Merry Christmas from Japan (12/23/08)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!I hope the season is bright this year and the spirits are high! Well i gott=a go but i just wanted to let everyone know that there are miracles going=on here in Shibuya. Really, the past few days have really been effective=in working i has to be the Christmas Spirt! Oh i love this time of year =even if i am working! I dont have time to write about the miracles but i =promise i will some other time because im pretty sure this story will con=tinue! OHHH man i love being a missionary sometimes the work is really ha=rd and its raining and you want to be at home next to a warm fire with yo=ur family...BUT when you really see a true miracle when youre led by the =spirit in your heart there is sooo much more warmth than that fire at hom=e. And this is my favorite thing about Missionary WORK! I love you all an=d have alot of fun this Chirstmas and dont forget the true meaning of thi=s special holiday!Love You All,-Elder Brunson

Hello Everyone (December 10, 2008)

Well i dont have time so im just gonna write a few things... First off I GOT TO FREELINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was at a really famous park called Yoyogi and i heard the sound of dropping freelines and i got sooo excited i didnt have much time to try them out cuz i only had 10 minutes. But it has been almost 8 months!!! i was sooo bad! i could ride well (sort of) but i couldnt do anymore tricks just the normal flip, but it was soooo goood to ride again...ahhhhh i missed frellining so much but it was fun and a good oppurtunity to talk to the kid who had them, he wasnt good he had just bought them on the internet, but ya that was almost a week ago but it was nice to ride again i was so excited and i had poeple watchin me again, it was fun. But ya its definately not as fun as seeing miracles as a missionary. With all honesty when you are a misionary and you see a miracle through your hard work but also the help of the Lord, its is the best feeling in the World!!! the spririt is so strong during those times. But ya i dont have much to say other than its Christmas time and all of the Americans are feesing us like crazy here! its soo nice but im gonna get sooo fat! hahaWell i love you all and i hope your Christmas time is MERRY! Love Elder Brunson Elder Randy Brunson - Im jealous i want to talk in Japanese in my dreams but i havent yet. Do you SYL alot? but ya my langauge is doin alright, Japanese is still tough but for where im at in the mission supossably its good, some misionaries go 2 yrs in Japn and dont come out fluent but their usually pretty bad, haha, well i hope you like the story above sorry to rub it in!! haha but ill send you pics. keep workin hard. ya tracting is my least favorite Elder Hofstrand - I sent pics in that letter you should get it soon, keep workin hard to and see some miracles they are out there!

Merry December (12/3/08)

Its goin good out here in Tokyo. Its so nice being in the city for the Christmas Season i get to see christmas lights and christmas trees and sometimes music. They dont celebrate Christmas here in Japan, most of the members do but its not a big holiday in Japan, so pretty much just my area has Christmas stuff everywhere. In my area its is shopping central, just store after store, its pretty fun, you get to see some really strange fashion styles people actually wear. Well the work is doin good out here, were workin hard everyday. I got sick and took a 2 hr nap and im still a lil sick but still workin hard. Our District is really trying thier hardest its great. Everyones pumped up to work and see miracles. My companion isnt really though, its getting hard for me right now, cuz im still the Junior Companion but when i take step up and work as the Senior (which happens alot) i think he gets offended. So it sucks cuz you and your comps are never the same it seems, but the best part is you laern alot from them and about yourself. SO its goin great out here.The Americans in the foreigner ward are feeding us like crazy out here! next week we have 4 Dinners with a family in a row. Never has this happened to me yet. In other areas your lucky to get 1 a week, in my first area i got only 2 Dinners for the WHole Transfer! SO its exciting and i feel like the missionaries that use to come over to our house to eat and its always a great feeling to remember that youre a missionary and its only for 2 years. YA well today after shopping for food, were gonna got check out the Emperial Palace and a science museum (it sucks you cant enter the palace walls but you get to see it from the outside) so it should be way fun. Im having a blast in my new area. Though at times i really get sad, im in the middle of Babylon and to see so much sin around me and to know that they too have a heavenly father but they just dont know him. But the most sad part is Sooo many people reject the thought of not only God but particularly thier Savior Jesus Christ. And thats why our District is trying so hard and we truly are seeing miracles these past 3 weeks, but for some reason i feel like these last 3 weeks in this transfer will be very significant! Im excited!Well sorry to take up alot of time i hope everyone is doing well and please remember the true meaning of Christmas this Year, and think and pray to find someone to share the meaning of Christmas to. I know we will be doing that here in Japan. What a wonderful time of the year! My Favorite!- Elder Brunson Elder Hofstrand - Hey man havent heard from you in a while, hows Canada doing? Is it cold yet? haha I hope you got my letter a lil while ago. Elder Brunson - I havent heard from you in a while either, hows the work? Hey and what is tracting (sorry i forgot all the English missionary terms) i wasnt sure if it was housing or streeting or both and what did you use to do for finding before tracting? And how are you? Did you go AP yet?

