Yr. 2, Week 28: Here's the Catch...He's Not With me Right Now

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, Elder Thomas is getting into his grave and Elder Frost is adjusting the top on his coffin. I cannot believe that it's over for them. I'm happy that they finished the mission 100% and that they are starting another stage. But I'm going to miss them! :S

So I know you all are probably DYING to know about my new companion...well, that's actually quite a story. Now get comfortable, this is gonna take half your evening ;) Haha! So my new companion is named Elder Laurentino... He is from Fortaleza, Brazil! :) He was in the same zone as me in La Florida and was also in my district for one change! We did divisions and he is great. I love that guy! HOWEVER, here's the catch...He's not with me right now. Two days ago, Elder Laurentino contracted the Chicken Pox and is now just dying (because he's super sick, not really dying). The problem is Elder Nelson, one of our pension roommates, has never had the chicken pox. So, in order to avoid getting Elder Nelson also sick, they are leaving Elder Laurentino is his sector for two weeks until he is fully recovered and I am going to be with the missionary that is replacing Elder Laurentino for two weeks. So, a little about the replacement elder and in two weeks I'll tell ya'll more about Elder Laurentino: Elder Pirir. From Eagle Mountain, Utah. He has a few more months in the mission than me but he is a good guy, a little quiet, but funny and very pleasant. These two weeks are going to go by real quick with him!!! :D Anyways, I'm happy about this change. Elder Laurentino is probably going to be my last companion in the mission...I'm happy about that! :D Haha!

Responses to Dad's questions:

     The leadership positions in the mission are senior companion, trainer, district leader, zone leader, and assistant to the president. I have been a senior companion for most of the mission, I was a trainer for two changes when Elder Kern was my companion, I was a district leader for seven changes, and I am going on my third change as a zone leader. 

     I did get to watch conference, LIVE and IN ENGLISH! It was sweet, I really liked it. Like you dad, one of my favorite talks was "Which Way do you Face?" because it talked a lot about things that people say EVERY DAY here in Chile and he also came down here and we had a conference with Elder Robbins. I also LOVED Elder Holland's talk. It showed me that I can ALWAYS be doing something to lift the spirits of the poor and lighten their burden. I need to put them in Christ's shoes because Christ spent the majority of his life...homeless. There's a song I like called homeless and one of the verses says, "He came down to earth to lead us, I know He'll never leave us, Homeless, Homeless, For in His love there is a home."

Responses to Mom's questions:

     1. How many miles do I walk per day? ... Hmmm, in Gabriela, we probably walk 3-4 miles but in La Florida 3 we walked probably close to 6-7.

     2. I think my Spanish is doing pretty good. I'm almost finished with the practices in the book you sent me and there is another grammar book that I found burried in the pension and I decided to do the practices in that one as well. I speak well, I write well, I read well, but I don't translate very well. My goal is to be able to speak good, write good, read good, and translate good in Spanish. I have six months (kinda) to do it. I'm going to have a latin companion for the rest of the time so I'm going to try and get the most out of it as possible. I want to be able to get maybe a minor in Spanish at BYU and pair that up with whatever I'm going to be studying. I'm also going to try and get a headstart on Portugese with Elder Laurentino! 

     3. F. is still going strong in her testimony but N. is kinda having a tough time. F. says that her mom is getting better and in the near future will probably let her get baptized. Also, Elder Thomas and his parents are going to have dinner with their family Wednesday night so that also might help some things out :)

     4. It is starting to get warmer down here. Today was very hot but it's good. The winter wasn't too mild but I already knew what was coming so I guess that's why I didn't make a big deal about it :) Haha! This summer is going to be SUPER HOT though, I'm probably going to get home with a missionary tan :S

     5. I'm not sure if the vitamins made a difference... I couldn't really tell so for that reason I would say not to send another box. Maybe my body is beyond repair, maybe you need more than 30 days to see a difference, IDK... I feel bad that you sent me those and I didn't even notice the difference... Sorry :S

