Giving Thanks......

Bald is a beautiful????

Dear Family,  Well it is good to hear that all is going well and you are staying busy. That is pretty crazy that you all are all ready starting to go skiing, I remember last year at this time when I came back from Iowa over Thanksgiving break and Hunter, Dad, Steven, and I went up skiing and it was 15 below, man was that cold and boy was that fun!  Dad, I had no Idea that you had bought some twin tipped skis, that's insane and yeah I'm glad I wasn't there to witness the fall, not because I would have been embarrassed, but because I would have felt bad because I would have been laughing too hard haha It's good to hear that you all had a good Thanksgiving, it's so weird to me that it has already been a year since last Thanksgiving. 

Well we had a really good week and it started off really well with getting a new investigator named S. He was a media referral from church headquarters and he wanted to learn more about the church. When I called him last week I asked him if he had anything in particular that he wanted to learn about and he just said "start from the beginning." Well that was easy enough haha I guess his mother was LDS and she just recently passed away and so he wants to know what she believed and he also wants to make a change in his life and also his sons. When we went over he was just super sincere and humble and he just talked for the longest time telling us his story. Well we decided to teach him the importance of the Book of Mormon and by the end he was really excited to read it and was ready to set up a return appointment as well. So we went back to see him on Friday and taught part of the Plan of Salvation, he is really talkative so it's hard to get anywhere, but it went really well and it all mad sense to him and he told us he would come to church not this past Sunday but this upcoming one.

Also this week I had a pretty embarrassing experience as well. So I think it was Tuesday night I decided that my hair was getting too long and I wanted to cut it short, really short.  Well I get to cutting it with my trimmers and I start off with a 3 on the top which I thought was just perfect. Then I did a 2 on the sides and after I got done I looked at it and thought well it could probably go just a little shorter and how much shorter could a 1 be then a two. I look at the one clip and think to myself, well that looks kind of short but I’m going to go for it anyway. So I start with the sideburns and just chopped them off what seemed like completely, there was nothing but white underneath! I freaked out! I had just totally buzzed the side of my head and there was no going back now, so I had to finish it, so my hair is extremely short now haha I actually kind of like it though, I was sick of the long hair, you all will see a picture it's not too bad.

Anyway so we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It started off with football in the morning, we went and played in a turkey bowl in the morning with the wards and boy was that fun! I love football, the only problem is that I didn't have any cleats so I was slipping and sliding all over the place but I was still able to move pretty quick. We played for about 2 and a half hours and by the end I don't think I have ever been so sore in my life, we ran so much, in fact I’m still sore from the experience. After that we went back and got cleaned up and then went to dinner over at the M's, a member. It was amazing food and I ate way too much, which wasn't very good because we had a second meal lined up as well. So right after the M's we went to the B's and had dinner over there as well. The dinner over there was nice because his Granddaughter was there and she is a non-member and we actually got to teach her a little bit because she was asking a lot of questions, we even gave her a Book of Mormon. It was kind of scary though because Brother B has just recently been reactivated and so he was throwing a lot of non-important doctrine at her which we had to try and clean up haha So I'm telling you all now, first of all don't go less-active in the first place, and second of all when you share the gospel only share the things that are simple and that pertain to our salvation because that's all they need to know. In other words, read Preach my Gospel.  Later in the evening we went over to the D's and had more dessert.  We had sweet potato pie, which I never have had before, and it was amazing! Ten times better than pumpkin, in my opinion anyway. 

Oh so another funny experience, we had Sister K call us this week, she is the one that is getting married to our investigator K, the panties on the head guy. Anyway well she called us and asked me if I could marry them haha well I told her that I couldn't but the Stake President could and so we have been trying to get that all set up, in fact K even came to church this week which was really cool and they both love Elder F and I, so we are hoping we can get her reactivated and him baptized. In case you are wondering we don't have a bishop at the moment that's why I said the stake president.

On Sunday we had the baptism and it went really well. I was able to give a talk on baptism which was wonderful, I don't really mind giving talks anymore. Then we got to witness the baptism and Brother D did such a wonderful job at baptizing his wife, it was a beautiful scene. I love baptisms, they are so powerful and so spiritual hopefully we will have another one coming up soon. 

