Life is good!

Dear Family,

Well life is just amazing I love it so much! I'm glad to hear that things are going well and that Hunter is even winning some baseball games, congratulations! I remember how frustrated I would get when I wasn't playing well, I was telling Elder N the other day about my college experience and how terrible I was playing when I was there, it's just no fun, but it is a lot more fun when you are doing well so good for Hunter. Hunter is a lot more patient and not so much competitive as I am though so maybe he loves it no matter what haha Baseball has made me such a numbers guy though I am definitely grateful for the drive and motivation that sports gave me to be the best I can be, but sometimes It also has its setbacks when it comes to missionary work, so I am still working on getting myself well rounded in that aspect of my life haha

Anyway things are going very well here in Savannah, right now Elder N and I really just trying to find out how to find the elect. To really see the vision beyond what we already have to take it to the next level and really achieve what the Lord has in store for us. President B told us this morning in a letter that The Lord is pleased with our work and what we are doing, but he is not satisfied, there is always something more that we can do. It is so true, so many times in my life have I just done enough, just done as much as I need to do and I was satisfied with it, but there is no growth involved when you do that. Growth comes as we reach beyond what we have set for ourselves, to run the extra mile, I just pray that I can do it and that is the best thing about it, we need to rely on the Lord to achieve it, there is no other way!

This week was great though, on Tuesday we had a lesson with this lady whose name was E who lives on Alma street. That is actually how we contacted her, we knocked on her door and told her that she lived on a street that was in the Book of Mormon and so she wanted to read it haha it was great. She is a real big talker though and has studied many religions and is not a big fan of religion but is willing to learn. On Wednesday we got to drive down to Zone Leader Council in Jacksonville which is always a treat. I just love those meetings so much we get so spiritually fed throughout the meeting and then we get physically fed afterwards with amazing food, it's just the best thing ever. Then we went back that night and taught K at the church and finished up the lessons with her. So now all we needed was her uncles permission for her to be baptized. Oh boy did Elder N and I fast and pray this weekend for a miracle to happen and while we were in Church V got a text from K saying that the Uncle was fine with her getting baptized! OOOOOOH YEEAAH! It was a really incredible experience actually because about 2 months ago, or a month, I fasted that she would have the desire to be baptized and when I closed off my fast I saw her in my mind dressed in white with Elder N and I there and now everything is working out that it is going to happen, I am just grateful! But we need to keep praying because crazy stuff happens all the time right before baptisms, the Devil works hard. Anyway so things are looking good for her to be baptized on Saturday.

T also had a really cool experience this week. She called me Monday morning very excitedly explaining this life changing experience she had. So she recently had surgery on her mouth and it has been really hurting her and she had to go to work Monday morning. She told me that, that morning she prayed for help from Heavenly Father to help her fulfill her responsibilities at her work as a nurse and that her jaw wouldn't bother her. When she got to work there was a lady there that wasn't supposed to be there but ended up taking her place so she could go home. She said that she was filled with the spirit, like she had never felt before and recognized that, that was an answer to her prayer that morning so now she believes God to be there 100 percent, which is truly a miracle!

Earlier this week I was having a pretty rough day and my mind was everywhere but on missionary work, it was terrible.  It was really frustrating to me too because I knew it was something that I could easily refocus myself on but for some reason I just couldn't do it. To worsen the circumstances all of our plans that we had scheduled for 3 hours fell through in 10 minutes, oh yeah that is frustrating. So Elder N and I just prayed that we would be led to where we needed to be and I prayed that I could be focused enough to feel the spirit. I knew if we just got out to work that I would forget myself so we decided to go to a neighborhood near our house and tract. So we went to work and at first I was still having a hard time focusing and we just kept getting rejected left and right by people, but we just kept going and after about 45 minutes of tracting we knocked on this door and an 18 year old kid walked out. As soon as I saw him, I knew there was something different about him and everything that I was thinking about myself went out the window. We began to talk to him.  He wasn't like all the other kids in the neighborhood, he didn't have his pants around his knees, he spoke maturely, he is planning on going to college, and is graduating High School. While we were talking to him I could just tell that he could recognize the spirit, in fact he told us that he felt it. By the end he asked us if he could have a Book of Mormon and when we asked him if there was anything we could do for him, he asked us if we could say a prayer for him that he would understand the Book of Mormon, it was incredible. It was a huge testimony builder to me on how the Lord is mindful of us always. Even though I wasn't very focused at the time he led us right where we needed to be to help me forget all the stuff that was on my mind and focus on the work. My mind was completely freed after that, and I was so grateful for it. The Lord is mindful of all of our needs, he really is.

Ok funny story real quick so the other Day Elder N and I were tracting in this neighborhood and this black lady asked us, "Are you the Mormons." And Elder N said, "Yeah, what gave us away?" To which she replied, "Two white guys in a black neighborhood." haha it was so funny and we looked around and said yeah that makes sense, it was great! But anyway I got to get going, but thanks for all that you do and I will talk to you all next week. Oh and I was thinking about doing the skype and I will probably call around 5 PM your time, so be ready, Love you all by! Love, Elder Bushman