October 29, 2018

Hello all! 

This week has been quite exciting, with the inspiring mission president seminar, fun Halloween celebrations, beautiful fall colors and frantic preparations for our outbound assignments! There are many embarrassing stories I could tell, great people I could talk about or spiritual experiences I could share.... But after much thought I've decided to tell you this: 

This week, a dear friend and fellow sister missionary went to the hospital and I accompanied her in the ambulance because her companion had responsibilities at a site. I don't really want to go into the details, but it was serious enough that the doctors decided to life flight her in a helicopter to Iowa city. As the helicopter was taking off, all I wanted in that moment was someone to be with her. It didn't have to be me, I just wanted someone, anyone who cares about her to be there by her side during this. 

I distinctly remember these 4 words coming into my mind. I know they came from Him who is all powerful and all loving: 

"She's in my hands." 

In this moment, watching the helicopter rise in the air, I realized with a sense of peace that there could be no one who loves her more by her side. She's in the hands of the one Being in the universe who cares the most about her. She is in His hands. (That phrase was also repeated in a priesthood blessing I received that night.) 

I've been pondering those words all week, and realized that it applies to all of us, no matter what situation we are in. God is our loving Heavenly Father and He is watching over us. Whatever happens this week, please remember who's hands you are in. You are in His hands. 

"Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?" (Mormon 5:23) 

"They may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." (1 Nephi 21:15-16) 

We can trust Him. I know that there are no better hands we could be in. He hears and answers our prayers.

Speaking of prayers, please pray for sister Done. She is getting better but still needs our faith, love and support! 

Until next week! 

Sincerely, 

Sister Bush

October 22, 2018

Quick. Hurry. As soon as possible i need you to do this one thing! 

It's really really really really important.

And it will take less than 5 minutes. 

Promise me you'll do it?

First take 30 seconds: sit still, close your eyes and think of someone you know. It could be anyone. Someone you are barley acquaintances with, someone in your family, your worst enemy, someone you love a bunch, someone who is a good friend to you or someone you work with that kind of annoys you - doesn't matter. Pick that person in your mind. 

With the remaining time out of your 5 minutes I want you to serve that person. 

With the first service idea that comes to mind. Doesn't matter how little it is. It can make a huge difference for them!

So please! Do it! today! 

"Never suppress a generous thought." 

And I promise you won't regret it (: 

That's the main takeaway from my week this week. I've been trying to act on generous thoughts by going on cookie runs, sharing compliments, smiling at people, visiting homes, giving hugs, praying for people and trying to think of others more. 

It's the best thing in the world. That's why you've just got to try it. 

Sincerely, 

Sister Bush

October 15, 2018

Hello all! Great news! 

This week we discovered where we will be assigned for our outbound transfer. 

*insert drum roll here* 

I'm going to the Colorado Fort Collins mission!!!!!! 

Sound familiar?!?!? 

That's because my older brother, Jonas, just returned from serving there in Febuary! I'm so excited to serve where he served and teach the wonderful people there! I'll be gone from Nauvoo from October 30th till April 1st. 

How. Cool. Is. That. 

It's actually very cool...... Very chilly. Very cold! This morning I checked the weather for fort collins and it was 11 degrees. WHAT. I'm going to freeze. Literally. 

But you know what else? I'm going to be happy. This week I had the opportunity to serve in the Riser Boot shop. When that couple learned about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and wanted to be baptized, not even the frozen river could stop them. They just cut a hole in the ice so that they could get baptized! Now why on earth would they do something like that. Or why on earth would I be so excited to go to a place that is so freezing? 

I'll tell you a secret. It is because the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. And that is something to rejoice about! I remember one time I went Christmas caroling with my family and forgot to wear a coat. (I had a sweater but still!) At first I hated getting out of the warm car and knocking on the door and singing a quick song before I could run back to my comfortable seat. Well, by the end of the night I wasn't even cold anymore. Maybe I was but at least it didn't bother me like before. And that's because I was singing and serving and sharing and smiling and that was the best feeling in the world. 

So don't worry too much about this little El Paso missionary heading out into the blizzard of snow and icy wind in a couple weeks. Because it's worth it for me! And though I may be uncomfortable at times, I will be smiling about, serving because, singing about and sharing to all that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. And that is something to rejoice about! 

Love you all! Stay warm and stay happy! 

Sister Bush 

Ps this doesn't mean I would mind if you decide to send me hot chocolate or scarves or hand warmers! Because I definitely wont. please do! That would be great! :D

Email to Family:

On Tuesday we Served in Brigham young and I just love that home. 

