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 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 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 

 

 

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 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 

 

 

Year 2, Week 12: They Want the Blessing of Eternal Life

Hello Family! This week has gone by super fast! Lots of stuff happened but I don't even remember half of it. Let's see...

Monday night we spent trying to look for a less active family with unbaptized children. Their phone number didn't work so we were passing by their house. We knocked and a kid named A. answered. The family that we were looking for wasn't there but we went in and started sharing our message with some others. A., his mom, S, her boyfriend, J., their cousin J and L were all there. J. invited us in to share a message with S., they then asked the entire household to join in. They pulled J out of his room to listen. 

They listened intently and wanted to learn more about the church. They asked about where and when our church met and if there was transportation to get there or if someone could pick them up. They believe in God, and the Son as their Savior.

A. offered the closing prayer; it was really good. He gave lots of thanks... thanks for the trials in his life that make him strong. His mom said as we left that that was the first time she'd ever heard him pray out loud! It was a super sincere and cool prayer. 

Elder Fragoso and I forgot to order more supplies so we had zero Book of Mormons, so we didn't teach the Book of Mormon. We need to teach them that next time! When we came back later in the week we had more stuff. We were able to teach the Book of Mormon and share what it was. We invited them to pray and ask to know if it was true.

Last week I talked about J, J, S, M & M. We had a lesson with them this week and they told us that they are looking for God and don't believe he is in churches. They shared how they wouldn't go to church for 3 hours and that they know everything there is to know. It was pretty sad. Instead of being angry or annoyed, all we felt was love for them and knew that they just needed sometime. We committed them to read and pray and left.

We started teaching O, R & S about the Commandments. Since they started working on Sundays we first taught Sabbath day. They shared that commandments are just rules so we helped them understand it was also to show God we love him and to get blessings. They understood. They want the blessing of eternal life! 

Hno. Jimenez, one of our members, bore strong testimony. He works on Saturday nights from 8 to 5 in the morning and comes to church at 11. He has a super strong testimony that church attendance is key. They enjoyed that. 

When we brought up baptism, O & S smiled and said they were still excited to prepare for baptism. They knew what it meant and the blessings it would bring! 

The spirit was very strong, after 1 Nephi 3:7 and that O. agreed to talk to his new boss and get Sundays off.

C., the sister, shared she felt good and that she felt like what we were saying was true. S.  said that was joy she was feeling because they were gathered as a family. C. mentioned it was the Holy Ghost.

We stopped by a man who had been taught in the past this week! It was super cool. His name is A! He shared with us that he has been looking for a church but hasn't been able to find one. He has felt the Spirit but feels that he loses the Spirit and goes back to his old ways. He wants to get married so his daughter can grow up in a family. He has cancer and so it's hard for him to come to church! 

D., his wife, and R., his niece, joined in after. D was open to receive the message but A. is still hesitant even though he has read from the Book of Mormon, but feels the need to continue reading and searching.

R&D, didn't say much but they seem open to our testimonies and the blessings we promised. A. was open to our testimonies but not so much to logic. A. has some misconceptions about the time-line of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. He is a little confused from misunderstanding past missionaries. But we are trying to help him!!

We fasted this week with R, A and Hermana L so that she could have custody of the kids! They said that it was hard for them to do it but they resisted all the food and treats that were placed in front of them. R and A said that they didn't like doing it but did!

When we talked about following the Prophet, they told us some of the responsibilities of prophets and that they were willing to follow him. 

During our discussion of following the law, A. said that she didn't think that obeying the law was a commandment but once we said it was she quickly said that she changed and believes that is a commandment.

During the Word of Wisdom, R and A quoted back to us the 5 things we aren't supposed to put into our bodies. They said that the reason we shouldn't take those things is because we aren't smart and we can be addicted. The are such smart kids! Hermana L. said that R shouldn't be drinking Coke because it's against the Word Of Wisdom! Hahaha! We cleared that up! 

They accepted all commitments and said they would live everything!

We had some other appointments and such this week! It was a good one.

