Sunday, April 17, 2016
Monday, April 18, 2016
It’s transfer week! I’m not too
worried about it though because I most likely won’t get transferred, but you
never know haha. I'm having heaps of fun with Elder Suriben though, so I
don't want to leave. I have loved all of my companions though and I'm not
sure that I will ever not like my companion. I should probably knock on
wood though haha! Elder Suriben is way awesome. He has a powerful testimony and really loves
the people we work with. I have learned heaps from him over this past
transfer. One of our favorite things to do is make Chicken Adobo.
Adobo is the Filipino food that Elder Suriben taught me to make. It is
way nice! We usually have Adobo when our schedule gets crazy and we have
to skip dinner. Then we get home and do our planning for the next day,
and make a mean feed! It's the best. Fun fact about Elder Suriben;
he is not afraid of spiders! He literally picks them up with his bare
hands and lets them crawl all over him. I don't know how he does it, but
hopefully by the end of next transfer I will be able to hold spiders. We
will now be going back to the normal 6 week transfers. Most likely I will
be with Elder Suriben for 6 more weeks and finish off training him, and then I
will leave and go wherever the Lord needs me.
The weather has been cooling down here,
I'm not sure what the temperature would be in Fahrenheit but in Celsius it has
been around 18 at night. It has been cold enough to where we have to put
our winter jackets on at night. Elder Suriben gets especially cold
because he is used to the really warm weather of the Philippines.
However, we have been getting really lucky to have nice weather on our
preparation days! I think the Lord is blessing us haha. That is
like the opposite thing from back home. The nicest days of the week were
always on Sunday when you can't golf haha! Last week for
preparation day we went to a mean beach! It was called the White cliffs,
and I would have taken way more cool pictures, but my lame camera passed away
again! I think I'm going to try and get a new camera today. However,
it’s Elder Lingwall’s last p-day here so we are trying to have heaps of
fun. I think we are going to play touch on the beach with a bunch of the
high school kids because they are on a 2 week break. I wish I knew what
you guys would like to know more about New Zealand haha. My mom sometimes
asks me questions and that helps me write my emails, but I don't have any juice
in my thinking cells. I always have heaps of things I want to write about
during the week, but then I get to the computer and I forget everything.
I can tell you a little bit more about one of my favorite foods. Here in
New Zealand we eat pumpkin heaps. The pumpkins here are way different
than back home. They are small pumpkins and are green instead of orange.
Do we have these kind of pumpkins in America? I'm going to be really sad
if we don't, because pumpkin has become one of my favorite foods.
Well since I don't really know what to
talk about I could share a miracle with you that happened a couple of weeks
ago. The miracle was our recent convert Matiu! Matiu is still the
man! A couple of weeks after Matiu's baptism we were following up on how
he was doing with the word of wisdom. Ever since his baptism, every time
we go and see him we ask him how he is doing with the word of wisdom.
Every time, without fail, Matiu would tell us that he still hadn't
smoked. Well, this one particular time when we asked him how he was doing
he still told us that he hadn't smoked, but that lots of times he was tempted
to. He shared a story with us about how there was a cigarette laying
outside his house and he really wanted to smoke it. However, he thought
that we might be coming around that night and so he didn't want to smoke
it. He said that he waited for us to come, but we didn't ever come.
He said that he really considered smoking it, but decided not to and went to
bed. Well the next morning he woke up and it was still there.
However, a lady who smoked came over to his house that morning, and he went and
picked up the cigarette and gave it to her. He told us that the only
reason he thought he was able to overcome the temptation was because of his
reading of the Book of Mormon and prayer. He said before when he tried to
stop smoking, it was easy to stop, until he got tempted. Once he got
tempted he said he would just cave in and start smoking again. Matiu
recognized that before he hadn't been reading the Book of Mormon and he didn't
have the spiritual or physical strength to overcome his addiction. Now
that he is reading the Book of Mormon he sees the spiritual strength that it
can bring into our lives. This definitely strengthened my testimony of
the power of the Book of Mormon. I know that if any of you reading this
have temptations that you are trying to overcome that the power of the Book of
Mormon is real, and that it will help you overcome any obstacles in your
life. One of my favorite scriptures to go along with this thought is Alma
36:3. I'm so thankful for the gospel in my life and especially for the
Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it can
bring peace into our lives. I love my family so much, and love you all.
Love,
Elder Brunson
·
Book of Mormon
And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou
art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words
and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God
shall be supported in their trials , and their troubles, and their afflictions,
and shall be lifted.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Monday, April 10, 2016
General Conference!!!
Conference was definitely the highlight of
the week! There were so many good talks that I really don't know which
one was my favorite. My favorite session was definitely the Saturday morning
session. I can't believe that I used to not watch all of conference!!!
