4 weeks in California!

Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: First Day of School - and Seminary!

Brian and Louretta & their kids.

Elder Henderson was Elder Carbonneau's companion when

Brian and Louretta were first being taught.

 

Hey everybody!
 

How are you guys?! I can't believe school is starting already. It's so weird to think that this is the first year I wont be in school and I am already four weeks into my mission! Sounds like seminary is going well already. I know you're a great teacher and your enthusiasm will help you so much. When you teach Plan of Salvation make it a point to explain its importance in everyaspect in our life. Especially for the future missionaries. They will use the Plan of Salvation daily on their missions. I can't wait to see pictures of everyone and everything that is happening. I miss seeing you guys. Tell all the youth I say hi for me and that I love them. Let them know how important it is to stay strong in the gospel. It's good to hear how much the youth program has grown since I left. I'm impressed there are that many high schoolers willing to get up and come to seminary. That is so awesome.

Haha oh the chaos of the first day of school. Don't you love it? ;) I still remember how in my 5th grade year I forgot my homework almost 3 times a week at Santa Rita and my teacher was nice enough to let me call you so you could bring it to me just about everytime. Good memories. This will be a good year for everyone. It will be a year full of new memories and new experiences since the schools are all different now. I hope your naps are good and long enough. Chanler is going to have a blast with Mrs. Pipkin. I went to school with her son and had her for math too and she was a lot of fun. She's a really good teacher. I'm excited for him. Keep training for that marathon. That's going to be awesome when you get to all do it together. Just remember that it really does take a ton of practice. That's why Logan's been doing it all summer long. Holy Moly I still can't believe that school is already starting for y'all. The past two months have gone by so fast.

Tell Sister Gray thank you so much for the package. I got it a while ago. I just haven't been able to write back. I'm hoping to do so this week. If you send my lamborguini flashdrive and one of my other ones then I will be able to put all of the pictures from my camera and put them on there and send the flashdrive back to you. And if you haven't sent the CD's yet send all of my CD's as well. The ones I talked about in my last email.

Well now for the part you guys are probably waiting for. This week has been a little on the slower side. It was different. Starting Monday we had dinner with the Holmes family and had some HUGE steaks for each of us. We were stuffed. Probably some of the best steak I have ever had! That night we went and taught Brian and Louretta again and since Sunday when they were confirmed things seem to have died down for them which is a big blessing. For the rest of the week we just saw a lot of potential/former investigators and members to try and find more people to teach. Tuesday night we had dinner at the Bruers. We had roast from the crock pot. That sent me back to moms kitchen back home. It was great. Wednesday we had our district meetings and one of the AP's was there. That night we went and had a lesson with a couple and the man's mother. Their names are Shannon, Thomas, and Juney. We conacted them in the parking lot on Sunday or Monday night and came to find out they live on the same road as Brian and Louretta. So we called Brian to see how they knew each other and apparently they and best friends and Louretta and Thomas grew up together! We couldn't believe it! The lesson went well. We taught them the restoration. Juney (the mother) lives behind Thomas and Shannon and thought we were part of a cult. Once we started talking with them she realized that we aren't and totally opened up to us. Right as I was opening my mouth to invite them to be baptized Juney's grandson walks into the house and starts trying to bash with us. Not going to lie, I was a little upset with him for that but it's okay. We helped him realize everything he was saying was wrong but he ended up still not really believing us and by that time we were late for dinner so we had to go. But before we left we gave a blessing to Shannon (Thomas' girlfriend) and the Spirit was definetly there. I forgot to mention that Louretta went with us to teach them as well. She actually ended up doing most of the teaching and talking which was awesome. She is so amazing! Shannon told us before we walked in the house an das we left the house that she is getting baptized and wasnts to be a Mormon no matter what. And it's all because she and Thomas and Juney have seen the enormous change in Brian and Louratta. It's been amazing to see the affect they have on everyone around them. I can't remember if I said this in my last email but we have a less active member that is making Elder Carbonneau and I bows and arrows!I'm so excited. He just has to paint them now. Well anyways this guy is Brother Hill and we gave his wife a blessing on Thursday. That night Brian and Louretta took us out to eat which was great. They fed us Friday night too! We got pizza Friday which was amazing. That was my first time to have pizza out in the field. Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Taylor. He is the trainer for Elder Baker who is the one that I was with on exchanges during the fire. We had a blast together. He's only been out 6 weeks longer than me and is already training. He's a great missionary. WE were on bike which was a little rough for me since I'm used to the car and the bike wasn't mine and the seat wobbled back and forth so My butt hurt the entire time. But it's all good. We helped a lady from the ward move that morning and at 3:30 we got a call from the sister missionaries saying that some guy they were talking to needed help putting shingles on his roof. So we ended up biking over there and helped roof this random guys house for him in our slacks and white shirts. It was awesome! That night we had a member take us out to eat and then had pie night at Bill's. It was so much fun. I'm loving it out here. The work is great and the missionaries I get to preach with are great men of God. Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on the Restoration. I'll send it to you guys in the mail. I got all my stuff from general conference talks. I learned a lot from studying for it. And now today we have our PDay! We started off with our shopping and then went and gave a lady in our ward a blessing. After that we went to the church and have been hanging out with the zone since then. I'm excited to see what is in store for us thsi coming week. Hopefully it picks up and we find some more people to teach.

