Monday, September 27, 2010

September 27, 2010

Hey!!

I am sorry about your crazy week and about you having to give a super quick notice talk!! That is what everyday of my life is but i don´t even know what people are saying back or anything...all right that is a lie I can understand pretty well now. I am just not able to talk super well still cause they have a ton of different conjucations and i hate them. I still struggle talking in past tense most of all. The funny subjunctives are bad as well! As for the truck i want to see more pictures of it!

Thanks for buying the other things! I am sure she will love it! I bought a small thing for Allison and one for dad that should be getting there really soon!! Its not going to be wrapped or anything cute its just an envelope with a present for dad and another envelope in it for Allison. I found out I can send anything that fits in this little envelope for less that 2 euros! Its awesome!

Well it is transfer call day at like 3:00 and still no phone call...i don't know what that means. we think that we are staying another transfer but I don't know cause they have come as late as 4:00 for Elder Braithwaite. So before you sent the package wait and see if we are staying or going. Also if i am staying send it to the house with a forward if not picked up thing to the mission office so if I am transferred it will get to me eventually. Wait another week or so until I let you know if I have stayed or moved. I really want to stay!! As for sweaters I want just like basic colors that I can wear with anything so like black, grey, those simple colors. Also a sweatshirt would not be bad but I can use a sweater for that so its all good.

As for conference I think we do have some good investigators that we should be able to watch it with! It all depends on transfers though cause I might be somewhere else or who knows what could happen!! We have Carlos who is really good friends with the first lady that we baptized, Andreia. So I think we could watch it with him!

I ALMOST FORGOT!!! This week has been absolutely insane!! We got a new investigator and his name is Marco but he was/is a gay male prostitute! We only teach him in the chapel and with members cause it is super awkward! He seems to have a great desire to be baptized and has read a ton in the book and seems to be progressing but we aren't sure how to handle the gay prostitute thing. We are going over the commandments really bluntly in our next lesson and see how it goes. He seems to want it so bad and that is exactly what the atonement is for he just has to have a great enough desire and motivation to completely change his life. We will see!!

So a super funny story happened last night. Last night Elder Braithwaite and I were in the other elders rooms talking to Elder Rich and Christiansen thought it would be funny to lock us in the room. Well the doors and locks are super old and it locked but wouldn´t unlock! We worked on it for like 3 hours that night and we couldn't get it open. So we just went to bed. I slept in the big bed with Rich and Braithwaite slept on christiansens little bed and christiansen slept on my bed in the other room. So in the morning we were still locked in. We ended up using a hammer to pry the hinges from the door frame. We kinda screwed up the door and things so we had to tell the home owner today and she isn't super happy but it was absolutely hilarious while is was happening and now it makes a fantastic story!! It was great!

As for the pedicure it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Except I am super ticklish on my feet and I laughed a lot of the time! She is super concerned though cause my toenails apparently are shaped funny and look like I should have lots of ingrown toenails! We will see! I have had a few small ones but I just shove cotton under and it goes away in a couple of days!!

I think that this is all for this update!! I love you all!!!

Elder Bushnell

Monday, September 20, 2010

September 20, 2010

Hey!!

Zone conference was great but they are super stinking long!!!! We only travel like 20 minutes by bus to Faro which is where our baptisms our! I don´t know how many zones exactly but I think there are like 7 zones...I think. The Algarve and the Açores are the coolest apparently though.

With our branch being split they will have to build it back up but it is so good cause there are a lot of people in Albufeira that drive like 40 minutes every Sunday for church. It will be super good and its good we are making 2 branches because we overflowed the church yesterday it was PACKED which was so cool to see! Yeah the other 2 elders are looking for a house and a place to hold church in Albufeira and as soon as they find them they are going to move! and it will just be 2 elders in Loulé!

I did get the package finally but it was weird cause I guess our neighbor handed it to us one day so I don’t know how they got it...I’m confused but yes it did come and I like the tie! The other elders say that usually they leave a slip and you do go pick it up from the post office.

