Yr. 2, Week 51: I am Forever Indebted and Grateful

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, a couple things mom: no I won't be writing next week. We do our changes and we have some free time but we aren't doing much and then they take us to the airport, so this will be the last time I write, just FYI. Also, don't worry about a calling card, we've survived 2 years, we can wait 4 hours more :) Plus, it'll make the reunion that much AWESOMER! :D 

Second, here's a little update on the week we had. A few highlights! ...

1. Our investigator L. is making EXCELENT progress. He's been alcohol free for a week and a half and has been reading the BofM (he's in chapter 8), he's praying with his wife, and we had two great visits this week with members from the ward. J and H.S. came with us and they both supported him a lot and really just made him feel GREAT! Anyways, we are super stoked for him, he's got a baptismal date for the 5th of April. I'm really excited to see the photo of his baptism. 

2. This week we visited the B. family twice and they were GREAT visits. The first one we were able to teach a bit about church and baptism and the BofM. They are reading so great. C. is in like chapter 6 of 1 Nephi, G. is in chapter 5 of 1 Nephi, D. is almost done with 2 Nephi. IT'S so awesome. The youngest boy C., D., and G. have baptismal dates for the 12 of April. We invited C. to be baptized and he accepted but we weren't able to commit him 100% for the 12th, but that's a job for this week. We had a sick lesson with G. last night where we read the BofM and talked about it. She told us about the change she feels in her family, the incredible spirit she feels in her home, and how much she loves the BofM. Anyways, it was amazing. I love that family! They will be baptized, if not on the 12th, soon after it :D Elder Deal and his new companion (?) are going to do a great job.

3. So we were FINALLY able to visit with D. and her family. Last week they told us that they had some doubts and that this and that and the other! This week we talked a little bit about God's will, and his commandments, and asking and receiving. We read 1 Nephi 2 and it just hit her hard. She prayed at the end and it her prayer she asked God to help her resolve her doubts but that above all that he helped her to do his will. It was awesome!

Everyone, Friends and Family, everyone I know! THANK YOU for your support and for writing me and for praying for me while I have been on the mission! I have felt your influence and I want you all to know that the mission has changed me and I am forever indebted and grateful to my Heavenly Father for this opportunity! May God bless you through His Son Jesus Christ as He has me. See you soon!

Elder Bushman

Elder Deal: "Mate overdosed Bushman! In reality he just fell asleep on the floor after daily planning and we posed him like that"

I FINISHED ALL THE PRACTICES IN THIS BOOK :)

This is the best dessert alive...in Chile that is! Haha!
Melón con Helado (melon with ice cream, nothing special, just AWESOME!!!)

Elder Kern and I last P-day of mine

Elder Deal and I last P-day (we played soccer and it was AWESOME)

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 36: It is just the Greatest Experience Ever

Dear Family and Friends,

A cool miracle from this week:

About 2 months ago when I went on a division with Elder Jara in our zone, we contacted a young guy by the name of A. He was cool and we had a good conversation. He gave us his contact information and we tried to go back that week but we weren't able. Turns out we weren't able to visit him for about a month and a half because we never found him at home, he never answered his phone, etc. Anyways, I still kept trying with Laurentino. Then a few weeks ago we had a lesson with him and it went really well and he seemed pretty excited to read the BofM. Then again, we lost contact. However, yesterday, we decided to pass by and we met with him and his mom and younger sister!! It was sweet because his mom, D and his sister, F, were AWESOME! We had a sick lesson and we have a return visit for this Saturday. D said she also wanted her other daughter, A, to get to know us so we are really, really excited because she could also be a new investigator :D Anyways, it was an answer to prayer and I believe they could be our next baptisms after R, O, and M :)

Another cool thing from this week was a lesson we were able to have with C and Y last night. We've been talking A LOT about the lesson of the Restoration with them because it is just SO HARD for C to grasp... We explain it as simple as possible with scriptures and everything but it's just HARD for him, haha, to put it simply! Anyways, when we were there Y said that she just couldn't keep it in any longer, but that for a few weeks she has been feeling the spirit when she prays, reads, and is with us and that she KNOWS and received another CONFIRMATION that the church is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet! It was awesome because she has also had lots of doubts. Now we just gotta work more with C and help him soften his heart. But it was a really cool experience and it just let me know that it's the feeling, nothing us, that helps us change and feel a surety that these things are true!

