 |
| Family home evening at the Pritchard's for my birthday! |
 |
| The best birthday cake in New Zealand! |
 |
| Merry Christmas!!! Thank you for all the packages!! |
 |
 |
 |
| Can you find something out of place? |
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
Merry Christmas!!!!!!
You probably
think I had a scorching hot Christmas, but it was actually pretty cool!
The weather has been really bad this week. This week was really good
though, and it flew by. We had MLC on
Tuesday, interviews on Wednesday, zone meeting on Thursday, and
Christmas on Sunday. Also I forgot to mention Birthday surprise on
Monday. I will try and just quickly summarize each of the events that
occurred this week.
Birthday
surprise and tender mercies- On Monday night the Pritchard’s asked us
to come over and have a family home evening with them. Usually on
Monday nights we go over to the Pritchard’s house if we can get one of our
investigators to go with us. Well it was 6:00 and we hadn't
found anyone who could go. We really wanted to be effective with our time
so we told the Pritchard’s that we couldn't come because we didn't have an
investigator. They were really sad because they said that they had a
surprise for me. I felt really bad, but we wanted to be effective.
However, I told the family that we would try and go see a few more people and
invite them. Just then a pop came into my head that we should try one of
our investigators named Zyron. Zyron is 21 and is Filipino. We have
invited him to several activities and even church, but he never comes. We
decided that we would try him anyway. Well guess what?! He said he
would come! Well I thought that was a huge blessing, but when we got to
the Pritchard’s there was an even better blessing. There were two
Filipinos that came to FHE!!!! It really helped Zyron to feel comfortable
I think. Elder Taito and I gave the lesson on the importance of The Book of
Mormon. It was really awesome because brother Saliva, who is married to
sister Saliva (Pritchard) is a convert to the church and he was able to bear
his testimony to Zyron. Also Gups the 18 year old who comes out with us
all the time, bore his testimony on The Book of Mormon. The spirit was
really strong and we had such a great night. Then the Pritchard’s
surprised me by putting up videos that my family sent and Katie and Tanner
sent. They also sang to me and brought out a cake. It was actually
the nicest cake I have had in New Zealand! They definitely made me have a
great b-day! They are such a great family. They are always thinking
of others.
MLC-
Mission Leadership Council was really good! It's always the best to hear
from President Cummings! He is so on to it! I also rode up with
another single zone leader named Elder Van Thiel. Elder Van Thiel’s
companion is Elder Barbosa and they are in the zone right next to us! I
have got to see Elder Barbosa a lot over these last few weeks, and that has
been awesome. Elder Taito and Barbosa got to be companions for the day
while we went to Hamilton. I love them both heaps! Elder Van Thiel
is the man as well! He pretty much gave me a training on the way
up! He is really smart and was telling me heaps about deep doctrine
haha. I'm not much into studying deep doctrine, but some of the Elders
love it. He shared heaps of stuff with me, and although it was really
interesting, it’s not something I would deeply dive into. I struggle
enough with the basics haha. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy
Ghost, and Enduring to the end haha.
Interviews-
Interviews were awesome! President Cummings gave me a challenge to
study Mathew 5:48 and 3Nephi 12:48. He asked me to find
the difference between the two scriptures, and also explain why there was a
difference. So I studied it for a little while and I couldn't figure out
the answer. I think I was trying to think too deep haha. I was
talking with some other elders about it and President Cummings had already
showed it to them, but before I could stop them they told me the answer.
I will give you all the challenge to find out for yourself, if you don't
already know. The answer though is definitely a testimony to me that The
Book of Mormon is true. There are just so many things that Joseph Smith
could not have come up with on his own.
Zone
meeting- Zone meeting always stresses me out! It's tough because I don't
have a companion to back me up during the meeting. The last Zone meeting
I did was a little shaky. However, I felt really good about this
meeting. I talked about the importance of change! Change is what
allows us to grow. People often ask us why we move around so much, and I
think change is the answer. We need to be placed into new environment so
we can learn and grow. Our purpose in life is to become like our Heavenly
Father and the only way to do that is to change. I also read from Alma
chapter 5 which is a great chapter on change.
Christmas!!!!!-
We spent Christmas at a baptism, church, biking, the Leelos, and the Pritchard
family. After church we had no idea who to go see and we had two hours
before we needed to be at the Leelos. Elder Taito and I just decided to
bike around our area and talk to people that were in the street. At first
we thought there would be nobody, but we actually ended up talking to a lot of
people. We had our first meal of the day at 4:00 at the Leelos
house! We were really hungry haha! We had a really good meal with
their family! Brother Maasi was cracking jokes as always and it was a lot
of fun. After that we went to the Pritchard’s house and did secret
santas. Afterwards we had a singing competition haha. Yes believe
it or not I participated. It was actually lots of fun haha, and yes we
sang church songs!
Well
this week is transfers and based off of my interview I think I will be
leaving. President Cummings always hints when you are going to leave an
area haha. Who knows, hopefully I will stay, but I think I'm gone :( I
have loved this area heaps so I will be really sad if I have to leave. I
love you all so much and hope that you have a Merry Christmas!!!
Love,
Elder
Brunson
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
I'm officially an old man!!!!!!!
I really can't believe I'm no longer a
teenager. The only problem is my mom still thinks my dad is a teenager so
I most likely still fit under that category haha. I haven't quite figured
out the whole birthday thing. Yesterday was my New Zealand B-Day and I
had a great day! There is no better day to have your birthday on your
mission than Sunday. I had a really good day at church besides the
fact that our investigators didn't show up :( We were really hoping that our 18
year old investigator named Jayvish would come, but he didn't. It was a
really good sacrament meeting though, the youth did a Christmas program.
The youth sang in pairs, and there were some pretty brave youth. Let’s
just say I could have sang and felt more comfortable than some of the kids who
sang. So Papi, if you are still the bishop when I get home, you can sign
me up to sing a solo in front of the ward haha.
I had a really cool experience Sunday morning
before church started. We went around to visit some families and invite them
to church. We were having absolutely no luck, which was pretty
discouraging. We got done knocking on another families’ door that wasn't
home and we decided we should find our purpose for being in that area.
Well we knocked on another door and this really nice old guy answered the
door. He was very respectful but was not interested at all in our
message. We asked him if there was anyone else in the neighborhood who
might be interested in our message. He pointed to his neighbor’s house
who he said just recently moved in. He said her name was Honey and that
he thought she was Maori. We thanked the man and decided to go try the
neighbor. We knocked on the door and a young boy answered the door.
