Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Transferred to Kona

Hello Hello everybody! Howzit?

Anywho catching up on two weeks is never fun. Well I'll start at the top and work my way through I guess! A weekend before transfers I got a call from President, he released me as District Leader and gave me another assignment in Kona.  So I bid my adieus to Elder C. and transferred to Kealakekua, Kona, Big Island (also known as Hawaii), Hawaii. I am now with Elder A. and he's super cool!

I'm excited to be here in Kona, and I'm sorry I didn't email last week, there was a lot of junk going on. It shouldn't happen again. You guys should be getting a package in the mail full of books of mine and letters, it's getting too heavy to carry around and with the 50lbs limit for go'in off island it makes it tough, so sorry.  There's not much exciting in there, but you can thumb through it I guess haha. Well this computer is being dumb, so I'll send this and then go to a different one to send some pictures.

But it now brings us to where I am now.  LOVING life in Kona.  It's country here which I LOVE and my companion is very chill. 
The area is great, the people are awesome, but the work is much slower here than in Lulu, but I'll just have to speed it up a little bit haha:)
It was REALLY hard to say goodbye to the people in the Makiki ward.  I really loved that place a lot.  I'm sure you all had those areas in your mission that you got really attached to and Makiki is one of those places for me.  It was nice in a way because I knew I was leaving before everybody else in the mission knew what transfers were going to be, so normally you'd find out on Sunday night, where you were going but I found out Friday night.  So in ward council Bishop asked if one of us could give a "missionary moment" in sacrament meeting.  Elder C. doesn't like speaking so I volunteered (which is funny because that made 3 weeks in a row that I'd spoken in Sacrament) and so a lot of people in the ward already knew that I was leaving (because I had told a couple of them and word spreads fast haha) so when I spoke it was pretty much giving my "dying testimony" to the ward. I cried and so did a bunch of other people.  Saying goodbye to everyone was REALLY hard.  It was tough to do a clean break.  I guess that's why they do transfers.

I love you all soooo much and miss you a lot.  Thank you for keeping me in your prayers!
Aloha!
Eleta Puipui

Me and Stephanie, the recent convert!  She's the best haha.

The Johnsons, Stephanie, Elder C. and I.  This was my "last supper" in Makiki haha.

Me cruiz'in on my last p-day on the rock.  Our whole zone went to a member's home right on the beach with a huge backyard (no sand don't worry) and we played rugby, volleyball and grilled up burgers and brats.  It was superb and a great way to end a transfer.

   One of my favorite pics ever, the two whitest kids ever who both served in Tongan wards and love Tongans, with two full Tongan Elders.  And they both love cruiz'in with us cause of our love of the Tongan people.  From bottom to top: Elder W. (they give him a Tongan name because they love him, Eleta Viliami) Elder S., Elder L., and me, Eleta Puipui:)

 
Me and the Failings, I call them Auntie and Uncle Failings because they're like family:)

Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter!

Hello Hello errbody. What's new in the Hills? Er... Howzit? Welp, maybe I'll send the pictures first and then send my email.

The first pic is a very happy me with your package:) Thanks! Yes I did indeed wait till Easter, although that's one of the hardest things ever to do, get a package only to find out that it says "Do not open till...." God is never done trying my patience haha.

The next picture is of the "Easter Basket" after I put the "Handle" back on.
Unfortunately, the "handle" could not handle the stress ahyuk hyuk hyuk:)

The next pic is of the view that we could see from "Mariner's Ridge"
a hike we did earlier this morning.


Then there's me again!


Then there's Elder G. (pronounced ngatolowhy, it's one of those back of the mouth sounds like singing) and you can barely make out the head of my companion Elder C.

Well Well Well. Another week is come and gone. There's really not much to report. Usually I'd have more to say, but there were no crazy stories or super spiritual experiences. Easter was VERY good, and I really enjoyed our Sacrament meeting a lot, but I have to say it's very different when there's no family around.

Transfers come in a week, so I'll be sure to let you know if anything exciting happens haha. Chances are that I'm going to stay in Makiki for a very. long. time.

Welp. I Love you all a lot:) Thanks for your support, and I hope you're not having too much fun without me;)

Love and Aloha,

Elder Jared Brooksby

Monday, April 2, 2012

Happy April Fool's Day!

Hello everybody back in the mainland! Howzit?

Well April Fool's came and went pretty much without any notice, nobody pulled pranks on us at all so I didn't even remember that it was April Fool's Day till I looked at my watch and it had a 1 displayed on the date dial, so then I pulled out this thing that Dad gave me my senior year of high school full of all these famous pranks that people pulled, read it, and went about my day haha.

It was very interesting being in the EXACT spot that Elder Hallstrom (a speaker in the LDS General Conference) was referring to. And it was very interesting to think about how I've spoken from the same pulpit that 70's, Apostles, and Prophets have all spoken from as well.

Maybe you guys will have to come out and have Dad release me and I'll take you on a tour of true Hawaii in roughly a year.

Can you believe that? IN ROUGHLY A YEAR I'M PAU! For the longest time it's been "How long have you been out for Elder?" "Oh about half a year." But no longer!

But yeah I LOVED conference. I could tell how much I was enjoying it based off of how many notes I took and how few times I glanced at my watch. There were some very good talks given, I think my favorite would have to be a tie between Elder Cook's and President Uchtdorf's. All the talks were very good though. As I said, I LOVED it.

It was very interesting during conference. I thought about marriage and missionary work a lot. Those were two common themes but I was more thinking of them through the lens of this: If I can't show God that I can be trusted with a companion who I can respect and work with and learn to love then that gives him no evidence to base his decision of an eternal companion for me on. I will have given him nothing to speak to my good. Likewise if I cannot teach and love an investigator no matter their background or knowledge or abilities and can't teach them simply through the Spirit, then why would God trust me with children later on down the road? Just something to keep my engine in gear right now I guess haha, that's why I'm trying as hard as I can.

It sounds like you all had a pretty crazy week this week haha. Especially Lauren with doing all those things to get ready for the trip and therefore you guys as well for driving here and there and everywhere to get it done:) Ah, what a life:)

Well I have a story for you that is amazing and wonderful.

Today while at a doctor's appointment for Elder C. (I haven't gotten sick since I've been in Hawaii... hope I don't jinx myself...) I ran into the wife and son of my ward mission leader on Molokai! It was the best, I got to ask them all about people we had been working with and people we had found and amidst all the conversing I found out that two Investigators Elder T. and I found and Elder D. and I taught were just baptized two weeks ago!!!! R. and P. got married and then baptized! WHAT A BLESSING!!!!!!!!! When we found them the first thing that happened was I knocked the door and R. saw who it was and tried to dodge behind her refrigerator so that I couldn't see her, but then when I saw her I called out "How are you doing today miss?" and so she came out and talked to us. Eventually we began teaching her outside of here house and her boyfriend wouldn't listen, eventually she became comfortable enough with us that she let us in and we taught her in her house, but her boyfriend would stay in another room. Then eventually we met the boyfriend and got him interested and when I left Molokai we had just committed her to marriage and baptism. Now here they are! HOW AMAZING! It is one of the best feelings in the world to see this family united in the gospel, I'm just so happy:)

But yeah it's another week in the books here. I'm doing alright so no need to worry about me too much:) Thanks for all your support and prayers on my behalf though it makes a huge difference:)

I Love you all and Miss you SOOOO much!

LOVE, Elder Brooksby