Yr. 2, Week 44: I Have no Doubt they will be Ready

Dear Friends and Family,

This week went really well. We had lots of success teaching and we were able to find a few new people to teach, lots of really special people that I think are really prepared for the gospel.

We were able to revisit and talk to everybody that we taught for the first time last week. We talked to A. and she is doing very well and is really remembering well all that she felt and knew when she prayed a few years back. This week we are going to be able to get a few really sweet visits in with her and we're going to set a baptismal date, invite her to church again, etc. We were only able to talk to G and D. for a few seconds but they are doing great. G. is super awesome, and has lot of desires to know Christ better and she has lots of faith so that's sweet!! We've been stopping by T. every once in a while to check up on her reading. She's reading slowly but surely so that's cool. 

We actually were able to visit with M's whole family yesterday. Her husband R. was there and we taught him a great lesson one. We invited R, M, and her son, F., to read and pray about the BofM. They accepted and R. is quite interested. He's smart but he's got great questions and he's quite humble. Anyways, we are stoked with them. The only problem is that R. works A TON!!!! But that can be solved!!

We found a new couple this week, A and C. SUPER AWESOME!! We talk to lots of people who say, I pray and I'm a good person, I know that Christ is always with me...but I feel like most of them are exaggerating. However, A. and C. are different. They really do have a more humble and honest spirit about what they do. They pray as a couple, the pray personally every day, they read the scriptures, A. works in a catholic school, they really live a clean life, etc. THEY ARE AWESOME. We taught them lesson 1, the Restoration and they thought it was great. They accepted to read the BofM and when we dropped it off the next day they were very receptive. We've got a great relationship with them so far, they are awesome. The only bad thing is that they are going to be out of town for like three weeks in February :S So that kinda sucks but hopefully everything will go okay :)

Yesterday we also had a sick lesson with D. and her kids. We taught about the Word of Wisdom and it was incredible how they responded to it. They had lots of faith and they all committed to not take any of the 5 things. They said that coffee and tea was going to be hard but we are going to help them and they are quite resolved and very set on it :D They are really doing great, I have no doubt that they will be ready by the end of February. 

Well, that's about everything! Hope you guys are well, have fun!

Elder Bushman

Me and Elder Denison on divisions...

Yr. 2, Week 42: They Felt the Spirit of the Message

Dear Family and Friends,

My mom wrote me this week and said, "Well honey, I've been watching the weather reports for Santiago and it looks like it is getting pretty hot down there..." Yes mom, you are right. If anybody has literally ANY doubts about just how hot it is, listen to the recording Elder Deal and I made for my family the other day when it was BLAZING. Just now, I am priviliged enough to be in an internet place and through the only window facing westward shines a big southern hemisphere sun shine directly on and ONLY on me :S It's kinda crazy, but maybe I'm just making a big deal about it...maybe ;) Haha! 

We had a really good week this week; however, we didn't have an outstanding amount of lessons. I would say our success came in the few lessons we had but in the spirit and power that was in them. To start out first:

Yesterday we went to visit O. and M. and we had an awesome lesson literally just because we brought a member. We went with Hermana P., the member assigned to Family History work. SHE WAS AWESOME!!!! She totally hit it off with O and she explained so many of her experiences and everything that she has experienced with FH work. Anyways, she invited them over for this coming Sunday to work on FamilySearch.org and get them all ready to go to the temple. Anyways, it was such a spiritual lesson because the member really helped them get excited about it. Also, Elder Deal shared a personal experience and I shared the experience of Bethany and working with Family Search. Anyways, there was a great spirit and everyone was edified!!!

This week we haven't really been able to teach D, F, A and A because their mom worked a ton, their aunt died, and they went on a vacation. We are going to be passing by tonight but a week ago from today we taught them about prayer and scripture study. It was sweet because we literally asked them how they have been going with their reading and we just shared a little bit about what we had learned in all of our personal studies. It was really cool and I think they felt the spirit of the message. Hopefully all goes well tonight as well!!!!

C and Y and B went to church on Sunday. It was cool. We also had a sweet lesson in which C FINALLY understood (I think) that he needs to read the BofM and pray about it. So we'll see how that goes. Y though is really increasing her faith, I love it!

So to answer some questions.... NO, there is no AC down here in normal houses. In office buildings there is and in some restaurants and in the churches but where we work, there is NO AC and it stinks... I don't think I would every live LONG TERM in a country where they don't have AC during the summer in homes :S It is just too rough, I'm sweaty ALL the time, even at night! People still just want to give us soda but sometimes I just put my foot down and beg for WATER, AGUA, AQUA! Things with Elder Deal are going well. He is really fun and we have a good time as companions. He's really funny, works hard, and we teach well together. He goes home a change after me. He is also going to BYU fall semester! 

Take care everybody, hope everything is going well!!!! 

Elder Bushman!

PS - Elder Bushman sent some really cool recordings. If anyone wants to hear them, let me know.

 A breakfast of mine the other day...sausage, eggs, clams and barbecue sauce

 This is a gnarly crash in our sector on sunday!!! It shut of the power for like half of our sector! Nuts!!!

 Coke Floats...They're Awesome

 Guarana flavored Mate...

 A tribute to Elder Laurentino...

