Monday, October 5, 2015

Well the Brunson’s week sounded fantastic!  That letter was crack up!  Some people think my dad is the clown of the family but I think sometimes my mom gets him haha.

I had the best week of the mission so far!  At the start of the week I wasn't really looking forward to the rest of the week.  The main reason was because while at the temple, the Assistants to the mission president told us they would be coming to Wairoa for an exchange.  For those of you who don't know, the Assistants to the mission President are pretty much all of the missionaries boss. They are the top dogs in the mission and really know what they are doing. Anyone who knows me would know that I wouldn't be excited because I would be scared out of my mind haha.  I was so worried that they were going to come down and smash me for being a terrible missionary.  I was worried that I wouldn't know what we should do or what I should say.  Anyone who knows me knows I worry about silly things haha.  I will finish this story up later on in my email though.  I want to keep everyone reading so I'm going to make it suspenseful haha.

Monday- Preparation day was crazy with the power being out.  We went to Nuhaka and played basketball and ping pong.  Not to be prideful but I think I have become more athletic since coming on my mission.  I am the ping pong champ.  Since being in New Zealand I have only lost one game of ping pong!  Elder Rios almost beat me several times but would always end up losing.  He would always tell me, "You are not even good!" haha.  I miss Elder Rios heaps, he was my first district leader and he was the man!  He is now finishing his mission as a zone leader!

Tuesday- Tuesday we had district meeting and then went on an exchange with the Zone leaders.  I went with Elder Zesigur to Gisborne, which is about 45 minutes away.  We had a way good talk in car and he is a way cool dude.  We had a pretty mean exchange as well and we talked to heaps of people on the street.  Gisborne is way bigger than Wairoa so it was a little different.  We didn't have a very long exchange though because we didn't get to Gisborne until like 2 in the afternoon.  Tuesday night I got a call from Elder Holmes that our Bishop’s wife’s son had committed suicide.  His name was Kelvin and he was a less active member from our ward.  I only met him once and he didn't really want to talk to us.  He seemed like a nice guy though, we know his 15 year old son Brock pretty well though.

Wednesday- Wednesday was a busy day.  We helped our Bishop get ready for the funeral service at the church.  We set up heaps of chairs and cleaned the whole church!  That night we had a service at our Bishop’s house.  It was a really good service and a great opportunity for us to do missionary work.  Our Bishop said that it was really sad that Kelvin was gone but that if it wasn't part of missionary work he didn't know what was. That definitely was a very true statement for us this week.

Thursday- Thursday was the day of the funeral.  It was a really great service and heaps of people came!  There was like 700 people our bishop said!  The speakers gave really good messages that helped to lift everyone's spirits. I'm so glad to know that families can be together forever!  It brings me peace and comfort knowing that through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end I can live with my family forever. This week I was taught the importance of having an eternal perspective. There are things that will entice us and bring us temporary happiness, but it is happiness that won’t last for eternity.  Having our families with us will bring us eternal happiness.  We had a mean feed after the service and I pounded some food.  I'm not too sure how much weight I have gained but I'm sure its heaps.  The only thing I have going for me is morning workouts haha.  I actually have a pretty mean workout in the morning!

Thursday night, the moment you have all been waiting for....the exchange!!!! Thursday night I went out with Elder Mathews and boy was I scared. The first door we knocked on I was just shaking in my boots, however to our disappointment nobody answered the door.  We went to the next house and knocked on his door.  We ended up having a pretty good conversation and committed the man to read the introduction to The Book of Mormon.  After we got done, Elder Mathews stopped and said, "Alright let’s evaluate what could we have done better?"  I said, “Well I didn't really say much.”  He agreed and said that our companionship unity could have been better.  He asked me if I would do something for him the rest of the night.  I agreed and then he said, “I don't want you to think about what you are going to say.” He just wanted me to focus on the conversation.  He said if it came to me and I didn't know what to say that I should just bear testimony.  I was pumped haha,  I was like, “I can bear testimony, that is easy!”  From that point on each door we knocked on kept getting better and better.  Our unity was getting better and better with each door and I wasn't even thinking about what to say.  We had time to try one more person for the night and I had no clue who we should see.  Elder Mathews suggested that we pull over and say a prayer.  I said a prayer and felt like we should go see Graham.  However, on our way to Grahams I felt impressed that Grahams house wasn't the place where we should be.  I told Elder Mathews to turn around and to drive to Marine Parade.  Marine Parade is a street at the center of town where if you want to find someone to talk you you go.  However, when we drove down Marine Parade nobody was there.  At this point I was thinking what the heck, I felt prompted to go down the street but nobody is here.  I told Elder Mathews that we could just head for home unless we felt prompted to stop and knock on a house.  On our way back Elder Mathews saw some people and we pulled over, got out and started talking with them. They were sisters who are in there 30's. One was named Tanika, and the other Carol.  We ended up teaching them the entire lesson of the restoration.  It was mean!  I got to bear my testimony several times to them and it was definitely one of the coolest experiences I have had so far on my mission.  It wasn't until after we met with them that I realized if I hadn't been prompted to go down marine parade we never would have found them.  We never would have had to go down the road we were going down to get home.  It was a mean experience!  Sadly they didn't come to church but we have another appointment with them next week!  Elder Mathews taught me a lot of things and we had a great exchange! 

Weekend- The weekend was a party haha.  I will be watching general conference today so I'm a little behind haha. I can't wait though!!! I love you all and the church is true!

Love,

Elder Brunson