Year 2, Week 50: God is good. God is merciful. God is just.

Today is the final preparation day of my mission. It's incredible how fast time actually goes. I always say that things will never arrive but in reality, time passes so quickly it's so hard to actually keep up with everything. The mission has come and gone in a blur.. There were hard times, sad times, happy times, amazing times, emotional times, and every other adjective that could be used to describe the time spent in the mission field. I'm now thinking about Thomas going out on his mission or Spencer getting ready to leave. It felt like those days were so far away but in a matter of a few eye blinks, the time has arrived or is soon to be arriving. Haha! If you can't tell, I trip at the concept of time. 

I've had the wonderful opportunity to serve in the Massachusetts Boston Mission. I will forever be grateful for the people I've met here. I honestly, without a doubt, can say that my life has been changed. That sounds so cliche and every missionary says that but it's true. You learn, grow, struggle, laugh, and become the person God wants you to be while serving. Spiritual things never appealed much to me before the mission. I now can say that I have a testimony of the reality of my Savior Jesus Christ. He died for me. He suffered for me. He bled for me. He rose again for me. I am grateful and am forever indebted to Him for that. I know what it's like to feel guilty for mistakes. I also know of the sweetness of repentance and change. God is good. God is merciful. God is just. I know that to be true. I honestly don't know if anybody but my mother reads these letters but I encourage everyone to serve a mission. Whether you are 18 or 76 the mission is the place to be! Dedicating time to God is an incredible experience!

This week has been really really good! We had a great lesson with R. and O. We had some members there with us that shared wonderful testimonies! Both of them served missions and they were wonderful at helping us teach. We started the lesson with them just talking. All missionaries understand that when members just talk and get to know the people we are teaching, missionary life is good! Lol! They talked about work and parenting and what they have planned for the future, etc. It was great! We taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it went super well. R. told us that she had looked up baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and she said that she really like how we don't baptized kids until they are 8 and can choose. When we invited her to be baptized she said yes and that she was in complete agreement with the necessity of baptism. O. was hesitant and didn't say anything. The member said if he wanted to actually know if it's true he needs to read, pray, and come to church. It was a great lesson and our members helped a ton!

We had another great lesson with R. and V. and their family. They were able to come for a chapel tour and we had a Chilean family with us. We showed them the church and they thought it was great and really want to come. The only problem is he works. We are trying to figure out a way to get the wife and kids there while the husband works to get Sundays off. For right now that hasn't happened but we are trying. 

We also started an English Class and will have out first class On Tuesday at 7:30 pm. R. says he really wants to come to it so we are excited for that! We got a random call from somebody and started asking us about it. He said he was going to bring his girlfriend because he wants to learn. Hopefully we can have a pretty good turnout of people and try to start finding/teaching people that way. 

We also were able to teach M. this week. She still has trouble reading in the Book of Mormon and doesn't understand much of it. She also isn't coming to church so we will have to figure out what to do with that. 

We had some great member visits this week and are trying to help them share the Gospel. Nothing much to report with that yet! 

Well this week has been great! I'm doing well! I'm happy and excited! I'm excited to see you all this week! 

Love, 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 49: I Now Have a Chinese Name

This week was a little crazy!

We finished out Monday night with visiting some people and talking to others on the street. Nothing too exciting there! Lol! 

I was able to go on an exchange with our District Leader, Elder Kohler. He is a Chinese missionary and we went to their area. We had 3 lessons that day in Mandarin. I've been on a Portuguese exchange before and I've been able to understand what is happening in the lesson. During that Portuguese exchange I've been able to add my thoughts in Spanish and they also understand what I'm saying. Haha let me say that Mandarin is completely different. I didn't understand one word! Not a one! But, I was able to learn how to introduce myself in Mandarin and I now have a Chinese name 😂I don't know how to write it out but... I can say it! The other day, we were asked by the Chinese Elders to run over to the church and open the door for a person they were teaching and wait with him until they arrived. We were just eating lunch so we ran over and opened the door. When I shook the man's hand I said, "hello, I am Elder Bushman" in Mandarin and the guy starts going off and talking! I just waited for like 10 seconds before cutting him off and saying, in English, that I do NOT speak any Mandarin. During that exchange, we contacted several Mandarin speakers, had lessons, called some of their members, and stopped by some people they were teaching. I literally did nothing that whole day! I just walked around following Elder Kohler and asking questions about how Mandarin works VS Spanish! Haha! I was worthless that day!

