There is Sunshine in my Soul Today! Apr 11, 2012

Hey everyone!

This week has been pretty awesome. Easter was fun- we got to go over to our Ward Mission Leader's house and after lunch it was pretty windy, so we went outside to attempt to fly a kite. But our faith was apparently lacking that day, because we could not get that kite to fly to save our lives.

We're starting to make some cuts in our investigator pool. So much time has been wasted by people who set up appointments with us and then don't show up. But at the same time, we've also been finding some pretty cool people. We met Wendy (from Peru) last week, and invited her to english class, and then church, and now we're meeting with her again on Friday to teach her about the restoration! So, yeah!

Lizbeth and Yuri are right on track! We taught the last principle on monday, which was the Word of Wisdom, which prohibits the drinking of coffee, tea, alcohol, smoking, and taking drugs, and also commands us that we need to be healthy and stay in shape. And Lizbeth, who up until now has been perfect, struggled a little bit. Which I think was a very good thing for Yuri, because Yuri was willing to give up these things relatively quickly, and this then gave him an opportunity to testify to his wife, and help strengthen her, thus also strengthening his own testimony! So, yeah! They're solid! The only trick now is getting their baptismal interview scheduled, because the zone leaders have to come down, and it's getting rather difficult to schedule a time when they can come, and also Yuri and Lizbeth are both home.... BUT it's without a doubt going to happen, and we are stoked!!!

Other than that there wasn't too much that happened this week. It's pouring rain right now. But oh well. There is sunshine in my soul today!

So, yeah. Take care everyone! And next week I promise I'll have an exciting story or two!

-vi voglio bene!

Anziano Bushman

Just a Flesh Wound! Apr 4, 2012

Alright, story time!!!

So we'll start with some background info real quick. 

In the last couple missionary conferences, Pres Wolfgramm has bee emphasizing this phrase "get in the way to get out of the way" and I have been SUPER confused. And kinda just been nodding my head and smiling, you know the drill. Well, I'm am going to explain to you how I finally capito this crazy concept.

Also, Anz Jenson in the last training called biddone's (when an appointment falls through) "biddone sharks" and explained to us how we need to not let these biddone sharks tear us apart, but to keep going on with the week looking for miracles.

So this last week, we've been in some pretty shark infested waters. The biddone sharks were ripping our limbs off, rather literally. They were especially ferocious last thursday. Thursday we were super excited for our lessons. we had three super great lessons planned out, and we were ready to blow their socks off! But, unfortunately, Ilaria did not understand when we said 10:15, that we meant that we would be there at 10:15, so she came to the church at 10, and left at 10:05. Ouch. But we went on. The sharks were only able to get an arm. Just a flesh wound, right? So then after lunch we had another lesson at 3:30, who got called into work. So we fixed up our bikes real quick, and kept going. Still got an arm and a leg. That's all you really need anyways. And then just when you think that the sharks would be full, our 4:30 had family issues, and the sharks grabbed the remaining leg. Now inching across town, the remaining arm was barely able to drag us to a nearby gelateria to try and rejuvinate us a little bit. So after the gelato, we went out again, more or less just wandering. Feeling pretty depressed, but trying to be productive. And all the time that phrase kept wandering in my head "get in the way to get out of the way" and I thought to myself, "alright, we planned, we got in the way, and we are definitely out of the way, now what?". And then someone came up to us and said "So are you the two new missionaries?" We turned around to find a convert of 2 years that the missionaries have been trying to contact for upwards of 4 months! She told us that she was going through a rough time, but that she really wants to come back to church , and she reassured us several times that she wasn't lost yet, she just has to fix some things before she comes back to church. Sweet!!!! So back to the shark analogy, we were able to find a wooden peg to use as a second arm, and kinda hobbled along così. Kept going and we got stopped by a young couple asking us for directions, who we not only were able to help, but who also gave us their phone numbers and asked us to come visit them sometime and share our message with them! The third miracle then came when our 4:30 appointment (Creusa and Jack and Stefania) were able to see us later than night, and we had a super awesome lesson with them, which left them struggling harder than ever before to set up a next appointment as soon as possible so that we could teach the rest of the Plan of Salvation!!!! And then I finally understood. President wanted us to plan and do everything we could to be ready for our investigators, but then if and when something happens to change the plans, he wanted us to realize that it is God's will, and that we need to be looking for the miracles that will undoubtedly come when God is directing our work. It was super awesome. So yeah. 