We had to cancel and move our pedicure so it is actually tonight! I am scared cause my feet are super ticklish and cause my feet are gross right now cause we walk ALL DAY! They aren’t super bad though so it will be fine! We teach the people we baptized twice a weekish. It is super cool to see their progress and how amazingly they are progressing!

I got the picture of the new truck and it isn’t big enough dad...maybe the picture doesn’t do it justice but it looks stock! I did get the video of Carter but there was no sound so it wasn’t as good! He is super big though it is absolutely crazy!!

I thought about the fact that it is fall today I was like oh man the hunting season is just starting right now! I was kinda sad! The elders here with me want to get into hunting super bad so we always talk about it and it makes me miss it!

We aren’t really sure about General Conference but I think we get to go on Saturday if we have an investigator and Sunday we do get to listen to it! I am super excited I have heard that conference is a different experience as a missionary and I am pumped!

We eat at members every so often...not a ton. We make a lot of food in our house and no it’s not super expensive we are doing great yesterday we made rice and beans and sausage stuff and french fries and orange juice and cookies! You will see pictures when I send them…which brings me to my next thing...I need some stuff I made a good list and some of it I can buy here but I don’t know for sure. The things I need are:

peanut butter (not urgeñt)
sour candy(war heads) (not urgent)
Sweaters (i can buy if needed)
Micron pens(not super urgent but i need them sent)(bought at scrapbook stores)
USB drive (can buy but probably not the best quality here aka...chinese store)
Pedometer(I want to see how far we walk)
Braithwaite wants a girl (URGENT!!!!) (NOT PORTUGUESE)(address´s work 18-20 age range)

I am super excited for Victor that is awesome and super soon!! He is going to make a fantastic mssionary!! I am super excited for him!!

Love you dad!! Happy Birthday!! There should be a package with some little things in it coming in a few days...hopefully...if I can find good stuff!!!

LOVE YOU!
Elder Bushnell

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sorry this email is a little late! We had zone conference yesterday and it was super good but it took ALL P-day! It started at 10 and we didn't get home until like 7 and then we went and bought groceries and came home planned and went to bed. It was great but this week has been a lot of work...since that baptism we don´t have a lot of progressning investigators so we are knocking lots of doors and talking to lots of members. We are going to Quartiera a lot because we have a good investigator there...he is 14 and his parents left him when he was really little but now he lives with his grandma and she is a member, he just has a hard time wanting this all right now cause he is in the world and just hangs out at the beach all day!

Our branch is being split because we have so many members there! About 25 of our 80 active members are from Albufeira which is where the other elders that live with us work more. So President Torgan came on sunday and announced he is opening a branch in Albufeira as long as they have 6 priesthood holders and they have 6 for now so it is all going to work we think. The other elders just need to find a house down there and a place to have church.

This week really has been sorta boring....I don't know a whole lot that happened. Oh mom I didnºt get your package....I don't know where it is either. Packages should be sent to the office i think....I don't know if they deliever it to the house when they can´t get in or past the front door...we just have small slit mailbox things. If it doesn't get delivered will it go back to you or where? I don't know what the deal is. We are never home to sign or pick up the box if it comes so I don't know what to tell you.

Umm also mother your story about the golf cart was really funny but I am glad you are okay!! It was a funny visual though...I would have put it it neutral there in the middle. I am missing golf! We drive past one on our way to Quartiera and I always watch from the bus and am jealous!

Oh we dropped the girl that was flirting with me. She was to into the world so we went over and told her that we can´t continue to waste our time teaching her when she knows it is all true but is to worldly to act. She now hates my companion but she still likes me cause I didn't say anything cause my Portuguese is still pretty rough....I just bear my testimony in every lesson about whatever we were talking about so I just told her that we want to help her but she needs to decide what is the most important thing in her life and she said she would think about it and get back to us. She comes to church every Sunday and does everything but she likes to party and like immodest clothes and likes to drink and stuff and doesn't want to give it up for another 20 years she says. We will see what happens.