Another cool visit we had this week was with O and M. We set back their date for the 21st just because it's going to take a bit more time to teach them all the lessons. They both love church, they love reading the BofM, they pray, the love FHE, and they are excited for their baptism. O says she wants to feel a bit more prepared and she feels like praying and asking forgiveness will help here with that! I thought it was awesome and she is definitely going to be baptized on the 21st along with her daughter :D THEY ARE FABULOUS, a true example of a miracle in one family! 

Another absolute miracle from this week was R and P. This week they got married!!!!! Sort of. Haha, so weird thing about Chile, when you get married you go twice. One time to sign the paperwork, swear in, etc. And then the next part they do all the formal stuff (dress up, kiss, whatever). So, technically, according to Chile, they are married! We are so stoked. P. was ordained a Priest yesterday and called to be the Young Men's Secretary :D I was so stoked! Also, in a visit we had with them last night, R. stated CLEARLY that she is going to be baptized and that she is looking forward to it. Yesterday she got up and ran around waking everybody up and getting them ready for church :D I'm so very happy for them!

I'm really enjoying being with my companion! He's so awesome, I love him a lot :) Hahaha, he's trying to practice English and so when he says something and I start laughing and I tell him what he said, he just laughs. He's such a good sport about it all and he's just helping me out a ton! Anyways, things are going really good here! I really love this sector and I'm trying to learn a bit more Portuguese! I can say a prayer in Portuguese, so we'll see how much I can get down before going back home. Haha, I'd like to study Portuguese too, since Elder Laurentino wants me to visit Brazil one day (not to mention it wouldn't be bad for work if I knew a bit). 

Anyways, take care everybody! I love you all, you're amazing! I love this work, I'm working hard, I love the scriptures and I think it is just the greatest experience ever being out here. I think it's gonna be a bit hard to go home.

Love,

Elder Bushman

Yr. 2 - Week 10: They Invited 40 Friends and it was PACKED

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, the baptism and Sunday was the biggest thing that happened this week. The week was so calm and I wasn't stressed about the baptism at all. Our ward mission leader was awesome, he took care of the font, the program, etc. The ward had a lot of support, especially the primary who did a special FHE at the G. house on Monday about baptism. Anyways, Sunday was awesome. There was a great turn out at church and one of the members in the ward brought her friend and so we sat with them. It was fast and testimony meeting and the member bore her testimony which was awesome. Also, J.L. (C. and L's older brother) bore his testimony and lots of the primary and youth did the same. It was SOOO AWESOME, probably the best testimony meeting I've been in!!! The spirit was strong. 

For the baptism, the G's invited about 40 friends and it was PACKED. Most of them weren't members so it was even cooler. President and Hermana Wright came and just loved talking with the members and the G. family. They asked us all about our story and it was really neat. The actual ordinance was fantastic. Afterwards, L's friend said, "Man I wanna get baptized like that!!!" Then he asked me, "Is the water warm?" I said yes. "WOW," he said. We are going to start teaching him and his mom. Also, while waiting in the foyer. I saw a mom and her son walk in look around a big outside and then start to leave. I had never seen them before so I stopped to talk and she and her son M. were so interested that they said we could share a short message with them another day :) It was sweet, we'll see how that goes. L. and C. are so happy, it was great. We were talking to J. and he said to us, "Well Elders we did it... Now let's start to work!" :D YEAH BABY!!!! 

In the next few weeks we are going to be doing a play for missionary work as a ward. The youth are helping us do a play about the Plan of Salvation. It's pretty sweet so far but we'll see how it goes. We're applying a lot of cool ideas :) 

Elder Muzante and I are looking for more investigators. We are contacting, asking for references, and doing anything/everything possible to get some new investigators. Hopefully some of the G's friends and some other possibilities that we have will turn out so that we can get the ball rolling :D

So I got the package! THANKS SO MUCH! I love the calendar, I already hung it up! I'm learning to do the Rubiks Cube with one hand ;) We've been enjoying all the treats and thanks so much for the letters! I appreciate it so much family, for the sacrifice it is to send me stuff like this!!! You are the best, LOVE YOU ALL!