We got talking and guess where he was from??!!! Waitara!!! Waitara was my
last area for those of you who don't know. We kept talking and I was
trying to think of kids who were around the age of 14 from Waitara. I
asked him if he knew a young fella named Tungata. He said he did.
Then he asked me if I knew Potaki, Napui, and Ponamu. I got so happy, and
I was like yes!!!!!! He was like I’m cousins with them. I then was
like hold up, I remember teaching one of their cousins late one night on his
front porch. I was like what is your name?! His name is Zantana and
guess what?!! I had taught him the restoration before! We talked
with him about Joseph Smith’s experience and invited him to church. He
didn't come the week we invited him in Waitara, but Tungata said he has gone
with Napui since I left Waitara. Anyway, it was really cool and we have a
return appointment with him this week.
Sunday night I got to have my birthday
dinner with the Leelo, Pilling and Maasi family. The Pilling’s and
Maasi's are Bishop Leelo's son in laws. Brother Maasi was our ward
mission leader :( We just found out that he is getting released next
week. They made me a brownie cake and I got to blow out some candles
haha. They made me feel special so it was a good day. They are
seriously the best family ever!!! They make you feel like you are at home.
Brother Maasi is seriously the funniest man on the planet. For dinner we
had pumpkin soup, lamb, bread, and taro (my favorite). The pumpkin soup
was really nice! Is that something we have back in the states? The
pumpkin here is way different than in the states though! It is way
nice! I have eaten pumpkin heaps on my mission, but not too much in
Manurewa. It's mostly the Maori people that eat pumpkin.
This next week should be full on! We
have MLC on Tuesday, Interviews on Wednesday, Zone meeting on
Thursday, and Christmas on Sunday. I have no idea what we are going
to do on Christmas.
I just want to close by bearing my testimony
that I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is the literal son of God and he
was sent here to die for each of us and to be a light which we can
follow. If you ever feel you are lost follow Christ, he will lead you
safely home! I love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas!!!!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Monday, December 12, 2016
What’s it called when you pay in advance for
your sins? Besides apostate haha. Well whatever it’s called I'm going to
have to do it. I'm going to apologize for my letter in advance because my
brain has absolutely nothing in it to write about haha. The coolest part
of my week was one day when Elder Taito and I had been knocking doors and
talking to people all day long! We had pretty much no luck, which
sometimes can put me in a bad mood, but thankfully I was actually really happy
and hadn't been bothered by the fact that we had been working hard all day, but
hadn't had any luck. Well we were walking down the street trying to find
a house we felt we should knock and then I turned to Elder Taito and I said
this is awesome! He was probably thinking in his mind that his trainer is
absolutely nuts. I had a big ole grin on my face and I just said how
awesome it was to be a missionary. We got talking and I was just thinking
when else am I ever going to be walking down the street and trying to follow the
promptings of the spirit so I can knock on their door and talk to them about
Jesus Christ. I realized that I'm really only going to get this
opportunity once and it just made me so happy to be able to be a
missionary! We kept talking and just realized how cool it was to be able
to have the constant companionship of the holy ghost and how we probably don't
even realize how strong of an influence the Holy Ghost is in our lives compared
to when we are back home. There is no better feeling to have than the Holy
Ghost with you. I think no matter who you are, whether you are a
missionary or not, you can have the influence of the Holy Ghost in your
life. It comes simply by obedience. If you feel you want the Holy Ghost
to be a strong influence in your life, be obedient to God’s commandments.
There was a cool experience this week when Elder Taito and I were out with an
18 year old member named Gups. He is the man! He literally came out
with us all day!!! I would have died back home if I had to spend all day
with the missionaries. Young men listen up... help the
missionaries!!! Don't be like Elder Brunson haha. Anyway, we were
driving down the road and I saw a long driveway and it led back to this house
that had a black car outside. It was down this driveway that I had been
wanting to try and visit a different house, but we hadn't had a chance
yet. The house I wanted to try I knew the people had moved, but I felt
like we should go back for some reason. We had put it on our plans
several times, but each day we never got the chance to go. Well we were
driving and it was a little weird to just stop, but we did it anyway
haha. I said, “Let’s go try that house down the driveway.” They
both agreed and so we went! When we knocked on the door this guy answered who
was wearing a monopoly shirt with some cheesy saying on it. I told him I
liked his shirt. He said thanks and said he was really into board
games. Perfect! I asked him if he played any European board
games. He said yes! Perfect! I then listed off all the
European board games I knew: Settlers, Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, and guess
what?! He knew them all! We got talking and Josh told us he had just
recently moved and that he hadn't been going to a church because the church he
used to go to was not in Manurewa. He told us that he had been looking
for a church to go to. He was a little hesitant but we gave him a
pamphlet and invited him to read and pray about it. We testified that we
knew God had sent us to him and that it was The Church of Jesus Christ Of
Latter-day Saints that he was looking for. I don't know if he is even
going to meet with us and take the discussions, but I definitely know that it
was a prompting to go to his house regardless of what the outcome is, and it
felt good to see the blessings that come from following the Spirit. If
you haven't had many experiences with following the promptings of the Spirit I
would encourage you to pray every day this next week to be given an opportunity
to receive spiritual promptings and then to be able to follow them! I
love you all heaps! Hope everyone enjoys the snow! Congrats Chad
and Tami on the new baby!!!!!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Monday, December 5, 2016
Touchdown!! He shoots...he scores!!!
Goal!!!!!
