November 26, 2018

Hello! 

This email will probably be shorter than usual because of how hectic things are this pday.... 

We are finishing moving in to our new apartment, my companion is doing the application stuff to apply to be a young performing missionary in nauvoo! Sooo we have a lot to do in a small amount of time haha. 

Because of this shorter email, I'm going to send a few selections from my journal so you don't feel deprived haha. I hope my handwriting isn't too terrible haha. 

My thanksgiving was pretty good! We had two dinners, one with the Coleman's and the other at the Church with a bunch of returning members and stuff. So good but I was SO FULL. I'm glad we didn't have 4 dinners that would have been too hard for me and my small stomach haha. I had a really cool thing I learned right before thanksgiving though, we were on exchanges the day before  (so I was with Sister Fuge) and we went to visit these people they are teaching. At the time, this couple didn't have the best living circumstances. They were living out of a van with a tiny flashlight, a meager amount of food and thin blankets. And yet. This couple was so happy! Martha was so kindhearted, humorous and grateful to her heavenly father for what she had. I definitely learned this thanksgiving that our circumstances doesn't change our gratitude, but gratitude changes our circumstances. I was pondering the story of the ten lepers and realized that Christ said "thy faith hath made thee whole." But He only said that to the one who came back to thank Him. Is it possible that without gratitude, our faith isn't whole? Our faith isn't complete unless we are grateful for what the Lord has given us. 

Thank you for both of your thoughts on gratitude as well! 

Okay this week we had to clean this DISGUSTING house. I almost fainted at the sight of it and I'm still debating how much I should tell you about it because it was so gross. The lady had the health department called on her but the sisters in her area didn't want to call the health department again because they didn't want her to hate the church... (sigh) so we cleaned up part of this nasty place. There are more details in my journal. I will send that one and you can choose to read it if you want to. Haha just don't read it when you are about to eat or something. 

I met this awesome family this week! The cooks. They are a young married couple and they are super missionary minded so it's the best. They invited us over for thanksgiving evening to share a spiritual thought with their extended family. So cute. 

Prayers would be appreciated for Dan.... We actually haven't seen him since his confirmation. The devil is hitting him hard and he seems to be dodging meeting with us which just breaks my heart. I think at the root of the problem is his Ex wife that won't let him see the kids if he goes to church cuz she believes he's joined a cult or something. We barely got to see him for a minute today! He helped us move some boxes. We are setting up a lesson with him soon. He seems to be doing alright but yeah please keep praying for him. 

Also! New person I'm gonna talk about! Cameron is a junior in high school. We met him when we were contacting possible people of interest and the people we were trying to contact didn't answer the door. We saw him standing out on his driveway, just in a t-shirt even though it was like snowing! We decided to go talk to him. Apparently he came outside so he could talk to us!! He didn't even know what church we go to he just knew we were missionaries. He said he loves hearing about people's stories of faith, and learning about Christ. So we showed him a book of mormon and he said he would read 3 Nephi 11. Well, later this week I felt like we should go visit him so we did! He opened the door, let us in, cleared off a spot at his table and we all read 3 Nephi 11 together. He loved it and was applying it to his own life, all by himself! Who does that! This guy is awesome. He said we could come back later. Then, during weekly planning a day or two ago we felt we should text him so we did. We sent ether 12:27 because we both thought of it. Then he responded saying it was just what he needed and that he wants us to meet his girlfriend, who also loves church. We are so excited about that! 

We also had another lesson with Jayten and Jim this week. They are both so cool. Jim is warming up to us! He was joking with us, being comfortable sharing his thoughts and comments and praying too. And Jayten is such a sweet girl. I love her so much! 

We also had fhe with the Liskas. I can't remember if I told you about their family or not but just imagine a bunch of Monica Bergs who love to talk a lot. It's crazy hahaha but they have recently gone through some really hard things. They have gotten out of an abusive relationship and are trying to start a new life. So sis Van Camp and I spend quite a bit of time with them to help strengthen the kids testimonies. But they are so fun haha. 

Anyways that's all I can think of off the top of my head for this week! I didn't bring my journal so I can't remember everything. I'll try to send journal entry pics tonight. If not you'll have to wait till next week! Also I'll try to send a video of our new appartment!! It's SO SUPER NICE 

So yep! That's about all for this week! 

I love you both immensely and I'm so grateful to have you as not only my parents but my best friends :D 

Sister Bush 

November 20, 2018

Hello people! 