We had our Zone Conference this week as well. My last one😭😭 We talked about how Moro I worked to create a country where they could all have freedom and how we need to work to build the church so everyone can have spiritual freedom. It was a great Conference and we learned that President Nelson will be visiting our mission in October. So I'll miss that by 3ish months.

We still haven't had a lesson with R. and O. We are in contact with them and have something set up for Tuesday. We have members all lined up to come as well which is exciting. They weren't able to come to church this week because their baby is still sick. We are praying he feels better so they can keep coming to church.

R. and V. had to cancel as well. We have our next appointment set up with them for this Wednesday. We will also be having a member with us so we are praying that he will be able to help him see the need to come to church and out God first. 

We stopped teaching A. because he didn't express any interest. Hopefully in the future they will be able to progress. 

We stopped by a less active man's house and met him. We had a lesson this past week and invited him to church. We honestly forgot we had invited him but right after the opening prayer he walked into Sacrament Meeting! That was really cool. His name is Jaime and he hasn't been to church for 5 years. All that was needed was for some missionaries to stop by and invite him to come. We are praying he continues to come. 

I don't know if you remember A. S.? We were teaching her but she wouldn't come to church so we stopped teaching her. We got a call from the English missionaries one day and they told us they had someone they were talking to on the phone as well. Turns out, it was her. So we talked with her over the phone for about 12 minutes and invited her to come to church. She didn't so we will see how long we will continue to try with her.

This week has been really good! Several appointments canceled which is a bummer but we are looking forward to this next week. 

I love you! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 48: We are Trying!

This week has been very good. We had lots going on. We started teaching a new guy named A! He is the boyfriend of a less active member named K. We are trying to help her come back to church and so her and her boyfriend can be active. The problem we are having is he is not super interested. But his girlfriend, wants him to come and be active and have God in his life. So that is what we are working towards! We set up a chapel tour to help him feel comfortable coming to church, but he decided last minute that he did not want to come. We invited them to church but he didn't want to come either.. So we are going to see if he is just not super interested or if he is just uncomfortable and when he becomes comfortable he will be more interested? Haha we don't know! But we are trying!

We had a lesson with a woman named M this week. She was being taught by the sisters until she went on vacation for a month in February to El Salvador. She wanted to be baptized but then left on her vacation. We had a lesson and taught her about the Restoration. She didn't seem to understand a whole lot. We aren't sure how much she understood from what we taught but we are excited to help her. 

We didn't have a lesson with O. and R. this week. Their son has been sick so they weren't able to come to church. 

We had a lesson with R. about the Plan of Salvation. We decided he needed to know about it before we worked on him getting work off to be able to come to church. He also really wants to go to an English class so we are working on setting that up. As we were teaching the Plan of Salvation, he realized how important obeying God's commandments is. He mentioned how he needs to more fully keep them so we are really excited to have a lesson with him.

Nobody was able to come to church this week. Elder Skordas and I gave talks. They went really well! I talked about the blessings we receive from the Gospel, the importance of sharing it with our friends and family, and some steps to doing so. Lots of members commented on it so it seemed to be good! 

That's the week! 

I love you! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 47: Excited to Work With Them

Hello! This week has been really good! We had some exciting things happen and some really slow days too!