Great news, Daniel and Alofa got married and
Daniel got baptized!!!!!!! Man it was such a good day! The whole
week Elder Taito and I were so pumped for the wedding and baptism we couldn't
even wait. I don't have heaps of time to write today because Elder Taito
and I had to help our sisters move flats. That was quite an adventure
because it is getting really warm! This whole week the weather has been
so nice! We have been out on the bikes and loving it! Sorry for all
the exclamation points, my mom probably thinks I'm yelling haha. I am
really pumped to tell you about the baptism. So Saturday was
the baptism and it was such an awesome day. We started the day off by
having the meanest lesson ever with a guy at the park. We had a set
appointment that fell through at 10 and then we saw this guy with his partner
and little girl at the park up the street. We decided we would go over
and talk to him. We ended up teaching this guy named Eti who is a 7th
day. Every time I meet 7th days you know you are in for it, they usually
try and bash with us, but not this time. Eti was the most respectful guy
ever. Eti is a big Samoan fella and probably in his low 30's. He was the
most respectful guy ever and he wanted us to teach him. He said he had
heard a lot about or church, but that he didn't think a lot of it was
true. We taught him about the restoration and it all made sense to
him. Their church already agrees about there being an apostasy, so when
they are open about the gospel the restoration really makes sense to
them. He loved the message of the restoration and when we recited the
first vision the spirit was so strong. We gave him a book of Mormon and
quickly got his address. Guess what though?!!! His house is one
street out of our area so we have to give him to the Mountfort elders. I
was so sad! But regardless it was a mean way to start the day and it's
still awesome that he will get to hear the gospel. Well at 12 we headed
to the chapel to fill up the font. Shortly after that, Daniel arrived and
guess what he was rollin’ up in? A stretch Hummer! We went out and greeted him and even got to
sit with him in the hummer and take some pictures. People started turning
up for the wedding while we finished filling the font. Finally it was 1:00 and
it was time to start the wedding! It was the first time I have ever been
to a wedding in my whole life! I have been to my aunt and uncles
weddings, but they are always in the temple so I have never actually seen a
wedding ceremony. It was so awesome! We were all sitting down
waiting for Alofa to come into the room. Daniel was up at the front of
the room standing up and waiting for Alofa. I know elders shouldn't use
the word cute, but it was so cute watching Daniel wait for Alofa. He was
pacing back and forth and you could tell he was so nervous and emotional.
He kept trying to hide the fact that he was fighting himself to hold back his
tears. Finally the music played and Alofa came walking up the front
steps. Daniel was so happy I can't even explain it. The wedding
ceremony was really nice and it was conducted by our Bishop Leelo. Lots
of Daniel and Alofa's family came to support them and so did a lot of the
members from our ward. After the wedding ceremony we got ready for the
baptism! Daniel had asked me if I would baptize him so Daniel and I went
and got changed into our baptismal clothing. I was worried about
baptizing him because I think I'm the worst baptizer in the history of
baptizing. I have never done it right on the first time. Remember
when I baptized Guislen and how many times it took. Well I was really
hoping that I could get it right on the first time. I also was worried
that I might not be able to pull up Daniel because he is a pretty big
fella. Well it came time for the baptism and I started walking down into
the water. At first I didn't notice, but as I got deeper I realized the
water was screaming hot!!! Elder Taito and I had let the water warm up
for quite a while so it would be nice and warm when Daniel got baptized.
The worst is when it is cold and you have to get baptized in cold water.
Well it was really warm, but I didn't have too big of a problem with it.
Then Daniel started coming down into the water and I could tell that he was
shocked by how warm it was. He finally made his way over to me and he was
like, “this is really hot.” With a worried look on his face he was like, “I
have to go under?!” I tried not to laugh and said “yes.” Well we
finally got sorted and I said the prayer and baptized Daniel. Finally
haha! I got it right on the first time. Daniel and I gave each
other a little bro hug and we walked up the steps. I was really worried
that he got burned by the water and I asked him how he felt. He said he
felt really got actually. He said he felt like a burden was lifted off of
him. He was really happy and I could just feel a difference in him.
Well we gave each other a big hug and then we went and got changed. While
I was changing I realized, oh no! Guess what I forgot?! Why is Elder
Brunson always forgetting things, suitcases, my camera cord, today I lost my SD
card reader which I use to send home my pictures, an extra pair of underwear
when I baptized my neice Sidney. No, I did not forget another change of
underwear, but I did forget an extra white shirt. I forgot that my shirt
would be getting wet. That just shows you how long it has been since I
have baptized someone haha. Well good thing I have a really good
companion! Elder Taito held my shirt up to the hand dryer and it actually
worked really well. We got changed and finished the baptismal
program. It was really awesome! After the baptism we went back to
Daniel and Alofa’s for a feed! Elder Taito and I hadn't eaten all day so
we were pumped! There was heaps of good island food, so I was in
Heaven! The whole day was such a blessing! Daniel and Alofa looked
so happy!!!! I'm so glad Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to
be a part of their family! Katie was just telling me something really
interesting. She told me how when she had a baptism she realized it
wasn't her doing the work, but Heavenly Father. I had the same
feelings as I was at Daniel’s baptism. I realized that it was the Lords
work and I was just an instrument in his hands. I was so thankful for
Heavenly Father trusting me to be that instrument. It is amazing how
everything just fell into place. There is no possible way though that
Elder Taito and I did that. It is the Lord’s work and only he is able to
make all the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly. This week I also
learned another great lesson. It was around Thursday and Elder
Taito and I had been working hard all week. Not only that, but I feel
like I have been working really hard for the past 4 transfers, yet we have
pretty much no teaching pool. I was like, “why are we working so hard and
nothing is coming?” Then I realized how selfish I was. I stopped to
think and realized we are going to be able to be part of Daniel’s wedding and baptism!!
What an amazing opportunity. I don't know how many missionaries get to
have a wedding and baptism. I continued to ponder on the great blessing
and the scripture we all love in Doctrine and Covenants Section 18 verse
15. How great was it that we were helping Heavenly Father bring one soul
unto his son Jesus Christ! I was immediately humbled and so thankful for
the blessings in my life. Please remember that in your callings it
doesn't matter about the number of lives you change, if you only change one
life, even if it is your own, you are successful and fulfilling your
calling. I love my Heavenly Father and his perfect plan which allows us
to face opposition which in turn allows us to grow. I hope you all know
how much I love and care about you.
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
I officially got my first sunburn of the season this week, which
means summer is on its way. On Friday, Elder Taito and I were able
to ride our bikes, finally! It felt so good to be back on the
bikes! The sun really cooked my arms haha. New Zealand has a super thin ozone layer so
it's really easy to get burned here. Well we rode our bikes on
Friday and it was a super awesome day! We talked to about a million
people. It was so hard to get to our appointments because we didn't want
to let people go by us without talking to them, but it was such a nice day so
there were heaps of people out! I don’t think I have had that much
rejection on my mission, but we ended up finding someone and we taught him the
restoration while he was working on a car with one of his less active mates so
that was awesome.
On Wednesday night the Assistants stayed with us before
Zone conference on Thursday. They brought a pumpkin pie with them so
we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. It was nothing like my mom’s
pumpkin pie, but at least we had something to celebrate Thanksgiving. On
Thursday we had a Zone conference which was really good. I learned a
lot of things to help us with our investigators. We had hamburgers for
lunch which were made by Elder McGregor, one of the senior couples. They
were the closest thing I have had to an American Burger so that was
awesome. I found out that my new favorite thing on burgers is
pineapple. So I'm going to have to find a good pineapple burger when I
get back to the states!