This week I was able to feel what Elder Holland describes in this quote about missionary work: "This is eternal life. This is the salvation of the children of God. Eternity hangs in the balance. … It is the most important path [a person] will ever walk. But if he or she doesn’t know that, at least you do!"

We had a tug of war with the devil this week - and it had eternal significance. For me, for my companion, for the person we are teaching and for all of his ancestors as well as descendants. His name is Dan and we had scheduled his baptism for saturday. Everything that could go wrong went wrong! Everything. Everything that is, except our faith. And because of that faith, God gave us the strength to win and for it to be glorious! 

When Dan came up out of the water on saturday morning he raised both arms in the air to show that triumph. His smile said it all. The only thing my little Nauvoo mind could think was "HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!" It was an experience beyond description. 

Sometimes in life you may feel like you are playing tug of war with Satan and that you are losing. Life can get that way, trust me, I know. But I'll tell you what i told Dan. 

Have faith! "You have the Savior of the world on your side. If you seek His help and follow His directions, how can you fail?" Keep pressing forward, trusting in Him. And when you win, the happiness that you feel will be beautiful and pure. Faith in Christ can conquer anything. Because He has overcome everything. So even if it feels like Satan has more leverage and that you are about to lose or even that you have lost already - don't give up! Remember who is by your side. More joy than you've every experienced awaits you, so just keep going! You can win! 

Until next time, 

Sister Bush 

1 Nephi 4:1 

November 13, 2018

Hello!!!! 

So sorry today our emailing time is pretty limited because we spent some time napping and then shopping for warmer clothes haha. So I apologize! 

Tuesday 

We had our First snow! 

Sis van camp and i bought matching Grinch sweaters, which is awesome because I have my grinch pants! So now I'm all decked out in grinch stuff. Lol how did this happen 

Ping pong at STLs was part of our pday and that was fun. That's also where we saw the hangliders, one of the members flies them professionally! 

That night we drove to Cheyenne, for trainers meeting and interviews. It was a late night 

Wednesday 

Training! President McMurray is awesome. He taught us about the doctrine of Christ. He taught us that the foundation of Christ's doctrine rests on priesthood authority and His atonement. So cool. 

Sis van camp is considering applying to be a YPM in the summer! That would be so cool. She's still deciding tho haha. 

I tried antelope for the first time at the hoopes house for dinner! It was in the spaghetti. Haha so many people hunt here.  

Thursday! 

We did some service hours at salvation army, helped some people get food for their families. That was awesome. After that we had a  lesson with Lisa! She's someone we tracted into the other week, and we got to teach her the restoration! She's super nice and has two kids. She's a single mom and is interested in strengthening her family through belief in christ. So she's pretty much golden haha. 

Also on Thursday we had a cool experience! We were going to go tracting and my comp and i prayed where we should go. Then for the next minutes we looked at our maps on our individual devices, not speaking. When we both looked up to see where the other person was on the map, we noticed we had both zoomed in onto the same road!! We new it was a sign. So we drove over there. 

Well. Funny thing is, we get to the area we felt prompted to go and there are no houses. It's flat. Nothing. Just a dirt road leading out into the Wyoming plains. But because we felt inspired when we chose where to go, we kept driving. Well! We didn't knock any doors. But we ran into a guy, sitting in His truck. He was hunting, looking at the elk through his telescope. And because he was doing that, his window was down and so we started talking to him! His name was rick. We didn't end up getting any of his contact information, but he let us read a verse with him from the Book of Mormon and accepted a copy! 

The cool thing is that he was the only person we ran into on that road. A miraculous sign from God that he cares about the one. And He knee that that one would be alone, hunting (possibly pondering) on that one dirt road. And as we prayed to know where to go that day, God sent us to him. Way cool!!!! I hope he reads it and talks to his wife. (He said his wife was a member but he had never been interested.) I'm grateful his heart was softened that day on that dirt road and that we could be there. It was awesome. 

Friday 

We did weekly planning which took up a lot of our time haha but it was good. That day, because of a miscommunication, we were 30 minutes late to our dinner! So embarrassing haha but oh well. They were still nice. 

Also we had a lesson with Dan again. We talked about baptism and how it would feel and he started crying. He said it would be so nice to feel clean and be able to make that promise. He is such a tender human being! Also, we told him that for him to get baptized on Saturday we'd have to have a lesson with him like every day. Or that we could move his baptism back by like a week. He was like oh no i don't mind meeting every day let's not push it back! So great! He just rocks. 

Saturday 

We helped someone move and pack (I was well qualified to help with that haha) 

There's this little boy in the ward that I love so much. His name is Tommy and he is the best. He loves to compliment people, he has contests with his mom! Love it. 