Well I don't know if there is really anything else that I can think of, but I did think of one for thing for Christmas. The Mormon messages DVD, you can probably get it online or at Deseret Book or something. But anyway I love you all and thank you for your prayers and all that you have done for me and that you still do. Have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Dear Family,  Well first off I would just like to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I hope this weekend will be one of thanks and gratitude as we remember the wonderful things that God has done for us in giving us our families, this world and nation to live in, our friends, our homes, our jobs, the gospel, the scriptures, and most Importantly our Savior Jesus Christ. There are so many wonderful things to be grateful for even in these trying times because we truly are blessed in every aspect. I know I am so grateful for all that the Lord has provided for me, I can't ask for a better family, I have wonderful friends, and I'm serving the Lord, can it get any better than that?! It all reminds me of a scripture in the Book of Mormon, It is part of King Benjamin's address and I can't think of a better scripture that makes me feel grateful. 

18 Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another?

19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to  thank your heavenly King!

 20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and  praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

 21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

 22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

 23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

 24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast. Mosiah 2:18-24

I love this scripture so much, because it not only says how we need to be grateful, but we also need to be humbles because with out being humble and realizing that the Lord has already given us everything, we cannot be grateful. So anyway I'll talk about my week now. Well I think first off I'll address Dad's letter pertaining to the sister missionaries. I'd like to say that no I do not have the same point of view on sister missionaries as Austin and Jake, in fact I very much enjoy having them in my district. They are very hard workers and have a lot of success and they can sing which is very nice because none of the Elders can. So far I haven't ever had any drama with Sisters except for in a zone meeting a long time ago. One of the Sisters in my district was actually in my district in the MTC as well so it's nice kind of already having the loyalty of her and they are doing a fabulous job in Middleburg. 

Mom, it is true that we are in a "Mormon Moment." We had a leadership training meeting this past week and that was something we talked a lot about. It's incredible the kind of publicity the church is getting at this time, there has been no better time for missionary work in the United States as at this time now. With the two members of the church running for the Republican candidacy and also the Book of Mormon Broadway musical, which is the number one play on Broadway at this time, more people are wanting to know about the church than ever! Right now the Church is making a big push for their media campaign, Mormon.org. There are more and more commercials that are being made and by the end of the month there should be over 100 video profiles on mormon.org.  It is such a wonderful tool, absolutely incredible! So if anybody that receives this letter doesn't have a profile yet on mormon.org well I would strongly encourage you to make one. 80% of people that go to mormon.org and chat with online missionaries are baptized!  It truly is inspired and one of the best missionary resources that we have.

Ok so we had a wonderful week, we were able to teach a lot of lessons, especially with our baptismal date, J. She is so solid and such a wonderful person. We watched prophet of the Restoration on Wednesday with her and afterwards she was like "you could have told me that I was going to cry" haha the spirit was so strong and we were able to answer a lot of her questions that she had that night and she just soaked it all up. We also have this man R.who I think I told you about, well we never got to see him this week, but I added him on Facebook and I guess he has been looking at my blog and he told me he has a lot of questions. How exciting is that?! We have an appointment tonight with him and I'm thinking that he is going to be really solid and his family as well.

We also had a couple of lessons with this guy named K.this week. He was a referral from a member and he is actually dating a less-active member. Well we set up a time last week to go see them on Friday and when we went to the less-actives house, she wasn't home yet, but he was there so we went and knocked on the door. Well he came to the door with no shirt on and what looked like a shower cap on his head. Well we soon found out that it was a pair of this less-active ladies panties on his head and he thought that we were her. Talk about awkward hilarious situations....yeah that was one of them! hahaha Well he was a little tipsy, but by the end he said he wanted to come to church with her. Well they didn't show up at church and we went and saw them last night, luckily there were no panties on his head and he was more sober haha We watched the restoration with him and it was really powerful, the spirit was working with him and we gave him a lot to think about. We committed him and the less-active to read together but we'll see how well that goes.

I also went on a trade-off this week with Elder G, one of our zone-leaders, we had a great time and worked really well together, it was a blast! It's kind of ironic because Elder C is one of the other zone leaders and he was actually my first district leader in B, so it's fun working with him again. Oh and Elder B is in my zone again haha I love Elder B, he is the best, I really hope I get to serve with him sometime. This week is going to be crazy though because of everything going on. My district alone has 4 baptisms coming up this weekend, so I get to do 3 interviews tomorrow which is exciting. So there is a lot of work to be done and a lot to be accomplished, and that's what I love about the Gospel is that it continues to roll onward. 

