This Weeks Theme: Truck Drama-- 7 14 2014

Sent: Monday, July 14

   Hello everyone!!

I'm glad you so enjoyed your uneventful week! Haha I bet Dad really appreciated all the help at work you gave him. That tree-less  tree house sounds like a great idea! That would be such a fun project! I'm sorry to hear about Brother Greathouse. He did have a great, long life. I'm glad that Sister Greathouse is doing well. And I'm sorry to hear about President Zant as well. That's terrible. He has such an amazing testimony and outlook on life and the Gospel. I love the message he sent through his letter. I will continue to keep him in my prayers. Miracles can always happen.

Well this week was a pretty good week for us. Monday night we blitzed our area with the other set in our ward and were able to pick up a new investigator named R who was a refferral from some other missionaries. He can only meet on Monday's and Tuesday's due to working the rest of the week in Fantana. But after our lesson with him tonight we should know how muc potential he has and how serious he is about learning. I'm excited! Tuesday was another District Meeting and it started our vehicle drama for the week. So if you remember, the truck we have now, we just traded for the other week with some other missionaries. Which I understand now means, we have to deal with all of the problems with it now. There's only about 10,000 miles left on it before the church will sell it. (Usually mission vehicles are sold at about 50,000 miles) So Tuesday wasn't necessarily for us but it set the tone for the week I guess. We took the other guys to the Auto Shop to get their tire fixed. Wednesday morning as we were driving around out in the boonies trying to find a name from the ward list, we got a pretty bad flat tire. So we drove to the nearest parking lot and started to fix it when we realized that our newly given truck does not have a jack therefore we couldn't put the spare on. So we got a ride from Carbonneau and went home for lunch while we asked around the members for a jack to borrow. Once we found one we were able to switch the flat for the spare and by this time it was already 4 and there wasn't any point in driving all the way to Menifee to the Auto Shop again so we decided to wait until Friday. We saw the K's that day as well. They are doing alright. We weren't able to have a real sit down lesson with them though so no word yet on B's progress. Wednesday night was pretty cool. For the first time, our Bishop gathered together the Bishopric and other priesthood leaders and we all went out on splits to see families. Total during that hour we were out we were all able to see about 9 families. From that, we talked to two different part member families that invited us back for the missionary lessons! The J's and W's. So there will be more updates on them soon to come.

So Thursday was weekly planning and Friday we drove to the Auto Shop and had them put on 3 new tires. As we drove home, our check engine light and low tire light both came on again. So we waited until Saturday morning to go back. I don't know if I ever told you about Friday's here in this zone, but we have what is called Free Food Friday. A member in the stake goes to a bunch of stores at the end of the day and they give him all the food and such that otherwise they would just throw away and on Friday morning every week he has all the missionaries come over and take what we would like and need for the week! It's great! It definitely saves us money for other food. So Friday morning was the perfect time for us to go back to the shop. Sadly we found out that that was going to be the last Free Food Friday due to some issues the stores had had with other people doing the same thing but selling the food they got which I guess is illegal. Bummer, but anyways back to the truck story. So Saturday morning we went to the Auto Shop after doing some service moving a less active family from another ward, and asked them to check out everything that was wrong with it. After a little wait Paul (we're pracitcally on a first name basis with the guys there now since we see them so often now ;) haha) told us that he had some new for us. First, somehow we had a huge piece of metal sticking out of the inside side of one of the tires so they have to order another new tire for us and second their is something wrong with our air pump which is why our check engine light was going off. So tomorrow we are going back, hopefully for the last time, to get our new tire and the rest of the problems completely fixed. 

Just a long week of car problems. It was fun though. Thankfully when we weren't getting our truck fixed, we were able to have a lot of success finding and teaching. We taught a lot more lessons this week! Another highlight of the week was Saturday afternoon we were out trying to contact some referrals we had and we went to find a man named J. We had gone by his home multiple times but weren't ever able to get in due to the big gate out front. Luckily this time he was outside and we were able to talk with him. Come to find out he had talked to missionaries in Lake Elsinore 6 months ago (when I was there) and hadn't heard from them since. He was waiting for us. He is out of a job, has no car, and is trying to finish up school to be an electrician to get a job to take care of his 8 year old daughter. He is also divorced and lives with a brother and his parents. Sunday morning we set an appointment with him and taught him the first lesson, The Restoration! It went great and we had M, one of the guys in the ward who is leaving for his mission in a month. We put J on date for July 27th and he committed to do everything we asked him to do including pray, read, and go to church....Well church began and J wasn't there. I got a ride with one of the members to try and pick J up but he wasn't home either. I was pretty disappointed, but hopefully this week we can visit with him and get him to church this next week. I ended up having to teach gospel principles again and got a surprise invite to help teach elders quorum as well. I was not prepared at all. haha It went well though and somehow I got through with it and the class did too. ;) 

Well that was my week! It was good and I'm looking forward for this week's potential and surprises. This morning we played about an hour and a half of soccer with the rest of the elders in the zone which gave me a huge workout. I was super tired, but we had a blast. We're probably going to be doing that every PDay from now on. Other than that, today we have done some shopping and relaxed. It's going to be a good day! 