Also the lady that I baptized told us that her family felt such a strong spirit at the baptism that they know this church is true and so we are going to start teaching them more! I am excited causee they are an awesome family!! They own a salon place and Karlla the one I baptized just set us up for a pedicure appointment next pday...I am scared my toes are gross but oh well it will be an adventure!!

Sounds like BYU sucks and I am glad I am not their to watch or hear about it cause it would make me sad! We played ultimate last pday and it was super fun our field was super wet so we all slid everywhere and got SOAKED!!! it was a blast!!

Also, tell Allison that I got her letter and I am working on writing back we just don't have very much time so a response is coming soon!!

Also, keep me updated on the mission calls of Victor and Aaron. It's amazing how different life as a missionary is. The power and safety that I feel everytime I go out into the world is amazing!! I walk down the central street place and just look at people that are doing things wrong in their life and are being consumed by the world and I feel as if I am in my own bubble watching the world get worse...I wonder if the 3 nephites feel like this...anyways its amazing!!

It is so weird that i am almost all the way through my first transer in the field!! that means only 15 more to go...weird!! This transfer flew!!!

Another activity...Braithwaite and I walked in our house one night and we turn the lights on in the kitchen and the other elders are at the table and there is a HUGE pile of crawdads on the floor just crawling around. They taught this guy that catches them from a local river and he gave them TONS! We boiled them and ate them and tehy are not really worth all the work it takes to cook them but it reminded me of scout camp and stuff when we would catch them and eat them.

Well I gotta write a couple more emails but this is a basic update to you all!!

I love you all!!

Elder Bushnell

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

September 6, 2010

I GOT WET!!! I write every week at about 11 in the morning here and last week we went to visit Karlla (our investigator that was being baptised on Wednesday) she said she wanted to be baptised on Wednesday so we were sorting it all out and she picked me to do the baptism!! It was super duper scary having like 2 days to memorize the words and everything in Portuguese! I was super nervous!! It went great and I have a lot of pictures that I will send you pretty soon! It was so cool! My first baptism....on my second week here!

Portugal just made it to the highest baptizing mission inEeurope and we are like 3rd or so as far as retention in the church goes. so we don´t struggle a ton...especially not here in Loulé the branch is amazing! Everything they do is centered on missionary work!

The 17 year old girl didn´t seem to let on because she still read a little in the book and when we asked her to go to church she asked if she could bring a friend...she didn't come at all though. But it was just weird because she is so confusing.

We have a 15 year old girl that is a snake also. She totally just likes to be around the elders and she doesn't want to be baptized because she doesn't want to give up the parties and the drinking and stuff....its not even legal for her to drink but yeah. We ate dinner over there on Saturday and she told me I look and act like an angel so why am I a missionary and not a model or something. It was really funny cause she said that in English so it was all broken and funny. Then my comp and I gave her a WARHEAD the super sour American candies and it was hilarious because here in portugal nothing is sour like that and flipped and we laughed super hard. luckly there were all 4 elders there so we took turns talking to her and having to sit by her and stuff but yeah i don't know what we are going to do with her. She knows its true and comes to church every Sunday but won't be baptized. I will keep you updated on her.

There are SOOOOO many golf courses down here!!!!! I want to go play one but they are too expensive for a missonary but when you come pick me up!! :) The is one that is like Vale do Lobo and its right on the beach...it looks like Pebble Beach of Europe...its amazing!! I practce my swing with The Book of Mormon a lot!

The people we are baptizing are portuguese but we do talk to a lot from Cabo Verde and a lot from Angola...i don't think I have met anyone from Mozambique yet...oh and TONS of Brazillians! They are super hard to understand but Karlla is Brazillian.

We have only been to Quarteira once because Loule is so big but we are planning on going about once or twice a week...probably once. There are just so many tourists there right now it is really hard! It is about a 20 minute bus ride down there but it is way cool!!!

We are going to play ultimate and go shopping in Faro today because it is our happy pday!! The first pday of the month we get to go out of our area!

I love you all a ton!!

Elder Bushnell