Year 2, Week 41: Key Indicators for Conversion

Wow! The weeks keep on passing faster and faster! It's kinda crazy :)

We had a lesson again with I. and E. They kept their commitments and read from the Book of Mormon in the assigned chapters! They are really progressing. We taught them the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and focused on the principle of Baptism and their need for it. We didn't extend a baptismal date because we also want to get their daughter involved in the lessons so they can progress as a family! We are really excited to see them progress. They weren't able to come to church yesterday but we are working with them on it. Hopefully we can find out their concern and help them come next week.

We had interviews with President Mavromatis as well this week. He is such a great guy! He talked to me about making sure we set effective and efficient goals and focus on the key indicators for conversion.

We had a lesson with a lady named P! She was a lady who used to be taught in the past and we called and set up an appointment with her. Her husband wasn't home so we brought a member of the church with us. When we walked in, she looked at the member and said, "Hermano Paredes!" we were so confused at how she knew him. He had accompanied the sisters to lots of the lessons and so he knows a lot of people they used to teach. This lesson was probably the most interesting lesson I've ever had. They are both from Guatemala and so they talked about their country for about 25 minutes. Then she had to go pick up her kids from school but because she knew the member, she just left us in her house while she left. We finally got around to trying to share part of our message but Hermano Paredes and P. got back on random topics. Needless to say, it was an interesting lesson. Lol! 

We went to a members house for lunch but she didn't have a man in the house and it was short notice to ask someone to accompany us so we asked her if she could bring a male friend so we could go. She had a guy from across the hall who she has known for years come over and we started teaching him. His name is C. and is from Nicaragua but prefers speaking English. He is fluent in Spanish but likes to read in English more. We had a good lesson with him and then member was able to share lots of experiences and blessings she has received from the Gospel. 

The sisters were also teaching a woman named E.R. We were able to visit her this week and she said that she knows the church is true. The Book of Mormon is scripture and that she wants to be baptized. She said she wants to wait a little while for baptism and we didn't push to hard to know the real reason why. We are excited for her though!

That's the week however! It's been a good one! Love you :) 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 40: This One Will Make it Valid

Wow! This week has been a good one! Cambridge is such a cool place! I love it here!

When Elder Skordas and I arrived here, not much was happening. The past missionaries had been teaching a lot of guys from a barbershop who weren't progressing at all. When the sisters would call them, the guys would set up appointments but when we call, they weren't interested. So this week has been continually working through the people already there so that we can get a hold on all the people we are working with. 

Before last Sunday, we had set up a lot of appointments with people. We had about 13 teaching visits scheduled for this past week! 8 of them canceled but the ones that happened were super great! 

E. and his wife, I., are doing the best! We taught E. for the first time last Sunday night so about a week ago. We began teaching his wife on Tuesday night and also had an appointment on Saturday. In our appointment on Tuesday, he kept his commitment to read in the Book of Mormon and she had listened to the audio that we sent him. That was cool that she had already listened to the Book of Mormon before we came. We read from 3rd Nephi 18 and talked about the importance of coming to church. A couple days before this, I had a realization about something that we believe as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other churches attend their churches so that they can fellowship others. We talk with countless people every day who say, "I don't think you need a church to have a relationship with God. I know I should be going to church to fellowship others, but I'm just to busy but I have God with me. I don't need to go to church." I realized that they go for others! To talk with their friends, fellowship others, maybe serve some veggies at the luncheon afterwards, but as members of Christ's church, we attend for all those reasons plus for ourselves. We go to church for us. We go so we can become clean from our sins, repent of wrong doing, more fully take upon us the name of Christ, and always remember Him. So to get to the point of all this, we taught E. and I. about how church is for them. They can receive strength and a deeper desire for God. They can have blessings and happiness in this life. This clicked with them and they said they would be at church! Right at the end of this lesson they asked if we believe in Hell. We explained a little bit but said that our next message would be focused on the answer to that question! 

On Saturday, we taught about the Plan of Salvation with our branch mission leader there. They didn't read because they hadn't found time but were making time on Sunday so they could have it read before our next appointment on Tuesday. 

We talked about the premortal life and that made sense to them. We read 2 Nephi 2:22-25 and it clicked that the fall of Adam and Eve is God's plan, not their failings. This literally blew the mind of E. He sat on the couch just staring into space and saying, "wow.. I didn't know this. I always thought they were just bad." haha! It was funny how much we shocked him! 

We talked a lot about how THEY can progress in this life to prepare to meet God. They said they want to go to Church but can't this Sunday but will be there for the next week. E. walks dogs for work and all his clients dogs are at his house. He said he can't come to church because he can't leave the dogs at home. We talked about baptism and E. said that he would get baptized but I. didn't really answer. Haha E. couldn't really understand why he needed to be baptized again and then his wife said, "E., you didn't take your other baptism seriously and so that one was a joke. This one will make it valid." That totally helped him out and he understood! Lol! These 2 lessons were really good and the Spirit was strong! 

We didn't have any other appointments this week with nonmembers but we visited members and they shared everyone they could remember who had been at church. We now have a list of names from the past of friends who came to church. 

Sunday, after church, President and Sister Mavromatis came over for lunch. We talked about our area, the vision for people, what he can do to help us, etc. Etc. It was super cool! He was here fore about an hour and a half. 

Well! That's the week! Elder Skordas and I are going to go into the city and find something cool to do! It's been a great week! 

Elder Bushman 

 

 

Year 2, Week 39: The City of Cambridge

Well! This letter is gonna be short and sweet! Because we just got transferred here nothing much has happened. We got here on Wednesday and went out into the city of Cambridge. There isn't a lot of Hispanic areas within walking distance and so we talked to many English Speakers. It was cool to be out in the city though! 

 

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were calling everyone in our Area Book. The sisters before us never stopped teaching people with interest even if they showed no interest. So our area book said it had about 350 people who were interested. That was definitely not the case! We were able to set up a lot of appointments and clean out that a lot. We know have a bigger handle on who is actually interested in our message! 

 

We did have a good lesson on Sunday night with a guy named E. He was in the area book and we called and set up an appointment. He has some religious background but doesn't know what churches believe. He only has heard Bible stories. As we were teaching the Restoration, we asked him what he wants most in this life. He said he wants to stay on God's path and he wants to be happy with his family. 2 things the Gospel will bring us! We testified of how the messages we share can and will bring these desires to him if he acts. It was really good! We have another appointment with him this week! 

 

Sunday was also cool because we were able to meet a lot of the members of our Branch. The sisters said there was about 30 people active and our branch leader said 40ish but at church there was about 72! It was really awesome. We don't know who has come to church in the past because a lot of things got messed up for our area with the missionaries moving areas and such.

Sorry for the short email! Not a lot of time and not a lot of events that happened! 

 

Love you! 

Elder Bushman 

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