Learning to play the cena (prounounced Kenna)

I am Iron Man...

Jedi...

Yr. 2, Week 30: I'm Being Converted

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, what a week we had. It was a great week! We had lots of highlight lessons and experiences! I love my companion, guys :) Haha, he's such a great guy and we work really well together. Anyways, on to the highlights:

We are visiting an incomplete family. C., the dad, isn't a member and neither are his kids but Y. is a member. She has been inactive for a very long time but we started visiting her a few months back. Not much happened because C. wasn't very interested and neither were their kids and Y. was just having a difficult time trying to do things herself with no support. So update, Y. is currently in the hospital until her baby comes, C. is MR. MOM and is having a tough time, their daughter B. is having a tough time without her mom, and their youngest son M. is missing Y. SO, the father has really started to get involved. He's praying, meeting with us, reading the scriptures in lessons, and he said that this week he's going to try and round up everyone to go to church :) We had a great lesson with him last night with President S., first counselor in the stake presidency. We talked about what's best for our families, especially in times of crisis, and how we must have faith and repent in order to receive joy and eternal life :) SWEET LESSON :) C. is opening up every single time we visit him. When I first met him, he didn't even want to see us and even tried to fight with us a little about the existence of God (he "didn't believe" in God before). Big turn around. Also, the presidents of the relief society and the primary went to visit Y. in the hospital! This family is sweet!!

Next, we had a really cool experience in church this week. We are visiting a mom and her daughter (O., the mom, and M., the daughter). The Mom has been to church a few times with P. and R. and everybody but the daughter never really wanted to participate. She's 16 and never really was into the whole "church/religion" thing. But then, P. and J. started getting on her saying she should go to church and hang out with some of the YW there. She finally decided to go and so two weeks ago we had F. (the girl who can't get baptized because her parents wouldn't let her) go with her to the classes. Then this week, J. went and picked up M. for church. It was sweet because right after sacrament meeting, F. looked over right before going to class and went right over to say hi to M. and to take her to class. They are good friends!!! F. is practically a member :) Right after church we looked out into the hall and there was M., F. and other YW all laughing and having fun! It was really, really cool :D We are going to invite her and her mom to be baptized for a specific date :)

We also visited with a family, the G. family. They received missionaries like two years ago but we decided to revisit them and see what's up. We had a lesson in which we talked about the Plan of Salvation. It was a little rough at the start because they were like, "We are believers, we are Catholic. We don't feel like it's necessary to go to church or to do anything like that. Plus we were baptized already, why would we be baptized again?" Anyways, it was pretty rough and I was starting to feel like this family wouldn't progress. Then, we started just asking them questions and it started changing the whole spirit and direction of the lesson. We finally ended by expressing that if we don't fulfill one commandment, we are in trouble and unless we are cleansed we are sunk. The wife, whom has ALWAYS turned down the invitation to go to church, said, "Well, I'm going to go to church next week." The dad and the daughter also committed. It was interesting how everything changed. Questions are powerful and they help with the conversion. Hopefully this family will really progress now :D

Well, that's all folks! I love you all, I'm working hard, I'm being obedient, I'm being converted, and I'm torn about leaving Chile in a few months. I'm excited, but I'm also sad. I suppose that goes with the territory of change!

Love,

Elder Adam Bushman

My comp - Elder Laurentino

Yr. 2 - Week 27: The Future of the Church is in the Youth

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a really good one. I had a lot of fun! It went by pretty quick because we had so many divisions. I went with the assistants up to their sector in a part of Santiago called Lo Barnechea. I'll share an experience from there in a second. Then I went on divisions with Elder Jara (Elder Rice's companion). It was also pretty fun with him, I'll share some funny experiences as well!

So bad news... J.A. is NO MORE. Elder Thomas and one of the assistants went by his home and they found out that he wanted to take a break from our visits for like a month because he and his wife were having some problems. Elder Thomas just asked him, "Are we the problem here or what?" He said we were... Really lame but one day missionaries are gonna help him get baptized! 

On the bright side though, we've had some good experiences with some new investigators. Last night we visited with a young couple, G. and P. Just three months ago their little new born son died in the hospital. It's been a trial for them but we've been visiting them recently and last night we had a SWEET lesson. We went by with a new member to our ward, C. He helped us out so much in the lesson, even asking them to be baptized and inviting them to General Conference this weekend. They accepted both invitations and I think they are going to start progressing even more. C. and his wife are the new principles of the gospel teachers! I'm looking forward to that.

A LONG TIME AGO Elder Thomas and his last companion started teaching J. and C's neighbors but since they work so much, they can't really meet with us much. About two weeks ago I went with one of the missionaries in our zone, Elder Hokanson. We visited with O. (the wife) and we talked about the sacrifices we make in our lives in order to follow the gospel and therefore receive blessings! This week Elder Thomas and I visited with their family. O. told me that she read the chapter and she summarized the whole thing. She told me her favorite part and I thought that she can probably start progressing real well now. She and her daughter (M., 15) went to church. They loved it and hopefully they'll start making time for church every week! :D

Elder Aguirre (the assistant) and I had a cool experience teaching up in his sector. We taught a group of like 5 youth and one of their moms. It was so sweet because they all had such a desire to learn, especially this one kid and his cousin. They had great questions, they made comments, and it wasn't just teaching a lesson...we were teaching youth. It really taught me that, the future of the church is in the youth! These youth are going to take the church to unimaginable places! 

