The Superbowl!

Dear Family, Wow it sounds like things are pretty crazy back home. I'm glad you got to have those face shots with the snow Dad, that's what I got to enjoy one last time before I left, it's pretty amazing! But don't worry it is not distracting me, teaching the Gospel is 100 times better! And mom I'm glad you are feeling better, that's one thing I’ve been blessed with so far being on my mission, I haven't gotten sick, so I just keep praying that I won’t.

Well this week has been a super crazy week for me as well; we had our 2 trade off days while we were out of our area again. We went up to R to go on a trade off with Elder L and Elder M. They had to do an emergency transfer because Elder L's companion had to go home, so Elder M, who has been in one of my districts before came up to R. I had the opportunity to go with him and it was a pretty crazy experience, because he was really down. He just didn't understand why it had to be him that got transferred especially when they were finally having success down in G, so we talked for a long time and then got out and worked hard. They have seen a lot of success since then, so I'm hoping that he is feeling better and recognizing the Lord's hand in his life now. It was perfect that I went with him though, because I felt much the same way when I got transferred to J.C., after having such a great transfer with Elder A and seeing so much success and then being pulled away, it was hard but the Lord knows us better than we do and he does everything for our good. 

After that we went up to B and had a good trade off up there. The only problem is that I barely got any sleep each night and so I was getting pretty cranky by Thursday. I hate feeling that way, because I really don't want too but it's so hard to control it. Then when we came back to make matters worse, all of our appointments fell through and so now I am tired and mad because everything fell through, but we just went and hit the skreets (his words) and started to talking to a lot of people, and it made me feel a lot better. That's what I love about hard work, if things aren't going well and you are feeling weighed down, then get out there and do something that gets your heart pumping and the sweat rolling and you will feel a lot better. Speaking of sweat, it is already getting super warm over here. It has been 84 most of the week and its only March!!! I'm not too excited for the summer, but it doesn't matter because the work is the same and it is still wonderful!

Our week was looking pretty bleak after our trade-offs because of all the appointments that were falling through and it seemed like everyone that we were finding didn't live in our area, so we were giving away a lot of referrals, but we pressed our way onward and in the end the Lord pulled through for us. We ended up having 4 of our investigators at church, two of which we had originally dropped earlier in the week because they canceled our appointment and I got frustrated and dropped them, but we decided to go by on Saturday to see them. Her name is R and the other is B, we talked to R and had a really good talk at the door about how much we cared about her and only wanted the best for her, she started crying and the spirit was really strong. She told us that she was coming to church that minute and we found a ride for her. Sunday morning we pulled up and she had woken her self up and scared me half to death by jumping out of her house while I wasn't paying attention, but she told us that B would be coming with her, which he hadn't been yet, so we were really excited. Brother R picked them up and we went to church. We had a really good fast and testimony meeting and B and R absolutely loved it and we have an appointment with them tonight to reset their dates, they are amazing!

Also this week we had our investigator, T, since I have been here we have been teaching and she finally told us that she felt like she was ready to take the next step. She has gone from zero faith to, in her words, 99.99 percent faith, and it has been amazing to see. Well last night we went to her house and we were able to set a date and calendar with her for April ___, I am so excited, it will be so good for her, and it's great because I have been teaching her for so long and its now all finally coming together. So despite the earlier problems in the week, everything turned out extremely well by the grace of God. But yeah that is how my week went and I am excited to start this new week, especially with General Conference coming up!  It’s like the Superbowl for us! haha Well I got to get going, but you all have a wonderful week, and I love ya. Love, Elder Bushman

Let the good times roll....

Dear Family,

Wow, it's amazing how fragile life really is isn't it? I definitely remember The Smith family and I am saddened to hear that happened, but I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation and for the Temple, knowing that the priesthood authority and power has once again been restored to the earth to bind our families together forever, what a tremendous blessing! And yes Dad I guess you could say my blog post was a little bit out of frustration, but mostly just saddened by the state that a lot of these people live in. This weekend was St Patrick’s day and here in S they have the second largest celebration in the United States, there were over a million visitors to S over the weekend. But leading up to the event there were just posters after poster talking about beer and everyone just talked about the parties and how drunk everyone gets and its just a sad thing that for people to have fun the have to revert to doing things that in the end will ultimately bring them eternal unhappiness for a few moments of pleasure. We unfortunately had to drive through down town at one part of Saturday and there was just so much immodesty, immorality, drinking, and everything else you can imagine going on, it was just sickening. But despite all the wickedness that goes on in the world and despite the great hold that Satan has on so many hearts, there is also so much good and beauty in the world, and that is why the Gospel Changes Everything. 

