Year 2, Week 38: There Were 80 People There

Wow! This week has been really good! I've highly enjoyed it! Lots of things happened that were pretty awesome!

So we had a lesson with D, M and J. this week. When we first walked in they were asking us that after they are baptized if D. will be able to go on a mission! We said yes and told them that he can go and serve in Puerto Rico, Honduras, Brazil or anywhere in the world! During that moment, I honestly realized why the mission is all worth it. Two years of serving is completely worth a lesson like that! We talked about Easter and the need for Jesus Christ. I'm sad that I'm going to be done teaching them. Tonight will be our last lesson before I move on to Cambridge, MA. We are bringing a member who will be able to give some solid support with their divorce! So I'm hoping that they will be ready for baptism before I leave the mission field! Elder Shkapich will continue working with them. They also came to church this week!

We also had Zone Conference this week! President talked a lot about the last week of the life of Jesus Christ and all the events that occurred. He discussed a lot about what miracles happened and the reason why things happened! It was very cool! Then the assistants talked about raising our faith in Christ and memorize the Living Christ! So I started on that. A lot of it I remember from when I memorized it in 6th grade so it hasn't been too hard! It's a really cool testimony that is given from the Prophets! The Zone Leaders talked a lot about how we need to implement the Doctrine of Christ more fully into our teaching. Elder Shkapich and I were asked to do a demonstration of teaching the doctrine of Baptism. Why we are baptized, the Covenants we make, etc.

We also had a lesson with T. this week. Her court date got changed so we are hoping that she can get baptized and get the gift of the holy ghost, go to the temple to do baptisms, and if she gets sent back then to contact the missionaries and ward when she goes. So we are going to be praying for them a lot and having some major faith!

Some other cool experiences included receiving our transfer texts telling me that I'm going to Cambridge, Easter, church! There were 80 people there! It was so amazing for a branch that had just been created a little while ago!

Anyway! I love you!

Elder Bushman

 

 

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 24: He Got Baptized!

Hello Family! 

This week has been fabulous! 

To start off with the best news, S got baptized! It was a wonderful experience! Everything went super well and according to plan. Hermano Jimenez, the member who accompanied us to all his lessons, baptized him into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! S. was super happy and it was amazing to see the light he has! The members were very welcoming to him. After his baptism, he asked Elder Fragoso and I where he could get one of the Elder plaques. We explained that he couldn't until he goes on a mission with his wife if he wants to. We mentioned how he could go out with the Missionaries in the Dominican Republic just like Hermano Jimenez did and he got super excited! He was given the Holy Ghost by our Branch Mission Leader the following Sunday and was interviewed for the Aaronic Priesthood after. He will be receiving the Priesthood next Sunday so he can go to the temple and bless the Sacrament before he goes back to the DR. I will miss him when he leaves but it's all good! We have Facebook! Several of the members got his number so they can call him when they go back to visit the Dominican Republic. It was awesome!! Fabulous experience! 

The English Elders in Worcester cover 2 wards and also had a baptism in each ward on Saturday. Elder Fragoso and I were able to do the Baptismal interviews because Elder Aure is the District Leader. Those were fun! They are both 9 year old boys who know so much about the church! It was awesome. 

I don't know if you remember J. from way back in September. We stopped by her house this week and followed up with her to see if she would be interested in learning again and coming to church. We came back the next day and had a lesson with them. It went well! We talked a lot about the blessings she saw in her life when she was coming to church and how she feels now. She said that she saw a lot of blessings and those blessing aren't there anymore. She didn't come to church this week so we will see where that ends up going. 

That's pretty much it that happened this week. Some other lessons with people but nothing too out of the ordinary. 

We have some awesome things coming up! Exchanges with the English Elders, exchanges with the Assistants, Zone Conference next week, and then transfer texts next week too. There is only 2 more weeks in the transfer! That's crazy haha! Time is going by quicker and quicker. 

I love you! 

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 22: He Forgot About Me

Hello Family! This week has been a roller coaster of things! From spiritual experiences and enlightening meetings to disappointment and frustration! Haha! It was a good week!

First, Christmas! Highlight was being able to talk with the Fam and enjoy their love and laughter! I miss you all dearly and love you:) other than that, we did nothing special! haha! We talked with people, tried to set up appointments, call people, contact, etc. Not too many people were interested in us talking with them so not a whole lot to tell!

We were able to hold a District Leadership Council and discuss the needs of our Zone as a whole and what the struggles are. After counseling for a while, the District Leaders settled upon the fact that 2 things needed to he improved: Member missionary work and better teaching skills. Lots of study will be spent in Preach My Gospel and doing role-plays to improve this aspect of our missionary work! 

Right after that, we were able to go on exchanges with Elder Hughes and Elder Chidester in the area of Framingham. We talked with tons of people and set things up in the week! I had fun talking to some people in Portuguese and Spanish :) we were able to get some productive stop bys and calls done and set some things up with the people they are teaching! It was a good day.

