So many blessings flowing.....

Dear Family,  Well I have 30 minutes from right now so I'll do my best to put in as many details as I can haha It  sounds like this last week was quite the interesting week back home and that's good it finally snowed I guess. Like you said mom I haven't really thought about it, ever since I have been here in S I've had no time or reason to think about it. Elder A and I are just working super hard and I'm sad because it's already 3 weeks into the transfer, and it will be likely that Elder A will be transferred at the end of this one because that will have been 6 months here, but I hope he stays. We are so unified as a companionship, it is so great! We are even going on a slim fast diet this week because we have been eating kind of crappy throughout this holiday season. I've gained about 4 pounds since I have been here and the weird thing is, is that I exercise more here than I have anywhere else I've been! We go running almost every morning and do the abb ripper about every morning so I just don't get it haha

Well I guess I'll just start from the beginning of the week and work onward. First of all, no we haven't been able to talk to that family that was getting baptized yet, they seem to be avoiding us or they have just dropped off the face of the earth, one of the two. But On Monday we had a lesson with and unbaptized child and set a date for the 21st of January so it was kind of just a tender mercy of the Lord, which he seems to be poring out on us quite regularly so far. On Tuesday we went on a trade off to Hilton Head South Carolina, I was with Elder M the whole time and he is a Spanish missionary, so I had no idea what was going on most of the time, but we did find a lot of new investigators and I think set a couple of dates, so it was great! Then on Wednesday we went up to Beaufort South Carolina and we power traded in their area as well and we had a great time there too. I was with Elder B and in fact at one point we got chased by some dogs on our bikes and I think I was going about 40 mile per our on my bike and I booked it across this field, my adrenaline was pumping pretty good. Also one of the Elders in Beaufort, Elder H, played football for Bingham and I played against him all throughout little league and in high school, so kind of a small world. He remembers the day that I broke my leg haha

So Elder A and I were out of our area for 2 days but came back and ended up having a great week. On Friday we had the baptism of Brother S.C.! It was such a sweet experience. Elder A has been teaching him since September but because he has had a lot of health problems he hasn't been able to come to church a lot. But we finally got him out to church 3 times and through the Lord's grace and mercy he was able to be baptized this last Friday and confirmed on Sunday! He really is such a sweet humble man and just has so much faith.

Also Elder A and I have just hit the streets really hard the last couple of days and have found some really elect people. Two days ago we found this lady named M. who has been searching for a church for a long time but has never been able to find one that she likes. Then that night we found another guy named L. who said that he had just made a change in his life for the better, he was a really happy guy and really excited to hear about the Book of Mormon. Then last night we were knocking for about 2 and a half hours and we found this way sweet lady named Sister G. It was the second time missionaries had found her and this time we were just led by the spirit to ask the right questions and she was in tears because the spirit was so strong and she promised to come out to church and bring her sister with her this Week! The Lord is just so rich in mercy and ever willing to answer the consistent prayer of the humble.

We are also teaching this lady named T, and she has gone from about 0 faith to, in her words, 95 percent faith. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and chatting with online missionaries, she is incredible! She wants to get baptized but she knows she has to stop smoking first, so she is working on that. Her dad died a couple of days ago though and she told us that if it weren't for the gospel being brought into her life that she wouldn't be able to push through this. Her story is just incredible but unfortunately I won't go into much detail.

Also one of our investigators has disappeared on us. An older lady named P.K. who we have been teaching we seem to have lost contact with. Last time we talked to her was last Monday and then we have gone by her house and called her and she is nowhere to be found. There are lights on in her house still too, and we are really hoping that nothing has happened to her because every time we go by we get this really eerie feeling, so keep her in your prayers please.

Well I don't really have much else to say besides that I am loving the work!  My testimony is getting stronger and stronger each day and I love teaching the gospel. I'm glad things are going well back home, it's crazy to think that a month from today I will have been out a year but it's been a really good year and I look forward to this next one as well! I love you all and thank you for all your prayers, have a great week!  Love, Elder Bushman