     6. I was thinking about Christmas and I think I would like it if you didn't send me anything. Use the money that you would've used on the package and the supplies you would've sent down and give it to someone less fortunate. Maybe you could put the money in the fast offerings, or ask the bishop about a struggling family, or buy things with it to give to people, IDK. However, I want to answer to someone's pleas just as Christ answers mine (Elder Holland). Then, give me a report for Christmas of what you guys did :) And, if you all send me sweet letters I would be stoked :D

Well, there's not much to report about. Things are going good, investigators are progressing SLOWLY, the converts are great, and I loved conference! Next one will be at home :S

LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder Bushman

Elder Frost Heading Home

Big V at Changes

Reunited with Elder McGary

This is Elder Frost's posterity: Elder Frost...Elder Bushman...Elder Kern...Elder Prens...Elder Brown                                                                                                             ...Elder Hulet

This is the four people that were in Consistorial/Violeta Cousiño and the Farias family from that sector :D

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 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 39: It was like Nothing I've ever Seen

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope everybody had a WONDERFUL New Years Eve and that you are all enjoying the first part of 2014!!!!! Whoohooo!!!! So I've heard a little bit about all of your guy's festivities for the new year but let me tell a little bit of ours. From my perspective, New Years Eve down here in Chile seemed like a bigger deal than Christmas....WOW huh. Seriously though, people completely bought out the stores, bought out the liquor stores, bought TONS of fireworks, and had so many pool parties, so many barbeques, so much music, and played so much soccer. Anyways, it was like nothing I've ever seen BUT, those were the worldly festivities so here's what we did: basically the whole day we were working and we were able to get a few lessons so that was awesome. Our district class was also on the 31st so we had some fun and everything. We were able to contact a lot of future investigators and so we are really, really excited about that; lots of prepared families, couples, and individuals. At night everyone was just partying so there was no work so we went home at about 9:15 instead of about 9:45 like normal. We got some good planning in and had some fun with Elder Lee and Elder Cottrell. We watched all of the fireworks outside of our window and took some New Years photos ... :) All in all, a pretty sweet celebration :D

So we didn't have the baptism for J. because she had to work in the morning on Sunday but everything is set for this Sunday; all the plans are ready, she is excited, we are stoked, and we are working with the V. family and the bishop this week to help her prepare. :) So the family with the three sons, the A. family is pretty good. The mom said she doesn't know if the dad is going to keep listening but ALL of the boys run up to us in the street and talk and stuff so it's really cool. We have a lesson with them on Tuesday and we are going to try and bring some members and invite the three boys to be baptized :) It should be REALLY cool =D We usually try and get about 15-18 lessons a week. Last week we got 16 lessons but lots of the appointments we had set up fell through so we think we can get up to 20 this week :) As for the things I wish I had known before I came on my mission: I wish I had known more about the most effective ways to do missionary work in our mission, how the people talked, and their customs. I wish I had taken with me Spanish scriptures marked up BEFORE the mission :) OH, and a freaking HUGE fan!! :D In my Valentine's Day package I would love a few things (1. a dog buzzer, ya know, like that little hand held thing that sends out a high pitched frequency that only dogs can hear. Yeah, I need one of those. Elder Kern and I were walking and almost got bit bad by a dog...luckily we had Elder Cottrells buzzer that he loaned us; otherwise, we would have been toast! 2. *Mini SD cards with music on them ... our phone can take them and if you put music on the cards, I could just use the phone as a player and use the speakers I have! Well there isn't a ton of sightseeing here but yeah, we are going to try and go to a few places :) One of my favorite scriptures to share with people is Moroni 7:12-13... I like using this when talking about the spirit and staying on the strait and narrow path. I still am way nervous to just talk to people and start up conversations. 