Anyway, but I had a wonderful week! Because this week was transfer week, we didn't have to go on any exchanges so we got to work a lot in our area and we got a lot of work done which was really nice. Unfortunately nothing really super special happened this week, all I can think about right now is just how grateful I am for having the Gospel in my life, I don't know where i would be with out it, and I wish I understood it like this before my mission, of course I still don't understand nor appreciate it fully, but I do understand it better and I could have done so much better as a teenager, but thank goodness for Repentance! haha Anyway, sorry my mind is just in other places I'll try to focus on what happened this week. Well we didn't get to speak at a P Church this week so I don't know of anything that can compare to that. Oh by the way mom, I noticed that you said I looked skinnier in my photos which doesn't make much sense because I haven't gained or lost a pound so I don't know what to tell you. However, Elder N and I have kicked it up a notch and have been running about 2 miles every morning this week, but still haven't been loosing any weight. 

Well I got this week to share are funny experiences that happened basically because nothing special went on and all of our investigators are doing pretty well. On Friday we went over to see T, she's been a long time investigator, but is slowly but surely progressing. Well anyway they live in a really hard circumstance with her being divorced and her ex-husband being a really bad example of how to treat other people. Well I guess her son tried to take a swing at Ts roommate the other day and so T asked me if we could council her son. I didn't really know how to respond to that since I have no authority over her son whatsoever but I went a long with it haha I decided to kind of brush around it but still get the point across to read Alma 56 and 57 about the 2000 stripling warriors. A really respects us and I think the story went really well with the situation, but that wasn't enough for T, she ended up leaving us alone out on her back patio with her son to talk to him about being a respectful young man. At first it was kind of awkward, but then we just started talking about sports and eventually we were able to tie in the gospel and it really impacted him, it was really cool. 

On Saturday we went to go see the O_____s and when we got there they told us about how their next door neighbors dog killed their cat and how she wanted us to pray over his grave.  Well we went into the backyard and stood over the burial sight and I volunteered Elder N to do it. By the way Elder N is extremely allergic to cats and hates them with a passion hahaha He was so mad, and he told me that his prayer was a complete lie because he hates cats, oh it was great! Anyway things are going good here and I'm loving every minute of it and I love all of you and thank you for your prayers and everything you do, have a wonderful week!

Love, Elder Bushman

Pooler district meeting

Spreading the Gospel.... One university and one congregation at a time....

Dear Family,

Well as I was sitting here in the Library reading dad's email, I about died laughing inside of myself, I am grateful that I didn't burst out or anything because that would be quite the scene, not that it would be unusual (Garrett busting up laughing) because I saw a guy dancing in front of the screen the other day. It sounds like quite the adventure tending those two, probably pretty relieving to Jake and Hillary to dump them off for a couple of days as well haha 

Well things are going really well here in S, it's crazy how fast this last transfer has gone bye, I don't even know what to think. It seems like yesterday that I got Elder N as my new companion and now it's already the beginning of a new transfer! So Dad I can already see how it is going to go by so fast and you better believe that I am going to make every second count. This week was really good, it was crazy seeing the hand of the Lord just truly open doors for us this week and provide miracles that we don't really understand why we deserve to have them, but they happened anyway and I am grateful! On Monday we got a call from our Stake President asking us if we would like to go speak at a ______ church with him on Wednesday. Well of course we readily accepted and were just shaking in our shoes with excitement waiting for Wednesday!

Wednesday was on of the most memorable days on my mission so far probably. It started off with us going down to _____ University to set up a booth about mormon.org and also questions of the soul that the Book of Mormon answered. For 2 hours we had the greatest time of our lives as we just talked to everyone that walked by and handed out a ton of supplies. A member in our ward goes to school down at the university and she set it up for us, so it was a great opportunity to get ourselves out there and let people know who we are.

Then that evening we got to go to the _____ church. Going to the Church Elder N and I were a little nervous, heart was pounding a little bit, but we were really excited at the same time. I had been assigned to speak on the organization of the Church and about the Priesthood and Elder N was assigned to talk about the Book of Mormon. We had practiced what we were going to say that morning but were now just praying that the Spirit would direct our words and that we wouldn't stumble. President O, our Stake President, got up there first and started to talk about the restoration and the first vision. As he recited the first vision, the spirit was incredible in the room, it was completely silent and all ears and eyes were directed towards him. You could have heard a pin drop it was so silent. He spoke the words so beautifully and so perfectly that the spirit flooded the room, my heart was pounding and the Joy of the gospel filled my soul. Afterwards Elder N got up and talked about the Book of Mormon and the spirit directed his words , he spoke with much power and bore a wonderful testimony about the divinity and importance of the Book of Mormon. Then it was my turn, I got up there not quite knowing exactly how I would say what I was going to say and I don't think I ended up saying anything that I had previously designed to say. I wasn't nervous at all as soon as I started talking, but the spirit just directed my thoughts and my words and I was able to say everything that I felt was needed to say. Sister O then talked about the youth programs, and we had people asking how they could help their kids avoid the temptations that are so available today, it was great! We were only supposed to be there for an hour but ended up being there for two as people kept asking more questions, and they weren't bashing questions, but they were really elect questions. We basically talked about everything and the spirit was there the whole time. The Pastor was kind of squirming in his seat haha I felt bad for him because I don't think they were expecting something so powerful, but our message has so much weight behind it, it's incredible! We were the first Christian Church that they had come speak; before it was just Muslims, Buddhists, and Hinduism. So when we came in with the Spirit, I think it really just blew them away. Everyone that was there took some type of material and about 10 of them took a Book of Mormon, it was an incredible experience!

