Hello, Hello Everybody!

Hello Hello everybody!

Where am I? Right in the thick of it all. That's right, cruisin in the middle of Honolulu right now in, you guessed it: a walking area. It's actually the bomb, I really do like it! I'm hoping I'll lose some weight here haha. I'm in the Makiki Ward and we meet in the Honolulu Tabernacle! It's intense haha. AND THE WARD MEETS IN ENGLISH. So things are going pretty well, I have a bigger district that I'm in charge of which includes a pair of sisters so it's all good.

If you google map Makiki Honolulu Oahu Hawaii you'll get an idea of where I am at. So I'm pounding the pavement and OYMing like a boss haha.

I think I've recovered from the packing and moving around and unpacking again. Now I just have to get to know my companion and get used to the new pad. The new pad... is very old and very dirty and very small. So that makes a lot of cleaning, but I'm used to it.

I took some more pictures, but I forgot my camera back at the pad, so next week I'll send those.

It sounds like you are having a lot of fun and it also sounds like the house may not be the same when I return a little over a year from now. But that's OK, I'm already beginning to forget things about home, well not really forget, I just can't remember things as vividly as before.

Sorry I don't have a lot to say this time, but I will say that this area rocks, although I don't know any of the missionaries in this zone, so needless to say I miss familiarity again, but whatever. I think I'm numb to it by now haha.

Well, I love you all and I wish you all the best!

Ofa Lahi Atu

Elder Jared Brooksby

Transfers

Hello Everybody!

Well it sounds like life has been typical for the winter! Running around, sliding around, watching lots of movies and stressing over school! All the things I miss- hahahahahahahahaha just kidding I really don't miss stressing over school, or dealing with icy roads haha.

Yes our baptism did happen... but it happened on Saturday, not on Thursday. But the important thing is that he's baptized and thinking about serving a mission in a year! Woot!

Anyways, and in other news... I'm getting transferred! Still on island and I don't know where yet, but my time in the Waipahu zone is officially up for now.

Hopefully I'll have more to tell you next week, I'm still district leader so this will be one wild ride haha. Talk to you all next week!

Love you all sooooo much,

Amor Vincit Omnia (Love Conquers All),

Elder Jared Brooksby

The Bleak Midwinter

Hello my loved ones in the bleak midwinter:)

I'm doing just fine here in the Waipahu zone. A little tired as per usual, but doing well haha. Today a few elders and I went and played rugby with the Tongan youth from 7 to 12. Soooo yeah a little tired haha, and a little beat up too, but it provided a lot of happiness haha. I'm not in as bad shape as I could be haha.

Speaking of my shoes and walking in the rain, I can't remember if I ever told you guys of the adventure that Elder T. and I had about 3 weeks ago. Our car had to have some body work done so Elder T. and I were out a car for a little over a week. That meant catching bus... a lot. And walking... a LOT. So one day we were in Western Waipahu and we were going to walk to the East side of Waipahu to our chapel for a little bit of planning for the rest of our day. So we begin to walk from our appointment that we were at to the chapel, and it begins to sprinkle. So Elder T. and I say a quick prayer that included a request for the cessation of rain, but a willing heart to go do the work either way. So we began walking again and it began to DUMP. And I mean absolutely DUMP. It was what I imagine the rain for 40 days and 40 nights would be like to flood the earth haha. So we kept walking figuring it would end soon as it typically does in Hawaii, the rain comes and goes. But in reality it continued to rain the entirety of the trip over to the chapel which was like 2 miles or so. Raining so hard at times that I couldn't wipe the water away fast enough to be able to see properly. Needless to say we were absolutely ruined haha. BUT we walked past a school as school got out so we also got like a solid 35 or more street contacts on the way. So we finally got to the chapel and assessed the damage. I'm thankful that I have the Under Armor backpack because it seemed to have at least moderate water proofing. My scriptures were dry and all the things I had in my backpack were pretty much safe, but I was a different story. Shirt: soaked; Pants: Wet(but not terrible surprisingly, I think Haggar is an excellent brand for pants!) but oh, my poor shoes. I've had them for neigh on 3 years now and they were wet, wet, wet. I brought them home and put some newspaper in them and hoped. But the leather was ruined, and began to mold in the humidity of Hawaii. So luckily, at least, they were an old pair, the soles were cracked and had a couple cuts on the front of them. So they had a well lived life and managed to make it being worn every day for 6 months. No I didn't play taps or give them a funeral, but they can now enjoy their rest haha;) But one pair down, two to go!