Elder Jara is from Uruguay...in Uruguay, they are obsessed with drinking Mate (that drink that is made from herbs, hot water, and is drunken from a metal straw). Literally, they walk everywhere with a thermos full of hot water and they drink all day. Haha, during our studies, we drank almost two liters of mate! It was SOOOOO good :D Haha! I had to use the bathroom all day though, but mate is really good for you, even helps you lose weight ;) 

This Sunday, I, J and C all received temple recommends so hopefully we'll be able to go to the temple pretty soon. Also, J. was able to bless the sacrament and C. prepared and passed it today! Super cool! :) Experiences like these and responsibilities like these are going to help these converts stay active for forever :D I'm way stoked for them!!!!!

Answers to my mom's questions:

Medical care in Santiago...from what I've heard, the hospitals and doctors here in Santiago are the best in South America. It's probably because Santiago is the most advanced economically, technologically, etc. Anyways, I've never had to go to the hospital but if I did need any medical assistance, I would first go to the mission doctor and he would send me to the hospital if it was necessary. 

Haha, there are some things I haven't told you mom...best if I tell you when I get back home ;)

Elder Frost and Elder Thomas... It's weird that they are leaving because they are the first companions that I've had in the mission that are going home. I talked to Elder Frost the other day and we just couldn't believe that it was over now and how it seemed like he had picked me up just the other day. It's going to be weird getting a new companion. I don't really want to get a new companion who is older than me in the mission...mostly because I don't like having to kill (or end the mission with) a companion. Elder Thomas' parents are coming down to Chile and are going to be visiting people and sight seeing for about a week. Elder Frost is going home right off! Yeah, I'm just going to stay here and get a new companion!

Anyways, so that's it for the weeek :D Haha, thanks for everything guys! I love you all, talk to ya'll next Monday!!! :D

Elder Bushman

Elder Jara from Uruguay..Fun Guy - This is us on divisions

These guys are so dead (meaning done with their missions)

"The Boys are BACK"

 Zone BBQ:

88,000 Missionaries Faithfully Serving the Lord. And One of them Belongs to ME!!!!!

Yr. 2, Week 23: WOW, they are killing it :)

Dear Family and Friends,

Man, this has been a crazy week! We've had a lot to do but it's been really fun to get to know new people and stuff!

One of the coolest experiences of this week was the FHE we had with the bishop's family and P, R, J, and C. We taught the Plan of Salvation but had a game in which we played Jeopardy with questions about the plan. It was so fun because the teams were really even and everybody was laughing at the answers everybody game and everything! Elder Thomas and I had a ton of fun and we are a lot more confident with how they understand than before :D 

We have been visiting a really cool family, J and M. They are inactive but are really awesome. They've had some tough experiences and trials in their marriage but they have a lot of potential to be great. We had a good FHE with them this week and they committed to going to church...and they went! :D To make it even better, they stayed after sacrament meeting and had interviews with the bishop. Hopefully the ward can help strengthen them and that they can return to activity in the church...they've also started their prayers as a family again so that is way sweet! :D

Here's an update on our future converts :D

I and M: WOW, they are killing it :)  They are getting so prepared. They are reading the BofM and they are completely leaving their addictions to coffee and tea. They went up to the in-laws for the weekend  (they drink lots of tea) but I said they didn't drink at all and they told them they were getting baptized and the in-laws were really excited for them! :D We have to teach them a lot of stuff but they are doing awesome! }

C and J: WOW, they are also getting really prepared. C's little brother M. was having his birthday on Sunday and Elder Thomas and I were a little worried they wouldn't show up at church...HOWEVER, we were wrong...thankfully! :D C., his dad, J., and C's cousin and friend (who aren't members) showed up to church and stayed all three hours like normal :D We were really content and it was really cool to know that C. is inviting his family and friends to learn more about the church and to participate. He also gave his aunt a BofM and committed her to read it! We're really excited for them. Their family also has a really good relationship with the bishop and his family. Today is going to be our third straight FHE with them :) Yesterday the bishop invited the family over to his house and they are giving the lesson and everything.... IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!

We visited J. and C. this week as well! They are awesome. C. always says that he doesn't believe in God and that he is the devil's son but I personally think he's just a little hard hearted against religion. This last visit he sat in on and participated in our lesson about the Book of Mormon. He also used to say that he would never go to church but last week he said he would come to church this Sunday...so he is really starting to soften up to us. Also, we ate completos with him after the lesson and after making his, C. held it up to his face and said, "¿Y voh, que hací 'fuera? ¡Pa'entro!" Elder Thomas and I thought it was so funny and we quote it all the time (basically he was talking to the completo in his CHILEAN and asking it why it wasn't in his mouth and then he commanded it to get into his mouth). :D They are one of the most funny, rowdy families ever :D Hahaha!

Anyways, that's about it for this week! I love you all, I'll let you guys know how the baptisms go next Monday! :D

Love you all!