I hope you guys are all having a great time. I miss you all. Don't forget to write me. I love you so much.

Love,

Elder Bushman


On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 2:41 PM,

Oh! I totally forgot to mention that I got to stand in the circle on Sunday when Brian recieved the Aaronic Priesthood!!! So he's going to have the chance to bless the sacrament next week! We are so excited for him!

I got a haircut. Here's a picture of it!

4th Week Here I Go!!

Hello Everyone!!

Elder Carboneau and I could be brothers. We are alike in so many ways. He is a spiritual giant (unlike me) when it comes to deep doctrine and truly listening to the Spirit. I love working with and learning from him. I am so happy for Brian and Louretta! It's impossible to describe the change in them from before to after baptism. You are right mom, we need to be more deliberate in our actions in truly coming closer to Christ through true conversion. Those deeper levels that we can and should delve into will help us reach that goal if we make it a priority and work our hardest to do so. The temple was amazing. I'll talk more about it later in the email. This week has been a true testimony builder to me and something that I needed to go through for my mission. I loved every second of it!

I'm sure your week was super busy with school and everything else going on. I'm glad to hear you are excited about the new principal and it seems like she will be great for the school. If you see her soon, tell Mrs. Payne and Coach Smith Hi for me. It's too bad Tanner doesn't have Coach Smith. He is my favorite teacher of all time hands down. But it's okay. He'll do great. Let me know if he gets into football again. Basketball is going to be great for him too at the Freshmen school. It really built my skills and fundamentals there and the coaches are awesome as I'm sure you remember. I'm excited for Chanlers new experience at Carver and it is going to be really weird for you and McKenzie for her to be the only one there at Santa Rita. She will do great though. Have fun in Tenor 2 Logan. haha don't you love it when they change your part on you? You'll do great. Don't forget to practice practice practice and use those tips I gave you. That 5K is going to be tons of fun! I'm jealous. I miss all of you.

Don't stress too much about Seminary. You're going to do great. The Book of Mormon is the best one to start on so you got lucky. Listen to and live by the Spirit and you'll have no problem teaching those kids in the morning. Thank you for the quotes. I like them a lot and I might be able to use them sometime. You're right about the no preparing to get up at 5. You just have to do it and it never really gets easy. I'll tell you a secret though. If you are living with the Spirit, he will help you in more ways that you can imagine and it will become easier. I promise.

Happy 19th Anniversary!!! I am sorry I missed it since it was during the week but I'm glad you two had a good night together. You are the best parents in the world and I love you.