This is the work of God, and I am so SO very grateful to all those who have supported me in helping me be ready to come out to the mission field, and to all those who ancora support and sustain me out here! vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!!!!

Oh, and before I forget, here's some fun new vocab I learned: the verb "fulminare" (fool-mee-nahr-ay) means "to strike with lightning". Thus, if you are angry with someone, just say "ti fulmino" and they won't have a clue as to what you said, but then when you strike them with lightning later on, you can say "hey, I warned you".  So yeah, there's Anz Bushman's Italian 101 for today. =)

-Anziano Bushman

Miracle Time! March 28, 2012

Well, they say out of the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses shall every word be established. If that's the case, then I've got some news for you all. First, I am apparently blonde, and do not have brown hair. Second, I am not American, because my english is too perfect, and thus I am English. Yeah, bugiardi, tutti due, I know. But that just goes to show you how crazy people are out here... lol. 


Alright, time for the good stuff. Sunday in church we had a girl show up that no one knew. I can't remember if that ever happened in the states, but I have never seen this happen in any other city, let alone twice in the same month (diego and mariarosa as well) but yeah, she showed up for gospel principles when we were talking about the Spirit World. How's that for a first impression? hahaha BUT! She's super awesome! All the things that were taught she said that she already believed in, in fact she kept testifying about all the things that were being taught, to the point that even Lizbeth was looking over at me all surprised and impressed! It was awesome!!! She also said that for some reason she just felt a strong need to come to church today! Holy Ghost! We're seeing her tomorrow morning right after studies! We're stoked!!!


Quick update on some old investigators, we've been semi seeing a family from Santo Domingo for a couple months now, who's biggest problem is that they don't see a need to come to church, nor to see us more than once every 15 days, in order to know that the church is true or not. They're reading everyonce in a while, but it's hard to help them make progress. Well, we had a pretty cool lesson yesterday, and at one point Marino asked how often there are baptisms in our church. We told him that it just depends, but that there will be one in about 2-3 weeks. He immediately got all excited and pointed out to us saying "oh, see and I bet you've been seeing them for a long time then haven't you? How long have they been attending your church?" Our response, "yeah, I guess. We met them 2 weeks ago." hahahah! He then asked how it was that they got their answer so fast, and so we told him how they meet with us 3 times a week, and come to church each week. It definitely made him realize the importance of our meetings, and we were able to set up the next appointment for the following week, instead of 15 days later! Progress!!!


Miracle time! So, we've been talking a lot about the importance of planning, and how we need to "spiritually create" things before they can happen. Like in Moses 3:5...
       
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth...

 So, we really wanted to give this a try. As we planned monday night, we hoped to set up an appointment the next morning with a young man who would be able to receive the priesthood, because our ward is in dire need of priesthood holders. The next morning didn't go so well. Companionship study didn't start off too hot, and we had to make up for it later, because we had several lessons that needed to be planned for that day, so it took an extra 30 min to get out. And with lunch being moved earlier because of one of our appointments, we would have only had 30-40 min of time once we got out into the city, so we decided to work on our area book, as there was a lot to catch up on. Short story even shorter, the first appointment we set up was with an former investigator, who at one point in time had a baptismal date, and he's a perspective priesthood holder too. I then reminded my companion of our plans from the night before, and we realized even further that this work is directed by the hand of God. 


