Week 43: If we do Good Things we are Happy, but if we do Bad Things we are Sad

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, what a week. With all things considered, it was a good week. Like all weeks there were hectic and down times but also with relaxing and happy times. The biggest downer of the week are all the people on vacation. It seems like February is the month in which EVERYONE leaves. Our church building feels so empty and our weekly results are quite low. The happiest thing this week was that we found some more new people and we had lots of spiritual experiences. :) 

So to answer some of the questions that I received this week, our families are doing good...they are on vacation but they seem to be doing well. We invited one family to church two weeks ago and they said they would come...didn't. We found out their oldest son was hospitalized the night before but went home Sunday evening. Anyways, that was understandable. They told us they would be at church no questions about it...didn't come again. Ugh! That was a bummer. The little boys have been a little sporadic.  C. didn't go yesterday but another cousin, M. went and he had a blast. We asked them what they learned and they said, "About the good stuff and the bad stuff." So I asked them what happens when we do good things and what happens if we do bad things. They replied, "If we do good things we are happy but if we do bad things we are sad." :D That was pretty cool! They were a little bored during testimony meeting (they are only 8 and 10 yrs. old) so they were looking through my gospel art book. They are good kids; we havn't shared anything with their families yet but we are trying. So there isn't really a way to beat the heat, we just try and stay comfortable with our fan. Nobody has air conditioning here and it is really rare to see a fan turned on in the homes so we are usually sweating during our lessons. They don't have swamp coolers either...AH! Dad would DIE! :S 

So one experience about following the Holy Ghost happened last night. We were walking and I had the impression to pass by an investigator family that Elder Frost and I had taught when I first entered the mission. It's been a good 6 months or more since I've seen them but I felt like we should go. We got there...nobody. But, I had an impression to write a note. So I did! We left the note and went home. As of now we haven't heard from them but I know by following the Holy Ghost we and this family will be blessed in some aspect. 

Another experience we had this week was a really spiritual lesson with an inactive member named F. He hasn't gone to church in many years and we've had struggles getting ahold of him this last few weeks. Yesterday we stopped by and he was home and invited us in. We sat down and he explained a little bit about why he was inactive, his story of finding the church, and how he feels right now. We helped him realize the difference in his life now and when he was participating actively in the church. We shared the scripture Mosiah 2:41; this is one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon. He told us that he believes that keeping the commandments is the only sure way to have happiness and he said that he just wants to return to our Heavenly Father's presense after this life. He has a disease (polio maybe) and is in a wheelchair. We talked about Christ's role as savior and sung the song, "I know that my redeemer lives." We invited him to come to church with us and he accepted. We gave him a new BofM because he lost his old one, and we left him with a priesthood blessing. It was really really spiritual and we could feel his sincerity in wanting to return to church. 

So we had a tender mercy the other day. We were going through the list of old investigators and while reviewing the list, a lady from the house of which we were standing in front of started to talk to us. We found out she is a less active member who recently moved from another community in Santiago. Here daughter (C.) was taking the lessons from other missionaries but when they moved, they lost contact. She told us we could visit her this week. We're excited to have another prepared investigator and a less-active that we can bring back to church. :) 

So the new missionary in our pension is Elder Osbon, from Michigan. He is a really cool kid and has really enjoyed his time with us so far. He has two changes less than me in the mission but he is a really nice kid and we all get along really well. I've been very fortunate to be with some many great people in the mission! 

Things are going well though, we are working hard and we aren't getting frustrated. We're doing the best job we can so far so hopefully that is good enough :)

That's all for this week folks...have a good one!!!

