I'm 19?? June 2, 2014

Sent: Monday, June 2, 2014 6:45 PM
Subject: I'm 19??

Hey everyone!!

I can't believe it's my birthday! Even weirder is the fact that I'm 19! I don't know how that happened. So far it's been an alright bday away from home. Pretty weird though. I'm so excited for you guys to go on your trip to Canada and Florida! It's going to be so much fun! Kenzie and Chanler will have a blast at Tyler's. That new camera sounds pretty cool. You are 100% right about grades. Tanner don't follow my schooling example and actually try. It's better for you in the end. You can do it. I know you can. Next year is going to be so much fun! I can't believe that you wont be at Santa Rita anymore. I can see why that is going to be so hard for you to leave. You've done a lot for that school. I'm glad everyone is still working on the piano. I can truly say I wish I knew more. That is so cool that Jenna was baptized! I can't believe that she's already eight! I'm so excited for Javier to go out into the field! That's going to be such a great blessing and experience for him and his family! Logan got a TV?!?! What?! No way. That's just not fair. I completely agree with what you said about using the Spirit. This new responsibility is going to be such a great help for me to create new habits and come closer to the Holy Ghost. Finding this week was okay. We found one lady named E, who's husband (a less active member) just passed away in a car accident, through some other missionaries. I think she's going to progress quickly so I'm excited to work with her.

Well this week was good but super slow. There was some drama and issues with some other missionaries and their car and so throughout the week we had to help them out a lot which took a lot of time out of our schedule, but they should be good this week and everything will go back to normal. Tuesday we didn't have District Meeting which meant two things. One, Friday we have Zone Meeting. And Two, I didn't have to prepare a training! Instead we took Elder Sweeney to Urgent Care because he slammed his finger in the front door of our apartment and it is completely black and swollen to twice the size. It's pretty disgusting. We took another trip to Riverside and urgent care on Wednesday and that night had a good first lesson with E_ during which we taught Lesson 3, Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she just took it all in. It was great! Friday was my first Zone meeting in the Menifee Zone and our Zone Leaders really pumped us up for this month. There is a ton of work out here to do and our zone is usually the top baptizing zone in the mission so we have to keep the hard work up. After the meeting the Grossman's came out to take us to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate birthdays. Carbonneau's was the 31st. It was a blast and they surprised us by bringing Kyle F_ along which was nice. I miss those families so much. Saturday was a ward party during which we ate hotdogs and played kickball. It was a lot of fun even though there wasn't a huge turnout. Oh and right before that we were asked to give a five minute Restoration lesson at a child of record baptism which went very well. And to end the week off we had church and found out that a family in the ward, the P's, (their son A just left on his mission to Chicago and he is our ward mission leader) are going to through me a little party tonight for my birthday so I'm pretty happy and excited about that. It's really weird celebrating your birthday in an area where you don't know hardly anyone. Today we went bowling which was a blast! Other than that, all of our time has been spent looking through and knocking on the doors of the people that we have in our records from past investigators and Part member families. It's tough work, but I know we'll find someone soon.

Well I gotta go now. I hope you have a great week and time on some awesome Vacations! I miss you all. Stay safe. I can't wait to hear from you again! I love you!

Love,

Elder Bushman

It's July!

Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 6:05 PM
Subject: It's July!

Hey everyone!!!

I saw the picture of you all trekking! You look great and I am excited for you all to have a great time with nana and papa! I'm glad that you have enjoyed the trip so much so far that you want to take me when I am home! I guess I can let go of my jealousy now. ;) It sounds like you are having such an awesome time out there! I'm glad that you are all staying safe and that the rain hasn't bothered your trip too much and that your only real problem has been just that one traffic incident to the caves. That's pretty good luck! That's so cool that Nana and Papa have been able to give you the special treatment and give you the chance to see, experience, and even sleep in so many of those amazing places. I know that that will strengthen all of your testimonies. I just finished reading Our heritage last week and it was all about the pioneers and what you are experiencing right now so I kind of got to be a part of the trip with you as well. oh and Elder Carbonneau says hi! It's amazing what the early Saints did in order to get the church to the place it is right now. The Lord truly did watch over them and help them through all things.

