The True Testimony of Christmas! Dec 21, 2011

Well, this week has been super awesome! We had a super awesome zone conference yesterday and even ended up doing a Christmas pageant, complete with cows, sheep and donkeys (missionaries in costume) lol. It was great! 

Not a lot has happened this week though. We've been doing some good work, finally starting to reach our goals, so that's super exciting. I feel like we've really hit a change as a companionship, where now we're both on the same page, heading towards the same objective, so that's way exciting! We've met some pretty awesome people in the meantime as well! Made almost 100 sugar cookies by now to give out to members and neighbors. haha it's about 1000x harder to deliver cookies without a car, but it's fun! 

Mainly, I'm just super excited from christmas. I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and we've been trying to focus our lessons on it as well. But it just blows my mind at how much love Christ has for us. How much He suffered, everything He went through, and then He doesn't even ask for anything in return! All He asks us is that we take advantage of it for ourselves, so that we can be happy. AND He's our brother. He's literally ALWAYS there for us. And He knows how to help us become like Him. Literally nothing is impossible. These things probably sound redundant, and a lot of people will say these things, maybe even too often. And it's definitely hard to express myself through email (sometimes strategically placed italics and all-caps can help), but if I can leave you with one thing for Christmas, it's that Christ lives. I know it. He's real. It's not a thing created by men just because it's more convenient to believe in something bigger, it's reality. As real as this world we live in. Christ lives! Think about what that means, and then don't ever forget it.

I love you guys, have a wonderful christmas!

-Anziano Bushman

So here we have the "White Tree of Gondor" or I mean "of Siena"

Makin sugar cookies for members and friends. They actually turned out pretty good, I was surprised.

hahaha So apparently the Wolfgramm's have an annual christmas pageant, and so at zone conference they had chosen some missionaries to be different parts, and I got chosen to be an angel haha. I didn't really do much. Just stood there and looked pretty. Lol it was fun.

Anziano Scheurn and his comp came over last night after the zone conference to spend pday in siena with us, so last night we made some hot chocolate and chilled out by the fire. Probably the most fun thing that's ever happened! 

Blessed to stay in Siena! Dec 14, 2011

Well, tomorrow marks one year. 

Topic change! Things are looking pretty good here in Siena! As for Kochi, we're gradually learning how to speak Bengali (Bangledesh). Haha not really, but we're trying to figure out what chapters are in the Bengali Book of Mormon, because it's only "Selections of the Book of Mormon". So we're making some progress by having him read specific chapters. Oh, and we just learned that Akim speaks arabic (in addition to english) and so does Kochi. So we'll be utilizing him as a translator for sure! Akim is making great progress as well! They had a slight bump with Adam and Eve. When we mentioned that the Fall was part of God's Plan for us, they did not agree. But we were able to explain it for them after a little difficulty lol. It was good though. 

Bianka is coming to church, but they've still been way busy and haven't been able to meet with us.... So, hopefully this week we'll get to see them and start helping Bianka towards baptism. 

Maxwell is also coming to church and still making progress! We are going to have to start going out to his house to meet him every once and a while though, which will invlove about 40 min of bus to get there, and then to get back 40 min of walking and 10 min of bus. Hahah it'll be fun though! 

Also! We got a referral for an American family! The dad came to church this Sunday to check it out, and if we get to meet with them again this weekend, I think they're pretty much solid. They're definitely serious about the whole church thing. They want to find a good church, and they want their kids to grow up in it. So now we just need a chance to talk to them about it!!

All in all, I'm super glad that I get to stay in Siena to help all of these people come into the fold of God! It's an awesome work, and I'm super grateful for these two years I've been given to serve!!

vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!

Anziano Bushman

Oh, I had a pretty cool experience with my comp the other day: we were at the church for some reason, and I was watching the christmas devotional and he was off doing something else, but then when we left I found out what he was doing (see above). It's super nice to find that your efforts are being noticed!

My Gift to Christ this season! Dec 7, 2011

Buon Natale!


Investigator updates:

We met with Akim (Hakim, we just found out how to actually spell his name) and Kochi (Cucci) on thursday, and had a super great lesson! At first I was kind of worried, because Akim had just woken up, and people don't normally pay attention when they're tired.... BUT we went over the Plan of Salvation and get this- he took notes, and stopped us when he didn't understand something. That never happens!!! He was way into it! The Spirit was very strong, so we invited him to be baptized on the 7th of January, and he accepted! Kochi is still a little nervous because he doesn't understand english or italian very well, but he is still reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church!

Then, the next day we were finally able to meet with Maxwell. And we did the same exact thing with him, and taught him the plan of salvation. And although he didn't take notes, he loved the lesson, and accepted baptism also for the 7th of January! It was super awesome!!!!!

Bianka is still coming to church, but I'm still very concerned about her... she doesn't really seem interested in much of church, and they haven't been able to meet with us nearly as often lately... 