Love, 

Elder Bushman

“I am convinced that none of us can appreciate how deeply it wounds the loving heart of the Savior of the world when he finds that his people do not feel confident in his care or secure in his hands.”
~ Jeffrey R. Holland

Week 38: Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo!!!! :) I hope everybody had an amazing Christmas and received the Christmas spirit as we did down here. Everything was so amazing, so I'll just dive into our Christmas and our week and everything sweet! HAHAHA :)

So on Christmas Eve, Elder Kern and I went out to teach some lessons and we met with the family A. The mom is a less active member and the dad and their three sons are non-members. Anyways, the mom said hi to us in the street the other day and said "Hola Elder." We stopped and asked her if she was a member and she told us her story. Anyways, we met with the whole family on Christmas Eve and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how families can be together forever. It was a fantastic lesson and their three sons love us. We always see them in the street and they'll come running up to us just to say hi. It's really, really awesome!!! :D We then had some other lessons and went to the stake president's home for Christmas dinner. They made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, pie, and had sparkling cider :) IT was SOOOOO good. Their daughter is about to go to BYU and is going to live right by Wyview. Haha, anyways, it was fun to talk about BYU with her and Elder Cottrell. :) They gave us ties as a gift and we headed home.

On Christmas we woke up, opened presents, and then got ready for our district class. The class was half way just the districts and the other half was as a whole zone. As a whole zone we all had a Christmas program and it was so very neat. We all went and had a ton of treats and a little pot luck Christmas dessert bar :) Haha, super fun! Next, we went over to the V. family's home and Skyped our families. It was so fun. I felt really weird as I was talking, especially while talking in Spanish, but it was fun to see and talk to everyone! :D After that we headed to the C. family's house for a big barbeque. Anyways, after that we just hung out for a bit and then took around Christmas cards and candy canes to lots of the members and investigators in our area. It was suppppper fun and we had an enjoyable time :D WHOOT for CHRISTMAS!

Bad news: J's baptism didn't go through because of some work conflicts that came up. We are shooting for this Sunday coming up but we're not sure about that either. Basically her work is causing some problems... She is ready and some of her schooling problems are being taken care of so that is an answer to prayers :) Hopefully we can get everything sorted out :) She's READY!!!!

Here are some answers to questions:

I usually write the mission president about the district we are in, my companion, and then about me. I try and tell him about what's up in our sector and some of my personal spiritual experiences. It all depends on the zone how many districts are in a zone but in ours there are three districts. There is only one district leader, so Elder Kern isn't a co-district leader with me but there are two zone leaders and they do share the load of that calling. The white Christmas didn't turn out as well as we wanted. J. wasn't able to get baptized and neither were some other people. But, there were quite a few baptisms in the zone and we are looking at a lot for January. :) I believe that we will start being Facebook missionaries at the start of the new year....I think! Some of my goals are to study Spanish EVERY DAY so that when I get home I can test out of the Spanish classes at BYU and get all 16 credits in one test. Also, I want to read the Book of Mormon all the way through in Spanish, study preach my gospel all the way through, and to read Jesus the Christ and read all of the scriptures that he notes. Those are basically my goals :D I will for sure be in my sector up until the end of January and Elder Cottrell thinks that I will stay here one more change with Elder Kern before getting changed. That would put me at almost 10 months in my sector and almost a year into the mission. :S  Elder Kern and I are continually becoming better and better friends ... LOVE IT :D

Anyways, that's my peace for this week!

Love you all and take care!

Elder Bushman

 

Epic photo of my thumb and new tie!!!!

"This is a great labor; one of incalculable worth and benefit in Zion. In order to succeed, you must be on the Lord's side; you must have the co-operation of the Spirit of God. You must feel the importance of your mission, and that mission is to vitalize those who are charged with the responsibility and care of the young men of Israel. Your duty to teach them how to do their work effectively, and how best to accomplish the salvation of the young. Therefore, you must possess the spirit of the mission in your hearts; and, in order to do that, you must be prayerful and humble. Be genial and kind so that you may cope with all difficulties. Be not discouraged, but press on until all obstacles yield to your efforts." - Joseph F. Smith

Week 37: TWO DAYS! WHOOT!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

"It's beginning to look a lot like...SUMMER!!" Haha, I wish I could say it looked a lot like Christmas but everything that is around me tells me we are in like the end of June about to start July. Haha, anyways, I'm excited for Christmas and I am excited for you all and your traditional Christmases. :) Enjoy the holiday times!!! 

