Ty Pritchard, a youth from our ward.
He left for his mission this week.
We will miss him!

Biking in the rain haha.
Heaps of fun!

Elder Zesiger and I say goodbye

I love Swedish fish!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Well this week is the real farewell of President and Sister Rudd  :(  They will be leaving this Thursday and heading back to Utah.  I don't know what we will do without them!  They love the missionaries so much it's not even funny.  I don't know how we could have a better mission President.  I'm excited for the new mission president though.  I have full confidence that he was called by revelation and that he is the man for the job.  I think he will bring lots of new energy into our mission, and new ideas.   Elder Saurey and I will get to have a 30 minute interview with him next Tuesday I think. He will probably just talk to us about our zone, and the goals that we have.  We are not really sure though, what will go down.  Got to be on the A game though.  This past week was a good week.  To be 100% honest our area is struggling pretty bad.  We don't have very many investigators at all right now.  It has been stressing me out a little bit, but I have confidence that the Lord will help us to find some new investigators.  He has already been helping us out, but we will definitely have to continue to rely on him.  So we have just been trying to talk with everyone we see.  We always do that haha, but we are really going out of our way to talk with everyone.  That part of our week has been really fun.  I love finding, but it can be really exhausting.  It feels so good to find a new family or a new investigator.  One thing I love about this area and about being companions with Elder Saurey is that we bike a lot.  Biking really makes it easy to talk with everyone.  If we are biking and we see someone we just bike over to them and start talking with them.  When you are in a car it would be pretty awkward to just drive over to someone and pull the car over haha.  I think we are a lot more effective when we are on the bikes.  One day we were biking in the pouring rain, it was so awesome!  Our pants got soaked haha, but it was a lot of fun.  Everyone thought we were crazy and told us we were going to get sick, we told them nah!  But guess what, that came back to bite us.  On Saturday Elder Saurey came down with a bug and we tried to go out and work, but he was dying.  We ended up calling sister Rudd and going back to the flat.  It was my first time not being able to go out and work.  There were definitely some pros and cons of not going out to work.  There are lots of cons but one of the pros was that I had time to study my scriptures.  I had a mean study!  I learned a lot!  I can't even begin to describe how much I love The Book of Mormon!!!!!!!  I wish I could just have it memorized.  The Book of Mormon can give us so much guidance in our life if we will just read it daily.  For me my testimony of the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon has increased so much on my mission.  One of these simple ways is through the desire that I have to read it.  Each day I love being able to study from The Book of Mormon and I can definitely say that it has become delicious to me!  I can't imagine going a day without reading it.  I would just encourage you to read the scriptures daily.  I know that we get that pounded into us from day one, but it is because there is great power in reading The Book of Mormon.  If you are not a member ask my little sister for The Book of Mormon, she is the best missionary in the family and she will get you one.  One of my favorite scriptures in The Book of Mormon is found in 2 Nephi 32:3- Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you ALL things what ye should do.  No matter who you are, where you come from, your age, sex, or religious background I know that The Book of Mormon can show us ALL things what we should do.  How amazing is that blessing?!  Who doesn't want to be shown ALL things what they should do?!  We would be crazy not to read The Book of Mormon every day.  Well that is my rant for this email haha.  The Book of Mormon is true.  Anyway Saturday afternoon Elder Saurey and I attended a baptism in our zone even though Elder Saurey was sick.  It was the first baptism I have attended in another language.  The baptism was done in French!  Guess who was the translator?  My MTC teacher sister Burgess!!!!!!!  Sister Burgess was the best!  She is now living in South Auckland, she is married, and is pregnant haha.  It's crazy how much can happen in a year haha.  I was able to talk to her after the baptism and catch up with her a little.  It was so awesome to see her though. 

