The End.

Well, the time has come...

my mission is coming to an end.

It's not something that's horrible really,

just a big change.

Don't get me wrong,

I am going to miss New York a LOT!

I mean I even bought this shirt

just because I am going to miss it so much!

I don't know what I'd do without these two years.

I don't know what I would do without meeting

all of the incredible people that I met!

They have taught me lessons that will bless me

for the rest of my life!

This isn't my quote but I love it, 

"Your call is less about geography and more about the relationships."

-Elder Hamula

It's SO TRUE.

Think about the millions of lessons you have learned 

from those around you.

And if you haven't learned millions of them

then you better start getting to know more people!

I know God will always give us what we need 

to be happy in this life when we follow Him.

I know because I chose to give him these last two years

He has made me happier than I have ever been.

Ever. 

If you are one of the many that made my mission what it is,

THANK YOU!

While I may not be able to keep in touch with all of you in this life,

we'll definitely talk in the afterlife. 

So until then, God Speed!

May you see His hand in your life every day

and make those choices so you can come to know Him,

and His son, your Savior, 

more and more each day.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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My Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

This is my second Christmas away from home!

It's easier than the first,

but I definitely still miss my family.

As I'm thinking about you and your travels later this month,

I can't help but not want to pack your bag with more gifts.

Make Rudolph's load a little lighter, you know?

This year my letter to you will be the top 10 gifts I've already received

and am very thankful for.

10. My Warm Socks- Winter is a lot more bearable when I can keep my feet warm. I'm sure you feel my pain flying through the skies on Christmas eve right?

9. Music! It invites the spirit like nothing else! Especially the spirit of CHRISTmas.

8. Scarf- The hand crocheted scarf is the perfect length to wrap around my head five times, once again makes winter that much easier! Plus It reminds me of the special elf that made it for me!

7. My iPad- Not only do I get to #sharethegift online but it also let's me save time on p-day and email at the laundromat. :D

6. Chance to serve a mission- Nothing that I've done has changed me for the better as much as this has. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

5. The Scriptures- they have carried me and redirected me when I needed it the most in my life. I don't know where I'd be without them.

4. Friends- Once again, don't know where I would be without those great influences around me.

3. Family- They mean the world to me. Each person has taught me lesson after lesson. I know that no matter what happens I have a group of people I can rely on and know they love me.

2. The Holy Ghost- I know what is true and where I need to go. It's like a compass that guides me and shows me the way. It testifies of God's love for me and for those around me, it allows me to be clean from my mistakes and be sanctified!

1. Jesus Christ- He is the Gift. My whole life revolves around His Atonement and I know that through Him I can return to live with my Heavenly Father again. Because of Him my life has a purpose! I know I can live with my family for eternity.

That is what I'm thankful for!

Oh and Santa?

Would you do us a favor?

Put one of these in everybody's stocking in Western New York,

I'm sure the elves will be able to help you make copies.

Thanks!!! :D

-Elder Bruner

ps. Here's the picture for this year! Thought I forgot about it didn't yah?

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Cool People and Spiritual Moments

Recently we had the cool experience of meeting the one and only...

JJ!

Yeah, he's a big guy, I know!

When we first met him we were walking down the street

and he called us over from his car,

a Crown Victoria that was lifted and had 24 inch rims.

You can imagine how excited we were to get over there!

From then, for the next few weeks, he brought us out to dinner

and even went with us to visit someone we knew in the hospital!

Why is he here in New York?

He's an NFL football player who plays for the Buffalo Bills.

In his free time, the one day a week, he comes out with us.

We asked him why?

Because he wants his family at home to be blessed.

Who, pretty soon, is going to be sealed to him for all time and eternity.

Here's a man who is living a lifestyle that many American's dream of

and who's most important part of life is his family and religion.

Last night he met us in Palmyra on the temple grounds.

 

 

He quickly took out his phone and took pictures of the temple while there was still sunlight.

 

We then took the time to walk through the sacred grove.

 

As we walked in he said,

 

"I know you guys get to come here all the time, but it really feels special here."

 

The gospel of Jesus Christ truly is restored on the earth today.

 

And I can testify, along with JJ,

 

that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in that grove.

