August 28, 2018

This week has been wonderful! And i have learned many, many things (as usual) 

This is one of the many beautiful truths I have learned, this is one that I want to share with you: 

"In the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi, broken pottery is mended with gold. The cracks, instead of being hidden, are highlighted to show respect for the vessel’s history and showcase the beauty of a broken thing made whole.

What if we could learn to do the same? To celebrate the person we have become, not despite our struggles but because of them?

The poet Robert Bly wrote, “Where a man’s wound is, that is where his genius will be.” Our wounds inform our experience and shape our journey. They teach us things we can’t learn in a classroom. Our moments of brokenness inspire us to turn to the Savior for healing, to humble ourselves, to rely completely on Him. They allow us, bit by bit, to become more like Him.

Jesus Christ would not be the Savior if He had not endured His brokenness. And you would not be the glorious person you are becoming if you were not required to endure your own. When you recognize that, you can say with Paul, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). You can finally thank God for the gift of your brokenness." (August 2018 Ensign) 

I testify that the Saviors Atonement can mend you with gold. His sacrifice wasn't so we could press a magic reset button on our lives, but rather, become new, better people. That is why repentance is a JOYFUL thing. I'm so grateful that all of my broken pieces can be mended by His perfect grace. 

Have a great week everyone! Thank you for being you! 

Sincerely, 

Sister Bush

Email to family:

Hello!  

Don't worry about pday haha. The way it works is if that week it changes to a new month than my pday changes that week. Does that make sense? So because we begin september on saturday, my pday changed this week. Haha I know it's confusing, I didn't get it for awhile too so its partly my fault. 

Anyways, great to hear from you! ready for this jumble of thoughts? you may needs Reubens help in putting my week together haha

i looooove that picture of the temple and im so glad reuben did that puzzle!! so neat!! and beautiful. wow. 

ill go to Nauvoo the day after labor day. im not sure if ill still be with sister Swaney or not. probably im thinking we will. 

haha i hope the house gets fixed up soon! we neeeeed our pipes to be fixed here in carthage cuz the water tastes like swamp water. im suspecting its the reason i got sick in the first place.... 

all that yard work makes me think of repentance! i know, im a missionary haha. but its true. you cant do it on your own, its hard work but its also very satisfying and fulfilling. and there is always more to do! thank you for your example of putting your mind to something and working on it! 

you are doing just what i knew you would. having faith, but acting too! doing all you can. its kinda like Hinckley says. pray earnestly and tell Heavenly Father our needs and desires and then get up on our feet and go to work. otherwise He doesnt have anything to work with and cant answer our prayers! man you guys are awesome. 

BREAKING NEWS: STEVEN SHARP NELSON IS IN SISTER SWANEYS HOME WARD. When she told me this I about passed out. He played at her farewell. She often dogsits for them. Like her family is good friends with their family. What! She calls him steve! How crazy is that. I just can't believe it!!! They might come to Nauvoo and that would be so epic. I'm hoping that because she knows them I can somehow hire him (or all of them) to play at my wedding. That would be a lifelong dream. Wow. So that was first on my list of things to tell you haha. 

This week has been quite an adventure. First of all, it's getting a little bit colder here but I know it's getting a lot colder in utah! And I was thinking about how cold the first winter might be for you mom haha. I'm happy to hear you feel prepared. Also, I've taken some time to crochet you and dad scarves. I call them conference scarves because I work on them whenever I am listening to conference talks! I hope that you two go to a conference session and wear them! In fact I will extend that invitation to you- either just you two or take the family to a session of conference in october. I feel like that would be an awesome experience! Anyways, I will be sending those scarves soon. I just need to add the finishing touches and find time to go to the post office haha. I hope you like them and that they keep you warm! I love you both! i wont send pictures cuz i want to surprise you(;

Sweet tour moment this week: 

There was a special needs girl who came to Carthage and it was touching to watch her. She asked her mom for help so that she could touch the door. Very sweet. 

Comparing zoramite prayer with almas prayer, from alma 31 was really cool this week- it was one of my neat studies, seeing the difference in prayers. how they were both "praying" but only Alma was communicating and conversing. love it! 

