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