June 13, 2016

This week has been a good one, but tiring, which is also good. It means we are working hard hahaha one awesome experience happened as were tracting. There was a lady outside watering her lawn, and we went up and talked to her. Turns out, she had been to an LDS church service before, but hadn't had a super good experience. We ended up sharing the first vision with her though, and she said she felt goosebumps when we told it! It was so cool! We will be meeting with her later this week, because she said that she'd try it again, because "maybe her heart wasn't open" when she went the first time. That's what she said. She was also very interested, because she said that she would hate to have missed out on being a part of a church that important, that was guided by prophets who received directions from God. She really understood the importance of our message which was so amazing! 

 We had another awesome experience with Spencer and Amanda- they are some of the most awesome people I've met. In our lesson with them last night, he decided to quit coffee without us even inviting him! We mentioned how that was part of the word of wisdom because it helps us to pay attention to spiritual promptings and he decided to give it up. They are so amazing, and it is such a blessing to see the Atonement begin to change their lives. They are totally loving church and Spencer even told the bishop that he was anxious to get baptized! The members have been very good about being friends to them, and they have told us they are excited to come to church each week. They have been asking us questions about their baptism as well, the logistical stuff know. They are so amazing! Their faith is so great, even with the trials they are going through. He is a type 1 diabetic and she has Multiple sclerosis. Even through all the craziness that sometimes goes on in their lives, they are definitely recognizing the peace that comes form the gospel! It is such a privilege to be able to help them get to know Jesus Christ and follow Him.

Sorry my email will probably be pretty short this week, we spent about 2.5-3 hours cleaning the car today (elder domnikov wanted to earn the cleanest car award at zone conference tomorrow morning)

But I wanted to share a thought I had with you that I kinda stole from a talk by Hank Smith (who is an awesome youth speaker by the way. Look up some of his talks if you get the chance, especially scripture power)

Anyways, he talked about the Book of Mormon, specifically in Mosiah 18:30. The church has been criticized a lot for this verse, because of how many times the word Mormon is repeated. But he looks at it differently. I love this. 

Read Mosiah 18:30, and then ask yourself this question. Did Mormon name the Book of Mormon after himself? 

Read it before finishing this email. Think about that question...

Did you do it? Okay moving on then

In Hank Smiths opinion, and now my opinion as well, Mormon did not name the Book of Mormon after himself. He named the book after a place that was beautiful in the eyes of those who had come to a knowledge of their Redeemer there. Mormon named the Book of Mormon after the waters of Mormon. Why? Because he knew that the Book of Mormon would be something beautiful to those who came to a knowledge of their Redeemer by reading it's pages. The Book of Mormon is named after the place where hundreds of people were converted and chose to follow their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Knowing that, we look at the title of the Book of Mormon, and it has new meaning. It is the book where we come to the knowledge of our Savior and Redeemer. It is the place where we come to love Him, and as we follow the principles in that book, we will follow Him. I absolutely love that! Maybe you guys have thought about that before too, i don't know, but it totally changed the way that I look at the Book of Mormon, even knowing that it is a pother testament of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon. I absolutely know that it is true. I know that by abiding to its precepts, we will come closer to God than we could by reading any other book. 

I love you so much mom! 

You are the best. Thank you for all you do.

Love, 

Elder Bush

Visiting Elder Domnikov's area for a baptism in a lake

Views of Elder Bush's current home

Hanging out with a replica of the Excalibur sword

And then Gideon sent Jonas a video of him talking to his missionary brother...  Jonas sent these pictures and videos back to him.  What a great idea Gideon!  Video "letters"!

Pictures for Gideon... :)

A video to Gideon...

This week I have really gained a testimony of talking to everybody that we see. We found some really awesome people who are so prepared for the gospel last week. They are both preparing to get baptized. They can really see the blessings the gospel has brought to them already! It is so amazing. 

When we first met her, she was bringing her trash cans back from the street. We were tempted to just wave and walk by, we were on our way to visit someone else. It wasn't a scheduled time for finding. Luckily, we didn't. We stopped to talk to her and offered to help her. In just a few minutes, her heart was softened. She told us that if we had come up to her on any other day, we might have received a pretty rude rejection. That day, the Spirit touched her heart, and now she and her husband are getting ready to be baptized this month! They are so excited. I am so grateful that we stopped to talk to her, and now, I have a testimony that the Lord puts in our paths and in our lives, people who are being prepared to receive the message of the Restoration of this gospel. We have the most joyful message that has ever existed! We have hope! We declare that not only does Christ live, and not only does He love us, but because He loves us, He speaks to us today through a living prophet, and He restored His gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith. So please share the gospel. At all times and in all places stand as a witness of Jesus Christ the Lord, like we have all covenanted to do. 

Appropriate love to you all, 
Elder Bush