The rest of the week continued to go really well and we were able to find a lot of solid new investigators and we had a few of our investigators show up to church and were able to set 2 baptismal dates. I don't have a whole lot of time to go into a lot of detail about all of that, but it was just incredible all that the Lord helped us out with this week. I am going to try and send a recording of my training that I gave at the church, so hopefully I can get it sent to you. But I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Bushman

Blessings, Sand Nats and Enduring All Things!

Dear Family, Well just about 4 minutes ago I was writing a very exciting exuberant letter when all of a sudden, after about 20 minutes of typing, it all got deleted right before my eyes and I have no way to bring it back. So as you can imagine I am once again very frustrated and my patience is wearing thin. However I will once again try to summon the excitement I previously had in my other letter into this one.

Helloooo Family! It's another beautiful sunny day here in Georgia, it's about 60 degrees with a light crisp breeze and it just feels absolutely wonderful! This is the kind of weather that I like up here. I am glad to hear all is going so well back on the home front because everything is just going wonderfully here. As I was saying in my previous letter, I think Dad has more excitement and enthusiasm about skiing than I did, and Hunter just to let you know you are getting extremely spoiled! haha But I guess I can't complain since we all went to Hawaii while Austin was on his mission, but I guess when Hunter goes on his that Dad and I will have to go up to Vail or something and go on like a week long ski trip, oh yeah!

Well what a great week, I love the stress and the excitement about missionary work. I love the feeling of having a lot to do and being able to get it accomplished through the Lord's help. It seems like at the beginning of each new week it’s just another opportunity to improve and progress and I love the challenge. I was talking to Elder N this morning about the beauty of missionary work and how it is so rewarding. I never thought that I would enjoy having so much to do and have so much to think about and have so many things to worry and ponder about, but I absolutely love it!  Each week is the start of trying to work with investigators to help them get baptized and it ultimately all leads up to them coming to church.  Sunday is by far the most stressful day of the week for me, no longer the most relaxing, but after church it gets more relaxing. Then just a few hours later you are back at again, starting a new week over and beginning another climb -  its amazing and Elder and I are being extremely blessed with a lot of wonderful people to work with, but I will talk a little about what went on this week.

The week started off pretty slow but really picked up with the last 3 days. On Wednesday we went down to zone leader council which was amazing! I just love being down there with all the other leaders and especially with President and Sister B. I love feeling their great spirit, they just having something different and special about them, they really love the Savior and all of us missionaries so much, it’s incredible. On Thursday we went on a trade off with the H Elders which was a lot of fun, however I did get eaten alive by Sand Nats! Oh yes, those little demons straight from the fiery pits of Hell are out again, and I am not excited about that one bit, but I will Endure!  Gotta love that 13th Article of Faith!  It was great though, because on Saturday we had a massive rain storm and it rained all day and all night and completely wiped them out, and it got cold afterwards so we are doing good in that area so far. In fact we even had a tornado warning on Saturday, which means there was actually a tornado, luckily it was a little north of us and didn't head in our direction, but we did have to go back to our apartment for an hour under Sister B's orders.

We are teaching this wonderful couple in their 60’s. They are just amazing! C is a convert and has been a member for over 20 years but has been inactive for the last 12. She has been going to other churches but she was friends with J because her and R go to her support group and when they found out J got baptized they wanted to come back to the church. C has had a testimony all of the time that she has been inactive and is very excited to come back; in fact she bore her testimony on Sunday! They are such a sweet couple and C just talks about how R is going to get baptized and how they are going to go to the temple and get sealed. Well on Sunday after Church R told us that he wants to get baptized! Oh yeah!  So we are super excited about that!

We are also teaching this really amazing man named O. He is so funny and he loves us, so we have a lot of fun teaching him. He was supposed to come to church on Sunday but couldn't because he couldn't find a ride and he contacted us way too late so we couldn't get him one unfortunately, we went and saw him afterwards though and he wants us to come over this week and he is going to make us dinner, so I am really excited about that. I love praying with him too!

There are a lot of other people we are working with; unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to talk about them because this is the second letter I am typing because the first one got deleted, so I apologize. Just know that all is going well and that I am very grateful for all that you all do for me and for all of your prayers. I feel so blessed to be serving a mission at this time and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I was meant to be here at this time. I feel that every event in my life has lead up to this point in my life to be here serving the Lord and being under President B. God is good and his hand is in every aspect of our lives, all we have to do is recognize it. Love you all, have a great week!

Love, Elder Bushman

I talked a little more about Preach My Gospel in my other letter, so I am sorry I couldn't talk about it in this one, but I am excited that the Ward is picking up on it, it is so important!