Another day of miracles....

Dear Family, Well it has been quite the week, that is for sure! I'm glad Hunter had a good experience at trek and that he felt bad for the girls. I would have felt bad too if they had actually done anything but all they had to do was pull the carts for a quarter of a mile on flat terrain on our trek, even the girls complained that it wasn't hard enough, maybe Hunter's experience was different.

 

Anyway so this week was transfers and I did get a new companion, His name is Elder J and he is from SF Utah. He was a district leader when I was in my last area so we went on one trade off before. He only has 2 transfers left though, so I will probably kill him off too, which means I will be with the YSA's for 6 months, so it should be fun.

Wednesday night after transfer meeting we had a really good lesson with one of our investigators. She came to institute on Tuesday and absolutely loved it and we had a lesson with her the next evening. We brought our branch mission leader with us and taught the restoration. It was a really powerful lesson and she is an amazing girl, she is very attentive to the lessons and is very open and honest with us which is really neat. She went out of town for the weekend but we are going to see her this week and she is coming to institute tomorrow, so we are excited about that.

Anyway so the week went on and it went pretty well, we had an amazing miracle yesterday. We were tracting in apartment complexes trying to find young single adults and just having no luck at all, until finally we knocked on this man's door! He had said that missionaries had just contacted him a little earlier and gave him a Book of Mormon and that he had asked them a few questions. Well I asked him if we could come in and share more and he accepted, so we went in and started talking to him about religion and about God, did a few How to Begin Teaching points and then went strait into the Restoration. We taught a powerful Restoration and there was a great spirit in the room and he asked us a lot of good questions. The Lord is truly in this work and leads us to where we need to be. I really don't even know how we find people, it just happens, it really is the hardest thing in the world to find young single adults, but every week we somehow find 3 or more investigators. The scripture that says "that we are saved by grace after all we can do", comes to mind. The Lord provides the way after all we can do, I have gained a firm testimony of that.

So we have a baptism coming up this weekend which I am super excited about! She is doing great and just soaking everything in and then the very next weekend we have another baptism with another investigator, so the Lord is just blessing us and now we just need to keep finding people to teach because if we run out it's going to be a sad day for us, that's for sure haha.

By the way I would really like to get Elder Sears address if that is possible, I would like to write him. I got a letter from KL and it seems like he is doing great. I love hearing from her and hearing about the things that are going on with their family. I was always was so grateful for their family and what they would do for me. I'm glad Hunter is having an opportunity to home teach them, so Hunter take full advantage of it. Well I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman!

P.S. I am still wanting to do the kings peak trip next summer, so I hope everyone is getting ready and in shape !) 

Leadership training - Elder Bushman - 3rd row back.

Transfer day - I love that Elder Bushman is front and center - big as life!

Handsome group of Missionaries.....
One final pose with Elder G before he goes home....

Life......

Dear Family,   Well sorry this letter is finally just getting to you today, I forgot to tell you all that once again because of transfers our P-Day is on Tuesday, so no worries I didn't forget about you! Thank you so much for the letters, it's good to hear that all is going well back home. Dad I am impressed you are still keeping up with all those young guys, I'm glad you are staying young haha And that was so weird hearing from Elder Sears, he seems like he has changed a lot since I last talked to him, actually I was wondering if you could get his address for me, I would like to write him. So yesterday we got some sad news that a missionary that served in my mission passed away from a motorcycle accident. He was companions with Elder A at one point. I was saddened by the news, but I am so grateful for the understanding of the plan of salvation. Also his family are going to donate his organs so that others might live, it's just incredible how many ways this young man has been used to save lives, whether spiritually or physically and he will yet be doing a great work beyond the veil in the spirit world. 

Well this week has been a great week! There is a real fire burning in the mission right now and many miracles are unfolding.  I'm really just beginning to understand the consequences of decisions and actions, I was reading Alma 5 the other day and it hit me really strong at how accountable we are as members of the church. Alma the whole time was just listing question after question like Have you had this mighty change of heart, have you spiritually been born of God, Have you had him image engraven upon your countenance, do you put your faith in the Redemption of him who created all things and so on? The whole time he is just asking if we have done all these things to help us become more like our Savior and the whole time I'm thinking, "I need to shape up!" But that is the great thing I love about this life, that no matter who we are or who we have been we can change and become better. So I am grateful for the enabling power of the Atonement.

