Monday, September 28, 2015

This week was soooooooo crazy!  There was a flood!  And I even left the mission!

Monday-  We had a flood!  It was almost like Noah and the ark all over again.  Elder Holmes and I thought about building a boat.  There has been so much rain lately that our river overflowed and flooded parts of the town.  All the houses were fine, but some streets got covered in water.  One of the roads that closed was the Gorge.  The Gorge is the road we usually take to get to Hamilton.  We had planned to leave at 2:00 and go through the Gorge to get to the temple.  Instead we left at 3:00 and had to take an alternate road that took us out of the mission so we could get to the temple.  But once we started on this new route a lake was starting to form on the road.  These guys in orange vests were standing in front of the water, so we were really sad because we didn’t think we would be able to get to the temple.  However, the Lord provided a way and I parted the Lake like Moses parted the Red Sea.  Not really but that would have been way cool haha.  Instead the guys told us that we could drive through it but we just needed to be very careful.  I took a video of it and it was the craziest thing ever haha.  We later found out that the road we drove through was closed 30 minutes after we had drove through.  It was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord!

Tuesday- Temple day!  I love the temple so much!  I could pretty much sum Tuesday up with that.  I always thought that Disneyland was the happiest place on earth but it turns out that it is the temple!  The temple is where families can be together forever.  It is where we get the opportunity to make sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father that will bring us eternal happiness.  I wish our investigators could really understand that.  If they did, I know that they would do everything they could to be baptized and prepare to go to the temple.  The temple changes lives!  The temple food was mean as!  It was literally sooooo good!  I ate way too much but oh well!  Story of the mission is eating way too much haha.

Wednesday-  I went on a mean exchange with my grandfather (my trainer’s trainer).  I'm pretty sure that doesn’t happen very often.  He is way cool, and we have a ton in common.  We both play golf!  We talked a ton and he really helped me not feel so inadequate.  Sometimes I get down on myself because I feel like I don't have very much knowledge of the gospel, which is pretty true haha.  I’ve realized how little I know the Bible since being on a mission.  I have been reading the little picture book that summarizes the stories of the Bible, like the book from the 90's haha. Hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about!  Anyway, I’ve realized that the only thing I need to teach is a desire and my testimony.  I don't need to compare myself with others.  If I am giving all of my effort, the Lord is going to be pleased with me.  The Holy Ghost will testify through me if I am being sincere in what I say, no matter how eloquent I say the words.

Sunday- Sunday was so mean!  We had 5 investigators at church!  It was a miracle!  One of our newest investigators, Bon Paul came to church.  A little bit about Bon. We have only met him once but he was taught by previous elders and later dropped.  He has a problem keeping the word of wisdom but he committed Sunday to keep the Word of Wisdom. He seems super pumped about the gospel so that is way cool!  Another person who came was Charlie and his three boys, Mokau (10), Rungi (9), and Nana (5).  They are the coolest family ever, I love them so much.  They have been taught the lessons by previous missionaries as well, but I'm really hoping we can get them to progress.  I hope we can help them understand the happiness that will come into their life from becoming members of the church.  Not just happiness but a sense of direction and purpose!  The final investigator was Matiu.  He is the man and I love him and Geraldine so much.  They treat us as if we are their kids, they are the most amazing people.  I truly love the people of New Zealand and I love caring about people.  Back home I cared about people but not the way you care about people when you are a missionary.  I love serving the Lord and each week keeps getting better and better.  I probably forgot to say something because this week was so crazy!  The power went out in our flat today and won’t be on until 4:30 so we had to go to Nuhaka to email.  I love this gospel so much, and I really can’t put into words but I am truly happy.

Love, 

Elder Brunson