I just had an amazing tender mercy from the Lord!  The computer started freaking out and then my whole email was lost, so I thought.  But it turns out the computer was able to save my email so I don't have to retype this whole letter.  That really would have put a damper on my whole preparation day.  So mom, make sure you thank Heavenly Father for allowing me to get my email sent off.  Knock on wood, the whole thing actually gets deleted.  Saturday night the traveling assistants came and stayed the night at our flat.  The traveling assistants are Elder Zesiger and Elder Tibbetts.  Elder Tibbets just finished being the AP with my papi.  Both of them are going home with President and Sister Rudd on Thursday.  I love both of those fellas so much, they are both really funny.  I'm going to miss Elder Zesiger heaps though.  He was my first Zone Leader and now he is going home.  It’s funny to think that when I first met him, he had barely been out for a year.  Now I'm in his position and I'm sure this next year and a month will go by so fast!  I'm pumped to hit hump day!  We had a good night chillen with them and just talking about the mission life.  They were both really trunky and ready to be home haha.  Elder Zesiger is set on marrying Katie, but I think he might have a little competition haha.  Sunday was Elder Saurey's B-Day!  And we celebrated it with Bundaberg drinks!  You will have to look them up, they are really nice!  Two of the sisters in our zone also made him cakes, so we are loaded with food.  I also got him chocolate, and gum haha.  I'm a pretty lame companion though.  I did also clean his desk for him while he was sick haha.  Elder Saurey is now 20.  Last P-day we had a mean game of basketball, and this week we have another mean game planned!  I love basketball so much!  I miss playing basketball at the church and playing dunkball at the Mckays.  Shout out to the Mckays for being so kind and letting us use their court.  Hopefully we were not too obnoxious!  Another good week ahead, and I'm excited for the miracles that lay in store.  

Love,

Elder Brunson

PS Is Finding Dory in theaters right now?  If so, I hope our family has gone to see it, in my behalf haha 

Saying goodbye to President and Sister Rudd

At the airport with Elder Saurey

Eating dinner with Ty Prichard.
He is 18 and leaves for his mission on Wednesday.

Monday, June 20, 2016

I think I need to hire someone to start my emails for me haha.  Knowing how to start is the hardest task, once I get going it is usually pretty easy.  This week was a great week!  Tuesday was the highlight of the week, but was also really sad.  Tuesday President and Sister Rudd came down for a farewell zone conference.  It was really hard to have to say goodbye to them.  They are both such amazing people and they will be really hard to replace.  President Rudd has such a good sense of humor, I don't even think he tries that hard to be funny, but he just is.  The love that we feel from both of them is so amazing.  They both have very strong testimonies and have made a huge impact on my life.  I'm sad that I didn't get to golf with President Rudd, but there should be heaps of time when I get from my mission to do that.  I can't wait to visit them in Utah.  They are the best!  We got to take a picture with President and Sister Rudd and give them a goodbye hug so I will send you a picture of that.  I'm excited for the new mission President though, he should be really on to it.  He was a member of the seventy and has already been a mission president, so he should know what he is doing.  Elder Saurey and I were in charge of having everything ready for the zone conference.  Elder Holmes called us Tuesday morning and told us he needed a projector screen.  Well our chapel does not have a projector screen and so we were trying to figure out what we would do.  Elder Saurey and I decided we would go to the Warehouse and get a bed sheet and try and use it for a screen.  After we got the sheet we went to the chapel and spent ages trying to get this bed sheet up on the wall.  We didn't have a ladder, so I stood on the back of a pew on my tip toes.  It was pretty interesting, but everything ended up working out.  We were able to save the day and sort everything out.  Wednesday morning we had to wake up at 5:30 to take two missionaries to the airport.  We helped them get all of their baggage marked, and sent them off on their way.  It is always sad to have to be the one's to drop off missionaries.

I want to take a moment to say how much I love the people in this new area, they are seriously the best!  Islanders are the best people ever!  They are so kind and they love the missionaries!!!!!  They spoil us way too much!  My new favorite drink is Coco Samoa!  It is the best!  I don't really know how to explain it, but it is really good.  I also really love chop suey, an Islander dish, and taro.  The Islanders are also really funny!  All of our ward activities are really fun because the members are so fun and crazy!  One of the members took Elder Saurey and me out to eat at a Samoan restaurant this week and it was so good!  I think I would have loved to serve my mission is Samoa or Tonga.  However, I'm so thankful that I'm serving here in New Zealand.  Saturday morning Elder Saurey and I went and helped out at a ware service project.  We mowed a ladies lawn Islander style, with a musette!  Okay we didn't use a musette for the whole lawn, but for lots of it we did.  I had lots of fun messing around with the musette.  We went to do the service at 7 though, and it was dark and the grass was really wet!  We got soaked haha!  Afterwards we went to the bishop’s house for breakfast.  I ate heaps of pineapple!  It was my first time having pineapple since being in New Zealand!  It was seriously the best pineapple I have ever had!  It was soft, juicy, and cold!  That is my favorite way to have pineapple!

