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

 

 

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 10: We had 7 People Watch Conference

Hello Family!

This week has been pretty good! Lots of stuff going on and happening. Biggest news is that General Conference happened. We had 7 people watch conference. Some came to the church and others watched from their houses. It was a great day! I will be honest. I thought a lot more stuff was going to happen so when President Nelson got up for the last time, I was expecting a BOMB to drop. 12 new temples is awesome but I was expecting a little more.

Other than that, not a lot happened this week. We spent most of our time in some meetings and really trying to get people to come and watch conference. A, R, O, and S all watched it so they are still looking good to be baptized on the 27th of October.

We had several meetings this week as well. We met with President Mavromatis, Sister Mavromatis, the Stake President, the High Councilman over the Ward Mission Leaders. We talked all about what the plans for the Stake are and how we can help accomplish those goals! It went great. 

We had a Mission Leadership Council as well. We were there for hours and I skipped the lunch they had! We talked a lot about what things are happening in our mission that is causing lower results. Over the past 4 years, our mission has averaged 34 baptisms a month. The highest in the East! This last couple of months, it is has declined to 15 baptisms in the month of September. We talked about why this is happening and set in plans to achieve better results through higher obedience and more consecrated actions. Our goal is to have 26 baptisms in our mission this month. Our Zone is looking like we will be able to help 13 people get baptized! We are really trying to stretch ourselves and read that goal! Other than that, not much has happened!

Sorry for the short letter! Love you all!!

Elder Bushman

Year 2, Week 8: The Best Lesson of my Mission

This week has been great! We had several awesome things that have been happening so we are excited.

First of all, we have heard tons of rumors about this General Conference. Several Missionaries have heard from family and friends in the MTC's that the Apostles have said, "This Conference, you all need testimonies. If you do not have a testimony, this could be the conference that breaks you." From further discussion amongst missionaries, we have come to a conclusion that something hard is going to happen. With the release of the book Saints, we read a lot about the hard things the members of the church had to do. Now, when was the last "hard" thing was?? I can't even think of something that's been hard. So, several things have risen as we have discussed the upcoming events of the Conference. We think, because of the hastening of the work that Sisters might be called to serve 2 year missions and Elders called to serve 3 year missions. Anyone on missions have the choice to extend to the new standard or come home at the appointed time. In the Saints book, several chapters are dedicated to Polygamy. Probably won't come back because there is no real reason for it too, but... its possible! Idk.. Whatever comes, I think it will be hard and test our faith. Hopefully we all have a testimony and it won't be as hard.

We had a great lesson with O. this week. It was the best lesson of my mission and best lesson of Elder Fragoso's mission. We went to teach O. and his brother who we started teaching. The last lesson we had with them, S., the brother of O., said the closing prayer. In his prayer, he prayed to Jesus Christ and ended in the name of Heavenly Father. For this lesson, we were going to go over the God Head with a focus of the Holy Ghost and how, through prayer and reading, they could receive an answer. We started by opening to the back of the Book of Mormon and reading the guide to the Scriptures under the Holy Ghost. It talks about the role the Holy Ghost has and the importance of it. We then headed to the introduction and discussed the very first promise made in the Book of Mormon. We talked about how there are three things they will learn when they know the Book of Mormon is true. They will know that Jesus is their Savior and Redeemer, that Joseph Smith was His Prophet and Seer, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church. With that, they need to do three things. Church, pray, read. Once we discussed that and how important reading and praying was, we went to Moroni 10:4-5. We discussed what prayer does. With a real intent, seeking in humility and through prayer, we can receive an answer. We asked them if they have any experiences with the Holy Ghost and they both shared experiences where they almost died and they felt, when they lived, that God was there. We helped them understand that that feeling was the Holy Ghost. We then taught them how to pray. We told them why we address our Heavenly Father first, explain things we are grateful for and what we need, and end in the name of Jesus Christ. I asked them if we could practice what we just taught. I first said a prayer, going through the steps we had taught them. Next, O. said his own prayer in the correct way. We talked about the feeling that was there with them in that moment. They said that they now know what the Holy Ghost feels like. We testified and closed our lesson with S. saying the concluding prayer. He did it perfectly and it was an amazing lesson! We committed them to baptism on the 27th of October and to continue praying, reading and coming to church. They didn't come to church however...

That was the biggest thing that happened. Mom asked me what being a Zone Leader was like so I will write a little on that.

It's nothing special really. All you do is watch over and help serve. Its just like any President of a Quorum except we don't have any keys. In a transfer we, create a Zone Vision, something to direct District Leaders for their District Councils, go on exchanges with the Assistants, with District Leaders, and any other struggling companionships. We record Key Indicators of Conversion and report that to the Assistants, attend Mission Leadership Council, go to Zone Conference and give a training based upon information sent to us from the Assistants. That's about it. We set an example and try to be the best missionaries we can. 

For exchanges, we discuss the needs of each companion and who can better help the Elder overcome his issues. We pray and discuss as a companionship. A lot is rotation and who you've already been with but that can change and you can go with others. 

