I AM SO HAPPY!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow Wowa I have never been so happy on my mission!!!! 

On Tuesdays we had transfers and it truly was inspired, I'm so grateful President Cusick is in tune to the spirit because we have had so many miracles ever since transfers. So, my companion is Sister (Kelsie) Godwin, she is from Torlck, California and she is 24. She is done with school got her degree in international economics and she's thinking of going to Law school after her mission at BYU. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!!! Oh my goodness, it is amazing, truly amazing, what difference one person can make.  We get along soooo well.  So well that we both have been baffled by how time flies and we accidentally have gone to bed late a few times because we don't even realize the time. But no worries we are obedient. :) And can I just say how grateful I am for an obedient companion?!!! I am so grateful, so grateful that the next day in our companionship prayer as I started to say the prayer I just couldn't help but cry as I expressed my joy to God for the inspired transfers and for Sister Godwin. We have had such a good week as we are organizing and dejunking the apartment, it had so much junk from past missionaries and that was suppose to have been done by the missionaries who lived there before I came, but I won't get started on that. I will be kind and Christlike, but I will just say it is amazing the difference one person can make - good or bad.  It is astonishing. Please try to choose to make a difference for good in any circumstance, this is for me too but really we can invite the spirit so much more when we are careful about the little things too. 

So, I am a very happy missionary right now. :) I love being on a mission and I love being a missionary. This is seriously the best thing ever and I think everyone needs to go on a mission, boy or girl, it is great no matter what!!!! 

 Before I forget, I love Ami Maikoski and I met her mama last Sunday. Sister Maikoski embraced me for a long time and it's a moment I will forever cherish. I couldn't help but cry as I felt the love in her embrace and that love was powerful. I had never met her and she just loved me, I know it's because I remind her of her daughter, but that type of love changes the world. If only I could embrace everyone in that manner, how could that change people? My sister Chelsea recently wrote her love that she has for baptisms. She's loves attending them because of love she feels Heavenly Father has for them. I'm so grateful for her example and it was such a good reminder for me to think if I'm giving that type of love or not. Especially in that moment I had with Sister Maikoski, I felt so much love going through me, I could feel Mindy. And I look forward to every Sunday seeing them and hugging them with every part of me. I want to hug people more like that, although I guess that might scare people on the first time of meeting me. Haha! But it's neat.

Speaking of neat, Sister Maikoski and her husband are serving a mission in Florida.  They live here, but they are missionaries. They help with the addiction recovery church program so we get to send anyone we're working with to them if they have word of wisdom issues. And before Sister Kitchen left we saw her on Monday in the store and she gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I always give her a big hug and we have the best interactions and she always kisses me on the forehead or cheek, I wish I could spend more time with that family but at the same time I know that in time I will be able to. I want to bring everyone I see into this Gospel so that they can experience this kind of love. I'm feeling the urgency of the work and I know that this is the time to prepare for the Savior's 2nd coming. God wants all of His children to know of His love, we cannot just expect to be the only ones to enjoy it. Think of the love you feel when you are sad or insecure and need to be comforted, aren't we lucky to have it. There are millions of people going to bed at night without this. It breaks my heart, everyone needs to have this kind of love!!! I'm far from perfect and stumble on my words all the time as a missionary. I have a hard time teaching and keeping it simple and I often make a fool of myself, but I know that as long as I try that is what's important. As long as I try to make every interaction count with strangers no matter how awkward it can be I know that the spirit will work through me and let these people feel of God's love. It will catch their attention and bring them to the gospel but the Spirit needs me to be an instrument in it's hands. 

Sister Godwin and I had a call Wednesday night from the Elders telling us we needed to contact a less active who's daughter had died. We called her and turns out the daughter is not dead but her kidneys are in failure and she's handicap.We said a prayer  with her but after while we talked to the mother she because stressed and panicked as she talked to us and was having an emotional break down from the stress of her two other children who told her that she needed to decide between them and her youngest handicap daughter because they were tired of it all. She is in her 50's and has been taking care of her daughter for years and she's exhausted. She was breaking down on the phone and just kept repeating, "My daughter is dying, my daughter is dying, I don't know what to do, TELL me what to do." I remember feeling so stressed as Sister Godwin and I were sitting at our living room table and just trying to calm her down. Trying to reassure her that Christ knew everything she was feeling and God was aware of her and that she just needed to pray to Him, that it would be ok. She got so angry and just yelled, "Don't you understand, I have tried, I need someone to tell me what to do, I need you to tell me if I should keep taking care of my daughter or not." She went from crying, to being mad at us and saying we were too young to understand to then asking us what to do and telling us she knows God loves her. It was really hard and the whole time I was just praying and trying to find scriptures and prayed to know what to possibly say. My heart ached for everything she must have gone through and how hard it all must have been because she hadn't been to church in years and with out God of course life is harder.  Nothing was working or calming her down, I felt like just throwing my hands in the air and responding with something harsh like you're the adult, I'm only 22 you should have your life figured out by now!!! Or, I'm not my Dad who could tell you what to do, he's the psychologist! 