I'm glad you went out with the sisters. Keep it up. Being on my mission I now know how much it truly helps when members go out with the missionaries. I wish I could have gone to Dallas for the baptism. That is so exciting. So is Dad's new calling! He's going to do great. You're right, he is an amazing man of God and an example to all of us. Chanler's letters have been perfect. I love getting every single on of them. And everyone elses. He usually draws something for me and says he loves me. Nothing to be worried about. Letters daily are just as good as letters weekly.

I would like to have a CD with all the music and instead of a player maybe just a flashdrive with it all on there as well. We have things we can play music from both of those at our home so those would probably be best if you are having trouble with the ipod. I was thinking a nice new set of scriptures but its okay. I'll just work with these ones. Try to find those books as soon as you can. Thank you so much.

So for my weekly update... Starting Monday was just normal PDay. We got to play basketball which was a relief to me. It was nice to play my game again. After dinner at the empty nesters we helped move some of our investigators. Tuesday morning we finished the move. We went from there to a district meeting. Nothing too exciting happened that day. We visited a less active man, Brother Hill, who talks your ear off if you talk to him about the bows and arrows that he is constantly making out of PVC pipes. My companion said he usually doesn't talk unless he likes you so that was a good sign. That night for dinner the investigators we helped move earlier took us the a place called Tapps in Corona. We didn't realize until we left that it was not only out of our area but our zone too so on our way there we had to call and get permission to go there. Luckily we were okay to go. The dinner was amazing and super expensive. The cheapest thing on the menu was 19 bucks!!! That was a great night! We finished the day with exchanges. I stayed in my area and Elder Bangerter came with me. I got to drive the car all day Wednesday!! It's a good thing we had the GPS or else we would have gone no where. It was awesome because most greenies don't drive until their first 6 weeks is over. Wednesday went good. That morning our homeshare Brother Ziegler hurt his back and asked us for a blessing on his stairs. I annointed the oil and Elder Bangerter gave the blessing. Brother Z we crying by the end of it and is now walking just fine! We taught some lessons and saw Brian and Louretta. They were having some issues with family members and a uncle that lives with them since they were baptized and it's really stressing them out. The amazing thing is they are so strong that they wont allow themselves to crack and let Satan in. They said that themselves. It's amazing how spiritually strong they are. I also gave Brian a blessing of healing for an awful toothache that was swollen and keeping him from work. It was a very special moment. I've come to truly love this family. (I don't remember if I told you this already but I also gave their son Brian Jr a blessing for school last week, which was my first blessing I have given)

Thursday we had the amazing opportunity to go to the temple. It was beautiful. I was still a little nervous since it was only my second time to do endownments and the first for the dead. But it ended up being wonderful. I don't know if you have heard of the new film and if you haven't had the chance to go see it then go as soon as you can. It is so powerful and emotional. It really opens your eyes to everything. I think my favorite part of the temple was when I walked into the Celestial room and saw all of the seats and couches taken by the rest of the missionaries there. It was literally like walking into a room full of angels. It was so beautiful. I loved it so much and I can't wait to go back again! After the temple we went to Cafe Rio for lunch and for dinner a member took us to a Chinese buffet after we went to visit some more people.