So this week has been a crazy one, fun, but crazy. I kept slipping in and out of having a slow and a fast week. Anyways, it was a good one and we are all really excited for everything to happen this week. Here's a cool experience from last week:

There is a young man, 18 years old, in our ward who has been inactive for a LONG time but all of the sudden, he came to church one day and he asked if he could start coming on visits with us. He has been to church for 3 days in a row and it has been fantastic. We also took him around two times last week to go visit some people. He says he wants to start preparing for a mission so we are working with the bishop on that. Anyways, he is a good kid, his name is I. He has a funny, slightly odd personality, but me and Elder Kern love having him come with us! :) We've been having a lot more success with member lessons and we are looking to get even better this week and the following. 

So, about our Christmas celebrations. So we have been invited by the Stake President's family to go and have dinner at their house on Christmas Eve but we're going to have to ask permission from President Wright to do it. He wants all four of the Elders to come and I'm a little nervous to ask President because it seems like he might say "No." Anyways, we'll see. (He did end up going to to the Stake Pres. house) On Christmas, our plans are to wake up early to open presents while listening to the Michael Bublé Christmas album, then going to our combined District/Zone class, then going to Skype, then going to have a barbeque, and then we are going to try and get some visits ... but I'm not sure how receptive they will be to having us come over and share something with them, and I don't feel very productive just hanging out. But, we'll see. :) Anyways, we are all really, really stoked for Christmas and it'll be really fun to celebrate it with four gringos :D Hahaha! 

Anyways, tomorrow I will be making Egg Nog, in CHILE! :) I'm going to be taking it to our whole district, which contains 5 latins that have never ever heard of Egg Nog .... well, they are about to find out!!! :D It's too bad Nutmeg doesn't exist here :( UGH!!!! Oh well, I got the eggs, whole milk, vanilla, sweet and condensed milk, and cream!!! Haha, now we just gotta whip her up! :D Will take pics!

So update on peeps: 

J: she is set to get baptized for this Sunday coming up. Hopefully everything works out. I wish she was more prepared but it will work out and she wants to be baptized, and she is willing to make the commitment and she can pass the interview so we can't really stop her :) But I think this is ready as does the V. family we've been working with! 

D: He left last week to go on a month long trip with his aunt from Spain to show her all of Chile and stuff...anyways, we hope everything is stable with him while he is gone. He was sure about himself going to church while on his trip and reading and praying so hopefully he does it all!!!

O: we had a sweet lesson with her but we haven't met in like a week and a half due to her extended vacation back home during the holidays. Anyways, we hope she is reading!

Anyways, that's about it for this week!

Love you all, talk to my good ol fam in TWO DAYS! WHOOT!!!

Elder Adam Bushman

 

Here is our zone with all of our jerseys on

My old district! From left to right:

Hermana Camacho, Hermana Lastra, Hermana Braun, Hermana Agle, Elder Mamani, Elder Bushman, Elder Kern, and Elder Asay :)

Check out my breakfast!!!!

This is a guy doing a graffiti in our sector. He works for the drama program at the University of Chile but did this graffiti to tell the story of the old indigenous people of Chile, the Mapuche, that were never conquered by the Spanish, just a broken people by the modernism of Chile.