Well I don't think I really have much else to talk about, so thank you for all that you all do, I love you, I'm grateful for you and I hope you all remember what the Lord has done for you this week. Have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

p.s. Mom thank you for the sweatshirt and I think that should be good enough for the cold times lying ahead, I have gloves. 

Leadership training....

Notice how Elder Bushman always manages to find and sit by Elder Bass.....

Here in the OP.....

Dear Family,  Well I guess I'll start by answering all the questions since supposedly I still have a few to answer. By the way dad I never got your letter until the Monday after I had done email so I wasn't able to answer but don't worry I will do so now.  President B came out with us just because he has been trying to go on trade offs with all of the missionaries or just the leadership, one of the two. So no I wasn't in trouble or disobedient, it was just because President B is the best and he wants to get to know his missionaries better. Yes I am still a District Leader, I am now over the OP district which has 4 sets of missionaries: Us, Middleburg, and then 3 sets of Missionaries in OP.  Two sets are sisters and one set is Elders and also I have the zone leaders in my district. I can't seem to get rid of the zone leaders haha No I don't have any bed bugs which is oh so very nice, I'm so glad that we don't have anymore. 

My new area is very small, we can cover it pretty easily, that's why we are on bike some of the time, we are in a car share with the other Elders that live with us. My ward is called the FI 2nd ward and it is like half the size of my last ward so it was very weird on Sunday going from so big to so small. The area is much the same as my last one, it's pretty rich but we also have part of the area that isn't so rich, which is so nice, we have been getting a lot of work done in there and finding a lot of people this week. 

Well Wednesday was my first day in the area and it went really well, I came in and we already have a baptismal date for the 27th, so I am so excited! Her name is J and she is a part member, I didn't get to meet her till Sunday but she is super solid. I also told you about the miracle we had with J and L, they were the two ladies that we started talking to in their garage, wow that was an incredible experience! We have just been seeing miracles ever since I got here. We really don't have a lot of investigators so we've been doing a lot of finding and boy has the Lord been blessing us. As of right now we have 4 appointments for this upcoming week for people that we have found and we probably gave out 8 Books of Mormon this week! Oh I love it! It's so much fun when you are seeing so much success and I know it’s all the Lord just blessing us, so I hope He continues to do so in this upcoming week. 

What's really cool as well is that I got a referral from Brother F. in my last ward to send to the Elders in FI a week ago, so when I got here on Wednesday I was looking at a paper that said "Call brother F." I just thought wow that is amazing! It's pretty much like I sent the referral to myself haha.  So I called Brother F. and he is going to set something up with his friend so that we can meet him at church this Sunday and from what Brother F. has told me about him, is that he gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he felt something as he read it, how cool is that?! Along with that there are a few part members in the ward that are so close to being taught and getting baptized its insane, I am just so excited to be here!  However I know I can't get complacent because as soon as I do things will start to go down hill, so I need to keep working hard and being obedient. 

Ok one more cool story. So this week we went to a members home and were talking to him and he told us about his friend who he had invited to come to church several times but kept making excuses, so I asked him if we could go knock on his door. He said we could and he pointed us in the right direction. Ironically as soon as we started to walk over he pulled up and so did a less-active sister right behind them. I guess he had been helping her out with some stuff at her house. Anyway we started talking to them and they both want to come to church with each other this Sunday and we have an appointment with them on Friday!  Hopefully this will re-activate her and we will be able to baptize him, its a double bonus. 

Oh also it's starting to get cold here believe it or not. On Thursday night Elder F. and I were riding our bikes and it was like 50 degrees which normally would be heaven for me but for some odd reason it was super cold!  My hands were frozen and we couldn't get into anybody's home, so we started belting out hymns while we road and we started to get warmer haha it was so much fun! But anyway that's about all I've got and sorry it was all over the place, but that's how my memory is. Well I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

Here we go again.....

Dear Family,  Well....I'm getting transferred. After 4 and a half months of being in J.C. I'm going somewhere new, and to be honest, I'm quite sad about it. However, now it’s on to a new area with new people and a new companion to start over. So far as I know I am staying a District Leader, I haven't gotten a call from President yet to release me or anything, dang it, haha just kidding but that's as much as I know at this time. Thank you for the pictures you sent me, I can't believe how much bigger Lane and Heber are its crazy, and Heber is walking?? What? Last time I saw him he couldn't even crawl, that is so weird!  That's so amazing that Jeff and Jenny had another girl! I wrote them a letter this week and I haven't sent it off yet, so if you see them tell them I apologize and that I will get it to them soon.

