Yr. 2, Week 25: It Looks like a Legit Miracle

Dear Family and Friends,

Man this was a crazy week, a very good one though! All of the converts are doing very well. I. and M. have been talking about the church to lots of people. M. even defended herself and the church from one of her cousins over Facebook who was dissing on her decision to be baptized. Haha, I. showed us the messages...SO FUNNY :) Haha, we got them a really good start to their family history! I. already has found a few names and she'll be going to the Registro Civil this week to find even more! She'll be way prepared to go to the temple here in a week or so to do baptisms and confirmations. They went to the Chilean Independence Day celebration in the stake and had lots of fun! They were confirmed members of the church on Sunday and brought a few non-member friends and family. :)

C. and J. are also doing well! We had a good FHE with them this last week. On Monday we went and showed them the video...Moutain of the Lord...in order to prepare them for family history work and doing ordinances in the temple. They really, really liked it and it made me want to go to the temple SOOO bad! :) haha, I think Elder Thomas and I are going to go after this week ends. Anyways, they also participated in the celebration. C. won the sack hopping contest, so that was pretty sweet! :D They were also confirmed members of the church on Sunday and the elder's quorum president and the high priest assigned to the ward are helping J. start to prepare to receive the Melchezideck priesthood in a few months (both he and C. were ordained to the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday as well)!!! :) Anyways, things are looking great with them, so that's way happy!

Another cool experience from this last week had to do with an investigator that we had dropped a little over a month ago... J.A. For a long time we have been trying to get back in contact with him but nothing happened. Finally we set an appointment with him for yesterday but when we went by his daughter said he wasn`t home... Later that night at 9:00 we had NOTHING TO DO and it was raining and hardly anyone was in the street. I thought, let's try going by J.A. one more time so we did...and he was there. We went inside and he explained how much work he has been having and everything and the big changes in his life. He also shared with us that he wants to be baptized still, he wants to keep going to church, and dedicating more time to the Lord. Anyways, we gave him some assignments and we felt as though we should set another date, so we invited him for the 5 of October and he accepted. He went to church yesteday and in elders quorum he said that he hopes to one day receive the priesthood (because he had seen J. and C.'s ordinations :) Anyways, it looks like a legit miracle :) 

Well, not much happened this week. We are trying to find new investigators, Elder Thomas is on his last 3 weeks of the mission, I just got the paper asking me to confirm the information for my plane ride home (in 6 months...:S), not much to tell! :) Haha!

I love you all, take care!

Elder Bushman

 

Photos from the Stake's Independence Day Celebration:

 

 Anticucho barbeque

 Mote con Huesillo

 M and me (he's I's son, the one who baptized her and M)

 The Celebration:

P-Day Photos - National Park (Quebrada de Macul):

 Scenery from the Quebrada de Macul:

Our Hike:

 Chilean Sunset:

Our group at the Quebrada de Macul (today's pday)

Yr. 2 - Week 11: It Rained like a Mother Load

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, this week was wet and very cold. BUT IT WAS GOOD WEEK :) I was really strengthened this week through prayer and study and things are going well as a whole. FIRST, the rain...

This week it rained like a mother load. We had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday full of rain and Tuesday was also rainy. There were many days when we got back soaking, despite the umbrellas we had. When we got soaked, we put our things out to dry but the pension is so cold at night it wasn't even close to dry by the time we woke up!...ugh, it was tough! Haha! It has also been a bit tough this week to contact seeing as there wasn't a whole lot of people in the street and all but we are working hard and that is the most important thing!

L. and C. got confirmed yesterday... J. wanted my companion and I to confirm the kids so that was a really neat experience. We both felt impressed to bless them to be good examples and leaders in the church :) It was super cool! They are doing really well!!! :)

So today we went to a place called Cajón de Maipo! It's up in the mountains over Santiago, in the Andes :) We went as a group with a member in our ward, Hermano L.! We had such a good time, there was so much snow, we ran up the big snow slope to look out over the view. We got up there and some guy told us we couldn't make it up without chains...and he wanted us to rent chains for 30 bucks... Hermano L. was like, NOPE! He went up in his little Suzuki and got all the way to the top with no chains. We even passed jeeps that got stuck with chains :D We were rooting him on the whole way. We ate lunch up there and really just had a blast! Right now I'm quite tired but it was worth it, definitely worth it!!! I sent you guys almost all of the photos I took up there!!! :) It's really beautiful, it reminded me a whole lot of the ROCKY MOUNTAINS!!!