Week 33: I Want to...Make the Best of what God Needs me to do

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm happy that everyone is well and having such a fabulous time with the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas which is right around the corner. We are all getting really excited for Christmas as we are 4 gringos in a pension and all will be getting lots of packages which we will share with all! :) Anyways, here are some things that happened this week:

So this week Elder Kern and I got our first baptism together! :D It was awesome, it was with D., O's older brother. It was a great baptism and D. felt fantastic and had a really really great experience. He prepared so well, reading almost all of 1 Nephi in the week before his baptism. He is doing well and the bishop is right on top of things, asking him to come in for an interview to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. We had some good support from a few families in the ward. The only sad thing is that (a few people) didn't come to the baptism. It was quite sad and it hurt D. a bit I believe. Also, the program was last minute so Elder Kern and I ended up doing both of the talks. In the end it turned out all right, it was just a message to me that we need to get the whole family involved a little more and having them over at member's homes. I sent some photos of the baptism. :) 

One crazy experience is that we started to teach a family, a young couple and two young girls. I'm trying to remember that they are children of God and my spiritual brothers and sisters, but it was a little hard not to judge them at first glance and say, "I don't think they'd be interested." We found out the dad of the family got shot in his hip and though it is healing, he is in a wheelchair right now...don't know why he was in a situation with gunfire but oh well. Also, the mom has tons of tattoos and is only 2 years older than me but has a child who is about 5 or 6 I believe. Anyways, she is quite interested and the dad is warming up to us. All we need to do is get them both together and start teaching them with some members. 

So about my Spanish. Ever since Elder Frost left and I had to train a gringo, I've noticed my Spanish and my accent have gotten better. I know more words, I am a lot faster and more fluid, and things make a lot more sense to me. I can read the Book of Mormon and understand practically 80 % of all the words I would say. It's very rare when I ask someone what a word means and I would say of all daily conversations that we have with people, I understand about 95 %... Anyways, it's been a great learning curve for me and I'm so very glad that God qualified me to train someone who did not know Spanish. Anyways, I think my next companion will be a latino but I'm not sure so I can't say that I hope for one either. But we'll see :D We still go to members homes every day to eat. The other day, our favorite family in the ward made BBQ ribs, french fries, and cole slaw :) Haha, they are so awesome! Hermano V. told me in English, "We tried to make like an Apple Bee's type lunch for you guys!" MMM! Soo yummy! :D Normally we have rice and chicken and for dessert...fruit :S Weird! So a few of my realizations are that I'm not going to mess around a lot when I get home. I've talked to lots of missionaries who say, "Yeah, I wanna wait like 4-5 years to get married and start a family and study, etc." Not me...I want to get started and make the best of what God needs me to do. I think I am leaning more and more to doing Accounting or another Business major. I've noticed that I have a thirst for learning now!!! I would say that I have grown the most in my testimony of the Book of Mormon. It is just soo important that we regularly are studying and learning and applying the things in the BofM. :) I don't really get homesick, but at times I just switch off thoughts between, "Wow, my mission is going really fast" to "Wow, I'm going to be out here for forever." :) Haha, but I don't get homesick really. Every other week I play the piano in Sacrament meeting. One sister, Hermana Volkert, plays the piano so we switch off playing every week. My favorite topic to teach about is the great apostasy. It just makes so much sense and it is really fun to use examples and object lessons to teach :D I haven't had to do a surprise talk yet...our ward is very organized and it would be strange if that happened. Our typical day is getting up at 7:30, exercise, preparation, eating, and starting personal study by 9:00. At 10:00, companionship study until 12:00 when we start our language study. We go and eat around 1:00 and by 3:00 we are proselyting until 10:00. We are in bed by 11:30...whoo...long day! :S So we have been taking it easy lately but in December we are going to be going on lots of sight seeing spots and going to hug flee markets and other kinds of stuff. Oh, and we are going to be going to the Jehova's Witness's Temple soon too...whoo! CRAZY! :D I'm not sure quite yet about Christmas but it should be at like 2:00 or so... Well, 10:00 a.m. your time! We are just going to be proselyting like normal on Christmas. We don't do anything special really...

So I sent a photo of me and a guy in my district who just came out of the MTC. His name is Elder Asay and we are real good friends, as we have a huge love for everything basketball and we just click really easy together. Anyways, I just found out that he lived right next to the Welch family's house in Highland and is really good friends with Taylor and Spencer :) Haha, who would've known. The other day the Welch's asked him if he had met an Elder Bushman in this mission yet. Elder Asay responded, "You aren't going to believe this, but he's my district leader!" :) Haha, he's a way good kid and I cannot wait to do divisions with him this weekend :) WHOOOHOO!