There is a new preach my gospel!!!! The paper version won't be out for another couple months. But the electronic version is ready for the using! Something pres Lusvardi has told us to do is get a fresh copy of PMG and study it side by side with the electronic new one. Write in the notes of all the changes. And as I've been doing this I've learned so much!! They are changing lots of words. Getting rid of words like: investigstor, less active, proselytizing, meeting, doctrines, ect. You should check it out if you wonder what those have been changed to! Or go side by side through the whole thing like I am. You'll learn a ton, I'm telling you. I feel like I'm learning a lot about missionary work but a lot about President Nelson because I'm doing it. Man I love it. 

Sis Swaney and I have had 100% companion unity in the martyrdom room a few times this week. One time was with these two women and I felt the need to share some of the trials I've been through, testify of how the master calms the savior and promise them that He can calm them during the midst of their struggles. I wasn't sure if it was right. And then sis Swaney bore testimony of how Heavenly Father comforts us during our afflictions. And I knew it was right. So I did what the spirit said. Afterwords, the lady said she recently lost her husband, doesn't have a house right now and other things. So it was exactly what they needed to hear and I'm glad we both listened to the spirit!! 

Okay so its hard to not gain weight here. Right now I'm eating really healthy on my own, I don't eat anything with added sugar (and I'm doing good with that!) And staying under 1500 calories every day. BUT the seniors are always inviting us over to eat way too much food and bringing goodies all the time. It's so hard! Not just to resist cuz it tastes great, but because it's the way these couples are trying to show their love for us haha so to help them feel appreciated we have to eat their food. It's hard. And I've heard outbound is even worse! So I'm doing what I can to stay healthy haha. And besides the seniors in really proud of how I'm doing. Normal meals are like eggs, oatmeal, chicken salads, soups, spaghetti squash or mashed cauliflower. I have usually 1-2 fruits and veggies everyday. So I think I'm doing good besides the seniors hahaha 

We went to alfanos as a district in carthage! Alfanos is a the only place to really eat out in carthage. It's pretty lame but hey it's Italian haha. Sis Swaney and I shared pasta and BBQ pizza. It was pretty good. The pasta tasted cheap tho. But that was a lot of fun! The hard part was that the radio was playing and we were half wanting to dance and the other half of us wanted to plug our ears haha. 

So our mission took a vote  (under the direction of president) and he decided to move mission trainings to the evenings cuz it worked better for the majority of people. Apparently there was some complaining so he canceled mission training for a bit so that he could talk to those people. He was trying to follow the counsel of Mosiah 18:21-22. On Sunday the subject in sacrament was obedience. And sister Owen. A senior sister got up and was a complete savage! She chastised the mission as a whole for complaining and murmuring against our leader who is called of God. Not directly like that but she applied her message specifically to the mission training situation. It was quite a sacrament meeting haha. Luckily, we have resumed mission training so I guess it worked! 

my sundays and studies have all been way more enriching since i have been trying to write down every piece of revelation i receive. it makes my hand hurt but i have found it makes me learn way more and connect more with the spirit! so its worth it! my journal is filling up faster tho haha. 

did you find a gold chain for my personal progress and charms?? ive been missing mine and i hope i get a replacement soon haha. you can use my money i just need a chain (:

i have felt bad for sis swaney this week a little cuz her back has been hurting. sadness. we dont know what it is but she doesnt want to go to the doctor again... so yeah im just doing my best to help her with that struggle. 

even though we arent getting a lot of tours im still as busy as ever, President used the scripture DC 84:85 and told us that right now is a time to treasure up. he said that our Heavenly Father is aware of the extra time we have and we are to use it wisely. i think that applies to life as well, kinda like you said dad. sometimes we are given periods of time in our lives to work on treasuring up and things so that we can be ready for what Heavenly Father next asks us to do!

Chaismus in the book of mormon. (examples: the whole book of 1st Nephi and alma 36) 

"Chiasmus, sometimes called an inverted parallelism, is a Hebrew literary form where words or ideas are arranged in a certain order and then repeated in reverse order. This repetition emphasizes important ideas and words. In addition, the writer’s main idea is often located at the center of the chiasmus.