Elder Bushman

P.S. Believe it or not, but I still have half the box of CAP'N CRUNCH left ;)

"I am hopeful that a great effort will go forward throughout the Church, throughout the world, to retain every convert who comes into the Church. There is no point in doing missionary work unless we hold on to the fruits of that effort." - Gordon B. Hinckley

Yr 2, Week 21: All of them have Baptismal Dates for the 7th of September

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, this has been a good week! There's not much to report so I'll keep it simple... Here's a little update on our investigators:

I and M -- I has a baptism date for the 7th of September as does her daughter, M. I is reading the BofM, she's dropped tea (which has been a big stumbling block for her), and things are going great. We need to make sure they are both good with the lessons in preach my gospel but they are getting really ready. I told us that before when she was meeting with the missionaries, she didn't really want to give up tea or read or go to church so when she was faced with the decision, she decided not to instead. Now she has the desire and it is showing in everything she does. She's learning a lot and she's having a lot of spiritual experiences :)

J and C -- They are both doing well. We taught J the first part of the plan of salvation and he really liked it. He's had a retention difficulty, so it surprised me when he was really retaining the information we were teaching him. We taught a lot about repentance and the atonement and it was neat to hear him say that he just wants to keep making changes in his life so he can be more like Christ. He is really focused on his goal and things are doing well. Also, C is praying on his own and is also remembering everything we are teaching him. He's a really good kid and they are definitely getting baptized. C's mom and dad, P and R have a date to get married at the end of December so that's a start for them :D

All of them have baptismal dates for the 7th of September and we are really confident that they will be baptized :)

We've had a few spiritual experiences this week that have been very edifying and though I don't have time to share them right now, they will be revealed in future years as people read my missionary journals :)

Love you all, Elder Bushman

 

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

Yr. 2 - Week 12: The Greatest University on Earth...the Mission

Dear Family and Friends,

This was a really busy week in terms of meetings but in terms of the work it was still pretty slow. We had a WHOLE BUNCH of meetings, first we had district class on Tuesday, then we had a meeting with Elder Robbins of the Seventy, and then on Friday we had zone conference. We've been trying to find new investigators since some of them have dropped us and others got baptized. Anyways, we have lots of future investigators, a lot of people who say they are interested but we haven't been able to contact hardly any of them. We have lots of names and phone numbers and addresses but not much is happening with them. Oh well.

Zone Conference was really cool! President talked a lot about the Restoration. He talked about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and several different events surrounding it. It was super cool. I learned a lot and I really have lots to work on as a missionary and a member!!! :) Elder Robbins talked a lot about the Holy Ghost. He taught a lot about how we can learn by the spirit. He also talked about the greatest university on earth...the mission. He talked about how we are put through different classes like clean up 100, personal hygene, 101, patience 505, diligence 325, etc. He gave me a bigger lift to continue working hard and to have more patience. 

There was a baptism in our ward yesterday for the other elders, Elder Vorwaller and Elder Capuñay. They baptized an older guy named J. He's a really great guy and he's really become converted over the last two months or so. :) Anyways, it was a super cool service and we had fun.

I went on divisions with Elder Skousen, my zone leader, the other day. He is from Lehi and lives just 5 minutes away from Jack and Frances. He is way cool and I had a really fun time with him. There are so many cool people that I want to chill with after the mission. He's also going to BYU so I'm stoked for that!!! 

Man, I'm so tired. I've been really tired of late but it's going to be nice just chilling here on p-day :D We're going to be playing Monopoly in the pension and eating and cooking!!! Anyways, thanks for everything, I love you all so much and I'm happy to be out here! :)

I love you all!

Elder Bushman

Yr. 2 - Week 8: My Influence is Reaching out more than Numbers can Really Show

Dear Family and Friends,

So last night we went to a less-active's house, his name is M. We were talking for a bit and then I looked over at his home theater and he had the BIGGEST freaking speakers I had EVER seen. They were sick, he said he was going to show us how they sounded and he put in a song for about 10 seconds and it was amazing, Dad would've dug it!!! It was like someone reached through the speaker, grabbed me, and just started shaking me! Haha, it was AWESOME :D It was a really good lesson too. We talked about how the priesthood can bless his family. He said he's trying to share the gospel with his partner and son who aren't members but he says it is hard and he thinks it's best to go slow. I said that he should try to pray and read his scriptures in front of her for a few nights and then start inviting her to join him and see how it results. He is really excited to try it and also work on getting married legally to his partner. :) It was a sick lesson, I felt like it was pretty inspired!!!

The G. family is doing absolutely fantastic...except for their health. L and J got sick and so their family didn't go to church yesturday. We are dropping by tonight to give a blessing to them and we'll probably be able to have a lesson tomorrow. Last week we taught the last part of the Plan of Salvation and invited L and C to be baptized officially. They accepted and so this week the baptismal date will probably be for the 8th of June. They are doing great, participating in seminary, activities, mutual, and everything!!! :D I'm way stoked!!

 

In response to your questions:

What's your new area like compared to the other one? 

     Our area is A LOT bigger, as a majority, richer than my old sector and there are a lot of retired people here and students...we live right next to a university.

 

Is Santiago flat or is it hilly?

     Santiago is in a valley so my old sector was at the most east part so it was hilly but now I'm closer to the middle!