So one of the coolest things that happened this week was yesterday. We were heading to an appointment with this one woman and her daughter (we found her daughter when we had that lesson with that huge group of kids) and we were bringing David. Anyways, we get there....NOBODY. UGH, that is the worst, but we tried visiting some other people with no real success. Anyways, I suddenly got a thought to visit a guy named H. who promised to come to church but when we went to get him, he wasn't there when we went by. Anyways, we went by and found out he went to church by himself but we didn't see him. I think he accidentally went to the other ward and just for sacrament meeting. He said he really liked it and he would definitely go again BUT, that wasn't the cool part. We started to talk about the nature of God and the mission of Jesus Christ and the atonement and our eternal potential and then he started telling us a lot of his problems, mainly about the guilt he has had from past mistakes and the lack of direction he has in his life. We told him that his sins could be washed away through Christ and baptism and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can fill the holes we have in our life. He accepted to be baptized and so when we go back and talk about the Restoration, we are going to set a date. After the lesson, I got a call from the woman with whom we had the first appointment. She said we could come back on Wednesday and that she was excited for us to come. It showed me that the hand of the Lord was in that appointment falling through and in the Spirit guiding us to H's house so we could help one of His sons. :) I really thought that was neat.

Well, that's about it for this week! I will send recordings, and photos next week because right now the USB isn't working on this computer. Anyways, take care, LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Elder Bushman

"It is not necessary for you to be called to go into the mission field in order to proclaim the truth. Begin on the man who lives next door by inspiring confidence in him, by inspiring love in him for you because of your righteousness, and your missionary work has already begun." - George Albert Smith

Week 36: When you are Sharing the Gospel, ASK QUESTIONS!

Dear Family and Friends,

So just this last weekend was changes and the verdict is...I'm staying again, and so is Elder Kern, and so is Elder Lee, and so is Elder Cottrell :) YEAH!!!! WHITE TRASH PARTY FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! Haha, just a joke we use to describe our pension of 4 gringos! :D Congrats to my trainer, Elder Frost, who is going to be a ZONE LEADER IN LAS CONDES!!!! YEAHHH!!!!! :D 

So I am so glad everybody is well and that everybody is having the time of their lives and that everything is great. Lots of stuff happened this week so I'm just going to dive right in.

So today I made the sweetest lunch. I made spaghetti noodles, put two fried eggs on top, a hamburger patty, squirted cream cheese on top, poured spaghetti sauce with hot sauce mixed in over it, and put a huge dolop of mayo on top.!!!!! OH, it was fantastic, and to top it off with a big ol pitcher of Huesillo juice! :) I was in heaven. Pictures are coming shortly!

So one of our good lessons today was with O. We had planned to go in and teach the last part of the plan of salvation but when we got in there it didn't feel right and so we asked her questions and she opened up to us about some problems that she is having with here aunt that she lives with. We compared her burdens and trials to those of Alma and his people in Mosiah 22 when they are in bondage to the Lamanites under Amulon. Anyways, it was a really spiritual lesson because we applied it to her life. She is still a little wary about baptism but we found out that if she knew that the BofM was true, she said she would get baptized right away! :) So now we are working on that! We never would have known that if we didn't ask her questions. So when you are sharing the gospel, ASK QUESTIONS! :D

So on Sunday we did a zone Christmas choir. We all got together as a zone and practiced about 6 songs to sing and then we all went over to the nearby metro station and performed. Some of the choir members passed out cards and talked to people so it was really, really fun! Me, another elder, and two sister missionaries did a quartet to the song "Away in a Manger" (sent you guys the recording). The choir was really awesome and we all had fun and felt the spirit SOOOO much. It was so worth it and I am so glad we decided to do it. 

So some answers to questions:

My most spiritual lesson was probably last night when we visited a less active lady named N. She has been inactive for probably more than 20 years I would say and hasn't been inside the church in a very long time. She's pretty much forgotten everything. We talked to her last night about the Plan of Salvation, what will happen after death, and the love of God. We invited her to read a passage in the Book of Mormon and she said she would. Next lesson we are bringing her best friend, who is a member, to come help us out :) I'm super stoked!!!

