Week 32: Are we God's Golden Investigators?

Dear Family and Friends,

What a week! In some ways it was crazy fast and in other ways it was a little slow. There were soooo many meetings, so many crazy experiences, etc. Anyways, it was been a week to remember :) Thank you soooo much mom for sending those packages to me! AH, I feel so blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family and I am looking forward to talking at Christmas =)

Haha, first off, I'll start to talk about Elder Holland's visit to Santiago, Chile :) So last Tuesday, Elder Lee, Elder Cottrell, Elder Kern, and I all got up at 4:00 a.m...we took showers the previous night so all we had to do was get dressed, call the taxi, and leave... We got to the stake center at 4:45 a.m...the meeting started at 10:00 :D Haha, the sector in which is located the church is called La Reina and there are two sister missionaries who are in my district that work there and had keys, so they opened it up at 4:30 and so we got front row seats right by the door Elder Holland would enter in through. So we waited a whole long time but it was so worth it. About an hour before Elder Holland showed up they told us we had to evacuate our bench because it was "reserved"...I thought, you got to be kidding me. So, the sisters in our district let us squeeze in on their bench...which was on the first row too. Anyways, Elder Holland showed up and it was fantastic!!!! :) He came quick and left quick so we didn't get handshakes or photos or anything. But, we got his words and the spirit, so that was dope! Here are some of his thoughts:

He opened his talk saying, "Wow, I'm really pumped up right now! I'm, I'm ready to go, I'm like bouncing off the walls and flying through the roof right now!" Haha, he gave us some good laughs! Some other things he said were, "I'm really old. I helped Noah build the Ark, okay. I got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, so, I don't have much time left!" HAHAHAHA!!!! He was talking a bit about how we do not stop the mission when the mission stops, we keep going. He said that if any of us stopped, he said, "I'll hunt you down, I'll let the air out of your tires, I'll put pepper in your empanadas, alright! You won't like it, I promise." :) haha, there were many, many more funny things he said and it was fantastic. Now, a couple of spiritual thoughts and inspirations: 

He said that the power to translate the Book of Mormon was the first great gift Joseph Smith received and he wasn't able to receive any more tools or gifts until he learned to appreciate, use, and complete the task of the girft of translating he received. It is the same way for us as members of the church. Until we learn to appreciate, use, and fulfill the purpose of the Book of Mormon in our own lives, we will not receive any more tools or gifts. He also said that the church is at a vertical slope right now, it's progressing, it's getting better at a vertical slope!!! We as members and missionaries need to progress and get better at the same slope or we will be left behind in the dust and will forfeit the blessings that come. He made us a promise that if we forfeit these blessings, chances are the Lord will never give us a second opportunity to receive and enjoy them. He talked a little bit about why it is so hard in the work of salvation and missionary work. Why don't people flock to the font? Why doesn't everyone just run to the missionaries? Why isn't the only worry we have in the mission field that of getting pneumonia from being in the water all of the time? The answer is this: "Salvation is not a cheap experience." He said, "How can we expect it to be easy for us if it was never easy for Christ. All of us will have to pass through Gethsemane, even for a moment, and experience a little bit of what Christ did." Elder Holland said that that is a price that most people aren't willing to pay. Just as we get frustrated with investigators who don't progress, we are God's investigators and He gets frustrated when we don't progress. We must ask ourselves: "Are we God's golden investigators??" It was a fantastic meeting and I have had a lot to think about and improve! It was amazing :)

After Elder Holland's talk we ended and I got to talk with Elder Frost for a bit, Elder Hunt (awesome guy who used to be in my pension and was Elder McGary's trainer), all the guys from the MTC especially Elder Paxman! He is training along with Elder Rice and are just amazing guys! They are doing so well in their missions :) Haha, it makes me soooo happy! Anyways, I also got to talk with Elder Cruz from the MTC, Elder Pagalo, Elder Cuadros, etc. Anyways, it was really, really fun but we've been dead this whole week from getting up so early on Tuesday. The good thing is we wake up on time every day and today I took a little nap so I could catch up. Haha, anyways, AWESOME!

So, in our news, I got my FIRST KISS in the mission field!!! Now don't get alarmed, I will explain. We went to a future investigator family's house and as well yelled at the gate, it swung open and this random guy walked out with a huge smile on and his arms out wide! He walked quickly toward me saying, "HOLA! ¿CÓMO ESTAI MI ROSITO?" -- That pretty much means he was asking how his little cute boy or something was. Anyways, wierd right...not even. He then grabbed my face and planted a huge, wet, drunk kiss right on my cheek and walked away laughing. UGH! Gross...... Anyways, that was lame :S Hahaha!!! But, it makes for a pretty good story I suppose.

Everything is going well for our baptism coming up on the 24th of November with D. so we are really excited about that! We had a sweet lesson with O. where we invited her to be baptized. Again she said she wanted to but she wasn't sure on the date...it was a fantastic lesson and Elder Kern and I are both convinced that she will accept a date very soon! :) Anyways, there wasn't much other stuff that went on this week, a few things here and there but not a TON of stuff. 

Anyways, right now I'm studying the goodness of God,or La Bondad de Dios and how that applies to the Book of Mormon and why we need to read it... Look up these scriptures and see what I've been studying: 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 5:4, 1 Nephi 6:3-4, and Alma 26:3. :) Really cool stuff and it has been fun reading and studying and writing my thoughts in all Spanish and stuff!! :) Whohoo! 

Anyways, that's all for this week! Hope you all enjoy everything that's happened! Love you!

Elder Adam Bushman

PS - Wow...everyone is just getting so big and growing up! Haha, I'm excited to see everyone for our Skype call :). I got Susie's package! Haha, yup, it went through WW1, WW2, and WW3 on the way over...but I got it! The package was wrecked but the stuff inside was fine :)= WHOOHOO!!! Well, there are only one pair of pants that fit me really well...all the others are big on the waist. I feel like I've lost weight and muscle. I'm just a little shrimp out here, haha! :)

Elder Bushman and Elder Kern at 5:00 AM :D

The stake center with over 1,000 missionaries 

Four generations: Elder Kern, Bushman, Frost, and Cofré