Friday was a great day as well. After a long morning of planning we went out and saw some people. nothing too exciting until dinner at the Morris'. They are a Samoan family so there was tons of food and they basically invited the whole ward there so it was like another ward party in a house. It was awesome! However in the middle of dinner we got a call from Brian (who was at work) and he asked us to go to Louretta and calm her down. We didn't ask questions we just left. We knew we needed to see her. When we got there we had to talk on the porch since there wasn't a man at the house but she had already broken down crying. She told us how this whole week had been so hard for her with her family and how that day the uncle they were trying to get out of the house had made some threats and so they had the police come. Because of her and Brian's past, if they were to really do anything but talk to her uncle, they could have their kids taken from them and they could possibly go to jail. So it was really hard for Louretta not to just snap and take his stuff and throw him out. The amazing thing is that she has realized that all of this is Satan trying his hardest to keep her from receiving the Holy Ghost and working her way towards bettering her lifer and their family's. She is so strong. I don't know how to explain it. You can't understand unless you know her and have seen and heard where she started in life and how far they have come and where they are adiment about going. I have never seen anyone this strong nor anyone this tried by Satan. That night I gave Louretta a blessing. The Spirit was powerful that night. Before we left she told me that the blessing I had given Brian on Wednesday had worked. She said that after we left she looked at his face and watched the swelling go down in front of her and he said the pain had gone away. It was such a powerful testimony builder to me to see the miracles of God at work and a blessing to know that I am worthy to have those miracles work through my hands. That night truly testified to me the importance of being in tune with the Spirit to know when and where you should be at the right time.

Saturday I went on exchanges with one of the Zone leaders ( Elder Young). It was a great day and we had another Samoan dinner. Sunday was the perfect ending to this amazing week. I conferred Brian a member of the church and gave him the Holy Ghost and stood in the circle as Elder Carboneau conferred Louretta. It was so spiritual. I loved every second of it. I love the gospel. It is so true. The Priesthood is real. Then that night we had dinner at the Samoans home again and stuffed ourselves to the brim again. This week has been absolutely amazing. I loved it. I love it here. I love the people and I love the gospel. I know I am where I am supposed to be. I know the gospel is true and the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that the Priesthood is real.

I love and miss you all. Have another great week and I can't wait to hear from you again.

Love from California,

Elder Bushman

P.S. I got your letters Saturday.

Elder Bushman's Mission Address

Elder Blaine Kendell Bushman

California Riverside Mission
5900 Grand Ave

Riverside, CA 92504-1328

 

(I posted this again so that it would be easier to find!)

Second Week in California

Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 3:33 PM
Subject: Re: Happy Second Week!

Hello Everyone!

Parking lotting went a lot better but still no one to teach from it. I'm glad to hear you got the pictures from president Smart. Our companionship is free from sickness now and we are doing great! Elder Carboneau is awesome. We get along so well and work great together.We haven't changed apartments yet but will most likely change within the next week and a half. The weather is great and we haven't run out of water or electricity so that's good. I'll have to brag to Savannah and Taylor when we all get home. ;) I'll let you know the address once we move. I haven't gotten any letters from you guys since the package at the MTC but we haven't checked mail today yet. Brian and Louretta got baptized yesterday! They had to be interviewed by President for some serious things but in the end we baptized them!!! It was wonderful. That would be awesome if you guys would pray for our investigators.

I'm glad you got most of the shopping done for school. I remember how crazy that is. Seminary will be great for you. I am so excited for you. Oh and I am sending you guys a letter today also so you can time that too. I'm so happy to hear that the Martinez's got to go to the temple. Tell them congrats for me and I love them. They truly are a wonderful family. Let me know dad if Javier gets any more ideas for work. We still get to go to the temple once every 3 months! So our first trip is this Thursday! We are taking a 11 man van so all the elders in our zone are going to ride together to the Redlands temple. I'm so excited. There are so many new things going on! To hear about the Lubbock Mission is super exciting! Just so you know, from my just two weeks experience, the members are way more important than the missionaries in missionary work. As wiered as that sounds it is totally true. I'm glad you guys had Kaitlyn over. It's good to hear that her and Sarah have been doing things together. I hope I get to see some pictures in my next letter of you guys, Jasher, and KayDee. That's awesome that the Gray's are back now! I'm glad you guys got out to the neighborhood. Too bad it rained but I bet it was nice.

