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

Year 2, Week 41: Key Indicators for Conversion

Wow! The weeks keep on passing faster and faster! It's kinda crazy :)

We had a lesson again with I. and E. They kept their commitments and read from the Book of Mormon in the assigned chapters! They are really progressing. We taught them the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and focused on the principle of Baptism and their need for it. We didn't extend a baptismal date because we also want to get their daughter involved in the lessons so they can progress as a family! We are really excited to see them progress. They weren't able to come to church yesterday but we are working with them on it. Hopefully we can find out their concern and help them come next week.

We had interviews with President Mavromatis as well this week. He is such a great guy! He talked to me about making sure we set effective and efficient goals and focus on the key indicators for conversion.

We had a lesson with a lady named P! She was a lady who used to be taught in the past and we called and set up an appointment with her. Her husband wasn't home so we brought a member of the church with us. When we walked in, she looked at the member and said, "Hermano Paredes!" we were so confused at how she knew him. He had accompanied the sisters to lots of the lessons and so he knows a lot of people they used to teach. This lesson was probably the most interesting lesson I've ever had. They are both from Guatemala and so they talked about their country for about 25 minutes. Then she had to go pick up her kids from school but because she knew the member, she just left us in her house while she left. We finally got around to trying to share part of our message but Hermano Paredes and P. got back on random topics. Needless to say, it was an interesting lesson. Lol! 

We went to a members house for lunch but she didn't have a man in the house and it was short notice to ask someone to accompany us so we asked her if she could bring a male friend so we could go. She had a guy from across the hall who she has known for years come over and we started teaching him. His name is C. and is from Nicaragua but prefers speaking English. He is fluent in Spanish but likes to read in English more. We had a good lesson with him and then member was able to share lots of experiences and blessings she has received from the Gospel. 

The sisters were also teaching a woman named E.R. We were able to visit her this week and she said that she knows the church is true. The Book of Mormon is scripture and that she wants to be baptized. She said she wants to wait a little while for baptism and we didn't push to hard to know the real reason why. We are excited for her though!

That's the week however! It's been a good one! Love you :) 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 40: This One Will Make it Valid

Wow! This week has been a good one! Cambridge is such a cool place! I love it here!

When Elder Skordas and I arrived here, not much was happening. The past missionaries had been teaching a lot of guys from a barbershop who weren't progressing at all. When the sisters would call them, the guys would set up appointments but when we call, they weren't interested. So this week has been continually working through the people already there so that we can get a hold on all the people we are working with. 

Before last Sunday, we had set up a lot of appointments with people. We had about 13 teaching visits scheduled for this past week! 8 of them canceled but the ones that happened were super great! 

E. and his wife, I., are doing the best! We taught E. for the first time last Sunday night so about a week ago. We began teaching his wife on Tuesday night and also had an appointment on Saturday. In our appointment on Tuesday, he kept his commitment to read in the Book of Mormon and she had listened to the audio that we sent him. That was cool that she had already listened to the Book of Mormon before we came. We read from 3rd Nephi 18 and talked about the importance of coming to church. A couple days before this, I had a realization about something that we believe as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other churches attend their churches so that they can fellowship others. We talk with countless people every day who say, "I don't think you need a church to have a relationship with God. I know I should be going to church to fellowship others, but I'm just to busy but I have God with me. I don't need to go to church." I realized that they go for others! To talk with their friends, fellowship others, maybe serve some veggies at the luncheon afterwards, but as members of Christ's church, we attend for all those reasons plus for ourselves. We go to church for us. We go so we can become clean from our sins, repent of wrong doing, more fully take upon us the name of Christ, and always remember Him. So to get to the point of all this, we taught E. and I. about how church is for them. They can receive strength and a deeper desire for God. They can have blessings and happiness in this life. This clicked with them and they said they would be at church! Right at the end of this lesson they asked if we believe in Hell. We explained a little bit but said that our next message would be focused on the answer to that question! 

On Saturday, we taught about the Plan of Salvation with our branch mission leader there. They didn't read because they hadn't found time but were making time on Sunday so they could have it read before our next appointment on Tuesday. 

We talked about the premortal life and that made sense to them. We read 2 Nephi 2:22-25 and it clicked that the fall of Adam and Eve is God's plan, not their failings. This literally blew the mind of E. He sat on the couch just staring into space and saying, "wow.. I didn't know this. I always thought they were just bad." haha! It was funny how much we shocked him! 

We talked a lot about how THEY can progress in this life to prepare to meet God. They said they want to go to Church but can't this Sunday but will be there for the next week. E. walks dogs for work and all his clients dogs are at his house. He said he can't come to church because he can't leave the dogs at home. We talked about baptism and E. said that he would get baptized but I. didn't really answer. Haha E. couldn't really understand why he needed to be baptized again and then his wife said, "E., you didn't take your other baptism seriously and so that one was a joke. This one will make it valid." That totally helped him out and he understood! Lol! These 2 lessons were really good and the Spirit was strong! 

We didn't have any other appointments this week with nonmembers but we visited members and they shared everyone they could remember who had been at church. We now have a list of names from the past of friends who came to church. 

Sunday, after church, President and Sister Mavromatis came over for lunch. We talked about our area, the vision for people, what he can do to help us, etc. Etc. It was super cool! He was here fore about an hour and a half. 

Well! That's the week! Elder Skordas and I are going to go into the city and find something cool to do! It's been a great week! 

Elder Bushman