Alma used chiasmus to tell the story of his conversion to his son Helaman. The presence of Semitic literary forms such as chiasmus in the Book of Mormon is an external witness that the book is what the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that it is: a translation of an ancient text written in a Middle Eastern language." (institute manual) 

Now. i know you guys knew about chaismus already and probably know what im about to say but it was really cool for me to discover this and plot out exactly how everything works together, verse by verse. then i realized that the writers main idea is often located at the center of chiasmus. so. i deceided to find the exact center. i counted all the lines, words, and lines in the old version of the book of mormon too. (first edition copy we have here at carthage). and the exact center is the same for both editions. so that isnt a coincidence. 

there are a total of 194 lines in the current edition of the book of mormon. and line number 97 says "the coming of one Jesus Christ". finding that out really hit me for some reason. Alma chose that line on purpose to be the center of his chiasmus. why? because it is the exact turning point for him. it is the moment when he remembered the teachings of his father about a savior and found hope in Jesus Christ and His atonement. what a lesson for us all! everything just sort of clicked after that. and i feel like i know not only alma on a more personal level but the Savior Jesus Christ as well. it was quite an aha moment for me and i know for a fact that the spirit was very involved.  

as for the whole book of first nephi here is what i found: 

"By far the most subtle use of chiasmus in any work is its role in creating the structural design behind longer passages and entire books. Consider briefly the outline of the First Book of Nephi and how the order of Nephi’s narration revolves around his vision of the Spirit of the Lord:

a) Lehi’s dream leads him to prophesy warnings to the Jews (chapter 1)

b) The departure from Jerusalem (2)

c) Nephi accomplishes a great feat emphasis>in obtaining the brass plates of 1 Nephi 3:7; the brothers are confounded (3–5)

d) Ishmael joins the group with his daughters (7)

e) The tree of life (8)

f) Lehi prophesies about the Old World and the coming of the Lamb (10)

g) Nephi and the Spirit of the Lord (11)

f) Nephi prophesies about the New World and the coming of the Lamb (12–14)

 

e) The tree of life interpreted (15)

d) The sons of Lehi marry the daughters of Ishmael and Ishmael dies (16)

c) Nephi accomplishes a great feat by building a ship of 1 Nephi 17:3; the brothers are confounded (17)

b) The departure from the Old World (18)

a) Nephi warns the Jews and quotes the prophecies of Isaiah (19–22)

More than ever before, we are now in a position to admire the purposeful and stunning unity of Nephi’s message. The long-neglected principle of chiasmus unfolds the fact that when Nephi revised the record of Lehi, Nephi’s mind was clearly organized and his heart was intent upon expressing the central importance of his great vision with the Spirit of the Lord. He achieves this expression via chiasmus. By understanding this, we can point to the concerted power of Nephi’s style, and we can get explicitly to the point of Nephi’s inspiration." (new Era, feb 1972)

woah. how amazing is that. Nephi also chose to put at the center of his chiasmus, his discovery of the savior and who Jesus Christ really is. 

so now i am pondering what the middle of my spiritual chiasmus is. and considering writing one! according to my testimony. some form of poetry. idk. i hope all of that made sense hahaha

We gave a tour to a family from Thailand. so that was cool. But get this: they moved there not for the dads work or anything, but because they felt like their kids needed to experience more of the world outside the US and the spirit said Thailand so that's where they have been living for a year and they are going back for year two! They had never been their before, didn't know the language or anything. So that is just crazy to me and is an example of obedience. I was impressed by this family! Made me think of all the times you guys have followed the spirit in raising us! Thank you for being in tune with the spirit when considering how to teach us(: 

So! We found out our outbound will be after October 26th. We will most likely leave the Monday after that. And it will probably be for about 5 months. I don't know where I'm going yet but last year the sisters found out a month before they left! So I should be finding out pretty soon! That is exciting (:

So this week I've been studying in Alma 32 and it's probably one of the most complex chapters in the Book of Mormon! 

