Salmon, Easy Candy & Practice makes perfect! - Jan 25, 2011

Martedi- today was great. We had lunch at the temple, and it truly was heavenly food in the most heavenly place on earth. I had Utah-grilled salmon, and it was awesome.

Mercoledi- Italian is coming along. I realized today that every single thing Anziano Webb [and I] do is recorded in the brains of every elder that knows we are zone leaders (which is a lot more than I would have expected) and that includes all the new portuguese elders and sisters we just got, so it's kinda a lot of pressure trying to set a perfect example for them so they don't have the excuse to say "well, my zone leader was doing it, so it must be ok" so ya, kinda hit me like a tidal wave.

Giovedi- I got the Easy Candy and peppermint oil from aunt kristen today and was in HEAVEN!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! i did share some of it, but i ate probably more than half of it....lol and the peppermint oil is perfect! it works like a charm! I put some into a little bottle that you can buy here to put consecrated oil in, and everytime i get tired, i just puff a little bit of peppermint oil in the air, and it wakes me up. It also very much looks like I'm using drugs..... but everyone knows I'm not. But it's still not something Im going to do from the stand during sacrament meeting lol (the zone leaders have to sit up by the Branch presidency). We worked on I Love the Lord a little bit today.... it definitely will take some work...lol

Venerdi- I had my weekly progress review with sorella Swensen, and she helped me realize why I 've been placed with Anziano Webb, and she helped me figure out what I need to do to help him with whatever he's going through, so that was yet another daunting task that was given to me. Also, later today we met our first new Progressing Investigator (F.llo Calder acting as a former investigator he had-Giorgio, and then trying to make the experience as real as possible for us as we teach him) He made us search the MTC campus for him, and then we had to approach him, get to know him and set up an appointment to meet with him again. Oh, and this is all in italian.

Sabato- Today was awesome! We met and set up appointments with two new Investigators- S.lla Swensen as Sonia and F.llo Merrel as Jad. And S.lla Swensen set up a pretty awesome day for us where we started by having a mock-dinner with an italian member, and I got to be the Italian member. So, Anziani Jeter and Ellsworth came over to my "house" and they had to try and teach me a lesson and not stay too horribly long, while I just kept feeding them more and more food, and when they didnt want any more I would be devastated and say things like "non vi piace il mio cibo??? " and so they had 5-6 courses of food. it was awesome. Two of my friends also came over during this simulation (Anz Scheurn and Smith) and they (anz jeter and ellsorth) were supposed to try and teach them a lesson as well, while trying to maintain some kind of order during the reunion lol, so it was fun. They didn't teach them, they left too soon, but it was fun. After that simulation we had a mock meeting with a ward mission leader and then we met sonia and practiced "street contacting" with eachother. We also worked on I Love the Lord today, and although the notes are coming along, there are some serious tonal issues in the Bass section (i'm not singing bass this time =/) and i'm not entirely sure how to go about fixing that...

Domenica- Well, I had an interview with Bro. Lamoreaux (one of the counselors of our branch presidency) and he was very impressed with our district's progress in the italian language (he served in italy, and was stationed for the army in france and germany, and somewhere else where he also learned portuguese, so he knows a lot of languages) and he was also very impressed with my non-"cookie-cuttter" approach when he asked me to teach him a lesson in italian, so that was nice to hear. He also told me further how much the weight of the italians in the MTC was on my shoulders right now because Anz webb has been in a weird mood.... so ya. I realized today how much I loved working with the portuguese districts and giving them guidance and advice, and then I realized that we will be getting 25 new italians in less than 2 weeks, and i am being stoked! We worked on I love the Lord again, and the notes are getting better, but still tonal issues. I now have memorized all 4 (slash 6) parts of the songs, so that's pretty awesome.

Lunedi- We taught Giorgio and Jad today. Jad took the message alright, he's going to start reading the Book of Mormon, and we're meeting with him again on Wednesday. Giorgio, however, as soon as he read a verse in the Book of Mormon he fell in love, and he wants to get baptized. And I know this is just a simulation, but it's still awesome. So we need to teach him on wednesday about the requirements to be baptized. We gave him a couple of chapters to read in the Book of Mormon about baptism, but his readiness to receive the gospel kind of caught us off guard, but in a good way lol. Our italian is coming along great, i can say pretty much whatever i want to in italian, and I know 6 of the 8 conjugations, and I'm going to learn the other 2 this week, so ya, it's awesome.

Allora, vi amo tutti, e vi perdo. Avete divertente!

Ciao!

Anziano Bushman

Here are the basics, if you want to learn:)

Leaving your nets & Humility - Jan 18, 2011

Ciao!