Well this week was a super good week. We worked super hard! Last week we completely dissected our ward list and split up our area map with different color coordinated sections to be as organized as possible and are focusing on seeing every possible part member family on our list. We started out with about 90 names to see and have been able to knock off about 20 of those already within this past week. We were able to find a part member family with one non member daughter and a full non member family of about 10 who have a lot of potential to be baptized this month! This week is what will tell us if they are the ones we need to focus on this month as we meet with them again and see what their desires are. 

During our visits we have run into bashing members and bashing relatives of members, less actives that just don't really want anything to do with the Gospel but are totally okay with us coming by to talk, less actives who randomly walk up to us in the Walmart parking lot and schedule an appointment so we can help her get back into church, and mother's of less active children who saw us coming by as an answer to prayers to help her son come back to the faith. It's been a crazy, hard work full week with a lot of experiences that don't normally happen out here. It was a great week. Although we didn't find necessarily  a solid person to teach yet, I just feel great as I know I have worked my hardest this past week. My studies have also gotten a ton better already and I should finish the Doctrine and Covenants by Sunday. Then onto the Bible. I'm excited! I can really tell that this is going to be a great month, transfer, and year. I decided last night as Elder Carbonneau and I talked about ways to focus on the mission and be in our prime for the duration of our missions, that this area is the one that I am going to grow the most...In all aspects. President Smart leaves the mission today. This Saturday President Mullen is coming to our zone to introduce himself and meet all of us. I'm excited to begin working with him. It's going to be a great year! Can you believe I hit my year mark in like 2 weeks?!! That's so crazy!

Well I gotta go now. But I hope you have a great and safe time trekking and that the weather likes you. Tell everyone there hi and that I miss and love you all! I can't wait to hear from you next week and see the pictures from the trip! Pay attention to the Spirit and the things you learn and see and experience there. There's a lot that the Lord can show you if you just stop and listen. 

I love you!

Elder Bushman

The New Presidency Begins! July 7, 2014

Sent: Monday, July 7, 2014 4:50 PM
Subject: The New Presidency Begins!

Hello Everyone!!

Wow you guys had an amazing trip! It was definitely full of busy fun! You went everywhere! I didn't realize where all you were planning on going. Like Idaho and the campus. That's pretty cool. I can't wait to go with you to the trek and experience all of that. It's so cool that you got to do that. I'm glad that you got to go to your high school reunion as well! What a great start to the summer you have had! What else are you planning on doing before school ends?

Well I guess it's my turn to tell you how my week went. It was a fairly decent week. A slow start but we finished the second half of the week with a lot of great things. Monday was another good PDay. Tuesday we switched District Meeting to Wednesday because we had to drive to Anza (Hemet) and swap our truck for the truck that was in their area. I'm still not sure why exactly, we were just told to do it so we did. It mad for a fun little road trip. Wednesday's DDM went well. It was my first training with my new district and we have a high goal of baptisms for this month and I know that we can reach it. My training consisted of what commitments/invitations are, why they are important, and how we should extend them. Preach My Gospel has great ideas and insight on that topic which was my inspiration for the training. The reason our first half of the week was so slow was due to the fact that every single house we knocked on had no one in it to answer the door. It was quite frustrating to go to every single door and get to the point where we just expected no one to answer. But like I said last week, I've been doing a lot of studies and started fasting and praying a lot more and a lot harder. And as Thursday came along we started to have a little success. Part of the reason no one was home is  because of the 4th of July festivities. But Thursday night we were able to meet with the K's. I don't remember if I told you about them but they are a family with two teenage girls at home. . . .They were all baptized about a year ago except for B (the youngest (15) daughter) who is still not baptized and from what I have been told, she wants to do it for herself and not just cuz everyone else is doing it. Which is definitely a good reason. They came to church two weeks ago when I first met them and missed last Sunday. So we stopped by and had a short little meeting with M, Brother K, and invited the family to come to the ward breakfast Friday morning to celebrate the 4th of July. We also got C and his family to commit to coming to the breakfast so we were really pumped to see the turn out. Plus there was food so we naturally had to go. ;) The breakfast turned out very nice. The K's came and had a great time. Sadly C didn't come and later we stopped by to find out that they had just slept in and had forgotten. So we invited them to the P's for dinner that night ( BBQ and we did so with permission) and they said to make up for the breakfast they would definitely come to dinner. Unfortunetely during our long talk with C outside their home in the blazing 100 degree sun, a bird pooped. And yes you guessed it, it landed on me. I had felt something on my leg and thought it was just Elder Tui'one hitting me with his scripture case since he was swinging it by his side so I didn't pay much attention to the feeling. Then as C ran inside real quick Tui'one told me to look at my pants and on the side of my leg was a massive splat of bird crap. I was SO upset. Needless to say we went home right after that so I could wash off my pants and change into something else. That night was the BBQ and it was great! Amazing food and we had a blast with the K's and another part member family that came. We played some dominoes with them and ended the night there with a song by me and Tui'one (Child's Prayer, Tui'one played the guitar and we sang together) and great discussion. We were dissapointed when C didn't show up again. We haven't been back yet to see what happened but that will be one of the things we do either tonight or tomorrow. 