My perspective changed when I read a quote by elder Holland when he said (about Alma 32) "Christ is the seed, the tree, and the fruit of eternal life." 

And I was like woah. Hang on. I wish I had time to type out all the crossreferences I found and things but my favorite was in Alma 34:36. It mentions how the Lord dwelleth in the hearts of the righteous. 

So that's how He's the seed. 

And He's the tree because as our relationship with Him grows and we nurture it, we can feel Gods love. 

And He's the fruit because in Him we can have a fullness of joy. and theres so much more to learn about that so check it out!

sorry this email is so long haha and crazy random, i wish i had time to organize my thoughts better. just know that i love you all dearly and im so happy when i get to hear from you. you guys mean the world to me. you make everything worth it! and i super duper love being a missionary! every second of it :D

ps what are you guys being for halloween????? 

yours truly,

Sister Bush

August 22, 2018

hello all! its me again. 

How is it already another week gone? this mission is going by too fast.

but actually things are slowing down here quite a bit! we went from having like 820 people visit Carthage in a day to now like 64 a day. So thats quite a contrast! Nevertheless. I am still happy to serve here and bear my testimony to whoever comes here. 

also surprise! on Labor day i will be transferred back to Nauvoo. so thats coming up(:

my little thought for today is a quote from a lady who I gave a tour to. she got it from somewhere but I dont know where so im just giving the credit to her haha. if it is your quote, please step forward to be recognized because it has made my week. anyways, here is the quote:

"Sometimes the Master calms the sailor, not the seas." 

Please read that again and let it sink in. We all go through stormy waters, and sometimes all we want is for Christ to come and say "be still" and the waves to calm. But sometimes what we really need is for Him to say "be still" to us, and calm us. Calm us so that we can have the courage, strength, and grace to sail through the storms calmly. I want to add my testimony that I know He is the Prince of Peace. and as we turn to Him, He can help us be still, even in troubling times. 

(for further study, if you want you can read Mosiah 24:13-15, D&C 101:16 and Mark 4:37-39.) 

have a great week! 

Sincerely,

Sister Bush

email to family:

"to bring thousands of souls to repentance"

that line is from alma 26:22, and this is what the whole thing says: 

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance." 

when i first read this verse in my mind i thought wow thousands of souls to baptism! what a promise! and then this week i realized that is not what it means. repentance means turning away from sin and to God. that can be done by either giving up something bad we are doing or by starting to do something good that we havent been doing. repentance = progression. so really my job as a missionary is to help people progress and come closer to their Heavenly Father. and Carthage jail can be a huge step in their progression. so i can testify that that promise in the scriptures is true. this week ive been focusing on really caring about the people i give tours to and bearing pure testimony. its made quite a difference. this week i will be focusing on using the gift of discernment as well as the principle of revelation to testify to their needs specifically. im already trying to put this into practice! for instance... things have been super slow around here. on pday we only serve at the jail for 3 hours. well we hadnt given a tour and our time was almost up. i started praying that we could have one. well some people showed up! but they showed up at 10:45ish. and a tour lasts 30 minutes. my companion didnt want to use up 15 minutes of her pday giving a tour (cuz the next part of our pday is emailing time). but the spirit told me i needed to be on this tour. so after debating with her i ended up taking another sister with me and still doing the tour. i know i needed to be on that tour, bearing testimony to those specific people. nothing crazy happened but i know that i followed the spirit and therefore fulfilled my purpose. sorry that it cut into emailing time. (but really its just computer emailing time cuz we are allowed to email from our phones all day. so its not that big a deal.) dont worry your email wont be cut short haha. 

so this week i was sick. nothing huge, but a cold. and a frustrating cold haha cuz i just felt like i was in a fog for a couple days. but i got some rest and im feeling better now. 

in a tour this week sister swaney lost it and started laughing cuz of something i did. i dont know what but for some reason she lost it haha. we are getting closer! 

this week i gave a tour to a family from spain, and another from the netherlands. im so inspired by these people! they dont know english super well but they come because they want to see the church history sights and gain stronger testimonies. wow. 