A miracle that I saw this week was probably when we sang. There were a lot of people who stopped to listen and accepted cards but also a lot of people who straight up refused cards and walked right past. The people here in Santiago are tough and hard people but it was a miracle that lots of people were open and were soft and were Christ centered enough to take a few moments and be filled with the spirit :)

I have started the 12 ways and I LOVE IT! :) I'm implementing the things as much as I can! :) Thanks so much!!!

You want a recording in Spanish? Ugh, that is so embarrassing... Maybe next week...

My testimony was strengthened this week by studying the scriptures. I've really been dedicated to writing quotes and thoughts in my scriptures, really studying them :) I love it and I know they are powerful and change lives :) I could study for hours and today I was studying for about 2 hours!!! My favorite thing is talking with the elders in my pension right before going to bed about doctrine, scriptures, and experiences :) 

I saw God's hand when we left our pension and our appointments started to fall through but God put other people in our path so that we could meet our goals and have some really meaningful lessons :)

Elder Kern and I joke around and talk about things! I think that is probably our biggest strength, that we are good friends and we talk about things that bug us so we always have the spirit :D

That's all for this week!

Love,

Elder Adam Bushman

"The spirit of Christmas is indeed the Christ spirit."
. . . . . . . . ~ Thomas S. Monson 

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 32: Are we God's Golden Investigators?

Dear Family and Friends,

What a week! In some ways it was crazy fast and in other ways it was a little slow. There were soooo many meetings, so many crazy experiences, etc. Anyways, it was been a week to remember :) Thank you soooo much mom for sending those packages to me! AH, I feel so blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family and I am looking forward to talking at Christmas =)

Haha, first off, I'll start to talk about Elder Holland's visit to Santiago, Chile :) So last Tuesday, Elder Lee, Elder Cottrell, Elder Kern, and I all got up at 4:00 a.m...we took showers the previous night so all we had to do was get dressed, call the taxi, and leave... We got to the stake center at 4:45 a.m...the meeting started at 10:00 :D Haha, the sector in which is located the church is called La Reina and there are two sister missionaries who are in my district that work there and had keys, so they opened it up at 4:30 and so we got front row seats right by the door Elder Holland would enter in through. So we waited a whole long time but it was so worth it. About an hour before Elder Holland showed up they told us we had to evacuate our bench because it was "reserved"...I thought, you got to be kidding me. So, the sisters in our district let us squeeze in on their bench...which was on the first row too. Anyways, Elder Holland showed up and it was fantastic!!!! :) He came quick and left quick so we didn't get handshakes or photos or anything. But, we got his words and the spirit, so that was dope! Here are some of his thoughts:

He opened his talk saying, "Wow, I'm really pumped up right now! I'm, I'm ready to go, I'm like bouncing off the walls and flying through the roof right now!" Haha, he gave us some good laughs! Some other things he said were, "I'm really old. I helped Noah build the Ark, okay. I got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, so, I don't have much time left!" HAHAHAHA!!!! He was talking a bit about how we do not stop the mission when the mission stops, we keep going. He said that if any of us stopped, he said, "I'll hunt you down, I'll let the air out of your tires, I'll put pepper in your empanadas, alright! You won't like it, I promise." :) haha, there were many, many more funny things he said and it was fantastic. Now, a couple of spiritual thoughts and inspirations: 

