Year 2, Week 22: He Forgot About Me

Hello Family! This week has been a roller coaster of things! From spiritual experiences and enlightening meetings to disappointment and frustration! Haha! It was a good week!

First, Christmas! Highlight was being able to talk with the Fam and enjoy their love and laughter! I miss you all dearly and love you:) other than that, we did nothing special! haha! We talked with people, tried to set up appointments, call people, contact, etc. Not too many people were interested in us talking with them so not a whole lot to tell!

We were able to hold a District Leadership Council and discuss the needs of our Zone as a whole and what the struggles are. After counseling for a while, the District Leaders settled upon the fact that 2 things needed to he improved: Member missionary work and better teaching skills. Lots of study will be spent in Preach My Gospel and doing role-plays to improve this aspect of our missionary work! 

Right after that, we were able to go on exchanges with Elder Hughes and Elder Chidester in the area of Framingham. We talked with tons of people and set things up in the week! I had fun talking to some people in Portuguese and Spanish :) we were able to get some productive stop bys and calls done and set some things up with the people they are teaching! It was a good day.

The next day, we woke up at 5 in the morning so we could get ready for our Mission Leadership Council in Bloomfield, CT. About a 1 1/2 hour drive. We were able to get a ride from President Mavromatis and Sister Mavromatis so we spent the car ride talking a ton about Brazil and what it's like. On the way home, I had a conversation with President that went something like this :) haha! 

PM - "Elder Bushman, how long have you been in Worcester?" 

EB - "this is my 5th transfer President. Coming up on 7 months." 

PM - "oh wow... You are like that kid from that one movie.. What's it called? He gets left at home?" 

EF - "Home Alone?" 

PM - "YES! You were forgotten Elder Bushman!" 

Haha! President said I stayed in Worcester because he forgot about me! Haha :) it made me laugh a lot. He then said he was only going to keep missionaries together for 2-3 transfers and than said, "oh... Well I guess you are the exception." I love President Mavromatis and sustain him as my leader! So funny! 

S. was going to be baptized on Saturday but than was too busy to be interviewed. We were planning for this next week but missed church for an unknown reason. It's now getting close to him returning to the DR that we think it will be better if he just waits for that. O. still can't come to church and R. can't get there by himself. We aren't sure what we are going to do. S. won't be baptized here though. 

S. said she was going to be bringing her kids to church. We called that morning but she didn't answer. We went to her house and knocked on the door but she didn't answer. We called and knocked and through the door she yells, "who is it?" we reply its us and she tells us back that she isn't going. We don't know why but she keeps flaking out. It's a little sad... But we will keep helping. 

This is the season for New years Resolutions! Elder Fragoso and I have been talking about what ours could be and we have created a list! 

1. Get married

2. Buy a house

3. Master a wheelie on a Bullet Bike

Now my goals for the mission! 

1. Deepen conversion through more consistent and intent study

2. Strive to live a more consecrated life through more focus on the people we are teaching!

President Mavromatis told us that we should NOT study Come Follow Me. As a missionary, we need to study the Book of Mormon, PMG, and other texts so adding Come Follow Me takes too much time. 

The weather here in Worcester has been a little cold but not bad at all. No snow!! 

That's about it for the week! We are working hard and planning on helping more people come to church! That's the goal! 

Love you all! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, December 25, 2018: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Elder Bushman and Elder Fragoso

 

Year 2, Week 21: Baptism is on for This Weekend

Wow! This week has been a little crazy! First, I'll give you an update on our people!

S, R & O! We had a lesson with them on Tuesday. We told them that they would be able to be baptized on December 29th if they were able to go to church and continue going after! O still is working, but S said that he would be able to come. We set the date for the 29th! 

Saturday night rolled around and S confirmed he would be at church. Sunday morning comes and we get a heart breaking text message. 

S - "I have a commitment with my Sister that I forgot about and will not be able to come to church." 

We reply by saying, "we know that sometimes in life, there are things that get in the way of God. We promise that if you put God first and come to church, you will be blessed in all aspects of life!"

S - "I will be there. What's the address again?" 

We were on top of the world. While waiting at church, he texted us and said he still needed to help his Sister and take his brother to work in another city. He asked for the directions to another Spanish group and went to a different branch closer to work! He wasn't here in Worcester but still went! His baptism is on for this weekend!!! R & O will be getting baptized later, sometime in January! 

