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 23: I Love Him

This week has been wonderful! We had some super great experiences which were awesome!! Let's start with S!

The lesson went really well and the spirit was present! It was so great. S began by telling us how church was for him 2 weeks ago, because of the time he had to attend the one in Natick by his work, he loved the sacrament, "body and blood of Christ", the music, he sang along with the chorus, and how many children there were. He said he had to wait in the foyer while the Sacrament happened so we knew he was there! Haha! 

We talked about how he would share the gospel with his wife in the DR. We then role-played. It went so great! He bore such great testimony. He knows this is the true church, he has felt the spirit in the lessons while we teach him about the commandments, heaven and God. He specifically knew that eternal marriage was true when we first taught it to him. O also shared his testimony on how he knew it was true. He kept saying he felt "joy".

After the role play, we discussed how him teaching his wife would go, we invited him to share a scripture with his wife to get it started! He said his wife needs a message of hope. Together we went to the topical guide and read 4 scriptures on hope.

He chose Ether 12:4 to send her, saying it teaches about anchoring our souls. We then practiced them writing down their testimonies. They both wrote amazing testimonies. We should help them learn the real name of the church though. O wrote his testimony in a Book of Mormon and committed to share it with his friend, D, from work! 

The spirit was very strong, they both love the gospel and how they feel. S said he would be at church and he still wants to get baptized! 

Starting Jan. 9-22 S will be at home from Thursday to Sunday taking care of his dad. So he will never have any commitments to attend to on Sundays! This all happened on Tuesday! We kept in touch with him and he came to church yesterday! Because he was there, he said he wanted to be baptized and we announced his baptism in Sacrament Meeting. So he will be getting baptized on the 12th! We are so excited for him!! We have it all planned so he can still go to the temple and get the Priesthood.

We had exchanges this week with the Spanish Elders in Framingham! I was able to go with an Elder named Elder Johnson! He knows a bunch about Spanish so I asked him some questions that I've been thinking about! We had a great exchange and worked to find some members who we could work with! Elder Fragoso has been companions with Elder Johnson so we talked a lot about what we've learned from him and things like that!

We went to interviews this week and were there from 9:30-5. We sat in all the District Councils to see how we could best help our DLs. After everything, we had our interviews at the end. President asked us if we had eaten and we said no. We were planning on going to get Brazilian food and President said he would join us! It was awesome!! I love him! And I finally got the picture that mom asked me for 3 months ago!

I and M said that they were coming to church with their mom. We talked with their mom and she said she wasn't going because of things she had to do. We got a ride for the kids, but morning of she took them to the doctors...  We aren't exactly sure what we are going to do to help them. To be continued...

Anyway! That was about the entire week! It was a good one. We are looking forward to this week! 

Love you all! 

Elder Bushman

 

 

Year 2, Week 17: Super Good Food

This week has been very good! I really am loving the mission! We had some good things happen and some not so good things happen!

First, Thanksgiving was great! Our Mission President said we shouldn't tract so we just decided to visit some members! We had our Thanksgiving Dinner with the Rodriguez family and their kids. It was great having some super good food! We went to O, S & R as well to share a scripture with them. They gave us some super good ham and Broccoli. We then hurried to visit another member but she didn't have a man in the house. So we just picked up the food that she wanted to give us and left. Thanksgiving was a great day!

We had a District Leadership Council with all the District Leaders in our Zone. Most missionaries have been really struggling with the work lately and so our purpose was to identify some things that we aren't doing or need to do better. After 2 hours we walked away with a plan to follow the counsel of President Mavromatis more effectively, be better about studying and applying principles from Preach my Gospel, and to develop a stronger love for the people we teach through working to develop Christlike attributes and praying for Charity. It was a super great meeting that was very good and effective. 

We were able to get in contact with J. this week. He has picked up some old habits that aren't good and has started working on Sundays again. We talked with him for a bit and asked if we would be able to come over to share a message with him. We set up a time to go visit him on Friday but when we went and passed by, he wasn't there. His car was out front and lights were on but he didn't pick up the phone or answer the door. It was a little disappointing that he blew us off and wasn't there but we are still trying to help him back. Hopefully he has those same desires! 

We had our Branch Thanksgiving party on Saturday and met some cool people that are friends with members that we will be trying to work with! We have exchanges, MLC, and Zone Conference this week so it will be busy!!

Love you all

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 13: Super STUPID Idea

Hello Family! How is everyone??

This week has been pretty good here on my end! The RedSox won the world series so everyone is excited here!