So I'm going to save the good stuff for last. So on Sunday the K's came to church and that night we had a great lesson with the parents and were able to talk about things we can do to help B_ make the step of baptism. We set an appointment with them to come tomorrow afternoon so we'll see what happens there. Our dinner on Sunday was with Brother L_. He is one of the most amazing guys and a great member and missionary. He is divorced and has a 6 year old son that is already a bull rider!! Most of his family are not members and he has told us that soon he will have us over to teach his girlfriend as well! But during dinner his niece who isn't a member ate with us and had some of the best, and most deep questions I've heard from a non member. She really wants to know the truth and wants to know if God is real. That was one of the best lessons I've ever been in and what made it so great was not only Brother L's amazing testimonies and answers but also the fact that she started the whole conversation. It was amazing and 100 % Spirit led. I really hope she has the desire to learn more and comes back to visit and learn. It was a great day. 

So to answer your question about President Mullen, no no one told me they used to live in Midland until we met him on Saturday and they both shared with me that they remember Nana and Papa. Papa was their Bishop and Nana was her Relief Society President. Sister Mullen told the zone a story about how Nana helped her a lot in a time that she was struggling. It was pretty cool to find that out. But to add to my terrible luck with not having any doors open during the first part of the week and a bird pooping on my pants, I had just put on my suit when President Mullen walked in and he came straight to our side of the rooom to begin introducing himself and Sister Mullen to us which left me no time to switch my tag to my coat which meant he didn't know who I was and sadly he noticed. Thankfully I wasn't the only one to embarrass myself during that meeting and I think he forgave me for my mistake. But the really cool thing about our meeting with President Mullen was, other than his great training, he announced that during his ttraining in the MTC he "was assured that we will have IPADS AND IPHONES BY THE END OF THE YEAR!!!!!" We've been talking about it and we think it might be in two transfers because we should be having another general authority come in August! So there's some exciting news for you. That also means I'll have to pay for it but I wont worry about that until it comes up. 

Well I gotta go. My time is up on the computer so I hope you have a great week and get caught up on everything. I can't wait to hear from you again. Love y'all!!!

Love,

Elder Kendell Bushman

A New Start!

On Tuesday, May 27, 2014 1:35 PM, Blaine Bushman <blaineb@myldsmail.net> wrote:
 

Hey everyone!

 

I hope you have all had a great week. Thank you so much for all of the pictures. I loved them. The kids look amazing, I loved seeing Nana and Grandpa, and Mr. G looks really good. I'm glad that honors night turned out so good and everything ran smoothly. I'm sad that I wasn't able to be there for Mr. G's last concert. The program is going to really miss him as well as all of his students. You told me about the Utah story while we skyped. That's awesome that you were able to give him that. It sounds like you guys really had a blast going to Dallas and Kenzie's recital and track meet. Congrats on doing so good Kenzie! Tell Canyon to write me. That's so cool that President Vore is now the Temple President. He is such and amazing man. I'm so glad that Nana and Grandpa and dad could take the kids to the temple. That is such an amazing experience that none of them will forget.