The best visit this week was to a fella named Francis.  Francis is from Africa and is so cool.  He is a convert to the church, but has fallen away for the last few years.  He has an awesome spirit though, and really wants to do what’s right.  We really want to help him come back to church.  I'm sure we will!  He is too awesome to not be at church.  His personality is just so cool.  We had a really spiritual lesson with him.  I felt so much love for Francis!  I just met him, but I could really feel Heavenly Father’s love for Francis coming through me.  I don't really know how to explain it, but it was a great feeling.  We invited Francis to church and he said he would come.  Sadly, Francis did not show up to church though :(  Maybe next week though! 

Well Elder Saurey found out this week that we are being evicted from our home haha.  Nah we are not really being evicted, but we do have to find a new place to stay.  The land lord wants the house back, so we have to figure out where we are going to move.  We are really sad, because we reckon that we have the best flat in the mission.  We have two showers!!!  It is so nice to have two showers!!!!  I forgot to mention something else we did on Tuesday.  Tuesday night we went to our next door neighbor’s prayer meeting!  It was a pretty crazy experience haha.  The people shouted hallelujah, and other random things.  There was so much commotion going on, we couldn't even tell what was happening.  Not to put other religions down, but I'm so thankful that we have the knowledge of the appropriate way to pray.  I'm thankful that I know how to communicate with Heavenly Father and receive answers to my prayers.  I'm not perfect at it, but I'm definitely getting better.

I want to end by saying Happy Papi's Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I also want to let everyone know that I have the coolest dad in the world!  I'm so thankful for his great example and his love of the gospel.  I know I wouldn't be where I'm at without my dad.  Whenever I would get mad or upset back home, he would always find a way to humble me, no matter how hard I tried to win.  The greatest life lessons he has taught me are to honor thy father and thy mother and to love your companion.  I know I'm a long ways from having a companion (that's not a guy haha) and that is the last thing I'm thinking about.  But I know that if I treat my future wife the way that my dad treats my mom I will be a great husband!  I don't have any questions about whether or not my parents love each other.  Sometimes they show each other too much love, and it grosses us kids out, but I'm thankful that they do show their love.  I hope that I can always love and respect them the way they have respected me.  I love being able to study the gospel each day!  It is one of my favorite parts of being a missionary.  I have learned so much and I'm excited to continue to learn and grow!  I love being a missionary!  Serve Missions!  It's what he Lord expects! 

Love,

Elder Brunson    

Brother Buskee and Brother Tapuke,
both members of the Waitara Branch.

Jesse Luke was one of the investigators
that I taught in Waitara.

The Mauga family!
One of the coolest families in Waitara!

Saying goodbye to the Sterzers was hard :(
They are the best senior couple in the
Hamilton New Zealand Mission!

Brother Kipa-Dakin was baptized about a year ago.
He helped us out heaps.
He went out with us a lot and  helped us teach.

This is Aaron Harrison-Love, the 17 year old
less active boy that we reactivated!
He is the man, I miss him!  His little brother BJ
is on the right.

Matiu Rukuwai!!!!! Man I love this fella.  He is the man.
He is the one taht Elder Suriben and I baptized.
He is doing really awesome and hopefully by now he has a calling
in the branch.  It was really amazing to see how much he changed
from when I first got to Waitara and when I left.  He
definitely became converted!  I love that fella!

This is Trayc and Cyrus,
a part member family that we taught.

Maxwell family!  They are a less active family
that was starting to come back!

Sister Mcleod!!!!  She is an awesome recent convert!
She gave us so much food and
really took care of us. 

Elder Suriben loved chocolate so we decided
to try chili chocolate haha.

Clay and Kennedy!  Cay was less active and Kennedy was
his partner.  We were teaching them both and they were doing
really good when I left!  Hopefully Kennedy will get baptized soon!