Okay, but my favorite part about this week was with Yuri and Lizbeth. They are awesome. But have not been reading. But I didn't worry too much about that. We were too focused on how we were going to get all the lessons in before this weekend, so that they could get their baptismal interview at general conference, and then get baptized the following week. But I learned a very important lesson this last weekend that will help me for the rest of my life... So, saturday we were supposed to teach tithing to Lizbeth and Yuri. We were on an exchange with the zone leaders, and I stayed in Pavia with Anziano Baliff, and he and I had prepared a pretty good lesson, and felt very confident, that despite Yuri's concerns, he would feel the spirit, and commit to pay tithing after baptism. So, we went off. We got to the lesson, and started off with the usual stuff, asked about work, and everything, and started with a prayer, then we asked if they had read the book of mormon lately. - Yuri said no, that he still had not read, and Lizbeth had still only read the one chapter. - And something hit me, in the pit of my stomach. Words from Elder Caussé at a recent conference came ringing in my ears "You can't go on if they haven't read the Book of Mormon". But there was no time, there was no way we were going to be able to teach the remaining lessons if we decided to skip tithing tonight! Not even our crazy idea of teaching Yuri over the phone while he's down in Rome this week would be enough if we didn't teach tithing tonight! We've got to keep going! But I managed to turn to my zone leader sitting next to me, and asked him if he thought we should read with them. He nodded his head, and we opened up to Alma 32:26 and read a couple verses about the importance of acting, and then recomitted them to read the book of mormon, and we left. Not a word about tithing. It was painful, but I knew we had to do it. The next day was church, and later that night we had a lesson scheduled with them. When we got there we found them with both their copies of the Book of Mormon out, and learned that they had read all of the introductions and testimonies, and even up to the middle of the first chapter of Nephi. I know that these things may seem small, but they mean so much! That lesson sunday night went so much better than the previous ones, and they have a much more full concept now of how important this message is that we bring! That saturday night lesson was just what I needed to brake this terribly wrong mindset I had of trying to get them to a specific baptismal date, and has helped me as well realize the importance of this message, this salvation that we are helping people move towards. 


This church is the true church of God. There is none other. If someone says otherwise, they have not heeded the promise given in Moroni 10:4-5 which reads...

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.   
                                                                                                
I love the gospel, and the many opportunities that we are given to repent and to change. I am excited beyond description for General Conference this weekend! Whether I watch it in italian or english, I know that I am going to learn exactly what I need to learn! I strongly urge all of you that read this to be ready for General Conference, and to be open to the words of the prophet and his apostles, because they're exactly what we need to hear to find the peace and happiness that we're all looking for.

Take care! Vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!


-Anziano Bushman

Teaching Italian "Superstars"! Mar 21, 2012

Okay, I've got some 'splainin to do:

Okay we'll start with the averagely awesome stuff.

We met with Diego and Mariarosa finally (the random couple that came to church my first sunday here) and they are super awesome!!!! They are pretty busy people, but Mariarosa told us that she is looking for a church, and from what she's seen, this church is everything she's been looking for! Diego is looking also to just be an awesome person! He wants to help as many people as he can! Hahah and it's funny, because with Italian culture, people talk about themselves a lot, and if they've done anything selfless or anything lately, they'll tell you about it, it's great! hahah so he told us all about how he made some donation to some organization. But yeah, they are super awesome! They couldn't make it to church this last sunday, but Mariarosa owns her own store, so I imagine she'll be able to get sundays off, but unfortunately this week they are in Rome... BUT! Theyre taking their copies of the Book of Mormon to read on the train! So, yeah!!

Next, we've got Sara and Federica, who we are most likely going to get to see again tonight! They've accepted baptism, and are both super awesome! Umm I've only seen them once because the other times I was on exchanges, but yeah, they do seem pretty awesome.

Okay, are you ready? Probably not, but oh well. Lizbeth. She's 22,  and just moved from Peru 5 months ago. She was referred to us by a member, and so we went to go teach her (last monday, 9 days ago), and we found out that her uncle back in Peru is an LDS Bishop, and that she almost got baptized, but her parents wouldn't let her or something. So, yeah, she accepted a return appt for the following thursday. So, 6 days ago we went to meet with her and her husband and the member that referred her to us at our church (which happens to be only 100 meters from where they live!) And we had an awesome lesson about the restoration of the church, and they loved it! Lizbeth just ate it up, and Yuri (pronounced Jewry) as well, only he didn't show it as much. We invited them to baptism, and they accepted! So 2 days later, on saturday we taught them about the Plan of Salvation and set a baptismal date for the 7th of April!!! I don't quite know how to express how awesome they are, but they are just 100% attentive, asking questions when they have questions. Some people would say Lizbeth and Yuri are golden, and I would be inclined to agree with those people. They came to church the next day, and then we saw them again that night and taught them about the importance of studying the scriptures and praying often.  So 4 lessons in the first 7 days of meeting them, and we have another 3 scheduled for this week! Bishop is also going to come with us on Saturday to the appt, so yeah, they're awesome. I called Yuri last night to see how things were going, and he talked for 30 min on the phone! Not even exaggerating. He asked all kinds of things, about how missions work, if he could go on one. He asked about beer and smoking, and I explained to him very briefly the word of wisdom, but the part that gets me the most, is when I responded negatively to all these things (no we don't drink coffee, no we don't drink alcohol and so forth) he accepted, and then even agreed with me! Man, they are superstars!!!! And I'll have more to tell about them next week, but for now that's all I've got.