I hope your week goes great and you are able to catch up on work! I can't wait to hear from you again! Until next week..

Love,

Elder Bushman

Start of a new Transfer! June 24

Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 5:12 PM
Subject: Start of a new Transfer!

Hello everyone!!

Sorry I didn't email yesterday, it was transfer PDay and things were hectic so I get to email today. I don't have a whole lot of time so this wont be a very long email but I'll get to the important stuff. 

I'm glad that you got so much rain! That's awesome! I haven't seen rain in forever. And definitely not a storm like that. I miss the lightning. They don't have that out here. I like what you did to the trailer and the box. That's pretty cool. you are going to have so much fun out there! I am pretty jealous but that's okay. Haha I'm glad that you were able to find a place to stay. That's too bad that the ride ended right before Logan and Chan got on. But it sounds like you guys are having a ton of fun with everyone. I'm glad Holly is doing okay. Just so you know the only picture that I got from you was the one of dad and Tanner on the zip line. None of the other ones actually sent ( they were just blank emails). 

No wonder I didn't recognize any of the girls. I was hoping that was the case and that I just hadn't been there for so long that that many new people had moved in. I'm glad you had such a good time with the girls. Thanks for sending me the song. I like it a lot. There is a lot of lessons to learn from it and even more deeper meaning to it all. It helped. While this week didn't bring a whole lot of success, I was able to learn a lot and now have a new found motivation and determination. I'm super excited for this transfer.

So this week was nothing too special for me. Just the same old same old. One of the Spanish missionaries in our zone finished his mission today and is now on the plane home, so we had a little party for him this weekend. On Wednesday we had multizones where the Smarts gave their outgoing testimonies to us as they are leaving at the end of this week. During their training, President and Sister Smart taught us the top 10 things to achieve happiness in life and prepared us for the transition for President Mullen to come in on Monday. During that meeting Elder Tui'one and I did a special musical number where, get this, I played the piano and he sang. Yeah I actually played the piano for something! Haha I was nervous but it was good. We did "God be With you till we Meet Again" as a tribute to the Smarts. It was a really good meeting and I gained a lot from it. 

This week I began to really engulf myself into my studies so much more than I have throughout my entire mission. I have a goal to read all the standard works, "Jesus the Christ", "Our Heritage", "Our Search for Happiness", and Preach My Gospel all the way through. So far I have read our Search for Happiness" (with Carbonneau), "The Book of Mormon" (that was when I was with Albright), and this week I finished the "Pearl of Great Price" and "Our Heritage" and have started the "Doctrine of Covenants." I plan to finish with that by the end of week 3 of the transfer. As I have been reading I have learned a lot and seen the blessings and happiness that have strengthened me as I have focused more on my studies. I plan to implement this for the rest of my life. 

This transfer I am still with Elder Tui'one and we still live with Carbonneau and Sweeney. I'm super excited for this transfer. There are still a lot of changes coming with President Mullen coming in, and we all have a strong desire to make this transfer a lot better than last. I can feel a change in me and my work and heart and I can't wait to let it fully evolve in me. I'm ready to really hit the pavement. 

Well I gotta go now. I hope you have a great week and time with all the family out there. Tell them I say hi and I love them! Send me pics! I'll talk to you next week. Until then, I love and miss you!

Love,

Elder Bushman

Happy Father's Day Dad! - June 16

Sent: Monday, June 16, 2014 3:22 PM
Subject: Happy Father's Day Dad!

Hello everyone!

I did finally get my package. I found out that the Zone Leaders had had it and forgot to give it to me. I gave them a little bit of a hard time for it but it's all good. Thanks a bunch. I am enjoying it already! 

So we didn't have a whole lot of success this week finding anyone, but we were able to reorganize and make a more concrete plan of action and I think we have somewhere to go now. And due to all of this I have made some personal goals and hope to be able to finish them soon to become a better missionary and servant of the Lord. 