Anyway enough of my little shpeil about the world, I'll get back to my week. I don't really know what to talk about, there has been a lot of really good stuff that has happened this week, it's hard to know where to start. Preparing for Zone conference this month President Barry has had all the missionaries do a study on the Doctrine of Christ. On Saturday we were studying the Principle of Faith and that day we were supposed to go out and find 2 new investigators. Elder G and I were determined to find 2, so we prayed mightily for the opportunity and then went out to work. We worked hard all stinkin day without any success, we tracted and tracted and contacted and contacted but we continued to pray. Near the end of the night at 8 pm we were in this apartment complex and heard this girl crying uncontrollably. At first we weren't going to talk to her but we decided to go over anyway. We were able to teach her a lesson and get a new investigator, it was incredible! Then we got a phone call from the elders in K and they gave us this way sweet referral that had just been to her sister’s baptism and felt the spirit extremely strong and now she wants to get baptized and she lives down here!   Anyway it was a pretty miraculous night! Then we went and had an amazing lesson with this lady. We had an amazing lesson where we read from Alma 32 and she felt the spirit super strong so we invited her to church but she didn't really want to go, but then we told her how amazing church was and she said she would come. She came to church the next day and absolutely loved it! She is way neat and I am excited to teach her more.

But anyway that was basically our week, I will be getting a new companion tomorrow so I am excited about that. Elder G and I had a blast this transfer, and no he didn't get trunky at all which was really nice. But it's always exciting to start over and get someone new to work with. Well I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

Elders G, A, H and Bushman

Field trip

A YSA  posted this for Elders Bushman and G.  Go forth stripling warriors!

Dear family,

Well it is good to hear that everything is going well back on the Home Front. So JR wants me to walk onto Snow with him huh? That's interesting, I'll have to think about that. I think I told you how one of my new roommates played for the Bingham A team all growing up and so we played against each other throughout all of little league, it has been a blast talking about all of our experiences, oh also he played for the Mud Cats. So despite all the fun talk about football, I think baseball will be my better choice in the end, although I would love to play football again, I’m just not sure that will happen. Anyway we had a great week this week, I wish I had a lot of time to tell you all about it but we are going down to St. Augustine today with some recent converts, so we are in a hurry, but I will do my best!

Right now I am just super excited because our mission is doing really well! This week was a blow out week numbers wise and we should be seeing many baptisms rolling forth in the next few months!  Right now Elder G and I are teaching 2 people with solid baptismal dates, one for August and one for the end of July, so they will be back to back.

And right now I am sitting next to a guy who is talking to me about religion, he is pretty nice but he is talking a lot about Gay's and being Christian. Well at least I shared a little bit of the gospel with him and invited him to go to mormon.org and he said he wants to come to church, so maybe something good will come out of it. 

Well anyway my week has been good...... We had an amazing experience this week when we got a referral from Sister Barry. She had met this girl named A at the Olive Garden and she asked her if she was Mormon and she said yes, are you? She said no and then Sister Barry asked if she wanted to be a Mormon, and she said maybe. So she got her information and we gave her a call and actually had a lesson with her at President and Sister Barry's home! How amazing is that? I don't think to many missionaries get to teach in their mission Presidents home, it was incredible and the spirit was extremely strong. We invited her to be baptized and she said she would if she came to know it were true, so we set a tentative date for the 29th. Unfortunately she is moving at the end of the month so maybe I’ll send the referral to Elder Payne.  Well I am about to get logged off, sorry got to go!  Have a great week!  Love you all! Elder Bushman

Raindrops keep falling on my head....

Dear Family,  First I want to say that yes, I have been getting all the letters and I have enjoyed them very much, especially this week’s letters. I am just so grateful to hear of all these people that I have loved growing up doing well and succeeding and excelling in life. Secondly, I apologize that my letters have been shorter than usual, I guess that is just what happens when the mission gets longer, it seems like my mind is so congested with thoughts throughout the week that when Monday comes around I just relax my brain for a bit, so a lot of the time I just can't think of anything to write, but I promise to do better. Oh and mom thank you so much for telling me about Viliam!  I was actually thinking about him the other week or so and was wondering if he ever did get off on his mission, so it is so good to hear that, I hope I get to see him again someday. 

Well this week has been a really good week. Our recent convert B is just an amazing guy! Ever since he has been baptized he just wants to go out and do missionary work with us. He is always asking us if we have appointments and who he can share the Gospel with. The other day he set up an appointment with his sister and we drove out to see her and had a really weird lesson in a Gas Station parking lot, yeah I know first a gym now a parking lot, well anyway it went really well and he was asking all these questions, really good ones too, so it's been a lot of fun.