Elder Taito and I are getting along great. I'm really
glad that we will get to be companions for two transfers. Elder Taito is
very humble so it’s pretty much impossible to be upset with him. He works
really hard and loves the gospel, so you can't ask for a better
companion! He loves sports, which is possibly a negative because we have
to make sure we are focused on the work and not getting detracted by talking
about football players haha. Elder Taito even lived in Washington State
for a little while growing up before he moved to Oklahoma. His dad is in
the military so they move according to where he needs to go. I think they
have been in Oklahoma for a long time though.
Coolest miracle ever with Daniel! Daniel is so
prepared for his baptism and we are so pumped! While Daniel was in Korea
guess what he did?! Daniel took his church clothes and he went to church
by himself! He obviously doesn't speak Korean and had to take a taxi to
the church which was an hour away. He got the address of the chapel from
Alofa and then he had a Korean write down the instructions on a piece of paper
that he could hand to the taxi driver. Well it was a miracle that he even
made it to the chapel and when he got there, he was welcomed warmly by the
missionaries there. They were so excited to hear that he would be getting
baptized on December 3rd. An American missionary serving in the ward
that Daniel attended translated everything from the meeting into English for
him. After attending church Daniel really wanted to go to the Korean
temple. It was another hour drive from the chapel he attended and he had
the missionaries write down instructions for the taxi driver again. Well
another miracle, Daniel ended up making it to the Korean temple and he was
again warmly greeted by sister missionaries. They took his picture
outside of the temple. Daniel is excited for his baptism, but he is even
more excited to be able to be sealed in the temple with his family. We
are so excited for this weekend and we are praying that everything goes
smoothly. It’s Daniels birthday today so we are excited to go and have
family home evening with their family. I hope you all have an amazing
week!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Monday,
November 21, 2016
I have a
feeling that this is one of those weeks when it is going to be really hard to
come up with what to write home about haha. Daniel is always my go to for
miracles and he has been gone in Korea... but guess what?!! He is still
racking in the miracles!!! Just to refresh everyone on whom Daniel is…he
is our 25 year old investigator who is married to a less active member
Alofa. Daniel and Alofa have two kids, one named Aden and he is 5 and one
named Felicity and she is 2. They are the cutest kids ever!
Felicity was being so funny at church yesterday. I think Alofa was losing
patience with her, but she was being so cute I couldn't help but laugh.
Anyway, Daniel is wrestling is Korea so he has been gone for the last
week! It has been really hard not to be able to visit them for almost 3
weeks. Two weeks when we were sick and one since he has been in
Korea. Guess what Daniel did while he was in Korea! He drove an
hour to go to church on Sunday and then he went to the
temple!!! He was with Alofa's brother and Daniel had taken his church
clothes to Korea because he knew he wanted to be able to go to church on
Sunday. He sent Alofa pictures of them at the Korean temple. Alofa
said that Daniel is so excited for his baptism, but that he is even more
excited to be sealed in the temple with his family. She said that he
really loved the temple and had a great experience! Elder Taito and I are
so excited for their wedding and baptism!!!!!!!! We just can't stop
talking about it! It is going to be on December 3rd and we are
so pumped! Daniel is the most converted man ever haha! Not because
of me and Elder Taito, but because of Heavenly Father and his great wisdom to
have The Book of Mormon as convincing evidence that Jesus is the Christ and
that his Church has been restored to the earth through a prophet of God.
I know without a doubt that if Daniel had not made the commitment he did to
reading The Book of Mormon he would not have progressed as fast as he did.
I know I talk about this over and over and over again, but it is true. If
you want to have a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, and want to know what
you need to do to be with your family forever, or if you just want to have
purpose in your life, read The Book of Mormon. It will change your life!
Since it is
Thanksgiving I thought I would just end by sharing some things I'm thankful
for.
1) My family-
I'm sorry for everyone else but it is a fact that I have the best family on the
earth. I'm so thankful for the many great examples in my immediate
family, but also in my extended family. I have the best parents on
earth. I know I would not be on my mission if it wasn't for them.
They didn't force me to do anything in my life, but I never had to question
what was right and what was wrong. I always knew that if I followed their
example I would be doing what was right.
2) My
mission- I have learned so much on my mission. I have strengthened
my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I have really come
to understand what is important to me in my life and what I need to do to keep
those important things with me. I have been able to feel the great love
Heavenly Father has for his children. It's hard to explain, but when you
are a missionary you feel love for people that you know just can't be the love
that you yourself are coming up with. It is Heavenly Father’s love that
flows through you to bless the lives of others. I know that Heavenly
Father knows each and every one of us and that we are his children. I
have also had the amazing opportunity to see people change and experience more
happiness. It is amazing what the gospel of Jesus Christ can do for
people and especially what Christ can do for people.
3) Donald
Trump...jokes haha I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to live in
America. I have loved growing up in America. I'm thankful for the
traditions, education, heating and cooling systems, food, but most importantly
for religious freedom. I also love New Zealand with all of my heart. The
people here are truly amazing. They are humble and they love the gospel,
and they are not afraid to share it. We had a youth named gups who is 18
come out with us this week. I remember how scared I was to go out with
the missionaries in my own neighborhood because I was afraid of running into
someone I knew. Well guess what…Gups is not afraid of that. He is
bold and is not afraid to share the gospel with anyone. New Zealand is
such a beautiful country and I'm thankful I’ve been called here to serve.
I could go own
but I’ve run out of time. I love each and every one of you and I'm
THANKFUL to be able to have a relationship with you.
Love,
Elder Brunson
P.S Feel free
to add these to the Thanksgiving chain mom
P.S.S Everyone
who has not heard of the Thanksgiving chain should ask my mom what it is and
should make it a tradition in their family. It is the best!
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Monday,
November 14, 2013
Elder
Brunson is not dead!!!!!
I
have officially overcome my sickness haha. I don’t really have a clue
what I had. I'm not sure if I had pneumonia or just a really bad flu or
what. I do know though, that Bishop Maine, a doctor in our stake who I
called to get advice, said that it was a miracle how fast I recovered.
