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     

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!

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