 

How is the new pension? What kind of amenities does it have?

     We have way sick appliances, two showers, and a big gymn on the first floor!!!

 

What do your neighbors think of you? Are they gun-shy or friendly?

     They all try to avoid us and I've never had a conversation with them.

 

Are you still studying out of your spanish book? Do you read the BOM in spanish a lot?

     Every day I study out of my spanish book and I learn more words and grammar. I also do all my gospel studies in spanish.

 

Do you guys do much service? Yard/home projects, clean-up, community service, etc?

     We do as much as we can...but not a ton!

 

What have you been doing lately for p-day?

     We played soccer today, went to Di Fini last monday, played soccer the following, and rested.

 

Who is your district leader/zone leader right now?

     My zone leaders are Elder Wilson and Elder Skousen, I'm still DL...

 

So today I was able to talk to Elder Kern and he told me all about our old sector. He said that T. (our investigator who went to conference and who was going to church a lot) went to church yesterday and the baptismal service yesturday and then afterward told Elder Kern and Elder Prens that she feels ready and wants to be baptized. They set an official date for the 15th of June. They have really been befriending her and it sounds like she is going to be an amazing convert. She is involved with the young adults and she is showing just how much faith and action she has :D I was really stoked about that!!! The M. family is loving church and their sons, want to get involved in seminary, and they are all so involved. They don't have a baptismal date yet but they are going to do a temple tour this week and so hopefully that will work out and they can set a date :D I really feel that my influence is reaching out more than numbers can really show!!!!

Well, that's all for this week :) Love you all, Elder Bushman

Get well poster that I made for Elder Capuñay

Elder Capuñay was sick ... :(

4 generations: left to right, Elder Prens, Elder Kern, Elder Bushman, Elder Frost

Frost and Bushman

Elder Frost and I in a weird moment!

Elder Vorwaller ... I call him Big V

Elders Bushman and Kern

"True conversion comes through the power of the Spirit. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. When individuals, both members and investigators, feel the Spirit working with them, or when they see the evidence of the Lord's love and mercy in their lives, they are edified and strengthened spiritually and their faith in Him increases. These experiences with the Spirit follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word. This is how we come to feel the gospel is true."  ~ M. Russell Ballard, October 2000 "Now is the Time"

Yr. 2, Week 1: He is a Chosen Investigator

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, what a week! It was a good week, all things considered :) I am very happy to say that I got the family package :) YEAH!!! I am loving the music, although my companion Elder Kern is already sick of it...haha, but he is very patient! I've pretty much already eaten all the candy you guys sent me, it was very good!! :D I'm so very grateful for the journals, I've been trying to catch up on a few things that I've been short on! The dog buzzer/taser is fantastic!! Elder Osbon tries to use it on me...? :) Haha!!! All in all, fantastic! So the weather is starting to change ... finally! It's been quite cold these last few mornings and the temperature during the day isn't too hot. 

We have the coolest plans for General Conference. We all bought TONS of chocolate milk and tons of materials to bake cookies!! We're baking homemade cookies to eat during the sessions and we are going to order Papa John's between sessions!!! :D We are going to watch General Conference in English as much as we can. We are trying to invite everyone we can to go but we want them to sit with the members instead of us. Hopefully it works out! We are teaching an inactive returned missionary (went to Australia) and he accepted our invitation to go to G.C. He's coming with us to the priesthood session and said he wants to watch it in English! :) WHOOT!

Update on some people: that lady, N. who was a reference we got turned out to live in the Hermana's sector. I'm okay with that because the Hermana missionaries there are AMAZINGLY good and they are also in my same district so they keep us updated. Apparently they went by and N. was expecting my companion and I so she was quite confused... The sisters explained that they heard that she listened to a message from a few elders. She said yes!! The sisters said, "From Elder Bushman." The sister missionaries said that she was like, "Yeah, Elder Bushman" and then she let them in on the spot and now they are teaching her. I was really happy when I heard it!! :D The lady in the Netherlands will be there until like the start of June so I won't see her for a while.

So an amazing experience we had was with a guy named L. The Sunday before last Elder Kern and I were heading to an appointment we had when all the sudden this guy yelled, "Hey, give me something to read." He was sitting down on the inside of his front patio and was drinking and smoking. We gave him a pamphlet and started talking to him. He said he has felt really alone and with no purpose at all. I asked him, "What do you think your purpose is here." He said straight up, "I don't know... I feel like all I do is work." We explained a little bit of the nature of God and who we are as His children. We said we would explain more later and passed by the next day. He was so much happier when we passed by and we explained lesson 1, the Restoration and helped him understand that he can have eternal happiness if he follows Christ. He accepted a BofM and prayed with us. We've tried to teach during the week but he was always busy until we stopped by on Saturday and had a good lesson with him. We talked a bit about the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost and how we can know that this message is true. He again prayed with us and accepted our invitation to go to church. He didn't go (I assume he had to work) but we also invited him to be baptized when he knows that this is true and he readily said, "Yes I will." :) We truly believe that he is a chosen investigator and a man that God has been preparing for a while!! We're excited to see his progress.