Cool experience:

Okay, so mom you mentioned something about how cool it is when we just do what the Lord asks us to do, because then he opens doors for us. Well, Sis Wolfgramm invited us to pick a Christlike attribute for this month, and to make it a "gift to Christ" by doing something everyday to improve on that attribute. Well, mine is patience, and I did not realize how impatient I am hahahaha. SO I kind of forgot about this challenge until the 4th of December, but since then I've been doing a lot better, and part of this challenge is to write down a specific thing that we did each day to improve, and so it's been in my mind now when I'm about to explode at someone "wait, maybe this could be my gift to Christ for today". So that gives me the desire to be patient and what not. SO, story time. We just finished a missionary exchange, and quite often I end up being the one that has to travel up to firenze (90min) to pick up and drop off my companion and then travel back down to Siena. BUT that's only part of it. So we had just gotten to Firenze and we were waiting for the other missionaries to get there, and so we call them and long story short they were more than an hour late (even though the city they were coming from is 10min from Firenze). I can't say I was too surprised, because they are almost always late, but this time, we had lessons to get to, and appointments that could not be moved. So, when I found out how late they were going to be I remembered the gift to Christ deal-io, and started seeing what I could do to rearrange appointments. All in all we got to all of our appointments after some adjusting, but the real miracle is the train ride home. So the train we ended up taking was pretty sweet. We grabbed the first seats we found, and about 5 min later some girl sat down across the aisle from us. So, with very little effort we started talking, and she completely opened up to us about how she's trying to come closer to Christ, and we just had a great 90 min conversation with her! We got her number, gave her a book of Mormon, and she welcomely committed to reading it! And, she wants to bring a friend the next time we meet! Sweet!!!

So yeah. Moral of the story: do what God (and his servants, it is the same) tells you to. You won't regret it. 

vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!!!

-Anziano Bushman

Bahahaha, We found a super old missionary slide reel in our closet, and it's got all kinds of messages, with synchronized cassette tapes as well for the audio! hahahaha! In fact, dad, did you ever use these? Some of them have copyrights around 1976ish, so right before your mission. 

This is our ward council. Pretty epic, huh? 

Bianka's Baptism!!!

Decorating the Christmas tree!!!

Anz Palmer & Me, Dec 2011

Man, I love baptisms! Nov 30, 2011

Lorena got baptized!!!!!! Everything went perfect! We spent a good amount of time friday night cleaning the church with several other members due to a bunch of remodelling that's been going on in the church, and then saturday morning we got to the church at 8am to try and heat up the water a little bit lol.... Get this: So since the hot water in the church runs out every 2min, we have to boil pots of water, and then pour it in the font to try and counteract the cold water. After about 30 large pots of boiling water, however, I'm not so sure anything changed. Lol nor did the water heat up at Tina's baptism. Hahaha so I don't know that we'll be trying that again. It was fun though. And it was Anziano Palmer performing the ordinance anyways, so no worries =) I made chocolate chip cookies for afterwards, and also Lorena and Bianka brought some cookies from a bakery and a little tostada (looks like pie, but it's not) and Sorella Feri brought some AMAZING pastries from some local bakery, that were probably on the more expensive end, and they were definitely worth it! We had 12 people all together at the baptism, which, when I first got here we only had 12 total people in church, so that was a huge success! Maxwell, an investigator of ours, was also there! Lorena was so happy!!! Man, I love baptisms. Then we got to spend a good amount of time cleaning the church again, and getting it ready for Sunday.

Man, and Sunday was super awesome as well!! We had two investigators come back to church! John and Hakim, who Anz Lehnardt and I taught for a while, but who then decided that they preferred their church, came back! They were very happy to see me lol or maybe they just love saying "Bushman", but nonetheless, I got a warm welcome from them, and then even more so yesterday when we went over to their house to teach them. Anyways, back to sunday, so we had a gospel principles class with Lorena, Bianka, Tina, Cucci, John, and Hakim along with Presidente Fergnani, and one of Pres Wolfgramm's counselor's that was visiting Siena. So we taught them all about the Gift of The Holy Ghost in preparation for them witnessing Lorena's receiving of the holy ghost in the next hour. It was super awesome!!! Anz Palmer also confirmed her a member. 

So, yeah, they're awesome. 

Just a couple more things before I have to get going, Hakim told us yesterday when we met with him that he wants to get baptized! He said that he did like Joseph Smith did, and has been reading the Book of Mormon for 2-3 months, and now he wants to "become a full member"! So we're super excited for him! Also, we started teaching a partial member family, of which 2 of the 4 members were baptized just about 6 months ago. The two that we're working with are Malvina and Romina. And they both are showing sincere desire to learn! So we are being greatly blessed down here in Siena to be able to see the work progress like it never has here! The members are also responding very positively! After turning us down all the time when we've asked them to come to appointments with us and whatnot, they are now asking us when we have appointments that they can come to! It's sweet!!!!

Oh, and also I got an email from Luca (we baptized him in Ravenna) so that was way exciting as well!

vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!

Anziano Bushman

An American Thanksgiving! Nov 23, 2011

Well, this week has been intense!

First off with last Thursday, we found out that there was going to be a strike on thursday with the trains (they do these wayyy too often!!!), so we headed to Livorno Wednesday night with Anz Scheurn, his comp, and also Anz Free and his comp, so we had a lot of fun hanging out even before the thanksgiving-ness. Then the next day we got to the Military Base and played a couple hours of football, then had an AMAZING lunch!!! There was turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (I actually ATE the stuffing for once!! aren't you proud of me???), pumpkin pie, apple pie, and cherry pie, cake, and all kinds of deliciousness!!! And then, if that wasn't enough, F.llo Trexler then sent each of us home with a little brown paper bag with some little fun size american chocolates, a little american box of cereal, and a can of american rootbeer! It was soooooo good!!!