This week has been full of exchanges. Elder Fragoso and I didn't realize how quickly the transfer had gone so we hadn't planned any exchanges until last week so we went on 3 exchanges back to back to back and have another one tomorrow:)

Soo. Tuesday was an exchange with Elder Church! He came over to Worcester and we worked here in the Spanish program. Elder church has been on his mission for 23 1/2 months and is going home on the 9th of November! He talked a lot about his experiences throughout his mission and what he has enjoyed.

We had ZERO things planned in the day so we made lots of phone calls with people and tried to set up times and places for us to come by. We met a family from Ecuador who was taught by missionaries in the past. They weren't progressing so missionaries stopped teaching them. They said we could come over on Friday so we'll see if anything good turns out for them.

Elder Church is also the District Leader so we talked a lot about his District, what they are struggling with, and how he can help them. It was a good exchange. 

The next day I was on an exchange with an Elder named Elder Shkapich. He is from AZ and has been out for about 2 transfers now. He is a Spanish Elder so it was fun working with him. Framingham, MA has a huge Portuguese population so we talked to tons of Brazilians in Spanish and they replied in Portuguese. We communicate pretty well that way which was cool! Elder Shkapich woke up sick so he slept a little while longer so we didn't have tons of time to do stuff but we made good use of our time! It was cool:) he is a great missionary.

Next exchange was with the Assistants! They came over to our area for the exchange. Because it was a Thursday, which is weekly planning day, we had them sit in and watch us plan, give us tips, etc. It was good! We then went to work!! Elder Fragoso and I started an English Class with the church's self reliance program. On exchanges, we met a family from Columbia! We knocked on their window and told them who we were! They said we could stop by and asked if we had an English Class! Just so happened that we did! They didn't come to it because of a conflict but they said they wanted to come to church and be in the class! We are excited to work with them.

And boom! That's the end of exchanges! It's been a long week but, the week isn't over ;) 

So.. Elder Fragoso and I had a super STUPID idea. Saturday morning, we thought to ourselves that we wanted some doughnuts!! So... We each bought a dozen doughnuts! Haha:) then... Being the boys we are, decided to also buy every item off the Taco Bell Dollar menu! Haha:) so, on Saturday, I ate 10 doughnuts and 10 items from Taco Bell. Literally never have felt so sick in my life! Super disgusting. That night, took some Body Cleanse and Apple Cider Vinegar! Sunday morning was rough for us!

O, S & R got called into work so they weren't able to come to church again. It was pretty sad. They can still be baptized on the 10th of November but.. It still was sad. 

We met two guys randomly on the street who just so happen to work in Polar Beverages with our members! So we will be teaching them soon! 

Overall! Great week:) 

Love you all

Elder Bushman 

With the Assistants

Year 2, Week 6: I Literally Fell 10-14 Feet out of a Tree

First off, this week has been pretty good.

J&D, M&G all came to church so 4 people were with us in Sacrament Meeting. M&G had an event up in Boston but they were late to it so they could come to the first hour of church. They were in Sacrament Meeting and loved it! J&D liked church as well and stayed for all 3 hours. 

D is 11 almost 12 so she goes out with the young women to class and has a great time. J came with us to Gospel Doctrine this week. There is a Stake wide event called come and see that is designed for the youth of the church to invite their friends to hear more about the Gospel and to come to church. Since we have very little youth in our ward, we are focusing this on the adults, to invite their friends to come to church with them. It is going pretty well. Elder Fragoso and I and the Spanish Sisters taught the adults on how to invite their friends. By the end, we asked them to send us the name of one of their friends so we could remind them to invite them. J said, "What if we don't know what to say about church?" We asked her to tell us why she liked church and so she stated that the reason that she likes coming to church is because of the peace that she feels. She started crying as she was saying it and then texted us the name of the person she is going to invite to come to church with her. She isn't even a member of the church and she is doing more missionary work than some of the members. It was awesome! 

In third hour of church there was a teaching of self reliance and J signed up to participate in the church sponsored program. She even found a way to get herself there!! It was a great day at church. 

Other than that, We did teach J&D this week but they missed church last week and so we had to drop their baptismal dates. We will be setting one up in the coming days. 

We did some service for M&G. She is laying concrete in her backyard so the people who rent rooms from her have somewhere other then the street to park. We were clearing some trees and the only way to get to a high branch was to climb the tree. So while doing so, I grabbed a super thick branch and puled myself higher into the tree. I did not, however, realize that this particular branch was completely dead and broke as i maneuvered higher and I literally fell about 10-14 feet out of a tree. It was pretty Awesome!! It was cool how we could help her. I then cut up 4 pallets of wood with an axe so I got a pretty good daily work out!!