I've learned a lot from Elder Fragoso. He is very effective and efficient with his time. A lot of missionaries tract for days on the mission. That's what we think missions are. President Mavromatis has asked us to move away from tracting but I was never sure of what to fill time with when we aren't tracting. I learned from Elder Fragoso to work through our area book and have it be clean and record things to know when people need to be stopped teaching etc. Its hard to explain in one paragraph but I can spend more time on that if you want me too!

Anyway, about out of time! Love you all! Take care.

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 1, Week 51: Amping our Consecration Level

Wow! This week has been pretty crazy! So much stuff happened that I don't even know where to begin.

We first had another exchange with the Framingham English Elders. I stayed in Worcester while Elder Warner went to Framingham for the night. Elder Christiansen, an Elder from North Salt Lake and I were together. It was a great exchange and we found some people to start teaching! When have return appointments with both of the people for tomorrow. E and L are their names. We are going to be going on another exchange with Worcester English Elders tonight and tomorrow.

In the time I have been in Worcester, I have, taught Elders Quorum, spoken in Church, gave a training for District Leadership Council, given a training at Mission Leadership Council, gone on 3 exchanges and then this week I will be singing in Zone Conference again, giving a training at ZC and going on an exchange tomorrow. Plus teaching and finding. Let's just say that the month of July is a busy one!

This week I decided to be a lot more consecrated to the work. I deleted all of my music that wasnt Mormon Tabernacle choir or  A Cappella hymns. I did that on Friday. That night, we met a woman named M. from Bolivia. She told us to come back on Saturday and she would have more time for us. We went back Saturday and had a great Restoration message with her. We invited her to church and she said that she would be going to her church first and then she would come to ours. Sunday, J. came to church and will be getting baptized on Saturday. Second hour, just like she promised, M. and her son J. came to church and was in our gospel principles class. It was super awesome and we have another appointment tomorrow. Elder Warner and I are obedient. But we are starting to be super obedient. We follow all the rules but are amping our consecration level. In return, the Lord is blessing us with people to teach and baptize! It's super awesome!

My talk this Sunday was on Pioneers because it was pioneer day. I took my Farewell talk on pioneering faith, translated it into Spanish and boom! Awesome talk!

We also taught this guy named J and his wife M. They are super cool! We read 2 Nephi 31 and talked about the Doctrine of Christ and how they need to be baptized! They were so excited because they knew what they needed to do to get to heaven. Once we asked, will you get baptized and prepare for this date they shut down and realized we mean business. Haha! They said once they get an answer to the Book of Mormon then they will. So... We'll see.

That's about it! Love ya

Year 1, Week 50: A Car Literally Blew Up....but we got a Picture

This week has been super busy!

We had interviews with President Mavromatis. He said he wanted each interview to last 10 minutes and with 18 missionaries in our zone it should have only taken 3 hours... Well. President said he wanted everyone at the church at 8 in the morning to begin interviews. We arrived at 8 in the morning and left at 4 in the afternoon. This day was sooooooo long! I had a good interview. We talked about what his plans were and then he asked me if I had any questions or concerns that I wanted him to address. There wasn't any so it ended. Some members of the zone had 40+ minute interviews. After that, President Mavromatis came to our apartment and looked at it and asked questions about our zone and individual companionship's. It was a long day. That night, we started our exchange with the Spanish Elders working in Framingham, MA.

I was working with Elder Hoisington. It was a great exchange and we got a lot done. I helped him to understand that whenever you contact a person to start teaching and testifying, instead of asking if they want to learn about the Gospel. It was great. I was in their area and got to check our Framingham and their apartment. 

On Thursday we had weekly planning and some other activities. We were able to go out and work that day and try to find people, set appointments, etc. Not very exciting day because we were planning.

We had District Meeting on Friday. Then we were able to go back down to Waterbury to see the baptism of G. Remember the girl Elder Neeley and I started teaching? We were a little late because a car literally blew up and was in flames on the freeway so we weren't able to actually see her get baptized. It was kind of a bummer, but we got a picture with all the missionaries who taught her. It was pretty cool. I will send that picture in a separate email. That night we drove to Boston to go on exchanges with the Assistants.

I was working with AP Harris. He has been out for 23 months and has been an assistant for the last 8 months. He is such a good missionary and his teaching skills are incredible! I learned a lot about teaching very simply and asking good questions to guide our teaching! It was super cool. We helped with a baptism that day so part of it was doing service but then we were out teaching, finding, contacting, and praying the rest the day! He is super consecrated to his mission and only listens to Mormon Tabernacle Choir and sometimes EFY. He always tries to stay in a spiritual mood. I learned a lot from him! We had several awesome lessons with people and followed the spirit's direction. We met with some people that they hadn't been able to get in touch with for months. It was a great exchange. I was super tired by the end of the night though. That was all Saturday.

Sunday is church, studies, and calls. So we weren't able to be out contacting a lot. We gave a blessing to a recent convert and Juan came to church! He is set to get baptized the 28th of July.

Not much else went down!!

Love you

Elder Bushman