Anyways, that's pretty much our week! Things went well :) We're stoked for this upcoming change now that today is changes and we are staying...obviously! :D

Love you all, BYE!"!!

Elder Bushman

 

The Package Finally Made it!

Easter - Six Weeks Late

FYI - The yellow stuff is mayo (Ughhh)

Dinner is Served

Baptism Day!

The G. Family

My Pension

 "Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not an effort of once a week or once a day. It is an effort of Once And For All."
. . . . . . . .~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Week 49: We are Really Seeing Grand Changes in him

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, what a week! It has just been a week FULL of crazy surprises but also just amazing experiences :) My testimony has been strengthened this week a lot but also my resolve to be a better missionary and servant of the Lord. Congrats to Guillermo Luis Bustamante Simósa!!! He gave his farewell talk yesterday and heads into the field in a week! Love you Bro!!! So here are some sick experiences from my week:

Last Monday we had a really great FHE with F. at the V's house. We talked about Lehi's dream and more about being committed to the Lord. It was fantastic and we all left that FHE so spiritually nourished!!! F. went on and on about how great that family is and how bad he wants to get baptized. We haven't set a date yet because we need to resolve some things but he has the desire and up until now he has had the works to prove it. We are really seeing grand changes in him. Anyways, the Primary President in our ward, Hermana Á. called us on Monday night and asked if she could stop by our pension for a second and talk. We said sure but were were thinking, "Why the heck does she want to talk?" Anyways, we met the Á. family at the pension and the dad and mom said, "Well since you guys can't go to our house for lunch we decided to bring you guys a few things for your pension."They gave us cereal, milk, eggs, meat, pringles, hot dogs, cheese, etc, etc, etc.!! :) It was so amazing and I was just in shock! We said thank you a ton but we felt so grateful that today we made them cookies and we are going to deliver it to them tonight as a token of gratitude! It just reminded me how amazing the members of the church are and what kind of things I want to do later in my life! :D

So on Friday we had our Zone Conference and a few days before the old assistant to the president, Elder Schade, called me up and asked me to help him out. He was put in charge of the musical number and so he solicited my help and the help of the old office secretary, Elder Wilson, for the song. We sang the song, "Bendito Salvador" (Blessed Savior) but to the tune of "I Need Thee Every Hour." It was so awesome and it was really fun! They are both going to BYU so it'll be cool to see them both after the mish! :D

Also in Zone Conference, President Wright talked a lot about how we need to be more converted to our studies and to the scriptures. He showed us all his scriptures and shared with us a few of the ways he has studied the scriptures and other suggestions from modern day prophets! He took 3 years to go through the entire Book of Mormon, studying for about an hour every day. What he did is he studied and meditated on EVERY SINGLE VERSE of the BofM and refused to continue on until he had finished his study of the current verse. He also shared two secrets: SLOW DOWN and OPEN UP YOUR MIND. I've been improving my studies over the last few days and it has been incredible to see what I have learned by following these two secrets!!! Take the first chapter of the BofM for instance, 1 Nephi 1...Slow down and open up your mind...you'll find a lot of good secrets for receiving revelation in there! :D

So F. gave us quite a scare this week. He called us on the phone and was crying and I couldn't understand him and then we didn't see him for a few days but we finally got to have a lesson with him in which he told us that he got into a fight with his partner, then he was passing through some economic troubles, etc, etc. He was quite repentant and realizes how much he needs to be involved in prayer and scripture study every day. We focused our message on Jesus Christ and His Atonement and how it gives us healing power, liberating power, and abilitating power. We sang "I Stand All Amazed" to finish up. He went to Church on sunday and we dropped by his house on sunday without him knowing. His son invited us and we found him reading through the priesthood manual for this year (teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith)...that was pretty awesome!!! :D Anyways, we are pushing to have a temple tour this week and also have a FHE with the V. family again and try to set some baptismal dates with the whole family :) We'll see how it goes!