He said that the power to translate the Book of Mormon was the first great gift Joseph Smith received and he wasn't able to receive any more tools or gifts until he learned to appreciate, use, and complete the task of the girft of translating he received. It is the same way for us as members of the church. Until we learn to appreciate, use, and fulfill the purpose of the Book of Mormon in our own lives, we will not receive any more tools or gifts. He also said that the church is at a vertical slope right now, it's progressing, it's getting better at a vertical slope!!! We as members and missionaries need to progress and get better at the same slope or we will be left behind in the dust and will forfeit the blessings that come. He made us a promise that if we forfeit these blessings, chances are the Lord will never give us a second opportunity to receive and enjoy them. He talked a little bit about why it is so hard in the work of salvation and missionary work. Why don't people flock to the font? Why doesn't everyone just run to the missionaries? Why isn't the only worry we have in the mission field that of getting pneumonia from being in the water all of the time? The answer is this: "Salvation is not a cheap experience." He said, "How can we expect it to be easy for us if it was never easy for Christ. All of us will have to pass through Gethsemane, even for a moment, and experience a little bit of what Christ did." Elder Holland said that that is a price that most people aren't willing to pay. Just as we get frustrated with investigators who don't progress, we are God's investigators and He gets frustrated when we don't progress. We must ask ourselves: "Are we God's golden investigators??" It was a fantastic meeting and I have had a lot to think about and improve! It was amazing :)

After Elder Holland's talk we ended and I got to talk with Elder Frost for a bit, Elder Hunt (awesome guy who used to be in my pension and was Elder McGary's trainer), all the guys from the MTC especially Elder Paxman! He is training along with Elder Rice and are just amazing guys! They are doing so well in their missions :) Haha, it makes me soooo happy! Anyways, I also got to talk with Elder Cruz from the MTC, Elder Pagalo, Elder Cuadros, etc. Anyways, it was really, really fun but we've been dead this whole week from getting up so early on Tuesday. The good thing is we wake up on time every day and today I took a little nap so I could catch up. Haha, anyways, AWESOME!

So, in our news, I got my FIRST KISS in the mission field!!! Now don't get alarmed, I will explain. We went to a future investigator family's house and as well yelled at the gate, it swung open and this random guy walked out with a huge smile on and his arms out wide! He walked quickly toward me saying, "HOLA! ¿CÓMO ESTAI MI ROSITO?" -- That pretty much means he was asking how his little cute boy or something was. Anyways, wierd right...not even. He then grabbed my face and planted a huge, wet, drunk kiss right on my cheek and walked away laughing. UGH! Gross...... Anyways, that was lame :S Hahaha!!! But, it makes for a pretty good story I suppose.

Everything is going well for our baptism coming up on the 24th of November with D. so we are really excited about that! We had a sweet lesson with O. where we invited her to be baptized. Again she said she wanted to but she wasn't sure on the date...it was a fantastic lesson and Elder Kern and I are both convinced that she will accept a date very soon! :) Anyways, there wasn't much other stuff that went on this week, a few things here and there but not a TON of stuff. 

Anyways, right now I'm studying the goodness of God,or La Bondad de Dios and how that applies to the Book of Mormon and why we need to read it... Look up these scriptures and see what I've been studying: 1 Nephi 1:1, 1 Nephi 5:4, 1 Nephi 6:3-4, and Alma 26:3. :) Really cool stuff and it has been fun reading and studying and writing my thoughts in all Spanish and stuff!! :) Whohoo! 

Anyways, that's all for this week! Hope you all enjoy everything that's happened! Love you!

Elder Adam Bushman

PS - Wow...everyone is just getting so big and growing up! Haha, I'm excited to see everyone for our Skype call :). I got Susie's package! Haha, yup, it went through WW1, WW2, and WW3 on the way over...but I got it! The package was wrecked but the stuff inside was fine :)= WHOOHOO!!! Well, there are only one pair of pants that fit me really well...all the others are big on the waist. I feel like I've lost weight and muscle. I'm just a little shrimp out here, haha! :)

Elder Bushman and Elder Kern at 5:00 AM :D

The stake center with over 1,000 missionaries 

Four generations: Elder Kern, Bushman, Frost, and Cofré

Week 25: All I Could Have Asked For

Dear Family and Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

Love you all!