So, yeah. Life is good.

My district meetings have been kind of rough lately, but I'm learning, and hopefully improving. It's harder than I expected though, but I definitely enjoy it!!!!

I just want to leave you with my testimony of how amazing Heavenly Father is. In the last month or so, I haven't necessarily been going through a rough time or anything, but on 3 separate, and in very distinct situations I felt an extra strength like I've never felt before. Not a physical strength, but just an enormous desire to consecrate my life more fully to Jesus Christ. This desire each time has also been put into action, and I like to think that I am becoming closer to our Savior because of it. I don't know why I would deserve such a huge help, but I am extremely grateful for it! I love this church, I love the Book of Mormon, and I love our Heavenly Father and all that he does for us so that we can return to him. 

Thank you all so much for your support and everything you do for the missionaries! You are greatly appreciated!!!

vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!!

-Anziano Bushman

Slow & Steady wins the race! Mar 14 2012

Well, things are going pretty great here in Pavia! I got to have a missionary exchange with Anziano Jenson (my trainer, the frist companion I had in Italy) and I learned soooo much!!!! It was crazy! And it was good being back with him after an entire year!

As for progressing investigators, we're working on helping a lot of different people progress, but it's kind of a problem, because they can't ever commit to see us, nor do they have time to come to church on sunday.... BUT we contacted a referral from one of our members, and she seems pretty solid! She's from Peru and has been in Italy for 2 months, but is pretty devoted to learning the language (she has vocab posters ALL OVER her house!) and we're seeing her again on thursday and probably saturday! Also, we are going to finally get to go see that couple that randomly popped up in church last sunday! So we're going to prepare a super awesome lesson for Diego and Mariarosa!

I'm developing quite the skill for learning people (not just names, but getting to know them AND remembering the names) hahah with how many times I've moved around recently, and so now I already almost know our entire ward! Not that it's a very big ward, only about 60 people, but nonetheless. Hahaha but this ward is crazy!!! I'll try and put together a family tree of this ward, but literally, it is just composed of 2-3 LARGE families! haha it's awesome! Everyone's related!

I'm learning a whole lot though, especially about the power of invites. Not only with investigators, but also with the missionaries in my district. I'm learning about how important it is to give them meaningful invites, and then how doubly important it is to follow-up on the invites. And I've been seeing tons of miracles too!

Well, that's about all I've got for now. I love you all a ton, and hope that everyone is healthy and happy!!

Anziano Bushman

The Meazza Stadium (San Siro Stadium) where both Inter Milan, and AC Milan play.

The museum inside the stadium, there was some old stuff there....

Inside (those green seats are where the Inter fans sit)

This is where I sit...

This is where I sit when the game is getting intense!

This is me getting an interview, because they want me to play for them...

This is where I get dressed out for the games.

From left to right Jonathan (he's a super stud! he's always coming to lessons with us!) Nelson (also a stud, loves coming on splits with us) Andrea (also did splits with us) Anz camit, Irving (New convert), Kevin (reminds me of a young Michael Jackson), me.

Almost all of our group that went to the mtc together just this last week at the district leader training. Left to right in the group picture is Anziano Russo, Scheurn, Portellano, Jeter, Wilkey, Ellsworth, Warren, Bushman

Doing the Lord's Work! Mar 7, 2012

There's not a whole lot to say about this week. Everything is going great! The work here is awesome: we have some awesome members who do almost nothing but missionary work hahah! One even said that if he only had a car than he'd be out with us proselyting and teaching all day!! So yeah. 

