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| Family home evening at the Pritchard's for my birthday! |
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| The best birthday cake in New Zealand! |
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| Merry Christmas!!! Thank you for all the packages!! |
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| 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
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