 We have been really limited on miles this week since it was the end of the month, so we did a lot of work around where we live so we didn't have to travel that far. In fact on Thursday evening we had 3 people drive to us at the church so we could teach them there haha it's brilliant, I wish we could just do that every day, just have an all-day teaching session at the church!  But anyway the first lesson went really well. A recent-convert, invited her friend to come with her who has been asking questions about the church and we went on a church tour with her. We showed her around the church and talked about Christ and then we went into the chapel where we talked about the Sacrament and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love this part of the church tour because the spirit is really so strong in the Chapel, it's incredible. She told us that she has been trying to find a church that she feels comfortable in and that she thinks that she found it. We taught her again on Saturday and she accepted a baptismal date for the 29th of July, but it will probably happen earlier because she told C after Church on Sunday that she wanted Elder G to baptize her and he is leaving in 3 weeks so it will have to happen sooner! 

This week it rained extremely hard for the first few days, it was incredible to see the amount of water that got built up.  I've never seen anything like it. At one point Elder G and I drove through probably a foot of water, it was a lot of fun. But here  the flooding wasn't too bad, but it was really bad in Gainsville and other places closer to the Gulf. 

Oh and by the way Mom, we actually do a lot of tracting because we don't get that many referrals. We just go to all the apartment complexes and start knocking and hoping we find young non married people haha So one day that is exactly what we were doing. We were driving  on the way to an appointment, still had some time to wait however, and Elder G decides to make a turn. I am really confused of course and ask where he is going and he tells me we are tracting, so I said ok and we went to these apartment complexes where missionaries used to live. Elder G said he wanted to knock on their old door and so we went up there but that guy was not interested one bit, so we went to the next door. This guy answers and we start to talk to him. He remembered the missionaries living next to him when they were there a year ago and he started telling us about an experience he had with missionaries when he was in Gainsville going to college. He said that his roommate had invited them in one night, that he didn't get a whole lot out of what they were saying because his roommate was arguing the whole time and he really wanted to know more, so he invited us in. We went in and taught him in his wife about the Book of Mormon and even watched a Mormon message off the internet, technology can be incredible! Afterwards they both asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon and wanted to know when we would be back by. It was a tremendous miracle, eventually once they come to church we will have to turn them over to the other Elders but they are an amazing couple.

So Sunday was an interesting day for us, a very good one though. We were just tired from the long week but we had an incredible fast and testimony meeting! I love the young single adults for that reason, because most of them are returned missionaries or recent converts and they all have such real testimonies and share good experiences that are good for everyone to hear. I was also able to confirm B a member of the church which was a really neat experience for me, he is only the second person that I have confirmed my whole mission, so I always get nervous haha but I got over it.

Yesterday Elder G and I were talking about the challenges that the YSA are facing in their life's  and about how life is just at the doors for us and it's scary. I mean we see these people in all these situations and we just keep telling them how the gospel will help and the blessings will come, which I know they will, but then again we aren't in their situation and it's so easy to be positive when it isn't happening to you. It just made me grateful for the life that I have had growing up and all the things that I have been blessed with and it also opened my eyes to the fact that I still have a lot of things I will have to face in my life and I just pray that I will continue to have the faith and the confidence to push through them, which I believe I do. I am so grateful for the Gospel!

Oh and also this week as I was lying in bed thinking about my mission this far and life in the future, I started thinking about what I am going to do with my life. I thought about how I still want to work hard and not get lazy, and that I want to be diligent in my studies of the gospel and with that I knew I needed something hard for me to do so I could have goals and plans to achieve those things and then it struck me really hard how I can't give up on Baseball. I felt very strongly that I needed to continue in that and that it will keep me focused and on task in my life. I believe that it will be the right path for me and that I still have much to learn from it, so I just thought I would let you all know that.

Anyway so I hope this letter was better than the previous ones and I am grateful for all that you all do. I hope you have a wonderful week and that many blessings will come your way. Remember to always read and pray and trust in the Lord. I read in preach my gospel this week that Faith is confidence in the mission and power of the Holy Ghost. That really hit me hard, I hope we can all have more faith and confidence in the spirit, love ya have a great day!  Love, Elder Bushman

Miracles and such....