We went on exchanges this week with two sets of different missionaries. So far, I've gone on three exchanges in the last 10 days and will be going on 2 more in the next week! We have interviews and Zone Conference this week which will be awesome!!

We had a barbecue at a members house. They had tons of meat which was great for me and we met tons of part members that we are have been trying to get in touch with. We should be on our way to having more solid people to teach and come to church.

Other than that, not much happened! Its was a great week!

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 2: I Love the Mission! I Love the People!

This week has been good. Elder Warner has been transferred to Waltham. The Weston Sisters have been moved out and Elder Warner will be training an English missionary in a half Spanish, half English area. This has never happened before, at least that I know of. He seems to be doing ok with the change and adjustment. Hopefully he will have success. Elder Fragoso is my new companion. He is from Utah and knows Jessica Larson from High School. He is a super hard worker and his parents are from Mexico. He is a fluent Spanish speaker so I will be asking him questions about the Spanish language. I am looking forward to this transfer. A little nervous though. In our mission, for each Zone there are 2 Zone Leaders, with one Zone Leader as the Lead Zone Leader. Usually the Lead ZL has been a Zone Leader for several transfers etc. Most ZL's will have been a Zone Leader for 2 transfers before they "train" a new Zone Leader or before they become the Lead. In this case, I have been with Elder Warner for 1 transfer and am the Lead Zone Leader. All Zone decisions will be made by me and Elder Fragoso but the real training of him will come from me. I am excited to grow and everything but it's nice being comfortable. I guess I have been comfortable too long and the Lord is ready for me to get back to the refining.

We didn't have any Investigators come to church this week. Elder Petit and I were on exchanges on Saturday and found some pretty cool people to work with. One guy is named M. He is from El Salvador. When ever I meet someone from El Salvador, first thing i say is, Le Gusta Pupusas?? You will always get a great reaction from some white boy, speaking spanish, knowing their food. Same thing with Dominicans. If I meet a Dominican, you say, A Un Tigere. I honestly don't know what it means but its a nickname for Domincans. Then you just talk about their food and instant love and respect from them. We will see if there is any potential from him.

There is a lady that the English Elders met named M. She is from Dominican Republic and I met her when I was on exchanges with Elder Blotter a couple weeks ago. I did the normal routine of asking her about her food and what part of the DR she was from. She invited Elder Warner and I over to have Lunch with her. We saw her again a couple days later and she told us to come again and get food. We showed up and she fed us lunch and then she gave us a TON of food. Random stuff she bought from the store. We told her that we were ok and she didn't need to give us anything but she said that she got it for us and if we didn't take it she would be mad. So we took it. Ill send some pictures of the week.

Anyway,  not much else happened.

 The week was good! I love the mission! I love the people! I love working in Worcester! I love you all.

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 1: We Mean Business

This week has been pretty good. We had a lesson with a lady named W. She listened to the entire Restoration and said that it was super cool how Joseph Smith was called as a prophet. She loved the Book of Mormon up until the part where we told her that Jesus Christ came to the Americas and established his church and called 12 apostles. First time in my entire mission that someone has had a problem with another set of apostles. Prophets yes, another book yes, but another set of apostles has never been a problem. She pretty much freaked out and said that we were welcome back to talk with her and she would even feed us, but, she is Catholic and she doesn't want to learn any more about our church. So that was a pretty sad experience.

We did have a super cool lesson with a guy named J. He never tells us when we can come over so we just show up and he invites us in and we share a message. We have done that with the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have invited him to be baptized and he said when he knows the Book of Mormon is true. We have helped him to realize though that we mean business and we aren't going to just beat around the bush with him. He is super cool though. Hopefully he will actually read etc.

M and J  have gone on vacation with their family to Washington so we haven't been able to meet with them at all.

J wasn't able to come to church yesterday and he hasn't been able to meet with us so we haven't taught him any of the new convert lessons.

We did meet a super cool lady named J. She is from Puerto Rico and we met her while knocking doors. We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time to come back. When we did she was ready to talk with us. We taught the Restoration and invited her to be baptized. She said she would and that she would also come to church. She didn't make it to church because he kids got sick but she said she would come next week.

I hit my year mark this week. Elder Warner and I went to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate and we each got 16oz Steaks! The country music playing in the background was definitely the best part of the experience with steaks and 2 Cesar salads as sides coming to a close second. Peanuts were good too.