Luckily I didn't do that or give up, I just put down my scriptures and instead of trying to think of how Preach My Gospel would do it or trying to find the right scriptures, I felt that what she needed was to be loved. I knew that trying to read her scriptures wasn't going to do anything without getting to know her or just talk to her. I asked her as she repeated about her other children how old her two other children were. I was shocked when she said 25 and 30, stunning right? That they would act that way was so surprising. But I didn't focus on that and I just let the spirit guide me and said, "Susan, you're doing the best you can and I know that God loves you and that God gave you your handicap daughter because He knew that you could and would love her." I continued to let her know that God was so proud of her and that she was so courageous in being such a wonderful mother and that she was doing the right thing. I testified of God's love and how we are not alone, Christ has gone through everything she went through and was with her every step of the way in her life and in the present moment. That He knows how she was feeling. I don't remember what else but it was neat that she calmed down and was a lot more kind and went from not wanting to see us to welcoming a visit from us and she felt a lot better and what not. It was nice to realize how we don't have to do missionary work alone, it's pointless, we need Heavenly Father, we need His spirit and most importantly our needs are met by the Savior's love and atonement. After validating her and testifying of God's love then we were able to share scriptures about Christ. I learned soooo many things from that experience it was overwhelming, but I was filled with peace and joy after. I saw the Atonement in a light I never understood before, this Church is true. 

Speaking of truth, I was super happy to get this letter from Sister Lesh (I LOVE this woman so much from the Gulfport Branch, she's the best) oh and I got to see her at transfers because she gave the other Sister missionaries a ride. :) It was great and hilarious because President Cusick was a punk and pointed me out in the meeting because when I came in I saw Sister Lesh and we had a very happy embrace and sat next to her and he loves to point people out, tee hee it was super entertaining so here's her email she sent to me...

"Sister Bush~

It was great to get to see you today in Tampa! It turned out to be a dramatic entrance...thanks Pres. Cusick. :-)

We got back and dropped off suitcases and bicycle quickly before heading over to meet with Betty's daughter, Vivien. We visited for awhile and then Sis. Nebecker asked if we could offer a peace and blessing prayer. The new sister gave it and covered everything very well. Afterward, we were all quiet and reflective for a couple of minutes. Sister Nebecker finally asked her how she felt and she tearfully told us she felt something good inside. We explained that it was the Holy Ghost bearing witness and each of us testified individually. Sis. Nebecker asked if we could come back and also asked if she would commit to being baptized if the teachings confirmed to her the truth of what we were saying and she said, tearfully, that yes she would. I think one day Betty's influence will come to fruition for quite a few of her family...and wait until she gets going on genealogy! I believe the girls are going over on Thursday.

It was a very powerful day for me. I just felt so full of the spirit. What a gift it is to serve with my sister missionaries! I pray for your success every day.

I love you!!
Let me know how you like the new area.

XO Sis. Lesh"

Isn't that AWESOME!!!! Betty's daughter who I wanted to meet from forever ago is now seeing the missionaries and AH, I just am so thrilled to hear that news and pray with all my heart that many more of her family members will come to the gospel.

THE work is Hastening, as Elder Kopischke a member of the 70 said at a zone training we had with him on Saturday, the word hasten doesn't just mean to run quicker, it means to shorten. That was in reference towards the 2nd coming!!! He also said that the world is already really wicked and that it will get more wicked like the prophesies foretell of Christ's 2nd coming but he also said something very interesting. He said that the world can't get too wicked or even the valiant will fall and we can't have that. So it only makes sense that the Savior's 2nd coming is coming faster because Heavenly Father wants us all to make it back to Him, He's not going to risk us not making it back to Him. Crazy right?! 

Not to get any of you panic and not saying that it's going to be here really fast but I've just thought about it a lot recently and if we DO want it faster then we need to work our bums off and fulfill the prophecy of the whole earth hearing the gospel! 

Ahhh, out of time but I love you all so much and leave you with that food for thought and will have to share more from Stake conference and that zone training. It was amazing! 

I love you all so much, keep it up, and God bless :) 

Much love,

Sister Bush

P.S. people to pray for= Miguel, Monica, William, Victoria, the Link family (ward mission leader and wife they do a lot for us), Bishop Cicerello? (can't spell his name), Suyania, Nathan, and the Appels. Ok, too much, pray for who you want. Love you :D