Last night we had a fireside in our stake with our mission president. It was for investigators, recent converts, and less active members of the church. In the fireside, President Wright addressed many of the common rumors about mormons and also answered many of the questions that this group had. We couldn't find any recent converts or investigators who were going to be able to attend. We finally found a less active guy, M. B. to come with us. He drove us in his car and everything. We've been visiting him for a long time but we haven't found out his need yet nor why he won't come back to church. They talked a lot about the BofM in the fireside and afterwards Elder Kern asked him, "So when are you going to go to church with us?" He said, "Next week." YEAH BUDDY! I also asked him, "What was the thing that most impressed you?" He said the comments on the Book of Mormon. I asked him if he has ever prayed to know if it is true. He says his had done it and has been praying lately but doesn't feel like he has received an answer!!! I asked him what he would do if he found out. He said, "I would return to the church and prepare to go to the temple again." SWEET!!! He also is only 23 yrs. old so there is still time for a mission!!! :D

Anyways, my testimony has grown this week despite a few lame experiences. There were many other experiences that I am not able to include right now but thanks so much for everything! I love you all, chao!!

Elder Bushman

"I would rather hear an Elder speak only five words accompanied by the power of God, and they would do more good than to hear long sermons without the Spirit." - Brigham Young

Week 45: When we put our Faith into Action, we get Results

Dear Family and Friends,

Sounds like many fantastic things are happening back home and out here! Congrats to the b-ball players for the championship :) That's really awesome! This week has been an interesting week...I would say that this change has been an interesting change. Elder Kern and I are learning many lessons out here that are coming from many different sources. It has been really interesting seeing a different purpose this change.

Workwise, this has been the toughest week of my whole mission. We only taught four lessons to investigators this week. From the start of the week we saw appointment after appointment fall through. We had previously invited members to these lessons so we brought them anyways. Unfortunately, we didn't receive much success on these attempts. We were able to meet with a lot of less-active members and two of them came back to church for the first time yesturday for Stake Conference... The batteries in my camera were dead so I wasn't able to take any photos. Anyways, despite the poor numbers and the lack of work, we did see several miracles this week that I want to share :)

I would say the first miracle for us happened this wednesday. For a few weeks now we have been teaching a woman named V. (she was taught many times by missionaries before hand). She has been hesitant to commit to a date for baptism for a variety of reasons. (chastity is probably the biggest problem we face out here). Anyways, we decided to invite her to be baptized so we planned out a good lesson, prayed for the spirit, and pleaded that if it be God's will, that we could set a baptismal date. We went and invited her...she declined and expressed her worries again. FORTUNATELY, we had planned for this and knew EXACLTY what we wanted to do. We followed our plan and by the end she accepted the invitation and we are all working together to get her baptized on March 9, the day before changes. :) Anyways, this was a miracle because she had rejected every other invitation we or the other missionaries had extended. Truly it was a testimony to me of when we put our faith into action, we get results :)

Another experience was yesterday. We were walking and walking and walking...we didn't have a single appointment so we just went by our plans, which quickly ran out. We kept on walking, visiting anybody we could think of. Finally, at 9:00, an hour before going home, we had no idea of what to do. So we sat down on a bench, said a prayer as a companionship asking for guidance, and then pondered for a bit. We were pondering for about 5 minutes and when we started to talk about where we should go, there were a LOT of different ideas. We felt as though we had a "stupor of thought." So we thought some more. Finally, I said, "Well, maybe if we act we will be guided." So we set out to visit a couple that aren't really investigators of ours, but they aren't members. Anyways, when we passed by and the husband came out, he said, "Come on in." WOW, we hadn't heard that in a long time. We went in and had a great conversation about what we do and why we do it. We invited them to hear our message about eternal marriage (this couple has been married for 39 years, quite rare here). They were really interested so we are going to show them "Together Forever." We left them with a pass along card with the temple on it and a brief description of what goes on inside. We weren't sure if we should do a prayer so we thought "Next time," but then the wife blurted out as we all stood up, "BUT WAIT, what about the prayer!" (angels sang)! Haha, it was a cool experience. Anyways, we are excited to visit them again soon :) Their names are L and L, a really nice couple; they'd be good for the church!!!