Thank you for sending stamps. I can't wait to get them because I only have a few left. I figured Nana and Papa were staying so that is awesome to hear that they really are! They are such good examples to all of us. I got a letter from them a few days ago and wrote them back. I don't think I can print off my emails. Until I find out that would be great if you printed them off for me. Thank you. Don't forget to write me once a week. Letters are like the best thing of a missionaries day so please dont forget.

So my week went like this. Sunday my companion was still sick so for dinner he stayed at the Grossmans while their son Jessie went with me to go contacting and to dinner. Oh just so you know my first two weeks apparently are not normal for a missionaries first two weeks. First week my companion gets sick and we get kicked out of two parking lots. Sunday I contacted and went to dinner alone with a priest. So Monday was even crazier. Don't worry. None of this was bad. I'm having a blast. It's just not the norm for missionaries. So Monday our PDay started with doing service for the entire morning which we never do on PDay. Next at 6 we go on exchanges. So I went with another greeny to his area on bike for that night and the entire next day. Then during the day on Monday a fire started on the mountain that I was on exchanges in. So all of our plans went out the window because everyone was being evacuated and so we just biked up and down the streets asking everyone if they needed any help. For a good hour we helped an investigator hose down his home that was on the side of the street. We watched the fire climb down the mountain. It was so COOL! We were within a mile from the fire before most of it was put out. It was an awesome experience. We helped a lot of people and now the whole area knows we were out there helping. Because of the fire being basically across the street from our home we stayed the night with other elders. So it was 6 elders in one home! Even more unusual. Tuesday morning during our studies, the homeshare fell off his ladder in the garage below us and was bleeding from his head. We gave him a blessing and wrapped him in towels until the ambulence came. He was more worried that we shut the grage door than getting the bleeding to stop. I was queasy the whole time. We had a powerful district meeting afterwards and then Elder Baker and I rode around the area and found some awesome potential investigators. Tuesday night we went back to our normal companionships. Wednesday was a slow day but we taught Brian and Louretta. Our problem with them was we couldnt get jumpsuits big enough for Brian. He is 6 foot 6 and over 360 pounds. Big guy. I have pictures from the baptism. Thursday was their interviews and Friday was our missionary interviews with President Smart. We were there from 9 to 3. Because Brian and Louretta had to be interviewed too. It took forever. We have been trying to talk to as many less active members as we can. We need referrals. This next week all we are going to be doing is finding people to teach. Luckily Friday night the ward went to the SanDiego Temple and our Bishop got a 5X suit for Brian. When we showed it to him we were still scared it was going to be too small. Saturday night was our ward party which was great and then we went to Pie night at this awesome 70 year old man's home. Bill is hilarious. We were laughing the rest of the night. Yesterday was the baptism. It was awesome. We got a Samoan man in the ward, Joe Morris, to do the baptizing since no one else is big or strong enough. I have never seen 700 pounds of man in a font at one time. It was literally almost too small to fit them both in. We are so excited for them. Brian is talking to Bishop next week about getting the priesthood and hes excited about the idea of being able to baptize his 5 year old twins when they ar eold enough. They will be confirmed next Sunday. They are awesome people and I am so glad I got to be a part of their conversion. Today is Pday. We've already gone shopping and are at the church playing ball and just having a good time together as a zone. I love it here. The work is great and so is the ward. The gospel is so true. I know it and I'm beginning to learn how to truly live and become it.The Spirit is so strong. Later today we are doing some service and this week I go on two more exchanges. I'm super excited.

I love you guys. Don't forget to write me each week and email once in a while. I can't wait to hear again from you. Stay strong and live the gospel. Let the Spirit guide you.

Love,

Elder Bushman

Elder Bushman with President & Sis Smart

We got a nice email from President Smart today.    They let us know he will be serving in the LAKE ELSINORE Zone.  We will let everyone know when we have a direct address.

First Week in California

Sent: Monday, August 5, 2013 2:54 PM
 

Hey everyone!!!