This week I've been reading the Book of Mormon the way president Nelson invited us to! Coupled with the goal in PMG about highlighting every reference to Christ, his attributes, actions and words. So I'm really enjoying that. But right now I'm in 3rd Nephi so I'm highlighting whole chapters haha. It's great. 

Sister Andersen has gotten into making beanies! I'll send a picture of the one she made for me (: 

That night we had a mission training about how this month is a good month to be flexible. There is a lot going on and a lot will change. I found a lot of connections with what he said and the talk "Willing to sumbit" by Maxwell that I told you about. Have you read it yet? Yeah I'm bringing it up again haha cuz it's life changing for me. I've made some huge changes this week and they can't be seen on the outside as much as they can be seen in my heart. So I'll keep bugging you about it until you read it and tell me what you think haha. 

On wednesday we served in the Print shop so that was fun for me. I like the print shop because it's so cool to see all the type and how they used the printing press. It's so cool!!! 

We made muffins and doorbell ditched them but caught! Embarrassing haha. But hopefully the sisters we gave them too liked the muffins. 

I got an email from Mike! He is the first person who I've invited to read the book of mormon, emailed and that he is number 1 actually emailing me back and number 2 actually reading. So I'm really excited about that. He's a great guy! I emailed him back the other day and I hope he's still reading and learning too. 

Okay so thursday is the day we found out our outbound assignments!! We just showed up at the seventies hall and I noticed the whole presidency was there. That's when I started to get the butterflies. I was pretty sure we were either getting our assignments or something else big was happening! 

President decided to pull a Brigham young and just call out names and where we were going. It was nerve wracking and exciting! As soon as he said my name and the Fort Collins Colorado mission I literally burst into tears. It felt so right and they were tears of joy. I'm not all too excited about the cold, but I know that the Lord has things for me to do, lessons to learn and people to meet there.  Who knows what areas I'll go to, and if they will be the same as his. I don't know why I've been assigned there just yet but I know I'll find out. It is no coincidence that a member of the quorum of the 12 assigned me to go to that mission. So I'm pumped!!! FOCO mission all the way! 

That day we served in Wilford Woodruff home,  and that was cool. It was kinda hard to focus because all I could think about was fort collins but it was okay I used it to my advantage cuz his home is about missionary work (: 

Friday was an interesting one because sister Andersen felt sick and stayed home with sister Whitmer who wasn't feeling good either. So I served with sister Miskin in the Cultural hall and so that was cool! She's a great missionary. We got to talk to some nonmembers about the term mormon! They asked if it was offensive to us or not, and we got to explain what President Nelson taught at conference! Way cool to see the Lord's hand in everything we do! 

There was a Japanese tour group that came through that day too. Sis Yamamoto took them to all sorts of sites and gave tours. She had to work and practice with me a bunch on how to translate back to her native language haha. But she did good! And also she taught me some phrases in Japanese to say to the tour group and it went well! They were happy I could somewhat talk to them. One of them even asked how I learned japanese! They thought I spoke good haha so that made me happy. 

On saturday we served at the Bakery and gave like 31 tours! It was busy day! (Around this time of the year anyways haha) 

In my spare time at the bakery i worked on a Short story for lucius scovil. It's turning out pretty good! I never thought I'd be into writing Historical fiction haha but I guess things change on the mission (: 

We had District council that night and discussed goals before outbound. We decided to all work on "never supress[ing] a generous thought"!!! So that's what I'm doing and I love it. 

Things are cold here. I cant tell you how many hot chocolate packets I've downed this week or how many times I've run from car to house because I'm freezing. We tried to turn on the  heater after district council and well. Literally 2 seconds after sis andersen turned it on, the fire alarm in our apartment went off!!! Hahaha it was an adventure. So that was fun. My ears were ringing for like an hour after it was so loud and crazy. At least I now know I wouldn't be able to sleep through the fire alarm going off!! 

That night sis Andersen and i had a deep talk. We were discussing how everyone has some sort of wall up, thin or thick. And so we asked each other: What made you build your wall? It was a good convo. 

On Sunday it was Stake conference! With the Nauvoo stake (: 

There was this one talk I super loved. It was about the power of yet. He said he was at a little kids school and saw this board with these phrases: 

I can't do it 

I don't know it 

This doesn't make sense 

I don't know the answer 

I'm not good at it 

And in the middle of the board it said YET 

then he talked about how the word yet is really us and the atonement of Jesus Christ 

Ye + the cross (even tho we don't use that symbol a lot in our church he said it could still be meaningful if we pondered it.) 

