Year 2, Week 37: Do you Come With the Card?

Wow! This week has really flown by! We had lots to do which was really exciting. We started out by just working and trying to find new people to teach. We had some success meeting new people but nothing so far. I went on exchanges with Elder Cheney, one of the English Missionaries, and we had some really cool experiences. There is man in the English Ward named Brother M.. He was baptized 20 years ago when he was about 50. His son, M. isn't a member of the church and his son, M. just passed away 3 weeks ago. To keep confusion down, I will call them. M1, being the member of the church, M2, being the son who isn't a member, and M3, if I ever refer to the sons who passed away. M1 has tried sharing the Gospel with M2 for years but M2 never accepted the message. M2 has had some drinking habits and things that have kept him from really having a desire to progress in the Gospel. Because M3 has passed away, that really softened the heart of M2 because he is looking for peace and comfort during this hard time. M2's wife, B., is also struggling with losing her first son, M3. M1 had shared with them the talk from President M. Russell Ballard where he talks about losing his wife and how he has kept his faith. M2 and Brenda said after reading that talk, they experienced peace for the first time since their son, M3, had passed away. M2 and B have a big interest in the Gospel because of this experience. On exchanges, Elder Cheney and I, met with them for the first time. Before even meeting the missionaries or coming to church, M1 had given them each, Books of Mormon, Gospel Principles, Ensigns, a Bible, Come Follow Me, and other church material. They al have been reading in the Book of Mormon and recounted what they have learned to us. They have a ton of questions that they started asking and it started moving our lesson in a crazy direction, bouncing back and forth between topics, so we just used our first lesson to talk about how they can't learn our whole message right away. It will take time and many meetings. We discussed how the only way for them to find out the truth is through prayer and scripture study and they need to be Diligent in it. We set the expectations of what we will do and what they need to do. They commented, "we know that this is the true church because it makes sense. All the other religions don't make sense."M2 then said he used to drink 15-30 beers a day and that he felt like he should give it up so he has been sober for 4 weeks now. Just stopped cold turkey. B. said she used to smoke but has given that up as well. Haha! Wow! Let me tell you, they are the most prepared people I have ever met in my life! I talked with the other missionaries and they came to church and had a second lesson with them!

Elder Shkapich and I met a guy named D. and his wife K. about 2 weeks ago. We taught them 12 days ago but haven't had much contact with them because of his brother who got sick and her work schedule. For work, K. leaves for 5 days to live in the house of a woman she takes care of and then she returns the next week. D. hasn't answered our phone calls either so we thought we were just going to have to stop teaching them. But, we called him on Saturday to invite him to church and he said he would be there. Church started and he didn't show up. 15 minutes in, he walks in with a member and sits down with her. We just thought that the member had been nice and showed him where to go but at the end of meeting, he gets up and hugs our branch president and then talks with another 3 or 4 members for a while. Turns out, he has worked with several members for years before they got new jobs, etc. So hopefully him knowing members will really help him along. We had a lesson with him that night and he had told his wife how awesome church was and that she needs to repent for not coming! Lol, she was working but said she would come next week. We talked a lot about how we need to read and pray to get an answer and committed them to do it! So we are really excited about them. 

We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders on Saturday and were both down in the New Haven area. I went on my third exchange with Elder Jowers and really enjoyed it. We had some lessons and met some great people to start working with. Elder Jowers and I met this one lady named M. When we gave her a card she looked at us and said, "dang!! Y'all are handsome!! Do you come with the card?!?" As we left Elder Jowers looked at me and said, "Elder Bushman... I'll be honest.. I'm a little scared to come back!" 😂😂 it really takes serving a mission to fully understand how many interesting people are in the world! They all just need the message of the Gospel. 

This week we went over to visit F, T, M. and the rest of their family. We talked about how if we do the right things, God is going to bless us. T. had her court date on the 11th to see if she is going to get sent back to Ecuador or if she can stay here in the United States. After they talked it got rescheduled to the 19th so we are still praying that works out. 

We met a cool family on Sunday night. We knocked on their door and they just let us inside to share a message. J, V, F and A were all there to listen to our message. They are a very catholic family and first made sure we weren't missionaries for the Jehovah Witnesses. After we said that we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they said, "oh.. Ok. You can share your message!" 😂😂👍yeah👍

We talked with them about the Restoration and how we have the Gospel on earth again. They said at the end that they feel God's presence in our message and said we could come back on Friday! 

So that was our week! This upcoming week we have an exchange, Zone Conference, District Council, and Transfer Texts!! President said that Elder Shkapich and I won't be together but we aren't sure who is leaving Waterbury. 

In response to my mom's question of, "what is your favorite 'The Living Christ'" I love this section: 

"We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son."

I love this section because it helps us realize the incredible gift that Jesus Christ was and is to all of us. 

I bear testimony, as one of His ordained missionaries that Jesus is the Christ. I know he lives. He died on the cross and gave himself to take away the sting of death. He is the light, the life, and the hope of this world. He is the only way that can lead to true peace of mind and peace of conscience.

Elder Bushman