We had a lesson with R. and O! We focused on if she had read the Book of Mormon which she did. She said she has read a lot but understood little. So we re read it and explained as much as we could. We transition into her praying about it to know if it's true. She said, "yes! I have prayed and I feel like God is still waiting to answer me, but... When I left church last week I felt really at peace. I felt like this was the right place for me and my family. I believe that is part of the answer from God. It was really good! We testified that peace is what will bring the answers and how they just need to keep acting. We invited them to church and they said that they would be there. We'll they came to church and lots of the members are excited for them. Once members start seeing people at church 2-3 times then they get excited about the people. We had lots of members ask if they could help and the Branch Presidency is willing to drive 40+ minutes to come to lessons with us! It was really great! We will be having another lesson with them this week and are going to work on helping them know the importance of the Gospel for them. We are really excited!

We started teaching a member's boyfriend this week! Lol he is 19 and his name in A. He says he isn't very interested in religion but will listen to us if his girlfriend wants him to. So we are planning on trying to help him see why the gospel is important and why he needs it. I feel like that is a lack that so many people have! Nobody understands the Gospel is for them and they think it's just a nice thing if there is time. So we are excited to work with him. We have a church tour set up for Thursday to help him feel comfortable and then hopefully he will come to church. 

We had a lesson a couple weeks ago with the wife of a member. She has helped her husband, kids, cousins, aunts, and friends joking the church but won't join herself. Because of her probably 10-15 people have been baptized but she thinks she doesn't have faith enough to be baptized. We have an appointment this Friday and are hoping to help her see that she can progress and improve. 

The rest of this week was visiting less actives, finding and meeting new people, going to coordination meetings with our Branch, going on exchanges, etc. 

I got a little sick Wednesday and Thursday but am fine now! We have interviews this next week which will be good! But that's about the week!

Love you! 

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 46: It Will Take Great Faith

This week has been super super good! We had a great exchange with Elder Chu, a Chinese Elder! We had a lot of appointments with people cancel but still had some great ones none the less. 

We had a lesson R and O. We taught them last week about the Restoration and invited them to church. They didn't come. This past week we had a lesson about the importance of church and they said they would be there. We offered to show them the chapel but they were to busy. But when Sunday came they were there! They were a little nervous because their son is very energized and they didn't want to cause a scene. We reassured them that there are other kids who do the same. They said they would come and they showed up! It was so good! Their boy was a little rowdy during Sacrament meeting but was able to go to nursery for the second hour and have a party with all the other kids.

We had a really good lesson with R and V. R had read again in the Book of Mormon and wrote a great summary of what he learned from the Book of Mormon. He read in 3rd Nephi 18 about Christ instituting the Sacrament. We explained church and the importance of it. He really wants to come but can't. His job won't let him get work off because of his position at the store. We will have to teach a little more about the commandment of keeping the Sabbath day Holy and explain how he should have Sunday as a day of rest. Teach doctrine, testify, and invite to change is what we are going to be doing. It will take great faith on his part. We will for sure be praying he has that faith. We are also going to invite him to fast about what he can do to keep the Sabbath day holy and then act on what he feels. Lots of prayers with that would be appreciated. 

We had a great chapel tour with A. this week! She really like the building and loved the baptismal font. She said she would be baptized and that she would come to church but she hasn't answered our calls lately. So we literally are so confused. We may have to stop teaching her. So we will see. 

This has been such a good week! We figured out a way to locate more Hispanics by getting the voting records, putting them in a excel spreadsheet, and then putting their address into Google maps. We now have all locations of the Hispanics! 

Anyway! It's been a good one! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 45: Have You Found Brazilian Food?

