July 27, 2019

This is the best place and the loveliest people under the heavens.


That's a quote from Joseph smith about nauvoo! It still applies today (; 

Hello my favorite people on this planet!! 

This one is gonna be a quickie haha I decided to just tell you stories by talking about people I met this week: 

The screamer: 

So I've probably talked about him before but this guy stands on pageant grounds as we welcome guests. He has signs. He screams offensive, irritating and provoking things about our faith. He yells at families. He wears ceremonial clothing and garments sometimes. He throws temple clothes and garments in the dirt and spits on them and stomps on them. He sings with a microphone praise to the man parodies with rude sayings. He has a video camera on his shoulder in case anyone says or does something stupid. He wears shirts that talk about homosexuals and Joseph Smith and other weird things. He's just not my favorite haha. We call him our loud friend. But the awesome thing is, no matter what he does, he can't even try to compete with the spirit. We stand on the other side of the fence and welcome people in with smiles, compliments and hugs. We answer their questions. We hand out newspapers that explain our beliefs and pictures of the savior. It's amazing because I've never felt the power of my setting apart so strongly in my life than when I am at that gate. The spirit is just so strong and I know that people notice the difference when they walk across. Plus also we have the bagpipes that play come thou font really loud and so yep it's awesome haha. 

Claire: on pageant grounds I met a girl that had just turned in her mission papers!! She was so excited.we talked about pageant and I invited her to go in with a question, and that it would be answered. She loved the idea! It was perfect. Because of the storm, that pageant performance only lasted 15 minutes before they had to close it down but I have a girl belief that they didn't close it down until she got her answer. I didn't get to ask her because it was wild but I have a feeling she did! 

Lauren: this little 10 year old girl is so cute! We were on the wagon that day, (and the weather was PERFECT) and sister Green and riddle dared me to do a whole wagon ride in an English accent.... I know I'm crazy haha but I did it. It was actually harder than I thought but super fun! Lauren loved it. When I saw her later that day she remembered my name! She ran up to me - "sister bush!!!" And hugged me haha. Then she started talking in an English accent hahaha so that was funny. I think she will always remember that 

Her parents thought I was actually from England tho even though I explained it was a dare so I guess my accent was pretty good hahaha 

Dr. Campos! What a sweetheart. Somehow it was the same doctor at the ER when I went as it was when I went in the first time. A tender mercy. She remembered me and was super nice. What I love about her is that she thinks out loud and walks you through her mental process- which helps you know why she does what she does and helps you feel like she really cares. So that was good. I was super grateful for that.  

Sister Decker (I already knew her haha but I got to know her better this week. I love her more each day!!) 

Boy she's a champ. We've been through a lot this week but we've bonded so much! There were some things the spirit told me I should do so that we could have a better companionship and so that she could feel more love and it has made a difference. I love her so much! We've planned district council in the hospital, gone on exchanges to help other sisters, seen miracles and laughed about the weirdest things haha. PS her mom is coming next week so that's exciting! 

Ellie Riley and William: 

3 youth from Houston that I got to talk to at the visitors center! They are super cool. We were talking for a bit and then the spirit helped me know what questions to ask. One thing I asked was: what do you hope to get out of your experience in nauvoo? 

Riley said he was prepping for a mission. Ellie said she wanted a stronger testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. So cool. I haven't been able to check back with them yet but whenever we see each other we give high fives or wave! We always remember each other's names haha youth are so fun.  

Carlos, Miguel and Alexis: I already told you about these bus drivers and how we got to give them copies of the book of mormon in our pjs haha they are so great. What a cool experience. 

Pretty hair lady: there was this lady walking down the street with a stroller and me and my comp were both like woah she has such pretty hair! But didn't get to tell her. Later, we bumped into her and told her! She thought it was so sweet. We invited her to look for a theme when she watched pageant. She said she would and was so excited. I wasn't sure if we would see her at the end cuz we had to run as soon as the performance was over but she was right there! Bumped into her again! She told us the theme she found was the power of the Book of mormon. We were able to testify and have a cool moment together. Her son is serving in Taiwan so that is cool. 

A grandma: 

This cute old lady was researching her family at land and records and I found out she was related to jonathan Browning and I got so excited. I helped her find his house to take a tour, told her some of my favorite stories about him and was just thrilled to learn about her family. I don't know why I was so excited about someone else's ancestry haha but I was. After we finished she was very touched and told me "i just love how you are as excited as I am. Thank you for caring." So cute!!!  

family From American fork: 

 This family had an issue and I helped them out and then found out that he's a doctor in American fork and when I told him about your practice he knew where it was! So cool. Then I got super hyped cuz I found out they were related to lucius Scovil and Calvin pendleton. Haha way awesome!! The girl said if she went to Costa vida and saw my brothers she would say hi haha 

Sister mckenzie: 

She is from Jamaica and reminds me of Emma pena. I was able to spend time helping her know that she's loved. She loves playing with hair so whenever we didn't have a tour we would sit on the steps outside and she would play with my hair or brush my hair. She told me she was able to feel peaceful that day and so that made me feel good. Even though it was a long exhausting day I'm glad I spent time helping her feel loved. 

Anyways those are some people from this week and some experiences I had with them! Also the experience I had with the spirit in coming to know Christ better through 1 Nephi 11, 12 and 13 was also a super super super huge highlight

Have troy send me his trek talk!! 

Love you so so so so so so much!!!! 

Sister Bush