We also went to Wings over Worcester this week. The Best wing place in Worcester!! $14.99 for over 1lb of chicken covered in their signature sauces. I got a super hot buffalo sauce and a another spicy one so the sugar content wouldn't be too high!

Anyway... I'm kinda rambling on and on. It was a good week.

Love ya

Elder Bushman

August 2, 2018: One Year!

My One Year Mark Celebration: Texas Roadhouse

I hit my year mark this week. Elder Warner and I went to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate and we each got 16oz Steaks! The country music playing in the background was definitely the best part of the experience with steaks and 2 Cesar salads as sides coming to a close second. Peanuts were good too.

Year 1, Week 40: Down 'n Derby

Hello Fam! This week has been crazy!

First off. Our AC broke. We called the building manager on Thursday to have someone come and fix it. John, the building maintenance dude, came and looked at it and said he would be back and left. He never came back. Friday morning we called the building manager again and asked about it. 12 o'clock. He said an HVAC guy was coming and that it would be fixed by mid afternoon. 2 o'clock. HVAC guy came and said that he needed a part to fix it and would be back later that afternoon. 5 o'clock. No guy... 6 o'clock. No guy. We called the building manager again and he said that it wouldn't be fixed until Monday afternoon. It is still 86° Degrees in our apartment. It hasn't been below 80 in our place for 6 days! Friday night we called Elder Pierce, the apartment coordinator, and asked what our options were. He said we could buy fans or go stay at the English Elder's Apartment. Since it was already 8:30 and we are supposed to be inside at 9, we just went to the other Elder's apartment and stayed the night. Saturday we bought a fan, which doesn't do much when it's 86, and were planning on staying the night in our apartment but it was too hot. So we stayed at the Elders Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Ive slept on hardwood floor now for 3 days straight. But, it's supposed to be fixed today so life is still good!

On Wednesday Elder Porritt and I went to the Library and we were going to post an ad on Facebook for free Bibles. In doing so, Elder Porritt got a notification from Facebook that someone had stolen his password, posted it on the web, and so he needed to change it. While trying to change it, Facebook completely locked him out. He had two options to get back in, either sign in from a recently used machine, the computer that just locked him out, or send in a picture of his ID. Sending in ID seems rather sketchy so we tried to find some way around it. But, Facebook has no customer service or tech line. We couldn't call anyone or chat anyone. I looked it up and found out that it is actually a legit Facebook thing to send in ID. So he did, marked out personal info, and Facebook unlocked it. So it wasn't too bad but annoying and crazy nonetheless.

So that's the crazy stuff. This week has gone by super quickly but also very slow. We haven't had much success with the people we are working with and haven't found anyone who is super solid.

We did, however, pick up a new investigator named A. She just moved her from the Dominican Republic and doesn't speak any English. She didn't come to church but we are trying to change that;) . Nothing too exciting happened with investigators this week.

The English Elders did have a baptism yesterday. His name is C. and he is probably 45ish. He's super cool, used to be Pentacostal. It took him several months to finally understand why our church is different. The word Authority to him means that someone has the Legal right to do something. When he was baptized in a Pentacostal church he felt that they had the Authority or legal right to do it. The Word Power means in our language Authority. The Pentacostal church doesn't have the Power to baptize because they don't have Authority. It's rather confusing but I'm just glad they helped him understand!

Down in Derby, (haha remember that pinewood derby movie?), CT there is a senior couple whose mission is to teach people about family History. He is a high council man for the Stake. His name is Elder Lopez and his wife is Sister Lopez. They are from Mexico and have been assigned to the Waterbury group to help build it into a ward. There is a ward in Bridgeport, CT that he helped make a branch and then a ward. He is super cool! Anyway, they invited us over for dinner!! I haven't had real Mexican food for over 9 months and I stuck to Keto! Yeah! Salsa Verde, Carne Asada, broccoli salad, so good!

Talking about Keto, I've been on Keto now for a full month! Oh yeah;) anyway! I'm doing very well. Transfers are coming so fast! 2 weeks from Wednesday. 

Anyway, not much else happened. Love you all! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 1, Week 28: I Love Teaching the Restoration

The week started with some media referrals and some New Investigators! We met a woman from Jamaica who wanted a free Bible. When we met her she said she has been meeting with all kinds of missionaries and pastors. She has met with the JWS, Protestants, Mormons, Catholics, and Baptists to see which Church she wants to join. We gave her a Book of Mormon and the Bible and shared how they work together. She is super interested in finding out more, but we haven't had the chance to go back.