Anyways, that was the past, this is the present. It sounds like things have been going pretty good for my beloved family, I am SUPER jealous of the good sandwich shop. I'd love to go there someday. Things have been going pretty well here too, we have a baptism on Thursday!!! Elder T. and I, but mostly the spirit, taught him everything he needed to know to drop smoking and drinking entirely and commit to living the law of chastity and prepare himself for baptism. It's nice to reap the benefits of what you sow, with a lot of hard work haha:)

But not much else has happened besides that! I'll be sure to send pictures next week:) Being a District Leader is stressful, training is just about finished, Elder T. and I are doing well, and I might be transferred next week, so I guess we'll see!!!

I love you all and wish you all the best:)

Ofa Lahi Atu!

Elder Brooksby

Hello from Waipahu!

Hello Hello everybody!

Yesterday was my seven month mark. It really is just flying by. Slipping right through my fingers is a pretty good way to describe how I'm feeling about it. I've gotten to the point where I'm actually enjoying what I'm doing and I'm not so much focused on how much longer I have to go, rather how much time I have left before I can't do what I'm doing anymore. If that makes any sense haha.

Thanks for your journal entry Mom, I appreciate it. It's always interesting for me now that I know that there are different types of Missionaries to see who was a true blue one and who was just going through the motions. It's interesting to think about the people that have come home from their missions and think about what type of missionary they were.

Anyways, I'm doing well! Pretty dog tired but doing well haha. Being a District Leader is challenging in it's own rite but I enjoy a challenge. As one of our investigators put it recently "Without challenges, life would be boring, I think." haha BIG understatement but she said it so nonchalantly that it made me smile haha.

I love you all,

Be good, work hard, and have fun, and Take it Easy:)

Elder Brooksby

Happy New Year

Surprise! I'm e-mailing today because everybody observed New Year's Day yesterday. Just in case you were stressing about not getting an e-mail haha.

P.S. We have an Investigator who calls me Elder Puipui because he speaks in Samoan a lot and I guess that's as close as it gets to Brooksby haha.

Hey Hey Hey everybody! No that wasn't a Fat Albert reference, although it might've sounded like it haha.

Speaking of Fat Albert... I've been eating waaaay too much lately. I really hate it a lot. When I come home, I'm going on a very intense diet.

Well in other news... New Years came and went without much excitement really haha. The missionaries weren't allowed to proselyte and so we all just got together at a beach park and grilled up some food, then after that we watched a very interesting movie about the geography in which the Book of Mormon takes place called Journey of Faith: The New World. It was pretty interesting and definitely piqued my curiosity, considering I've always been into those kind of historical/nature shows and since it was like that about the Book of Mormon it was even better haha.

I bought Martinelli's and drank some with the other elders (and sisters) in our zone when midnight came and we all went outside to see the show. I say the show because in Hawaii, fireworks are not illegal. So we could literally face any direction and get our own personal fireworks show. It was pretty fun, but I have to say, any time I think of fireworks I realized I've been very spoiled because nothing will ever live up to the show that the Army base at West Point put on for the Fourth of July or the one that GE did that was synced to music. So now that I think about it, the fireworks of last night were wimpy in comparison but fun for the mission.

It was also interesting to think about how this will be the only year in my life (so far) that I can say for the entirety of 2012 I am consecrated up to the Lord for his purposes and nothing else. Just a fun thing to think about haha. But so yeah that was my New Years. We couldn't proselyte New Years eve past 5pm or New Years Day all day so needless to say, I was starting to feel like a lazy sack haha. But now it's back to doing Missionary work 24/7!

It was good to hear about the New Years Traditions that are still holding strong back home! Of course, nobody can ever freestyle bowl like me, I'm pretty much pro already haha;)

No unfortunately it was not me who had the run in with Elder Groberg's Companion's Son (a long chain. Kinda like "Luke, I am your step-mother's cousin's boyfriend's father's former roommate." "So what does that make us?" "Absolutely Nothing.") Although I suppose it would've been pretty cool. Speaking of the "Other Side of Heaven" if you want to see the kind of food I ate on Christmas at the Tongan House, just look at the food in the movie. Their food has remained remarkably constant throughout the ages haha. The Temple was amazing as always. I'm pretty bummed that we cant go more often but that just means that I enjoy it more when time comes around again.

Anyways, not much else is new here either! I love you all and thanks for all of your Love, Support and Aloha!

Love,

Elder Puipui haha:)