He used these scriptures too: 

John 11:25 

1 sam 3:7 

Matt 19:20 

Luke 15:20 

John 20:17 

JSH 1:17 

And article of faith 9 

He told a story about his kids and the phrase "are we there yet?" 

And how we ask that about ourselves 

Then he had us think of our own spiritual power of yet board for the stake:

I can't forgive this person 

My prayer is not answered 

I don't  hold w current temple recommend 

I don't feel God's love 

I can't break this habit 

My family isn't eternal 

I'm not charitable 

I'm not a good minister 

I don't feel welcome at church 

YET. 

"THROUGH THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST, THE BEST IS YET TO COME." 

We have to have faith in Him, and believe that our yets will come! 

I just thought it was a really well written, well delivered talk because the spirit was able to teach me a lot! So thought I'd share (: 

Then we served in the boot shop which is one of the best sites everrrrrr 

Had dinner with the Munns and performed in the sunday Concert 

Stopped by the Robisons to cheer them up, and ended Sunday night with some emotional pow wows with some of the sisters! Quite a Sunday! 

Plus also! We found a bunch of ugly and weird yarn that no one wants so sister Whitmer and I are crocheting this ugly blanket and it's so fun. It's gonna be huge and crazy with different yarns and stuff! I'll send pictures (:

It was so good to get to talk to you, if only for 10 minutes! The best part was seeing your reaction to where I've been assigned haha (: 

Love you so much!!

Sis Bush 

October 8, 2018

Sister Andersen and I went to a little pumpkin farm thing and it was so cute! One of our favorite senior couples took us (the Munns.) They are just the best. So enjoy the pumpkin pictures. I love pumpkins!

As for other adventures this week we have had a worm infestation, some glorious card game championships, tours for people from all over the world, a make over (Sis Andersen did my make up! I know, shocker!) And general conference!!!

There are so many more things I could say about general conference. So many talks I could reference, thoughts i could add or connections I could share. There are so many spiritual impressions that I felt and so many answers to prayers. So much that I don't know how to pick one to emphasize or bear testimony of!

So I guess all i can do is repeat President Nelsons encouragement: Study the messages of conference, beginning this week! They are the mind and will of the Lord for His people. Today.

No wether you got to watch all of confefence, only saw a few minutes or didn't even know it was happening, I want to share with you that those messages are inspired and they are from God. I want to encourage you to try listening to, watching or reading them! You will be amazed at what can happen if you only spend a little bit of your time seeing what they have said. Lds.org is where you can go to check it out! I encourage you to do so. It has made a huge difference in my life and I know that these men are Prophets, seers and revelators, just like the prophets of old in the bible.

Well, enough of me yammering on about conference! Just go see for yourself! :D

Love you all, have a wonderful week!

Sister Bush

Ps if you have any tips or ideas on how to get rid of worms I wouldn't mind you sharing......

October 1, 2018

Okay I'm sorry! My emails aren't normally this long...... but I learned something really cool this week that is changing my life so i want to share it! You don't have to read it if you don't want to haha. 

Quick thoughts:

- Transfers happened! I have a new awesome companion Sister Andersen, and she is just the best. I will share more of our adventures in the weeks to come! 

- We had to say goodbye to some of my dearest friends and biggest role models, the sisters who went home. Sadness. But also happy because I'm excited to see what they do! 

- And of course even though it is slowing down here in Nauvoo I don't love it any less. In fact I love it more! It allows us to give more personal and meaningful tours. So my life is pretty much wonderful right now (: 

Now for what I learned: 

Do you know the story about Moses and the children of Israel, when the flying firey serpents came and infected them? Then Moses was commanded to make a brass serpant on a cross and whosover whould look upon it, would be healed. First of all, my personal opinion is that those sound like dragons.... which is awesome. But besides that I hadn't given it much thought earlier in my life. This week, I decided to dive a little deeper. 

Why did Moses use a brass serpent? 

If you have ever been bitten by a poisonous snake (and I havent) you would want an anti-venom. How does one make anti-venom? Well you take a strong animal, inject it with the poison, and it's blood will create an anti-venom. Then you use that blood to heal others. (Sound somewhat familiar to the Atonement of Jesus Christ? He took our poison upon Himself and His blood can heal us.) 

What are we required to do to be healed? In the story, all they had to do was look. 

"And as many as should look upon that serpent should live, even so as many as should look upon the Son of God with faith, having a contrite spirit, might live, even unto that life which is eternal." (Helaman 8:15) 

What does it really mean to look? 