 

No matter what lifestyle we live

 

we can find happiness in the comfort of our families,

 

in the comfort of the scriptures,

 

and especially in the comfort of our Savior Jesus Christ.

 



JJ is a man who knows who his savior is.

 

And you can tell by how happy he is.

 

Seek Happiness!!!

 

And share the goodness.

 

Christ is at the head of His church on the earth today.

 

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

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Family. Isn't it about, time?

With the new iPad's I have been able to watch the old commercials that used to air with the catchy tagline: "Family. Isn't it about, time?"

Here are some of my favorite ones:

God has blessed us with families here on earth to bring us joy!

When a family is centered on Christ that is when true happiness is found.

I have had the opportunity to grow up in a family with parents that constantly worked on having our family centered on our Savior. 

Was it always easy?

Were we always perfect at reading scriptures every day?

Did we have a perfect record of prayers as a family?

Never were we perfect!

But I can testify that when we tried our hardest we came together and the spirit of love was felt more than ever before.

The atonement of Jesus Christ can heal anything as we allow it and use it in our lives.

A family that prays together, stays together.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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To be a Hero...

There was an awakening when I got my mission call that I wasn't expecting.

Growing up I wanted to go to a country in Latin America on my mission!




I wanted to be fluent in Spanish and be able to talk with my Dad in Spanish!

When I opened the call and read Rochester, New York.

I was pumped!

I already had been to my mission before on vacation with my family and it had the same weather as Wisconsin.

There wasn't really anything drastically new!

As I pondered more on it I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't going to learn Spanish,

And get the opportunity to see the world from a different culture.

Then I realized I wanted to be just like my Dad was.

+

I wanted to have the experiences that he had on  his mission.

I wanted to speak Spanish like he did.

I wanted to grow up and be just like my Dad.

I realized then, at 18 years old, that I was going to become a different person.

As ridiculous as it seems I realized at that moment that,

I was going to become Me.

Up to that point I tried my hardest to do everything like he did.

Talk to people like he did.

Love people like he did.

But I wasn't going to be able to go to a Spanish speaking mission like he did.

I was going to the best mission in the world, Rochester New York, and make the decision to work my hardest for the Lord!

I'm going to become who the Lord wants me to be!

I still find myself doing things that I remember making fun of my Dad for

and I can't help but smile.

How grateful am I for an example of someone I can truly look up to.

I may not be able to become him, but I can take what I have learned and hope to be as much of a hero for my son as he is for me.

Be a hero.

And always look to the best training to be a hero that has ever been given, the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Because that is the biggest reason why my dad is the Hero he is to me, the time he has taken to study and implement the teachings of Jesus Christ.

In the name of my Savior and hero, Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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Spiritual Giants

I often try to notice what I really look up to someone for and try to mirror it in myself.

As I've done this I realized that these characteristics fall under the characteristics of the Savior.

When we try our hardest to make our lives in line with the Savior's perfect example, we begin to become spiritual giants and are able to bless other's around us, here are some examples I have seen in my life:

Faith: Growing up Bishop Oldham was bishop of the ward (church congregation) and his unwavering faith was a great example to me. Even when things in  his life didn't seem to go as planned he still moved forward with a smile on his face, i'm sure he had times when he was down, but he never questioned the faith.

Hope: Click Here for the example.

Charity and Love: My Mother is a great example. Growing up I was not an angel child and I put her through a lot of hard times. However she always welcomed me back with open arms. A mother's love for her child is very similar to the love the Savior has for each and every one of us.

Virtue: My sisters have always been a great example of this. No matter what people say to them or what is going on around them they always stay strong because they both know who they are. They both know they're a daughter of God and that He loves them. They don't allow other thoughts not in line with their eternal nature to enter their minds.  They both have a testimony that blows me away every time.

Knowledge: I always love listening to my dad when he would give talks because he had studied out the scriptures in his mind and had a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He knew of it's importance and made it apparent by his actions.

Patience: Nathan, a childhood friend, stuck with me through everything, no matter what I did! He had patience. He would spend time with the little kids and no matter how they acted he always loved them. No matter what, he was slow to frustrate and quick to love.

