Year 1, Week 13: A Record Breaking 70 Members

Dear Fam,

This week has been great. Our branch mission leader, Luis Gonzalez, is moving to Mexico so he has been released. A man named Romulo Panduro has been called as the new branch mission leader. He is a great guy who is very excited to be working with us. He loves coming to lessons with us, but he can't drive and Elder Curzon and I don't have a car... So if he wants to come to a lesson with us we have to work with the other Elders. Its kinda tough not having a car to pick up members. Other changes include the young men president, the relief society president, and some youth Sunday School teachers. On Sunday, we had a record breaking 70 members show up to Sacrament Meeting!! This is the most it has been the whole time I have been in Hartford. I really think that the Lord is using us as his tools in bringing people back to him. Yesterday, we visited some less actives who have been coming the last couple of weeks and told them that we wanted to help them get to the temple. They are in their 70's and have been married for a long time and it's always been their goal but they have never really worked towards it. It's great that we are now helping them do that. 

Elder Porter is the Elder who was just transferred into our area. He is our Zone Leader and a great missionary. His Spanish is fantastic and he teaches super well. He is a great addition to our area. For dinner last night we went to a Honduran Family's house named the Zaldivars! Hermano Zaldivar is the First Counselor in the Branch Presidency. He is a great guy! We had a Honduran dish that was homemade tortilla's, egg, beans, and hispanic sour cream!! Super Bien:) I really enjoy all of the different flavors and meals different countries have. Because of all the diversity I am learning how different cultures speak Spanish and words they use! For example, most Dominicans drop their S's while speaking Spanish. If you don't practice understanding them, fluent Spanish speakers have a hard time understanding their Spanish. I'm excited to continue learning Spanish and using it.

Maria is doing well. She still babysits on Sunday so she hasn't been able to come to church.

Love you all. Remember who you're not!!

Elder Bushman

 

Photos: 

1: Dead Rat in the street

2:Crazy crash right outside our apartment

3: Keto Pizza

4: Our kitchen is so small we store all of our pots in the oven. So baking the pizza we had to pull all the pans out

 

 

 

 

"If you feel too spiritually maimed to come to the feast, please realize that the Church is not a monastery for perfect people, though all of us ought to be striving on the road to godliness. No, at least one aspect of the Church is more like a hospital or an aid station, provided for those who are ill and want to get well."

—Jeffrey R. Holland, "He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things"

Year 1, Week 12: Hopefully all our investigators will want to repent

I cannot believe it is already Monday and November is already almost here. Kinda Crazy..

Elder Curzon, Elder Eaton, Elder Tebbs, and I all went to a member's house for dinner this week. The member had rice and steak which was super good! They also had a salad made out of, are you ready?? Beets, Tomatoes, and Red Onion!! HMMM!! My favorite food:( I ate all of it but it was a little tough. Other than that, all the food members have fed us has been super good:) 

On Thursday we met with Maria. She told us she wants to get baptized but she is nervous for how fast it is coming up because she needs to repent first. Wow! Hopefully all out investigators will want to repent:) Maria is a great little Puerto Rican lady. She has kept all of her commitments except for coming to church. Maria cannot drive so she relies on her daughter. Her daughter works on Sunday and Maria watches her kids. We are still trying to find a solution to that though. She is reading the Book of Mormon and knows a ton of stuff about the church. It's pretty great:) We'll be meeting with Maria again on Wednesday!!

While being out on the mission I have had several opportunities to give blessings. Elder Tebbs and I went on exchanges a little while ago and got a call from the temple saying there was a man who needed a blessing. We went over to the Hospital and it turns out the man who we were giving a blessing to was named Will Turner. Kinda crazy, but, we gave him a blessing and it was a great experience. He started having seizures while he was on a bus so the bus dropped him off at the hospital and left. Super weird but he was a nice guy.

I also gave a blessing to a member named Danny. He is 12 and fell off his bed and got a concussion. He is a super great kid who comes to church and is super nice. 

Other news here... Elder Tebbs is being Transferred to Waltham. It is the Area south of Boston. Elder Porter is going to be Elder Eaton's new comp. and he has been out 22 months. Not much other news. No real crazy stories or weird people. 

Love you all!!

Elder Bushman

 

"Isn’t it wonderful to know that we don’t have to be perfect to experience the blessings and gifts of our Heavenly Father? We don’t have to wait to cross the finish line to receive God’s blessings. In fact, the heavens begin to part and the blessings of heaven begin to distill upon us with the very first steps we take toward the light."

—Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Hope of God's Light"

Year 1, Week 11: Beautiful Temple

After I finished writing my letter last week, Elder Curzon and I left the library and headed out to go back to the apartment. While walking a man stopped us and said that he was a member and that he has been for 20 years. The only reason he wasn't coming to church is because he didn't know where the chapel was. We gave him the address and time and expected to see him there. On Sunday he wasn't there and we thought that it was because he isn't as active as he said he was. Sunday night we stopped by his house but nobody answered so we knocked on the door across the hall and talked to a guy named Jose. He is a member too! It's crazy how we randomly knock a door and it's a member. Is it really random?? Nah...

On Wednesday it was return and report. Elder Curzon and I got a ride with some sisters because we don't have a car. When we got there we started talking about repentance with the Assistants. Their names are Elder Ferreria (Portuguese) and Elder Xiao (Chinese). They are both English Elders. They are super awesome and kind. We role played repentance and had a great time. We got to go to the temple in Boston which was awesome!! I would recommend it to anyone. Beautiful temple. Elder Curzon and I love to talk about deep doctrine stuff so when we got to the Celestial room we had a great talk that left me with more questions about Eternity and stuff. I find that happening to me a lot while reading the scriptures.

 

On Thursday it was Zone Conference. We started by hearing some thoughts from President and Sister Miller and then the AP's shared a bunch of thoughts. Elder Xiao is a convert to the church and told the story of his mom following his example and getting baptized 3 weeks ago. He was able to Skype her. Super cool story. We role played repentance again but focused on testifying and letting the spirit talk instead of us. President said that if you have a 45 minute lesson. You should be talking about 10 minutes and let the investigator and the spirit talk the rest. Super cool concept. 

Friday was a fun day. We had studies and weekly planned!:( I'm not a super big fan of weekly planning. 

I have gotten to know a lot more members, missionaries, and people in Hartford so I don't feel like a complete loss;) Love all of you!!

Elder Bushman

 

Other Info: Missionaries have been in Hartford before but they closed the area and reopened it when I came. I have no Idea how long we have had a branch. I haven't spoken but I have bore my testimony, conducted in sacrament meeting, blessed the sacrament, taught deacons quorum, and prayed in classes. Elder Curzon, Elder Eaton, Elder Tebbs, and I have gotten a lot closer and we laugh a lot but can get super focused, spiritual, and deep really fast. I think this is the best form of missionary work. Elder Eaton and I sang in Zone Conference, "I Know that My Redeemer Lives". I did get a recording and will be sending it shortly. I don't think I did very good but I tried my best so that's all I can do. It's not a super good quality recording so it will sound kinda weird. 

 

 

"The things that endure, the things that are real, the things that are important are those things represented in the temple of God."

—Ezra Taft Benson, "Chapter 13: Priceless Blessings of the House of the Lord"

Year 1, Week 10: She Agreed to be Baptized

Hey Fam!

This week has gone by super super fast. Tons of random things have happened including some miracles and crazy stories. First the crazy story that leads to the miracle.

On Sunday, after church, Elder Curzon and I were knocking doors and not many people were answering there doors. It was about 3 O'clock and it was hot and tiring. We came up to this guys house and knocked on it. This guy came out and started asking questions like who we were, what we wanted to share with him, and how would our message bless his life. We started sharing the message of the Restoration and going to tie in the Book of Mormon and bear testimony of how the Book of Mormon has blessed our lives but he started asking questions that he wanted specific answers to like, Who is God, if God exists then why doesn't He show himself to us, etc.. Elder Curzon and I both knew that it could come to arguing so we both answered the questions with as much respect as we could. He asked if we had a picture of Christ and we gave him a pass along card with Christ's picture on it. The guy we were talking to asked if the picture we gave him was a picture of Christ or an interpretation of what Christ most likely looks like. We said that it is a painting of what Christ most likely looks like. He started asking rapid fire questions where during one answer he wouldn't let us finish and asked more questions. He then got to the point of that Christ isn't white and the reason he isn't white is because he doesn't exist. He then went on to through out this whole scientific reason of why Christ isn't real and that God is fake. He then tore Jesus's picture in half, used half a dozen cuss words, and told us he would have us arrested for soliciting if we didn't get off his porch. I wanted to just straight up tell him that he was bringing damnation upon himself but felt that I should just leave peacefully. After Elder Curzon and I left, we said a prayer asking for the Spirit to be with us as we continued on. It was super sad to see someone completely deny God because he hadn't seen signs in his life. 