Apparently I could have been out for several weeks. I'm thankful for all
of you who prayed for me to get better. I know that your prayers were
answered and that’s why I was able to recover so quickly. To me it didn't
really seem quick, but I'm glad I wasn't stuck in the flat for weeks. It
was so weird being sick for that long. I’ve never been sick that long
before. My symptoms were a high fever, painful
body aches, and I got really dizzy when I stood up. Also I had no
appetite so I lost quite a bit of weight. Don't worry though, I have
quickly been gaining it back haha. All the ward members think I look super
skinny so I'm sure they will try and feed me extra haha. Also my companion
had scabies, which is a really contagious disease, so we were both confined to
our flat. It has been a whirlwind last two weeks so I'm not even sure
what to write about. I could give you a play by play of being sick, but
that would not be very fun. I finally got to leave the flat this Thursday and
it felt great to hit the streets again. I have lost a lot of energy
though and so I would lose my breath just walking up the steps to somebody's
house, which was quite embarrassing. I'm starting to build my strength
back up, which is good.
The
thing I really want to write about is the most amazing miracle
ever!!!!!!!! So pretty much we don't have very many people to teach, but
we have like 3 awesome couples we are working with. The most amazing
thing happened with Daniel and Alofa. So the last visit we had with them
was on a Tuesday, I think, two weeks ago haha. We have been
really pushing for Daniel to get married and get baptized. However,
Daniel told us that he didn't think he was ready yet. It seemed like
Daniel was progressing heaps, but then Daniel and Alofa would hit a rough patch
and Daniel would want to give up. On this visit we had a really good
lesson, and at the end Daniel and Alofa told us that they had finally decided
on a wedding date. We were so pumped we could hardly wait for them to say
the date. Well they told us the date and it wasn't what we were
expecting. They told us that they were
planning on getting married in April and then Daniel would be baptized.
It was really hard because Elder Taito and I were really happy that they
decided they wanted to get married, but we were gutted that we wouldn't get to
see them get married and Daniel get baptized. However, they said they had
prayed about it and felt that was when they should be baptized. We
couldn't really argue against that so we congratulated them and told them we
would still be there to support them. Then I got really sick. Elder
Taito and I had a bit of a miscommunication and I thought he had already talked
to Daniel and Alofa and told them we were sick. Well Friday rolled
around and I was still sick and we hadn't told Daniel and Alofa why we hadn't
come around. Well I decided to text Daniel and let him know what was
going on. However, Daniel did not text back. We tried to get a hold
of him and we never heard back. Sunday morning came and I
texted Daniel to remind them about church and got no reply back. I was
really worried that Daniel wasn't getting our text or that they were upset with
us because we hadn't come around. Sunday afternoon after church
I called our ward mission leader and asked him if Daniel and Alofa were at
church. He said that they were and they stayed for all three hours!
It was so amazing that even with us not coming around they still went to church
without us. It really showed how committed they are to coming to church
and how much it is changing their lives. Well it was a huge miracle to
hear that they were at church, but what was even better news was to hear that
they talked with Bishop Leelo after church. He asked them when they were
going to get married. They told him in April. He responded by
asking them why they were waiting so long. He told them that they had
already been living the lifestyle of marriage for the past 7 years. He told
them they should pray and come back to him with another date. Well next
minute Daniel shouts out that they will get married December 3rd and
that he wanted to be baptized the same day! So then Daniel called us to
tell us the exciting news! He said he couldn't wait for us to come around
that he was so excited! Well we finally got to go over to Daniel and
Alofas on Saturday evening and they shared all of the details on
their wedding and baptism. They have already invited all their family and
have even figured out the food for the wedding. They said that their
relationship has also been strengthened heaps! They are not having those
rough patches anymore and are still reading the Book of Mormon together.
Elder Taito and I are so excited for the wedding and baptism! It is going
to be a great weekend. Unfortunately, Daniel is in Korea this week
wrestling. He got invited to do this Korean style wrestling and so he is
going to be gone from today to next Tuesday, so we are really sad that we
won't be able to meet with them for another week. Daniel is really
prepared for baptism though, he has been reading lots of The Book of Mormon and
has a strong testimony of it and a testimony of keeping the commandments.
He has just seen a huge difference in his life since he has stopped smoking and
drinking, and since he has come to church. It has been amazing to see the
progress he has made. It took us ages to even get him to pray, but now he
gives the most sincere prayers ever. Their family is so cool! I love
them so much! This week is also transfers week, but I'm 100% sure I won’t
be leaving. So this next transfer will be my 5th transfer in this area
and will be the longest amount of time that I have spent in an area. I'm
pumped though! I love being a missionary, and I'm glad to be back out and
working!
Love,
Elder
Brunson
Sunday, November 06, 2016
We received the following update from Tyler on Saturday
evening (his Sunday evening). We did not
receive any additional words from him on his Pday today.
I'm alive! I know you probably want lots of details on my
sickness, but I don't have much time. President and Sister Cummings drove down
from Hamilton to give me some food and make sure I'm okay. My companion
still needs to email though so I don't have heaps of time. I got sick on
Sunday and went to the doctor on Wednesday. I have had a fever since
Sunday. Sun-wed I had a fever of about 102-104 but since Thursday my fever has
dropped and stayed from about 101.5-102.3 or so. The sickness I have is just a
form of influenza and not pneumonia. The
antibiotics they gave me were a precaution to help me avoid getting pneumonia.
The clinic I went to was an emergency clinic. The doctor didn't take any tests. He listened
to my heart, lungs and took my bp and looked into my throat. I have been
talking with a bishop from another stake nearby who works at that clinic but he
didn't see me. I have called him and told him my symptoms and he has told me
that once my fever goes away the sickness will be done. He said it’s really
good that my fever is dropping. I'm feeling much better though and I want
to thank you all for the fasting and prayers. Please don't worry about me;
everything is going to be alright! I can't wait to be able to share more with
you all.
Lots of love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
I'm sitting here in this email shop and it is absolutely
blazing hot! Usually there are only a few people emailing on Mondays, but
today is a public holiday so the library is closed so I'm sure that's why there
are so many people here. With all the computers going and all the people,
this place very warm.