OH and we had a couple come to church today, who met the italian missionary at temple square!!! They're super interested, and we set up an appointment to see them next week!!! Hahah all the members were super impressed with us, because they thought that we had found them, but that's not the case =) Bishop pulled them aside and talked to them after church and gave them two copies of the Book of Mormon, so yeah. It's awesome!!! Their names are Diego and Maria Rosa.

Oh, and also, we found a less active member while we were walking around in the park! He doesn't speak too much italian, more spanish, but we were able to communicate pretty well. He wants to come back to church, only he works all day, every day, except for saturdays. So, that's a problem.

Hahaha I've already been back to Milano twice since last week, and i'll be going back again tonight for a missionary exchange. The first one was for a baptismal interview, and the second time was for a SUPER awesome District Leader Training conference thing. This Baptismal interview was super cool though. She's south american, but I'm not sure which country.... And everyone calls her Stella, but her real name is Margiuri (sp?). She understands Italian, but doesn't speak it too well. She speaks spanish. But yeah, one of my responsibilities as District Leader is to hold the Baptismal interviews for the investigators within my District. And so I went back to Milano 3 to interview Margiuri, and it was super cool. The elders teaching her said that she doesn't talk a lot, but I guess being able to understand her spanish (and speak a little bit) she was more willing to open up, because she would not stop talking! Hahah she bore a super powerful testimony, and taught me loads of stuff! It was way cool!!!!

But yeah, things are going great. Now, more than ever before in my life, I feel like I am doing the work of the Lord. I feel like he's preparing me to be the worthy servant that he needs from me, and it's awesome!!!! NEVER stop praying!! NEVER stop studying the scriptures. Don't just read them, but study them. Buy a 39 cent spiral notebook if you have to, and write about each chapter you read. Just anything that comes to mind while reading. Even if you don't understand the chapter, write down that you don't understand it. Trust me. I promise you that you will learn SO much more!

So, yeah.

That's it for now, I'll give you some low downs on our investigators next week, along with some pictures of me in the San Siro/Meazza Soccer Stadium (where Inter and Milan play. It's HUGE)

vi voglio tutti un sacco di bene!!!

-Anziano Bushman

New Area & New Responsibility! Feb 29, 2012

Okay, so big news this week. I'm goin' to Pavia!

After 5 short weeks, I'm leaving this awesome ward.  I'm pretty sure I've learned close to 100 names (but not only names, I also know them as people) and have eaten at least 20 times at members houses...

The logistics would be because President brought 2 elders in 2 weeks ago to prepare to take the place of the sister missionaries in the office (office missionaries are only in the office till 5 pm, and then they go out and do proselyting work. But they have a car. And they are in the Milano 3 ward/area). So, since we have a limited number of elders in our mission, a lot are going home this transfer, President is closing our companionship, and putting sisters in our apartment. So yeah. After all the drama with the members accepting that my comp was leaving, then we found out that I'm leaving as well, and yeah. It's been fun breaking that news to everyone. Good news is that I'm in the same district still. And I'll be the district leader (means I'll have to organize district meeting, exchanges, and do phone calls every so often) so I'll get to come up to Milano 3 whenever they have a baptismal candidate to do the baptismal interview! So yeah, I've been telling the members to start finding people to baptize =) And, yeah. That's it.

These last few days have been filled with cleaning, because the sisters are taking this apartment, and if it's not in good condition when I leave, I'll hear about it.

So yeah, not much else has been going on.... OH! JeanCarlos' parents came to church!!!! and they seem even more solid and eager to learn about the gospel!!! So I'll be in close contact to make sure our replacements here do their part to help that family. 

Well, sorry it's a short one this week. I've got to head back and get cleaning again. WHOOT!! =)

Well, take care, vi voglio tutti bene!!!

-Anziano Bushman

At the ward party for Carnevale - - the equivalent of our Halloween. I went as Teancum.

Eric's birthday meal with me and Anz Camit

The Friolo Family (kids are Michael, Ashley, then Allison is the oldest)

 Bishop Donatone's family (daughters left to right, Noemi and Jennifer)

Albello Family (kids- Shinenah and Samuel)

Spencer, me and Anz Camit