On Friday we had our all Spanish Missionary meeting. President basically roasted all of us saying we aren't good enough and how we need to do better. He obviously did this in a kind, loving, positive way, but that's pretty much a sentence summary. We talked a lot about how and where the Spanish program is going and what we need to do to become better missionaries. He shared the statistic that in the last 4 months, there has only been 8 baptisms in the Spanish group. That is very sad.. But it has given a lot of direction that will be very good! I am super excited for where we are heading!

Saturday was exchanges with the ZL. I went on an Exchange with Elder Warner who has been out for 18 months. We did a lot of knocking and taught some awesome Restorations. I love teaching the Restoration! I feel like it has the most power with the story of Joseph Smith.
One of the biggest things I learned from him is how to be super Bold. I am always a little nervous to be bold. If someone rejects me or my message I usually just say, alright, have a nice day. Elder Warner says, "What we are telling you is that Christs church is literally on the Earth today and you need to become a part of it." I also realized that if they reject us, they have now completely put not joining on there heads and not on ours. I have really enjoyed going out with older, experienced missionaries!!

On Thursday its service day!! We volunteer at a soup kitchen in Waterbury. We make bags that consist of soup, canned beans or corn, rice, pasta, meat, etc. to hand out to people who get on a list. We usually spend about 2 hours at service and have had some awesome conversations with people. We have met people who took lessons back in Puerto Rico and are interested in lessons again. We have conversations about the Gospel with the people who volunteer with us. 

Mom, you asked about what we do for church services.  Elder Tirado and I lead the music and do the piano. We have a piano that plays by itself. Last week we passed the Sacrament, Blessed the Sacrament, Gave the Talks, led the music and played the piano!

 

This week I have been reading Preach my Gospel and marking all the principles and promises! Most of the promises I have noticed are about gaining eternal life. Do these things and you can either help yourself or others reach eternal life! Very interesting. Preach my Gospel is not just a guide for full time missionaries but for EVERYONE!!! Its awesome. Definitely recommended reading

We went over to a members house on Tuesday for dinner. Because the members here are SOO nice they usually make something Keto for me. I was made, Tuna Salad!

This tuna salad was, tuna, raw onion, and green bell peppers!! Literally SOOO GOOD. I love onions and I am also a BIG fan of peppers now! I know dad is going to literally be so excited!! There is now only 1 thing I cannot handle.

Tomato.

Tomatoes literally make me sick. I HATE tomato.. Anyway,

Love you all!!

Elder Bushman

Year 1, Week 27: 1/4 of the Way

This week again was the same as last!

Love you much,

Elder Bushman

(Very Funny, Elder. He sent another email later as below...)

Hey Fam!!

How is everything going! I hope all is well. This week was good and super fast! I honestly can't really believe I am 1/4 of the way through my mission. I always thought that I would never leave on my mission. I left. I thought I would never leave the MTC. I left. I thought I would never get to the field. I did. I thought I would never get out of training. I did. I thought I would never make it to the 6 month mark. I have. I feel like I will never learn Spanish! I won't... That is basically where I am right now!!

This week was great. We finally got back in touch with Waddy. His mom just works a ton because her husband is still in the DR. He is coming to American though in March so they want to wait until he is here for him to be baptized. We are planning on continually going to teach him and then re-extend a baptism date at the end of February. We have an appointment to teach him on Tuesday, tomorrow, so we are excited about that! We are hoping that his dad will want to be baptized when he gets here as well.

The Vogel dinners are going to be different from now on. A new rule stating that there cannot be 4 Elders at dinner appointments have now come into play. Since we are a group and the English ward provides over our group, we can eat with both Hispanic members and English members. Just not all at the same time. We now have to have 1 companionship go at 6 and the other companionship go at 7:30. Its not too bad, just weird.

On Wednesday we had a big day of nothing!! Whoo.. So we called tons of people and finally got some appointments set up. We also received a media referral. When we went over her husband answered the door and said that he didn't want the Bible because it was a Mormon Bible. We explained that it was the King James version, just its a "Mormon" Bible because it is the one we use. He was chill after that. We also contacted a lady named Hazel. She was playing one of my favorite Hispanic songs, "Tu Estas Aqui" by Jesus Adrian Romero. We knocked on her door, taught the Restoration, and picked her up as a new investigator!! I basically have that whole song memorized so it was cool to hear coming from her house.

