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

We just found out that Elder Brunson will be transferred to a new area this week.  We don't know where he is going but the sweet missionary couple he has been working with sent the following picture and note about Tyler.

Elder Brunson teaching

Dear Brunson Family,

We just heard that Elder Brunson is leaving us to become a zone leader. I know that he will do well as he is such an exceptional young man. We are going to miss him very much. We are so appreciative of Elder Brunson. He is extremely helpful, a real “go-to” type person. Last week at our ARP meeting in Waitara, the church was locked when we got there and we had a really difficult time getting a key. It was Elder Brunson who was making calls and hurrying to members homes to find one for us. He is a wonderful person. I am attaching a few pictures for you and also a copy of our last letter home to our family and friends which I thought you would find interesting as it describes the work going on here in the District. We hope to meet you someday.

Lots of love,

Sister Sterzer

30 May 2016

We had a great, but very rainy, week here in New Plymouth. We are being blessed with sweet friendships and opportunities to accomplish some good work. We have met with lots of inactive members this week. We wish we were better at knowing what to say or do to encourage them to come back into activity, but we are hoping that just sharing our love and testimonies will affect them over time. I (Jan) had a hard time baking here in NZ, but finally made some orange rolls that turned out great, so we took plates of them around on our visits one day. We went to all the people who usually don’t let us in or aren’t excited about visits from church members. It was great – nothing softens a heart like warm sweet rolls! 

We had our first “SOUP-er Sunday” yesterday. Some of the less active members came out, but many people were out sick so we had a lot of soup leftover. (Several of the other sisters, like me, worried we wouldn’t have enough so made huge pots of soup.) I made a big batch of dinner rolls which were a hit. We are going to have some kind of “linger-longer” on the last Sunday of each month.

We began advertising our BINGO night for June 11^th. Everyone will bring a potluck treat and a garage sale-type item for the prize table. We are going with the idea that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”! J  We are learning that advertising our activities is the key to good participation, so we made a bright BINGO NIGHT poster. People seem excited about coming, and it will give the missionaries a fun event where they can bring their investigators and less active members. We also have been making posters with pictures of the past activities, and people love to see themselves. We think that remembering the fun they had at past activities will also help build a sense of unity in the branch.

Our 12-Step Member Missionary Program is not going too well. It seems like the New Plymouth members are not getting into it the way we had hoped, but we are praying that they will catch the spirit. The Elders and Elder Sterzer planned a 5th Sunday lesson where they tried to help members understand how they could share the gospel. They had a great movie clip and some members role playing ways to introduce the gospel. We are also hoping that building a warm culture, planning activities, and having great lessons and Sacrament Meeting speakers will build members’ confidence about inviting friends and family to come out. We have committed missionaries here (both the Sisters and the Elders), but the members need to help them.

Our ARP classes are going well. Also, the curriculum materials for the Self-Reliance Initiative finally arrived, so this week we will begin the classes. The Waitara Branch President (who is a fireball!) has already signed up 12 people to attend there, and we are hoping that there will be similar interest here in the New Plymouth Branch. We know that it will be a great blessing to the members -  so many are underemployed. So…. we will be very busy this week getting ready. 

We hope things are going well with all of you. We love you.

Elder and Sister Sterzer

Monday, May 30, 2016 Transfer week! Well another 6 weeks has flown by!  I'm really not looking forward to transfers.   I love serving here in Waitara and I love being companions with Elder Suriben.  We have heaps of fun together and we really get along.  We have learned lots together and we are really getting on a roll in the missionary work.  I'm hoping that I don't leave, but I don't really know if I will stay.  I have already been here for almost 5 months, but who knows maybe I will luck out!  This week we had an awesome week and saw lots of miracles.  Friday night we had an awesome activity at one of the member’s homes.  We all got together and had a feed and a spiritual program.  One of our investigators, Ngapuhi came and it was so awesome.  It was a really good activity and we had lots of fun.  I think around 30 people showed up, so it was pretty successful.  Ngapuhi is the man!!! Ngapuhi is 14 years old and he lives with his uncle who is a less active member.  I think I have talked about his cousin Tawhio before.  Tawhio was the man when we first met him, but he doesn't really want to commit to meet with us anymore.  So we go and see his little brother and his little cousins.  Ngapuhi is the one progressing the most though.  Ngapuhi has come the last two Sundays and has been coming to lots of activities.  We had an awesome miracle with Ngapuhi this week.  Saturday night we were super busy.  Normally on Saturdays we go and invite all of our investigators to come to church.  Well we got so busy and we didn’t get back to the flat until 9:24.  Once home, we realized that we hadn't even gone and asked Ngapuhi if he was coming to church.  Normally we see if he is coming on Saturday night and then find him a ride for church.  I was frustrated because we didn't go over because I really wanted him to be able to come.  Well Sunday morning we decided that we would drive to his house and see if he was planning on coming.  When we turned up to his house he wasn't home.  I was still a little frustrated, but tried to put it aside.  Well we got to church and walked through the door, and guess who was sitting in the chapel?!!!!! Ngapuhi!!!!!!  He is the man!  We asked him how he got to church and he said that he asked his uncle to drop him off.  Then we asked him if he had rugby.  One of the hardest reasons we can't get youth to come to church is because they play rugby on Sundays. Ngapuhi told us that he had rugby, but that he decided to come to church instead of going to rugby.  I thought it was the coolest thing I have ever heard.  What 14 year old kid willingly picks church over rugby?  Or even better, what 14 year old non-member picks going to church over rugby?  Ngapuhi has a lot of faith and really wants to do what is right.  He stays for all three hours of church and seems like he loves it.  Sister Flake even told us that he said the closing prayer in Sunday school for young men and young women.  She said that he gave a really good prayer.  He is really progressing and I really hope that I don't leave so that I can continue to teach him, but whatever the Lord says goes haha.  Then last night we had a really good lesson with Ngapuhi, we talked to him about baptism and he really wants to be baptized.  Ngapuhi asked us, “Can I make a commitment with you guys?” and we were like, “yup that's good.”  Then he was like, “Can I commit to come to church every week?”  We were like, “Yes!!!!!!!!”  He is the man though, and we asked him to ask his parents if he could be baptized.  He said he would and that he really wants to be baptized.  I wish I could tell you more about their family because they are so awesome.  I love being a missionary though, and you get to see so many amazing miracles in your service.  Thanks for all the prayers in behalf of me and the missionaries.  I definitely feel your support!  I love you all heaps! Love,

Elder Brunson

After playing basketball in the rain!

District

Service raking leaves.