First Week in the New Area! Jan 21 2014

Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 4:05 PM
Subject: First Week in the New Area!

Hey Everyone!!!

I hope you guys have had a great week! I'm sorry I didn't email yesterday. It was Martin Luther King Jr Day, so the library that we email at in my new area here in Corona was closed, so we had to wait until today to get on the computers. That is so cool that Sabrina was baptized and is now a member of the church and that Logan had the privilege of baptizing her!!! I am so excited for her and the new, amazing experiences and life that she will now have! Tell her congrats for me. I know that what she did is what God wants for us all. Good job Chanler on the basketball game! That's awesome! I am going to miss Madrigal so much. I can't wait to hear how it goes. Get ready for the LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG nights and endless rehearsals throughout the day. I promise though that it is all worth it in the end and after the fact you'll wish you were still doing it. Madrigal is such a blast! Work hard and just have fun! You'll have to let me know the plot and everything. What would be even better is if you recorded it for me and sent it to me. That would be amazing. Just saying...  I'm excited that the boys are going to Provo. That is so great! Tell dad to be careful on his new toy. I don't want anything happening to him while I'm gone. Has the traffic really gotten that bad since I left? (FYI I kind of hope he keeps it for the next two years so I can take it for a spin ;)

So I'm sure that you are wondering what my week has been like since I am now with my third companion in only my second area after two months. Well I'll tell you that I'm going to learn a lot here. It's getting me more out of my comfort zone then ever and the work here is completely different than when I was in Lake Elsinore. So, Monday after I said my last goodbyes to the elders in the zone and then the Freeman family, The Grossmans loaded up my luggage in their van and we headed to Corona. Before we got here we stopped at Woods Grill. It is this really good BBQ place. That was a lot of fun. Oh! And I beat Jesse in our last game of ping pong! Haha I'm going to miss that kid. I'm going to miss everyone in that ward. It was so much fun and I love the people that I got to know. So finally I got to my new homeshare and met my new comp, Elder Renner. This guy is so much fun! He's only a month older than me so we're about on the same maturity level. ;) We get along so well. He was actually only in Molasia for the past 4 years and before that has lived in the States for most his life (Utah) so he knows  English as his first language thankfully. I was worried that he'd be learning English instead since all I knew was that he was from Molasia.

So in my new zone there are 4 sets of Elders and a few sisters. The only problem is that Elder Renner and I are the only elders with a car. That means that when our district and zone leaders need a car to get somewhere, we have to loan it to them. This has been a problem in the area for a while, so hopefully we can get it fixed soon. (That means we need at least another car) This week was interesting for me. I'm finishing Elder Renner's training so he is new to the area by 6 weeks and I just got here. So we both don't know the area completely yet but within the next week or two we should be able to get things rolling. Tuesday we had our district meeting where I was able to meet the rest of the missionaries in the area. Afterwards we had a lesson with a less active lady named D. She is a great lady but hasn't been to church for years. We are working to get her to come to church and eventually get her 21 year old son Z to come with and get baptized as well. We met again with them on Thursday and invited them to church and for Z to play ball with us on PDay's. Sadly neither happened, But I have a feeling that they'll come around soon.

Wednesday we tried to just go through our part member family and less active member list but so far we haven't had a whole lot of success. This week will bring some fruit for our work though. That night I was able to meet one of our other investigators, A. A is a 13 year old girl that lives in our area. She has a testimony of the Gospel and wants to be baptized so badly. She lives with her dad and his ...wife/girlfriend? Her dad is totally for her getting baptized. However, her mom who lives outside of our mission is completely against it and we have to have both parents permission in order for us to baptize her since she is under 18. So we asked her to fast with us on Sunday for her mom's heart to be softened. We are going to follow up with her tomorrow to see if anything has changed.

Thursday night we went on Splits with the other elders that serve in our ward with us. Friday was different than normal. Elder Renner is supposed to be in Australia for his mission right now but is waiting for his Visa. The last thing he needs for his visa is a doctors appointment to Xray his chest or something like that. So on Friday he went to San Diego with President Crippen and his wife (mission presidency) and they took him to his appointment and then took him to the temple there. He is so lucky he got to go there. So while he was there I went with the other elders in my ward to their side of the area and spent the day with them. Once he got back we met him at our investigators house for a lesson. E. E has been taking the lessons for years now. He is a really neat, quiet, black guy that in a relationship with a sister in our ward. The only thing keeping him from being baptized was the law of chastity since he was living with that sister. However, this week he was kicked out of the house and is now living the law of chastity. He is so ready for baptism. The only problem is that he keeps pushing it off. So hopefully tomorrow we will be able to sit done with him and work it all out with him. I am so excited to start working with E. We just have to get this done soon because he might be moving to Arizona soon.

Saturday was super slow. We didn't get much work done because we had to give the car to the district leader for a baptismal interview and then the zone leaders for a baptism. So when we finally got our car back I got to meet our last investigator, J. J is a 19 year old kid that has a mormon girlfriend in Utah. They have been reading a chapter out of the book of mormon every day together and wants to learn more. We taught him the plan of salvation and afterwards asked him to be baptized. He said he would consider it and if and when he gets his answer in time he will be baptized on February 15th! That was way cool since apparently before I came he was wanting to wait for a year before he got baptized so he could read the whole book of mormon first. I hope things work out for him. That night we went to the session of Stake Conference. It was really good. They focused so much on missionary work. It was great! I think this area is going to start moving like my last area was. After Conference we went back home and had a lesson and talk with Sister McD. She and her nonmember husband are housing us. During our lesson with her we discussed why her husband wasn't a member and what is holding him back from being baptized. Their son went on a mission and is going to BYU I and their daughter is on a mission right now. But for some reason he just wont do it. In the middle of the week Elder Renner and I recieved a letter from their daughter K. In that letter she really opened up her heart to us for her desire for her father to find his way to the Gospel. This is the first time she has written the elders that have lived here in their home and in the letter she said that lately she has felt impressed to write to us specifically, even though she doesn't know us, and let us know about her dad and ask us to try and help open his eyes and heart. The letter and our talk with Sister McD really brought the Spirit to me and Elder Renner. So much so that, Elder Renner was prompted to promise Sister McDthat her husband would get baptized during this life. The Spirit was so strong. It was amazing. I have only felt like that a few times in my life. That night I realized that one of the reasons I am now in this area is to learn how to be bold, listen to the Spirit, and help Brother McDcome to the knowledge of the Gospel.

Sunday after Stake Conference and a meeting with all the recent converts and investigators that came, we went home and gave a lesson to the McDs. During that lesson we dedicated the home and explained the importance and reasoning for it. I pray that this will help Brother McD come closer to Christ and the Spirit is more present in their home. Overall it was a great week! Yesterday we got up early and went to the other elders apartment and worked out with them at their gym. It was intense. I am SO SORE right now. I can't wait to do that workout every Pday. And I've been getting better about getting up on time so hopefully I start seeing results. After that we went and played ball. I could barely lift up my arms though cuz of the workout so I didn't do so hot that time. Next week will be better. Today was our district meeting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. I am already starting to love this area. The elders here are great guys. I know that this is where I am supposed to be at this time.

I hope you all have a great week. I can't wait to hear from you again. Good luck with school and choir and sports! I love you.

Love,

Elder Bushman