Another experience is that an investigator family of ours got back from vacation. We met with the mom (member) and she commented to us about how much her three boys (non-members) love us and love what we have shared so far. We talked with her about the temple and shared with her how baptism and preparation afterwards helps us qualify for the blessings that lie in the temple. We told her that one year after baptism, her family can go to the temple. She is really excited and we are going to present the plan to the rest of her family, the boys and her husband (non-member). We have been planning an amazing lesson for them and we plan to invite the boys and the husband to be baptized and set a date for them. :) We are really excited and we feel that it is the will of God that this happens. We'll let you know how it goes!!!!! :)

Elder Kern and I watched a video this week about Zion's Camp. We talked about how most of the participants had a different view of what their mission or purpose was in Zion's Camp. As we all know, their mission wasn't to reclaim their land and liberate the saints again, it was to prepare the future leaders of the church. I applied this principle to my missionary service. I don't know exactly what the purpose is or when I have done enough. What I do need to do is not complain, keep working hard, and prepare myself to be the best servant and leader in the mission and afterwards that I can. :)

That's all for this week; take care everyone!!!!

Love, Elder Adam Bushman

"We are all in this together. With fellow ward members and missionaries, we plan and pray and help one another. Please keep the full-time missionaries in your thoughts and prayers. Trust them with your family and friends. The Lord trusts them and has called them to teach and bless those who seek Him."

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Week 42: This is our Change, This is our Change!!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow, what a week!!! It was full of a lot of running around and getting stuff done. Elder Kern and I did two divisions this week and boy did it tucker us out. Divisions are fun in that we do different things and it mixes things up, but I love being with my companion, not necessarily just Elder Kern, just being with my companion in general. :) Anyways, we just had changes and...... I'm staying again!!! :D Haha, Elder Kern and I are going on another change together! This will mark our 4th change together. We are both really excited! We've got a lot of plans and a lot of goals we want to fulfill. We keep telling each other, "This is our change, this is our change!!" We didn't have a baptism this last change but we know what we need to do better in order to get one. We are teaching about 5 families right now and we have about 3 more that are future investigators. :) We really want to help baptize a family this change and we know what we need to do in order to get it done!

I want to share two experiences from this week. First, this last week I was trying to figure out what I should teach about. I was looking at the results of our district from the last week and I wasn't seeing anything that I needed to address, our district was doing really well. I sat there thinking and pondering and then it occurred to me...maybe as a district we don't need to improve anything really pertinent, but maybe there are things that the individual missionaries need to improve on. And from there, I remembered my personal study on "Humility" and "Charity, Love" from a few days ago. I started basing my class on that and the class was basically centered on the fact that we have personal weaknesses that we cannot overcome on our own. We need to humble ourselves and seek the Lord's will and help in overcoming our challenges. We also need to show our love for God in doing hard things, not because we want to, but because He wants us to. Anyways, we read a lot of scriptures and studied PMG. I thought it was a really good class but I didn't think too much of it. The other night when getting the goals for the next week from the sister missionaries in our district, one of the sisters said that the class I prepared changed her life as a missionary . . . wow. I had no idea, and I was so unsure of how to respond, so I just said I was glad and thank you. Anyways, it was super cool to me that by following the spirit, I was able to help this sister missionary be the best missionary she can. Anyways, it was super cool :)

The second experience is when we were talking to a couple in our ward. They talked about how they came to the knowledge of the gospel. They said they had a lot of problems, family, economic, etc., and these problems were taking their toll. The dad would drink and the mom was fed up. Then one day the dad was walking home and the missionaries stopped him. They asked if they could share a message so he said to come the next day. So they did! When the elders showed up, the mom told her husband two missionaries wanted to see him. He said, "Show them in." The mom was so shocked that her husband was going to talk with them. The next morning she was even more shocked when her husband got up early, showered, and got dressed. She asked him, "Where are you going." He said, "I'm going to church." She was dumbfounded. Two months later he was baptized and a few months after so was she. :) Now they are sealed in the temple and are super active, super great members. It was just a testimony to me that people change and need the gospel :D

We've been following the spirit a lot this week and inviting him more and more into our lessons. We had FANTASTIC lessons with F.,  A. and A.,  G. and her family, C. and her family; and more. It's been really cool to see. We don't really have any baptismal dates and no one went to church yesterday and lots of people are leaving for vacation. Ugh, it's kinda annoying... But, we have a lot of people to visit and we are looking for more so we are SOO excited :)

That's it for this week! Take care ya'll!!!