The Chapman family!!!!  Mean family, members of the branch!

Goodbye my boy :(  !!!!!!!!

Our busted door!
They went through our drawers!

The robbers put a hole in our wall!

Elder Saurey, my new companion!

Elder Landis (Grandpa), Helder Holmes (Papi),
Elder Brunson (Grandson, son)

Posterity with President Rudd!

Zone Leaders from my intake!

What do you think, Mom?
I don't think I will ever have to send a picture again haha!

Manurewa Zone!!!!

Monday, June 13, 2016

I hope you have not been stressing over my safety mom haha.  I just want to let everyone know that I'm perfectly safe and you don't have to worry about anything.  The police have found absolutely none of our belongings so that's a bummer, but all good haha.  The police in New Zealand are a little slow haha.  I highly doubt that they will find any of our missing items.  I want you to know that our neighborhood is safe, and there is nothing to worry about.  We just had some bad luck with some robbers.  Next time someone tries to rob us, I will be ready though haha.

This week has been another solid week in the life of Elder Brunson.  I love my companion Elder Saurey, he is the man.  We already get along really well, and I'm sure it's going to be an awesome transfer.  Elder Saurey is from Idaho and is almost 20 years old.  He likes sports and is a really good missionary.  I have really been blessed with great companions so far on my mission.  I can't imagine what it would be like to not get along with my companion.  I love the ward so much here as well.  Our bishop’s name is Bishop Leelo and he is the man!  Bishop Leelo is Samoan and is really funny!  His family is the best!  Believe it or not, he has 8 daughters and no sons haha.  I don't know how that is physically possible, but apparently it is.  He has two son in laws that live with him that are way awesome.  Their names are brother Pilling, and brother Maasi.  Brother Pilling is from New Zealand and brother Maasi is Tongan.  Both of them have returned from their missions within the last 5 years.  They are literally the funniest people I have ever met though.  I wish I could explain how cool they are, but I can't.  They are really good at giving advice to Elder Saurey and I, and they do a great job helping us out.  Man this ward feeds us way too much!  Everywhere we go we get fed haha.   I feel like I never stop eating all day, it’s crazy!  I'm definitely going to gain some weight haha.  Tuesday we went up to my first MLC (Missionary Leadership Council).  MLC is a meeting at the beginning of each transfer for Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders at President Rudd's home.  Man it was such an amazing meeting!  I realize that it’s really hard to get to know President and Sister Rudd unless you’re in leadership or you’re disobedient.  Well before this transfer I was neither of those so I really didn't get to know President and Sister Rudd very well.  I felt like in just one MLC meeting though, I know them better than my entire mission put together.  I could feel how much they love each of us as missionaries and how much they want our success.  It was also amazing to see how much they love the gospel.  Their testimonies are so strong and it is so great to get to be around them.  It's going to be really sad to see them go.  After the training we had a huge feed.  It was so good!  It was awesome to get to catch up with all of the missionaries too.  There are definitely some props to being a zone leader, but I'm really going to miss being able to train.  I loved training new missionaries and being put with Elders that had heaps of energy to go out and do the work!  There is always a special energy in new missionaries, a type of energy that I want to be able to sustain throughout my entire mission.  Time sure is flying by fast though; I think someone needs to slow down the clocks.  Thursday was my first Zone meeting being a zone leader.  It was pretty crazy, but I think trying to fulfill my calling as a district leader really helped prepare me to be a zone leader.  There really is not much of a difference between the two haha. 

