to go dump your garbage though, so the bags
have just been accumulating. Well thank goodness for one of our investigators
who lives about 15 minutes away out on a farm. They have a giant hole where you
can dump all of your trash. So we decided to take our trash out there to dump
it. We start taking these bags out of the laundry room and loading them
up in our little Toyota Corolla. Half of the bags were leaking fluids and
I really don't even want to know what was spilling all over me. So we filled
the back of the car up and then loaded the entire back seat up with garbage
bags. I should have taken pictures because it was ridiculous! Mom you would have died!!!!!!!!!! So after we
loaded them all up I felt relieved and I was ready to go dump them. What I didn't think about was how bad it was
going to smell in the car! So we get in
the car and I almost threw up, it smelled absolutely disgusting! It smelt like 50 dead cats were in our
car. Anyway, we start driving and it’s like 6 at night and it’s way too
cold to unroll the windows. Plus we were driving on the highway so that
would make the cold air even worse! Well
we couldn't stand the smell anymore so decided to just unroll the windows and
freeze! It reminded me of this one time
me and Brad Morgan, in the middle of winter, had a freeze out. A freeze
out is when you take your shirt off and see who can keep their shirt off the longest,
and you do it in the middle of winter. We
did it from Pasco all the way back to Kennewick, it was crazy! I'm a missionary now so I obviously had my
shirt on haha but that is what I would compare it to! Well we finally made it to their house with an
icicle of mucous hanging from our noses but we survived. For P-Day we are
going to their house today and Elder Gutierrez from Nuhaka is cooking a goat
for Elder Holmes’ Bday hahah. It should be interesting! I love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, August 16, 2015
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| This is Elder Puno. Me and him were best mates in the MTC. I told him to come live in the states after his mission. I miss him so much! He was in my district at the MTC. |
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| Can you guess which study table is mine? Yep, on the left. |
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| My bed is on the right. |
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| This is me in front of our flat. |
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| It snowed! |
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| This is our favorite fish and chip restaurant! |
Monday, August 17, 2015
You are all probably thinking I am the most bipolar
missionary ever, one day I don't have food and the next day I have too much. Or the weather is beautiful and the next day it’s
snowing. It is true though, a mission is
kind of bipolar, and there are lots of ups and downs. But regardless of
all of the downs, the ups make up for everything. There is nothing better
than testifying and seeing the difference you can make in other people’s lives.
This past week was a harder week. The previous week we were so productive and
were able to hit the standards of excellence (I’m not sure if I explained what
those are in my last letter) and I felt like we were doing so well. This
week I felt like we wasted too much time and didn't open our mouths. With that being said though, we did teach two
great lessons! The spirit was so strong
and regardless of whether the two less active people felt anything, I know that
my testimony was strengthened. This week I really want to open my mouth
to everyone and try and testify to as many people as I can.
My ankle is slowly getting better. During the last preparation day I played
basketball on it. I wasn't able to go full speed, but I was at least
jogging. It’s still pretty sore and a
little bruised. I wish I could go full speed on it again! In the MTC I was almost dunking the ball and
now I can’t even jump. I don't know if the hoops were shorter in the MTC
but my goal was to dunk by the end of my time at the MTC but my hopes were
crushed haha. Even with my sore ankle, I’m trying to stay active. For my morning workout I do a lot of push-ups
and sit-ups. It is pretty lame haha!
This next week we are doing exchanges so I get to go with
Elder Rios from up in Nuhaka and I am pumped about that. He and I get
along really well and he is super funny, so it should be pretty mean (mean=cool
here).
This week I experienced my first Tangi! A Tangi is a Maori funeral. I really enjoyed the funeral, they are way
better than American funerals. Tangis
last for three days instead of one day. For those three days the family
stays by the body and morns. I don't know too much about them so if you
are someone who likes learning, I would look them up. Tangis take place
at a Marea. A Marea is a sacred place of
worship for Maori people. At the funeral I got to witness my first
haka. It was the meanest (coolest) thing I have ever seen! The men gather around and perform the haka as
the body is being carried out of the Marea. I want to learn the haka so bad! At the Tangi I also got to experience my first
hongi. A hongi is a special Maori greeting for males. The males shake
hands and then lean forward (and it looks like you are about to kiss each
other) and place your nose on the nose of the other person. I can’t wait
until I get home so I can give you all hongi's. At first I thought it was super weird but now
it just makes me feel cool that they respect me so much. I love being
part of the New Zealand culture. It is
so much different than the states. Here, if you want something, you tell
someone and they will get it for you. Or if they offer you something and
you say, “are you sure I can have that?” they will give you even more than what
they originally were going to give you.