In the dictionary we learn that looking has lots of meanings. Here are some:

1) perceive with attention, direct ones gaze towards

2) spend time trying to find, search for

3) be oriented in a certain direction 

4) look forward to the probable occurrence of, await, expect

5) have faith or confidence in, depend, count on 

So this week I have spent time looking for Christ, looking to Christ and looking forward to Christ. He is my Savior and Redeemer from all the poisons that afflict me. And I know that if you will but look for Him and to Him, you can be healed! Maybe not all at once, but you can be healed. 

I love you all! Take time to LOOK this week! 

Sister Bush

September 24, 2018

Thats right, never! "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved!" 

That is a quote from my friend, President Monson. It has become my life motto. However, this week I discovered more ways to apply it(: You can just fill in the blank with anything. 

Never let your desire to eat that cookie become more important than a person to be loved. 

Never let your phone become more important than a person to be loved. 

Never let your personal goals become more important than a person to be loved. 

Never let your fear or shyness become more important than a person to be loved. 

That's right, you can put lots of things there. Because there is nothing more important that helping a person feel loved! That's the biggest thing I've learned this week. 

I've also had tons of fun! I've spent my time waiting for tours, making Brazilian fudge, diving deep into the Book of Mormon, finding out that my companion is secretly a squirrel and listening to the spirit. All great things! I sure do love this place!

Have a great week everyone (: 

Sister Bush

To the Family:

on tuesday our mission president held a meeting and encouraged us to double up our efforts as missionaries. plus gave us lots of news! (no i dont know where im going on outbound yet haha) he told us that october 22-26 is the mission presidents seminar, happening here in nauvoo. so elder andersen of the 12 as well as other general authorities (70s and others) will be here touring the sites, training these future mission presidents. big deal! president told us we need to make sure our minds and all our efforts are focused on nauvoo, especially for that so even though he has our outbound calls before then, he will not tell us where we are going until a like a few days before we leave.... !!!! some sisters are frustrated with this but im fine with it. i trust that he knows what hes doing. plus this seminar is a big deal! also i think as we work harder to be better missionaries here in nauvoo it will help us when we are outbound. president also made sure we understand that whether we are giving a tour to a general authority or to a member family or to other missionaries or to non-members, we should do it about the same. not memorize a tour, but give the guests, no matter who they are, the same amount of love and respect and thought. which is so important. im glad i get to learn this and have this experience! 

on wednesday, i served for the first time in the print shop! and let me tell you i love that place. i love the process of writing as you know and so it was so neat for me to learn and explain to others how they made writings available to the public back in the 1840s! so much work. but worth it, just as it is today!

also this week some people in our mission started this thing called the Book of Mormon sprint. its to read the book of mormon in a week. 76 pages a day. i was excited about this because ive never read it that fast and i was sure i would get some insights with the big picture. so ive been reading a lot. the first day i got all 76 pages. the next, i didnt finish all of them and the day after that i didnt even do half. at first i was bummed that i hadnt stuck with my page goal, but ive learned a valuble lesson. remember that quote by Pres Monson? "never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved" its kinda my life motto. well these past couple of days there have been a lot of people needing love. and instead of giving them a tiny amount of love so i can speed read through the book of mormon, ive decided to not let a page to be read become more important than a person to be loved. when i did that, i learned that you can subsitute anything in that space! never let _______ become more important than a person to be loved. so actually, im still reading fast to try and get the big picture, but its not about the pages anymore for me! so i think what ive learned most about the big picture is Gods love. 

speaking of opportunities to love people, i have to tell you that many of our sisters (and some seniors too) arent doing too hot. it breaks my heart. some of these sweet sisters have been struggling this week with deciding to go home early or not. to go on outbound or to just go home. they all have different reasons and struggles but no matter what it is, it makes me sad to see so many that i love going through such anguish. i know that it isnt bad to go home early if your mental health wont allow you to stay out, and that it is between you and the Lord. but its so so so hard to make that decision. and if it isnt mental health and its family or its something else that is still super painful! i wont mention anyone by name but please pray for my fellow nauvoo sisters. ive been praying for, fasting for, spending time with, listening to, hugging tight, crying with, making Brazilian fudge for, serving alongside, eating dinner with, and bearing testimony with and to these dear sisters. they really are my sisters. family is family so im asking my other family back home to help with this family. cuz change is always hard and there are going to be a lot of changes around here. some good changes and maybe some not. 

plus also transfers will be taking place on friday, since that is when the 7 sisters who started last summer will be going home! im going to miss them all so much they are my role models. they leave on friday so on wednesday president is going to announce who will be moving where and which companions will be with which and then the transfer will take place on friday. so i might send some pictures as hints on wednesday when i find out haha. also because of transfers on friday, i have no idea when my next pday will be. i think ill be allowed to email pday change on wednesady so you can have a heads up but who knows haha. sorry for the craziness, its just part of Nauvoo!!! 

