Mi trasferisco a Milano domani! Jan 25, 2012

Well, this week we got to go back to Follonica one last time to see the Gurrieri family (Esperide, Giovanni, and Giuseppina) and it went really really well! The first time I went there I had all kinds of judgements, thinking that missionaries in the past had gone there just to waste time and have fun and talk and eat good food, not knowing that previous missionaries had tried literally everything to reactivate Giovanni and bring the other two to the gospel. SO, I didn't think that there was much hope, and thus I didn't give it as much as I could've. BUT, I learned otherwise. These last two lessons we've had with them have just been outstanding! And Esperide is definitely the glue that's going to keep them all together, and bring them all back to church!

So that was way awesome. Well, not much else of note has happened this week. I'm getting transferred to North Milano, so that's exciting! But yeah, sorry for the shortness, but I've gotta finish up this email and finish packing. 

I love you all!

take care!

Anziano Bushman

Me and Marco Ligas, the guy we found in Muggiò shortly before getting transferred, the other week we got to go pass by and see them when we went to Milano for a conference

Anz Bushman at an ancient Roman theatre in Volterra

Anz Bushman & Anz Scheurn

Perseverance pays off! Jan 20, 2012

Well, this week has been crazy! (as they normally are) I got to travel up to Verona to see Elder Causse from the Area Presidency, and he helped us a lot with understanding how to be better and more efficient missionaries, it was way cool!

I do have cool story that I want to share: Saturday night our District leader called us and gave us a challenge, and that was that he wanted all the companionships in our district (3 companionships) to have 3 quality placements of the Book of Mormon on Sunday. Quality meaning with the assurance that they will read and treasure the book. So, we went at it. After lunch we started walking around looking for people, but we just couldn't seem to find anyone that would talk to us, and those that would were not interested in the Book of Mormon. We met a couple of people that almost seemed promising, but we couldn't quite get them to commit to reading the book. So now it's 7:30pm. We decided that we needed to change strategies a bit, and we headed into the city center. 

First person we run into is Enrique! Enrique is a member of the church and also a great friend of ours. He was walking with a friend, so we decided to try and see if his friend was interested. It was awesome! Enrique testified of the Book of Mormon, and in a couple of minutes she was asking us for a copy of the Book of Mormon!! So we gave her one. Sweet!! 

Next. We were walking still towards the city's center, and heard a bunch of students speaking english. So we stopped and asked them where they were from, and turns out they're from the states on a study abroad thing. So we walked and talked for while, they were all very intrigued with us and how we're out for 2 yrs and what not. But one of the girls in particular already knew a ton about the church! She had heard a couple of things before and was intrigued so she did a lot of research and knew all kinds of things about the church's history! At the very end, we asked her if she had ever actually read the Book of Mormon, and she said "No, I haven't! But I've been meaning to!!" So, that was my cue to say "Well, just so happens that I have a copy of the Book of Mormon in English right here in my backpack!" lol So we gave her the copy and she was super excited about it! And promised us that she would read it! We gave her some contact information and we went our way again. Sweet!!

Now it was about 8:30 pm and we had to start heading back home. So we did, but on the way we kept our eyes open for anyone who might want to come closer to Christ through reading the Book of Mormon. And we found two soldiers heading out to get some pizza, talked to them for 10 min and they asked us for a copy of the book! Sweet!!!

But it's not over. We still had about 10 min of walking before we got home, and my companion still had a copy of the Book of Mormon in his hand, so we set out to find yet another person before we got to our apartment. Sure enough we found someone! And this time she also gave us her phone number! 

So now we're feeling super good! It was a little late, (9:30pm) but we were close to home, and still heading home, when we passed someone sitting at the bus stop next to our apartment. But we just kept walking. Then I stopped my comp and asked him if he had any more copies, and sure enough he had one last one in his backpack. So we turned back around and talked to this one last girl sitting at the bus stop. She at first turned us down. She had recently gone from being atheist to joining the Catholic church, but we kept talking nonetheless. After telling her about the importance of the Book of Mormon, we testified of it's power, and then she asked us if she could have the Book!