I'm pretty sure that I thought the Saturday talks were less inspired
speakers and that's why they spoke on Saturday instead of Sunday,
but boy was I wrong! Man I loved conference so much, the spirit in the
first session was so strong you could almost reach out and grab it. One
of my favorite talks was Elder Hallstrom’s, he really helped me to feel the
love that our Heavenly Father has for us. It truly is amazing that we are
children of God. It made me think of the traits that we inherit from our
parents. I know that each and every one of us has such divine
potential. We each have the potential to become like our Heavenly Father
and to have Eternal happiness. It was a great talk and I loved the story
that he shared of his little daughter and her writing assignment, it made me
think of cute little Emma. I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to
say "little." It looks like
from the pictures I have seen that everyone is growing up. I would like
to add that everyone is growing up way too fast! Slow down so Elder
Brunson doesn't miss it all. I really can't believe how fast my mission
is going. I want it to slow down. Elder Holland’s talk was so
powerful, and it relates perfectly! I don't want tomorrow to
come! I don't ever want my mission to end! I have such a strong
desire to become more like our Savior. I have so much more to grow and so
little time to do it in. I know that my mission will shape me into who I
will become for the rest of my life. I have never realized the amounts of
weaknesses I have until I came on my mission. I know that because of the
Atonement of Jesus Christ I can turn those weaknesses into strengths.
Another great spiritual experience came
earlier this week on Friday. On Friday I was studying the
scriptures after I finished my lunch. I can't remember what I was
studying but as I was studying I was really focused on the topic, but out of
the blue I had the most random thought pop into my head. It was so
strange because I was so focused on studying and then I had this random
thought. Now you are probably wondering what the thought was. Well
let me tell you. So as I was sitting there and one of our potential investigator’s
name popped in my head. That was really weird because right now I can’t
even think of her name haha. She was someone we visited about 4 weeks
ago, but she wasn't really that keen and so we forgot about her and haven't
gone back. I thought it was so strange that her name popped in my head
that I knew we better go try and visit her that day. I wasn't really sure
what time we should try her, but that we should just try her when we were over
in that area. Then another thought came to my mind that she probably
wouldn't be home, but that we should be prepared to find the person who was
prepared for us in that area. So it came to about 2:00 that
afternoon and we were over by this potential investigator’s home so we decided
to go and give her a shot. Well we knocked on the door and waited and
waited, but nobody came. However, I was not discouraged because I knew
there was someone in that area that was prepared. As we headed back to
our car I saw a lady pushing a stroller down the street. I wasn't sure if
this was the lady, but I figured that we had better go and talk to her.
Low and behold we found the one that Heavenly Father had prepared for us.
Her name is Tiri and she is probably in her 30's and she is super nice.
She has only come to believe in God within the last two years. One Sunday her Grandma came into town and
wanted to go to church. Tiri had never been to church and so she opened
up the phone book and picked a random church. The one she picked was the
Knox Presbyterian church, where she has been going ever since. She didn't
have very much time for us to share our message with her right then, but she
said that we could meet with her next week. One of the cool things she
said was that she has been waiting for the opportunity to meet people like
us. She said she is a really open person and wants to know about the
beliefs of other religions. She was super nice and we are really excited
to get to teach her.
So I’m surprised that you haven't mentioned
anything about transfers coming up. This week would normally have been
transfer week. However, instead of having a 6 week transfer we have an 8
week transfer. This is week 7. I
will most likely not be transferring and will stay 6 more weeks in
Waitara. I definitely love Waitara now that I have been here. I
have met some really great people and I have really loved being companions with
Elder Vaea and Elder Suriben, they are both way cool! This week is going
to be another great week filled with miracles. I love being a
missionary!!!!! Go on missions!!!!! Old people, young people, men,
and women! Missions will change your life. I hope you all have a
great week! This week another highlight was eating golden kiwi
fruit. Also funny fact, you can’t say that you are going to eat a kiwi
when you are in New Zealand. The white people who grow up in New Zealand
are called Kiwi's. So if you say you are going to eat a Kiwi, than that's
no bueno haha. You have to specify that you are going to eat Kiwi
fruit. Also this weekend was mean because we just stayed in New Plymouth
with the other Elders because that was where general conference was. Saturday we
watch conference from 10-12 then from 2-4 and then from 6-8. It was an
inspiring day! We also had a mean feed at the senior couple’s house Sunday after
the morning session. The Sterzer’s are the best! They absolutely
love the missionaries haha. They are pretty much like my Grandma and
Grandpa now. Well I hope you all have a great week! Never take the
gospel for granted! We are members of Jesus Christ's Church, the same
church he established over 2000 years ago. It has not changed, it is
still lead by our Savior Jesus Christ. What a blessing!