I made it to California! I can't believe I am actually here. It's already been one week but it feels like I got off the plane this morning. It's crazy. I'm having a great time and starting to get into the swing of things. Today is PDay! so I'm at the church right now doing my email and once I'm done we are all playing basketball or volley ball in the gym. We started off today with helping an investigator move. That took up most of the morning since it was just me, my companion, and a priest from the ward. We still have some shopping and laundry to do and then at 6 I am going on exchanges with the elders from another ward so it will be me and another greeny tonight and tomorrow out doing the work. I am a little nervous for that but excited too. It's going to be good.

This week has gone by in a blur. My companions name is Elder Carboneau and he is from Buckeye, Arizona. He is 22 and is about 11 months in. I am his first trainee. Most of his other companions have been emergency transfers to him so he's had to work with all the elders that have broken the rules. He's a fun guy though and we are starting to open up to each other now. This first week has been pretty quite in our home since I'm so new and we don't know each other so well yet but it's changing and I know we will be great friends by the end of our companionship. The lady that took a picture with the green dinner is Sister Grossman. She's a really nice lady in the ward and to me it feels like she's going to become the missionary mom out here in the ward. And the other picture is from Sister Craipos. (I probably spelled that wrong) But they are both great ladies and will talk to you if you need anything. Don't worry. I'm not the one that sent the message. I'm keeping all the rules.

Well I guess I will start off with the beginning of the week. Sunday I was still in the MTC. I sang in sacrament meeting again with 7 others and we sang Be Still My Soul. It was awesome. I also got the see the John Tanner Story and Only a Stonecutter for our devotional that night. They were both really inspiring and it was really cool to say I'm related to John Tanner. Monday was our last real goodbyes to other missionaries and our teachers. We left Tuesday morning at 4:30 and arrived in Ontario, California at about 10. There we met President Smart and his wife. President Smart is a very quite guy but has a humor side to him. You can also tell he is a man of God and his wife is a wonderful lady. Sister Smart is super nice and always happy. We drove to the mission home and there we did our trainee training as well as drivers tests. That's right drivers tests! In the middle of the test the AP elder had us pull into a parking lot and each of us had to invite at least one person to be baptized and here our message. That was so scary. We actually got kicked out of a CVS parkinglot by the manager. That was kind of funny and a good story to tell on my first day. That afternoon all the new missionaries had to bare our testimonies. Oh and there were about 29 of us that came on the plane that day. About half and half were elders and sisters and we had about 6 or 7 that are visa waiters for Brazil. After our testimonies President and Sister Smart each talked and the President Smart announced the new companionships. It was awesome. My companion, Elder Carboneau, is our district leader and we have a CAR!!! I'm so excited! My first area is Temescal Canyon. It's a decent sized area with lots of hills. There are definitely it's rich and poor sides. We live with Brother Ziegler. He's in his 50's and has an unfinished 3 story home on the top of a mountain about 2 miles away from anyone one else. And he runs it completely on Solar Power. That's cool but problematic since the power and water have run out and there is no AC. The nights are actually really nice and cool but once or twice it's but warm and uncomfortable. Last night I didn't sleep very well because of that. The elders before me actually used cots and slept outside on the balcony. I'm about to do that because it feels amazing outside at night. The weather during the day is pretty good too. It's stayed in the 80s and 70s for the most part. It's great! and it isn't humid which makes it even better! We are probably moving to a different members home soon though just so we will be more in the middle of our area and be able to trust the AC, water, and lights. It's all good though. I'm loving it. Tuesday night my companion and I went to the walmart parking lot to contact at least 20 people. We have to talk with 20 people atleast each day as a mission rule. We got our twenty but the whole time a security gaurd was kicking us out so we finally left. So my first day I got kicked out of two parkinglots! It's going to be tons of fun.

