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