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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
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