Wednesday was my first real day in the mission. We woke up at 6:30 and did personal and compaion study. I met my first investigators. Brian and Loretta Alveras are on date to get baptized this coming Sunday. They didn't come to church yesterday though but we are hoping it doesnt have an effect on their baptism. They have two kids at home. five year old twins. That night was dinner at the Grossman's. That's the green meal. It was great. We met some of the ward so I could get introduced to them and to see if anyone had any referrals. We need referrals and people to teach badly. This next week we are going into finding mode.I met the Bishop and his family. He is only like 39 and a great guy.

Thursday was the same thing just different people and I had dinner at the Paxman's home. Friday we had zone and district meetings and then we all went to a Hawaiian place for lunch. We have had quite a few appointments fall through but we are working on getting some good investigators. Friday night we had dinner at Alex and Sophia's. They are our other investigators and they are a young couple. They know the church is true. She just gets scared of an actual date for baptism and her family is hard core catholic and she wants her dads permission which he isn't going to give her so it's going to be a long process with them. But dinner with them ran late. We were supposed to eat at 7:30 but they moved it to 8 which is already really late for us since we should be home between 9 and 9:30. And at 8:15 Alex put the chicken in for 50 minutes! We had to get permission from our zone leaders to stay out and be home by 10. We didn't eat until 9:15. I was starving! It was a great meal though. We are hoping to work with them a lot. Saturday we had lunch with a Scottish man we call Brother Albert. It was his birthday and he took us to Golden Chopsticks. He has a great testimony and isn't afraid to tell you about it. He calls the Book of Mormon the Latter Day Testament when he talks about it.

Total this week we tracted 1 hour and 20 minutes. We had 3 doors open for us and talked to one man that was outside his house. It is not effective at all. Sunday was good. We taught Sharing Time in Primary about prayer. That was my first ward council too. My companion hasn't been feeling well most of the week so after church he stayed at the Grossman's and their son Jessie, a Priest, went with me to get our 20 contacts and to dinner. We are pretty sure Elder Carboneau has strep but I'm all good. I haven't gotten anything yet.

The work here is good. There is a lot of it. We are looking forward to finding a lot of people. It's great here. I hope everyone is doing well. I pray for you all everyday. I hope Chanler is okay. I love getting letters from you all. That's one of the best parts of my week. I'll look for answers too. The best thing I can think of right now is to help everyone become truly converted to the gospel. That means a whole lot more than you think. Take it to deeper levels. Live by the Spirit,

I'm glad Utah was good. I miss all the family. Yes I did find the stamps this morning actually but I'm going to run out soon. My bike showed up in the middle of our meeting at the mission home Tuesday morning so I have it. Thank you for posting everything for me. I don't know if there is a story behind his pose. He came on his mission late because he was inactive for a while before. He is a great guy and I love him already. I'm glad the hike went well. I'm pretty jealous of them for that. I'm excited for you to teach seminary. It's going to be great. If you need anything or have questions I might be able to help you out with that.

Well I have to go now. I hope you all are having a good time and being good. I miss you and love you all so much. I hope you write me soon. Like really soon. Like tomorrow. Maybe even today. I still don't know if I can send/recieve pictures via email. Mail is probably the best bet. Good luck getting ready for school. I love you guys so much. I'll write soon. Can't wait to hear from you!

Love,

Your Elder Bushman

the Book of Mormon is Amazing!

An email to me-his Mom- the Friday before he left the MTC.   I can't wait to share the power of the Book of Mormon with my seminary students this coming year!


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The Book of Mormon is amazing. As a seminary teacher I know that you will be able to find that out even more this year. As we have been learning how to teach this week at the MTC I have learned how important praying and feeling the Spirit before you begin reading for revelation. I have seen the revelation that is possible from that and it is amazing! Tear each scripture apart individually and with the focus and Spirit and revelation will come flowing so fast. It will blow your mind. It's the coolest feeling in the world.

Elder Bushman
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Hello California!

Elder Bushman made it to California!!

 

 Elder Bushman and Elder Carbonneau

 

His first dinner as a "Greenie". Yum!?!