Elder Adam Bushman

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

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

Week 22: We're Working Hard

Hey family and friends! 

Things went well this week! ... All except the baptism we were going to have. That was the bummer of the week. More on that below. It's getting quite hot now with the weather changing a ton and the time change. It's 5:00 p.m. here now so when we Skype for Christmas, there will be a 4 hour time difference... But everything is good! :) We're working hard and helping lots of people so that's really good!

Congratulations to Allyson on her mission call! Independence Missouri, wow, my companion's mom went there on her mission. What a coincidence :) Mom, when does she leave? Give her my best :D Haha, yup, technically 5 months out into the mission today...the time is flying when I look at it from behind, but slightly intimidating when I look at it into the future. I try not to think about the time but it's hard sometimes. Oh well, I'm enjoying myself and I'm concentrated on the work! :) Wow, crazy about Ben P's mission! How's he doing? How is Hannah P doing? She's coming up on 9 months, halfway through her mission!!!! CRAZY :S Haha! Nope...I didn't get any mail, no letters, packages, nothing :( Hopefully this week. I did talk to Sister Wright and she told me to get some stuff from the pharmacy, so I did. I haven't seen many results yet from the stuff she told me to do but I'm just trying to be patient. (Problems with his feet) There is only one sector that uses bikes in my mission and it is where my buddy is, Elder Paxman. In my sector we walk everywhere. Often times when going to district classes or other places of that nature we use the Micro (or the bus) and the Metro (the Subway). Public transportation is very nice and updated here but the drivers are nuts and there are SOOOOO many people...it's crazy at times! I've almost fallen over in buses before :S Elder Frost is doing good! He hits one year in three days!!! He's pretty excited for that! Spanish is okay... I'm not dreaming in Spanish yet. Elder Frost says I'm getting better and that I would cruise through Spanish classes back home, but every day there is something new I didn't understand, someone new I didn't understand, and something new I messed up on and didn't know. But I'm working hard to learn it so maybe I'm just not meant to have a very expansive knowledge of Spanish... Idk... but if they have any questions, tell them to email me and I'll do my best (his siblings) :) Yeah I'm warm...too warm, haha! The shoes and clothes and everything are great! The hardest thing is to keep my white shirts clean. But I might have found a really good way to wash them... We'll see! :)

So we were all set for the baptism of J. this week but on Monday when we did a family home evening she said she didn't feel prepared, ready, or that she had received an answer to her prayer...the complete OPPOSITE of what she said the last time we went to her house. We tried to work through it with her but in the end we just told her she's going to have to make the decision. We haven't talked to her since (she hasn't been home) but we're going to try again today! Anyways, after that lesson I felt very discouraged because I was wondering what I did wrong in teaching her...what I need to work on and could've done better to help her get baptized. Then I realized that Elder Frost and I taught her everything she would have to know and do to be baptized, she just didn't put in all of the work necessary... Hopefully people will be better prepared in the future.

One funny thing that happened today was when a dog almost gobbled me up. We were walking down the sidewalk and all of the sudden a big German Shepherd stuck his head and arms through the bars of the fence and about took off my right arm. Whew, it was scary. I jumped back and mumbled, "Judas Priest!" My comp busted out laughing because the same thing happened to him about a week before, haha! The dogs down here are CRAZY! 

Well, that's about all for the week! Take care everyone, love you!

Elder Adam Bushman

 

And more personally he wrote in response to our letters:

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! I was laughing so hard during the letter! The letter was awesome! I love reading the weekly letters :) The Jell-O story is classic, freaking John, hahaha! Ben is just soooooo hilarious! Ah, how cool, you all are doing so very well it makes me so happy that my prayers are being answered :) Love you all! Well mom, count on my help for lots of stuff when I get back. I've been getting a much clearer view of things out here and I feel very bad for some of the grief that I gave you guys about doing stuff and that I didn't help out more... I guarantee you'll see a difference in me when I come back home :) A difference for the better! Keep on trucking mom, you are soooo great!