This week has been a good one! Pretty tiring to be honest. Elder Oberman got here on Wednesday and it's been fun being in a trio with him. He is from Tri-Cities, Washington and has been out for about 5ish months. He actually started his mission in Hartford as well so it's been cool to share stories about our time there. It's an interesting dynamic being in a trio. Whenever one companion goes to the bathroom you always have someone else to talk with. Our transfer day was crazy though. President Mavromatis said he wanted missionaries to show up at 1:30 pm at the Weston Chapel and leave before 3:30 pm. Elder Skordas and I weren't going to go but President Mavromatis said he wanted to talk to me so we went. We were there until 4:30 when President could talk with me and when I walked up to him he said, "Elder Bushman, what can I do for you?" I said, "I don't know President... You wanted me to talk with you." he replies, "oh.. Are you doing good?" I say, "yes. I'm doing great!" he says, "OK good. Have you found Brazilian food in Cambridge?" and that was it! That's all he asked me.. Lol! We have no idea if he forgot or if he said it to the wrong person, but it was funny! As you can see from all the pictures I will send, it's been a tiring week. 

Elder Porritt, one of my old companions, went home this last week. He stayed with us on Wednesday night and we were in a 4 Elder. Elder Porritt and I went out that night to a lesson with A....it was a very interesting lesson. She told us a lot of dreams and things she has had and we just tried to explain that our message will help her more than anything else. She said she would be at church on Sunday but wasn't able to come. We aren't sure what is going to have to happen to help her come. We'll see though. Hopefully it was just something random and it won't be an actual problem for her to come.

We also had a really good lesson with R. When we got to his house he said that he had read 3 Nephi 11 and had written a summary of what he had learned. When he read us his summary and he hit all the right points. He understood that the voice spoke thrice and they didn't understand until the last time, that Jesus Christ came down and administered to them, that He called a prophet and gave him the  authority to baptize and lead the church. It was a really good lesson. R. works on Sundays and so he isn't able to come to church but that is what we are currently working on. We invited him to be baptized and he said that he would like that. We didn't plan a date because he still isn't able to come to church but he said that is his goal. It was a really great lesson. We are excited for him and his family. He said he would read 3 Nephi 18 when Christ institutes the Sacrament and write his next summary. 

We had a really good lesson with R. and A. as well. R. prayed right before she read the Book of Mormon and then flipped to a random page and read. She said she received an answer to a question that she had. We also talked about 3 Nephi 11 and she understood a lot. She speaks English as well as Spanish and so she reads well and is able to understand what things are saying. We invited her to be baptized as well and she accepted. We invited her to be baptized on June 29th and she said she would pray about it. She didn't want to accept a date and be a liar if she didn't make it. They also said they would come to church but something came up with A. and he wasn't able to go. R. really wanted to however so we just need to work with him.

We had a couple other lessons this week but nothing too exciting. We have began teaching several people but haven't had return appointments with them. Our biggest struggle is that nobody is coming to church. Maybe they aren't prepared? Maybe their excuses are valid and we need to give them more time? Maybe they need something else? Haha! These are the questions us missionaries have on the daily! I need to do some more praying to find out!!

Well I love you!! Have a great week!

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 44: We are going to be a Trio for 2 Weeks

Hello! This week has been a great one! Let me share a few events from the week :)

On Wednesday, we had lesson with a family that we had met several weeks prior. We met him and got his info but kinda forgot about him. Several days later while making calls we spoke with him and set up an appointment. Neither of us could remember who he was. When we got there, him and his wife both came in and sat down to listen. We began with a very comfortable conversation talking about there lives, when they got married, where he works, etc. He works Sundays which is a bummer but we have dealt with that before! Lol! 

We talked a little bit about why they are interested, what they already believe about God, if they are religious, attend church, and other things of that nature. They are from El Salvador and said that being here in the States is a huge blessing from God.

He seemed to understand prophets very well! When we talked about the Priesthood he said, "so if you don't have it then you can't lead God's church." We promised lots of blessings to their family and other things in their lives because of our message. He said he went to church as a child but hasn't gone a lot lately, he knows it's important however.

They accepted the invitations to read and pray with enthusiasm. He loves to read and promised he would read 3 Nephi 11 before our next visit. He also wants an English Class so we will probably be setting up one this week! His name is R. and she is V. He works so they weren't able to go to church. 