 

It sounds like you girls had an absolute blast at camp this last week. What's scary is that I don't recognize any of the girls in the pictures you sent. Are they all new? How many youth are in the ward now? boys vs girls. I miss camping a lot. And it sounds like you guys did it the right way too which makes it even better! I love the way that the Lord works on us while we join together as youth and are in the natural beauty of the earth that He created. I'm glad that you were able to have such a great time and feel of the Spirit and help those girls gain a better understanding and testimony of the Spirit. And I am super jealous that you guys are going to Colorado! And for a reunion! That's going to be so much fun! Tell everyone there I say hi, I love and miss them.

 

What!? Brittany had another baby?! I didn't know that she was pregnant! :) That's so cool! I'm glad they are doing well and I'm sure Cooper is super excited to have a new brother! I'm super sorry to hear about Holly. I will definitely keep her and the family in my prayers. I hope everything works out okay soon. That's terrible. :( I'll remember President Zant as well. 

So all I know about our new mission president is his last name is Mullen, he is from Oakland, and when he gets here next week he is going to be touring the mission with his wife to meet all of the missionaries. It's a scary time. I'm praying our mission stays on top of the game with all the changes that are going on. And yes I am grateful I am consistently staying the transporter for Urgent Care patients rather than being the patient. 

 

I bet Tanner had a great time on his trip. It sounds like he did. Hopefully he lets more know more about it soon. Hopefully you guys get the letters and package I sent soon.  And I really apologize for how late they came. I'm glad Dad got some new toys and is doing well. Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you!

 

So my week consisted of the normal things I've been talking about this past transfer which is finding. It's been tough I tell you. But I know the fruits will start showing themselves soon. God told me in my studies yesterday that I just need to work on being patient and as I strengthen my habits of pray, study, and fasting, that I will see success. So that's what I'm going to work on. Other than that we have literally just been finding and finding more. 

Well I gotta go now. I can't wait to hear about your trip to Colorado! Hope you all have a great week and stay safe as you travel. I love you!

Love,

Elder Bushman

I'm not really 19 am I?- June 9

Sent: Monday, June 9, 2014 4:50 PM
Subject: I'm not really 19 am I?
Hello Everyone!!!

Welcome back home from Canada! It sounds like you had just as much a good time as we did in Spain. It's amazing to hear about the trip that Mrs. Edwards planned out for you guys and the choir! She really knows what she's doing. I'm so glad that you were able to go together with the choir. I don't have enough time to respond and read everything you sent so I'm going to print out your email and read the rest later. The pictures you sent are amazing! I love the views, architecture, paintings, Logan's nature, and especially those Eh shirts!! They all looked great! I hope that you have a great time at Girls camp this week. It will be a ton of fun and I'm excited to hear about Tanner's Florida trip as well!

Well for me, this week the only exciting things that happened where at the beginning of the week and at the end. First off, I turned 19 on Monday!!! Wooooo! I don't know how and I definitely don't feel 19, but I am. It's absolutely nuts. That night our ward mission leader threw a party for me and we had some amazing chicken and Polynesian food topped off with my request of oreo pie which Sister P gave me a whole one to bring home with me afterwards! It was great! I loved it. They definitely made my birthday. Throughout the rest of the week we looked, and looked, and looked, and looked, and knocked, and haven't gotten very far yet. I have a feeling though that this week is going to be a lot better. Oh so I forgot something else happened on Friday. We went that morning to do some service for the other elders' home share which ended up being an 8 hour job full of yard work. It was great and we got a lot of work done, and we got some amazing grilled chicken out of it for lunch. The only problem is that for the rest of the day all of us were sleeping at every moment we could (I fell asleep in the car at least 4 times), I got a nasty sunburn, and we ended up having to take another trip to Urgent Care....... And yes I had to go this time. But thankfully I was only there for moral support for one of the other guys who tweaked his back and bad knee during service. Sadly the doctors were no help and he has just been pushing through the pain but now he is feeling a lot better and is basically back to normal. So earlier in the week I got a call from the missionaries that took my place in Corona and found out that J was to be baptized this last Saturday and he asked me to baptize him!!!! So I found a ride with Bill Covell (Pie Night) and had one of the best days of my mission. I was able to spend time with Bill and the elders that I had served with in Corona, and I was able to perform my first baptism on the mission, and President and Sister Smart showed up for the baptism as well which just added the cherry on top. It was a great day and I am so glad that John has finally made that step and is now moving forward!

 

So there you have it. That was my week. I might possibly be going back to Corona this weekend again for C's baptism and hopefully at the end of the month for N's as well! I'll find out soon! Well I hope you all have a great week and have fun at all your camps and activities and such. Stay safe and I can't wait to hear from you again! I love you!

Love,

Elder Bushman

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