Monday, January 23, 2012

1.22.12


Hey Mommy!!

I did get the package with he pills also i got the Ward's package and it was a super good one. They sent lots of good candy and stuff. What is the purpose of that pool? Did you just go swimming for fun or was it more like for your ankle? I am sorta confused. Magelby´s french toast sounds amazing right now...wow there are a lot of things i can not wait to eat again when i get home...i think now all Portuguese food kinda has the same flavor.

haha i would not move it up if i were you...i would leave it down there cause if you move it up it will make so much noise and there is not a pull up bar in that room! ;) Do we know when i need to sign up for my classes and everything? I am not excited at all to go back to school...i am already planning some awesome hunts and stuff ;) are ya sure i can´t take that semester off as well? ;)

haha well that transfer was because i looked into my back account and knew that the suit was going to cost that much so i put some of my own money into it but what happened was for some reason it scanned for 130 and gave me like 40 euros back so it was like 90...it was a dumb deal but i am good for a long time with 40 euros so i shouldn´t have to take any more money out for a while. :)

I know it isn´t cheap for you guys to come out here and if you go to spain it is cheaper...or maybe even 2 flights one to france then to lisbon but we should probably fly out of Lisbon cause the church pays for that....they probably pay for it from where ever we are actually so whatever. I was thinking you guys fly a week early to spain and stay there then come over to get me and we will stay a week and fly home...or we put that chunk of money in the bank and keep adding to it to fly over for the temple dedication in like 5 years. however ya want to do it.

So the story for this week is about BAPTISM! On sunday night the other Elders in my district told me they probably needed an interview and it was super weird cause the lady didn´t really want to make the decision to be baptised on sunday. She was trying to run from that day...and hadn´t ever been taught tithing. But i went into the interview and we started talking and she was like a firm NO when i asked if she wanted to be baptized...but as we started talking she told me she didn´t want to be baptized cause she was very much connected with some programms that the Catholic church does, we went through the questions and she answering them all correct. She believe in Joseph Smith and in all of the things the church does i asked if she knew what tithing was and i guess she had read the pamphlet on it so she just had a couple basic quesitons and in the end i told her she was ready and she was like "no i don´t think today is the day" so i told her we would pray...we did and in the end she said................still no.......which was NOT what is supposed to happen after you pray. I told her i felt it and the other elders had felt it and that she had felt it earlier in the week and right then something told me to tell her i knew she felt it...well i said "i know i felt it right now...i know the elders felt it several times this week...i know you felt it earlier....(paused)....and i know that right now you KNOW you should say yes to being baptized." well with that statement she exploded into a story about how she used to not believe in God and how 2 catholic fathers helped her gain her faith and put her walking down the road again and how she couldn´t leave all that behind. Again i heard something say "tell her the story of the Christ´s baptism" so i started talking about how Christ walked for a really long time to get baptised and passed lots of apostles and people of faith on his way to John the Baptist...and how in the end he didn´t leave them behind...he went back and helped them receive the blessing of the Gospel. I told her she was Christ in this story that the 35 years of being catholic just helped her get to John the Baptist...the only one who had authority from God the Father. She sat quiet for a really long time thinking and said "vamos para o batismo" (lets go to the baptism). She was baptised and it was super awesome! After the other elders basically wanted to kiss me and i couldn´t say anything cause i know i didn´t do anything...just followed what i heard and felt. The other elders said it counted as my solo baptism cause they also didn´t teach her very much. It was a crazy miracle!!

My problem with cleaning out is exactly that...i just move them from one suitcase to the other and say i did a great job. Just like dad...just from being out on the shelve to into a bin!!

Thanks for everything mommy!! I love you tons and tons!!

Elder Bushnell

p.s. you and dad need to make sure to share stories! :)

 
Hey!!
It is funny that you brought up the tie thing...normally i just put it one once and take it off at the end of the day...i am not getting too sick of them yet. It is weirder to go outside in normal clothes. In the summer when we came home for lunch or dinner i would loosen the tie up and undo the top 2 buttons and slip my whole white shirt off over my head cause there are no air conditioning and no ceiling fans or anyhting it was always super hot....now i just take my sweater off and fold my tie into my shirt pocket to keep it from getting dirty. My ties are holding up really well actually. I had some that got rough but most ties work really well if you just put a little bit of super glue on the back where they are falling apart...also if you bleed or drop anything that will stain on them if you put a little bit of dish soap and rub it really well the degreaser stuff in dish soap takes it right out..super awesome trick i learned from a german elder!

As for hunting that sounds super awesome. I want to shoot the older one...i don´t like that crazy finger hole in the stalk thing...i like the one i got that deer with...

Good to hear that the other youth in the ward are getting things rolling with their papers. I really hope aaron gets his game figured out cause if not him and i are going to have a little talking to do when i get home. I can´t believe those kids are old enough for missions already. wow super crazy! 

This week was pretty boring until Friday..we had interviews with President Torgan which always are like my favorite things ever. He started the conference off talking about how the mission is the most intense college for Gods. He said the mission is the intensive class to learn how to be a God. He said that everyday we need to figure out what the greatest Professor in the universe is going to teach us. Every time we leave the house we have the private tutor (holy ghost) to help us learn the lessons that will apply not only to this life but also to our eternal progress. It was awesome. So in the interview thinking it was a good question i asked President how i can make sure i am sitting in the front of the class and paying 100 percent attention to what God wanted to teach me....well my answer was very simple and kinda awesome. He said "Elder Bushnell I have no doubt you are learning what God needs you to learn everyday he just needs you to do what he asks a little more bodly", he went on to explain that the natural man is what causes us to fear and doubt which leads to the spirit withdrawing so we can´t be 100% focused on what God wants us to learn...he started laughing and said "i will tell you the worst thing about earth life and conquering the natural man...it is a day to day battle...one day we will do really well and get the natural man pushed out but the next day we have to wake up and do the same fight over again. VERY SLOWLY the spiritual man will start to take over and it will get easier to push back against the natural man but we will still have to battle." It was an interesting way to look at that scripture and it really is true. It was a good interview and President told me he knows good things are super close to happening for me in the mission which scared me a little but we will see! :)

Thanks for everything I got the jerky and everything and it is soo much better than i remembered...also elder tanner and i are trying to see how much protein we can eat in one day and how many pullups, pushups, and situps we can do. :)

Our investigator Filipe is marked for the fouth so we will see if we are able to get that through...i don´t see any real problems coming up for right now so i will for sure keep you updated with him!!

Thanks for everything and for all the love and support!! I love you tons!
Elder Bushnell

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