My Bishop is probably the nicest man on the planet
haha. It is funny because Wairoa is so small we work a lot with our
Bishop. So we will go over to Bishop Edwards and talk with him for a
while. Fun fact, Bishop Edwards is a scratch golfer so he loves talking
about golf with me! He has Callaway
clubs, and he said that I can borrow them anytime! I'm surprised he didn't just give them to me
haha. The culture is so different here.
In the states, when the missionaries came to our house they didn’t stay
long. Here we could literally stay at Bishop’s all day and he wouldn't
even say anything. I promise we don't do that though haha. We were
over at his house though the other night when a huge rugby game was on.
He always turns the tv off when we are there but he told us he wasn't going to
turn it off. It was the All Blacks vs the Australians and they were
playing for a rivalry cup. We found out
at church the next day that the All Blacks won so that was exciting! I wish I had an ankle so I could learn how to
play rugby! I will learn before I come
home though. Bishop Edwards gave me a bunch of black licorice! It is by far the best black licorice I have
ever had. It is called RJ's black
licorice. I'm not sure if we have it back it the states but it is so
good!
Bad news about Matiu :( He isn’t getting married to
Geraldine until November so he isn’t getting baptized this weekend. My companion and I are pretty bummed but I
know he will get baptized at some point and that’s all that really
matters. I could still be in Wairoa after my 12 weeks of training but who
knows.
To answer your question about the money situation, yes we
get plenty of money! We get $130 for
every two weeks. Plus the money rolls over so I will definitely be
fine. You know me and spending money so you shouldn't be worried.
It is kind of hard to control though because we share costs as a companionship.
So whatever we get at the store we split the cost. So for example, today my
companion bought body spray and hair gel which was for himself but I still paid
for half of it. It’s not a big deal. It just teaches me charity haha. I’ve got to run though! I'm loving the mission and really learning to
love the people!
Love,
Elder Brunson
PS Yes I wear the coat all the time! I'm wearing it right now! I love it! I sometimes where both of them at the same time! Tell Shelby her gloves are awesome and that all the Elders comment on them when they see them. They all think they are really cool! I'm going to try and send some pictures.
PS Yes I wear the coat all the time! I'm wearing it right now! I love it! I sometimes where both of them at the same time! Tell Shelby her gloves are awesome and that all the Elders comment on them when they see them. They all think they are really cool! I'm going to try and send some pictures.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
It has been a great week! Monday, August 10, 2015
So mamma and papa Brunson are really worrying
about this ankle of mine, so I better start with that. I still have a
little bruising on my ankle, but the swelling is all gone, I think haha. I
haven't really looked at it lately. I can walk perfectly fine on it, but
I can’t run yet! It still gets pretty
sore, especially during the morning, but I will be fine! It is almost healed up I think. So don't
worry! The Lord will provide haha.
OH THE WEATHER OUTSIDE is FRIGHTFUL!!!! It’s
winter all right haha. Yesterday it wasn't raining cats and dogs, it was
raining hippos and elephants! It was
pretty insane. We went out tracting in
it haha. It was crazy! We had set
a goal to talk with 100 people this past week and we needed 26 more
people. So we went out and knocked on about 60 doors in the pouring rain.
It was awesome! And out of all the doors we knocked on, only
one person let us in and he was an atheist. He just wanted to talk
though. I think some people want to talk
to us just because we are American. Alright, so you kind of get the
picture for how the weather was yesterday. Well last night was even more
insane! I thought the roof of our house was going to collapse down on top of
us. I kept waking up all night long because the rain was so loud! Well I thought I had seen and heard everything
until I woke up this morning. No joke,
there was snow!!!!! Not very much but it
was crazy haha. I am pretty sure it doesn't usually snow here! I took a picture
from inside the flat but it wasn't very good. It wasn't like the snow we
have at home. It was more icy. It
is still pouring today so it should be a fun preparation day. Last preparation day we drove up to Gisborne
and had Papa Johns and went shopping, it was pretty fun!
Mom, to answer your next concern, I am now
getting fed so you don't have to worry. We went shopping last pday and
got cereal and milk, so I have had breakfast every day this week. Also a
lady paid for our groceries so that was pretty cool! We think she is a member up in the Nuhaka ward.
That is about 20 minutes from here and
that is where the only other Elders in our district are. We also got fed
dinner by a member every day last week except Sunday! One night a family took us to this place
called Fish and Feathers after their daughter’s baptism. I had the best
burger I have ever had in my life! It
had egg, patty, ham, cheese, and tomato sauce. I literally died and went to heaven! Tomato sauce here is our ketchup but 10 times
better! It reminds me of a mix of
ketchup and Arby’s sauce, which I love! I could literally eat tomato sauce with
everything. Another member, Brother McRoberts, who is the second
counselor in the Bishopric, bought us Curry King. Curry King is so good! They have buttered chicken and it is so good! Everyone says Curry King has the best Indian
food in New Zealand.