One of the biggest things I am learning right now is who I want to be when I get back and what I want to do. I have a vision of myself magnifying my calling, sharing the gospel with people at work,etc., studying the scriptures faithfully, using my time on Sunday wisely, etc. I really want to go home converted from my mission, I know it is essential that I do, and I want to make sure that I am converted to what the mission taught me. That is the biggest lesson so far I think. 

 

Here in Chile, everything is pretty much double the cost of things up there in the States. Food is EXTREMELY expensive. A one liter carton of milk is like $1.50... Personal care products such as shampoo, soap, detergent, etc., is just a lot of money. I'm able to cover everything with what I have but in general things are expensive here. Some differences between here and the states are the fact that there are security guards in every grocery store, we have to tip the baggers, there are TONS of drunks just wasted in the street. Also, in the states we have to go to some sort of grocery store to get certain items, but here, you can get most everything you need from small little stores called "almacenes" that people just open up from their house. There is usually one within a two minute walk from your house. The construction of the houses is poor because most people do things themselves. If you want the job done right, you gotta pay big bucks to get a real workman to come in. Anyways, those are some small differences :) Haha! 

 

I've pretty much decided that I'm going to study business when I get home, get a masters with it, and a minor in Spanish. We'll see how it goes, but I'm ready! :D

Anyways, that's the letter for the week! Keep living guys and I love you all!

Elder Bushman

Week 50: I Wouldn't have Traded this for ANYTHING!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, this week has been a long one but a very good week as well. We are having a lot of difficulties with some of our BIG TIME investigators so to speak. We weren't able to meet with F. all week and he didn't go to church, so we don't even know what's up with him. We found out today that the sister and niece of a recent convert in the ward next to ours doesn't want to talk to us anymore ... that kinda sucks. Also, we weren't able to visit P. and T., and T. didn't go to church. C. and her family were "really busy" this week so we didn't even visit them at all. We also visited a part member family and we were going to start teaching the 15 year old boy and reactivate the mom...but then they weren't there and we'll have to try and visit next Saturday. We visited with the A. family and had a good lesson but they said they would "do everything possible" to go to church...they didn't. Anyways, I'm not mad or discouraged because we really worked hard this week and we are being obedient and everything. I'm actually very pleased with this last week because we saw quite a few miracles :) So, now that we got all of the negative stuff out of the way, now I can focus on the dope stuff!!!

On Monday we made cookies, Elder Kern and I, and we took them to the Á. family in our ward, the family that gave us all of that food. We wanted to visit with the whole family but it turns out that the dad and daughter were there. They were SOOOO happy and though it was a tiny act of service in return, they were SOOO grateful that we walked for forever to get the cookies to them and that we had made them :) Anyways, their daughter, C., is going to BYU this fall so she asked me questions when she and her dad dropped us off in their car at our lesson! :) Really awesome family!!!

Well this week we found some sweet new investigators!!! The other day we were going through a list of old members and we went to a house we'd never seen before. We talked to a lady who told us the people we are looking for didn't live there...DANG we thought but then we started sharing our message with this family! She invited us in (there wasn't a man at home so we just sat in her patio) and we talked with her and her daughter (the mom is V. and the daughter is V.). They were both SOOO interested and they were so excited for us to come back! She also said that her mom (who wasn't home at that moment) was going to just love talking with us. It's really cool because just 5 doors down lives J. and C., the less-actives we just reactivated! C. and V. are the same age and they both have very similar family situations! :) Anyways, we are going to go back tomorrow to visit them so we are really excited :) That day I was really feeling down but I decided to be happy and positive and our loving Heavenly Father placed these wonderful people in our path! :)

So about a month ago a drunk stopped us and started talking to us about a bunch of weird stuff and then he said come by my house. So we said "Yeah sure" and we wrote down his address. We never went by and we saw him several other days just absolutely drunk and crazy so we were a little wary about passing by. Then the other day we talked with him and gave him a pamphlet and we promised we would go by. His name is J. and we went by the other day. He was sober and we had a good conversation about what he wants, what we want to help him accomplish, and what he'll need to do. We also taught him this morning and he promised to keep all of the Word of Wisdom laws until we go by his house on Wednesday. He also said he would go to church with us. I'm not sure what will come of this future investigator but he is quite sincere and if he stops drinking we could see some decent progress.

I'm going to be sending a recording soon so in that recording it will talk a little bit about what happened last night :)

I'm so very glad to be a missionary, I love my ward, I love my sector, and I am really enjoying everything! :) I've experienced the best and worst of times out here and I'm sure there are many in the coming months but I wouldn't have traded this for ANYTHING!!! :D I love you all, take care!

Elder Bushman 

 

We carried a couch from a member's home...we carried it like a MILE! UGH!

Well...I mastered the Rubiks Cube....CHECK!!!

 

Here is our church...

Here is our favorite completo shop!