As for an update on Lorena and Bianka, we were getting pretty worried about them last week... We didn't get to see them at all last week because they were super busy, and the Sunday before they didn't come to church, AND Lorena's baptism was scheduled for the 26th. So we were pretty worried. But, when we went into the lesson it wasn't long before we were reassured of how LEGIT they are. One of Lorena's struggles was with the Word of Wisdom. She's a big coffee drinker. BUT when we explained it to her a while ago, and read her the scriptures in D&C, she was immediately on board, and wanted to follow that commandment. No questions as to why it's bad, she just knew it was a commandment, so on that basis she knew she wanted to follow it. So anyways, she told us a story about a couple of days ago her sister in law (not Bianka) had a birthday party, and when everyone got drinks (alcoholic) Lorena kinda freaked out, and asked for a Coca Cola. She said that she didn't even feel the desire to drink alcohol, but that she felt a huge feeling of peace, and strength when she chose the right. So, even in peer pressure. And as for coffee, she's down from drinkin 3-4 cups a day, to one every 3-4 days! Oh, and she's getting baptized in 3 days. That's right. Bianka still doesn't feel ready, but she'll be at the baptism to support Lorena! And now we're just all hyped up, running everywhere to invite people to the baptism, and make sure it's super spiritual! Man, I almost forgot how fun this was!!! All of our investigators are planning on coming, and Tina is going to make sure that those of them that she referred to us come as well! Ahhhh life is good. 

Well, I gotta go, sorry it's a little short today, but next week will be filled with all kinds of exciting baptism stories!!!! 

vi voglio un sacco di bene!

Anziano Bushman

Pride in our Heritage! Nov 16, 2011

Well, not much happened this week. Lorena, Bianka, Maxwell, Harrison, and Cucci all did not come to church this week, so that was disappointing. This isn't the first time they've missed either, so we've got to plan well to find out what's going on. 

Sunday instead of having investigators at church to tend for, I got to translate for 2 hrs. First from Italian to English, and then from English to Italian in Sacrament meeting. It got kind of confusing, but I survived haha. I get the feeling that I didn't do too well with the sacrament meeting translation, because all kinds of people came up to me afterwards complimenting me, and saying that I did well even though it was really hard. Hahahah so that was fun...

A couple highlights this week, first was monday night. Monday night we had an appointment set up to visit the host family of two of the students here. Hahaha and when we got there the host couple and also another italian student that was living there didn't really expect us to speak italian, but when we did, then they seemed pretty excited to find out what it was that these two girls have been trying to explain to them about our church for the past two months. The couple was kind of just like any other old italian couple. They just like to talk. They went off on tangents every 10 seconds, so pretty soon I had to direct any and all questions directly at Clara (the student). She actually seemed super interested as well. We left a Book of Mormon, and although she's going back home to Sicilia for a week, we should get to see her again next week! Whoot! Score for the BYU students!

Next, we had Leadership Training yesterday (which is basically just like Zone Conference). We all meet together and Pres. Wolfgramm, with his wife and 2 assistants, train us. OH and btw, my trainer -first companion here in Italy, showed me the ropes and taught me everything I know- Anziano Seth Jensen just became the new Assisstant to the President, so that was super cool to get to see him! So, although 6 of us were about 90 min late due to a super late train, we still learned a lot of good stuff. We watched a movie as well, called 17 miracles. It was all about the Willie-Martin Handcart company and the main character -Levi Savage- was one of the subcaptains in charge of this company. And he had had burned into his mind a previous experience that showed to him that people in times of hardship and suffering, turn on each other like wolves. And he started to see that happening, and started to warn everyone, but each time he did he got publicly reprimanded by his superior. So, he just did what he could do to help. But he kept having flash backs of the previous experience. At the end of the movie though, during the hardest trials that the company faced, with starvation, lack of sleep, temperatures beyond freezing, and endless walking, he noticed the difference in the Saints. He publicly apologized, and spoke about how heroically they all behaved, and how even in the face of death, they helped those that needed help, and were always there to care for others. They were living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that was what our Training was focused on this month, The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pres Wolfgramm spoke about how this is our heritage. This is what the Gospel of Christ is all about- no matter what's going on, even in the face of death, pressing forward, and serving others. It was super inspiring, and gave me a renewed desire to serve the Lord with all of my strength!

Well, tomorrow our zone gets to go spend P-Day at the American Military Base between Pisa and Livorno to have a thanksgiving Lunch and play some two hand touch football! So I'm super excited for that! And then on Sunday we're having another thanksgiving type lunch with the BYU students becasue they leave next week, so I will be eating pretty well these next few days! =)

Well, I love you all, and I pray for each one of you every night!

Prendete cura!

Anziano Bushman

The Three Arizona Anziani - Anz Scheurn, Anz Free and Anz Bushman

Zone Conference

Help....by the Beatles! Nov 9, 2011

Well, just a quick update for this week-

My new comp, Anz Palmer is way cool. We're still trying to get used to each other's teaching styles, but we get along really well! Oh, and we set up our Christmas tree (we have a christmas tree!!!!)!!!! So that's been fun. Ummmm not much else. He's cool. It's different every time I get a new companion though, so yeah.

Our branch is all at the Swiss temple this week, and Tina (baptized in September) is with them as well!!!! So that's super exciting! We're still working with Tina's friends, but it is slow going because they are hard to get to (the bus only passes twice a day...). They did come to church again this week though!!! So that was cool!

Oh haha funny story that happened sunday- we were going around th city knocking on doors, and from 100 ft away from a building we heard some singing Help! (by the Beatles) at the top of their lungs! So, we decided to see if we could find them, and sure enough after a couple tries, and following the tune of Let it Be, and Hey Jude lol, we found her, hahaha and when she answered the door she apologized that she didn't hear the door because her headphones were in, and Anz Palmer had the guts to say something along the lines of "oh don't worry about it, we liked the song" or something like that, hahaha and she freaked out! She didn't realize that anyone else could here her hahah we decided to leave out the part where we heard her from 100 ft outside her building. But it was funny. So we set up a lesson with her to meet her at the church, but then something came up, so hopefully we'll be able to reschedule! 