Dear Family,  We had a great week this week with a miracle Baptism! I told you about BW last week, one of our baptismal dates that was supposed to get baptized this weekend, well he didn't come to church last week so we weren't planning on having his baptism this week. We went by on Tuesday to go and tell him that we had to hold it, but when we got there we were completely surprised as his attitude. He seemed a lot more mature and apologized for missing church. Elder G and I were very impressed at his determination to get baptized, he was willing to do whatever it took to do it, even sleep out in a tent if necessary so that he could live the law of chastity. So we went over to his house earlier in the week to help him get this RV that he was going to move into working. We got into our regular clothes and went over to fix this piece of junk up. This RV was like a 1970 model and hadn't been driven in over a year. It was in someone's backyard and the wheels were partially sunk into the ground. We needed to replace the battery and get it out of this person’s yard. Well we tried replacing the battery but for some reason it just wasn't working so then he and Elder G got underneath the thing to look at the starter. I felt completely useless since I knew nothing about engines or starters or anything. So for 3 hours we try to get this thing working and they even rewired the starter, it was quite the epic thing to watch. In the end we weren't able to get the thing working.  So on Sunday he came to church dressed in his Sunday best and was baptized after church. It was a beautiful service with many people there, one thing that the YSA are good at is fellowship, and we had a musical number and lots of food afterwards. On Saturday before the baptism one of the members came by and dropped off a ton of treats: cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, cookies and one 3 foot long subway sandwich. We were able to take that to the baptism and have plenty of refreshments, it was perfect!

That was the highlight of our week but there was other good stuff that happened as well. On Thursday we had the wonderful opportunity to take President B out with us. We first went to see B and President Interviewed him, then we went to go see two more of our investigators named K and S. We had one of the most interesting lessons I have ever had. They were on their way to the gym to go to a work out class that their room mate who is a member held, so we went in there and taught them at the gym, with President Barry haha it was very interesting but the lesson went very well. Then we went to see E, another one of our investigators who is getting baptized on August 4th. We had a really good lesson and she basically set her own baptismal date, since August was the earliest time that her parents would be in town, so yeah it was a great night. 

Right now we are really struggling to find though because like I said before, finding the YSA's here is like finding a needle in a haystack, it's incredibly hard. But we are hoping to get some referrals from the assistants with some YSA aged people that came to one of their baptisms on Sunday, so we are excited about that. other than that there isn't much going on. I am having a terrible time at getting to know the area, since it is all of Jacksonville! None-the-less I am loving every minute of it and it is going by way to fast right now. It's already been 3 weeks since transfer meeting which means we only have 3 weeks left and I do not like that one bit! However I am looking forward to the cooler weather in the fall already as well since it is starting to get a lot warmer. Well I love you all, thank you for all you do, and have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

Back to Florida.....

Dear Family,  Well I am glad all is going well and it is really weird to be looking
at the pictures of Elder Bass being home, it really feels like
yesterday that I met him my first day in the mission and got a picture
with all the Farmington Elders. Well I'm sure glad it's him and not
me! Haha.   Well like you know I have been transferred back to
Jacksonville, my companions name is Elder G and we are over the
YSA branch here in Jacksonville. I don't know what President Barry was
thinking to put me over the Young Single Adults but I guess there is a
purpose. Because we are over the YSA's our area covers all 3
Jacksonville zones or stakes, which I've served in all 3 so I know a
lot of the areas. It is Elder G’s last transfer so he will be the
second missionary that I have killed off, thank goodness he's not
trunky at all, he is a really good missionary and we are getting a
long great!  Elder N actually served with him for 3 months before
he served with me so, we are basically switching companions.

I wanted to answer Dad's questions before I get into any thing else so
I don't forget. So I believe you asked me to share 3 things that
happened before my mission that really influenced me and maintained me
on my mission.

1. I would say one of the things for sure would be the sport I played
growing up. Sports really taught me to work hard and be strong.
Especially when everyone was outgrowing me and I wasn't as good as I
had been, it taught me a lot of patience and perseverance. I remember
those many times that I wanted to quit playing baseball because I
wasn't playing that well anymore or all those long gasers that we used
to have at football practice and my breathing was terrible. So many
times I wanted to give up and just quit but I couldn't ever let myself
do it and I believe that has been a great strength to me on my
mission.

2. I believe the way you raised me to be honest and obedient in all
that I do. Back home I was mostly obedient and honest out of fear
rather than love, but now I understand the purpose and why it is so
important. All the little rules you gave me growing up really prepared
me for a mission because we have so many rules out here, but to me
they seem like nothing because I am used to it, and I understand the
principle of obedience and integrity since you always pounded it into
my head. So thank you for that.