this week their were two YSM birthdays so we had a party on saturday night to celebrate. so that was fun. i snuck over to sister Paystrups place (since she is their neighbor) and covered her room with mustard packets i got from the YPMs that left haha. it was hilarious. i need to get that video from sister Green and add it to the share!

in carthage we are now serving with the Hills, nielsons, and Adams. so cute but all of them loooove to talk haha. so senior dinners take a long time haha. but they are so sweet and have such good life stories and lessons to share. im so grateful for them and the chance to get to know them better. 

so! transfers! haha dont worry not just yet. but this week we found out that on September 3rd, all the ysms here in carthage will be returning to Nauvoo. so that is sad. i will miss carthage, but im excited to return. i dont know if they will be switching us up with new companions or not, i just know that ill be returning to nauvoo. so yeah. 

also i think next week my pday will switch to tuesday. i think. haha so just a heads up.

because its so slow now i used to feel discouraged that i only give like 3 tours a day (or 1 like today) but i realized that i am blessed because in other missions the missionaries can be working hard all day and not see any success but over here if we arent getting tours at least we can study while we wait! so that is a blessing. Heavenly Father knew i needed to come here where i could continually be learning from the scriptures(:

i love you guys so much and how much you inspire me. im so so grateful to be your daughter. it is a huge blessing. 

love love love love love

Sister Bush

August 15, 2018

Please insert your name:

"Behold, thou art _______, and I have spoken unto thee because of thy desires; therefore treasure up these words in thy heart. Be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love." (D+C 6:20) 

If I have learned anything this week (and i have learned A LOT) it would be that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are so willing and ready to reveal things to us and encircle us in the arms of their love. I have learned this because I have been in need of revelation and love this week. and as soon as I reached out to them, they reached out to me. Realizing how much they love me has given me extra strength this week. Love is a powerful thing!

So please remember this one thing from my email today: You are loved. I know i have a lot of people on my email list, and this might not feel personal but i hope it does. because today i actually took the time to go through my email list, think about, pray for and feel Gods love for each name. each of you individually. So as a representative of Jesus Christ, I can testify that He really does loves YOU. 

I dont have much else to say. This week has been a blessing as ive met inspiring people, stood up to argumentative guests, joked with little kids, learned the stories of senior missionaries, shared the Book of Mormon with someone who has not yet read it, comforted a wounded soul, pushed myself a little harder, dove a little deeper and sung a little louder. 

Have a wonderful week and remember you are loved! 

yours truly,

Sister Bush

email to family

Here we go! good luck interpreting my word vomit, you might need the gift of tongues haha

but yeah This is gonna be a really random email so I apologize:

Sunset is over. Sadness. We watched it for the last time on our last pday. Good thing I can see it next year! 

And now the ypms are gone :( so that stinks. Nauvoo and Carthage seems awfully quiet now. Their singing and dancing is definitely missed. We got to say goodbye to them at the mission dinner on Monday night. 

So on Thursday was mission training and let me tell you! Wow! President Lusvardi is literally the coolest. He has so many connections haha. We got a sneak peek at the new master the tempest is raging video, which is like a bible video, except people who have been in stormy waters are telling their stories too and how the Savior calmed their seas. So that is way cool. ALSO ALSO ALSO we got to see Christmas videos for this year! Haha I'm so lucky! They are doing light the world again, except instead of a new one every day it is four weeks of light. 

4 weeks of light the world: 

Light your Family 

Light your Faith

Light your Community 

Light the World 

So I'm really excited about that. I'm sure you will come up with something cute and matchy matchy around Christmas time for the family mom! So I hope I get to hear about that. 

Random question! What are you guys doing for halloween?? I want to know so I can figure out what I should do haha. I don't know if I'll be on outbound by then or not but we shall see! If not they usually do this thing called Boo-tiful Nauvoo and that would be fun (: 

yes i will probably still go to BYU-Idaho when i get back. i still feel like it is the right place to be. who knows, maybe that will change over the course of my mission but right now i still feel that byu-i is right for me. don't worry, i plan on visiting utah quite often! like once a month probably. 