"Missionary activity is the responsibility of all members. My brothers and sisters, I call upon you to organize yourselves and your families and bring the gospel to your neighbors and your friends."  - Spencer W. Kimball

Week 17: They've Returned to Complete Activity in the Church

Dear Family and Friends,

"How sweet it is to...HAVE P-DAY!" :) Hahahaha!!! I love P-day, just so I can talk to you all and get some cool communication. It's really neat! 

Anyways, first, a shout-out to my companion, Elder Frost! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :D His birthday was this last Saturday, August 3rd, and boy did we have fun. First off, at 12:00 a.m. I jumped on his bed and started singing happy birthday (he was still awake mind you). Elder Cuadros and Elder Pagalo came it and started singing and having fun with Elder Frost. My comp finally broke down and opened up all of his presents. We even lit candles and blew them out over some brownies he got. We went to the temple and did a session together early that morning. It was really, really neat! :) Just really fun! We had a cake at a members house later that day, then went to another member's place for a surprise dinner and cake. We even did a Peruvian tradition where they crack three eggs on top of the birthday boy's head with flour. Haha, fun stuff :) I love that Peruvian family! We went to the mall today and I bought Elder Frost some sweet socks for his birthday (he wanted those socks so it was a good gift!).

That was the big thing for the week!! The other good things that have happened is that we've reactivated about 5 families/people over the past 2-3 weeks. They've returned to complete activity in the church. Now we are just strengthening them! The only part that I don't like is that people think that sacrament meeting is the only important part. We're trying to change that, so hopefully!!

So about Spanish... At times I think I am doing terrible... At other times I think I am doing pretty good... Honestly I don't know. Elder Frost says I can speak and understand better than he could when he had the same time in the mission (and he had a Chilean companion as a trainer). Our Peruvian friend, David, says I speak very well and says that I should really take off and get good this next change. Other members have complimented me on my Spanish and our Zone Leaders said they were talking about how good I am with so little time in the mission. So I believe I am doing good but I don't want to just be good, I want to be really good. It's hard to have patience with myself. But, I'm trying and trying and trying!! :)

This weekend is changes and we don't know who will stay or who will go or if we'll both stay or if we'll both go. So, we'll just have to see. I'm actually just going to accept whatever. If Elder Frost stays here, I'll be really happy and excited for another change with him and the opportunity to be together for his year mark and for my b-day! If I get a new companion, I hope he is a latino so I can get better at Spanish. Anyways, come what may :)

One cool thing I have learned out here is a scripture from 3 Nephi 14. Christ talks about prayer and how it is a commandment to ask for things from our Father in Heaven. He likens it unto gifts. He says that nobody would give their child a stone if they asked for a bread. That would be stupid and horrible. Also, nobody would give their child a serpent if they asked for a fish. That's just cruel and wouldn't make sense. So now if we, imperfect human beings, know how to give good, rational, beautiful gifts to our children when they ask for them, how much more is God, a perfect, immortal being, willing to give us amazing gifts and bless us when we just need the faith to ask. NEVER be afraid to ask... :) It's a commandment!

I'm a little worried because the Chilean Mail system is closing down. They are going on strike... Don't know when they will reopen, when I will get mail next, nothing... They shut down on Tuesday until they get stuff sorted out :S

Well, I am glad everyone is safe and doing well! Take care, study the scriptures, improve your prayers, and never look for an excuse to get out of Church...ALWAYS look for the excuses to go and participate :)

Love you all!

Elder Adam Robert Bushman

Happy Birthday, Elder!

THE TEMPLE

 "Our Peruvian Buddy"  with Elder Bushman

Bowling!

"Each of us is responsible to bear witness of the gospel truths that we have been given. We all have relatives, neighbors, friends, and fellow workmen, and it is our responsibility to pass the truths of the gospel on to them, by example as well as by precept"  - Spencer W. Kimball