July 13, 2018

WELL I CAN COUNT TO 200!!

I held a raccoon this week! our neighbor has tame baby raccoons and they are soooo cute. it pooed on sister Moss and that was funny! it didnt poo on me, it gave me kisses. so i guess im a raccoon tamer (; 

- pageant officially started on tuesday! and so that is super sweet. my favorite part of both pageants is when we get to go up on stage and sing, to represent the Lords missionaries. its a powerful moment to bear testimony through song! also, as i get to know the characters in pageant i am planning on writing some historical fiction about Nauvoo! just short stories(: so that is going to be awesome. ya know, when i find the time haha

- the bugs are terrible here. i have 31 bug bites on my legs and yes i was taking every precaution i could think of haha. 

- kids are so cute. my spiritual thought comes from a kid we met at pageant. our conversation was very short. all i know about him is that he is 7 years old, played the stick-pull with his brother and lost. and right as he left he said "yeah but i can count to 200!" his enthusiasm and confidence made me laugh. and so somtimes when i think of something hard for me i just remember "well i can count to 200! so maybe i can do this!" haha so i just want to remind you guys that you can do hard things. and maybe when you are struggling with something, remember something hard youve accomplished in the past! and i know that as you remember your strengths and triumphs, it will give you extra motivation and power to overcome more hard things. 

you are all super great! have a wonderful week.

sincerely, 

Sister Bush

email to parents:

i love those amazing quotes mom, thanks for sharing! ill have to re-look at that conference talk, i remember it being great. speaking of conference talks im so impressed with your entertainment fast! what made Jonas invite you guys to do that? it sounds like the blessings you have received out-weigh the costs. ive noticed that in my life as well. i dont constantly have headphones in or am wanting to watch a movie. it makes a big difference in my connections with people as well as how productive i feel during the day! how long is your entertainment fast going to be for? 

conference talks are really my favorite. during pageant season we barely have any time to do anything for ourselves, including study. so conference talks while i get ready in the morning have been a lifesaver! another reason im grateful that this is a smart phone mission. 

first patient today!!!! whoop whoop!! im so so proud of you dad. im so proud of our family. i remember when you werent sure if you could start your own practice or not, i remember when you were trying to decide if you should wait or do it right away and all those uncertainties you had. in my brain i thought to myself "i bet that hes going to just fly with this and he will start just as im getting out on my mission. hes going to do great." and i was right! here you are! im so happy for you, i know you will be helping so many people. 

utter nonsense sounds fun! you and the kids should either make a nauvoo one or a missionary one and send it so me and my district can have a jolly ol good time! sounds like a bunch of fun. you should also send videos of the kids doing it haha

im glad you guys live close to a temple now! you should go once a week. or try to. we are allowed to go every pday and ive made it a goal to make sure i go every pday. even if its just to sit in the celestial room or something. this week ive been learning a lot about temples (probably because of the sites ive been in, the pageant and also the sunday school lesson we have to teach on sunday is about temples) and its been awesome! i love the temple so much and i know that one of the reasons i am in this mission is because Heavenly Father knew that i would want to go to the temple every week. 

so on pday i pulled a mom and re-arranged the house we live in hahaha. its cuz FM had crammed sis beckwith and sis teauge in a small room and had put all the dressers in the big room. sis teauge wanted to fix that and switch all the furniture and so while she was at her doctors apt i decided to do it for her haha. sis Beckwith helped me, it was hard work! we moved all the dressers and suitcases into my room, then moved the two beds into that room. then we moved the dressers into the empty room. then we decorated their new room. after that we put the spare bed that was in my room (from sis Jones) into the dresser room. then we re-arranged me and sis moss beds to not be awkward and also decorated! which explains the pictures i sent of a few of my mormon-ads on the wall and also pictures of the family. so that made our house more homey and lovely to come home to. not that we get to spend much time at home anyways haha but its nice.

that night we had an amazing district meeting about praying with faith. i loved it. ive been changing my prayers and they have been a lot more meaningful, thanks to the tips in preach my gospel! i love it. after the meeting, i wanted to go to bed but sis Moss had a breakdown about what shes going through so i just decided to listen. she loves pictures, and had put all her pictures up. she was crying and looking at the wall, saying "this is gods plan for me." i agreed. she felt like she didnt understand why she was going through such a hard time though. and then the spirit whispered something very profound to me, which was helpful for both of us. the spirit told me to tell her that life was like that. she had a wall filled with good memories right now, but back in the day when she struggled before she didnt know what it would look like. i told her to imagine another blank wall. the blank wall is the future. faith is waiting and trusting that the wall will be filled someday. one picture/moment/memory/answer at a time. just thought you might like that(:

this week we have been serving at land and records. the first day was hard because there are some things in there that dont feel like missionary things. computer stuff, record keeping and sending and other crap like that. i felt like i was at work, using a screen for a few hours. but when i was able to focus on the times when i could connect with people and help them find their ancestors and stuff it became way more enjoyable! i love serving there because you can watch the spirit of elija in action! yeaaaa Also! found out im related to William Gheen and his house is still here! so yep i took a picture in front of it(: so recently ive been changing my mindset, like when people ask me what my favorite site to serve in, i just choose whatever site im in that day! cuz when i decide the one im in right now is my favorite then i start acting like it- which helps the guests to feel like it might be their favorite too! 

pageant officially started on tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!! it was quite a new experience for me haha. we pre-greeted and post-greeted. its exhausting but its also super duper cool. pageant changes people! especially the family casts. ive heard it described as a family efy. so thats cool. the bugs however. are not cool. I HAVE 31 CHIGGER BITES ON MY LEGS. that was from the night id been taking vitamin E pills for two weeks, i used bugspray all over, i wore a long dress and i didnt let my feet touch the grass when i was sitting down. and i still got bit. what. i just cant win haha. so now ive just been trying as many solutions as i can. i went to walmart today and they didnt have any womans boots so please send me some. so that i can stop getting bit. usually size 7. use my account. ps the vitamin E pills are the catfood pills. weve nicknamed them that because they smell like catfood haha. 

 

i love singing at the end of british pageant! it is so powerful and amazing! i love bearing testimony to people through song. i love representing missionaries to huge crowds. i love sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. so this is awesome. 

my schedule right now is wack though. what do you think of it? any suggestions on how to not be so drained yet still go the extra mile and do everything im asked to? 

okay. my spiritual thought is Isaiah 53. the whole chapter. or mosiah 14. im highlighting the whole thing in my little book of mormon. plus mosiah 8:8. but thats a different story. 

this is what Elder Holland said: "surely the most sublime, the lengthiest and most lyrical declaration of the life, death and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is that found in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, quoted in its entirety in the Book of Mormon by Abinidi as he stood in chains before king Noah." 

it is so powerful. since i discovered its amazingness yesterday night ive already re-read it like 4 times. i love it so much. so my invitation is for you to read it with new eyes. and see what the spirit can teach you about our Savior. 

i love you guys so much. getting those letters from some of the kids this week was a blessing! i am doing so well here. i really am changing so much, and its in a good way. Christ is making more of me than i even knew was possible! i love it! and i love you guys! and i love nauvoo! 

sincerely yours

sister Bush