June 10, 2019

It has been a long day haha and Okay so we came to email but then I forgot my journal so now I'm going off memory alone.... sorry if I forget stuff.

First off: gratitude prayers.
My life is changed! I've been working on having meaningful prayers for some time now. I've tried all sorts of different things and they are all great but this week I decided to say prayers and only say things im thankful for and not things im asking for.
This has been kind of hard but so worth it.

The scriptures that helped me decide to do this are:
Alma 34: 38 "That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

And doctrine and covenants 78:19 "and he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more"

At first it was hard, because there are things that I'm used to praying for and asking for every day - blessings for my family, the gift of discernment with my guests, promptings to serve, strength to get out of bed ect. But instead I prayed how I was grateful for those things and grateful for tender mercies and grateful for Jesus christ. It has helped me realize more the blessings I receive on a daily basis and help me be better at keeping my covenant to always remember Him (:

So that's the challenge for you guys! I have loved it so much that I'm inviting you all to do it with me (: I know that if you take this invitation to heart and show your gratitude to God, He will bless you more than you have ever been blessed in your life. Those things that have been stressing you, things you have been working on and other worries on your mind will fall into place and answers will come.

This week we've had some cool experiences with guests! We had that family on Sunday that i helped go to the Sunday concert, a family that we connected with so much that before they left town they brought us Annie's frozen custard haha, and some awesome women (6 sisters who go on trips every year together) we taught at the Lucy Mac smith home. So good.

Other experiences:

At the end of last pday, when I finished calling you guys and went on a bikeride, we rode over to the old Nauvoo cemetery. I've wanted to go there ever since hearing that the Scovil family is buried there. Well, I found their graves. Not Lucius', but I found his family. The ones he would have looked at. I actually got pretty emotional and my spirit was touched as I thought of this family and so many other families like them who sacrificed so much and who trusted in their covenants. Inspiring.

On the day that we had the training with the 4 church history people, we served at the boot shop (did the vignette a lot!) Ans the cultural hall for a bit and then the print shop for like an hour and then the cultural hall until the end. phew. What a day. Also I'm attaching a voice recording of one of the church history guys talking about William gheen because he is our ancestor!!! 

Trying to connect with the ypms:
We met elder "Bop It". A ypm that can beat box really good haha I'll have to send a video or something! Super funny haha.

We made a lot of banana bread this week with the sisters in our room. Sister gubler and Reed. They are fun people. (Also the same sisters we are having a prank war with hahaha) but anyways we made some BOM banana bread (yes it was your recipe mom!) And everyone loved it

I'll brag about my companion a little. One of my favorite things that she does is that she is so good at asking inspired questions. Every tour she asks different questions and uses those questions to get into the hearts of the people. She's not afraid to ask deep questions or wait as people think. I love it and I'm trying to be more like her!! She's very good at following the spirit. She applies things in preach my gospel that she probably hasn't even studied yet but applies flawlessly  because she follows the spirit haha. It's super cool to watch. 

We did sealings today in the temple and it was sister pancheri first time! So cute. I just love being inside the temple. There's nothing like it! 

Hopefully this email makes sense haha Sorry Its short, the day got away from us and I have 10 minutes left of pday haha 

But I love you both so so so so so so much!!!!!!!! 

Sister Bush