Alright, best for last-

Lorena and Bianka are awesome!!! They have met with us about 5 times since we met them, and they always read several chapters of the Book of Mormon before hand, and even talk about it with each other, and they search the church's website all the time, man, they're perfect!!! We talked to them about baptism this weekend. Lorena has been telling us even since before we brought it up that she wanted to be baptized. She said that neither of them have been baptized yet, and so they've been trying to find the right church to get baptized in, but for some reason each church that they went into just didn't feel right... untill now!! Lorena has also told us several times that she wants to get baptized -not just to say that she's been baptized- but because she really feels it!! Her sister, Bianka, isn't quite as sure yet. She likes coming to meet with us, but she just tells us that she doesn't quite "feel it" yet, so she doesn't want to jump into it without really feeling it. Lorena was talking to me after the lesson and said that Bianka is still just a little nervous because she doesn't know what is going to change with her friends, and studies and what not, and she doesn't know how anything could change either. But that's completely normal, to be nervous. And we explained that to them, and told them that we're not going to make anyone do something that they don't want to. Bianka also keeps telling us that she "feels it" each time we're together talking about it, but when she goes home and talks about it to Lorena, it's a whole other story. So, as of now, Lorena is planning on getting baptized on the 26th of this month, and Bianka we're not sure yet, but they're awesome!!!! We're seeing them again tomorrow!

Man, I'm glad to be a missionary. 

i love you guys, I hope you're all doing well, and staying healthy and warm! 

-Anziano Bushman

Italian's, African's and Albanian's, Oh My!!! Nov 2, 2011

Well, I'm getting a new companion tomorrow morning! But first I wanna talk about this last week.

SO first I would like to direct your attention to any news sites from last week (last tuesday and wednesday). In Liguria, Italy more specifically in La Spezia and Cinque terre, there were some MASSIVE floods. I talked to Anz Bona afterwards (he's serving in La Spezia) and he said that tuesday night the water was up to their calves, just out on the sidewalks. So, the reason I bring this up, is because for the last month or two we have ben planning and trying to get to Cinque Terre (really close to La Spezia) for Pday, becasue it's supposed to be super amazing. So, this last week we had it all figured out, and Wednesday Morning around 6am we had even made it all the way to Firenze. But, our next train from there was over 30 min late, and was going to make us miss our only train from Pisa to La Spezia/Cinque Terre.So, we didn't go. And instead we just went to Pisa then back to Firenze for the day. So, yeah. Cinque Terre (5 Lands) got kind of destroyed, and reduced to 3.5 Terre, And won't even be reopened untill the next summer. So, missed out on that chance. Crazy, right?

Alright, now some better news. We met with two of Tina's friends, Mafwenn and Bright, and had a good quick lesson with them. They were looking for a place to go worship God, and the next day Mafwenn, Bright, and two more friends (Harrison and Valentine) came to church! So that, in combination with the 20 BYU students, and an american family in visit, and another investigator, the church was kind of completely packed this sunday! It was awesome!!!!! We haven't got to meet with Mafwenn and friends again yet, but we did have a good lesson with them in church before sacrament meeting about the Restoration. Hahahahah and my companion felt it necessary to teach them how to pray (which normally I would agree, but most africans have already grown up praying the same way we do). So, he taught them by writing on the chalkboard 4 things: Address Heavenly Father, gratitude, questions, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. And we prayed for them at the beginning of the lesson, but at the end we asked one of them to pray, and this was his prayer (word for word) "Address Heavenly Father, gratitude, questions, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  =) it was pretty great.

Alright, so now even better stuff. Lorena is the name of the Albanian that we met a week and a half ago. I don't remember if I wrote this part last week, but Lorena sent us a text about a week ago to set up an appointment to meet with us, and also asked if she could bring her sister, so we were already SUPER excited! Alright, so we had a lesson with them on thursday, which went great! Her sister's name is Bianka. When they came they had both already looked at a lot of the things on the church's website, and were very excitied to learn more. They didn't grow up going to church or anything, so a big thing was that they were wanting to get to know Jesus Christ more. So yeah, first lesson: Awesome. We then set up to see them Saturday. Saturday was equally, if not more awesome. Lorena had read all the way through the intro stuff, and testimonies, up to 1 Nephi 4, and had some questions. Apparently the albanian translation has some things that are a little unclear, so we gave them italian copies, and it helped a lot. In 1 Nephi 4 they had some questions about why Nephi was commanded to kill Laban (which she had understood from the Albanian trranslation to be Laman, Nephi's brother). So, we read the chapter together, and  talked about how it said that it was expedient that Nephi did those things, and how everything fell into place with being able to get the plates, and even bringing Zoram with them, because and only because he followed the spirit. So, awesomeness. They loved it. One thing that Lorena said (and Bianka confirmed) is that she just wants to follow the Spirit. She just wants to do what is right. She accepted baptism when we invited her, but Bianka was a little worried, because she wants to first know what happens after baptism. SWEET! second lesson: awesome. Next appointment was just yesterday morning. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they were just super excited to be learning all this! Bianka started reading as well, and they just already have such a great testimony of the things we are teaching! In fact, they even started this last lesson by giving us souvenirs that they had picked up in Sissi (maybe south italy?) for us! It was super thoughtful!!! They got us these little plaques of the St Francesco prayer, which is kind of a little catholic, but they don't know any better, and it's the thought that counts, right?  SO yeah, they are freaking awesome. We're seeing them again on friday!

So, transfers. Anziano Lehnardt is going to Padova, and Anziano Palmer is coming to Siena. Anziano Palmer is going into his 14th transfer. He's from Mesa, AZ and went to Mesa High even! So thats pretty cool, I'll have a fellow arizonan with me! I've actually already gotten to know him pretty well from when I was in the same zone as him in Ravenna, and he seems like a pretty cool guy! So, yeah! Anziano Lehnardt was super sad to leave, but with this whole Tina thing, we kinda knew it was coming. So yeah.