The next day, we woke up at 5 in the morning so we could get ready for our Mission Leadership Council in Bloomfield, CT. About a 1 1/2 hour drive. We were able to get a ride from President Mavromatis and Sister Mavromatis so we spent the car ride talking a ton about Brazil and what it's like. On the way home, I had a conversation with President that went something like this :) haha! 

PM - "Elder Bushman, how long have you been in Worcester?" 

EB - "this is my 5th transfer President. Coming up on 7 months." 

PM - "oh wow... You are like that kid from that one movie.. What's it called? He gets left at home?" 

EF - "Home Alone?" 

PM - "YES! You were forgotten Elder Bushman!" 

Haha! President said I stayed in Worcester because he forgot about me! Haha :) it made me laugh a lot. He then said he was only going to keep missionaries together for 2-3 transfers and than said, "oh... Well I guess you are the exception." I love President Mavromatis and sustain him as my leader! So funny! 

S. was going to be baptized on Saturday but than was too busy to be interviewed. We were planning for this next week but missed church for an unknown reason. It's now getting close to him returning to the DR that we think it will be better if he just waits for that. O. still can't come to church and R. can't get there by himself. We aren't sure what we are going to do. S. won't be baptized here though. 

S. said she was going to be bringing her kids to church. We called that morning but she didn't answer. We went to her house and knocked on the door but she didn't answer. We called and knocked and through the door she yells, "who is it?" we reply its us and she tells us back that she isn't going. We don't know why but she keeps flaking out. It's a little sad... But we will keep helping. 

This is the season for New years Resolutions! Elder Fragoso and I have been talking about what ours could be and we have created a list! 

1. Get married

2. Buy a house

3. Master a wheelie on a Bullet Bike

Now my goals for the mission! 

1. Deepen conversion through more consistent and intent study

2. Strive to live a more consecrated life through more focus on the people we are teaching!

President Mavromatis told us that we should NOT study Come Follow Me. As a missionary, we need to study the Book of Mormon, PMG, and other texts so adding Come Follow Me takes too much time. 

The weather here in Worcester has been a little cold but not bad at all. No snow!! 

That's about it for the week! We are working hard and planning on helping more people come to church! That's the goal! 

Love you all! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, December 25, 2018: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Elder Bushman and Elder Fragoso

 

Year 2, Week 21: Baptism is on for This Weekend

Wow! This week has been a little crazy! First, I'll give you an update on our people!

S, R & O! We had a lesson with them on Tuesday. We told them that they would be able to be baptized on December 29th if they were able to go to church and continue going after! O still is working, but S said that he would be able to come. We set the date for the 29th! 

Saturday night rolled around and S confirmed he would be at church. Sunday morning comes and we get a heart breaking text message. 

S - "I have a commitment with my Sister that I forgot about and will not be able to come to church." 

We reply by saying, "we know that sometimes in life, there are things that get in the way of God. We promise that if you put God first and come to church, you will be blessed in all aspects of life!"

S - "I will be there. What's the address again?" 

We were on top of the world. While waiting at church, he texted us and said he still needed to help his Sister and take his brother to work in another city. He asked for the directions to another Spanish group and went to a different branch closer to work! He wasn't here in Worcester but still went! His baptism is on for this weekend!!! R & O will be getting baptized later, sometime in January! 

I haven't mentioned this family yet but I will tell you now! :) I&M! They are kids of a member named S. We have been meeting with them lately and are trying to help I, 11, get baptized. M, 8, will be baptized at the same time, but as a member baptism, not a convert baptism.

They are slow to understand things so we repeat a lot. We made flash cards with them so they can remember their vocabulary words! We had them draw pictures for words such as: commandments, prophet, Joseph Smith, Sacrament, Baptism, etc. With that, they are retaining more information and learning quicker! Haha! They are adorable. 

Well they committed to coming to church, but their mom didn't answer Sunday morning. We went by to visit them and the door to their apartment complex was locked. We had no way to contact them. So they didn't go to church... But there is always next week. 

R&A still are with their dad on Sundays. Their mother texted us and told us that they are planning on holding off on church for a while. We aren't sure what that means exactly but... 

Because it was Christmas, several members brought some family who aren't members! So we had some other people at church. It was great! Lots more success this week then past weeks. Christmas time is always the best as a missionary! 

We had a bunch of appointments on Friday, so we decided to celebrate on Wednesday! We went to a Brazilian Buffet restaurant. I wanted to stick to my diet better so we went to get meat and veggies! Let me tell ya! Sooo good! :) I decided to cheat a little and eat some pineapple! We will definitely be going back there again. 

This week was wonderful! Great times! Thank you all for the birthday gifts and cards. They mean a lot to me! I love you all very much! 

Elder Bushman