 

Well this week was pretty good. I already love my new companion, Elder Tui'one! He is such a cool, happy, guy that is just a blast to be around. And on top of that we live with Elder Carbonneau and his comp Elder Sweeney. We have the best apartment in the mission!!! Haha And I am actually driving a truck which makes life even better! So Tuesday the only thing that I have to share really was I had my first District Meeting as the District Leader. I am over the Zone Leader's and Elder Carbonneau and Elder Sweeney. So thankfully I don't have too much to worry about. The ZL's and I are focused on finding while Carbonneau is finishing baptizing most of the investigators they have. The meeting went very well actually and afterwards I could really tell that it was led completely by the Spirit. There were things that came up that I hadn't planned for that were exactly what the district needed at that time which was super cool. So Meeting Number 1=success! So like I mentioned my area is completely 100 % in finding mode right now. We have no investigators to work with right now. I have come to find out that with my companionship we are having to repair issues that past missionaries have made so we have a lot of work to do. The work is similar to my last area in Corona. The only difference is here, my area is even bigger and it's all spread out. It'll be interesting to see how things work out. But we have a lot of potential and former investigators that we can work with and this week we should be picking up 3 or 4 so I'm super excited! We are going to have a lot of success together. We are trying to start waking up earlier than normal to go play ball at the church so we will see how that pans out. I really need to get back into shape and lose a lot more weight. Thursday I had a District Leader Meeting in RIverside during which the AP's and President Smart trained us on how to be good DL's. It was a really good meeting and I gained a lot from it. I also got to see a bunch of my MTC buddies there which was really fun. That day after I got back we went and contacted a refferal named R who seemed to be pretty legit. And then that night he called us and left a voicemail about how he didn't want us to come back cuz he had "researched and doesn't need a prophet" so that was kind of a bummer. But we are going to go back anyways sometime this week to try and help him understand a little better. Friday we got money for dinner and so we went out and brought food home and had an intense study session which was really fun and I learned a lot of things from it. Saturday I did my first interview for baptism. Boy is that a lot of pressure! S is a 9 year old boy whom Carbonneau has been teaching and after the interview I was blown away with how smart and ready he is. Long story short...S was baptized Sunday evening and is now a huge blessing for his family. Sunday was a crazy day. So crazy I don't have time to really even start. We ended the night at a farewell Tongan party for a kid in our ward that is (on the plane right now) giong to Chicago Illinois for his mission. Great food. That's all I have to say. No wonder I'm fat. Poly's are always feeding us. But I love it! Yesterday as it was Memorial day meant we didn't get the chance to email which is why I am doing it now. But we had a great day scorching my feet in the rough sand volleyball pit and then just hanging out playing monopoly and Lord of the Rings Risk! It was a good day. We had dinner with the Pierre's (their son is the one leaving for the mission) and it was super wierd because I could feel and recognize the feeling in the house of the aknowledgement of everyone that their lives were all about to change.

 

Other than that this week was full of us just hitting the pavement and trying to find people to teach. And during our breaks there were some intense games of Risk, monopoly, nerf wars, and one moment in which a carrot cake was being thrown between Carbonneau and Tui'one as they fought to shower first! Hahah That was so much fun. Don't worry mom. The mess got cleaned up. Overall it was a pretty good week. I hope you all have a great time this week and stay safe. Pray that we can find people to teach. We need the help. I love you. Can't wait to hear from you again. Until next week...

 

