1.10.12

Dear Mommy, 

It is super crazy that I only have FIVE more to go.I am here with Elder Tanner and he goes home 6 weeks before me and we get talking about how long we have been in the mission and how crazy fast it has been...it just feels like a few weeks for us but we know for you guys it felt like a really long time...it is super weird!

Yeah i can´t believe how much negative stuff we have heard about here in Portugal but ya know we are fulfilling the prophecy that Portugal would be the lighthouse to Europe and it is happening all other missions are starting to get this fire that we have and starting to get things in gear and getting going. I just hope and pray my last 5.5 months can be the strongest of my mission and that I can really step it up and as they say "bring it home!" :) Speaking of bringing stuff home, I just stopped in a store because twice a year they have HUGE sales, like 50% off everything, so I am thinking hard and praying about this super awesome kinda greenish suit. It is like 90 dollars, it is 50% off and super sick but i don´t know if i really want to buy a suit now or not...it is a tight cut but not like the super crazy European cut suit, I don´t know. It is probably the best quality suit for the cheapest price i have ever seen in my life though.

The parties have slowed down and now we are getting rolling...we fought this week with an older guy about having him get baptized but he basically has issues with tithing and isn´t really sure he wants to do to. We are going to talk to him again on Tuesday so we will leave things really clear and let him make a decision with lots of prayer. The meat factory workers still haven´t come to church but they are doing okay. They like talking to us and agreed that when they know its true they will be baptized, now we just need to make them realize they NEED to know it is true so they will seek the answer.  Probably the craziest thing ever was that this week the other elders called to see if we could run by the Font and see if it was full...so we said yes and went to the chapel well when we went downstairs to the font we stepping in a couple of inches of water...they flooded the basement...so we spent a few hours mopping and bailing it out. It was really funny. My comp and I are getting along really well. So far we haven´t had any issues. WE are getting used to each other and getting everything figured out and i am sure that this transfer will be a lot of fun.

Haha I bet dad was super embarrassed about having to old your purse while you loaded the rock salt...i remember i used to kinda like loading the rock salt...i would always cheat and use the 4 wheeler to take it around back and in! I am sorry your ankle is messed up still. If you get surgery how long would you be down?  I will pray for Amber and Jordan so they get into the LDS social services thing...are they both working or what is Jordan doing  now?

Thanks for being so great to me mommy!! I love you! i am close to needing some more pills. They are still working really well also i am pretty sure that just doing lots of pullups has kinda created rougher hands that aren´t as sweaty. haha i am excited for the jerky.

Thanks for everything mommy!! I love you tons! Have a great week!!

 Elder Bushnell

Hey Daddio!

Elder Searle is great we are getting along good! We do have some things in common and we are always talking about who knows what...probably just me I think my motor mouth has gotten worse in the mission. We are working hard though! I am getting a little fatter but still doing some crazy ab workouts...also lots of push ups and pull ups. I don´t think I am still growing I think I stopped right about 6´1"....it has been a really long time since i have measured myself.

Okay so i will have like a month when i get home to figure out all that stuff with the Elk hunt. I am super excited...I have always thought Elk were kinda weird cause we had never really hunted them....when we went i had to sit on the hill with Grandpa Darrell and watch you and Kevin book it across the mountain just to see them all take off before you even got close. Of course Gramps gave me candy bars from his pocket though so it wasn´t too bad I guess!

Wow that is super crazy you went golfing already! I thought you were going to take a while to get back out there! How are my clubs doing? Is my driver still BRAND NEW like when i left on my mission? That was such a cool deal getting that new one. :) How was number 13 for you? 10 is a little left turn and over the marsh right...then 11 you can aim way left and be good also it is a pretty short hole usually...12 is par 3 then 13 is the par 5 that starts out over the lake right with the sand trap in from the the mound in front of the green?

Thanks for everything you have given me dad! Thanks for the love and support you show me! I love you tons!

Elder Bushnell

 

1.2.12

Happy New Year!!

I can´t believe it is 2012 already! I remember thinking about how everything cool in my life would happen in the year 2012....ever since I was little i imagined and pretended it was 2012...the year I turn 21 and can do everything I want and the year that I finish my mission and everything. I can´t believe it is here already!! Transfers were today and my companion Elder Hansen is going to serve in Portimão (I was there exactly 1 year ago) I will be serving here with an Elder Searle from Shelly Idaho, I think he is from there, I don´t know him at all.  I am not super trunkie...well right now i was because Elder Deffense went home today...that was trunkie a little bit.

So before I start on this week i want to give you some crazy facts about the best mission in the world!! Here in Portugal as of Christmas day we had baptized....1094 in the year. That is more than any other 2 missions in Europe combined (a mission in England and a mission in Spain were next but they didn´t get 1000 together). A fulfillment of a prophecy that Portugal would be the Lighthouse of Europe! Also another crazy fact is that in Brazil there are 27 mission and we were able to baptize more than 20 of them....so only 7 baptized more than us! Super awesome!

Anyways for this week...well we found lots of people in parties...we found a girl named Mafalda who is 19 and lives above the church...so no excuses for not coming to church...except when she gets super drunk and a new years party and ends up sleeping the night at one of her friends....it happened this week. Anyways um We also found some cool guys that work in a meat factory near by...one named Gerson (cabe verde), Charles (brazil), Lindomar (brazil) we went and talked to them and explained the first vision and it was great they said they would try their best to come to church but didn´t happen...next week! I got to do an interview this week of a girl from Burkina Faso..she is 9 and knew the first vision better than i ever did before my mission. She was baptized on Sunday. And we had a good party with TONS of fattening foods! I am sick of candy and other sweet things!