Sunday 

Got to go to ward council for th3 first time! It was the best because everyone is so missionary minded!! Yes. 

Both sis Van Camp and I got up to bear our testimonies, so that was cool. 

Teaching Jaden, the 11 year old girl is so great, she is so wise! Especially for her age. We were talking about faith, and I shared alma 32:21. I asked her what she understood about faith from this scripture. Her response: "faith means believing in God and trusting that blessings will come even if they aren't immediate." 

Okay wow. Profound, simple and true! 

I learned from her that day. 

After that we had another lesson with dan. We had been told by someone that knows him to do word of wisdom because he smokes and drinks. So we were worried about if he could get baptized on saturday. Well! Dan is just a boss and he agreed, said it all made sense and committed right away. So cool to see the spirit working in him. He said he knows the Book of Mormon is real, not just any other book. What a guy. 

Monday

We drove to the church to practice savior redeemer of my soul. An elder is playing the voioin, another elder is doing the piano and sis Van Camp and I are singing. It's for zone conference (friday!) So that's cool. Nerve wracking but cool..you know how much I love music. I'll send a recording or something once we sound decent haha. 

Then our lesson with Dan was good. We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy (he works on Sundays sort of. He is a real estate guy and those are some of the best days for showings.... But he's so great he said he'd talk to his boss and pray about it too!) Plus also the law of chastity. He has no issues there either. He's just the bomb!! It's really quite indescribable to see his progress and be on this journey with him. Wow. And Zoe his girlfriend (returning member) is awesome. They named their puppy sam after Nephi's brother!! Yessss 

We spent more time working on trying to find an apartment (cuz we currently live 8 miles out of our area and that is killing our miles!!) Plus we spent some time working on our thankful booth idea! We are going to do a thankful tree (thanks mom for raisin me right haha (; ) and put it on main street, as well as give out free hot chocolate for a few hours on Saturday. We hope to talk to a lot of people and  even give out some books of mormon!!! 

I'm excited about that.  

Love you both so much 

Sis Bush 

November 6, 2018

I've been swept off my feet! Litterally! By this wind! Haha the wind here in Casper Wyoming is pretty crazy.

Here are a couple other facts about serving here in Casper. 

I almost always have: 

- a cold nose 

- cat or dog hair all over my clothes 

- a book of mormon in my hands 

- dinner appointments on my calendar 

- a Christmas song in my head 

- static-y hair 

- a testimony on my lips 

- and tender mercies / miracles given to me throughout the day! 

So basically I'm in love with the work over here haha. I'm so in love with it! Here's an example of why I love it so much: 

This cool thing that happened is from yesterday when my new companion Sister Van Camp and I were tracting. (By the way she is so amazing and just plain fantastic!) 

We contacted a member who hasn't been to church in awhile, and then felt like going to a couple houses on the street. I felt a pull towards a certain direction so we went that way. There was a lady outside smoking and sis Van Camp told me we should go talk to her. So we did. She didn't seem super interested but her 11 yr old daughter was super cute and had been going to bible school so she was taking to us. Right as I was bringing up the book of mormon,  another lady came outside. The spirit told me to just keep talking about the book of mormon. I explained what it was, another testament of Jesus christ. This lady's eyes got so wide and let me tell you. I have never seen someone so anxious to grab a book of mormon out of my hands before. I couldn't even finish my sentence of asking if they would want one before she was holding it!! She teared up and said she had been going through some hard stuff and wanted to turn to God, so she had opened the bible last night. She had been praying to get to know Him and knew it was a sign that we had come. The little girl also wanted a copy. I was just struck with awe at how prepared this lady was. And also how quickly God wanted to answer her prayer.

The very moment that she turned to Him, He responded with more love and help! The very moment.

 I want to testify to all of you that our Savior Jesus Christ is just waiting with His arms open for us to turn to Him. For us to grow closer to Him. That is His greatest desire! And the moment we humble ourselves and take a step of faith, He responds. I promise that He does. Because He loves you. 

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 

So take some time this week to turn to Him! I know that He loves you and can help you with whatever you are going through right now. 

Until next week! 

Sister Bush 

Ps. my pday is on Tuesday for the next 5 months. What a blessing consistency is going to be for my pday! Haha 

To Family:

Hello from casper!! 

I love hearing about your week and thank you for the pictures!!! 

Tuesday was chaos haha. 

My group had to leave earlier for the airport than planned because another group of sisters needed us to help drive their luggage to the airport cuz it wouldn't fit in their van. So that was exciting haha. It also gave us extra time at the airport which means I got to eat at chili's!! Yay! 

