Week 25: All I Could Have Asked For

Dear Family and Friends,

WOW, what a week. Seriously, it's been nuts but a very good week all things considered. First off, I'm going to talk about my kid and my experience getting him:

So Tuesday morning, I and Elder Pineda (an Elder that I was doing splits with) headed for the mission office to go pick up our kids. We were pretty silent on the way over...we were both pretty thoughtful as to whom we would be training. Anyways, we were the first missionaries there so we waited for the rest of the trainers to come until finally the mission president told us all the trainees had arrived and we were needed to help take all the bags into the church. As we did, I was looking at all the faces trying to determine who would be my kid...didn't work, ha! Fortunately, President Wright assigned us our companions right away so we weren't waiting in anticipation too much. My companion is a gringo named Elder Kern. He is from Provo, Utah, is 18 years old and reminds me a bit of myself when I came into the mission field (I'll explain why a little later). I felt an instant love and connection to him right after our names were read and I am so excited to be able to teach him how to be a missionary, teach him Spanish, and have some success. Anyways, we were trained on a lot of good things and it was neat to see the things that my old companion and I didn't do as well last change that we are going to be better about now. Anyways, we started out for our sector and I noticed some things that reminded me of myself: Elder Kern wants to be very obedient and has been hoping and praying for an obedient companion. As we were riding the bus to the metro, he was flying all over the place with his suitcases! We dropped off his suitcases at home which we left to be unpacked later that day. We went to lunch at the Quezada family's house. E' Frost and I ate there on my first day too and just like me, Elder Kern didn't understand anything that Hermano or Hermana Quezada were saying! It was a little comical because I remember being there 4 months ago and as he told me his struggles and his despairing belief that he would never learn Spanish, I was reminded of myself and how I thought the exact same things!!! :) Haha, his legs hurt from walking all day and he was dead from the whole day's work. Anyways, I love Elder Kern, he's a good missionary, he's working hard, and we're being obedient which is all I could have asked for :)

We're working really hard with an investigator named F. We've taught him the first three lessons and he has agreed to be baptized if God helps him quit smoking. Anyways, we started focusing on that! :) He has a big smoking problem...like a BIG smoking problem! He usually smokes about 30-40 cigarettes a day and he says he can remember smoking like 60 cigarettes in a day before... It is NUTS! So, we created a plan for him to drop cigarettes each day! He agreed to the plan and we told him that the only way he can drop the habit is by reading the BofM each day, praying each day, and going to church every week. We're also calling him every day at 1:00 p.m. to check up on him. So far, Friday he smoked 6 cigarettes, Saturday he smoked 5, and we're still waiting to find out about yesterday. So far he is doing pretty good :) Haha, we're going to ask him about his wife and son and about teaching them. I was a bit nervous about it at the start but then it donned on me that this is the BEST way! Hope it goes well :D

Yesterday for Sunday School, the missionaries and the ward mission leader out here taught the ward about how to share the gospel. We taught using the talk: http://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/02/seven-lessons-on-sharing-the-gospel?lang=eng I taught the part about service. Conversion is all about feeling the spirit and recognizing it. Non-members usually don't feel the influence of the spirit because they are around a lot of non-members generally. Service is a way to bring the spirit and when there are a lot of people with the Gift of the Holy Ghost around non-members in an environment that brings the spirit, they're going to feel different...they are going to feel something good, something they want to feel again and they are going to ask members about it and right there is how we can start sharing the gospel. I would encourage you all to take the talk and read it in your families and start planning activities with your non-member friends and begin to share the gospel with them. Then call up the missionaries with a referral and help the missionaries get to know the people and help them through the process. 

Anyways, that's the basic run-down for the week! My companion and I are going to try and rock it like crazy this week! Hope it all goes well! :)

Love you all!

Elder Adam Bushman

Zone Conference: I Spy Elder Bushman....4th row (2nd from the Right)

"The missionary work of the Latter-day Saints is the greatest of all the great works in all the world."
 - Heber J. Grant