Oh, and we actually did get to have a pretty fun Halloween party, thrown by the BYU students! It had some musical chairs, some other fun games, and then ended with some homemade caramel apples, that were AMAZING!

So, yeah. That's all for this week! The work is goin great!!! I'm loving it here in Siena!!!

Take care, and stay strong! And send some letters this way!! =)

allora, vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!
-Anziano Bushman

Be Prepared! Oct. 26, 2011

Oh man, this week has been awesome!!!! We taught a LOT!!!! and saw a lot of miracles as a result. So, first I'll start off with Enrique. 

Enrique is a less active member from Colombia. He's about 40 yrs old and super cool, but he's always just not seemed too dedicated, and he never took our invites to read the Book of Mormon seriously or anything. He was super rich, before someone committed fraud on him and he lost his job and house and nearly got kicked out of Italy. And he has told us the whole story about 600 times. But, he has been meeting with us (despite his rough living situation) and he has been coming to church every week. BUT we've been really wanting to get him fulfilling his preisthood duties because we only have three active priesthood holders in this branch. So, we had a lesson about priesthood, and about his duties as a Priest. And it all went normal. He seemed to understand, but it still didn't seem too important to him. A couple days later he asked if we could open the church for him because all his luggage and clothes and everything are there for now. So we let him in because we were already heading there for an appointment. And, by the time we were finished with our lesson in the church, we went to go see what Enrique was doing, and he was all decked out in cleaning equipment, gloves and everything, cleaning the bathroom. No one asked him to either. And it just really hit me that he is really trying to fulfill his calling. He even told us that he had found all of his sunday clothes except for his white shirt, so within a week or so he'll be passing the sacrament for the first time!! I don't know, but it made me really happy to see him taking the initiative like that. 

Next is Salim and Cucci. Salim is Tina's boyfriend, and we've been trying to work with him since before Tina was even baptized, but it never really worked out because his other african friends were too close minded. So we finally got Salim and Cucci (also lives with Salim, they are all refugees from Lybia, Cucci speaks Bengledesh and a little bit of english) to meet with us becasue they seemed to have the most interest. So we talked to them about the Book of Mormon, and gave them both one (even a bengledesh one for Cucci). Oh man, and if you could have seen the look on Cucci's face when he saw that book in his own language!!! He was so happy!!!! They're both super excited to read it and talk with us about it on Friday! And so are we!!!

So, another miracle we saw this week was last friday night we were outside contacting people, and we met an Albanian woman at a bus stop. So we started just with small talk, and asked her some questions, and then we asked her if she felt that there was anything missing in her life, and she just burst into tears. After about 5 min of us awkwardly standing there, she told us that someone very close to her had died, and then her bus came. So, in the rush we gave her our card with our information on it and asked her to give us a call so we could talk more, she willingly accepted and got on the bus. So, we kind of just sat there for about 10 min trying to figure out what had just happened, and also waiting for her phone call, but nothing came. So we moved on, figuring nothing was going to happen. Until another 10 min passes by and we got a text message from her!!! Hahaha oh man, that was probably one of the happiest moments of my mission!!! We very rarely find people that are so willing to contact us. So we called her the next morning to give her sometime and  found out that we wouldn't be able to meet for a week or so. So, we went about our way, and today we got another text message from her, setting up an appointment with us!!! And she said that her sister wants to come!!!! This may seem small, but this does NOT happen here in Italy. At least not often. And when it does, it means good things. It means that they are open to the Spirit, and wanting a change in their life. And I am SUPER excited for studies tomorrow morning when I get to figure out how we can help her!!!

ALSO Tina gave 7 more African boys as referrals, who all said that they want to come to church with Tina! So add those 7 to Salim and Cucci, and to Mercy (another friend of Tina's that she referred us to) and to Patricia (Mercy's friend that we met while teaching Mercy) and that's 11 investigators Tina has given us. We are going to make this little branch of Siena an African branch!!!! hahaha but really, we are super excited!!!

I was "rebuked" by the Spirit pretty badly today. We were on our way to Pisa this morning, and despite being in recreational clothing, we managed to get into a pretty good religious discussion with a man on the train sitting next to us. Got to what makes our church different, and I talked to him about prophets and then the Book of Mormon. I then found out that none of us (there were 4 missionaries on the train) had a copy. So, when he asked where he could get a copy I had to refer him to our information, and gave him the number of the missionaries in his area. Then as if that wasn't enough he added jokingly that it's a shame that we don't have one right now, because he would have loved to read it on the train. I am never going ANYWHERE again without a copy of the Book of Mormon. EVER. I'm sure he will still call those missionaries and get a copy, because he sounded really excited about it, but it would have been so much better (for him, and even just for us to experience) if we had  had a copy with us. Never again.

So, my invite for you all is to never leave home without a copy of the Book of Mormon. It doesn't take up much room, and if it does, all the better, because it will remind you that it's still there. If you carry a Book of Mormon with you, the Lord WILL use you as his instrument to bring the gospel to another. Can't say it will happen right away, but if you don't have one on you, you could regret it. Mannnn the Book of Mormon is so awesome anyways, just bring it everywhere so you can read it in your spare time! Read it while you're waiting in line at the bank, while you're waiting for classes to start, there is so much free time during the day, and the Book of Mormon is a GREAT way to fill that time. 

I love you all, and I pray for you all each night! take care, vi voglio un saccone di bene!!!