"I bet he said a lot of prayers in here" this is a quote from a little girl when we were taking a tour of the jail. I thought it was very sweet and true. I'm sure Joseph smith did say a lot of prayers in there and I know his prayers were answered. 

"That man really loved Jesus didn't he." Another quote from a little kid. A boy talking to his dad about Joseph smith at the end of a tour. So cute!! And so simple. I love it. 

also there was another little girl that kept winking at me during the tour and it was so cute!! man i love kids. 

So in case i didn't tell you when i was comps with sister Moss, she doesn't have toenails. She got them taken out before the mission because of how often she gets ingrown toenails. So haha when we told sister Yamamoto that sis Moss doesn't have toenails, she was confused. So we started pranking her and telling her that in America if your feet stink, the doctors will rip your toenails out. She was so shocked and scared hahaha I think I sent the video! We eventually told her the truth and she was so relieved!!

we gave a tour to a lady named Millie Garcia this week from tempe AZ, and she was so sweet. we got talking in the martyrdom room and discovered that 3 of her kids are atheists and go against the church they were raised in. it is really heart-breaking for her but she talked about how she is doing her best to love them, strengthen her own testimony and be a good example. man i love meeting faithful saints who cling to the gospel in hard times. amazing. 

i've been doing yoga this week with sister Jones! at first i was like meh, sure. i could be more flexible so ill do it. but now i love the way i feel energized at the end! its become more of a physical and spiritual exercise in the mornings (or evenings before bed) and i love it. it helps me refocus on whats important while stretching and strengthening my core. yeah!

okay so the doctrine and covenants!! i think i underestimated its power before but now that i am studying it and pretty much living in church history haha it has been so amazing. i love the d and c and i think members of the church should take advantage of it more often! 

so this week we met a man named Barry, and he was interested in learning more! we talked to him about the book of mormon and he said he wants to read it. we also got his email so we can follow up with him. i'm so excited about that! 

so a couple days ago sister Yamamoto was having a hard time. we were doing a district study meeting and she got frustrated and started to cry. well i did my best to help! we have gotten pretty close over the past couple weeks so i knew what might help. she loves sloths so i got my sloth card that says hang in there on it and then used google translate to write i love you in japanese. i gave it to her and i could tell it meant so much. she said i wrote it good too! so thats a plus. well anyways she also said this about reading it: "by this it says to me that Jesus Christ loves me." i felt so good to know that my love for her helped remind her that the Savior loves her. kinda like what you were talking about mom! which by the way i appreciate all of the love you send me because it gives me strength throughout the week(: and mom your re-written primary song is so cute. i never knew you did that! made me feel all fuzzy and warm inside haha i'm so grateful to have a mom like you!! you are my best friend and i miss you a ton but for now i will just try to love you from afar. 

ive been thinking about jonas and his mission this week too! first off, this week i friended elder tippets and elder coleman on facebook. and also! i met president Davies from the fort collins colorado mission presidency. it was so funny. he said they were from a part of Wyoming that jonas served in and i asked if he knew elder Bush. he was like oh yea! i love that guy! and i showed him my badge and said "well i'm his sister!" it was really cool that we got to talk a little bit and i got to give him a tour. i love being called Elder Bush's sister. makes me happy. so that was neat. 

one of the days this week sister Swaney got like 2 hours of sleep and so she took some time to rest and i got a lot of studying done. it was way nice to have some time to relax and focus on the scriptures. 

we had mission dinner/testimony meeting this week! we not only are loosing the ypms, but a bunch of the senior couples are leaving this month. so we had to say goodbye to a bunch and that was sad. the hughes leave this week and i might cry when they leave cuz i love them so much. they kinda remind me of you guys so i will miss them. 

