Oct 6 General Conference Weekend!!

 Sent: Monday, October 6, 2014 6:48 PM
Subject: General Conference Weekend!!

Hello Everyone! 

So we are running low on time today (It was pretty busy) so I will try to write as much as I can. We had a great week that brought many lessons learned and miracles! Didn't you love Conference?! I absolutely loved it! I've started thinking that the Saturday sessions are my favorite for some reason. They were absolutely amazing! I hope you all find the time to watch them all. There was a definite theme of following the prophet and cleansing our lives of sin through not just repentance but also through serving others in every way possible. I learned so much this weekend. Those leaders are truly called of God. I know they are! I'm looking forward to getting my box of pictures! It will be a good project for me. Keep up the great work Kenzie! You are doing awesome! That's super cool Tanner that your band is doing so well! Don't forget about everything else that is important though too. Make sure you get your Eagle Project done soon! Dude Chan the Man! Way to go on scoring another goal in your game! And I don't even know what to say to you Logan. You're just a boss at everything! Keep up the hard work bro. You're going to go places. A lot more than me! ;) So Dad you finally got the car of your dreams huh? Haha That is awesome! I hope I get to see a pic soon. I'm excited for you! Keep up the running mom! I'm impressed and proud of how well you've stuck with it. You have really picked up the miles too! I wouldn't even think about doing 4 miles in one day out here. I really really like what you are doing with prayers with the kids. What are the things that I can pray for each one of you? I want to include your specific needs/wants in my prayers too. That is such a great idea!

So my week really started on Wednesday since we spent most of Tuesday in Moreno Valley and Riverside helping some other elders with truck issues. Wednesday we had a lesson with E_ and put her on date to be baptized on the 26th of this month! Then we had a lesson with and picked up J_ as a new investigator. She is a sophomore in high school and there used to be members living with her and her family. She seems pretty interested and very open to new ideas and truths. She also accepted to be baptized on the 9th of November! Thursday morning we had a lesson with A_, saw E_again and that night we taught D_. We went into the lesson ready to teach lesson 3 (Gospel of Jesus Christ) and include some of the commandments. Before we began our message we opened up the conversation for questions that he might have for us. he brought up tattoos and after we helped him understand that no one here would ever shun him for having tattoos on his body, the questions turned towards coffee. And that is when he told us that during the past week he had woken up in the middle of the night and his arm had been spazzing out. It was so bad that it kind of freaked him out and he went to the doctors for help. After examining it, the doctor told D_ that if it happened again that he needed to come back because it could be something wrong with his nerves and brain, OR it was just his caffeine intake. So you know what he did the morning before our lesson? He swore off coffee and tea because he knew that that was what had caused it all. And then for us to come and teach about the Word of Wisdom was just an additional spiritual confirmation to him and us that God truly does play a part in our lives and everything does happen for a reason! He is still looking forward to being baptized on the 19th and I pray that everything will work out! Friday right after a great Zone Meeting we drove over to Brother L_'s for lunch and a lesson with I_! We taught all of the commandments of lesson 4 and she is completely ready to be baptized. We just have to make sure that she can stay away from coffee and tea from now on. We will be working with her on that. She is so ready and during that lesson as we talked about her baptism she and Bro. L_ asked Elder Hoyt if he would baptize her and if I would confirm her! I am so excited! I have to admit I was a little jealous that he was asked to do the baptism instead of me since I've been working with her for a lot longer than him but I know it will be a great experience for him and a life changing moment for all of us involved! 

Saturday and Sunday consisted of basically General Conference. I would have to say that the three talks that spoke to me most this last weekend were from Elder Robbins (right after Packer Saturday morning), Elder Holland's, and Elder Christofferson's. I learned a lot from all of them though and it was super cool to have some of the speakers talk in their native languages too! Today we were able to combine PDay with the Lake Elsinore Zone and watch the Meet the Mormons movie at the Stake Center! President Mullen got special permission to show it to us and it was really good! I highly recommend seeing it and definitely showing it to our nonmember friends!Tonight we should be having a lesson with J_ again. I'll let you know next week how it goes! 

Well I better go. I hope you are all doing well and enjoy this next week. Remember to Pray, Study, have FHE, and go to the temple! I know that the Lord will bless us all if we return to the basics and live and learn as children, humble, meek, and submissive, willing to submit to the will of the Father. Until next week! Lots of love from California!

Love,

Elder Bushman