Love,

Elder Bushman

Happy Mother's Day

Subject: Happy Mother's Day!
Sent: Tue, May 13, 2014 12:19:36 AM

Hello everyone! Happy Mother's Day mom! I loved seeing you guys and getting to talk with you yesterday! It really was too short. I kind of got really sad after we hung up. I was half tempted to call you again after church just to say all the things that I didn't get the chance to say. I just want you mom, and dad and the rest of the kids to know that I really love you. A lot. A lot more than I really know how to say. And I can't wait to see and hear from you again already. I'm so glad that you are all doing well and are enjoying life back at home. I hope you have an amazing rest of the year and good luck with school, sports, choir, and scouts. That's exciting that Zach is driving legally now! That license is kind of important. Haha ;) That's cool that you got to do that for the teachers at the school. Now you know why I always complained about the cafeteria food! Haha I'm so glad that you boys had a blast with Dad at the Father and Sons camp out! It sounds like it was a ton of fun and Dad did a great job! I'm glad that Kenzie and you got to spend the weekend together. You both need the girl time I'm sure. ;) I'm still thinking about birthday ideas. It's hard to think of something a missionary really needs out here. I will let you know as soon as I think of something. I don't remember if I told you yesterday, but I am now in Helaman chapter 16. So, so far the reading is going well. I will try to remember to bring my notes next week that I've taken down and share with you some of the ideas and scriptures that have really caught my attention and made me think. It's been really great reading through it like this. I've gotten to understand the time line and story as a whole a lot better. It's really opened my eyes and mind. That is SO cool that you guys had two convert baptisms this weekend!!!! I'm super pumped for you and even more so for them!. . . . Good luck Tanner on your choir trip!. Tell Nana and Grandpa I say hello and I love them when they get here. I miss them too. Well there isn't much to say about this week which is good cuz I'm running out of time, but her's what happened that's worth mentioning. I can't believe I forgot to tell you about this yesterday but on Tuesday we got to go to the temple again!! It was so amazing. I can't think of any other place in the world I would rather spend the rest of my life in besides the Celestial Room. It is so beautiful and the Spirit is so strong! Wednesday was our district meeting and Thursday morning we did service with basically the rest of the elders in the stake to help clean up a section of this members back yard for some horses. It was good hard work and a lot of fun. I really think I want a horse once I get my own place. After that the Grossman's from Temescal Canyon picked Albright and me up for lunch and we went to Claim Jumpers again! It was so good to see them and their coming again this Thursday since Albright is leaving in a week. Friday we had to make a quick run to Riverside so Albright could sign something for when he goes home. And then we had probably the best lesson we have had so far with N. It was super spirit led and we got down to her true concern. She is having some family issues and she is a little scared to ask Heavenly Father for things because she doesn't want to bother God with her questions/problems because she wants Him to take most of His time to help others that need a lot of help. We helped her understand that no matter what, God loves her and wants to know what is on her mind and what she stands in need of, as well as what she is thankful for, which is what her prayers usually consist of. At the end of the lesson we asked her to pray and she gave the most genuine heart felt prayer I have ever heard. It truly pierced my heart. I love N and R. She has a true desire to do what is right and to do what is best for her family. Saturday we caught up on our weekly planning and for dinner we had pit roasted potatoes, carrots, chicken, and pork!! Oh man it was so good! Sunday was amazing. I got to Skype home which was amazing and my day got even better when N and R showed up to sacrament a few minutes late! Oh man I don't think I have ever been so happy to see someone at church. That should a lot of commitment on her part and I know that she is starting to progress a lot more! For dinner we had super tender ribs which was a great way to end the night! Other than that to answer your question about C, he is doing good. The end of school has just been really busy for him so we are hoping soon he gets some free time to meet again. He still says he wants to so we are kind of playing it by ear until he gets a night off to meet again. I'll let you know though if anything happens this week. Keep him in your prayers along with N and R and A and J. Transfers calls come this coming Saturday so I'll let you know next time if I'm staying or getting the chance to move on to a new area! I can't believe this transfer is already over. It's been a blast being with Albright.  Well I gotta go. I hope you all have a great week and good luck on all the school stuff going on! It's so exciting! I miss you all and love you even more! Can't wait to hear from you again.   Love, Elder Kendell Bushman

Week 5 is Here Already!

Sent: Monday, May 5, 2014 6:49 PM
Subject: Week 5 is Here Already!

Hello Everyone!!

I hope you are all enjoying yourselves and have had a great week! We had a good week out here in Corona. Some good and bad. Sounds like you had a blast over the weekend. You've been using the 4wheelers a lot lately. That's good. I hope they are still around when I get back. Congrats Chanler on scoring a cool goal! That's awesome! And just so you know, Elder Albright is doing much better and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.