Primo, mi scusate per parlevo in italiano, mi ho dimenticato che voi non parlate italiano... Comunque, la parola "scherzo" significa "joke" o "i joke" e la parola "cioe" significa "like" come una cheerleader. O! E non posso usare lds.org piu per mandare e-mails, quindi devo mandare una lettera mediante il "Post Office".

Allora,

Mercoledi- Elder Holland came on tuesday and i didnt write about it so i'm going to tell you about it right now. It was amazing!!!! He is such a powerful speaker, and I think every missionary needs to hear the talk he gave! He especially stressed the importance of being dedicated to the work, and said many things like "You don't have the right to be anything less than what your nieces and nephews [or cousins] think you are" "You don't have the right to compromise what a mission is" and then he talked a lot about the 12 apostles in Jerusalem after Christ was crucified and Peter kinda lost hope and they returned back to fishing. 3 days later, of course, Christ came back and essentially said (idk if this is scripture or not BUT it's true) "When i asked you to leave your nets, it was forever" and that raelly struck me, because I, like the twelve, have been called to a magnificent work, and it won't end after 2 years.... so ya.

Giovedi- I have become quite the expert at staying awake during study time now. Whenever i get tired i muster up the strength/will power (mostly will power) to stand up and walk around while I read, and it helps TREMENDOUSLY, so ya, that's been fun. Anziano Parrish and I decided to have an "English Fast" where we only speak italian all day on friday. OH, and everyone loves all the sweaters I have, and I have been complimented many a time because of them, so thank you mom!

Venerdi- We were kind of thrown into teaching the lesson on the Restoration of the gospel all in italian today, so that was kind of crazy, BUT I found out that I know a lot more italian than I have given myself credit for, so that was cool. Another thing that has sort of become a trend (whether divinely-directed or not) I have been sufficiently humbled in basketball (and no, i will not go into details.) each time i feel even a little bit proud of my italian speaking skills. Coincidence? probably not. Also today, Anziano Webb and I had to interview the 2 district leaders in our zone, and it was wayy fun just to talk to them for a while and hear how everyone was doing. It's way nice being in this position becuase I love helping people, and that's now my calling.

Sabato- The only thing I have to say for today is Fratello Calder is hilarious. He's so sarcastic, and he's sarcastic while speaking italian, so it makes it wayy easy to stay upbeat in class, and on good terms with everyone.

Domenica- was crazy. I had about a billione leadership meetings, one of which was at the residence hall where I think there were 12 zone leaders met on our floor, and it turns out Branch 33 is responsible for our residence hall building, and the Italian zone is in charge of Branch 33, and Anziano Webb and I are in charge of the Italian zone. SO, we have 4 floors in our building x about 20 rooms x about 4 elders per room = 320 elders we get to babysit. che forte, no? But in all actuality, all the meetings were very fun, and I learned alot about being a leader. And I also learned a lot of things that Anziano Webb and I specifically are supposed to be doing, so that was exhilirating.

Okay, so our branch got 2 new portuguese districts (about 25 elders) and Anziano Webb and I were asked to teach one of the districts about the importance of being guided by the spirit, and then direct their District Meeting to show an example to their district leader what all is to be done, It was so fun answering all their questions, I really enjoyed it, and I really felt like I helped them to get started on the right foot. So, ya. Also, they committed me to breaking the MTC GYM record for pull-ups which is now at 29, so I will report back to you about that later....

Lunedi- Today was the first official day we were supposed to teach in italian at the TRC, and it went great! WE taught a native and her husband who both served in italy, and I understood alot of what they said, however there were many instances that I had to ask them to repeat (di nouvo) and so that was humbling as well lol. Oh! and Anziano Webb had some prety hilarious word mix- ups... One of which was when we had finished talking about baptism he wanted to ask if they had any questions, so instead of "domande" meaning "questions" he said "domani" which means "tomorrow" and so the couple looked at eachother a little shocked and said they werent quite ready yet lol so that was funny

oh! and here's an awesome italian phrase you can use: ti spacco la faccia meaning I will break your face. apparently its used fairly frequently in italy

that's all for this week, thank you so much for the letters! keep em coming!!!

-Ciao

Anziano Bushman

Friends, old/new & new calling - Jan 11, 2011

Ciao!!

