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 7: Pray They Will Know the Church is True

Dear Family,

This week has been good but super busy. We had Zone Conference, Interviews, 2 exchanges, and then trying to work on top of that. 

Starting with Zone conference we talked a lot about following the Spirit and relying on the Spirit. The Sister Training Leaders and us gave a training on when we say "I don't know" to pray for direction instead of trying to think of something to do. It was great. Everything we are trying to implement into our Zone was discussed at Zone Conference. It was pretty sweet! President Mavromatis got up to speak and said, "If you all stay awake during my talk, I will give you an extra PDAY and 200 miles! Will you all stay awake??" When we all said yes he said, "Sorry Elder and Sisters... Im joking!" It was super funny! He is a great guy. I will work on getting a photo of us.

Interviews were nuts. We were told to be there by 2 so we arrived at 1:30 to set up a room and gets chairs etc. Well, President was running late by 2 hours and didn't get there until 4:30.. So we were there until about 9:45. We started exchanges that night and didn't get back for a while! We were on exchanges from Wednesday night to Friday morning and then switched Friday morning and went until Saturday morning! It was pretty crazy! 

J&D didn't come to church. They didn't feel well so they didn't come. We learned of some other problems so we will be working with them more but want to really help them.

M&G didn't come either because of sickness. On exchanges Elder Fragoso taught them about being baptized and they expressed concern that they think all churches have God and that not just one church is true. We invited them to pray and they are doing that. We are teaching them tonight to follow up. Pray they will know the church is true.

We have been working with several part members. We have taught the but so far, nobody has come to church which is a problem. We are still working with them and should get more of them to church this week.

The coolest story this week was about a woman named C. She was an old media referral who wanted a Book of Mormon but nobody every updated it. So we got a random notification and set up a time to go by. Her brother O. was there but C. wasn't. We taught O. the Restoration and invited him to read, pray, attend church, and be baptized. He accepted all of them. Then, the next day, he came to church! It was awesome!! He is a super super awesome guy! We are meeting with him again on Wednesday and are going to try to set a baptismal date. 

Other than that... Not much going on! Life is good! I'm loving the mission! Everything is great!!

Love you all! I forgot to bring my recorder so I will try to come back to get that sent!!

Elder Bushman

 

 

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 5: Coolest Guy Ever

Hello Family,

This week has been pretty good. Again, nothing spectacular happened. We were able to go to the Temple today which was super cool. A member named Hermano De Aza from the DR took us. He is literally the coolest guy ever. We had a lesson with a man named D. who is the father of a Recent Convert. We were teaching the Restoration and he said that he is a Catholic. He declined the invitation to read the Book of Mormon because his parents are catholic, his cousins are catholic. It's tradition to be Catholic and he wasn't going to change. Hermano De Aza told him that Saul, in the Bible, thought that everything he was doing was right and just. Jesus Christ visited him and told him that what he was doing was wrong and he needed to change. We then re invited him to come to church and read the Book of Mormon and he agreed. It was awesome! Hermano De Aza comes to lessons, gives rides to church, and drove us to the temple and did an Endowment Session with us. 

On Saturday we had confirmed for 6 people to come to church. When church came, not one person showed up at church. It was labor day weekend and church did get rescheduled to 9 am because half of our branch was going to some camp and needed to combine with the English ward. We woke up at 5 in the morning and got ready so we could get to the church by 8 to have all the translation equipment set up. Not even members of our branch who weren't going to the camp came. Anyway... its all good. Trying again for next week.

We had to drop J&E. They haven't answered our phone calls and when we've stopped by they told us that they were busy at the moment and didn't know when we could return. So we dropped them and will try in the next couple of months. Maybe when he gets closer to getting off parol. 

J&D are still doing well. They didn't come to church but we have a lesson with them tonight that will hopefully be good. I'll let you know the status on them next week.

We went on exchanges with the Assistants but half of the day we just sat around because they had to figure out an emergency transfer. Anyway. Not much else happened!

Love you all!

Elder Bushman

 

 

Year 2, Week 4: Every Single One Fell Through

Hello Family!

This week has been great! Not as much success and awesome stories as last week but still good things going on! Lets report on the people we have taught.