Yes mom, I do have the money on my Schwab
card and I'm not going to lose it! I'm
not sure when I will pay for the bike but probably soon! Lots of Elders have had their bikes get stolen
so I am going to try and be really careful with it when I use it! They
make you buy a brand new one again! So
lots of missionaries have spent over $1,200 just on their bikes that they
rarely use!
I am getting to know lots of people in the
ward. They are all really nice, and they
love the missionaries! It is so crazy
though, everyone here is divorced or not married. It is so sad! So we rarely go into member’s homes to eat
because they are single ladies so we can’t go in. We just pick up the food and take it home to
eat. The ward does have a primary, one
young woman, and no young men. Everyone
in Wairoa is a member. Almost everyone
has met the missionaries and most people don’t want to meet them again haha. So we have a bazillion less active people that
we can go and see. It is really hard to
find new investigators though. We did have two investigators at church
this week. One of them is Pauly. He
is 17 but looks like he is in his 20's. Everyone here looks way older
than they really are. He is super cool though! I hope he keeps meeting with us. We just met him though so we will see. GREAT NEWS…one of our investigators named
Matiu is set for baptism on the 22nd. The day I met Matiu, Elder Holmes
asked if he would be baptized. Elder Holmes has been here for six weeks
so he knows everyone and has been meeting with Matiu. Matiu took all the
lessons with the Sister missionaries up in Hastings. He is 36 and is one of the nicest guys I have
met. His wife's name is Geraldine and she is a member. They feel
like family to me and I have only been in their house a couple times.
Geraldine has three sons from a previous marriage who are serving
missions. She is a school teacher and her husband doesn't work and she
has to pay for 3 missionaries, I'm not sure how she does it. I can’t wait for Matiu to be baptized! I literally played no role in his conversion,
but regardless, it makes me so happy to see someone come to know the
truthfulness of the gospel, it is really amazing!
This week I had two items that reminded me of
the states. Cream soda and sour patch kids!! It was the best hahaha. I love cream soda! Everything here is so expensive, it is crazy! The food costs so much money! A can, one can, a single can, uno can, costs
$1. It is ridiculous! I miss Circle K so much!
Here is some really exciting news. I made an awesome purchase this week. I bought a 1 dollar golf club!!! It is so rusty haha! The Nuhaka Elders have
golf balls so last pday I hit a ball for the first time in 3 weeks with my new club. I was aiming in between
two houses into a field. The houses were super close together so I was
really worried haha. Plus I had the funkiest golf club I have ever seen in my
hand. I will send a picture next week because I forgot to take a picture
of it. It is kind of like a hybrid though. Anyway, back to hitting
the ball…I straight crushed it! It felt
so good haha! I hadn't hit in so long and I only had one chance and I made it
worth it. The other Elders were really impressed haha.
I know I haven’t answered all of your
questions mom but I'm running out of time. I did have a great experience
this week that strengthened my testimony on the power of prayer, and the fact
that Heavenly Father knows our needs. Getting to read from The Book of Mormon
AND the Bible have really helped to strengthen my testimony. The Book of
Mormon truly is another testament of Jesus Christ, and I haven't truly been
able to understand that until I started reading from the Bible. When you
read scriptures from the Bible and The Book of Mormon, you can clearly see the
relationship of the two books! If you
are a member or a nonmember and you are reading this letter I would encourage
you to read The Book of Mormon because it is the best book on the face of this
earth!
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, August 2, 2015
To whom it may concern, Monday,
August 3, 2015
Haha I'm totally kidding… that’s probably the
weirdest way I could start my letter. I feel like I haven't written in so
long and I feel like so much has happened since I last emailed home. So
the ankle is still pretty sore but it is doing much better! I did not go
to the doctors and get an x-ray. I
decided to be a man, and not a Samoan man, an American man! The mission home
was so awesome! The Assistants to
President Rudd came and picked us up at 8:00 am the day we left the MTC
(which was too long ago so I don't remember the day). It took about an
hour and a half to get to the mission home which is right next to the
temple. That day we were introduced to mission life and they just
prepared us to go out. That night we went to President and Sister Rudd’s
home where they taught us how to be better missionaries. We had a
delicious dinner, like it was one of the best meals I have ever had! We
had a testimony meeting and after that we went and stayed in a hotel that was
about 15 minutes away. We were all exhausted
so we went to bed real early. The next morning we went to the Rudd’s home
again where we had breakfast. I thought dinner was good but breakfast was
by far the best breakfast I have ever had in my life. We had cinnamon rolls
(definitely not better than my mom’s) but we had some bomb egg, bacon, and ham
pie kind of thing, and this blueberry cake thing. It’s way too hard to
explain what it was but it was so good. No,
I did not get an iPad so you might want to get your money back from President
Call haha. I did get a bike though and I haven't even paid for that yet
haha. One of the couples in the mission home just said he knows where I
live. So I'm not really sure when I'm supposed to pay for that. Yes,
I have used my card, and that was when we went to the bank to take out money to
pay for our bikes. I only had $150 on the card so I couldn't pay for my
bike so he just said to wait. I also traded in $150 U.S money and got
$211 New Zealand dollars so that was sick. Sorry for everyone reading
this. All my mother’s questions are
probably not as entertaining as hearing about crazy Samoan ladies torturing
me!