Mercoledi- Started off good, i decided i approve of Jones cream soda, found out in gym that i've lost 5 lbs (and have not gained it back since). Also, Anziano Webb and I had a pretty bad fight.... It was really stupid. I was being selfish with my time and would read for like 2-3 minutes more than allotted (even though I knew how important strict obedience is) and he couldn't take it anymore, so he kinda yelled at me in front of the other 2 companionships in our district to come help him plan, and I just straight up refused him. Juvenile, i know. I felt way horrible immediately after; the Spirit left, and I couldn't do anything we are so accustomed to doing here. After planning was over Anziano Webb and I were the last ones out to head to the the residence halls, and so we decided to have a talk about what happened. It was probably the first time we ever even slightly opened up to each other, so that was a little better. It still was a horrible example for the other 4 anziani... So that was Wednesday.

Giovedi- The cafeteria had easy candy!!! and it wasn't horrible!! cioe, I was actually impressed!! That was probably the best thing that ever came out of those kitchens.... Later that night right after we got into our room, Sam Garcia walks by. What the heck??!?? So that was awesome, we caught up for a little bit, found out he just got here that week, and he's going to Rochester (sp?) New York. AND he's in my building. So after that I headed over to Anziano Scheurn's room to tell him what happened, and while i'm talkin to him, I see Parker Schwarz in the hallway. lol so we talked for a couple of minutes, found out he's also in my same building, and he's going to San Antonio Spanish-speaking, so he'll be there longer than me (i believe) and he just got here a week before that. Even crazier, Parker went to the same Junior High as Anziano Scheurn, so they knew each other. crazy.

Venerdi- We had some awesome teaching experiences teaching each other (we would act as investigators and the other anziani would teach us about the word of wisdom and plan of salvation) so that was really helpful. It's nice being an investigator, cause we get to see how the other anziani teach, and it gives us knew perspectives. At lunch I got the package of letters from all the little kids, and it was awesome hahaha, my district liked them too. I'll write an actual letter to them that you can share with them. I also got the plan of salvation/piano di salvezza puzzle that you sent, and it is perfect! We kept telling ourselves that we needed to draw out the plan of salvation as a visual aid, but i'm not very artistic so i didn't really want to, and then i got the package, and it is amazing!!! thank you!! Friday night Anziano Cluff and Miller and I started to write new words to Be a Man (from Mulan) just in case there is any talent show coming up. It's pretty intense; I'll send it next week if it's finished. Just a sneak peek it's called "Serve the Lord"

Sabato- We learned IOP's and DOP's today (if you haven't studied a foreign language, it's like saying to me/you/it/us/you all/them and, ya. kinda.) and it is beautiful. Cioe, I can't show you until you can hear it, but it sounds amazing. It really is hard remaining humble when we've been called to serve the most awesome people in the world, and we're speaking the same language they speak in the Celestial Kingdom, so that's been a challenge...

So, saturday night I feel was the beginning of quite the chain of events... When it came time for companionship study, my companion and I decided we wanted to clear some things up first.... So we talked, and said everything that was on our minds. Neither was hurt, but we both learned a lot, and it was so much easier to get along once neither of us were holding anything against the other, or suppressing any feelings. So although it took the entire hour, it was amazing progress in our companionship, and things have been great ever since.

Domenica- This was our last sunday with the older italian districts, so we all [k]new that some changes were going to be made (i.e. new zone/district leaders), and although I love bossing people around (scherzo) and being a leader, I decided a couple days prior that I would rather not have the leadership position this time, and instead would rather just focus on being the best missionary I could be. Well, lo and behold, President Shippen (our branch president) pulled me out of the classroom an hour before sacrament meeting was to start, and gave me an interview. He asked a lot of really detailed questions, about me, my companionship, and my district, and I had to answer him in just as much detail, so that was kind of intimidating. And after 10-15min he got up and went to get Anziano Webb. Now I could tell something was up. And after maybe 2min he asked us if we would accept the call to be the new Zone Leaders. We said yes, mainly because we were too afraid to say no, and it began.

Once we were sustained and the rest of the anziani found out, they kept laughin and joking cause several of them have been calling us the "new zone leaders" for the past week, and they haven't let us live it down yet. The rest of the day was pretty full with a lot of goodbyes, and last-times with the older anziani, so we took a bunch of pictures during our temple walk. It was fun.

Later we had a zone leader orientation, where we thought we were going to be told exactly what all our responsibilities were going to be, and rather than being specific, they just impressed on our minds how easy it is for an elder to get sent home, and how important it is to obey, so that didn't make anything easier. We now had 14 elders to babysit and make sure they didnt get sent home, Awesome. Later that night Anziano Luke and Anziano Miller (the former zone leaders) told us a couple of the things we were supposed to do, but we still have a lot of questions... so this should be fun.