3. Then obviously the 3rd experience would be Iowa. In Iowa I learned
the importance of a lot of things. I learned to rely on the Lord. I
gained a strong testimony about the importance of church and the
Sacrament. I learned the importance of patience and endurance. I truly
believe that, that was the culminating experience that I needed to
prepare for my mission. It taught me many things that I have needed
while I have been out here and it’s been something I have been able to
share with others when they are having a hard time or feel like they
are alone. I still look back often on that experience and wonder how I
ever got through it and I know it was only because of the strength of
the Lord, there was nothing else that could have pulled me through. It
was the worst, best thing that could have happened to me, if that
makes sense at all.

So yeah there are the 3 biggest things that first popped into my head,
I hope it satisfies. Oh and Mom you taught me to love others and look
for their good qualities, and you taught me how to listen. So don't
feel left out I learned more from you than you could ever imagine.
Anyway so we had a really good week this week. We had this kid named
C that we have been working with. We didn't have the chance to
meet with him all week until Sunday when he came to church for the
first time. He called us Sunday morning in tears because of some
trials that he has been facing in his life and we told him to just
come to church and he said he would. So he showed up to church and all
the YSA's welcomed him in so amazingly. I was blown away, we never had
that kind of welcoming in Savannah. Afterwards he told me how he
planned to stay and that he wants to be involved in a lot of the
activities. So tonight we are having FHE at President and Sister
Barry's house and we are bringing him and a lot of other
investigators. Every month they hold a FHE at their home and I've
never been able to go to it because I am always so far away but now I
get to go, I am so excited!!!! Being in the YSA is really weird though
because there are a lot of the kids that were in the Julington Creek
ward that come to the YSA now and so it's like I never left, it's
interesting.

Oh Also I got to go on a power trade with the Fort Caroline Elders
this week. That is where I served a year ago by the way, and we went
and saw one of my favorite Families in the world. I don't know if you
remember me telling you about the M family, but they are amazing
and we almost baptized her son I. They are Hawaiian. But anyway I
got to see them and they all remembered me, it was such an amazing
thing, I love that family so much! Anyway that was really the jest of
our week since it was so short because of transfers, so.......yeah
that's all I got. Oh tell Jake happy birthday for me, I would have
made him a card but I will when he writes me haha I'm just kidding I
just forgot to do it. So happy Birthday Jake even though it was 4 days
ago. Ok I think that's it, well I love you all and have a wonderful
week,  Love,  Elder Bushman

Here we go again.....

Dear Family,

I am getting transferred, after 6 wonderful months here in Savannah, Georgia I will be heading out again, I think to head back to Florida, I am quite saddened actually. I would have loved to stay here for another transfer, but these have been probably the best 6 months of my mission. I had experiences here in Savannah that have changed my life forever and I am so grateful for them. I don't know where I will be moving to yet but I'm sure Mom will find out somehow before I can tell you. This week has really been the culmination of all these six months and I am really excited to share with you what happened this week.

So the reason why we are having p-day on Tuesday is because we didn't get transfer calls until last night. Usually we get them on Saturday but the problem with that was that missionaries would not work as hard if they knew they were getting transferred, so President moved the calls until Monday and P-day on Tuesday so that we would work harder throughout the remainder of the week before transfers.  This week has been really good, we had zone leader council on Wednesday which I always love to go to. They are always so motivating and so uplifting. I'm learning more and more about the importance of being yourself though. The longer I am in leadership the more I see of missionaries who try to be someone they are not and who think they are so much more than they are. And I don't mean that as a bad thing upon the missionaries here, I love them all. But these last 6 months I've just learned that I need to be Elder Bushman and use the tools that Heavenly Father has given me and learn how to refine them and make them better. I shouldn't try to be someone else, I need to be the man that Heavenly Father intends me to be.  So I have been really grateful for this calling for teaching me that and I hope it is not something I am just being prideful about.  

On Thursday Elder N and I were running really short on miles so we had the great blessing to ride our bikes. It was the first time I have ridden a bike in Savannah haha It was a lot of fun and we were able to talk to a lot of people and we even got rained on a little bit. I hate wearing a helmet though I think it is one of the goofiest things, but I know it is there for a reason. One of the people we talked to was a Seventh Day Adventist and it was a great contact. We approached her and just started talking about Jesus and all the blessings that he gives us in our lives and we were having a great conversation. Then we started talking about agency a little bit and of course 2 Nephi 2:27 popped into my head and I said, "You know I have actually been reading an amazing book lately that talks a lot about that topic, do you mind if I share something from it?" She was thrilled to hear it, so I opened up the Book of Mormon and started reading. As I read I was getting some mmhhmms and amens, she absolutely loved it. Then when I finished she asked me where that was in the Bible and I told her it wasn't so she asked what book was it, so I told her. Immediately when I said Book of Mormon she said, "Oh Lord!" and put her hands up and said 'No, No" hahaha it was hilarious. Just a few seconds earlier she was agreeing with everything that was being read, I even called her out on it but she wasn't having it. She started hugging her Bible like the book itself was going to save her, so we just laughed and walked away. Oh the fun experiences that you have in the South.