Hey People-

Sorry havent emailed in a while, we have to bike 1hr30min to get to our email place and then we have to go back. so last week we took a break. Well heres a miracle:We were workin one day and it was time to go home for dinner, we had 9 conversations and 1 contact. (The goal is to get 10 conversations and 2 Contacts each day) A converstaion is like a good missionary talk with a commitment out on the street or anywhere, a contact is a return appointment. Well it was time to go back home but i really wanted to finish the day off with Atleast 10 conversations so we set out to do it! We ended up biking 15 minutes away from our apartment and we stopped about 6 ppl who all ignored us or said now Christ is unrelated to them. So we kept trying. We stopped a man who listened ut didnt have interest so we got our 10 but not the 2. So we were dilligent to that point and i really was praying for a miracle that whole itme. Well as we were riding back after skipping dinner, there was a College Student walking so i decided what the heck why not just be one person more dilligent, and at first he was gonna walk away but then he looks at me better and was like "HEY ive met YOU!" and i had talked to him before ut it was really short so we didnt get to talk, so we all ended up talkin to him for 2o min or so gave him a B.O.M. and set up a time for a tour(we got our 2 contacts) but that wasnt the best part, just yesterday we did the tour and showed Finding Hapiness video and he wants to hear the lessons and now he is a new investigator! It was a miracle that 1) i had met him b4 cuz i f i hadnt he probably would have walked off 2) we decided to stop him 3) hes way cool and 19 too and it was just a crazy thing that happened and its great to see the Lord Place prepared people in our path! But we have to be diligent!! So ya im doin great i gotta go though i hope everyone is well and has a great Halloween!Love you all! And Elder Brunson (Randy) thanks for the emails...they crack me up i wish i could email u directly but obedience is the first law in Heaven! SORRYY, but ya...nevermind ill jsut write you a letter when i get one from you. Love Ya Bro. I love you too Elder Hofstrand! - Elder Brunson

みなさん こんにちわ! = (Minasan Konnichiwa) = (Hello Everyone)