We had something funny happen on Sunday.  So Elder Saurey and I were at our flat eating lunch Sunday afternoon.    It was time to go so we cleaned up lunch and went to get into the car.  When we got out to the car Elder Saurey realized he didn't have the keys.  When we went back to get the keys from the flat, we realized that we had locked the keys inside of the flat.  We called the land lord who is the only person who had a spare key because our door had to get replaced when the robbers kicked the door down.  Anyway, we called the Land Lord and she didn't answer.  The other funny part of the story was that our suit coats and bags were in the car.  We ended up walking over to bishop’s house and got a ride with brother Maasi.  It was really funny though because we showed up to church without suits on and we didn't even have our scriptures.  Sunday night Elder Saurey and I were spoiled by an awesome family in our ward, the Kalonhi family.  The Kalonhi family has a daughter serving in our mission.  I have met their daughter once at the visitor center across from the temple.  Anyway, the Kalonhi family had us over for dinner Sunday night.  We had a really good feed.  After dinner we shared a message with them about prophets, and it was a really good lesson.  After our lesson sister Kalonhi asked us what size shoe we wear.  I told her that I wore a 10.5 or 11.  Well she went into another room and came back with two new pair of Adidas shoes.  She said that they were too small to fit her son and that we could have them if they fit.  I tried telling them over and over again that I couldn't take the shoes without paying for them.  However, nothing I said was going to work.  So I ended up with a brand new pair of shoes.  It is really amazing to see how much love the islanders have for the missionaries, they do so much for us and they are so faithful to their covenants as well.  I think we all need a little more islander in us.  I'm really thankful for the shoes, because I keep breaking my ankles in the shoes I have, but these are high tops so I will have more ankle support.  We may have been robbed, but we are definitely being blessed more than we need by the ward, so you don't have to worry!  I'm really excited for this next week, because Tuesday we will have a Zone conference to say goodbye to President and Sister Rudd.  It should be really awesome!  I still love being a missionary, and the church is still true!  I love you all! Stay safe and remember that Heavenly Father loves us and knows each of us individually.  

Love,
Elder Brunson            

Monday, June 6, 2016

I would say this is the moment you have all been waiting for to find out where Elder Brunson is, but it sounds like you already know.  Right now I'm in an internet shop in Manurewa (South Auckland).  South Auckland is known as the place where all of the missionaries get their crazy stories to send home.  I don't want to give you too many hints, but this might be one of the most exciting letters I will send.  I hope you are all preparing yourself for the intensity of this letter haha.  I will try and take you through a couple of days during this last week.  The beginning might not be too interesting, but trust me this letter will get crazy.  Monday morning I was in the barber waiting to get my haircut when the phone rang.  I answered the phone and to my surprise it was good ole President Rudd.  President asked me if I had finished all of the work in Waitara.  I told him I was still working on it, and he said that I better hurry up because I was going to be moving to Manurewa to be a Zone Leader with Elder Saurey.  At first I was a little nervous, but I was pumped to get to be with Elder Saurey.  I had met Elder Saurey a couple of times and he seemed like a really good Elder.  I wasn't too sure about being a zone leader yet though.  However, I know I have been nervous heaps of times in my life and everything always works out.  I love a quote from President Monson, "Fear not, the future is as bright as your faith".  This quote has really helped me on my mission and helped me to overcome my fears.  So I hung up the phone and then proceeded to get my haircut.  It turns out that I shouldn't have gotten a haircut because I spent $20 on the worst haircut ever haha.  I currently have no sideburns because the lady completely cut them off.  It's really not that bad, but I look like an old man haha.  Tuesday and Wednesday I spent my time teaching my last lessons with our investigators and saying goodbye to our members.  It was pretty hard to leave, as I have really grown to love the members of the Waitara branch.  The hardest person to leave was Ngapuhi though, I'm sure going to miss that fella.  The sad part was I forgot to get a picture with him and paunamu and potoki :(.  Who knows though maybe I will end up down in the Naki again as a zone leader.  I tried to take heaps of pictures with the members and our investigators though, but I'm not sure if Elder Saurey has a cord that will fit my camera.  I'm going to take a quick break though and I will finish up this email, it’s not even close to the crazy stuff yet.  