Elder Bushman

 

This is how we do missionary work in SANTIAGO CHILE!!!

Elder Lee's last day - he's going to train!

 

"No power on earth or in hell can stop this work or thwart the purposes of the Lord to have His soul-satisfying gospel message go to His children. It may take disasters in many forms to bring it about. But the purposes of God will be achieved. His children will hear the gospel of salvation in His own due time." - Ezra Taft Benson

Week 41: This has been a FANTASTIC Week

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, CONGRATS to my good buddy, Trustin Chun, on his mission call! He's going to the Mexico Veracruz Mission! I'm soo excited for him and especially excited to talk to him in spanish a little bit when we both get back. Haha, anyways, this has been a FANTASTIC week. We saw a lot of miracles, we worked hard, and we were especially rewarded. Basically, in terms of numbers, I had the best week I have ever had in my whole mission. :D Here's a cool story!

We went by an old less active member's home and when we got there, a kid named C. came out and  said he wasn't home. He then asked if we would teach him English. We said if it was okay with his parents. So, we went back the next day, taught him English, and shared a little bit about what we do. He said he wanted to go to church and that he would bring his cousin. His parents were completely fine with it and said they would have him all ready. On Sunday they both came to church and after sacrament meeting, I ran down from the piano and asked two boys from the ward if they would take C. and his cousin (L.) to their classes. They took them and at the end they loved it and want to come back. L. was assigned the prayer in primary next week so we taught them to pray yesterday and when it was time to end with a prayer, L. and C. were fighting over who would say it. We settled on rock, paper, scissors. They both said a prayer and did it amazingly, just talking from their hearts. :D This week we are going to try and incorporate their families in our little mini lessons :) They are special little boys!

So here are some answers to the questions I was given this week: I would say my high point of the week was on Saturday. We were so blessed and guided that day to have six lessons (two lessons with a member present, two other lessons, and two lessons with less active members). We completed all the goals we had for that day! :) It rained that day and Elder Kern and I got soaked, but we were so very happy and content with how the day went!!! We are teaching a family that consists of three boys (all investigators), the mom (investigator) and the dad (less active). It's been really interesting. The mom is super prepared (C.) and the dad is really receptive. The boys are all really nice and fun. We are also teaching a mom (A.) and her daughter (A.). We found the daughter in that big group of kids in the street about a month ago! They are awesome and really receptive! One guy we taught was kinda drunk but he was teaching us A LOT about the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. If you guys met him you would have thought he was a drunk hippie but he really did open my eyes to the meaning of love and what we do when we love. :D Super awesome! I am not wearing sunscreen. It is SUPER expensive here and I don't burn if I wear my proselyting clothes...only if I wear a t-shirt will I burn...so I don't! :D I definitely prefer Chilean winters...ugh, cannot wait for winter! Elder Frost is not in my zone, he is in a zone at the top of our mission. I'm two zones down from him! 

 

This week I studied about the love of God and Christ's atonement. It has really opened my eyes what it means to "Follow Christ" and "lay down your life for Him." :D My favorite story is when Christ called his apostles and they had to "drop their nets and follow Him." In Spanish it says, "al instante"...which means they instantly dropped their nets and followed Him :) There is a good mix of friendly people and mean people. Some people we try to stop will just keep walking and say, "Nope, I don't have time." Others are very nice and will talk to us, even if at the end they say, "I'm not very interested." The church services here are quite similar I would say. One difference is that the people giving a talk sit in the audience and when it is their turn to speak, they walk up the aisle, give their talk, and then return to the audience. Also, everybody sings WAY faster than what the director is leading and what the pianist  is playing. That's really annoying. We usually have about 130-140 people at Church and we have enough young men so we don't have to pass the sacrament. Everybody socializes before the meeting just like they do in the states. One miracle I saw this week was on Saturday, when some of our lessons fell through, God put people in our path so we could still keep all our goals. We went to people we didn't plan for and we still got all the lessons we planned for!!! :) My Spanish study is going well. I'm learning lots of new words and it has been quite rewarding. I just hope that I'll be solid for the rest of my mission. 