The rest of the week was kind of boring, not a whole lot to talk about but Sunday was really the culminating event of all that has gone on in Savannah. As sacrament meeting started I was a little bummed because we didn't have any investigators there but then I got to witness BG actually blessing the sacrament and it just filled my soul with joy. Then J got up and bore an amazing testimony and my joy was even fuller. Then as I was sitting there thinking and pondering about all the blessings that I have received a lady walks in and sits in front of me. She turns around and looks at me and I looked at her and then a light bulb goes off in my head. I recognized her and then it hit me.....It was the same lady that Elder Zabriski and I had contacted into a year ago in Jacksonville and gave her a Book of Mormon, that sent Elder Tenney a letter a couple of months ago saying that she was getting baptized! I think I told you all about her a couple of months ago, but there she was sitting in front of me in Savannah Georgia. I was blown away and all she said was "you" at that moment I don't think I have ever been so happy in my life. She was on her way back from Jacksonville getting things out of storage and heading back to Iowa and just decided to stop in Savannah and go to church. I immediately got up and bore my testimony. Sitting in that chapel with me were four people that I had taught at one point or another, the Lord is truly merciful. She got up and bore her testimony after me and told her story, which was absolutely incredible by the way. Everywhere she went she just kept running into missionaries. After church I talked with her for probably an hour and got a picture and then we went our separate ways.  I have decided that seeing people get baptized is a wonderful thing, but even more joyous than that is to see those you have taught embrace the gospel and share it with the world. And that was the culmination of my week, the culmination of these last 6 months and it was amazing!

So yeah that was my week, and thank you mom for the package, I appreciate it. I am really glad to hear that everything is going so well back home, I can't believe Devin is getting married, that is just.....weird. I am so happy Tyler is going on a mission I prayed so long that it would happen. I love you all and have a wonderful week. Love, Elder Bushman

Beuford district

The best part  of any training meeting - lunch time!

Zone Leader Council - May 2012

Dreams really do come true.....

Dear Family, Sorry that it is so late that I have gotten to you over the email, but we haven't gotten the chance to go to the library today because they are all closed. We are finally at a member's house and I have the quick opportunity to write a quick letter. But before I start I need to remember a couple of things. Mom, I need some more garments, bottoms, stretchy kind, large, thank you, probably like 4 more.

Ok, anyway my week went really well here in S, I can't believe that it is already the start of a new week and the last week of the transfer. This week has been busy with trade offs in H and S and we are still struggling to find elect people, however we did see a couple of miracles this week with some referrals that we received from some members. We went and gave a blessing to a lady named M in the hospital on Friday. She was a referral from a member and she is a non member, she is a cousin to the member. She is in her 70's and she was so funny, she was telling us how she was hallucinating because of the medicine she was on. She told us that there were bugs all over the walls and little people dancing around and at one point there was a grizzly bear between Elder N and I. At one point there was a young nurse that came in, and for purpose of the story I will say she was not bad looking, and she told the nurse, "look at me with these three good looking young men coming to see me tonight, I am really racking up! Although they probably would rather have you in here then me." No joke those were near her exact words haha Elder N turned bright red and I just laughed. She became a new investigator.

On Monday I played some basketball against some black kids after emailing you all by the Library. They asked if we played and I said yes and Elder N and I just went and played. By the way this has been one of my dreams since I have been in S, to play against a bunch of black kids in the street and I got my chance. There were 5 of us so we played a free for all game to 32 by 2's. Well it wasn't long before my dream was realized as I came up triumphant against these street ballers haha I think the Lord gave me some extra abilities to play against them because afterwards we were able to give them some pamphlets.

These are the only two big experiences I really wanted to talk about since I have such a short period of time to type, but I did want to let you know that my next P-Day will be on Tuesday instead of Monday so don't expect to hear from me next Monday. Alright love you all sorry it was short but this day has been hectic. Have a great week! Love, Elder Bushman

 They boyz are back in town (Elders Bushman, Neville and Bass - all Farmington boyz)

Where it all begins......

So so lucky!!!