-Anziano Bushman

The castle at monteriggioni. these things are everywhere in Tuscany!!!

on the way to said castle

Enrique, our super awesome less active that was taking us to a store and to see this castle

So monday night we were in Prato helping out the other missionaries there, but then once we got there we found out that we wouldn't be doing an exchange until the next morning because they had a dinner appointment. SO me and anz lehnardt were in a city that we knew very little of, and just left to do our own thing. Then, after meeting some cool people, 9 pm came and it was time to come back home. So, we got to their apartment and they weren't there, so we couldn't get in. Called, no answer. So, we went to a nearby store, and grabbed some DELICIOOUS yogurt and some water, cause we were starving. Then these pictures took place when we realized we didn't have a spoon to eat the yogurt with, and we're just using the tinfoil lids. We felt very much like hobos lol. Anz Lehnardt above and me below.

Holding up the tower:)

In the lovely city of Pisa, on our way to see the leaning tower.

Piazza dei Miracoli - the Leaning tower of Pisa is the last building you see here.

Me and Anziano Scheurn. Man I love that guy!!!

The Book of Mormon - keystone of our religion! Oct 19, 2011

oh man, things are starting to pick up.... 

So, first I'll talk about this FHE that we just had on monday. It was awesome!!! Anz Lehnardt and I have been wanting to get the BYU students here to start talking to the families that they're staying with about the gospel, and turns out they already are! They're super awesome! We did a little activity where we kind of role played how some different opportunities may come about to talk about the gospel, and gave them each a chance to try. Hmm... I don't know if that made sense... I'm losing my english here... ANYWAYS it went really well! They were all way excitied and enthusiastic about sharing the gospel! It was awesome!

Then yesterday we had a super awesome day!!!! Filled with amazingness and miracles!!! For lack of time I'll just talk about one though. So, we met this guy named Jacopo (yah-koh-poh). he says it's a native tuscan name. Boh.  So we talked with this guy, and he was super legit! He told us that the most important thing to him is respect, and then went on to list all the things that are wrong with this world, and basically told us that he's living all the standards of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was legit. His only problem is, he doesn't have the gospel. And he doesn't want to be influenced by other people, or books. (we tried to give him the Book of Mormon). BUT in studies this morning we came up with a really good game plan for him, and we're just super excited! He's a way bravo guy.  Haha sorry this isn't very detailed. My fingers are cold lol. It's already below 50 here!!! It's ridiculous. Haha I spent a good half hour trying to read our users manual for the heater. Its on now though!

We've also seen a lot of miracles with the Book of Mormon lately. People know it's true. Even if they don't believe in this church, or anything else, they can't deny the truth of the Book of Mormon. It does nothing but invite others to come unto Christ. It's awesome!!!! hahaha we talked in district meeting one day about the book of mormon being our sword, and the other's out there (Jehovah's Witnesses) are still carrying around clubs. And it's true!  The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion! If it's true, then Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Either Joseph Smith was a true prophet, or he was a crazy, egotistical man that wanted to write a book that would invite people to become like Christ. And that doesn't even make sense.

OK now I'm just rambling, but I know that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets of God. It is the Word of God. And we need to listen to (read) it.

I love you all! Take care!!!

-anziano bushman

Pictures will have to do! Oct 12, 2011

***Computer problems got in the way this week, so pictures will have to do!

So, this is a human being. He stands there for hours on end, just perfectly still. THEN, when someone puts money in his little bucket on the ground there, he starts going back and forth all slowly, rolling the camera wheel, kinda just like a robot.... it's creepy, and very interesting all at the same time!

AHHHHHHHHHHH they were playing chess! In the middle of the city! With a HUGE chess board!!! BAHHHHHHH it was very very tempting to play......

This is on the Firenze Duomo, and that middle guy there reminded me of the video game Assassin's creed that Zac plays all the time, so i thought I'd send this picture for him =)

The morning of General Conference, I made homemade cinnamon rolls! (and orange rolls!!) We found a Betty Crocker cookbook in our apartment... go Betty!!!

Anziano Bushman has taken to cutting his own hair!!! He says it looks fine, but you can't really tell from this angle... So we are asking for better pictures!

Stretching Our Limits of Sacrifice! Oct 5, 2011

Ciao tutti!!

First I want to start off by talking about how awesome conference was!!! One of the talks that really hit me was Elder Eyring's talk in Priesthood session. He talked about sacrifice, and shared MANY instances in his life where he was taught how to sacrfice his time and energy. He talked about several instances where he would be just getting to bed late after a long day of exhausting work, and then he would get a call requesting his help. So, after continually responding in the affirmative, it got easier and easier. He emphasized the importance of <<stretching our limits of sacrifice>> so that when the time comes when a lot is required on our part, we will be ready to do it, even if it's more than we ever thought we could do. Our district leader on Monday's district meeting then decided to talk about this as well, and we did a cool activity that helped burn this whole concept into my mind a lot. He first asked my companion, and then someone else to volunteer with him, so after no one else volunteered, I said I would. So, what he had us do was push ups. So we took off our jackets, and just did push ups until we couldn't do anymore (we got somewhere over 60-70 each). Then he asked us how we felt, and 3 seconds later said that he thinks we can do 10 more. So we did. About died. And then the same thing, after a brief pause we did 10 more, and then down to 5 more, until we had done over 100 pushups. Then we went and sat down. He then compared it to this talk, he talked about how there's always that little bit more that we can do, and as we make that a habit, it gets easier. Just like working out, you work hard until it's easy, then you make it harder. And that's how we get stronger. I know that this principle is true, and I know that God will help us as we sacrifice more and more of our time and energy for him, and I'm way excited to put this promise into action!