Today we went back to the U.S.A. :D ...Well, as close as you can get, I suppose. We went to Jonny Rockets: The Original Burger. We walked in and it looked like a 40's dinner, complete with white tile, flourescent lights, and red booths. They were playing the Beatles; Elvis Presley; Earth, Wind, and Fire; etc., and everybody was dressed in dinner attire. I ordered a Coke, double cheeseburger, onion rings, and a peanut butter chocolate shake. IT WAS DIVINE! :) I sent photos! It was just like America! The only thing is that hey didn't have rootbeer from the fountain, otherwise I would've gotten that in a HEARTBEAT! I legit felt like I was back home, haha! In a good way, not a trunky way!It was really expensive in comparison to what it would cost in the states but it was normal for Chile. Food is really expensive here!!! BUT, it was soooooo worth it! It was at a mall up in Elder Frost's zone called Las Condes. We're talking like $28.00 in U.S. money for the meal...BUT, before you flip out, all the food is twice the price or more than it is in the states. A dollar burger at McDonalds is like $2.50 here.

Anyways, that's it for this week ya'll! Keep working hard, say your prayers with faith, STUDY the scriptures daily, go to church because you want to magnify your calling! :)

Love,

Elder Bushman

MY COKE

Elder Kern and Elder Lee enjoying an AMERICAN lunch :)

Elder Bushman and Elder Cottrell

My onion rings and BURGER!

"Your Heavenly Father has known you for a very long time. You, as His son or daughter, were chosen by Him to come to earth at this precise time, to be a leader in His great work on earth." ~ Russell M. Nelson, October 2013 General Conference

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 35: I Was Being Taught by the Spirit

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope everything has gone well for you all out there! Things are going well out here all though I am tuckered out from last week :) Ugh, I'm so tired. Anyways, this last week wasn't a very good week in terms of teaching or finding or making progress. It was kind of a frustrating week. During my whole time with Elder Kern we've been just doing GREAT...but this week we stumbled a little bit so that was pretty lame. But, we've set some goals and we're going to be doing things a lot better this week. So, I'm excited :) 

So, first off...a quick shoutout to my buddy Grayson Ercanbrack who will soon be joining me in Chile! :) Whoohoo, congrats boy!!!! Anyways, we are going to be doing a Christmas card, both Elder Kern and I, and we will be taking the photo, a card, and a candy cane over to all the people in the ward council and some other people in our sector. :) We are excited!!! 

So, a few other answers to some other questions: so that Peruvian family we found is being quite lazy and we've set up SEVERAL appointments but they are never there. I don't understand why people just keep playing this sort of game. Just tell us you don't want anything!!!  :) But oh well! So we've done a little bit of decorating but not much. I sent some photos of our tree, the tree Elder Kern got but that's about it :) It looks sweet!!! There are little tiny stores or businesses that people have all throughout my sector so you can walk down three or four houses and find basic cooking needs and ingredients and stuff. Also, there is a store called UniMarc that is just basically Kohlers but 1/4 of the size and there is a WalMart within a 10 minute walk of my pension. So my favorite food here is lentils with a big piece of sausage in the middle with a big link of homemade blood sausage with salad :) OH! It is amazing!!! You can buy American food but it's WAY expensive. Most of our investigators come from part member families and street contacting ... we don't get many member references. We hardly get any Mormon.org references. The ward council is pulling most of the weight and they are really working on the recent converts we have and doing activities to help out with our investigators. We write the mission president every week and it is included in our time of 90 minutes. He writes back if we ask him stuff. I'm not sure on the skype call. I know of several people who could hem and adjust my pants...I would just have to make some time to coordinate with the people. So about obedience! I am in charge of handing most things with the people in my district. If there is something I cannot do or if the things I'm doing are working or the situation is getting worse, I report to the Zone Leaders and directly to the president. Basically you just help them realize the blessings they can get for obedience, set goals, follow up, set new goals, follow up, and so forth. :) 