soooo we had an interesting, not so good tour the other day. there were non-members with us, two RMs and another man. this man was questioning and arguing with almost everything we said. especially in the room where we talk about what lead Joseph to carthage and was asking all sorts of questions about the legal stuff and laws and getting into the dirty details and stuff he'd read online. it was pretty frustrating, it made sister Swaney cry. but in the martyrdom room i had the chance to bear my testimony. i told him that i hadn't had time yet to research everything about the laws back then, but i had had time to research the book of mormon. i've read it over and over, spent time studying it, pondering it, applying its teachings in my life and praying about it. and that i know its true. i know Joseph smith was called of God to be a prophet and that he restored Christs church on the earth. i know that Jesus is the Christ.  i know those things for a fact. it was a good way to finish the tour strong. pure testimony trumps all!!! later, elder hughes asked if he was a member of the church and the man said "loosely." what the flip does that mean? sadly there are a lot of loose members out there. so don't be loose! hold tightly to the iron rod and don't fall away into mists of darkness!! the book of Mormon will always keep you on the path. 

hmmm not a lot of patients. that seems rough im sure its easy to wonder what is going on. but just keep having faith! you are good at that. its kind of like how the saints left nauvoo and they didnt know how it all would work out, but they just had faith that it would. and thats how you are. you are a hero to me! keep pressing on, and God will bless you tremendously. he will pour out patients that you wont have enough room to receive them(; try reading the account when Christ tells them to re-dip their nets on the other side of the boat. that just popped into my mind and it might be helpful. 

also keep sending me your scripture studies! i love it so much its always a highlight for me!! i get so excited to learn what you are learning. i wish i had time to respond to all of them with my thoughts but alas. pday is short. 

also mom thank you for your thoughts on obedience. very helpful. i will try to put them into practice. 

also that quote about education is bomb. i love it. new favorite. 

today for pday we cleaned like the whole house. so that was nice. also we got to pick up a bunch of free food that the ypms left. i don't even really have to go shopping! i just need a few things so that is nice!! 

plus i got my package today! the boots you sent are super cute. and they fit pretty good too! so i'm impressed with your skills. 

i am doing well. i'm learning and growing a lot, i wish i could find a way to express that through this email enough. one of the ways i'm growing is also in my love for you guys. you two mean so much to me. i don't know how to explain it! but the closer i come to my heavenly father, the closer i feel to you guys too. the more grateful i feel for Him, i realize my gratitude for you is also growing. man oh man i love the gospel. and i love my Savior Jesus Christ. He is everything to me. 

keep being amazing. hey next email can you update me on all the kids? or have them each say something to me? i miss those guys! i was planning to address each of them personally this week but idk if i'll have time. 

love you all!!!

yours truly

Sister Bush

August 8, 2018

Hello all! 

the title of my email today is a quote from the Nauvoo pageant, and it is Brother Lairds way of describing the gospel. it tastes good. I decided to quote him for many reasons. 

first reason: pageant is over. for this year anyways. and im super bummed about that! but i am excited for next year, im already counting down the days haha.

second reason: this week i have learned a new truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ and it tastes so good to me! I shall explain in a series of quotes, scriptures, experiences and thoughts. sorry if its boring, i just gotta tell someone!! 

have you ever wondered why God doesnt seem to answer your prayers? I know I have. and i realized the fault is not on His end, its on mine. 

Moroni 7:9 states "And likewise also is it counted evil unto man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such." 

God receiveth none such? when reading this i suddenly realized that if we do not pray with real intent, He doesnt even receive our prayers! so how could He answer them if He does not get them? and so i wondered why we have to be sincere for Him to receive them.

 the answer came when I was again reading in the Book of Mormon, this time in Alma 7:21.""And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God;" 

 if you arent praying sincerely, with real intent, your heart is not pure and your prayer cannot make it to heaven. it would be against all the laws of heaven and earth for your prayer to be received by a pure, perfect God if your prayer is not sincere and pure. learning this truth just astounded me! I realized just how many prayers of mine never reached heaven because i was not sincere. i now have a goal to not just say words when i pray but to have real intent, a humble and sincere heart. 

everything is summed up well with a quote by elder wirthlin which says:

"Prayers that do not demand much of your thought will hardly merit much attention from your Heavenly Father. When you find yourself getting into a routine with your prayers, step back and think. meditate for awhile on the things for which you are really are grateful."

wow. what a new perspective i have on prayer. it is meant to be a conversation with our Heavenly Father, not an order for blessings. I have so much ive learned about it I could go on and on. 

anyways! i invite you to evaluate your prayers! if you arent sure how to, try looking over the evaluation in preach my gospel on page 95. it is awesome. 

well, sorry for going on and on about prayer! but it just shows how much I love talking to my Heavenly Father! 

and i love talking to you guys too. have a wonderful week!

yours truly,

Sister Bush

email to family:

Hello!!!! 