Dear Family,  Wow I can't believe you all got to listen to President Uchtdorf and Elder Holland - they are two of my favorite speakers! I heard President Uchtdorf told people it was ok to fall asleep in church...is that true? I can't wait to hear about what Elder Holland through down on too, hopefully it was missionary work haha Elder N and I were talking this morning about how when President Hinckley said we could double the amount of baptisms with unified effort from the members and missionaries if everyone just worked together and actually did missionary work. We were talking about how we haven't even got back to that number that we had that one year, kind of sad. While I've been out here I’ve really began to understand the meaning of our covenants and the importance of members. I mean we all make that covenant when we are baptized to share the gospel. "To stand as a witness of God at all times, in all things, in all places even until death." Just think if every member really did that and really focused on sharing the Gospel, it would be amazing how many people would join the church. I wish I would have done a lot better when I was back home.

Anyway our week went pretty good. Nothing really happened the first two days of the week we were just going about teaching lessons and what not, except for on Tuesday we were doing service for this man named Don Joyce. He was someone Elder N and Elder R tracted into and asked if they could help in anyway and he said yeah paint my house so they said ok. I don’t think people think we are serious when we ask that, but we are! So we came back on Tuesday and started painting the trimming of his house green and he was very happy. He is an older black man that has a lot of health issues so can't really do a whole lot. After painting he went and bought us lunch and we taught him the restoration while we were there and he was really interested and said he would read the Book of Mormon and now we are winning his wife's heart too so hopefully we can nudge are way in there. 

On Wednesday we made our way down to Jacksonville for our 2 day leadership training conference. However I got sick in the middle of the night and had a fever the whole day so I didn't get much out of the first day, plus I was asked to give a training but luckily it was on Thursday that I was going to give the training. I felt a lot better on Thursday and was ready to learn, I got a lot more out of it. However out of the 4 people that were asked to train I was the last one to go and we were all given a similar topic to train on. I was asked to train on being bold with our commitments but not pushy or manipulative. Well the first Elder trained on why we commit people to do things and he also talked about being bold. So I started scrampling through my notes and realized I could still talk about not being pushy or manipulative.  Then the last guy right before me gets up and yep, he trained on not being pushy or manipulative. I hate being last, this happened to me at Zone Conference last month too and I just had to wing it. Well I was sweating bullets trying to think of something I could add to what had already been added. So I got up there and stood before all the missionaries and asked the Assistants how much time I had and they just shrugged, so I said a little prayer inside my heart and started talking. It's amazing how if you are prepared, that no matter what happens the spirit will tell you what to say and this is what happened this time. I basically ended up giving a training about charity, that we cannot be bold unless we have charity. Because we could be straightforward and say the most bold things in the world but if those people don't see that we care about them then it is going to mean nothing and they will feel nothing. So everything ended up working out really well and the spirit was really strong.

The rest of the week went alright, we weren't able to find any new investigators this week unfortunately, that is something we have been struggling with this week, is finding elect investigators so we have been praying mightily for some miracles. The highlight of the week is that our new convert, K, got to go to the temple this weekend with the youth and she absolutely loved it! She said it was incredible and that she wishes she could live there haha. I was so jealous; I haven't been to the temple now for 15 months!  I want to go so badly but it will have to wait. Well I'm getting kicked off the computer so I got to get going. Have a great day love you all!  Love, Elder Bushman

A small note

Dear Family,  Well I don't have a whole lot to talk about since I talked to you all yesterday! It was so good to see all of you over skype but really weird at the same time since I haven't seen you all for 15 months. It was funny because before we talked, as Elder N and I were driving over to this members house to do skype we were talking about how we felt nervous to talk to our families haha So yeah I felt a little nervous before I talked to you all and I don't really know why, kind of funny though, it was kind of like going on a date almost haha just kidding I got over it pretty quick though. It was weird seeing Heber and Lane, they look so grown up it's crazy! I think Heber looks a lot more like Hillary then Jake, which is a good thing, no offense Jake. 