I will make an attempt to recount this last week and try to
share everything that I felt was important during the week. Let me just
say that this past week has been one of the hardest, but one of the best
weeks! Each week as leaders we get a commitment from the Assistants, at
the end of the week they follow up on the commitment that they left for us and
see how it went. This week’s commitment was to hit the standards of
excellence. The standards of excellence are simply goals that the mission
president feels we can achieve each week that are achievable, but that will
make us stretch. For example the standard for investigators attending
church each Sunday is two. That is probably a really poor
explanation of what they are, but hopefully you kind of get it. Anyway,
for some reason when they gave us the commitment I knew I really wanted to do
everything possible to achieve it. It had been a really long time since I
had hit the standards of excellence since we have been struggling to have people
to teach. This week we worked really hard and it was such a rewarding
week! I will focus on telling you about Sunday because it was
seriously the best day ever! We have been focusing on working with Daniel
and Alofa and Jay and Mary. You may be wondering what happened to Jay and
Mary and if we were still teaching them. Well for the past few weeks
Elder Saurey and I had a really hard time trying to work with Jay and
Mary. At first they were doing so good. They came to church two
Sundays in a row and then all of a sudden they stopped coming to church and
stopped progressing. Then Mary got a job which made things even
worse. She started working on Sundays and therefore couldn't come to
church. Well at the beginning of the week we set some pretty bold
expectations with Jay and Mary. It was amazing because I had been thinking
about why they weren't progressing and then it hit me, they had stopped reading
The Book of Mormon. When they were progressing heaps they were reading
The Book of Mormon heaps. The Book of Mormon is really the key to getting
investigators, your children, you, or a friend to progress in the gospel.
The more you read The Book of Mormon the more converted you will become.
So we decided to explain this to Jay and help him realize that the reason they
had stopped progressing was because they stopped reading The Book of
Mormon. We challenged them to read The Book of Mormon every day for this
week and then to see where they were at, at the end of the week. Well
guess what happened?! Miracles! This past week Jay and Mary have
really been able to get back on track. Unfortunately, Mary still had to
work on Sunday so she couldn't come to church, but this next week she
is asking her boss for Sundays off, and she is telling her that she is willing
to work all 6 other days if she can just have Sundays off. Guess who came
to church though?!!!! Jay and Mary's little sister Serina!! It was so
awesome that they came. What is even better is that Jay talked to Bishop
about wanting to get the Aaronic Priesthood. Bishop told him what he
needed to do and so Jay is really excited about preparing himself to baptize
Mary. He is going on Tuesday to apply for their marriage
certificate, and then we are going to work the whole wedding out! They
still need to quit smoking which is their major concern, but I know if they
take the step of faith to get married that the Lord will make sure they can
overcome the word of wisdom. So things are again rolling with Jay and
Mary so we are super happy. Well if that wasn't a good enough miracle let’s
go for round two. Alofa and Daniel! Alofa and Daniel are doing
amazing! We taught them several times this week and had some amazing lessons.
Daniel is still not committing to get baptized yet, but he is really coming
along. Daniel and Alofa have been reading The Book of Mormon
together! Daniel is so sweet. He
was chapter 17 and he started all the way over so he could read together with
Alofa. Daniel really loves The Book of Mormon and just like Jay and Mary
it is really helping him to progress. Well, they committed to coming to
church on Sunday and so we were super pumped. It came time for
church on Sunday and guess what?! It was 2:00 and
they weren't there. (By the way church starts at 2:00.) Elder
Taito and I were so sad! I couldn't believe that they didn't come.
Well we were saying the opening prayer and as the lady was saying the opening
prayer I was praying that Daniel and Alofa would come to church. When I
opened my eyes after the prayer was finished I looked over to Elder Taito and
immediately my eyes were on Daniel and Alofa. At first my brain didn't
realize that it was them. However, after my moment of shock I realized
that they were at church!!!! I was so happy! The spirit was so
strong! It was literally the best feeling ever. I can't think of
too many times where I was so happy. Guess what made it even
better?! They stayed for all three hours of church. The third hour
was the best though. During opening exercises of priesthood they had all
of the visitors introduce themselves. Well it came time for Daniels turn
and he stood up. Just a background on Daniel, he is pretty shy and really
doesn't like talking in front of new people. Daniel stood up and he
frantically looked around and looked to us with a panicked expression on his
face. We looked to Daniel and just told him to say his name. Well
Daniel eventually said his name and much more! Daniel explained that he
had been meeting with us for the past few weeks and that we had been sharing
messages with him to help him in his life. He told them that we had
invited him to read the Book of Mormon and that he had been reading it and it
was really helping him. He said that he knew he needed to just keep
reading the Book of Mormon because it would give him more understanding and
that it would help him keep coming to church. I can't remember everything he
said, but it was so sincere! He pretty much bore testimony of the Book of
Mormon and the church without even realizing it. It was definitely one of
the coolest experiences on my mission. Not because of what we had done,
because we hadn't done anything. But because the Lord, through The Book of
Mormon and His missionaries, can change the hearts of His children. It
truly is an amazing work that we each can be part of. Be a
missionary! No matter who you are or how capable you think you are, be a
missionary. I can promise that you will feel the most joy in sharing the
gospel. I love you all and thank you for your great examples.
Love,
Elder Brunson
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Monday, October 16, 2016
New Zealand is officially the most bipolar country in the
entire world. The weather this week has been 4 different seasons all in
one day, every day this week. There has not been one day this week when
the weather of the day stayed the same haha. There was never just a sunny
day, or just a rainy day, or just a windy day. It was a sunny day, windy
day, and rainy day all in one day haha. I would think people
would get a lot more sick than they do with all the changes in the weather, but
for the most part it seems just about the same as back home. I can't wait
for December to come because that is always the nicest month! I love the
summers in New Zealand! I love working in any weather, but I especially
love working when it is sunny outside! Everyone seems to be much more
receptive when it is a sunny day. Summer should be just around the corner
though. It’s crazy to think that the
month of October is already almost over. I don't know where all the time
goes haha.
This week was pretty stressful still trying to adjust to the
new responsibilities; however I think it went really well for the most
part. This week on Tuesday we had MLC in Hamilton so I drove up
with Elder Van Thiel. Elder Van Thiel is from South Africa and is a
really good missionary! Guess who his companion is?!!! My son!!!!!
Elder Barbosa!!!! I got to see Elder Barbosa a few times this week, It
was really good to be able to catch up with him. It's so funny to hear
him talk now because he still has a very heavy accent. I got so used to
it when I was with him that I didn't even notice haha. Now it is a lot
more obvious. It was awesome reminiscing on good ole Wairoa. We
talked about the people we used to visit and what has happened to the area
since we have left. It was really funny having two of my sons in the car
together at the same time. It's amazing how blessed I have been with my
companions. They are all very different, but I feel like I have gotten a
long with them all equally well. Anyway, Tuesday I drove up to
Hamilton with Elder Van Thiel. It was cool getting to talk with him about
missionary work, and to get some good insights from him since he is very
experienced and is going home in January with Elder Holmes, and Elder
Saurey. The meeting was really good and it was quite helpful for me
because part of the training was on handling stress. I learned some good
tips that I can definitely apply into my life haha. This week was pretty
stressful up until Thursday afternoon. The reason I was so
stressed was because I knew I would have to do zone meeting all by myself on
Thursday morning. I had pretty much just one hour during personal
study on Wednesday to plan the meeting, so I started stressing out
about it on Monday. However, I got everything all figured out and
was able to give the training on Thursday. I think it went alright,
but I was so relieved when it was over haha.