We had another lesson this week with a lady named R. Her friend is a recent convert here by the name of A. We are teaching A's mom and now is a friend! We met R. a couple weeks ago and finally got a meeting set up for this past week. We got to know them a bit. As we taught, she seemed to understand a lot. She is fluent in both Spanish and English. When people speak both they always understand better. We taught in Spanish but she really understood! 

While teaching and explaining the Apostasy we asked if she has had the question of, "why are there so many churches?" she said that she has had that question for a long time and didn't know why. She said she wants to know the truth! Super cool lady! 

She prayed before we came over that she could have wisdom and have an open heart to our message. When we read in the Bible she said she followed the counsel in James 1:5 without even knowing! 

She said she would be at church if A. went and A. said he would! Turns out, something came up for A. and he wasn't able to go but was very apologetic about it. So hopefully next week we will be able to get them to church. A. was also supposed to get his mom there so that was a little sad.

We were supposed to have lessons with several others this week but they got canceled. D. had to work, A's mom got sick and went to the hospital, others got called into work and some just weren't there at all!

We got transfer texts this week as well! Elder Skordas and I will be staying together! We are getting back a Zone into our mission June 21st and lots of missionaries needed to be placed in trios until then, so we are going to be in a trio for 2 weeks! Elder Oberman, who is an English missionary will be with us for the next 2 weeks starting on Wednesday! That'll be super fun! 

Well :) love you lots! 

Elder Bushman 

Year 2, Week 43: Be Like the Donkey!

The weeks just keep going faster and faster! Pretty unbelievable. Let's see?? What happened this week?

The English Elders found a lady named A. and referred her to us. We called her and she explained how she has been super depressed. She has 5 kids but they want nothing to do with her. She can't work due to some situation and she lives by herself. Super sad life. We went over to her house this week with a member named Hermano Paredes. We went with the intent to teach her the Restoration but we just talked with her about some of the things she is going through and how the Gospel can help. Elder Skordas told a story from conference about how if a donkey falls in a well, the owner pours in dirt, the donkey shakes off the dirt, and slowly climbs up and out. But if the donkey doesn't move, the dirt will bury him. She really related with that! She said she wants to get closer to God and be like the donkey! She called us a few days later because she had some questions about what she was reading in the Book of Mormon. We talked with her for a half hour on the phone and have another appointment tonight with her. She wasn't able to come to church because she went to the Bronx to visit her uncle, but she referred her uncle and wants missionaries to visit him.

We also met a man named D.. He originally called in to the mission office and asked for us to come visit. He has an aunt who lives in Lima, Perú and she told him to reach out to missionaries. We went over and he has so much desire to come to church and learn more. Unfortunately, he just started working 2 jobs that require him to work on Sundays. We taught him the Restoration and he really enjoyed it. When we pulled out the Book of Mormon, he asked if he could see it before we could explain anything! That was really cool. We have an appointment with him on Wednesday that we are excited about! 

We had a cool lesson with a less active family. They are love the church a lot but aren't able to come to church because of their work schedule. They have had kids that went on missions though. We met with them and were able to give a report back to some of the branch leaders who were asking about them. Hermano Lugo, is his name, is the campaign manager for a guy who is running to be the next president of the Dominican Republic! So when I told him that I want to visit someday, he said he would hook me up with places to sleep and recommendations of things to do! Haha! I feel like I have more contacts in the DR then I do in New England!

We had an appointment with E. I. wasn't there, she was working. E's cousin, A., was also present. A. belongs to the Seventh Day Adventist church and had problems with us going to church on Sundays. Elder Skordas said that when Jesus was resurrected it was on a Sunday and so in remembrance of that, we worship on Sundays. A. said, "what? You just don't understand the Bible." I explained how Christ fulfilled the law of Moses which instructs the Saturday Worship and he says, "there is no such thing as the law of Moses. It's God's law." haha! So that was interesting. E. doesn't seem as open to us anymore. We are a little bummed that that happened and his cousin wouldn't take a Book of Mormon because he has his Bible. So we aren't sure if anything will progress with them.

