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