So that's all of this week, so long! Love you all!

Elder Bushman

 

Elder Bushman with Elder Asay

Excited to get his package - Elder Kern

The Encampamento

 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."  - Mark 16:15

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

Week 12: Maybe I'll be Dreaming in Spanish Soon!

Greetings from Chile!!! Hello all you Gringos! :)

Haha, una broma no mas (just a joke)! Lots has happened this week so I'm just going to jump right in...no sense wasting time, eh?:

Earlier this week we stopped by the home of one of our investigators, a 16 year old by the name of José. He's a good kid, reminds me a ton of Guillermo. Dark hair, light skinned, and talks way fast and slurred in Spanish. We asked if he had time to meet with us. He said he was too busy studying for his math final and was having trouble with a problem. I asked if I could see the problem. He invited us in and showed it to me. Elder Frost helped me with the translation and he asked if I could do it. I said I could. Well, I did it and got the right answer. I explained how to do it with some help from my comp and José was really grateful. Long story short, we had a great lesson with him and he agreed to pray about if he should be baptized. We'll find out his answer this week!!!!

Also earlier this week, we dropped by to knock this house. No one answered and the neighbor said they left. He then started saying that they were Christian and believed in God and no other religion and told us to leave. I began to explain that we believed in God and Christ as well...he didn't like that. ESPECIALLY when we asked if we were Mormons and we said yes. I told him we had a special message about Christ. He barely let me get that out before he started speaking in crappy English saying, "No, thank you, we fine! You Evangelicos, we Christians. Good bye. Leave." Horrible English...worse attitude. It was a pretty sour experience that made me sad and disappointed that people have such misconceptions about us and the things we are trying to do...

Elder Frost and I are going to be together one more change! :) He also got called as a District Leader for our district! WOOOT!!! :) Haha, it's really exciting. We are going to be together for his birthday! Hahaha! 

This week we had an English Fast. No English for 7 days...ugh. Tough! But it was good and I think I learned a lot. Last night when we ended it, I kept accidentally speaking Spanglish...I just couldn't speak English correctly. Haha. I've noticed that no one talks in my dreams. Maybe I'll be dreaming in Spanish soon!

The weather is really, really cold and rainy. The good thing about that is there aren't very many drunks in the street to bother us! The bad thing is it is freaking cold in our apartment!

One fun fact, all of the food here is practically in bags. They don't really use tubs. The Ketchup is in a bag, the Mayo is in a bag, so is the Mustard, so is the deli meat, so is the yogurt, so are the juices (some of them), so is the jam, so is the nutella, and the manjar, and on and on and on. I don't like it...It's way too hard to function and it's a lot messier :S

Mom: in the package you send me, could you put in a whole box of envelopes and the conference edition of the Ensign??? Also, I'm not sure if we could do anything to prevent customs from opening the package...any thoughts?

Thanks for all the info about home! I wish I had more time to respond to it all! Thanks, love you all, congratulate all my friends on their calls and kick those in the pants who don't have theirs ;) 

Love,

Elder Adam Bushman

The Zone

Elder from Peru

District Buddies

Mom LOVES this photo!

Storm Clouds

Such a neat boy!

Good thing for that TETON sleeping bag!

Well taught by his Aunt Suz!

Looks like pizza from home

Again - Looks like Utah

Memorize scripture passages that explain and support the principles you teach.

~ Preach My Gospel, 23.

Week 1: We are Literally Making History!

Hello everybody!!!!!

OMG this day is honestly better than Christmas!!! I have been looking forward to writing home since I wrote my first letter, haha! I and all the other Elders and Sisters were so ecstatic to get on their email and see what their family wrote. I'm so happy I get this opportunity; there is so much to say. 