About an hour later we met up with the Zone leaders so they could drive us to an appointment that we were already late for. We got in the car and told them the story of the guy and Elder Tebbs said, "Just keep your heads up, when opposition comes, you are close to seeing good things happen." After we got out of the car we headed up to a lady named Maria's house. We met with her and found out that she had taken missionary lessons before and that she still had the Book of Mormon that they had given her. She explained that she was really close to getting baptized but somehow, something happened and she didn't get baptized. We talked about the Book of Mormon and re-extended the baptism invite. She agreed to be baptized and then Elder Curzon felt impressed to extend a date. He asked if she would prepare to be baptized on November 18th and she said that she would if she is ready. It was a great lesson and really lifted me after our run in with the other guy. Elder Curzon and I set a return appointment and are going to invite her to church this week. If she comes to church and continues to receive the lessons than she could be baptized next month. 

Another crazy story. We were walking down the street and this guy stopped us and started talking to us. He was super drunk but he kept saying that it was a good thing what we were doing. He kept saying that he knew God didn't want him to continue to smoke crack or drink but he didn't want to. Reminder!! This Guy was drunk out of his mind. He then went on to tell me that he loved me and then gave me a hug. He told me that I was his grandson... Doesn't really make sense but it's what he said. By the time we walked away I had received about 8 hugs from this random, super drunk, SHIRTLESS, sweaty dude!!! Elder Curzon and I had some good laughs about it. 

Temple days are every 6 months. The first one I have is on Wednesday!!!! The Hartford Temple is not in my area. I'll be going to Boston.

 

Anyway, I hope everything is going well back at home:) Love you all!!

Elder Bushman

 

"Faith in Jesus Christ, when solidly anchored in our souls, brings true conversion ... and enduring righteousness."

—Neil L. Andersen, "The Book of Mormon: Strengthening Our Faith in Jesus Christ"

Year 1, Week 9: Just Like Amulek

Wow! Was General Conference Awesome or WHAT?? I'll be completely honest. General Conference was always a time of eating, lounging in PJ's, and wrestling brothers during talks. Actually paying attention to Conference was amazing. I learned tons of stuff. One of my favorite talks was by Tad R. Callister. He straight up said that the Book of Mormon is inspired of God and that Joseph Smith could not have done it alone. I wanted to hug this man. I have developed such a deep love for The Book of Mormon. I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. Thomas S. Monson is the Modern Day Prophet who receives revelation for The Church of Jesus Christ. Wow!! The Book of Mormon is Great.

I had several questions answered because of General Conference. Our Spanish Branch isn't super strong. Members fight with recent converts and recent converts swear they will never come back to church. Sister Oscerson taught that we need to serve in our families before we serve others. I believe that if we can get members serving there families, this will in turn get members serving members. 

Another question I had is, How can I recognize the Spirit more fully in my life. This answer came when a Seventy said, "Patient Covenant keeping brings the blessings of Heaven into our lives." If I keep the commandments and rules of a mission and then wait, the Lord promises these to me. "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say." Incredible how things start to make sense when you study the scriptures. We went to a chapel and watched Saturday Sessions in English. On Sunday, we watched the first session at a chapel and then went to a members house for the Second Session. It was great spending time with them. 

On Tuesday we met with Frankie again. He asked why we needed the Book of Mormon and as we were trying to explain two other guys came over and started talking in Spanish. (keep in mind we were speaking English with Frankie.) They started trashing the Book of Mormon and Elder Curzon stood up, just like Amulek, and said,"I Know the Book of Mormon is true. It was translated by the power of God." Frankie and the other guys were so impressed that he knew Spanish they had to tell like 10 other guys. It was great. We came back the next day (Wednesday) and Frankie said he wanted to keep the Book of Mormon and read it. We assigned him some chapters and we are going to follow up tonight.

Other than that, we did some service. Helped people move, carried bags to peoples cars, etc...

Love you all,

Elder Bushman

 

Other Info: Elder Eaton, my ZL, has a fantastic voice and asked if I wanted to sing with him in Zone conference coming up on the 17th of October. I agreed and we are singing an arrangement of I Know the My Redeemer Lives. I will record  it and send it to you.

 

BTW I love getting and reading Grandpa's letters. His thoughts are super deep and inspiring.

 

General conference was an answer to prayers to know how to help the people in our branch. Service. We are looking for ways to serve and get members to serve members

We also are going to start teaching English classes at a Library for community service.

 

Spanish is going better. Still struggling to understand but speaking is becoming better.

 

I don't have any photos this week but will get some next week.

 

"Oh, how we need general conference! Through conferences our faith is fortified and our testimonies deepened. And when we are converted, we strengthen each other to stand strong amid the fiery darts of these last days."

—Robert D. Hales, "General Conference: Stregthening Faith and Testimony"