So not too much happened this week but when I went on divisions I had a great experience. We went to a family's house that is the mother, father, and their two daughters. The mother and father are not married so neither are members of the church. The two daughters are however. Anyways, we went there and I just loved it! The problem is the father needs to get a divorce from his old wife who is trying to hold out for lots of money he doesn't have. Anyways, it's a sad situation but the couple's outlook on the situation is just fantastic. Although they cannot get married and therefore cannot be baptized, they still go to church every week. They study the scriptures faithfully and they are so very strong. We had a very in depth gospel conversation at their home and it was amazing. I felt the spirit really strong as he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon, Holy Ghost, Joseph Smith, Plan of Salvation, and his favorite topic, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He kept saying, "When we are able to be baptized..."  They are great people and they are so very strong where they are! :) They were a great testimony of being strong in the gospel, NO MATTER what your circumstance. There are lots of people who make excuses but it was nice to see that they remain doing the things they know are right when they have every excuse not to. :D I was very impressed with that appointment and lesson! 

(Elder Bushman has been recording some great insights on his digital recorder after lessons or while waiting for a bus, etc, etc. He emails the WMA files to us. It has been AWESOME! Here are a few this week that I really loved:)

Recording #1:
"We just got out of a really cool lesson with our investigator, J. She is having some problems with the university and she is just sick of it and about to leave - and she's asking herself why bad things happen to good people. So, we took the Prophet of the Restoration video and Ether 12:6, and tried to answer that question based on both those two things. When Elder Kern and I were bearing our testimonies at the end and teaching a little bit about the doctrine and the necessity of tests in our lives, it was so powerful...and we felt the spirit so strong. I honestly felt like I was being taught by the Spirit a whole lot during the lesson, while I was bearing my testimony - everything was making so much sense about the whole plan of salvation, why we're here on earth, why there's opposition in all things, why we have tests, how the great promise of if we are faithful to the end, all we have lost will be restored unto us and the promise that if we follow the doctrine of Christ and if we follow Jesus Christ and do all he has done and do the covenants necessary, we will become as our Father in Heaven and will receive all that he has. And so all those things, these different doctrinal principles, are making so much sense to me. It was really, really awesome and I felt the spirit so strong - and just watching the video from that perspective was just fantastic. Thinking about how Joseph Smith understood it all - and that's why he was willing to go through anything...and when he was in Liberty Jail and was about to give up, the promise that was given to him that if he endured it for just a small moment, he would be exalted on high. It really is just a small moment. It was so powerful...what I learned and how I was being taught by the spirit. J's mom was listening the whole time and I really think she needed to hear those two promises and the video we saw and comparing it to his life."

Recording #2:
"I'm doing divisions with Elder M right now...But me and Elder Kern had a good lesson with an investigator - J. and we had a lesson with him about the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and why it's important to enter into the path that leads to the Celestial Kingdom and why going through the door of baptism is so essential and how we can do that through knowing the Book of Mormon is true. I think that helped him realize that it's really important that he understands and knows that the Book of Mormon is true. Hopefully he'll be able to read and pray and things...I never realized how hard of a task it would be for people to remember to ask in their prayers if the Book of Mormon is true. I notice that lots of people are just like, "Bless me to know that it's true" or "I really want to know", instead of saying "Is the Book of Mormon true?". Because for us to gain a specific answer we  need to ask a specific question. So that's one of the things I've noticed out here - I'm trying to stress the fact that we need to ask specifically so we can receive a specific answer. And especially for people who are inexperienced with feeling the spirit, it's hard for them to realize complicated answers. And so to make it as simple as possible we need to ask a question to get a simple answer - a confirmation of if it's true or if it's not. Instead of asking "well I really want to know so help me know". So hopefully he can ask a specific question and work on that."

 

So that's all folks! Love you!

Elder Bushman

This is our little Thanksgiving feast from the Stake President: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and corn! OH! So good! :)

This is our little tree all lit up!

This is our tree in real life