Later in the week we went back to Hazel's house to get back in contact with her but she wasn't home. The floor below was playing super loud Hispanic music so of course, we knocked the house. A girl named Cindy opened the door and we also picked her up as an investigator. We are working on getting back in touch with all of them.

One interesting thing about mission life is this: Elders only have female investigators. Sisters only have Men investigators. I don't know why this is but it is... In Waterbury, our investigators are, Ashley, Tania (got Baptized), Mary, Cindy, Hazel, Isabel, Marcel, Deborah, Sierra, Niyannah, and Waddy. Waddy is male but he is also 11 so we still have to get a male member to go over with us. This is THE most frustrating aspect of missionary work. Anyway...

The English Elders were door knocking and found a Hispanic woman who doesn't speak any English, so they called us and had us set up an appointment over the phone. I talked with this woman and set up the appointment, got her info, and had a conversation completely by myself. Was I proud?? Yes!! Her name is Rosa and she is super interested. Again, Female. We haven't been able to get a guy to come with us yet.

We had Interviews with President Miller this week. Again, super short interview but we had a training given by the AP's prior to the interviews. The training was involving Smartphones. Supposedly, we are supposed to get smartphones soon. Whether or not this actually happens, I have no idea. But it is looking more and more like it. I personally do not want any technology in the field. It is too much crap to worry about. I would rather just go about Missionary work like we have for centuries!

Love you all,

Elder Bushman

Year 1, Week 23: Red Dotted

Hiya Fam!

Well... I am alive! Temperatures hit in the -10 F over the last couple of days. On those days we were told to stay inside unless we had a set appointment that we could drive to the meeting. On Wednesday night we started exchanges. I went to the Waterbury English apartment with Elder Goodman. I got to their apartment at 8 that night so we pretty much just got ready for bed, wrote in our journals, and went to bed. When we woke up the next morning, Thursday, it was snowing and we were Red Dotted, which means we could not drive cars. Their apartment is in a location where most of the investigators or people who we would contact are on the opposite side of Waterbury so we literally spent ALL of Thursday inside. We called investigators, set up appointments, planned, studied, cooked, cleaned, shoveled, etc. It was a painfully long day of feeling completely lazy even though we were doing productive things most of the day. When the Red Dot continued I realized that I would have to spend a second night at the English apartment with no clean socks, garments, shirts, or pajamas. I had used my pajamas, T-shirt and Basketball shorts, to exercise in because I thought I would be back at my apartment that night. We made the most of the day and went to bed. Friday morning we weren't Dotted so we could drive and exchange. So basically, the exchange was fully inside doing random things to try and be productive.

We met with Tania on Thursday and went over the baptismal interview questions. She passed but still needs to be interviewed by our District Leader. That is happening tomorrow, Tuesday. On Sunday, Yesterday, Tania's husband Alberto was interviewed and ordained to the office of a Priest. He will now be baptizing his wife this Thursday!! We are excited for her! We are also hoping that Emmy, Tania's daughter, will want to get baptized after seeing her mom get baptized.

 

Waddy was supposed to get baptized on Saturday but we haven't been able to teach him since Dec. 13th.

Transfer texts are this Friday! I cannot believe this transfer is already almost over. I feel like I just got to Waterbury and met Elder Tirado, not 5 weeks into the transfer. I am expecting to stay in Waterbury. Elder Tirado says he can see himself staying or he thinks he could leave as well. Doesn't really know! I don't really care what happens. I don't really want to leave the 'Bury though!

Funny story though! On exchanges Elder Goodman and I get a call from Elder Davis and Elder Tirado. When we answered, Elder Davis was dying laughing and was trying to tell a story which we could not understand. Elder Tirado LOVES sleeping in Proselyting clothes. I don't really know why, but he does. Anyway, when Elder Tirado and Davis were doing exercise that morning, Elder Tirado tore about an 8 inch rip down his pants!! It was a hilarious story... Anyway!

Our investigator who is most progressing is named Ashley. On Tuesday night we taught her the Plan of Salvation in the Vogel's home! She has had tons of member support and people giving rides and helping her get to church. On Sunday she came to church again and said she is going to invite her mom. We went to her house with Miguel Castro and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We will probably have one more lesson re-going over the Gospel of Jesus Christ before we start on the commandments. We are super excited to see where this goes!

Anyway... Not much else happened this week! The reason it took me so long to get on to email today is because we went to Buffalo Wild WINGS!!!!!! BDUBS!!!

HAHA

Love you all,

Elder Bushman