Wow you found out a lot about Marlies...i hope you didn´t make it super awkward! Does Parker have a girlfriend? Does he have an accent? Did he speak Japanese for you? I am super stoked to do that when i get back...i am nervous to speak in church in English though...it will not come out very smooth for sure!

I hope you guys get feeling better here soon! I am sorry your ankle hurts...that doesn´t sound fun at all. Is dad able to move and stretch more now? He didn´t email me this week...i thought new years was supposed to be a time to start good things not stop them ;) Did you guys make and new years resolutions? I was thinking about them in sacrament meeting this week and i came up with three things i want to focus more on now but especially when i get home...the three E´s of 2012. They are in Portuguese but it is Expiação (atonement), Estudar (study), Evangelho (gospel) So i want to use the atonement, study daily, and focus my life in the gospel. Basically those 3 things were what i felt would be of the most worth. I still will figure out plans to do these things.

Haha that is super awesome that Zach and Todd are both taking a Portuguese class! Tell them they can start practicing their writing Portuguese to me! Umm the only problem with them taking one at UVU is they are going to learn Brazilian Portuguese which is different...it will still help Zach a lot but they pronounce words funny like when there is a "de" they say "ge" which is wierd and they don´t conjugate the verbs in the same way...they use a form of ing...like runnING (correndo)...but in Portuguese we say "we are to run" (Estamos a correr). It makes more sense in Brazilian but in the MTC he will learn the Portugal Portuguese.  Wow I didn´t know Tiffany was so close to getting married as well!! Who is she marrying?

Thanks for taking care of the contacts for me mommy!! I love you tons!!

Elder Bushnell

12.25.11

Hey Mommy!!

I am doing great! I did have a pretty good night. After we talked to you we went to visit a lady named Maria José who has known the church for 11 years...we think she gives lots of really stupid excused and has a problem with a member in the branch. We pass by every once and i while to see how she is doing and to see if she has had any big changes in her life that will make her need the gospel more. She gave us cake and fried things...basically at Christmas everyone eats things that are fried...crepe things that are fried and rolled in sugar and like doughnut holes...i am feeling like i have eaten more sugar this Christmas than in the first year and a half of my mission combined. Other than that the rest of the night was pretty chill...we tried passing some other people that weren´t home...we talked to a member on the street for like 30 minutes....he wasn´t at church so we had to give him some crap about that. Then we came home and planned for today and ate more sugary faty junk and i ate soup cause i felt like i hadn´t eaten anything healthy all day...i did eat breakfast and a yummy meatloaf thingy for lunch so don´t be worrying.

I found out that the old mission president in the north went to Angola and not Moçambique but Zach will probably be in a district in the mtc with elders coming to Portugal. I am super stoked for him. Did he take spanish?

haha sounds like you guys did have a pretty good Christmas....our church started 20 minutes late and ended about 20 minutes after the hour. It was a really long time with that super funny old lady speaking. The people in the back row pointing to their watches to tell her to stop talking..oh man super funny times. But 50 minutes is nice. When you say i was still a pretty big crowd you mean a lot more that 55 right? cause that is what we had here....pretty normal here in Portugal is between 50-80...except Setúbal with 160ish. haha yeah sounds like you guys need a break hopefully this week is relaxing for you! Speaking of Parker and that side of the family I was telling Elder Hansen the other day about Marlies Woodhead. You could find out if she is married...just an idea if ya get bored ya know. ;)

Oh also i don´t know if i have any contacts there at the house...i am wearing a pair and have one pair in my bags...probably i will only need like 1 or 2 other pairs so i don´t want to make you order a bunch of them cause i will need an eye check when i get home and it may be different but maybe if i left some there or something you could send them. If not i am probably fine and will make it just great with these...i just changed them...and i can wear my glasses a little more often.

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

Elder Bushnell

Hey Daddio!!

It was great to talk to you guys yesterday! I really liked it alot! I didn´t get too home sick. I am sorry you still hurt a lot. it kinda is crappy that you can´t really stretch or do anything to move the things around! Just keep pushing on i am sure you will get it figured out!

We have some good investigators they are progressing but Christms time is really hard because they are always doing a million things and don´t have time to talk to us really. We are struggling getting the people to start the steps to make their lives better..especially during Christmas time because they don´t have any issues...the whole family is together so all is well and we don´t need to listen to you 2 little boys. I think that Cristina and Maria are the closest but that they also are having a hard time seeing how it is important to them...they think it is kinda just a belief that is interesting but may or may not apply to them.

I am going to agree with you both...moms car is sweet...and she is spoiled! The sync thing is super cool...some of the taxis here have it and it is super cool. One guy was like teaching me how it works and like called his daughter just to show me how cool it was.

Carter is a cute little guy. he is super big...when i left he was still like unable to crawl very well. I will be home for the next one which will be super awesome! If i am able to do as the prophets have said i would be married...or engaged....or close. We will see though...that is a scary thought!

Thanks for all the love and support you guys give me! I know you are all supporting me in this adventure and that is a great blessing! I love you tons!!

Elder Bushnell

p.s. what are your thoughts/ideas about coming to pick me up or not?