“When we heed a silent prompting and act upon it without delay, out Heavenly Father will guide our footsteps and bless our lives and the lives of others.”
. . . . . . . . . . ~ Thomas S. Monson

Week 48: I'm Staying Again

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, today was changes and ... ... ... I'm staying again :) WITH my same companion! I'm going to remain with Elder Kern until April 21! This is my 8th change in my first sector and this is the MAX amount of time to be in your first sector so next change I'll be moving to a different sector; I just won't know which one until next change. Anyways, this also marks 5 changes with Elder Kern! :) We are excited because we will be together for General Conference again and be able to help a few more people hopefully get through the repentance process and partake of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Anyways, things are really good here. I'm grateful for another change in my first sector and we are looking for great things this change! Last week was a great week and I pray that it is the preview for our change! :D

So before I get to my letter I just gotta say that, no mom, I have not gotten the package yet. I'm not sure if it is still in CorreosChile or if it is in the mission office. No, I don't know. Hopefully on Wednesday I will get it :)

So as I said, this was a good week! We were able to have about 3 times the amount of lessons we had in the previous week and we really saw a lot of progress from people! We have several investigators who are on the point of progressing and breaking out but this week we only had one. A few months ago we were teaching a guy named F. He started to get busy with work so we hardly passed by at all for a long time. This last week though, all of the sudden, he has started showing a lot of interest and we were able to meet with him a bit. In the first lesson we told him that our goal is to help him repent and we explained how we repent and how it blesses us. We asked him what his goals were and we talked about how repentance makes those goals come to a reality. We've had several great lessons since then but the biggest success has been on his own. This week he has read through the first 5-6 chapters of the Book of Mormon, praying every day, constantly thinking about his goals and how he can follow Christ, and yesterday he went to church for all three hours. When we stopped by his house he said that he had just the BEST experience in church, that the members were so friendly and so happy to hear about his progress! He said he felt like a regular member!!! Yesterday we taught about the plan of salvation but showed the Mormon Message "A Secure Anchor!" We talked about how Christ is our companion and if we don't have him, we WILL fall. We talked about Christ's mission and how He will save us if we do our part, but only AFTER we do all we can do. At the end of the lesson he said that he doesn't want us to call him our friend anymore, but rather our brother. :D He is truly going through a great repentance process and if he continues down this path, he could be baptized and confirmed this change. :D We are taking him to the V's house tonight for a lesson!! Hopefully everything goes well!!!

So here are some answers to the questions for this week: we haven't been able to work with D. at all because he moved back to Peru and he won't be coming back! Elder Kern and I are both sad but from all accounts it seems like he is doing well! :D We usually have lunch with several different members but when the members can't do it, we cook. And if there is no man in the house of the member, we go and pick up lunch. We haven't had any church tours except for last week when we had the Capilla Abierta, or the Open House for the Church. It went really well and we got a lot of references from it so hopefully those can work out! 

 

About two weeks ago we had interviews with President Wright. It was a good interview and he talked about how as a mission we can get even better at being obedient and he challenged me to be exactly obedient. We are working on it! We have zone conference this weekend and I am going to be participating in a musical number with two other elders. :) Hopefully it goes well! We are blessed to have access to the Liahona in English and Spanish! We usually just use them for studying but we also give them to investigators or less active members. We have been able to use the Bible Videos a lot and they are really powerful! We showed them to a less-active member and talked about the mission of Christ. He got so emotional and committed to going to church with us :D The average person in our sector for a man is a middle aged man in construction work clothes (type thing) but for a woman it is a middle aged woman or young girl pushing a stroller with a baby in it. Lots of people here in our sector work in construction or different types of factories. The employment rate is high but the jobs don't pay a whole lot. Chile has a large middle class but the difference between the middle class and the high class is HUGE!!!! 

 

Most people take public transportation in our sector but there are still a lot of people with cars! Yes I get enough to eat but I'm still losing some weight! I weighed myself today and I weighed 69 kilos, one kilo less than like 3 weeks ago... I'm like 152 pounds and I came on the mission at like 155 I think!... We just finished an English fast that lasted 40 days. During that whole time we planned and only talked in Spanish. Now, we are just going to be talking Spanish when we are out in the street! This week, the trial I experienced was probably teaching the zone class with Elder Schwartz. His companion is leaving and on the day of zone class he had to be in a meeting so E' Schwartz called me up and asked me to help him teach the class. I was quite stressed and we were running around a lot but I was able to overcome it through lots of prayer and accepting the Lord's will...

Last night we had a crazy experience. We went to the house of a future investigator. The wife wasn't home (we were going to meet with her) but her husband was there so he let us in to talk for a second. I went to the bathroom real quick when we went in, but I could hear this man asking all sorts of in your face questions to my companion. I left the bathroom and he was asking us questions, basically trying to find fault in the doctrine and in the church. We shared the message of the Restoration for about 15 minutes and invited him to read the BofM and pray. He said that he would have to talk to his pastor. I told him that was fine but before making any decision he should pray to God for an answer and a confirmation of the truth of what he would read. We continued asking questions but we kept just trying to turn everything to the Restoration and how we need to gain of testimony of it. Throughout the whole lesson I felt as though the Spirit was guiding our words and actions and everything. We were only able to answer the questions and "not be confounded before men" because we were following the spirit and teaching simply. I'm not sure what will happen with the family but I know we testified with the spirit and that he felt it. We'll see but I'm glad we chose to testify in the conversation instead of intensify the conversation.

There were many other great experiences but these are the ones that stand out! Anyways, take care, love you all! Talk to ya'll next week :)

Love,
Elder Bushman

P.S. Here is a photo of a SICK dessert we made as a pension! Ice cream, a huge brownie, and a huge sliver of a big nobake cookie!!! :D TO DIE FOR!!! 