This week has been great. We have seen miracles!We prayed one night specifically to find new potential investigators and then the next day we worked our butts off and we found 2! Placed a book of mormon and got one return appointment. Thats almost been better than weve gotten in total since i transfered 3 weeks ago! (You get rejected ALOT in Japan) but thats okay thats why they need the Gospel. But ya it was a miracle finding these two ppl we were definately led by the spirit! So today is P-Day right well we decided to do a lesson in the middle of P-Day and because of that we were blessed! We set a Baptismal DATE! (only with the Lords Help) She will be baptized on Sept. 27th. She has a way strong testimony and loves the new Joseph Smith Book we use in Church. And this Sunday we have a Baptism (a Filipino Lady). My companion will baptise her and im going to confirm her and give her the Gift of the Holy Ghost! What a blessing! I get to witness the first fruits of my labor this sunday! Im so excited. These two have really been prepared they were found or first contacted only 5-6 weeks ago. Ive been here for about 4. And one has stopped drinking her favorites tea and coffee and has even stopped smoking! The Lord has done it all, i am just glad to be an instrument in the Lords Hands! (Alma 29:9). So yes we have been busy and have been pumping the ward up for missionary work. So all those reading this I challenge you YES YOU, to talk to atleast one friend this week about the Gospel and attempt to gain a refferal for the missionaries. The members are the best way to finding people. So please do this challenge this week and i promise the Lord will bless you. Ask for guidance in prayer. Well on that note i want to thank everyone for their support whether its now or was in the past or will be in the future. And i promise you you can see miracles if you seek to! Brunson 長老 Elder Randy Brunson - Keep kickin your comps butt and one day he will understand an appreciate it. It may not be on his mission but one day he will. Your a great example to me and everyone you come to associate with. You have a great desire for this work, dont EVER lose that desire. You're a great missionary. Love You! Elder Hofstrand - Ya i cant email u directly but im allowed to throw this thing in this everyone email. Well youre a veteran now out in the feild. Well not yet but your getting there. Time flies by fast. So make the mission the best it can become. It has so much potential, through the Lord and our faith we can see miracles. When it gets hard, work harder. And something even more cheesy from Mighty Ducks, "When the air gets cool and the snow gets thick...DUCKS FLY TOGETHER!" I dunno i just wanted to say that and thats not even how it goes! Oh well. Keep it up! Love Ya!

1st Transfer!

Hey i got transferred to Okegawa! 30 min. outside of Tokyo! I'm sure it will be a great area. I also got a new companion who has very good japanese too. Well not much to report on cuz everythings new and I've only been here for 3 hours...but ya the work is good and we're going to see alot of miracles here in Okegawa. Thank You everyone for your letters and Love! -Elder Brunson

Mina San Konnichiwa (Hello Everyone)‏

I have had a good week until yesterday...IT was GREAT!!!
> Yesterday was the best day of my mission yet! I went on companion exchanges again with the same Zone Leader (Elder Scardena). He is such a good missionary. He sees miracles because he has the spirit and follows it. Yesterday we taught one of our Phillipino ladies and she committed to be BAPTIZED! and her 11 yr old son too! But she wants to be baptized on her BDay which is not until October 21st. So thats the date now and we will see how she feels after sunday (were taking her to see a baptism!) So things are great here! Transfers coming up in 2 weeks so we have interviews tomorrow! Im excited.
>
> Im actually emailin in TOKYO the actual city right now!!! its so full of buildings, there is no ground anywhere! theres more trees on tops of buildings than on the ground! haha. There are some really tall buildings but not as many as i thought they would have, due to the earthquakes...But no worries aboutr the earthquakes i havent felt one yet. But September is Typhoon Season! Yaaa im excited! Japan is way hot right now but its all good, im gettin a tan!
>
> My japanes has improved sooo much. Its amazing what you can do with the gifts of the spirit. Today on the train ride up ive talked to 3-4 ppl all in Japanese about life and gospel! its great and i speak English top them to just laugh with them. And with the kids i play rock paper scissors! thats really popular here! The WORK is so awesome!
>
> Well i gotta go to the temple now! Im so excited, im going to the Tokyo temple fopr the first time. I am learning so much and thank you all for you letters: Grandma, Greandpa, Mom, Austin, Elder Brunson, Ryan, Sister Dean, Bishop Oliver, Elder Moore. Sorry if io forgot anyone right now i really appreciated them and i got alot this week. It was great! well Ill try to write back soon!
>
> Love You All!
>
> -Elder Brunson
>
> P.S.- Eldaer Randy Brunson : Ya i will ask my mish prez too (tomorrow actually) but thanks for the support and your letter i will write back ASAP. Sorry to hear about your comp. but contiunue to be a great missionary and show him love. Your so awesome, dont be afraid to be bold. This is the gospel theres no "beeatin around the bush". Im sure you wont I love you! ill write soon. And stop kissin boys! haha