Elder Taito and I had a really good week though and had some
really awesome lessons. It was so sad though because we were really
hoping to have a lot of people at church on Sunday, but nobody really
turned up. The Lord did bless us with a tender mercy though and we had a
less active lady that we just met this week attend church. Her name is
Pepetua and she is Tongan. We found her this week when we were just
knocking on doors. She invited us in right away and she then told us she
was a member of the church. We had a really awesome lesson with her and
she said she really wanted to come to church. She is in her 20's and has
a little girl and has a partner who she lives with. Her partner is not a
member of the church and unfortunately he is not really interested in the
gospel. However, she turned up to church on Sunday all by herself
and it was really cool to see that she came. We had a really solid week
at randomly finding less active families. We also found an awesome
Fijian/Indian family who we are going to start working with. We were also
randomly knocking on doors and sister Chandar invited us in right away. I
was pumped again because I thought she was a nonmember haha. I always get
so excited when people invite us in on the first visit, but I'm always hoping
they are nonmembers haha. We are still happy to work with less active
members though. Well we reviewed the restoration with sister Chandar and
her son who is 13. We are excited though because sister Chandar said that
her older son who is 18 but was sleeping is not a member of the church.
So hopefully we have a potential there. Sister Chandar said that they
would be at church on Sunday, but sadly they didn't turn up.
The other family we have really been working with a lot is
Daniel and Alofa. There was heaps of progress with them this week!
I don't know what I have said about Daniel and Alofa so I might say some things
that you have already heard. Daniel is a nonmember and his partner (not
wife) is Alofa. Alofa is a less active member who we met just shortly
after her mom passed away. She said that her mom always wanted her to be
at church and so she asked us to review the plan of salvation with her.
When we first met Daniel he seemed really nice, but he didn't seem too
interested in our message. However, he has really began to
progress. You may be wondering why? It's an easy answer because he
is reading The Book of Mormon!!! We gave him The Book of Mormon and
invited him to read it last week and he has read a lot! At the beginning of the
week, on Tuesday Daniel called and he was really upset. I was
in Hamilton though so I said we could come later. Daniel could hardly
speak on the phone and said that he just wanted to give up trying. Last
week Daniel and Alofa told us that they wanted to give up drinking and smoking
together. I was trying to get Daniel to open up, but he wouldn't let me
know what was going on. After a long silence he finally agreed that we could
come over later. However, on our way back from Hamilton Daniel sent a
text and said that he wasn't really in the mood to talk today. Well I got
back from Hamilton and talked about it with Elder Taito. We decided that
despite Daniels text we would go over and see how he was doing. It was a
scary decision to make, but we made it anyways. It turned out to be a
really good decision. We had an awesome lesson with Daniel! Daniel
was upset because Alofa had gone and bought cigarettes. Daniel felt like
she had let him down, and he just wanted to stop trying. He didn't smoke
any of them, but he was mad that she did. We had a really good lesson
though, and Daniel told us how much he had been reading. He had read up
to 1 Nephi 7 which doesn't seem like heaps probably, but for Daniel that was a
huge step. The more amazing part was that he understood and remembered
what he read. Daniel was really happy though that we came over. The
best part of the lesson was at the end though! We have been trying for the
past few visits to get Daniel to say the closing prayer, but we had no
luck. However, at the end of the lesson we finally got him to commit to
say the prayer. He gave the closing prayer, and it was so sincere!
After he closed the prayer we all sat in silence as tears streamed down Daniels
face. It was one of the coolest moments on my mission. Then on
Thursday we got a text from Daniel and he asked us if we could come over
and share another message. We were pumped and said of course! We
went and had another really good lesson and we followed up again on his Book Of
Mormon reading and he was up to chapter 16 of the Book Of Mormon, we talked
about 1 Nephi 8 with him and it was way good! We got a return appointment
for the next night. We asked brother and sister Saliva to come with us to
the lesson. Brother and Sister Saliva are a young Samoan couple and they
have a girl the same age as Daniel and Alofa. They are the perfect
fellowship for them! Well they came with us and the spirit was so strong in
the lesson. It was so awesome because Brother Saliva is a convert of a
couple of years and he was pretty much in the exact same situation as
Daniel. Sister Saliva was a less active member and brother Saliva was her
partner and wasn't a member of the church. It was so cool because Daniel
was able to relate with him and it really helped him. Daniel was even
able to come to sports night afterward and he stayed with brother Saliva and
played basketball. The saddest part was that they didn't show up to church on
Sunday :( We went over Sunday night though and talked with
Alofa and she explained why they didn't come. She promised us that they
would come next week. We are excited to keep working with them
though! Overall it was another awesome week in the beautiful country of
New Zealand. Adios Muchachos.
Love,
Elder Brunson
Elder Brunson
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Monday, October 10, 2016
Surprise!!!
Transfers brought a surprise. I have a third son! My first son was
Elder Barbosa who was Brazilian, my second son Elder Suriben was Filipino, and
now my third son Elder Taito is Samoan. Elder Taito was born in
American Samoa, but he has spent his entire life growing up in the United
States. Both of his parents are full Samoan, but he never learned Samoan
growing up. He has been called to the Samoan program, but he is going to
be in the English program with me for at least the first two transfers.
Well I'm not even positive that we will stay together two transfers, but that
is my guess haha. So now I get the difficult task of balancing training
and being a solo zone leader. To be 100% honest, this week has been
really stressful. I still get really stressed about new things and this
week was definitely something that took me out of my comfort zone. I'm
sure you can just picture me freaking out mom haha. We got the call from
President Cummings on Tuesday that Elder Saurey would be leaving.
He told Elder Saurey that he would be getting released as a zone leader and
asked to open a new area and train. I was then expecting to hear who my
new companion would be. However, President Cummings took us all by
surprise and asked me to train and be a solo zone leader. I of course
said I would fulfill the assignment, but didn't really think about what that
would entail. However, after the call the more I thought about it the
more worried I became. I'm such a bad decision maker as everyone knows, and
I knew that I was going to be responsible for making all of the decisions on my
own. I have definitely learned to rely on the Lord this week. I'm
thankful that we never have to be alone in the work! The Lord will always
be there to comfort us and to help us get through each and every day.