O, S and R's car broke so they didn't come to church:( they won't be able to be baptized this month.. :/

All is well here! 

Love you all! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 11: Ahh! It's the Greatest!

Hello Family! This week has been pretty good. Let's see... What has even happened?? We had a cool experience that will be further detailed below. Happy Birthday to Eden! I know I'm super late but I'm trying:) I can't believe it's already half way through October! It's super nuts!

So O, R and S! The lesson went well! S. remembered a lot from Conference and understood the 2 hour church change. O&R fell asleep during it and missed most of it. They liked what they saw but couldn't tell us what happened. 

During the lesson, S. explained to us what faith was, O. explained what Repentance was, and R. explained to us what Baptism was. They all understand those three things so it was pretty easy to teach the Doctrine of Christ!! 

S. said that they would continue reading with R. We downloaded the Book of Mormon app on their Phone so they could listen to it.

O. got a new job at a Mexican Restaurant. He works as a chef. They didn't come to church because they worked this Sunday. They may not be getting baptized this month if they can't quickly change the schedule and get back to church with a commitment to come every week.

They are doing well however! They are fun to teach because they grasp everything very quickly!! 

R and A! We taught them the Plan of Salvation and started teaching them about the Commandments. They are 11 and 12 so they shouldn't have any major problems but it's still possible. R. wasn't understanding the importance of Church, Pray, and Read so we applied to Fortnite! R. said in Fortnite, you need weapons, materials, and medicine to survive. We said that church is where we get our medicine from the Sacrament, materials is what we read in the scriptures, and our weapon is prayer. It helped it click for him. Thir mom's divorce didn't go through so she doesn't have custody on Sundays so they can't come to church.

We had an awesome lesson with a family this week! M, J, J, S, M

We knocked on their door, they let us in! 

We taught them the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! It was great! We haven't taught a lesson like that in a while! We usually schedule appointments for the future so we can have members and such! 

First it was just three of them.  As we taught about the church of Jesus Christ S asked where it was based and where it is now. She resonated with the idea of the Church today! 

M had a beer at the beginning and said she couldn't stop drinking because it would go bad, but, after the opening prayer she felt the spirit and asked her husband to take it away! Haha! 

Half way through M. walked in with J. M. asked them to join; they both did which was pretty surprising! Usually people come and go and don't care to stay. J. believes in Christ as his Savior. 

S. gave a wonderful closing prayer with some help in the beginning and end, all we did was ask her what she would tell her Heavenly Father, she gave lots of thanks. 

J. M and S. all acknowledged they felt the spirit. We told them they would keep feeling it as they read and prayed

We had another lesson with a man named V. and A. from the Dominican Republic! 

A. believes strongly in God. He is a God-fearing man...he knows the purpose of the commandments and has a desire to follow them, he has been separated from a church for a while and we told him now would be a perfect time to come back! He had some confusion about which Church Christ left behind through Peter. He didn't understand that Peter led the Church of Christ and not some other church. 

A. knew that Israel used to be God's chosen people, he now knows that those blessings are freely given to all through baptism in the restored Church!! He accepted our baptismal invitation and so did V! 

V whipped out a dusty old BoM at the end of the lesson from when missionaries taught him years ago! 

When invited to pray and read for an answer, A. said he wouldn't ask... Until he fasted to receive the answer, he said that through fasting we receive answers from God!! They are incredible! 

Alex gave a wonderful prayer at the end, in proper order, just needs help to say the ending 100% properly! 

It's incredible to see what people already know that is restored truth! When we teach further truth, it's so easy for prepared people to accept it! I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He lived and died for me! I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is an inspired writing. I know that our Prophet, Russel M. Nelson is a Prophet! I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change people's life because of His Atonement and Ransom for our souls! 

I love being on a mission! Being a missionary is a great experience that I wouldn't trade for the World!! My favorite part of missionary life is teaching! Days without lessons are the worst!!! When I first came out, I never wanted to teach because I thought it would be boring and scary. Ahh! It's the greatest! 

Not much else to report! I love you all!! 

Elder Bushman