So my companion, he is a pretty cool guy. He has only been out for 6 months though so we
are both trying to learn. We go and visit a lot of people but in the
couple days I have been here we haven't actually sat down with anyone and
taught them a lesson. We pretty much go to their house and sit and talk
about how they are and maybe if we are lucky throw something in about the
gospel. I'm so worried about wasting the Lord’s time! I am only on my mission for two years and I
want to do as much teaching in these two years as I can. But I have never
had another companion so I don't really know how to compare whether we are
working hard or not. I also don't know if I am just being too hard on
myself. We are following all the missionary rules. It’s just hard to know if we should be pushing
the gospel on these people more.
So I am living in a city called Gisborne and
serving in the Wairoa ward. The first
day in Wairoa my companion drove our car into a little ditch hahah. It
was the funniest thing ever! We got
stuck so we had to walk about 10 minutes to our investigator’s house. The
investigator has a truck so they pulled the car out of a ditch.
Man I barely eat any food! We haven't been fed by members once since I
have been in Wairoa and I haven't eaten breakfast once since being here.
For lunch we went to this fish and chips shop two days in a row. So when
we eat we eat really unhealthy food. This area is kind of crazy! Everyone hopes that Gisborne is their first
area because it is so beautiful. We are next to the ocean, but I haven't
even got to see it yet except for a short section on the way here. It
took six hours to get here from the mission home so that was a long day. It has been so cold here! It is further south so I'm dying here.
Especially because our flat’s heat pump broke so all we have is two little heat
fans like the one you use for your room momma. During the afternoon the
past two days have been absolutely beautiful though! I'm ready for summer! But then I will probably be really tired of
being hot all of the time. I want my ankle to heal so I can go running on
the beach! That would be so cool!
In my area we have a car so that has been nice. All of the Elders here
say they haven't used a bike their whole mission, I'm not really sure why they
even make us buy a brand new one. It doesn't really make much sense to
me!
Church here is so crazy! There are
about 30 members who attend church on Sunday! The whole time I
thought about how big our ward was compared to this ward. People here
have like 3 or 4 callings. It’s
crazy! The people here are so friendly though! Most of them don't have any teeth though
haha. That is going to take some getting used to! The kids here
love Americans and American things. Lots of them have American sporting
hats. They have no idea what the hats are or what sport the team plays,
they just think the hats are cool. The people here are really nice, all of our
investigators always offer us hot chocolate. It is more like hot water
that is brown though. I'm starting to like it though haha. Everyone
here plays rugby. It’s crazy, when I say
everyone I mean literally everyone. We are supposed to play with a group
of guys this Friday but I can’t because of my ankle.
Man I am so excited for Taylor! I'm glad he was able to get his surgery so
that he could go to the MTC! He is going
to be a great missionary!
I am going to try and send you some pictures
from my camera so hopefully you get them. I have to use my companions
cord though because I definitely don't have a cord to hook my camera to the
computer
SO the address for the mission home is what
I'm guessing you want.
31 Ward Street, Hamilton 3204 (boxes and
packages)
PO Box 9542, Hamilton 3240 (letters and
packets).
Although I'm a little confused about how to
be the best missionary I can be, I have had some great experiences this week
with sharing the gospel. I love declaring my faith to other people and
letting them know how happy the gospel of Jesus Christ makes me! I wish everyone had the same knowledge that I
do, and sometimes I wish I could just force people to listen. But that is
not what Heavenly Father wants, he gave us agency to choose right from wrong.
I have also learned how much I miss my mom’s
meals. I would give just about anything to have leftover roast and
potatoes. For any of you who don't know, I always complain when we have
roast and potatoes because we have it literally every fast Sunday! For our fast Sunday dinner we had
scrambled eggs and four hash brown patties haha. I love missionary work
and I love and miss you all.
Love, Elder Brunson
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