Love you all,

Elder Bushman

"The course of our lives is not determined by great, awesome decisions. Our direction is set by little day-to-day choices which chart the track on which we run."
. . . . . . . . ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Week 34: A Great Spirit of Missionary Work

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, this week was one of the fastest weeks I have ever had in my mission I think. Everything went by in a blur. It seemed like just yesterday we left this little internet place yet here we are, 7 days later, emailing again :) I love emailing!!! 

So, first off, to recognize a few mission calls. I wanted to give a little shout out to my buddy Birk Gundersen who will be heading to the MTC in about a week! :) I'm so very grateful for his example and for what a great kid he is!!! I'm going to miss him a lot but he is an amazing guy! :) Also, another friend of mine, Kennedy Blyle is heading to Texas. I am so surprised but so thrilled for her! Whayta go KEN!! :D Also, I'm getting really excited to hear about Grayson Ercanbrack's call! I'm feeling like Costa Rica or something; he is totally the type :D 

So I got all three packages and the people in my zone went NUTS, nuts I tell ya. Seriously, they were all saying, "Well looks like Elder Bushman's family loves him...Gosh, wish my family loved me...Why does Elder Bushman get so much stuff every week..." Haha, they were half joking half serious I imagine. I am very grateful for the blessings I've received and for all my family has done for me; now I just gotta wait 'til December 25th. BUT, I did already open the presents I had for the 1st of December. Thanks so much for all of the stories we got. Elder Lee is so excited for a Christmas story every night :) Thanks also to my lovely Grandma Bushman for the yummy treats! :D 

So here are some of the answers to your questions: 

     So with our mission money, I normally spend the majority of it on food, hygiene items, and public transportation. Every once in a while we go out to eat and that gobbles up some money. With the rest I usually use it for the gifts/souvenirs that I am bringing home. I've been slowing collecting several items over these 8 months so that I'm not scrambling right at the end. I've gotten lots of good things for siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, friends, etc. I'm not done, but I'm being wise about the time and thought I put into these things :D Our ward is much more missionary minded, in fact, last week we did an activity where all the missionaries from the zone and the members paired up to have 25 companionships who went out looking for the less actives that we were not sure about, meaning we didn't know if they had moved, if they were interested, etc. It brought a great spirit of missionary work and it was VERY successful! We are meeting with the ward council but only our second meeting will take place tomorrow... The youth, or I should say, the boys play a lot of soccer and I don't know about the girls. We never go to mutual nor play with them due to the rules against it. 

 

Christmas traditions: people do a barbeque on Christmas day, lots of people go to the beach, they open their presents at 12:00 a.m. on Christmas day (LAME) and they call Santa Claus "Viejo Pascuero." Some people do decorations but so far we haven't seen many, nor many trees. In comparison to the US, Chile doesn't celebrate Christmas. It's not even going to feel like Christmas this year, ESPECIALLY with the heat :( UGH! I usually write to our family, Eliza Beeson, Trustin Chun, Kwinn Sutton, Ammon Haymond, Evan Peterson, my old latin comp from the MTC, and Elder Frost :D  You all are being so supportive, I honestly couldn't ask for anything more. I love all the photos, all the stories, all of the comments, all of the thoughtfulness, etc. :) Keep it up, I couldn't ask for a better support system EVER :) PMG is amazing, I really like it in that it teaches us missionaries the Gospel in simple terms which we then teach to investigators. We use it a lot but I want to start using it more!!! Our English class worked for a while when Elder Frost and I were together but it hasn't been very successful since he left. Anyways, most people just want to free ride our English class, meaning they aren't interested in our message nor do they come frequently and give us a good steady crowd. Pretty disappointing :S

D., our recent convert, just got confirmed yesterday! He is so great. He is super awesome, very nice, very genuine, and very excited. :) He's getting the priesthood next week and his goal is to read a chapter of the BofM, a chapter of the Principles of the Gospel book, and a section of the Doctrine and Covenants every day. :) His excitement and determination and example for his family is astounding!!! I hope he can get a calling in the Young Men's group or something, as there are lots of good kids and leaders. He would fit right it with the leaders as many of them are his age. :D

Anyways, not much is happening so far. Elder Asay and I went on splits the other day and that was a blast. :) Also, we did divisions with some kids in the MTC that are going to the south mission. It was really cool, as I wasn't able to do it when I was in the MTC. Also, we are getting ready to decorate the pension soon. Will send pics later :)

Love you all! Take care and I'm excited to see you all in three weeks! :)

Elder Adam Bushman

 

This is a photo of me and the stocking that Elder Kern's mom made for me :D WHOOHOO!!!