on thursday i served at Heber C Kimball again! i love that place and i love that family. they have such faith!!! their stories are so inspiring. the only thing was that because it was slow we only gave 1 tour all day hahaha. so we were there from 10am to 5pm and gave one, 10 minute tour during that time. the rest of it, we read the book of mormon, talked, joked around and i faked a tour haha it was great. we are getting along way way better than before. not that we didnt get along but now we have quite a bit of fun together. i have nicknamed her jurassic squirrel because of those random noises she does. also she seems to think its funny when i call her rat goddess for some reason haha she has this thing about rats i dont know hahahahahaha

also on thursday i was a part of a focus group with a researcher from salt lake. we talked about how to improve the site guide here and helped brainstorm some things for the next and improved version that will come out next summer. so that was a really cool experience to be a part of that.  

on friday we served at lucy mac smith with sis Oldroyd, and it was her last day there before going home. she is a powerful person. 

also that day i found out that Heidi had a stroke. she is being as strong as ever but it is physically difficult now, especially to talk. i got to call her for a bit though and help her know that she is loved and we are cheering for her. she definitely reminds me of Job. her integrity is unflinching. 

on saturday i was on the wagon! i worked on making puns for people to laugh but also making it personal. that way they can see my testimony as i talk about all the different saints and their homes. it was lots of fun, just cold! 

it is getting chilly out. im not used to wearing sunday clothes all the time so im not sure how to stay warm... i know i need a coat for sure. and some other winter accessories like beanie hats and scarves. im planning on buying these next pday maybe, but you can research online too! send me pictures of things you are considering, and if i like it you can use my card to buy it. speaking of, how much is on my personal card? and savings? cuz president said we will probably go somewhere cold on outbound haha so i want to be prepared. 

on sunday, my companion gave a talk too! her talk was about revelation and it was super super good. sis swaney is still the Alma to my Amulek! im hoping she will finish typing it up so you can read it too. then we served at family living center with sister Jones and Yamamoto! we only had one tour. and it was at 4:55.  we spent some time studying of course and then when we got tired of that we learned how to sing different hymns and such in different languages! ill send you the video of us singing i am a child of God in english, japanese, spanish(; and french haha. oh plus we had a mini pretzel food fight. the sites can be boring haha but im glad i got to give that one tour to that family that came in at the very end. im grateful for every opportunity to give tours!

then we had the sunday concert! us young sisters have been working on this for awhile. and on sunday we got to perform! we pretty much teach the first lesson, the restoration in song form. we read scriptures or quotes that work with each topic in between songs. these are the songs we sing: (check out PMG if you dont know all the points in order for the lesson) 

God is love, love at home, I saw a mighty angel fly, i stand all amazed, where can i turn for peace, Joseph Smiths first prayer, the iron rod, sweet hour of prayer, i believe in Christ.  it is amazing and i love it so much. i quite enjoy singing to testify(:

i love love love love love love love love love love love you both so so so so much!! haha 

Sister Bush 

September 17, 2018

Leslie Bush	Mon, Sep 17, 3:12 PM (6 days ago)
to me

Hello all! 

It's been a little while since I wrote! Here are some highlights: 

- I gave a tour to Elder Quentin L Cook and his wife! 

- I had the opportunity to teach someone about our beliefs in a lesson

- I've spent a lot of time in the temple before it closed, so that was nice (: 

- my companion had some family come to visit 

And last of all, I have once again discovered the power of music. 

"The only thing stronger than truth is truth in a musical setting" is something I learned from sister Cook. 

So this week I've spent a lot of time with music. I listened to hymns, wrote new verses to some that reflected my personal feelings, and made medleys of some together! I also had the wonderful opportunity to listen to some talented musicians play this week and I always left feeling uplifted and inspired! 

The reason music can be so beautiful is because it can be a form of prayer. And this week I gave a lot of musical prayers, so certain songs have become sacred to me. I guess I'm just rambling on about music and how much I love it but I want to testify of how it can heal our souls and give us strength! Why? Because it is a way of connecting with the Heavens, and when we connect with the Heavens we will find answers, peace, comfort, love, joy, strength, wisdom and inspiration. He loves us. He loves you. 

If you want, email me back with one of your favorite songs and why! How it has helped you in some way-  it doesn't have to be a hymn, just tell me about a song that has touched you, some music that has been a medicine to you (: 

Until next week! 

Sister Bush