"A missionary's spiritual preparation will be strengthened by better family home evenings, by improved teaching in the Aaronic Priesthood and auxiliary organizations, by attendance at seminary and institute, by going to the temple to be baptized in behalf of the dead, by encouragement to read the Book of Mormon." - Gordon B. Hinckley

Week 47: I Felt on Fire Because I Knew that we Taught by the Spirit!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, I wanted to say congrats to John and Karla and Family on the new baby!! Whoohoo!! :) Another Cousin!! Haha, man, October will be here in NO time!! What are we at right now? How many cousins are we??? (29) Anyways, things have been going decently well. This last week was tough again, but we are still grateful and excited for the wonderful experiences we had.

So today for P-day, we had the craziest party. We had a big barbeque as a zone and some of the elders from the office and the assistants came! Also, Elder Frost and his companion came! :) Yeah boy!!! In addition to the barbeque, we also played soccer and basketball! It was so fun! :D It was also really fun to catch up with Elder Frost! He is just awesome! It'll be such fun hanging out with him after the mission :D

So a cool experience real quick! This week I went on divisions with Elder Schwartz (a great guy, friend of Todd Baer). We had about five appointments that day and I worked especially hard the night before to get members to come with us to these appointments. Four of them fell through... I felt bad that Elder Schwartz and I were seriously just walking around trying to visit with someone for literally 5 1/2 hours. Finally, at the end of the day we had a lesson with a couple, L. and L. The wife is about to leave on a trip to the Netherlands so when we got there she was really busy trying to get her hair all done. I thought, "No, not again. The cherry on top of the evening." We talked to L. (the husband) for a little bit and explained that we have a small message to share. Suddenly L. (the wife) burst into the room (still with a whole mess of hair stuff trailing her) and said, "I am so sorry that I look so horrible, but I wanted to hear your message!" L., L., and the hair stylist (N.) sat down and listened to our message. We centered it around families and the spirit was so strong. We were asking questions like crazy and teaching so well (I credit it all to the spirit). The member we brought shared his testimony about his parents being sealed in the temple and we ended by sharing the hymn "Familes can be Together Forever." L. wants to watch the video "Together Forever" and his daughter comes home soon so we are going to show them both. Also, N. was so interested that she gave us her information and was willing to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been restored :) Amazing lesson! I felt on fire because I knew that we taught by the spirit!!!!

Here are some answers to the questions from this week:

(Is it starting to cool down yet?) So right now it is still hot but we can tell that the weather is changing because there has been an unusual number of overcast cool days of late, with means we are heading into fall...WHOOHOO!!! :) Finally!!! 

(Have you had any problems with fleas or other bugs?) About two weeks ago I woke up with about 20 bug bites on my body that just jerked me sideways in a bad way. I was itching the whole day so I put some terrashield on my bed and took a good shower. Since then I haven't had any problems. Elder Kern woke up one day and felt itchy as well. That night, we came home and he had big splotches of red with white centers ALL OVER his body. He had two really rough nights but we went to the doctor and all things seem well now. :) Fortunately!!! 

(How is your health? You haven't mentioned anything for a long time...) Health wise I am doing great! 

(How are all your clothes holding up?) My clothes are doing well! The shirts I have been using are starting to be really yellow and fall apart, those are mostly just the short sleeve ones. I still have three, unused shirts in my suitcase so next summer I will start using those with the good shirts I still have. When fall is really here, I'm tossing the bad shirts. The shoes Dad and I bought when I was like 15 or 16 are starting to really fall apart! They still look presentable but the insides are trashed. I am making them last to my year-mark though :D (What do you look forward to the most?) I usually look forward to my studies during the day! I really like to study and learn new things. I've really been expanding my knowledge of the Bible while connecting scriptures to my Book of Mormon. It's cool because when Elder Frost left, I've only been using my Spanish scriptures and it has really helped me know my proselyting scriptures better. In regards to the temple, I think I am going to try and go around my birthday, maybe I'll try and go with Elder Frost again, who knows! :) Haha! (Once someone becomes a Zone Leader, is he always a Zone Leader?) Usually the Zone Leaders will stay in that spot until the end of the mission but sometimes they are made Assistants or receive other assignments throughout the mission. It really just varies but generally Zone Leaders are Zone Leaders for the rest of the mission.  

(What has each of your companions taught you? If you could choose one thing that you have really learned from them, what would it be?) Elder Frost really taught me to work hard and to be obedient. He taught me to do my best and then be satisfied with the results. Elder Kern has taught me to love the people and to look more for their needs. He has also taught me patience and positivity!

Well, that's basically the week! Take care everyone; love you all :)

Elder Adam Bushman

"Here's a project that I worked on this week. It's a map about the Book of Mormon and the Bible! We've used this in our lessons and it has been awesome! (Written and Designed by Elder Adam Bushman)"

He was the boss BBQ'er at home - now he is in Chile. Love the photo-bombing Elders!

“Missionary work is an identifying feature of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Always has it been; ever shall it be. As the Prophet Joseph Smith declared, 'After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.' ”  ~Thomas S. Monson