Week 36: When you are Sharing the Gospel, ASK QUESTIONS!

Dear Family and Friends,

So just this last weekend was changes and the verdict is...I'm staying again, and so is Elder Kern, and so is Elder Lee, and so is Elder Cottrell :) YEAH!!!! WHITE TRASH PARTY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! Haha, just a joke we use to describe our pension of 4 gringos! :D Congrats to my trainer, Elder Frost, who is going to be a ZONE LEADER IN LAS CONDES!!!! YEAHHH!!!!! :D 

So I am so glad everybody is well and that everybody is having the time of their lives and that everything is great. Lots of stuff happened this week so I'm just going to dive right in.

So today I made the sweetest lunch. I made spaghetti noodles, put two fried eggs on top, a hamburger patty, squirted cream cheese on top, poured spaghetti sauce with hot sauce mixed in over it, and put a huge dolop of mayo on top.!!!!! OH, it was fantastic, and to top it off with a big ol pitcher of Huesillo juice! :) I was in heaven. Pictures are coming shortly!

So one of our good lessons today was with O. We had planned to go in and teach the last part of the plan of salvation but when we got in there it didn't feel right and so we asked her questions and she opened up to us about some problems that she is having with here aunt that she lives with. We compared her burdens and trials to those of Alma and his people in Mosiah 22 when they are in bondage to the Lamanites under Amulon. Anyways, it was a really spiritual lesson because we applied it to her life. She is still a little wary about baptism but we found out that if she knew that the BofM was true, she said she would get baptized right away! :) So now we are working on that! We never would have known that if we didn't ask her questions. So when you are sharing the gospel, ASK QUESTIONS! :D

So on Sunday we did a zone Christmas choir. We all got together as a zone and practiced about 6 songs to sing and then we all went over to the nearby metro station and performed. Some of the choir members passed out cards and talked to people so it was really, really fun! Me, another elder, and two sister missionaries did a quartet to the song "Away in a Manger" (sent you guys the recording). The choir was really awesome and we all had fun and felt the spirit SOOOO much. It was so worth it and I am so glad we decided to do it. 

So some answers to questions:

My most spiritual lesson was probably last night when we visited a less active lady named N. She has been inactive for probably more than 20 years I would say and hasn't been inside the church in a very long time. She's pretty much forgotten everything. We talked to her last night about the Plan of Salvation, what will happen after death, and the love of God. We invited her to read a passage in the Book of Mormon and she said she would. Next lesson we are bringing her best friend, who is a member, to come help us out :) I'm super stoked!!!

A miracle that I saw this week was probably when we sang. There were a lot of people who stopped to listen and accepted cards but also a lot of people who straight up refused cards and walked right past. The people here in Santiago are tough and hard people but it was a miracle that lots of people were open and were soft and were Christ centered enough to take a few moments and be filled with the spirit :)

I have started the 12 ways and I LOVE IT! :) I'm implementing the things as much as I can! :) Thanks so much!!!

You want a recording in Spanish? Ugh, that is so embarrassing... Maybe next week...

My testimony was strengthened this week by studying the scriptures. I've really been dedicated to writing quotes and thoughts in my scriptures, really studying them :) I love it and I know they are powerful and change lives :) I could study for hours and today I was studying for about 2 hours!!! My favorite thing is talking with the elders in my pension right before going to bed about doctrine, scriptures, and experiences :) 

I saw God's hand when we left our pension and our appointments started to fall through but God put other people in our path so that we could meet our goals and have some really meaningful lessons :)

Elder Kern and I joke around and talk about things! I think that is probably our biggest strength, that we are good friends and we talk about things that bug us so we always have the spirit :D

That's all for this week!

Love,

Elder Adam Bushman

"The spirit of Christmas is indeed the Christ spirit."
. . . . . . . . ~ Thomas S. Monson