Another tender mercy was that sis Johnson, Jeffords and I all got to sit next to each other on the flight. Plus we found out that we all have the same favorite scripture: 2 tim 1:7. Which is not common! So it was a comfort from the spirit to remind me of that great verse. 

President and Sister McMurray! They are awesome. It's been so great to meet them. 

That night I found out in with sis Van Camp in Casper Wyoming(: 

Wednesday 

Transfers took place! 

Driving to Casper and getting to know my comp was fun. We had quite a drive so that was long haha. 

Then we went Shopping! A miracle was that we ran into the bishop at the store! Our area book hasn't been working so it was a tender mercy to be able to talk to him. 

That night for halloween we had to be in by 6pm so we had special permission to watch 17 miracles! It was great. 

So on Wednesday and throughout the week I have been following the counsel of Elder Holland. In conference, he said: 

"We thank you for following our beloved prophet in this wonderful endeavor and suggest that you not wait for many more instructions. Just jump into the pool and swim. Head toward those in need. Don’t be immobilized wondering whether you should do the backstroke or the dog paddle. If we follow the basic principles that have been taught, stay aligned with priesthood keys, and seek the Holy Spirit to guide us, we cannot fail." - Elder Holland 

I applied this to my missionary service! Who cares if I fumble on my first door approach or don't do exactly the right thing when meeting members. Just jump in and swim. 

Thursday! 

I'm quickly falling in love with all the ways I get to share the gospel here: roleplays service meeting members contacting and tracting 

Area book started working! So that was good. 

Spent the day contacting and meeting members and a little bit of tracting. 

First door I tracked into, I got to meet a lady and her husband who love christmas. We talked about Christmas and Christ and the Book of Mormon. It was great and we actually might meet with them later!

That night we had dinner with the bishop and his wife so that was good. 

Friday 

Weekly planning for the first time haha. 

Animal shelter service!! One of my favorite service things we do is go a couple times a week to the shelter and give the kittens social interaction time so that they will be more likely to get adopted. It's the best. Doesn't even feel like service haha. 

Asian Buffett that night! 

That night cuz we were at the mall we decided to try mall contacting! It was a neat experience. At first, super awkward cuz we had no idea how to stop people and talk to them. They all had places to be! But we prayed and then the spirit helped us out. Long story short we talked to a bunch of people and even ended up giving the restoration lesson in the mall to some people! Haha God is a God of miracles. 

Saturday! 

We Met a lot of inactive members, and shared messages with them. 

We also helped the RS Pres with funeral dinner and stuff. So that was cool plus we got to talk to some nonmembers at the funeral dinner. So great. 

Sunday 

Broadcast! We had that regional broadcast and it was so good. Listening to leaders talk about ministering, temple and family history work, Sabbath day worship and gathering israel! So good. I have lots of notes. 

After church I experienced the Wind in full force!! Almost fell over haha as we dashed to the car in the rain and wind. Crazy. Press forward saints! 

Later that night i had one of the coolest experiences on my mission. Dan is a person we are teaching and we hadn't met him yet but roleplayed the plan of salvation and were considering inviting him to be baptized from what the elders told us about him. We went in that lesson with the spirit. During the lesson, I was given exactly what to say and when to say it. I invited him to be baptized and set the date for the 17th. He actually started crying. He said he felt so special that we would invite him to be baptized. I testified to him it's because God loves him and knows him. He said all his life he felt something was missing, and he hopes this is it. I can't describe the experience of asking him to be baptized. It was electrifying and the words were not mine, they were the spirit. I was full of so much joy and happiness. It was the best. 

Monday 

We went to the Animal shelter again, got Subway. Also that's when we had that experience tracting that I talked about in my weekly. So cool!!!!! 

Then we had a lesson with Jaden, an 11 year old who wants to get baptized. She's amazing and so cute. We set her on date for the 8th of december. So good!!!! 

Anyways that's the basics of my week! I love my new comp. She's from American fork utah, has mad piano skills (enough to rival troy and maybe beat him. Maybe. Id like to see a competition haha.) She's super sweet, obedient and easy to get along with! I love her.  We are already sharing clothes so that should tell you how well we get along haha. Also how we are tired of our own closets lol. 

I miss miss miss you guys 

I love love love love love you guys 

Sorry if this email seems rushed! It's cuz it was! Hahaha but know that I love you so much, I'm so grateful for your support, prayers, updates, emails, pictures, love and smiles. You are the best ever. I miss and love you a ton! 

Sister Bush