I don't think I said anything last week, but we got a call from our new convert the sunday before last, and long story short, she's in love with my companion. hahahahah it was probably one of the more awkward things in the world (and she's 36 yrs old), so we called President to see what we should do. To our relief he said that he doesn't feel that Anz Lehnardt needs to be transferred. But instead, he just advised us to make use of missionary exchanges, and try and do one each week, and teach this lady without Anz Lehnardt being here. So, we've been doing that, and just this week Anz Merrill came in to Siena with me. Anz Sam Merrill is from Chandler, AZ and turns out he went to CGCC the year after I did, and was even in choir! Consequently, he got to meet Emily, and a lot of my other friends from that choir, and even Jordan Clark, and a few other kids from GHS that came to CGCC! Hhahah so that was crazy. Oh, and even further, I went in to visit the choir like 3 or 4 times, while he was there! And I went to each of their concerts! He said he thought he recognized me, and he realized that it was from those. Hahahah it's a small world!

Our less actives are making a lot of progress! Enrique found a place to stay finally! (he's been homeless for over 100 days now) and Paolo and Saverio are both coming in to do genealogy during the week, and just seem a lot happier!

We've already got our entire week booked with appointments, and finding work, and things are just going great! It's starting to get a little cold now, so that's fun.

Oh! And, if I could I would send some pictures (hopefully next week...) but I made cinnamon rolls and orange rolls on sunday before conference, and they were freaking delicious!!!! I don't know how it turned out so well, but they did! And they were pretty cheap too! Sweet! So yeah, that's my cooking update =)

Well, vi voglio bene tutti!

-Anziano Bushman

We love Conference! Sept 28, 2011

We are SUPER EXCITED for conference this weekend! And way ready to hear our prophets, seers, and revelators reveal to us the will of God!

Transfers were this last week, and Anz Lehnardt and I are very glad to both get to stay here in Siena for another transfer!

Not much going on though... We talk to people, they accept us, and then they don't answer our calls. It's frustrating, but we know that it will all work out in the end. We did get a hold of Alessandro though! He answered our call finally and turns out that he's just been super busy with work! We were getting kind of worried that maybe he had found some anti-mormon stuff, but he said that in october his schedule should be freed up some more! So we're super excited about that.

Other than that, we're doing a lot of work with the branch, and the less actives. We're hoping that we can get more people coming to church, that way everyone will get more out of it.

Well, I love you all! Take care!! Watch conference! It's going to be awesome!!! Oh, and you should also read Pres Uchtdorf's talk in the ensign this month about conference, it's a good pump up!

vi voglio un sacco di bene!

Anziano Bushman

I Am Officially Italian! Sep 21, 2011

Wow, today makes 40 weeks since I left home. That's a long time.

So, me and Anz. Lehnardt are basically Italians. A BYU student group is here in Siena for 10 weeks, so we just met them all in church on sunday. There are about 20 of them, and only 10 members of our branch. So they make a huge difference lol. But when we first met them, we started speaking Italian to them, and they had no idea what we were saying. They generally do this study abroad to further their Italian, but I dont think this was the case....  We convinced them that we were Italian (I was from milano), and we just watched them as they struggled trying to communicate with us, and even at one point of specific defeat, one of them turned to the other and said that she doesn't think we understand english lol. SO this went on for about 20 min. Then our branch president started the normal church meetings, and invited me to come translate for them, becasue they don't speak Italian. Busted! So, me and anz lehnardt went up there and confessed that we're actually from utah and arizona, and we all got a good laugh about it. But yeah, we're Italian.

WELL. Things are going kinda slowly here in Siena. We're teaching a lot, and we keep finding awesome new people, but then for one reason or another they stop answering our calls after a while, or don't want to meet again. Like Alessandro from last week. We haven't heard from him since the day after we met him. It kinda stinks. BUT! either the Lord is testing us, or there's something more that we need to be doing, because he keeps sending us these people. For example, we met Becky just two days ago. She's from Yuma, AZ, and is here for 3 months for school. She really felt that it was not coincidence that we met, and feels like God is trying to tell her something, becasue she hasn't been going to church or anything for a long time now, and even before she came to Italy there were a couple other experiences that were pushing her towards God as well. SO we talked, and gave her a Book of Mormon, and the only bad thing is, she doesn't have a phone. We got her email address, but that's very slow communication (as far as my patience goes). So, now we're just praying to get a response from her one of these days so we can meet again!

Besides that, we did meet a man who works as a doctor in Siena, who just lost a brother in law, and we have had two lessons with him, and he's progressing! So that's exciting. That hasn't happened in a while.

But, yeah. Man, this gospel is awesome. I really like that quote you sent me, mom, from Elder Holland.

"In the gospel of Jesus Christ you have help from both sides of the veil, and you must never forget that. When disappointment and discouragement strike - - and they will - - you remember and never forget that if our eyes could be opened we would see horses and chariots of fire as far as the eye can see riding at reckless speed to come to our protection. They will always be there, these armies of heaven, in defense of Abraham's "seed". And sometimes, I feel like God even gives us, as members of the church, the opportunity sometimes to be in one of those chariots and come out of nowhere to the aid of someone who is going through a rough time. I have had that opportunity many times here, especially in the last few weeks, and it is truly awesome being an instrument in God's hands, and knowing that you're in the right place, at the right time. I don't know how He does it, but it's awesome.

I love you all, and would encourage you to keep studying the scriptures, and keep praying and going to church. I know that those three things are the first steps to solving any problem you will ever encounter.

vi voglio bene tutti!

-Anziano Bushman

Promised Miracles!!! Sept 14, 2011

Oh man, life has just been FULL of miracles!!!!! So, to give a little background information, Elder L. Tom Perry issued a challenge to the missionaries, that if we were to teach 20 lessons each week, our baptisms will double. So, it's kinda been a big deal around here to get to those 20 lessons each week, but not only that, to also make sure they are quality lessons, and powerful as well. Well, the first time I got to 20 lessons in one week was just last week (29-8-11 to 4-9-11) and then we got it again this week! And let me tell you, we have been seeing miracles!!! First and foremost, me and my comp are happier than we've ever been on our missions! Second, we teach a LOT more powerfully together!!! And then another thing, as of late, people have been calling us, and coming up to us to ask about the gospel! That never happens!