Elder N and I had a baptism this week which was just a great tender mercy of the Lord and it went really well with lots of non-members showing up and it was just a spiritual meeting. We were also able to set another date with D again. She was the black lady that Elder N and I found about 3 months ago and she has had a couple of dates, but now we have set a solid date with her for the 27th. Elder N and Elder R were able to weed out her concerns and solidly commit her to a date and they said it was very powerful, and from what I know of her, she is very true to her word when she commits to do something, so we are very excited about that. We also were out of our area again for 2 days this week as we went up to R and B on trade-offs and those were a lot of fun. I enjoy going on trade-offs with other missionaries to learn from them and help them in any way that I can. But basically that was our week. This upcoming week we are going to be having Leadership Training down in Jacksonville where we are going to be learning a lot of cool stuff, and yes President Barry was at that Seminar that Brad's mission President went to, so I am excited to hear what went on there. But anyway thank you again for the wonderful conversation yesterday, love you all and have a wonderful week!  Love, Elder Bushman

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 

Elder Greer, Bushman and Danderidge at the mission office on transfer day

 Service with a smile..... Elders B., H., B. and N.

My trainer, Elder W. going home!

Collard greens, pig feet, and such.....

Dear Family, Well what a wonderful week it has been! I don't even know where to start but I guess I'll start by answering Dad's question about all the different stuff I have eaten since I have been here and surprisingly enough it has all happened while I have been in Savannah. But I have eaten: collard greens, ox tail, pig feet, chicken liver, gizzard, and who knows what else. The thing is that I have loved all of it, except the chicken liver and gizzard, that was disgusting, but everything else tasted great. However, once I realized that I was eating pig feet, I got kind of grossed out because Elder L said, "Elder Bushman you hate feet, and you are eating it right now." Yeah I was pretty disturbed after that haha But I love southern food and I think collard greens are great, it's just all really bad for you.

This week started off with a lesson at B's house. He made us shish kabobs, I don't know if that is how you spell it but I tried anyway, but it tasted amazing! I love that food so much, it was great and then we watched the Testaments with them and they absolutely loved it! 

On Wednesday, I'm skipping Tuesday because nothing real special happened, we just found some new investigators, but on Wednesday we drove down to Jacksonville to transfer meeting. Elder H who is living with us is training so we were very excited to see who his new missionary was going to be. I just love being around new missionaries too. It's a lot better when you aren't the one training them, I assume it would kind of be like being a grandparent; you get all the benefits of being around them with out having to raise them. Elder N and I were hoping it would be Elder G since he is from Farmington, but instead he got Elder F, even better! Elder F is from the Dominican Republic and he is such a great missionary. He is black so he will be perfect for Savannah and I just love him already. He is the only active member in his family and is now on a mission, how amazing is that? I really hope that his being on a mission will get his family in gear. That night he had his first baptism too because they had a baptism ready to go for that evening, that's like every new missionaries dream, so it was incredible. 

The rest of the week we were really just preparing for B's baptism, we were just so excited for it, because not only was he being cleansed and getting on that strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life, but he was going to have a lot of non-member friends and family at his baptism. So Saturday roles around and we are super excited, we made sure everything was going to be just perfect for the baptism and the service. B's whole family showed up, which was about 6 people, and a lot of his friends as well. All in all there were probably 30 people there at the baptism and only a few of them were actually members from our ward. The service was amazing, we started off with singing “I Need Thee Every Hour,” which is one of my favorites and then Elder N gave a great talk on Baptism, then B went to the font. The spirit was super strong as he was immersed in the water, being born again spiritually into a great new world. We then went back to the Relief Society room and as B was changing Elder N and I taught the restoration to all the people that were there, it was amazing!  I don't know if the teaching was amazing but the opportunity was haha Then when B came back I got up there again and gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and then B got up there and bore his testimony to everyone and basically invited them all to learn more, it was fantastic! Everyone was very impressed with the service and thought it was great! After that we went out to dinner with everyone and we had the chance to talk to some of the people that were there and they were asking us all sorts of questions about what we do as missionaries and they were very impressed so I am hoping we get some referrals soon. But anyway it was just a great day, and my joy is full.

Then to make it even better, B went up to K, the other person we are teaching, and told her that she would be next in a few weeks. So on Sunday we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited her to be baptized on the 12th, and she said yes! The Lord is just merciful, that's all I have to say. The only thing now is that she needs to get permission because she is a minor so pray that she can, we will need all the help we can get! She is great though, she has been coming to church for the last 2 months as well, about the same time as B. She is the cousin of L, B's girlfriend, but it is V, L's sister, who is the one that has been working with her. The D family has just been doing an amazing job at doing missionary work! I'm glad to hear that you have been having some missionary experiences Mom, I wish I would have been better at doing missionary work back home. Anyway so now we are preparing for K's baptism and we are going to be super busy this month because of all the trade offs and we have 2 zone leader councils, and we have a leadership training week, so yeah it is going to be crazy but I love crazy! I'm going to send some pictures, so thanks for all you all do and have a wonderful week, love ya! Love, Eld