So, after 7 hrs of trying to talk to people, the last 2.5 were super awesome!!!!! Perseverance pays off!

So, yeah, that's all for today folks. I just want to leave you with the challenge to always be ready to testiy of the Book of Mormon. There is no book on Earth that can bring a man closer to God. And if you doubt that, try reading it first =) 

Allora, vi voglio bene tutti!

-Anziano Bushman

Anz Bushman & Anz Scheurn in Milano

Anz Bushman, Anz Scheurn, Anz Palmer, Anz Neff

Faith Precedes the Miracle! Jan 11, 2012

Let me paint you a picture (only figuratively though, I can't actually do it for you, you're going to have to get out you're own paper and choice of drawing instrument) Okay, so start by drawing a.... yeah, nevermind, too hard. SO..... there's a family. Giovanni is about 70 yrs old and a non active member. He served in the military when he was younger, and thus has been hardened a bit by war. Giuseppina is his wife, and she is about 60 yrs old. She's a non-practicing Catholic (just like the other 95% of Italy) that LOVES to talk, and LOVES to talk about how good of a person she is, and she's really funny =) Esperide is their daughter. She's 21 yrs old, and has known the missionaries since she was 10. So, for 11 yrs the missionaries have been trying to baptize Esperide and Giuseppina. They live about 2 hrs away, and it seems like the visits have turned more into social visits. But, with the persuasion of our Branch President, the missionaries accompany him every other month or so (the Branch President lives in a nearby, equally far away city) to see this family. So the first two times I went there, I did not have a good experience. I went into it each time expecting to be the missionary that was going to change the situation, but nothing happened. I wasn't able to get a word in, and both times we didn't even get to share the lesson we prepared. So, take 3 came along this last Saturday. I was determined not to waste a third visit (and 4 hrs of train rides) and made sure that we had a super focused companionship study beforehand to prepare for this lesson. The comp study went great! We outlined every little detail of the lesson, we talked about little activities we could do to keep their attention, but most of all, we focused on why this was important to them. As you probably guessed, the lesson went great! We taught with power and authority, and each time Giuseppina tried to tell us that she was already doing everything right, we were able to kindly interrupt her and continue on. We used the Plan of Salvation to describe the "why" of the gospel, and focused on talking about what the Celestial Kingdom will be like. At the very end, we applied it all directly to our invite: that they need to read the scriptures and pray. Almost instantly there were objections, with Giuseppina saying she can never find time, and Esperide didn't look like she even wanted to read, and Giovanni didn't think he would be able to remember to read each day. But after 5 min of inviting them over and over, and reitterating the importance, Esperide piped up, like an angel from heaven, suggesting that they read as a family each day before dinner. So that way Giuseppina finds the time, and Giovanni doesn't forget, and they agreed!!! 

And now, the aftermath: That was all on Saturday. In the lesson we were also wanting to invite them to church, but with the fuss they put up with reading and praying, the spirit directed us not to. Which was kind of a bummer. But, that night, as I went to pray before going to sleep, something told me that Giovanni may have enough desire to come to church, and I got the impression that I should include him in my prayers, to give him the strength he needed to wake up early enough to get to church. Now, I've heard people say before things like "oh, I knew you were coming, I just had a feeling, I knew it!" and they would get all excited, and personally I've always thought they were kinda weird. Firstly because I didn't really believe that they knew before hand, and secondly because them knowing beforehand didn't change anything. And for those of you with those same thoughts, honestly I don't know what to tell you. But the fact that I knew he was going to come, and then he actually did come to church, was amazing! It was just the most awesome feeling that God wanted to show me his power in telling me something that was to come. I can't describe it, but it was awesome. Oh, and we called this family yesterday to see how the reading is going, and they're still going! Score!