Lunedi- In class we heard a phenomenal talk by Elder Jeffrey R Holland when he came to the MTC last May, and it was intense. He was very emotional about what we have been called to do, and made a very clear impression that we "do not have the right to compromise what a mission is" and that we have no right to be anything other than what our little nieces/nephews/cousins think we are.

Also, as a district we decided on sunday that we were going to sing a song for the older anziani before they left just to show that we care about them. So we practiced for about an hour on sunday inno #44 "Mandate Voce di Gioa l'Eterna" (in the hymn book i sent you) which is a song thats exclusive to the italian hymn book, and so it's very popular among us anziani, and its the song they sang for us when we first arrived. We did a 3-part harmony (melody, bass, and tenor lines) and I was amazed at how musically talented my district is! Anyways, we made the older anziani cry. It was that beautiful -scherzo. But ya, i'm going to record it and send it with the next memory card i send.

Also, I got the big package you sent on Monday, and it was pretty hilarious how ironic it was carrying around a huge nerf-gun box the day after I was called to be the zone-leader and now have to enforce not having toys or anything lol. But the decorations/sweaters/everything is AMAZING thank you so much! Everyone was so jealous! but also glad that I was in their district cause we're putting some of the decorations up in our classroom. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Martedi- Today was pretty good, we quickly got behind our planned schedule by more than an hour (due to no fault of my own), but then we got to the temple, so that was a good stress reliever.

My district... Anziani Jeter, Terry, Parrish, Me, Webb and Ellsworth.

Me & Anz Blaga

Anz Scheurn & Me

Focus/Charity/Mario - Jan 4, 2011

Martedi (scorsa)- Last p-day was great. My companion and I were finally starting to click, and so things were going much smoother. So since things were going so great, it was only natural for me to read 3Nefi capitulo13 versetta25 "...Remember... ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therfore I say unto you, take no thought for your life..." And it hit me like a cannonball. I immediately knew that I had to be completely focused on the Lord's work, and even monitor my thoughts, and not think about things back home, or about anything other than this work that I have been called to do. Although it's going to be really tough, I know that I will be blessed for doing so. It was also really cool to see how easily Heavenly Father can communicate with us through the scriptures, and really has inspired me to keep reading. At the end of the day i remember looking back and realizing that that was p-day, and thinking to myself that there's no way that was p-day, because I had so many great spiritual experiences, and learned so much.

Mercoledi- The "older" anziani got their flight plans today, and were wayy excited. Even the one that we knew to be quiet and reserved were jumping for joy, and telling random strangers about their exciting news lol. It was hilarious! Since our companionship was going a lot smoother, we were able to use our MDT (missionary directed time) a ton more effectively, and we started gathering scriptures for all the principles found within the Plan of Salvation. I also started reading Jesus the Christ, and got WAY into it, and have been reading it every day since (i'm on page 132 now). My goal is to finish it while i'm at the MTC.

Giovedi- According to my notes i took down the food was good on thursday.... But i can't imagine that was possible... I was probably just delirious from the cold or something. Oh! and the cold! I don't know what the temperature is, but it snowed for several days this week, and starting around thursday the snow would turn into ice, so all the sidewalks got really slippery. We even took a moment of MDT time to watch out of our classroom window to see how many elders would slip on the ice. 3 in two minutes. It was great haha. Comunque, we eventually learned that it was easier to intentionally slide on the ice, than it was to try and keep footing on it. So we basically skated from class to class.

Venerdi- Well, friday we had some pretty rough patches as a companionship... I'm not going to go into detail, but it was definitely wayy childish, and i've sworn to myself that it's never gonna happen again. I also felt what i feel was the first true taste of charity that I have ever had, and I hope to have even more charity (pure love of Christ) in the future. We had a great substitute, and he even had us practice talking to the bricks on the walls outside the classroom, and that surprisingly was a huge help. It was also kind of really funny... My brick's name was Mario. Becuase he was over by the drinking fountain, and thus there were water pipes behind him.... Get it? Cause he's a plumber? I thought it was funny...

Sabato- Well, the whole day was pretty normal. I started running during gym time with Anziano Wilke (from england) so that was fun.

Domenica- We had a mission conference where the mission presidency talked to us for the last time before the new presidency takes over, so that was a cool experience. One of the talks was on holding to the Iron Rod, and it really struck me how important it is to not ever let go, no matter what you're letting go for. At the end of the day we did some tie trades, and I traded my red tie.... Although I am kinda sad, I got a pretty awesome tie for it, so it wasn't too bad. And I didnt realize this till after the trades, but is that breaking the sabbath?? Oh well, we won't do it again.

Anz Terry and Me with our first tie trade