And I'm back.  Thursday was transfer day!  Normally on transfer day I would have to get on the bus in New Plymouth and then get on another bus to get to Manurewa.  However, Elder Suriben’s new companion was also Filipino and couldn't drive so they are now in a biking area.  So I got to drive the car up to Hamilton with Elder Zesiger.  Elder Zesiger is finishing with President and Sister Rudd halfway through this transfer so he got called to be a traveling Assistant.  Elder Zesiger and I had heaps of fun just talking in the car on the way up to Hamilton.  I love that fella heaps, he is way funny.  He was my very first zone leader when I got into the mission.  It is crazy to think that he had only been out for just over a year when I got here and now he is finishing.  Time really flies on the mission!  Elder Zesiger needed to be in Hamilton by 1:00 so I was there two hours before I needed to get on the bus, so I got to chill with my papi Elder Holmes.  It was so good to catch up with him, and to joke around with him.  I forgot how much fun we had when we were together.  Elder Holmes has changed heaps though!  He is way on to it, and is doing a great job as the assistant to President Rudd.  He has worked really hard and has come a long way!  I can't believe that he will be going home here in 6 months!  I'm starting to get older in the mission haha.  Thursday night I arrived in Manurewa to meet my new companion Elder Saurey.  Elder Saurey gave me a warm welcome and he really is the man.  Thursday night a member dropped off a huge feed!!  I didn't eat heaps luckily though because later that night we went to the Prichard family.  The Prichard family is no joke one of the coolest families I have ever met!  They fed us so much!!  Elder Saurey, Elder Tonumaipae and I were dying because we had already had a huge feed.  I didn't want to offend them though, so I ate heaps haha.  They are a Samoan, everyone here is either Samoan, Tongan, or from another island.  I'm so excited to serve here. The people are so nice.  I definitely will gain weight though haha.  I think I have already eaten more in these few days than I ate all of last transfer.  Our cupboard is filled as well because the members give us so much junk food.  Hopefully you still recognize me in a couple of months haha.  Oh I just remembered!  I forgot that I didn't say who elder Tonumaipae is haha.  Elder T was just with us for Thurdsday and Friday because he was leaving to go back to Australia because he finished his mission.  Elder T was really funny and we had heaps of fun being in a trio for two days.

Alright, I hope you are all ready for the craziness.  So the week turned crazy on Friday morning at 3:00 am.  Elder T thought it would be funny to play a prank on me.  Elder T set the alarm for 3:00 am and so I got up and prayed and went out into the living room to workout.  Elder T came out as well, but Elder Saurey stayed in his bed.  Elder T worked out with me, and then told me to get in the shower first.  I thought it was a little strange that Elder Saurey wasn't up yet because I thought he was a pretty obedient missionary.  Well I got in the shower and was about to get ready for the day when elder Saurey came out and asked me if I normally get up at 4:00 am haha.  I was like what the heck, it's not 4:00 am.  Then Elder Saurey showed me the phone and I just started laughing.  Well I tried to go back to bed, but it took ages!  Friday was weekly planning and so Elder T just chilled as Elder Saurey and I planned for the upcoming week.  Well we went out and worked until 4 PM when we had to come back to get Elder T's luggage so he could go to the airport.  Well this is when things went downhill.  When we got home, to our surprise, our flat door was wide open!  We were like what the heck!  So we ran inside and our flat was absolutely trashed.  We looked at the front door and somebody had busted through it.  The door was broken and the lock was halfway across the living room.  We immediately started looking to see what was missing.  They stole two of my suitcases, and $400 that was in one of my suitcases.  The sad part was that I had just taken the money out of my wallet Friday morning and put it into my bag because I was worried about losing my wallet.  If I would have just kept it in my wallet I would not have lost it.  Moral of the story, I should not have been carrying that much money around anywhere.  I feel really bad mom, and you can take $400 out of my personal account.  They also stole Elder Saurey's G-Shock watch, shoes, and his American candy.  At first I was really mad, but then I was just thankful for the things that they didn't take.  Luckily I had unloaded all of my clothes from my suitcases, or else they probably would have got all of my clothes and my suits which would have been terrible.  We had 6 bikes in the garage that weren’t stolen.  My camera wasn’t stolen.  So we reported the robbery to the police and they came and tried to get fingerprints.  Unfortunately, they didn't get anything.  Luckily though our Indian neighbors caught the car on their security cameras, but we can't read the license plate.  They robbed us and our neighbors in 10 minutes!  We have a new door now thank goodness.  The ward members felt so bad for me that I just got here and got robbed.  You are probably wondering what was in my suitcases though.  All of my notebooks, letters from home that I have been saving, baptismal programs, all of my hygiene items, and all of the office supplies, pens, pencils, the whole lot!  It’s sad, but it will be all good haha.  The Church is still true, and I still really love my new area!  Sorry mom for losing all of that stuff!  I love you all heaps though and will keep you all in my prayers.  

Love,

Elder Brunson