A couple things first…I cant send or view photos in the MTC because their internet is slow and there's not much bandwidth to send stuff. I'll send tons of photos when I can.

First off, the language is going pretty well. I along with Elder McGary and Sister Phelps are the best speakers in our class and in our companionships, share most of the teaching load. I feel I'm getting pretty good at organizing my thoughts and memorizing phrases. Spanish is coming along great and it's only the first week! Our roommates are Elder Piñel and Elder Gonzalez. Awesome guys who are fun and with great testimonies. They talk to us a whole lot, though they don't know English. I'll send photos of everyone later. My companions, Elder Holsclaw and Elder Lee... both are good guys and they're pretty cool to be with. The schedule here is tough…we wake up, do personal study for an hour, then exercise for a while. We then prepare for the day and work until 9:30 pm. It's a tough schedule and learning the gospel just makes me all the more tired. Sometimes I'm so exhausted I can barely write in my journal but I gotta so I'll remember everything. 

Last Wednesday I broke down. I missed home and I wanted to see my family and friends. I missed everything … since then I've prayed for strength and received lots from the scriptures, prayer, and other district members. Haha, it's also WAY tough to fall asleep because Elder Lee snores like the Dickens!! Good night, it's insane. I feel like Bro. Bishop when he would bang pots together to wake up his comp so he could fall asleep again before his companion snored again, haha! It's really weird calling everyone Elder and Sister…I've gotten used to it now and when I get other people's real first name, I only think of them as Sister Sommerfeld or Elder Rice, etc. Haha!!! I love it! 

The food here in the MTC is making me sick though. I have to put Digestzen on my stomach every night (thanks Stephen and Jenny)! Were having tons of fun here too! We talk to everyone in Spanish and everyone is making jokes. All of the district members have their own little things. Elder Nelson is the FUNNIEST story teller ever, hahahahaha! It's awesome. I love Elder Rice. He and I are way close. We have very similar situations and we talk about it and buoy each other up all the time! Elder McGary and I love tons of the same things and are way good friends. Elder Paxman is way good at sports and we always play. And it goes on and on for everyone in our district. OHHHH, which reminds me. I was called to be the district leader of my district. There are 5 districts and one zone here at the MTC. All of the districts have latino district leaders and all of the zone leaders are latino. I am the only white guy in the meetings and I preside over my district. It's intimidating but my whole district is very supportive and loving, they respect me a lot. It reminds me of my patriarchal blessing that said I would hold leadership positions. It's a really good experience. I FEEL SO MUCH JOY AND LOVE FOR EVERYONE WHO IS READING MY LETTERS NOW!!! 

Anyways, we are also the first North American missionaries to ever come to and learn here in the Santiago MTC. We are literally making history! Last night Elder Rice asked me for a blessing, not his companion, not his roommates, me. I was super humbled. The blessing was one of strength and it taught me a whole lot and gave me lots of strength. Oh and mom, haha, I have been playing the piano a ton. Once they found out I play the piano, people want me to play for sacrament meeting, FHE, priesthood, everything. It's been spreading like crazy. I played I am a child of God, as a musical number for some latino sisters down here while they sang. I also did a spontaneous arrangement of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief for a musical number! I didn't do a bunch of fancy stuff, just played it three times with different octaves, repeated some parts, and played it loud and soft. Everyone loved it and the spirit was soooo strong. I gotta go but I love you all and I miss every single one of you! Be sure to post this letter on the blog!

From the Chile!

Elder Bushman

From Mom: I didn't realize they were the first North American missionaries to be at the Chile MTC. Exciting! He sounds so much better than last week. Wonderful to hear that the piano skills are being put to good use! What a blessing to hear such great news this week! Love this boy... Oh, and he told me in a separate email that he will be in the MTC for 6 Weeks.

"It follows that if we have more missionaries, there will be more converts. It also follows that if missionaries are better prepared, they will be more effective."

 - Gordon B. Hinckley