10.10.11

Hey Mommy,

I did get my transfer calls and i will stay here with Elder Carpenter another transfer! I am super stoked he is way cool! One thing for sure is when I am married I am going on last minute adventures! I think they are great! I created a mini bucket list and one of the items is to go to the airport and catch the next flight to anywhere in the US....super random but cool!

Wow sounds like you had a pretty sweet adventure! I want to go to couer dalene when i get back and golf the island green! haha a two hour bus ride...sounds like what we do here...the ones from Lisbon to the algarve are 4 though!! I actually kinda like riding in big tour buses! Your adventure sounds super fun! It is cool you got to see the scenic route :)

So you are teaching on the gathering of Israel...umm one thing is to look at the gospel principles book if we have one...they have a whole chapter about it that explains pretty well....also i hate lessons that are just talk but have to invitation or anything to encourage them to DO something....talk about how it is missionary work and how you know it is really hard to do missionary work in Orem utah cause everyone is a member but with technology it is become a lot easier to share what we believe with the whole world in a few seconds...encourage them to move the work forward in some way...they could create a mormon.org profile or something where people can go to read and learn about NORMAL mormon people....i don´t know just an idea.

Thanks for everything mommy!! Love you!!!

Hey daddio!

This week was nor too bad we have a family that is progressing but the Dad doesn´t want to let them be baptized cause he feels like he is betraying his parents who baptised him in the Catholic church...we are going to try to settle that out tonight! ;)

We had transfers and i am staying with Elder Carpenter which is super awesome! We are going to create a battle plan tonight and figure out exaclty where our weak points are and where we can afford to push ourselves a little higher and see if we can´t defeat satan a little better this transfer! It will be super awesome we are pumped!

Yeah sounds like mom had a pretty crazy ordeal getting there but actually when i read it..i thought of the mission and some crazy times i have had....having to catch a taxi, a metro, a boat, a train, then a ride from a member all just to get home! Super awesome times!!

Was that the 700 you worked on? I remember and like Brother Clayton a lot! He is super cool! How hard is it to put a new belt on a 4wheeler? I don´t think we have ever changed one together...maybe but i don´t remember.  Yeah it is crazy how fast time is going i will be home before you know it.

Haha Kyle will need his time! I have been thinking about what I will say at my homecoming and that is going to be a stressful day! I have SOO many stories but when i try to tell them in english they come out super funny and don´t make a lot of sense...can i have a translator?

Thanks for everything daddio!! Love you!!

10.2.11

I did get to watch conference and it was super awesome I absolutely loved it! We were able to watch all sessions of conference and it went by so fast! I was sad when it ended cause time is going so super fast! I really like Elder Hollands talk...i loved when he said "WE ARE AT WAR!!" it was super awesome to hear the power and sincere worry in his voice for all of us!

If i could tell anyone in the ward anything i would tell the youth...both young men and women the importance that they get their own testimony...as the prophets say the world is getting really bad...i know its hard to see that there in happy valley, Orem, Ut. But it is 100 percent true and they need to be ready for when the world starts trying to sneak into happy valley. They really need to gain the spiritual strength for themselves RIGHT NOW. They cannot wait because then it really will be to late! The parents should do everything they can to push their kids to get their own testimony...they don´t need to push them to "do" everything the right way cause once they have the testimony for themselves they will have the desire to "come unto Christ" by doing the things He has asked of them!

Thanks for everything daddy!! Just think this time next year and i will be there to make all your hunting trips easier..and a little more expensive ;)

Love you!!

9.19.11

Hey Daddio!!

Actually it was kinda hard to get her up out of the water but not too bad...like i said i have been doing a crazy exercise program...you can do it with me when i get back and see how insanely hard it is!!

Wow sounds like a super fun hunt! You are just getting in better shape so that when i draw my desert bighorn you can scale those crazy cliffs with me! :) sounds like you are getting in on some pretty good bulls. You can tell Ned his storytelling disease has rubbed off on me...i talk so much with Elder Carpenter about hunting stories and crazy things....i have already told him several stories more than once i think! :) 

I am getting along great with my companion. He is awesome. We have some contacts but we are going to start doing lessons with some members to get references from them. Transfers are on the 11th i think. I am still the district leader and my district is just my comp and I and one other companionship. It is funny though cause my Zone Leaders call like 3 times a day to ask my advice on like everything! I feel super wise in the mission but i am not...i feel like i just started and have SOOO much to learn but they all seem to think i have been around the block a few times.

Thanks For everything daddy!! I want some sweet pictures of a HUGE elk!!!

Love you!

Elder Bushnell

Hey Mommy!!!

I am doing great!! How are you? This week was pretty good...it kinda kinda flew by and not a lot happened...we tried and tried but it wasn´t just going our way this week...but last night we really got this week planned out and this morning we started off really well with a super crazy exercise then some profound studies...it was great! haha funny story about the hair...i cut it last night by myself it looks good still but it is not as short as before but its kinda short....it is way easier to deal with instead of long hair! Haha I am sure he and ned just talk and talk about us and how much they miss us on hunting trips..dad always said i was an expensive little bugger but he is seeing on this hunt that i am worth it! He is having a rough hunt i guess...its really rough terrain. Haha yeah dad and ned are like a great combination...i hope Brody and I get to be like them when we are old!