At the end of your mission you receive a program called My Plan that talks all about setting goals and such for your future life after the mission. There are 6 sections so I started the first one this week so that if I do 1 a week, I finish the program 1 week before I go home. The first activity you do is go through your patriarchal blessing and write down thoughts you have, you then circle words that describe you and underline phrases of things it tells you to do. After doing this, I came to the realization that all the instructions fit into 3 categories. 

1. Be a missionary for life. 

2. Be a husband and father like my own. 

3. Get an education. 

So my new priorities in life will be these three things. (how do you like them apples, Paps? Not the tard plan anymore, eh?) 

Well that's about the week! It's been a good one! Love you

Elder Bushman

 

 

Year 2, Week 42: She Knows Everything

Hello! Yesterday was officially 2 months until the mission comes to an end. I'm not ready for that day to come! It's been an amazing experience and I have learned a lot from being out here. Let's see what happened this week??

We had our Zone Conference with Elder Randall K. Bennett and his wife. He is the area President and has come to our mission 3 times since September 2018. Our conversation ranged from Gifts of the Spirit to who is Elect to following all mission rules with exactness to any other missionary topic under the sun! It was really good and I was really excited to get out and work in the field!

In Cambridge, we have an interesting situation with some members. Before the Waltham Spanish Group was created all members attended Cambridge. When the group was created most members stayed in Cambridge and some broke off to Waltham. So the Waltham missionaries don't visit our members from Cambridge, and we never had permission to go to Waltham to visit members, so those members were never fellowship pedo by missionaries. There are several recent converts who went inactive when that happened and so Elder Skordas and I received permission so we could go out there. Is was really good! We met a lot of the people who aren't active and were able to set up some appointments to visit with them. We are also hoping to be able to teach a lot of there family who aren't members!

This week was great but we didn't have many lessons with the people we are teaching. E. and I. canceled 2 appointments but we will be seeing them tonight. They didn't make it to church again so we will have to spend some time helping resolve those concerns. We are hoping for that to work out. We will be talking with them about what's keeping them back and how we can help them. 

We did have a really good lesson with a lady named R. She was baptized in the Dominican Republic years ago and was even a temple worker in the Santa Domingo Temple. When she moved out here she got a job and wasn't able to go to church. The sisters met her and they we came in and have been working to help her come back to church. It's incredible how much information she has retained. Most people can't remember a whole lot about the church but she knows everything. A member with us offered to bring the Sacrament to her house but she said, "no. I need to be worthy and get to church. If I can't do that. I'm not worthy for it." She has a very deep understanding of how serious the Sacrament actually is and not a lot of Hispanics make that connection! It was awesome!

We did teach E.R. this week! Her son, A., was baptized back in November but then left for the Dominican Republic. He got back but never came to church. We have been working to get an appointment with him and we finally did. He was really excited to meet with us and told us all about him and his family. He said he wants us to teach his friend and he is going to be getting back to church which was really cool! E. said she would come to church but didn't. Again, we aren't sure what is keeping these people back from Church. That's the trouble we face out her. Nobody wants to go to church.

During my personal studies this week, I was reading in Preach My Gospel about learning to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. In this section, it lists scriptures and gives descriptions for all the things the Spirit does. I realized that I feel the Holy Ghost allllll the time but I rarely give the credit to the Spirit. For example, in Mosiah 5:2-5 it talks about the Spirit strengthening our desire to avoid evil and obey the commandments. This happens to me a lot! Through studies and instruction given to our mission from the mission President, I frequently feel this desire but I have never contributed it to the Spirit. I've always thought this was my own thoughts or desires. So one of the biggest things I've realized, is that I need to give more credit to God for the righteous things I experience. Through thoughts or feelings or desires, if they are good, it is God! It was a cool realization!

I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. He lives. I love being a missionary!! 

Love, 

Elder Bushman