Dear Family,

Oh wow! it has been an eventful week. A lot has gone on and I am just having wonderful experiences and feeling really good, I love the spirit so much, I've just been feeling it really strong all morning so hopefully I can put my words together.

Well my new area is called _____, I actually got transferred to the area that Elder A came from haha kind of funny. My new companion is Elder D. He is from Mesa, Arizona and a big funny guy and he has been out 8 months. We are already getting along very well, however he is kind of shy, so I've been doing most of the door approaches and talking to people and teaching. So I am really working with him on having him overcome his shyness, I know really weird coming from me right? haha But I've just been really working hard on trying to have him speak up more in lessons and what not, so we are really going to have a great transfer, its going to be fun! My new area is super wealthy - everything looks like the K. neighborhood in this area. I've already tracted more this last week than I did all of last transfer because we pretty much have no investigators.  Elder D. and I are pretty much white washing this area. We found one new guy this week who is pretty cool, and we set a baptismal date for the 30th of July but it isn't way super solid so we are going back to see im today. Other than that we are really trying to work with the members and get them on our side so that they will be willing to give us referrals because we are going to need their help more than anything. There are also a ton of part member families and formers that we are planning on going to see, so I just have a great feeling that this area is just about to explode and that we are going to get a lot of good work done here, so I'm way super excited!

So I had my first district meeting on Thursday and it went pretty well. I trained on working in unity and how we all need to have the same goal and the same purpose in mind and not contradict each other. I talked about how God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are our perfect examples of working in unity, they all work for the same purpose which is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. In all reality, that is our same purpose as missionaries and member missionaries, we are all working together to bring people unto Christ and receive the restored gospel so that they can receive eternal life. As I planned for this I really realized how great our calling is and how great of a responsibility as members of this church that we have to share the gospel, it was a really great eye opener for me. It's also kind of funny how nervous I was when I got the calling to be a district leader but its really not that bad, I don't mind getting up there and talking, I've actually gained a greater love for my mission as I've started to serve my fellow missionaries as well as the people in my area, it feels really good.

On Sunday the 2nd counselor in the bishopric asked me to get up and bear my testimony, which I was actually grateful for because I got to bear my testimony on the importance of missionary work and how it’s the Lords work not ours and that we all need to be involved. I didn't quite phrase it like that but I hope that the ward now realizes that we are serious about this work and that it’s important.

So I want to tell you all about why I have had such a spiritual morning, it’s really been a great blessing to me. So last night I had to report to the zone leaders our numbers for the district. As I talked with them they asked me if I had any specific plans I wanted to set for the district on how we could achieve our baptism goal. I thought about it and I just really couldn't think about anything, or anything that I thought could help. I got some very profound advice, and they told me that as I begin to sincerely pray for my district and how I can best help them that the inspiration will come and that ideas will just stop popping into my head. I thought to myself, well I sure hope so because I've been doing that all week and nothing has happened so far. But I took the advice and I really prayed hard for ideas on how I can best help the district. Last night as I laid in bed, ideas just started popping into my head just like they said it would and then this morning even more ideas came, and I just felt and overwhelming feeling of the spirit. I think I am finally really starting to grasp hold on what missionary work is all about, because right now I just feel like going out and knocking on every door in Jacksonville. That’s why I said earlier that I love the spirit!  It's amazing, it’s what brings true joy and true happiness.  I am so grateful for this gospel and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to grow up in it and have such a wonderful supporting family and friends.

Well there's my little spiritual shpeal for today, I hope you all have a wonderful week, oh and by the way I finished the Book of Mormon on Monday and it was awesome! So I hope you all are still reading it, ok well...big gulps huh? well cya later!  Love, Elder Garrett Bushman