Humility: Our current mission president, President Francis, always relies on the spirit. He truly recognizes that without the spirit he wouldn't be able to do what the Lord has asked him to do. He truly is humble enough to align his will with the Lord's.

Diligence: My young men's president growing up, Brother Taylor, was always working hard at improving. He made it through a few years with us and kept with us the whole time. He was willing to work at loving, serving, and bettering us and himself in his calling at every moment. He diligently worked at being the best he could be.

Obedience: I recently taught someone who we would teach a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he would accept it and immediately follow it to his best without questioning of it's truth. He knew that this was the restored gospel and that the Lord had commanded him to do it, so he did it!

Finding these traits in others made Christ come much more alive and real to me. He really did walk on this earth and led the perfect life for us.

Seek the traits and learn to apply them in your life.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

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Saying Goodbye's

As a missionary we get to call home on Christmas and Mother's day, so it being Christmas this last week, I Skyped home!!!!

The hardest part about the whole call was saying goodbye.

I really really really REALLY don't like saying goodbyes! (I'm not going anywhere, so this isn't a creative way of saying goodbye, just got to get that out of the way.)

Before I came out on a mission I was sharing my dislike of goodbyes and they came up with a good point.

We need to say goodbyes because that's when we realize what they meant to us.

I didn't truly realize what my family meant to me until I said goodbye and walked in to the MTC.

Every day out here I realize more and more how much they mean to me.

Think about it, when we say goodbye and realize that we are really going to miss that person, we realize why we're going to miss them.

From then on you miss them for all the reasons you liked being with them in the first place!

You realize right then how much they truly mean to you.

That's why goodbyes are so hard!

We come as close as we can on this earth to realizing how much we truly love them.

I've seen this happen every time I left an area and moved to a new one, they each hold a special place in my heart for a special reason!

Imagine what the goodbye must have been with our Heavenly Father when we left his presence and came to this earth.

He knew perfectly well the pain and hardships we would go through and he knew that we may not return.

Step in to your Heavenly Father's shoes, imagine how hard that would be!

Our mortal minds can't even comprehend the love He has for us, yet I know my heart would break if I had to say goodbye to my children and send them to have an earthly experience knowing that some wouldn't return.

However I know that same love would push me to allow them to go, because I knew they would have teh chance to grow and benefit from it.

Our Heavenly Father misses us!

His heart aches when we go through hardships as I'm sure His heart ached when He had to say that goodbye.

We are His work and glory.

We are a huge part of his Joy.

The next time you kneel think of the love he has for you. Thank him for loving you enough to say goodbye for a short time.

Then let him know that you are trying your hardest to return.

And then do it. :D

He is waiting with open arms!!!

Keep this in mind and love your God and Heavenly Father above all things!

That's what he asks.

Love him!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Eternal Families

My second day in Canandaigua I met a recent convert and he touched me with his testimony. I leaned over to my companion and mentioned that we should really try to teach his mom.

6 months later:

And what even was more miraculous:

 

 

The recent convert, her son, baptized her.

 

The whole journey has been miracle after miracle and the many missionaries that brought them through the sites on tours and the many who met them in serving knows of the incredible miracles.

 

The joy they felt was overwhelming. Her son just kept telling her how proud he was of her.

 

There was an experience a few months ago when we were at their house teaching them a lesson when her son get's a guitar out and tells her she should play for us.

 

She began playing songs that she had sung to her son while he was growing up. His face lit up as he sung along with her.

 

Families are ordained of God.

 

The truth that Families are not only ordained of God but are also meant for eternity hit me harder than it ever had before.

 

They are the basic and most important unit.

 

They are so important that God has provided a way that we can live with them for eternity.

 

I have seen the miracles of a righteous family not only in this family but in my own too.

 

As my mission continues, it becomes more and more obvious that I would not be here if it wasn't for my family.

 

I know that we have a Heavenly Father and a Brother, Jesus Christ, who made the sacrifice for all of us.

 

Look towards your family and learn how to strengthen your own.

 

Pray to know what you can do to make your family more of what God meant it to be.

 

Have the influence on your children/spouse that will last into the eternities.

 

He will always strengthen us to serve his children, seek his love and grace.

 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 



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