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!!!