Wednesday and Thursday were definitely the
most stressful days of the week. Wednesday night I had to
coordinate all of the transfer plans for the next day. I had to make sure
everyone knew when they were getting on the bus, I had to make sure everyone
would have companions when their companions got on buses, I had to schedule
rides for the sisters to be able to get to the bus stop. Let me tell you
a lot goes in to making sure everyone gets where they are supposed to be when
they are supposed to be there. Other than that, Wednesday was a
really good day! We mostly just said goodbye to people for Elder
Saurey. We had a massive feed at Alofa and Daniel’s house. I can't
remember if I have talked about Alofa and Daniel. I'm pretty sure I did
though. Alofa is a less active member and her partner Daniel is not a
member of the church. We had a mean feed with them and a good
lesson! We are really hoping to get Alofa back to church and Daniel baptized.
They have a lot of things to work on though, but they are definitely starting
to progress. Elder Taito and I went and taught them later on in the week
and had an awesome lesson. In the lesson, Alofa told us that her and
Daniel had been talking and that they want to give up smoking and
drinking. She also said that they want to meet with the bishop so they
can make the necessary steps to come back into the gospel. We are so
excited for them and their desire to progress. We have a Family Home
Evening planned with them tonight!
Thursday was absolutely crazy! However, with that
being said nobody missed their bus and everyone got to the areas where they are
supposed to be. The most stressful part of it all is that two new Tongan
Elders got double shifted into the zone and I have to figure out how to split
their area up with the other Tongan Elders, and make sure that they have some
people within their area to see. I do have a sad, crazy, funny story to
tell about transfers haha. So it was Thursday
morning at 9:00 and heaps of missionaries were waiting to get on the
bus from three different zones. Well it was a really hard day for me
because I didn't want to say goodbye to Elder Saurey. Elder Saurey and I
have really gotten along and I knew it was going to suck to say goodbye.
Well the bus rolled in and it was finally time to say goodbye. All the
other missionaries had gotten on the bus besides Elder Saurey. I really
didn't want him to leave, but I had to say goodbye. Before I knew it,
tears were coming down my face as I was saying my last goodbye to Elder
Saurey. It was super embarrassing because there were other missionaries
around. Well he got on the bus and I turned to all the other missionaries
with tears in my eyes and said, " I think someone misprinted my badge, it
should say sister Brunson." We all
had a good laugh as the bus started to pull away. Well as the bus started
pulling away a panicked zone leader, Elder Van Thiel, ran after the bus and
started banging on the side of it. However, the bus did not stop and
motored away. He gave up running after it and just stopped. I was
quickly trying to figure out why he was running after it. Then I turned
and saw Elder Fesolia. Elder Fesolia was from my zone and was supposed to
be on the bus!!! Next thing I knew, I was sucking in my tears and
sprinting after the bus that by now was way ahead of me. I kept sprinting
after the bus anyway, but was quickly losing hope. My only chance was if
the light ahead of the bus stayed red. I could feel the burn in my legs
and knew I didn't have much time to catch it. Luckily, the Lord was on my
side and I was able to finally catch the bus. I banged on the driver’s
window and saw Elder Saurey standing up in the bus. Elder Fesolia ran to
the bus and hopped on. Well I waved goodbye and jogged on back to the bus
stop. All the missionaries were super pumped that I was able to catch the
bus haha. They were asking me if I ran track. I told them I didn't even think I was running
that fast, since I had lost hope that I could even catch it. But it all worked out.
Thursday at 11:00 Elder Taito arrived.
We pretty much spent the rest of the day picking up and dropping off
missionaries. There is so much that I would love to write about, but I
don't have very much time. In summary, Elder Taito is a really awesome
Elder. I can already tell that he wants to work hard, and use every
minute to share the gospel. He seems really shy, but he is definitely
starting to open up. He is a really humble person and I'm sure we are
going to get along great. I was reading Elder Cannon’s email home and I
can add my testimony to his that the Lord has truly blessed me with amazing
companions. I have been able to get along great with all of my
companions! I'm so thankful that I have been able to have companions that
want to work hard.
We had a really awesome lesson this week with a 17 year old
named Diamond. Diamond is a Samoan boy whose mom joined the church when
she was 8 when she was living in Samoa with her Auntie. Diamond is a
really cool kid and he let us teach him the restoration. Elder Taito
invited him to be baptized and he said he would!!! We were pumped!
The new missionaries are always given the goal to invite someone to be baptized
their first week! Elder Taito even invited Daniel to be baptized as well
so he is smashing it! We went and followed up on Sunday with
Diamond to see if he had the chance to pray about our message. He was so
happy and said that he has been praying a lot! He says that he just feels
so good when he prays! He said he didn't know if his prayer has been
answered, but he assured us that he would keep praying! He was so happy
though to talk to us and we invited him to a family home evening at the
Pritchard’s house tonight! We are really hoping that he comes!
Conference was so good!!!!! I wish I had time to talk
about it in depth. I loved so many talks, but my favorite session had to
be the priesthood session! It was so good! I wish I could have gone
with RT and Big Rog. They came one year and I'm sure they would have
enjoyed the talks. I always miss going to priesthood session with the
guys, and then going out to dinner afterwards! Sunday afternoon
session was really good as well because our investigators Zavier and Amy showed
up!! They came with their two boys Tyson and Genesis! They said
they really enjoyed it! My favorite talk from that session was K Brett
Nattrass when he told the story about his mom reading The Book of Mormon to
him. It made me think of my faithful mom who would continue to show faith
and read the scriptures to her son Brett (Elder Brunson) even though he would
always complain about scripture study! I want everyone to know that I
have the best mom in the whole world! I love you mom! It was such
an amazing weekend. I can't remember who was saying this, I think it
might have been Grandpa Ottley. Anyway, someone was saying that they
loved conference because they get to hear from the Apostles who are like really
good friends that you haven't heard from in a long time. I definitely
felt that spirit as I watched General Conference. I love the Prophet and
the Apostles so much! They really have become my close friends!
Their voices soothe my heart and their messages help me receive revelation for
my life. I can't wait to go back and study their talks! They are
amazing men who are truly called of God. I know that they represent our
savior Jesus Christ. I have a testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s church here upon the earth. It is the
only organization you will find that is identical to the church Christ
established when he came to the earth. I love the gospel so much.
I'm so thankful for living prophets and Apostles.
Love,
Elder Brunson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)