I haven't mentioned this family yet but I will tell you now! :) I&M! They are kids of a member named S. We have been meeting with them lately and are trying to help I, 11, get baptized. M, 8, will be baptized at the same time, but as a member baptism, not a convert baptism.

They are slow to understand things so we repeat a lot. We made flash cards with them so they can remember their vocabulary words! We had them draw pictures for words such as: commandments, prophet, Joseph Smith, Sacrament, Baptism, etc. With that, they are retaining more information and learning quicker! Haha! They are adorable. 

Well they committed to coming to church, but their mom didn't answer Sunday morning. We went by to visit them and the door to their apartment complex was locked. We had no way to contact them. So they didn't go to church... But there is always next week. 

R&A still are with their dad on Sundays. Their mother texted us and told us that they are planning on holding off on church for a while. We aren't sure what that means exactly but... 

Because it was Christmas, several members brought some family who aren't members! So we had some other people at church. It was great! Lots more success this week then past weeks. Christmas time is always the best as a missionary! 

We had a bunch of appointments on Friday, so we decided to celebrate on Wednesday! We went to a Brazilian Buffet restaurant. I wanted to stick to my diet better so we went to get meat and veggies! Let me tell ya! Sooo good! :) I decided to cheat a little and eat some pineapple! We will definitely be going back there again. 

This week was wonderful! Great times! Thank you all for the birthday gifts and cards. They mean a lot to me! I love you all very much! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 20: Worcester for a 5th Transfer

Hello Family!

So! Biggest news...... Ready?? Elder Fragoso and I are staying together for a 4th transfer. I am going to be in Worcester for a 5th transfer. Other than Assistants, I only know of 1 other companionship who has ever been together for 4 transfers! So, we are legends! Haha jk:) 

The coolest experience this week happened on Friday night! A boy, named B, said he would come out teaching with us around 1:30 pm. We picked him up and left to go to our appointments! We had some missed appointments, stop bys, street contacts, etc. It was great! He loved being with us that he even bought Elder Fragoso a pizza! Haha:) that same day, we tried to teach an English Class to a Brazilian man. He spoke Portuguese and no English. We speak English and Spanish and some random Portuguese phrases. Anyway, most stressful English Class ever. He said that he wants to bring some of his friends and things so we are going to have to invite the Portuguese Elders in Marlborough to teach! We had a lesson that night with R and A but R wasn't there. We taught A about the Law of Chastity and Tithing! While teaching Tithing, B shared several wonderful stories and said that he wanted to come out with us more often! 

I love A&R. A is 11 and she heard it was my birthday soon. She went over to her money jar and gave me $10. I tried to tell her that she could keep it but she insisted. Such a sweet girl!

The court date has been moved back for another 3 months so if anything is going to change, they need to figure out another arrangement. But for now, we are praying! 

S had work off this Sunday and should for every Sunday now! He slept in so he didn't come. But next week! We are excited! We will be teaching them on Tuesday! 

We were expecting several people at church again. Around 4-8. Nobody came... Again. But! We now know more things that we can do as missionaries to help them get there which is exciting. We have some cool people to work with, they just need to come to church! We are continually working on that though! 

I don't know if you remember G and M? Well we taught them but they had some problems with the Word of Wisdom. Well G just turned 14 and they invited us over for his party. We spent about 45 minutes there talking to all their friends. People from Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico, Dominican Republic, etc. It was super fun! They had tons of meats and things so I had some awesome food. Sadly... We didn't take a picture. Bummer.

We had our Christmas Zone Conference this past week! The Assistants talked about the need and importance of role playing our teaching skills to become better and better! President Mavromatis talked about what we want to become and how it's up to us! It was exciting!! Then we had tons of musical numbers! So much fun! 

I have been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon and also in PMG lately and have found a better correlation between the two by studying PMG and reading the Book of Mormon verses that it references! It's fun to see both books complement each other! 

I want to say thank you for all of your examples and testimonies! You are all in my prayers and in my heart! 

I love you

Elder Bushman 

Year 2, Week 19: Talked with 70+ People in the Day

Hello Family, 

Wow! What a week this has been! We had 3 exchanges this week so time really flew! Like always!

