Week 46: I Felt Quite Close to my Dad

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so ready for WINTER!!!! :D Haha, fortunately we are only one week away from the school year and for everybody to be home again!! This summer has been really hard in terms of teaching people, finding new investigators, and having people go to church...oh, and baptisms! :S But it's all good! We are almost at the school year!

So a quick update on our investigators. We had a really great lesson with our investigator V. (baptismal date for March 9th) on Saturday. She has been reading and praying but she still has some issues to resolve. She committed to going to church yesterday but didn't go. We were really sad. Her parents said she had to stay and help take care of her grandson because her daughter left. We are a little worried that if she isn't going to church and if she doesn't take care of some things, all the plans we have made are going to go down the tubes. The other lady with a baptismal date got back from Peru last week and we found out yesterday so we are going to go by tonight. As for the A. family, they didn't go to church and they canceled the lesson for last night so we are a little worried about them too...:S

So I had an amazing experience this week. The sister missionaries in my district had a baptism last Sunday so I went over to do the interview on Friday. My companion and I got there and I asked the sisters if there was anything I should know about J. (the investigator) before the interview. They said there was only one thing...he was blind. When I heard that I felt a strange connection to him even though I hadn't even met him yet. We went inside and got to know him and everything. Throughout the whole experience I was reminded of my dad and it brought a strange feeling of home...that may sound strange but I felt quite close to my dad. Anyways when starting the interview he said the opening prayer and immediately I felt a very strong spirit in the room. It filled my whole body and carried out through the whole interview. He is a truly amazing man who was born partially blind and it has decreased ever since. He talked to me about how he wants to participate in church more, read scriptures when he is called upon, go on visits, etc. He feels a little bit behind everybody (as he is 70 years old and everything). I told him that he can play a huge role in the church and that he is needed. We closed the interview and before we left we got a photo together!! :) It was a really special experience.

I had a really cool experience with an investigator and the Book of Mormon. We asked T. if she could explain what is the Book of Mormon to someone who had never even seen it. She couldn't explain it, she was talking about how it was unique but similar to the bible but she couldn't explain what it was. We showed her a drawing that I made that explained the Book of Mormon and answered some of her questions. Afterwards, we asked her the same question that we asked at the start. She explained what the Book of Mormon was PERFECTLY. We then read the promise and talked about the Holy Ghost. We asked her if she had felt any of the fruits of the spirit that it talks about in Galatians. She said she had and that she believes the Book of Mormon to be true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet! :D At the end of the lesson we asked her if she would come to church and she said, "I've always wanted to go!!!" :) She and her mom are going to come with us next Sunday :D

Another sweet experience was when we were teaching a less active about doing hard things! We used 1 Nephi 3-4 and Nephi's example. Halfway during the lesson he said that I was really animated, like an actor or something, that I made the story really entertaining and interesting to follow! :) He meant it as a big compliment and I really felt good knowing that in that lesson in some way I helped the scriptures "come to life" :)

We have been teaching two inactives for about 6 weeks now inviting them to the chapel and teaching and helping. It's been a really awesome experience but we have been really sad because they have slept in or had some tough things happen on Saturday, etc. Finally they came to church!!! We were SOOOOO happy to see them and it made them laugh and smile! It's J. and C.! We took a photo! :D

Anyways, that's all for today! Love you all, talk next week!

Love,

Elder Bushman

"My Lunch on P-days"

"The investigator I interviewed"

"Found a dead cat...but it is okay - the plan of salvation!" (Mom cropped out the cat guts)

"Me and Elder Kern with some members"

"If you’re not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart—painted, as Paul said, “not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” - Elder Neil L. Andersen