So, yeah. That was awesome. Esperide is going to get baptized. We had a pretty sweet Training meeting yesterday in Milano. Oh, and just out of curiosity, I don't suppose you know how far it is from Siena to Milano, do you? Yeah... it's 400 km... And how long did you say that takes in the cheap trains? 8 hrs?!? And that's only one way. So you could say we're pretty tired by now. Trains aren't the comfiest either. But, we had a super awesome Conference thing yesterday, so it was worth it. We learned a lot about applying the scriptures to help resolve people's concerns, so it was fun. Saw a lot of good friends. SO yeah. That's about all I got for today.

You guys are great! Keep up the prayers! I can definitely feel them! I love you all! Take care!

Anziano Bushman

Anziano Bushman's Christmas card

The Matrix Lesson! Jan 4, 2012

Well, things are starting to  look up over here in Siena town! We had a great District meeting where they helped us with how to make sure that our investigators are on board or not, so we're not wasting time with people who don't want to follow Christ. They call it the Matrix Lesson. haha So what we're going to do is kind of throw down an ultimatum, like in the first matrix movie with the red and blue pills. We'll have a picture of Jesus on one side, and a snickers bar on the other, and then we've got a list of things that you have to do to follow Jesus, or to follow the world, and consequences (blessings) from doing so. I'm pretty excited for it! We'll start our lesson tomorrow with Akim like this, because he has told us numerous times that he wants to be baptized, but he hasn't been to church in a month. So, I'll let you know how it goes!

We met a bunch of people yesterday that are very excited to meet us (and one of them has the coolest name ever- GodsPower) and we are just both happy and healthy and excited to be out here! We have now met Redi (Lorena's husband) several times (but not in a teaching setting) and we want to invite him to church on Sunday, so keep him in your prayers! Other than that, sorry it's another short letter! I promise though if you write/email me then I'll send you back your own personalized letter from Anziano Bushman =)

I love you all and miss you so much!

take care!

Anziano Bushman

Merry Christmas! Dec 28, 2011

Well, Christmas and New Years are kind of slowing things down a lot. It's been pretty hard to meet with our investigators and not too many people are wanting to hear about Christ during Christmas. Ironic, I know. But we have had a couple run ins with success, every once in a while we still find some pretty cool people who for a brief moment are interested in what we have to say. 

We had a great Christmas though! We went to the midnight mass (as is missionary tradition here in Italy) for the cultural aspect, and it was interesting. I learned some cool things about the Catholic Church. After that we woke up 5 hrs later to go to church! Church was super fun! There was an American family visiting for the holidays, so we met with them beforehand to show them where the church was, and then in sacrament meeting we all took turns reading various christmas scriptures from both the bible and the Book of Mormon. Afterwards we hung out with Enrique all day, I made my mom's delicious Pineapple chicken (which was a big hit) and then we had mass amounts of american baked goods that Enrique got to try (courtesy again of my wonderful mother). Also, because it was Christmas we got to watch a disney movie, so we watched Despicable Me, and I had forgotten how hilarious it was! 

Well, not much else to say. I reread the couple chapters in the book of Helaman and 3 Nephi right before Christ's birth, and it was very inspiring how much faith the people had. Quick background, So these people are waiting for the coming of Christ that has been prophesied, but there are many unbelievers who do not like this, and they're very angry. 

8 But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.
9 Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.
10 Now it came to pass that when Nephi, the son of Nephi, saw this wickedness of his people, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful.
11 And it came to pass that he went out and bowed himself down upon the earth, and cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people, yea, those who were about to be destroyed because of their faith in the tradition of their fathers.
12 And it came to pass that he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:
13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

And so that night the sign was given, and the people were saved. But it just amazes me that they had the faith to wait it out, even up until the day of their execution. The suspense must've been agonizing. But that's the kind of faith we need in the face of anything Satan wants to throw at us, we can and need to be ready with our answer. And I know that with prayer it is completely possible.  Well, I'm done preaching. I love you all very much, and hope that you're all doing well, and staying happy!

-Anziano Bushman

A picture of the inside of the Siena Cathedral before Midnight Mass
started...sorry, its a little blurry.