Monday was good. We had a great lesson with C that night at the church and put him on date for the 18th of May! He is a super solid kid. I'm so glad we have him to teach and get to know. Sadly it's the end of the year and his schedule has been getting crazy so we weren't able to meet with him anymore last week, but this week we should be able to. Tuesday was nothing special. No District meeting since we had a Zone Meeting on Friday. Wednesday was a pretty good day. I was in my area on exchanges with Elder Reed. The morning was pretty slow as most usually are but around 4 things started picking up a lot. We picked up two potential investigators from trying to see Part Member Families on our ward list which is exciting. Both seem to have some good interest. That night we went on splits with the elder's quorum and I went with Bishop to a lesson with A which went well. And I got to introduce Bishop to B that night which was  good. So all this week Elder Albright has been trying to decide when he should get surgery for his torn meniscus in both his knees and what that means for him and his mission. This week we found out that he is either going to have to stick it out and push through the pain for the last 3 months that he has left on his mission, or go home early so that he can get the surgery back home. The pain is pretty bad, but the last thing that he wants is to go home, so after an interview with President Smart, Albright came home and Thursday morning after morning prayers, he told me that he somehow had the distinct impression and overwhelming peace that he needed to go home early. I wish he didn't have to but I know that it will be better for him in the long run. Friday was our Zone Meeting during which we basically role played the entire time for all our investigators. I really don't like role plays but it was super effective and we all learned a lot and had inspiration for our future lessons with those that we are teaching. Oh so Thursday and Friday night we took W out with us to OYM in the Walmart parking lot. The first night W was following me around to see what it is like and we got into two bashes. The first was a normal bash and didn't turn into anything productive. The second bash though made me feel like Alma and Ammon when they say that they mourn for those that are in unbelief and wish they could soften their hearts. W and I left that lady with a painful sorrow. This lady apparently lives next to an LDS family in the stake. She told us that any time that her kids are sick or hurt she takes them next door and asks this family to give her kids a blessing because she "knows it will always heal them" Also she told us she believes that the Book of Mormon contains the word of God and that she knows Joseph Smith was a prophet. She loves the church's organization and focus on the family. I asked her why she wasn't a member and she told me that "It really just doesn't matter what church we go to" I couldn't believe that with her experiences and apparent beliefs that she didn't think it mattered at all. Then she prayed for us and we left. I went home truly having the desire to help every soul out here come to know the truth of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't want to ever forget the feeling that woman gave me. I felt sorry for her and sorry that she (as my sister) didn't want to know the truth. It killed me. I'm waging a war with Satan and I know that I am on the winning team. The Lord's. "Nothing will stop the work from progressing."
 

I'm running out of time so I'm make the rest of the week short.Saturday morning we helped a member move a 500 lb avacado tree into his backyard, and then Albright met with a bishop from around here that went through a similar experience. Sunday was good. We had three investigators at church. Including B  and A. Sunday night Albright got to call and talk to his parents about everything and now has two choices of when to go home. The end of this transfer or the end of next. I'll update you next week what his decision is.
 

So there you go. It was a pretty good week. And I am looking forward to this week especially because on Tuesday we get to go to the temple again and Sunday is Mother's Day and you know what that means! I can't wait to see and talk to you again! I hope you guys have a great week and stay safe. I love you all.

 

Love,

Elder Bushman

Where did April go?

Sent: Monday, April 28, 2014 7:05 PM
Subject: Where did April go?

Hello Everyone!!!

No I can not believe April is already almost over. It blows my mind how fast time has flown by. It sounds like Youth Conference was great and I'm glad that the concert went well. There is always something to fix. That's why she does the concert so they know what to fix. They will do great. I know they will. Congrats Logan on walk on water! That's awesome. Your shoes look great! I can see why you won.I bet you had a blast. Those wands you made mom sound pretty cool. You'll have to send me a picture. Sounds like you, Chan, and Kenzie had a fun night together. I like their new fireman hats! Haha The new Suburban looks great! I bet you are loving it. What happened to my car? Let me know if Javier gets his call. That's awesome! It's weird how everyone is starting to leave. I'm glad that Taylor is doing good. Thank you for his email address. I will definetly keep Logan and dad in my prayers. Yes I still really want to try out for Vocal Point and we talked a little about tryouts and when they are and McKay would look for my name when I come around.