We started out with an exchange with the Assistants. I was with Elder Jowers here in Worcester. Elder Fragoso was with Elder Benson also in Worcester. Elder Jowers and Elder Benson both came out with me and Elder Fragoso so we all go home at the same time! It was fun working with them. We didn't have very many appointments planned for the day so we just went out and did some stop bys and added people into our Area Book through street contacting. We talked with around 70+ people in the day! It was super fun! At the end of an exchange, we do an exchange inventory and we talk about the strengths of the person and extend invitations to them. I invited Elder Jowers to 1. Thank the people he is teaching to help build a relationship of love and 2. To focus on his own conversion to see how he can help others become as deeply converted as him.

He invited me to keep using Preach My Gospel in my daily missionary work and to ask more questions when I contact people such as, "why are you interested in our message?" or "how can we help you come to church?" stuff like that! It was really fun to learn from him and spend the day working with him. That night, we had a lesson with O, R & S. We talked about how we can have faith in the Lord and how we can help them come to church. S. said that he just needs to confirm with his boss and he will have every Sunday, starting the 16th off! So we are praying that works out! We are really hoping that they will be able to come to church soon.

We had 2 other exchanges this week! Nothing too crazy happened but it was good working with those Elders. We made a lot of plans with people to help them come to church. When we finished exchanges Saturday morning, we had 10 people confirm that they would be at church.

Sunday morning, we still had those 10 people say they would come to church and even made phone calls to ask how we could help!! We were super excited for church! The time finally came for Sacrament Meeting to start and! Haha nobody came. We called people later in the day and they said that they didn't come because they slept in, or they couldn't get a ride last minute, etc. We were disappointed but! We now know what we can do to help people come. 

Those who slept in, we can help them by calling or stopping by! Those without a car can be helped by having a member ride etc. So even though it was sad, we will know how to help them in the future! 

Just to let you know mom! I got both packages! Thanks so much for all you do! I love you:) 

I am loving every minute I have on the mission. It's been such a good week full of action even though people didn't come to church! I know that God is real and loves me. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior! I had a powerful witness to that while I listened to This Is the Christ by the TABCATS! ;) I love you all very much! 

Love, 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 18: Thank the Members

Dear Family!

Hows everything going today! The week has been great! We had some Zone Conferences, an MLC, and an exchange this week, plus all our other work that we are trying to get done! 

It started with our exchange with Elder Lund and Elder Merrill. I was with Elder Merrill in their area. They have some super good things going on! We had a lesson with a guy they are teaching named A. He is from the Dominican Republic and speaks English and Spanish, but his kids only speak Spanish so the English Elders are teaching him. He knows that he needs to be baptized and he knows the Book of Mormon is true. His concerns however are that he doesn't want to make a commitment, especially with God, if he is only going to break it later. He understands the need to be baptized and everything, but he doesn't want to get baptized if he won't be able to go to church every week and stop drinking coffee. We had a lesson with him about faith. We shared how the difference between faith and belief is that belief is believing, but faith is letting your beliefs affect the way you live! Then we discussed how Nephi and his brothers had their plans to get the plates, but once they gave up their plans, and went with the Lord's plan, that's when it all worked out! He understood and recognizes the need to be baptized and stop delaying it but he was still hesitant. We decided that we would fast for him to develop the courage and power to overcome his concerns and be baptized like he knows he should be.

We had another appointment with a lady named A and her boyfriend S. S was baptized in Mass when he was 21 but went inactive a couple years later and never went back. He moved to Worcester and got in contact with the church because he wanted his girlfriend to learn about it. So we had a lesson with them. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and they understood it great. S doesn't remember everything super well so he wanted to know about sons of perdition and things of that nature. It was a great lesson none the less!

We had Zone Conference the next day. Elder Randall K. Bennett of the Quorum of the Seventy was there conducting whats called a mission tour. He basically comes in and looks at what has been happening the past year in the mission and what can change and improve. It was super cool. He made some awesome promises and told us that if we want to see success in our areas, then we need to thank members! He said most members don't answer missionaries calls because all they do is ask for things. Anyway, it was super super cool! 