This is David with his new belt...he couldn't wait 'til Christmas! :) He is very, very, very grateful for the belt! Thanks mom!

David and I posing with the belt around us both :)

This is a photo of me standing in front of a house with it's Christmas lights all bright. Also, it plays the "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" tune :) Way cool and very rare to find here!

Here's me with my December 1st christmas presents :) THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE!!!! :D :D

FROM MOM: Adam surprised us today with WMA files that he recorded on the digital recorder we sent him with his Christmas packages. It was the BEST day...listening to him talk to all of us, tell about his experiences, interact with his companion and other Elders in the pension, to hear his enthusiasm, his voice, and his HUMOR. We all LOVED it!!! 

 

"You will not suddenly or magically be transformed into a prepared and obedient missionary on the day you walk through the front door of the Missionary Training Center. What you have become in the days and months and years prior to your missionary service is what you will be in the MTC." - David A. Bednar

Week 24: I Alone Cannot, but with Him I CAN

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, this week has been CRAZY... Honestly, that's the only way to describe it. It's insane at how fast things change in the mission and how quick you find out that things will be A LOT different from here on out. Anyways, I'm going to start with the most crazy changes and things from this week and just go down the line:

First off, my companion and good friend Elder Frost has been transferred. He just completed a year in the mission and Friday night during a visit we got a call from President Wright. Elder Frost has been moved to a sector called La Florida 3 in the stake La Florida. He is going to be the senior companion to an Elder Deal who has one change less than me in the mission (just six weeks). President has called me to train, so tomorrow I'm going to receive my kid! I'm going to have a SON :) (It's a boy, ha!). Haha, I'm excited but nervous as well. In a few weeks we are going to get our whole posterity together to take a 4 generation photo, here's the family tree so far:ç

Elder Cofré -- Elder Frost -- Elder Bushman -- ??? 

I'll send the photo when we take it :) Also, President said that I will be serving as a district leader in my zone. Wow, that calling has brought even more humility than I had already had... Haha, honestly, I don't understand how I'm supposed to do this... My district is full of Elders who have more than a years worth of experience in the mission and I am their leader. I feel very young and incapable. I do, however, know that this is a calling from God and that He knows I can do this. I alone cannot, but with Him I can. President said, "Elder Bushman, I have a lot of confidence in you." I want to make my Heavenly Father proud of me and I'm going to do the best I can. I hope my companion is a Latino and is from Venezuela! For those of you who don't know, one of my best friends is from that country and I would love to learn more about him through a Venezuelan companion. But, I'll accept the will of God, whatever it may be. :)

So a report on the Zone Conference. The song me and my companion were supposed to do went well. I was SOOO nervous, as was Elder Frost, so we began to pray that we would invite the spirit, plany/sing well, and that people would like the song and be inspired. The song felt a bit choppy, I felt like I didn't sing as well as I could of and Elder Frost thought the same about his playing. We were both a bit down thinking about how we failed but when people started talking about how it sounded good and how we really brought the spirit, I realized that we succeeded :) After that I was content and very happy with the job we did!!

Thank you for sending me the video, unfortunately, I cannot watch any videos that aren't directly related to the Church. Anyways, I'll just wait 18 more months to watch it, it's nothing, honestly :) Thanks so much though!

Yesterday O. was confirmed a member of the church.When visiting his house afterward, his non-member mom said she felt so good during the confirmation and that she opened her eyes to see what looks like swirling light around us and she couldn't believe it. We told her that the feeling she felt was the Holy Ghost and that the light she saw might have been some outward manifestation. Anyways, she is getting a lot more interested in the Church and hopefully she will be an investigator soon. Osvaldo can't wait to turn 12 so he can receive the priesthood and pass the sacrament! :) Everything is looking up really well; I'm so very excited!!!!

Well that's all for this week, everything is good, lots of changes, but what's new, life is full of them :) Love you all, take care!

Love,

Elder Adam Bushman

 

"The servants of God have truth, and nothing but truth, to present to the world, that the world may be sanctified by the truth. The truth needeth no polish to make it lovely and desirable to those who love it." - Brigham Young