September 12, 2016

What a week!
Elder C. Scott Grow of the seventy came to our mission this week, and
that was definitely an amazing experience. I learned a lot from him.

This week, Dave (remember that guy who had been coming to church for 8
years) finally realized that he did have a testimony!
He is such a cool guy, and we are so excited for him, because he is
planning on getting baptized here in a couple of weeks. His family is
super great.

Spencer got the priesthood this week, so that was a very cool
experience, and then Amanda finished like pretty much the whole
standard works. Just kidding, she only finished the Pearl of Great
Price. And maybe she's started Doctrine and Covenants by now. I don't
know. But they are just so awesome and doing amazing.

I just want to say this. Missionary work. Is still. The best.
Why?
Because we are inviting the children of God to come unto Christ, to
follow Him, and to receive eternal life. There is seriously no greater
work. And you don't have to go knock doors to be a missionary. Smile
at that random stranger walking down the street. Invite your family to
read their scriptures. Do something to invite others to Christ, and
you are participating in the greatest work this world has ever known
and ever will know.

I love you all.

Appropriately.

Elder Bush

Watching the YSA worldwide devotional with Elder Cook 

and seeing PoppaKeith and Jeanene!  

(e-mail to Mom)

So this week was amazing. On Thursday, Elder C. Scott Grow of the
Seventy came to visit our mission. We had a conference with him that
lasted from about 9:30 in the morning to 5:45 in the evening. It was a
long conference, but I learned a whole lot! It was an amazing
experience.
One of the coolest parts was at the ending. Elder Grow picked 6
missionaries to interview personally, and I was one of them! It wasn't
a long interview, and we didn't get to talk about a lot, but it was a
super cool experience. And he gave me two invitations with a promise.
He said that I need to study from the Book of Mormon every day, and I
will reach my personal goals. And second, he told me to tell you this.
This is exactly what he said, as exactly as I can remember.

"Tell your parents that you met with a general authority this week.
Tell them that I looked into your eyes and I see a young man who wants
to do what is right. He wants to do what his Father in Heaven wants
him to do. You should be proud of who he is becoming on his mission."

He told me to tell you that, and I can't remember the exact words he
said, but that's as close as I remember them. It was a very neat
experience. He also told me that I'm very privileged to have been born
into the family that I was born into, and I've been thinking about
that a lot this week. It is so true. I really was so fortunate to have
been born into this family, and I am so grateful for it. Elder Grow
taught me a lot, and another cool thing is that while talking to him,
I continued to feel the Spirit testifying that he was called of God
and that he was going about doing the work of our Father in Heaven. It
was so neat.

I learned a lot from that conference. It was awesome. We talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ, and we spent forever there. We had an hour break for lunch, which was nice, but it was a crazy spiritual experience.

Another super cool experience includes a story from about a month and a half ago. Do you remember that crazy guy we met in the Walmart parking lot?? He told us he was kryptonian, and he was crying, and he was coming off of some hardcore drugs, (meth according to him) and we gave him a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets.

That was about 6 weeks ago, and this week we saw him again! Only this
time, it was at church!!! He came to a different ward than ours, but
we had so many meetings, we didn't end up leaving church until an hour
after our 3 hour block. We walked past him in the hall and he was
standing there, hugging a gospel principles book. I stopped and I was
like "Andrew?" (I totally remembered his name hahaha)
And then he started freaking out because he recognized us too! It was
kinda crazy and amazing! Miracles continue to happen every day, that's
for sure. It was so cool.

Amanda and Spencer are doing well. Spencer got the Aaronic priesthood yesterday, which was a cool experience. Their family also disowned them, which really stinks but they have a positive attitude about it. So if you could keep them in your prayers still, they appreciate it.

This is a video of Amanda reading the scriptures with emphasis...

This week we also spent a lot of time trying to find people because some of our investigators have stopped meeting with us. :(

We were able to find 2 new investigators, which was awesome! I'm super excited for them, because they both seemed pretty interested. 

We are also working hard to get members to have us teach their friends who went to the temple open house. Sometimes they are reluctant, which is sometimes frustrating, but then I have to remind myself that they know their friends better than we do, and they will know when it is time to make the invitation. 

I'm glad you are being well taken care of by the ward, and that the kids are all doing so well. I love and miss them.

One thing I studied this week that I loved. I've been studying a lot about conversion and about our hearts. A lot of times, the heart is referred to in reference to conversion and stuff. The heart is regarded as the center of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. In the Book of Mormon it is often used to reference our true intentions. Then I read Alma chapter 32:28, where it talks about planting the word in our hearts, and I pondered a lot of what that means this week. What do you think it means, with those added definitions of what the heart is?

I love you so much mom. I miss you and look up to you and brag about you daily. You are the best, and I am so grateful to be your son. I love you :)