We had Mission Leadership Council the next day with Elder Bennett and we just talked about what is holding our mission back from increasing baptisms and blessings. Our conversation ranged from Christlike attributes to setting faith filled goals to helping people come to church. Again, he made some promises that where pretty amazing. I don't have my notes with me so I can't remember them.. Lame!!

The M family's court date got moved again. It was for today but got moved to an unknown date. But, Hermana M said that she is just going to trust in the Lord and ask her ex husband for her kids on Sundays. We are praying that that goes well! We have a lesson with them tonight so we are excited for that.

O, S & R still haven't come to church. We are trying to work with them but they aren't answering their phones because they just use wifi to do all their calls and messages so we can't get in touch with them very often. It's a bummer but we are still working with them.

That's about all for the week! We started teaching some people this week which was exciting but we will see if they have a second appointment.

I love you all!!

Elder Bushman

 

 

Year 2, Week 17: Super Good Food

This week has been very good! I really am loving the mission! We had some good things happen and some not so good things happen!

First, Thanksgiving was great! Our Mission President said we shouldn't tract so we just decided to visit some members! We had our Thanksgiving Dinner with the Rodriguez family and their kids. It was great having some super good food! We went to O, S & R as well to share a scripture with them. They gave us some super good ham and Broccoli. We then hurried to visit another member but she didn't have a man in the house. So we just picked up the food that she wanted to give us and left. Thanksgiving was a great day!

We had a District Leadership Council with all the District Leaders in our Zone. Most missionaries have been really struggling with the work lately and so our purpose was to identify some things that we aren't doing or need to do better. After 2 hours we walked away with a plan to follow the counsel of President Mavromatis more effectively, be better about studying and applying principles from Preach my Gospel, and to develop a stronger love for the people we teach through working to develop Christlike attributes and praying for Charity. It was a super great meeting that was very good and effective. 

We were able to get in contact with J. this week. He has picked up some old habits that aren't good and has started working on Sundays again. We talked with him for a bit and asked if we would be able to come over to share a message with him. We set up a time to go visit him on Friday but when we went and passed by, he wasn't there. His car was out front and lights were on but he didn't pick up the phone or answer the door. It was a little disappointing that he blew us off and wasn't there but we are still trying to help him back. Hopefully he has those same desires! 

We had our Branch Thanksgiving party on Saturday and met some cool people that are friends with members that we will be trying to work with! We have exchanges, MLC, and Zone Conference this week so it will be busy!!

Love you all

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 16: What is our River Jordan?

Hello Family!! 

This week was pretty good. We had a super cool lesson with R and A. They are the kids who are in their dad's custody on Sundays so they can't go to church. President Velez, our Branch President, was with us. He was so outgoing and just really helped teach! We talked about what happens at church and discussed things like primary, Young Men, Young Women, Priesthood, and Relief Society. We talked about how they can be blessed by going to church. We are just praying that they will be able to be with their mom on Sundays. 

We had interviews with President Mavromatis this week. He shared a scripture about Joshua leading the Israelites and they came upon the river Jordan. When the people sanctified their hearts they were able to come through on dry ground. He talked about what our river Jordan is personally, in our companionship, in our area, and in our Zone. It was cool.

We have some exciting events coming up soon. We have a District Leader Council where we will be talking about what we can do to cross our Jordan Rivers. 

We have a Zone Conference coming up where President and Sister Bennett, the area Presidency, to talk about how we can receive more miracles and sanctify ourselves further! We have some exciting things coming!! 

Not much else happened this week. Sorry for the short email. 

Love you! 

Elder Bushman 

Year 2, Week 15: Awesome Conversion Story

This week was good. Lots of missed appointments which is sad but it still was a good week.

We tried something new this week. We were trying to help the members of our Branch recognize the blessings of the Restoration. We had 2 member appointments this week. The first one was super good! The member is named Ana Maria. She was baptized by Elder Porritt, one of my companions in Waterbury, but moved to Worcester from Lynn, MA. She has an awesome conversion story. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be baptized and had lots of doubts but then had a dream where she knew the church was true and 4 days later, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She got so excited about it that we invited her to share the blessings of the Gospel with others. She has a friend at work who is struggling and she said that she would share her testimony with her. We role played her sharing her testimony to help her feel comfortable!