 Alright now I'll tell you about my week even though it wasn't very eventful and right now my mind is just contemplating on the last few months here. As I've thought about these last months I keep thinking to myself that I could have done something more that some how I didn't do enough, but then I just get this peaceful feeling that I did do a lot of good. If anything else I've grown so much since I have been here, I've grown to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I've learned how to handle hardship. How I've learned to handle hardship is by understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ and applying it in my life. I know I'm not perfect, that's why it takes faith, repentance, renewing baptismal covenants, having the Holy Ghost as my guide, and enduring to the end. Without that process right there life would be miserable, it would have no direction and it would be depressing. The Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it all possible, this process only works because of him, the plan of salvation only works because of him, EVERYTHING only works because of him, without him we are nothing. Just those thoughts make me feel so good in knowing that I can't do it all on my own, in fact it's impossible to do it all on my own, I need him and I need his spirit. And I love being able to change, the Atonement makes that possible for that to happen, because trust me I've had to make a lot of changes while I've been here and I still have a lot to go, but I know that I can do it. If anything I am just grateful that the Lord put me in this area to grow, I needed it, and I know that I left it better then when I got here, so I am well pleased with that.

But anyway on Monday we didn't really do much, we weren't able to tract so we went to Sister B’s house and sat out in her driveway with her as she passed out candy, The funny thing is, is that we gave her pass-a-long cards so that when the kids came by she would give them a handful of candy and a couple of pass-along-cards as well hahaha Sister B is Amazing!  After that we went and saw another member for a little bit and then went home, so it was a pretty uneventful night.  On Tuesday we had, well I don’t know really, I can't think strait oh wait, nope I remember we had zone meeting and it went really well!  Elder R and Elder T gave some really good training.  After that I can't really remember much else.

On Wednesday we did some service for Brother and Sister C. It took so long though, we put up some shelves for their food storage and cleaned a lot of the mess that they had. It's amazing how much food they have, they probably have enough food to literally last them 4 years; it’s incredible!  So you can imagine the kind of work that this project entailed.  So that actually occupied the bulk of our day and then we were supposed to have a few appointments which I think fell through, but I think a few of them did work out if I remember correctly. haha Thursday was wonderful though!  We took C. B., who is a priest in the ward, out with us and we were able to see a lot of people and most importantly this guy named W.  He is so amazing; he is really spiritual and really humble. He has had some things happen in his life that have truly humbled him and he said that he wanted to come to church with us because so far he hadn't been able to find a church that was right for him. He wasn't able to come to church this Sunday but he said he wanted to come to our Wednesday night class and that he would come this upcoming week, however I won’t be here. 

On Friday Elder R got called to be an assistant to the President, which is so crazy. Elder R is probably one of my favorite missionaries and it has been such a wonderful blessing to be serving around him for the last 4 and a half months. So the current Assistants came and picked him up on Saturday and so from then on we have had Elder T with us. Sunday was a wonderful day to behold.  We didn't have anyone come to church but we did get to witness a baptism that the St. Johns Elders had. It was one of the most powerful baptisms I have ever witnessed; actually it is probably the most powerful baptism I have ever witnessed.  Her husband had been less active for a long time and I guess one day she had prayed for an understanding of which church they needed to be apart of when Elder R and Elder D knocked at her door. They were on a trade off.  Ever since then they have been teaching her and she had no belief in Jesus Christ or any understanding of why He is important, but now she does and she was able to be baptized by her husband.  It was absolutely beautiful, and the spirit was absolutely amazing!

So that was my week in a nutshell, not much else to say. Oh but do tell Nick congratulations for me, that is so amazing that he is basically going to the same mission as Jake!  Oh and I remember what else, I guess I can tell you what I would like for Christmas. Well I would like a CD by the Nashville Tribute Band called "Work" it’s a tribute to the missionaries. And if you could send me out one of my sweatshirts, preferably not a nice one, but I will probably need it soon when it gets a little colder. Other than that I can't think of much else, I'll tell you if I do. Well you all have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

P.S. Don't write to me this week because I'll be in a new area, just send emails. I'll let you know my address next week