Love,
Elder Brunson
Monday, April 4, 2016
 |
| Preparation day in Howera. |
 |
| We played ultimate frisbee on the beach! |
 |
| Easter meal! |
 |
| Family reunion! We had 4 generations of family at the temple. Elder Landis, Elder Holmes, Elder Brunson and Elder Suriben. (We didn't get a picture with all of us ;( |
 |
| Isn't NZ beautiful!!!!! |
 |
| Elder Suriben, Brunson, Holmes |
 |
| Elder Timu and Bredhauser (serving in Elphin) |
 |
| Elder and Sister Sterzer (The wonderful missionary couple that sent these last 5 pictures) |
 |
| Elder Wheeler and Elder Christensen (serving in Hawera) |
 |
| Sister Sterzer, Parkinson, Green (Stratford), Gunderson (Hawera), Watson (NP), Cochran (Sr. missionary), Snow (Hawera) |
Monday, April 4, 2016
I'm back to emailing on Monday again
haha. Sorry for throwing everyone off this last week. I will try
and give a rundown of some things that happened this week.
Monday- I think I already told you
about Monday since I emailed on Tuesday. But for those of
you who don't know instead of having our normal preparation day we hit the
streets and worked! It was pretty strange to be working on Monday,
but going to the temple definitely made it worth it.
Tuesday- Tuesday was definitely a
miracle. We had a very limited amount of time to email so I was stressing
that I wouldn't be able to get the entire hour and a half to email.
Fortunately Heavenly Father took care of me, and I was able to get my full
emailing time. Tuesday we drove up to the temple which was
heaps of fun. Elder Suriben and I rode up to Hamilton with the Zone
leaders (Elder Lingwall and Elder Fellingham). We had heaps fun driving
up and just getting the chance to relax. It was way nice that I didn't
have to drive. I get tired of having to drive everyday haha. Tuesday night
we arrived in Hamilton at 6:00 and then went to President Rudd’s house.
At President Rudd’s house we had our interviews and received a training from
the Assistants (Elder Tibbets and my “father” Elder Holmes). It was good
to see Elder Holmes again and to catch up with him. President Rudd also
gave a good training on acquiring knowledge which helped me heaps because
I am really trying to increase my knowledge of the scriptures. Studying
the scriptures has been something I have really tried to focus on. I love
the Book of Mormon so much and I know that it can truly bless our lives if we
study from it daily. Tuesday night we got back to the hotel at 9:30 and
got ready for bed. Everything was good until I got into bed. When I
got in bed everything went downhill. I tossed and turned and could not
fall asleep. I was trying to figure out why I couldn't sleep. I
tried doing some different things to see if it would help me fall asleep.
I got up and shut the blinds, I took off some of the blankets from the bed, and
I got a drink of water. No matter what I did I couldn't fall
asleep. Then as I was laying there I realized I wasn't feeling very
well. I continued to toss and turn and my stomach pains got worse.
By this time it was midnight and I was getting worried because I didn't want to
be sleepy at the temple so I was anxious to go to bed. I decided to try
and go to the bathroom. Now if I wasn't a missionary, I would tell you an
awesome one of my stories about bowel movements. However, I am a
missionary, and I think my mom might take it out of my email anyway so I will
resist the natural man and not put my wonderful bathroom experience in my
email. But let’s just say, things worked themselves out, no pun intended
;) and I was able to quickly fall asleep. In all seriousness, it
definitely was a blessing that I was able to feel better. I had really
prepared myself for the temple and it would have been so sad if I missed out
because I was sick. I had prayed that my stomach pains would stop so that
I could sleep and I know that Heavenly Father answered my prayers. I
really thought I was going to die in the bathroom though haha.
Wednesday- Temple day!!!!!!!! I
love the temple so much. I wish I could explain in words the wonderful
feeling of the temple. So much peace and happiness can be felt inside of
the Lord’s house. I'm so thankful that our mission has a temple so
close. I love the quietness of the temple, it gives you a lot of time to
ponder, pray, and feel the spirit. For
the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty. I hope and pray
that I can always remain worthy to go inside His holy house. After the
temple we went and got flu shots. I'm sure my mom will be pleased to hear
that. The fella that gave us the shot was a member of the church and he
was pretty funny. I really wish Amanda could get a shot from him.
He does it super-fast haha. He just grabs your arm and stabs you
haha. It was definitely the fastest shot of my life. Wednesday as
we drove back home we stopped at a mean shop and got some ice-cream.
Ice-cream is definitely my weakness. I think I love it too much.
Sunday- Sunday was a really good
day! It was weird that we weren't watching general conference with
everyone else, but it was a good day. It was district conference and so
we got to see President and Sister Rudd again. They both gave really good
talks in our branch. It was weird though, we didn't have church until 3:00!
I think that was the latest I have ever gone to church in my life. It is
really sad to think that President and Sister Rudd will be leaving in a couple
of months. The mission goes by way too fast! I have so much to
improve on and so little time to do it. I hope and pray that I can be
molded into the person that Heavenly Father wants me to be. I love the
people of New Zealand and I'm so thankful that I have been called here to
serve.
Shout out to Amanda for a mean round of
golf! Sounds like I know where to go to get my lessons when I get home
haha. I love you all heaps and hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Brunson
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