But mainly, I want to tell you about this man that we found as we were searching to talk to everyone and teach everyone. His name is Alessandro. We met him last thursday sitting on a bench at about 8pm. He'll tell you now about how much of a miracle it was that we met, and how he was so tired and about to go to bed, but decided to go out and get some fresh air for a second when we came up and started talking to him. But anyways, when we first met him, it was kind of rough. He is a very intelligent man, and didn't think we had anything new for him. He's very well versed with the bible, as well as with the Koran and other religious writings. In fact, he even has been working for the catholic church for several decades now organizing missionaries to go to different parts of the world, so religion pretty much consumes his life. And he saw no reason to talk to us. But, we insisted that we had something new for him, so he let us sit down next to him and talk. When we started telling him about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, it made a lot of sense to him. He told us how there are alot of things in the Catholic church that he doesn't believe. So, after a great lesson with Alessandro, we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and he was very excited to read it, and before we could say anything he promised us that he would read it, and then asked if we could come back and talk with him about what he's read and whatnot! So, he gave us his number and asked for ours, and we parted!

Next day. We had another appointment with him. So, when we met, we first asked him about the Bok of Mormon, and what he thought about the book of Mormon. We also asked him if he read the chapter we left him to read. When we asked him that, he just laughed at us, and then just like any other fat+rich+intelligent man in the movies, laughed at our naivety as he told us that he didn't just read one chapter, but he read 20 chapters! And then he started telling us about all the stuff he liked about those chapters, about how applicable it all is, and how beautifully written it is! Then he talked for another 20 min about life in general, and started applying all the doctrines and principle in those first 20 chapters to his life, and, yeah! When he told us about how it happened that he read so much in only a day, he told us that his plans were originally to just read the chapter that we gave him and then go to bed. But, as he went to go to bed, he couldn't fall asleep! He said he just felt a hunger to read more! So, he read a couple more chapters, then managed to put the book down and tried to go to sleep, but couldn't! And this happened several times until he had read all the way through 1 Nephi 22. He's a monster! We really wanted to invite him to baptism, and this amazing experience he had with the Book of Mormon gave us even more encouragement, but still I was fairly nervous because he had told us before that he was already baptized, and not as a baby, but when he was grown and was able to make the decision for himself. So, I went about  it rather timidly, but then when I got to the part where I asked him if he would be baptized in this church, he responded very promptly with a yes! Whoot!!!

So, yeah! Miracle!

Things are going great here! The baptism (with Tine) was awesome! Me and my companion were the witnesses, and it was great! Me and my companion are getting along really well! It's just awesome here! Thank you so much everyone for your prayers and all you support!

Vi voglio bene tutti!

-Anziano Bushman

Siena is BEAUTIFUL with room to grow!!! Sept 7, 2011

Well, things have been pretty awesome here in Siena!!! We've just been talking to everyone, and teaching everyone! I'm not sure what it is about the work here, if it's the companionship I'm in, or if it's just this city, but it's really not that hard to find someone that's willing to talk to us out here! We have taught a lot of people out here in the parks, and then when we go to look for people in the homes, we almost always find someone that lets us in, and the last couple times we haven't had to do much looking before we found them! It's way awesome!

So, yeah. We still don't have too many investigators, so now we need to get better at moving from teaching to setting up appointments. But, the one investigator we have right now is getting baptized on Sunday! Her name is Tine, and she is super brava! She's completely changing her life for the gospel, and it's awesome! AND she's wanting us to teach her friends!

The branch is super tiny! Maybe 9 active members that show up each sunday, and the only priesthood holders are the branch presidency, but that just means we have a lot of good work to do. One of the big problems with the branch here, is they all live VERY far away. Most of them have to drive 100-200km to get to church every sunday, it's crazy! Our apartment is awesome! It's smaller, but way nice! There's all kinds of nice cooking equipment, and we even have a little backyard!!! We mainly walk everywhere, unless we're going out of Siena to another city to visit a member or less active or something. There are way too many hills and what not to have bikes.

I'm sorry the emails have been kind of short lately... My mind just keeps going blank! Being Senior comp is fun. It's very different in several ways... Because in the past I've had comps that have just taken the lead, and then I've had comps that have tried to take the lead, but shouldn't have (because they didn't know what they were doing), and I've had comps that have just worked as a team, but this, this is different. With both of us being fairly young in the mission I can't very well take the lead, but at the same time, in this situation someone has to. A lot needs to change in the work here, and I'm not blaming it on my companion or anything, but Siena has seen at least 6 different missionaries (me being the seventh) since I got here in Italy, and some of them did not do too much.... But me and my comp are determined to get Siena on track again! AND Siena is gorgeous! Definitely the most beautiful city in the mission! I'll keep sending pictures.

Thank you so much for writing me, I really love hearing from you all each week! I pray for you all each night! Take care and remember to always scegliere il giusto!

Anziano Bushman

(Pictured above and below) Me and Anz Scheurn finally chilling on P-day! (In firenze by the way) Oh, AND there's a Hard Rock Cafe there! So we all went and ate!  Then we went and checked out some of the cool sites in Firenze, it was awesome!

Me and Anz Scheurn got delicious Ice cream - Ben & Jerry's - because my birthday was just a while ago, and his is coming up!

This statue is everywhere in Siena! I guess it's there emblem or something, but it's representative of the Romulus and Remulus story, so I thought it was pretty cool.