So this week was a pretty good week. Some interesting things happened and I would say it was successful. I did have to go to the ER. Had a little to do with waking up at 3:30 in the morning puking blood and severe stomach pain, but no worries. From what I've heard those are only symptoms of severe problems but I guess it was just my time to make my first trip to the ER. The ultrasound said it could possibly be appendicitis and I've heard it might have something to do with kidney's but not sure yet. Don't worry too much. I'm pretty sure nothing is wrong with me.

Our week started off with a pretty good PDay and that Monday night we washed the car and Elder Reed gave Elder Albright a haircut. Tuesday was our district meeting which had some great training on conquering your fears and doubts and knowing that we just have to try our best in every situation. "Doubt your doubts, not your faith" I don't know if I mentioned Bob O's name before. I think I did but if not, he is not a member but married to a member and has been coming to church forever. He just wont be baptized. His son just got married in the temple and he has invited us to start coming over every Tuesday and Thursday. It's a big step and I think he is really starting to come around. Nothing too interesting yet but I think within the next week or so we will see a lot of progress from him. We had to run to Riverside that day too, to drop something off at the mission office. That night we had dinner at D and C's to celebrate her birthday! It was a blast and super good food. Wednesday started off super slow. We began the day passing out flyers for a Mormon Helping Hands project and didn't have much else happen until dinner. It was super good steak and baked potatoes! After dinner Albright went with D with a lesson for A and I stayed with Brother Allen to have our first lesson with C. My lesson went amazing and he said he would be baptized! He is a really great and passionate kid. I'm stoked to meet with him again tonight. So Thursday began all the fun.

I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to the sound of Albright throwing up in the bathroom. No mom, it wasn't me that got sick. Thank goodness. I'm totally okay. After he finished heaving he came in to wake me up and asked if it was good that there was blood in his puke. I told him I'm pretty sure that's a bad sign. So about 4:30 we went to the other elders place to get a blessing. They thought we had just come over super early to work out. Haha They weren't too happy until they realized that wasn't the reason we had come. Finally after another round of heaving his guts out we went home and thankfully got a two hour nap until he woke me up and said the other guys were coming to take us to the ER since the mission nurse had told us that's what we should do. So needless to say we sat in the ER waiting room from 9 am until 3 pm and were told to come back the next day for final tests and results. It was a long day and other than dinner and getting our OYMs, we stayed in to rest and make sure Albright didn't hurt himself in any other way. Thankfully he stopped puking and Friday he was feeling a lot better. After a church tour with N, which went super well, we went to the ER and were told that it was probably just food poisoning, but if the pain gets worse then it could be his appendix. Kind of scary, but I think he is okay now. It's gotten a lot better. That night we had dinner with the Stewarts who gave us Salmon from Alaska. It was super good! AS soon as we left though Elder Thurman made us rush home cuz he had to poop so bad. I've never laughed so much in a car ride before. He was screaming, squeezing, squirming, biting on a water bottle, and anything else he could do to keep from making a mess in his pants!! HAHAHA It was SO funny! Saturday we cleaned a neighborhood for the Mormon Helping Hands Project. That night was C's baptism during which Albright and I gave the five minute Restoration lesson again, D got to baptized her, and I sang the Vocal Point accapella version of Savior, Redeemer of my Soul. It was a great baptism. Sunday was great! J, A, and A came to church! I was so excited!

Overall it was a good week. I hope you all enjoy yourselves this week and stay safe. I loved the pictures! Thanks for your prayers. I know that they play a role in our investigators conversions. I love you all and can't wait to see you on Mother's Day!

Love, Elder Bushman

 

That's the mower I used to mow our back yard last week. Here is my injury from the Helping Hands project. I was running away  from Elder Reed cuz I stuck an upside down, full, open, water bottle in the back of his shirt and booked it to our car. As I tried to turn around the corner of the car (in my mind I saw myself sliding over the hood of the car) I ended up slipping and cutting my leg on the license plate of the car in front of me which let him catch up and we wrestled in the wet dirt until we came at a stand still cuz we were both worn out from the run. Haha It was definetly worth it! Don't worry, he wasn't mad at me. We had been doing it to each other the entire time. It was a blast!