J&D. J got sick and went to the Hospital on Saturday night. We called her to confirm that she was going to be going to church and she let us know. She said that she still wanted too and that she would tell us in the morning. When we called her she let us know that she was still feeling sick and couldn't make it. She said she was uncomfortable to just send her kids so they all missed church. We have an appointment with them on Wednesday and we are planning on teaching the Plan of Salvation.

J&E. Wow... So they are still super awesome but we haven't been able to get in touch with them. We might be dropping them because they didn't come to church either Sundays and haven't answered our calls. We really want to know whats been going on with them and if there is something we can help them with before we move on so... I will keep you posted.

H. We were supposed to be meeting with him this week but he missed his appointment and isn't answering his phone. He missed church as well for unknown reasons. He has 3 daughters who are all baptism age and we are really hoping that we can teach all of them. Again, I will keep you all posted on progress.

We were cleaning up our area book and calling people. We called a girl named M and she answered and asked us to come over. We had a super good appointment with her and invited her to be baptized on the 22nd of September. She accepted and said she would be coming to church. When we tried to call her to follow up, we found out that the phone number we had is her Grandmas and the address we have is also her grandmas. Basically, when we called and went over, it was a super lucky time to catch her and so we didn't know that her information was wrong. She said that she had met people in all Black and gave them her information and they never called her, so when we did, she thought it was them. Anyway, she didn't come to church so we don't know what is happening with her.

We had meetings and other things going on, lots of time was spent trying to have appointments work out to no avail. 

On Saturday, we had 10 teaching appointments! Starting at 9 in the morning and finishing 9:30 at night! It could have been the best day ever but not ONE appointment happened. EVERY SINGLE ONE fell through. It was a pretty rough day. Anyway! I'm doing great!

Love you all! 

Elder Bushman

 

 

Year 2, Week 3: Excited for More!

Hello Fam,

Wow... what a week. In some ways, it feels super super long, and in other ways, it feels very very short! Monday and Tuesday were last minute visits and Wednesday, Elder Warner left to go to Weston. It was a bummer. Elder Neeley, Elder Curzon, and Elder Warner are going to be life long friends and I was a little bummed we were only together for 1 transfer. Elder Fragoso came here and we quickly started working. We started trying to contact part member families. We stopped by one of our members to talk about why his kids weren't baptized but he wasn't home. We went up to the top floor to just knockin his house and we met a guy who let us in. We taught the Restoration and during it, the guy, J, told us he had done some crazy things. He has been in prison for 14 years. He now, has been on Probation for the last 17 years and he gets off of probation December 12th. For people to get baptized, they cannot be on probation. We extended a baptismal date for the 15th of December. The Saturday after the 12th and he said, "wow. That's my birthday. Yes. I will be baptized then." It was a great lesson. We went back the following day and talked with him and his wife and the member who lived on the first floor. We extended the same date to her and she accepted as well. It was super cool how we met them right when his probation is going to end. They didn't make it to church like they said but we will keep trying with them.

Friday, we were making more visits and decided to call J. We set up a time for later that night and asked Hermano De Aza to come with us. We taught them the Restoration again with her daughter D. It was a great lesson and she said she would pay a taxi to bring her to church. Hermano de Aza said that he would be able to pick them up and bring them. We extended a baptismal date for September 15th and they accepted it. They said, "wow. September 15th is J's (the 6 year old son) birthday." They came to church and loved it. D is 11 and she went to Young Womens and J. went to Primary. J came with us to Gospel Principles and enjoyed it. We will meet with them tomorrow and they will be coming to church next Sunday.

Saturday night, we were meeting with a member family to ask if they would help us get in touch with their Sister in law. We want to start teaching her and they said they would help us. After leaving there house, we talked with a guy from Ecuador. His name is H. and he was a little drunk so we just got his info, gave him ours, invited him to church, and left. We called him Sunday morning and he said he was going to come. Well Henry did show up. He came and sat with us during Sacrament. We haven't even had a lesson with him. We will be teaching him this week and extending a baptismal date. I've never had a random person on the street come to church without tons of fallow up calls and arrangements of rides etc. So we have had a lot of success.

The week has been good! I'm doing well! Excited for more to follow!

Love ya

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