I'm so so so so glad you guys are officially moved in haha. And I'm excited to look at the pictures of the house!! 

Sister Swaney is very cool. When we give tours together, she is the Alma to my Amulek. She has a strong, sincere testimony that always compliments mine. So that's great.  This week we have been working on bearing pure testimony. It has had a huge effect on me and I can tell it makes a big difference to the guests. The difference between a testimony and a pure testimony is explained in a conference talk by elder ballard. Check it out. Oct 2004. 

I do miss sister Moss but I got to see her quite a bit this past week so that's good! Now that pageant is over tho we don't see each other as much :/ 

So! This week elder Brent h neilson of the 70 came to visit! He gave some REALLY awesome talks and trainings. I was very inspired. I'll send some of my notes your way haha cuz their talks inspired me to study further and it's been cool. 

We've been pretty busy here at Carthage, on Sunday from 12-5 alone we had like 670 visitors! Crazy. But then our numbers dropped to like 150 on Monday because people left since pageant is over. So now we are decently slow. And it will get even more slow as soon as the young performing missionaries leave... (sadness) 

When I sang in British pageant for the last time I cried a little. I can't believe it's already over.  The show ends at like 1015 but we all stay and have to put up all the chairs, clean up trash, put away equipment from the stage and stuff and help clean up the stage! We didn't get to bed until like 1 or so, and we left early. Then we had church at 730 the next morning and it was fast Sunday and we had a million tours. Man we were exhausted haha it was crazy. 

In Carthage on the tour, one of my favorite favorite parts of the tour is when I get to recite the first vision. The spirit just fills the room to testify of his experience. I love it because the kids calm down and we are able to start off the tour with the spirit. 

This week we had a little girl in our tour that bled where Joseph bled! Outside the jail, by the well, her older brother pushed her and she wacked her head on the stone. Blood everywhere. It turned out okay cuz she just cut her lip but it was a kinda scary moment! 

The abeytas came this week! Boy was I surprised when I walked back in the VC after a tour and I saw them waiting there! I got to give their tour and it was super weird! But so good to see them at the same time. I love those guys. They said they will come back next summer since they aren't too far away(: 

There was a really cool tour I got to give with a brother and sister (old folks) who couldn't climb the stairs to the martyrdom room. So I got to give the virtual tour, and instead of playing the tape that plays in that room I got to read it. It was so powerful. I sang the song that plays too. We were all crying, the spirit was so strong and these two were so sweet. Moments like that just make my mission. 

On Sunday we had dinner with the hughes! They are so great. And funny too! Sister hughes kinda reminds me of you mom haha we also watched 17 miracles with them. Sis Yamamoto is really fun to watch movies with! 

We also had a cool tour with the Wilsons. A couple that had just dropped their kids off at efy. They had already taken a tour but told us they wanted a second one! That's rare! So we took them through again and at the end we were all crying, the spirit was so strong. It was a long story but they basically said they felt they needed to go through it again because they needed a tour from us- to hear our testimonies. It was amazing. 

I'm teaching sis Jones and Swaney how to budget lol. I'm actually doing pretty good with eating healthy and still budgeting! So I'm proud of myself. 

Another cool tour! Sis Swaney and I got to give a tour to a bunch of missionaries in the Iowa mission who are about to go home. I felt prompted to testify of the Book of Mormon, invite them to cling to it and promise that it would give them guidance in what they next needed in their lives. It was pretty cool. 

This week I called Heidi to see how she's doing! It was good to see her, encourage her and update her. We talked a lot about seeing the Book of Mormon with new eyes. I love it...

 I love you guys so much!! 

You mean everything to me (: 

Your loving daughter and missionary 

Sister Bush