The second appointment didn't go so hot. We were visiting a family where the wife Is completely active, but the husband only comes to Sacrament Meeting.

They shared the stories of them finding the church. He shared about his mission experience and how he found the church at the age of 18. Hermana shared about the church she used to attend and how through a family she was living with, found the Church of Jesus Christ .

We invited them to think of a name that they could share the Gospel with. She told us about a friend she has at work who she has already tried to share the Gospel with but didn't accept her invitation. She said that she couldn't think of another person to share the gospel. We asked if we could role play with her to help her feel comfortable. Hermano did not like that.

He shared how members of the church stay within their inner circle of friends and don't branch out. He shared how the responsibility of missionary work is on the missionaries. He expressed how activities can help but missionaries should do it.

He shared how he hasn't read from the Book of Mormon since his mission and that he is considered active as long as he comes to Sacrament Meeting. He shared how he loves to pray and does it everyday. He shared how every missionary comes through and does the same routine of asking for referrals. We concluded with an invitation for him the read the Book of Mormon and he said he would not commit to doing it.

Hermana  shared how she reads, prays, attends the temple, holds a calling, watches conference, and does what she needs to do to gain Salvation. 

We offered service but he wouldn't accept because of past experiences with missionaries missing the service event. So we hurry and concluded with a prayer and left! So that was a sad experience. We'll keep trying though!

We had an appointment with a guy named A but when we went over he wasn't home. His brother, M, was however! We asked if A had a phone and aid, "who is A?? I have a brother named M? Guys, he was probably drunk when he told you his name!" haha well, M wasn't there!! We had a good lesson with M though! 

The Sisters had a baptism of a guy named F this week! They called him months ago and he said," call me on October 10th." so they did and he got baptized on Saturday! So exciting news for them!

We met a guy named Y and he told us to come by his house. We knocked on his door, but a guy named A answered the door and asked us to come in because it was super cold outside. S, his wife, was there and we asked them about their beliefs. They believe in Christ and God but have attend so many churches and are tired of criticism coming from them.

We explained how Joseph Smith also had this question. Which church is true? They asked questions about the name of the Church, who Mormon was, if we believe in Christ or God, if we can marry outside of the church etc.

They accepted Invitations to read and pray. They've seen many missionaries in Puerto Rico and asked if the Church was an American Church because all the missionaries there are Americans! Haha:) they don't work Sundays and have a car so we are looking forward to meeting again with them. At they end, we asked if they knew Y and they have never heard of him! Haha:) fun times!

Nobody came to church again so we will have to consider stopping the teaching of some people.

Not much else happened this week! 

Love you all 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 14: We have been talking with literally everyone

Hello family,

This week has been pretty good. We are staying for together for another transfer! On average, most companionship are together for 2 transfers but Elder Fragoso and I will be going for 3. So it looks like we still have some work to do! We are excited for the people we are going to be working with and excited to find more people to work with!

This week we had exchanges with Elder Lund and Elder Merrill. They are the English Elders here in Worcester. I went with Elder Lund in his area. He has just finished his first transfer in the field! It was fun working with someone who has all the ideas from the MTC still running through his mind! He was so prepared to lead throughout the day of what to do and who to visit! It was awesome:) we had some great lessons with people and then had a Baptismal interview with a boy named E that they were teaching!

We had lots of missed appointments and dropped people this week. Lots of contacting however. We have been talking with literally everyone! We talk with lots of people anyway, but because we are looking for more people to start teaching and come to church, we have done a lot more contacts. It's been good! We have had some cool contacts!

On one occasion, we knocked a door and a man named J let us in. J let us in and immediately went to go get his wife so that she could also listen. They have such a cute 3 month old baby named S! 

They've never heard of the BoM before but were willing to read. G, his wife, after having heard the intro, said that through the BoM we may know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. They already knew that prophets were messengers of God! J's dad is a pastor back in Kenya so they are pretty knowledgeable on Christian topics! 

They were willing to listen because just before we stopped by, J had kicked his Brother in Law out of his house because he was causing problems. When we came they saw it as message from God, especially because we taught about families! It was super cool experience!

But other than that... Not much happened this week! Sorry for the short one but I love you all! 

Elder Bushman