Good work mommy...we got to church yesterday and the wife of the Gospel Principles class came up and was like my husband told me to tell you guys to teach the lesson...it was the second time it has happened luckly this week wasn´t the gather of the house of israel like last time. It was on charity it was basicaly a normal lesson...its a good thing i always have been a good at BSing when i need too! Ouch...that doesn´t sound fun at all...poor Orva...wow David is 16? I swear when i left he was like a new deacon....weird!

Lots of parents pick up their kids...it doesn´t make a big difference to president....he is super nice and him and his wife will want to meet you if they can...they will speak super funny English...they are learning but don´t speak great...i will translate for ya! We need to talk to the stake president about me getting released here...i kinda don´t want to tour around and still be a missionary. As far as approval from President Torgan...they call like at my 6 months left mark and ask how it will work and so i just need to tell them that you are coming and it will all be worked out then...i think.

Oh well that is cool that far west bank changed....umm as far as anything else in the package i can´t really think of anything off the top of my head...basically everything is covered...maybe more axe hair gel.  i think besides that we are good. I think transfers are the 11th so it should get here before i leave...if i leave this transfer.

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

Elder Bushnell

9.12.11

Hey Mommy!!!

This week was great! It was a crazy battle but we were able to baptize a lady named Ana. I will include pictures as well. It was a battle because we marked her on Wednesday to be baptized on Sunday right after church....well we had great reason to believe she was breaking some commandments because she always talked about "a friend" she has that does lots of things bad but she never had any problems...so we thought maybe she was using friend as a cover but she was asked TONS of hard very direct questions in the interview and she passed...well we did a division on Saturday so the Zone Leaders could do our interview and we got stuck not getting back to our area until like 6:30-7 so then we are trying to play a whole baptism starting at like 7. She is a big lady so we could not find clothes in our chapel...so we started freaking out...we called the other elders who went to their chapel at like 10 and broke into the clothes closet trying to find something huge for her...well they thought they found something so we woke up early on Sunday...after staying in the chapel until like 10 to get programs and everything worked out...members probably hate us because we called to ask them to give talks at like 945 the night before...its all good. But so we got up early and went to the other elders chapel...and they didn´t have anything that was going to work...so at 8:15...church starts at 9:30 but at 8:15 we call the relief society president and tell her the problem...she says "i will call a family right now that is "sufficiently strong" and ask them to bring some clothes" she called back and said she thought she had it solved. So we go to church and the people who were supposed to give her a ride show up without her...she never showed up...they waited for like 20 minutes. So we call and call and get a member ready to take us over there...in the middle of priesthood (priesthood is first here now) and finally she answers and i guess they had a sick kid in the night and slept in but her husband gave her a ride then everything went really well after that but man it was madness!! I am super tired!!

Wow i can´t believe Tony is an elder already...crazy!! I realized that my comp will have 9 months in the mission this week and i will have 9 months left in the mission this week...weird! Dad did tell me you guys bought one but i haven´t heard anything else about it and i never got a picture or anything. Haha i am proud of you for surviving camping!!

The weather here is still pretty warm...i can´t believe how fast summer has gone...it is really flying by! I doubt i will need more warm things....i have only worn a long sleeve shirt 2 or 3 full days in my mission so far. It isn´t really ever super cold...just rainy...i have never been up north in the winter though so who knows.

I did get the package with the journal and the pills...it was ripped open and like stuck in a bigger plastic bag with a note saying it got to the mail people here like that...it had 2 things of pills, journal, teeth stuff, and rootbeer barrels right? i think that was all it had when i got it.

Thanks for everything mommy!! I love you lots!!!

Elder Bushnell

9.5.11

Hey mommy!!

This week was pretty exciting we did a lot of good stuff...we got everything figured out and now are ready to get rolling here in a little bit! Elder Carpenter was born and lived in Santa Clara Utah until he was like 8 and then he moved to North Carolina but lives in West Virginia now. He states he is from West Virginia but grew up in Santa Clara. He has like 8 months in the mission now and he was in the same district as Elder Barr, but he speaks a lot better than elder Barr. He is really cool. Probably my favorite companion was elder Roundy. He was super cool! My favorite area would be Setúbal. I learned SOO much when i was there. I went in a perfect time in my mission and the bishopric there is super awesome! The workouts are going pretty well, my comp is a wrestler and loves working out so he is going to start doing them with me and getting me really into it!

Yeah it is super crazy that it is already Labor Day...time has gone so super fast! Haha you are going camping? that actually is really funny! I think you better tell Todd and his family  to plan another one when i get back. Fairview huh? is dad planning on fishing?  you are going to love camping mom....okay that is hard to see in my mind but somehow it will be fun for you!

I am getting more and more nervous as the time gets closer...i know i still have a little while but it still scares me to think that i have a real big scary life to get back to...i kinda like the simplicity and everything of this one....of course lots of days are buggers and really hard but its not too bad...and college...ugh....not sounding fun one bit!

Well thanks for everything mommy!! I love you tons!!

Elder Bushnell