Miracles Pouring from Heaven

Dear familia & friends,

Let me humbly start this email with that I forgot to brag about last
week we had 32 lessons & this week we reached 20 lessons by Thursday &
we had 30 or 35 lessons by he end of the week, woot woot!

Elder L Tom Perry expects missionaries to be having 20 lessons every
week & 8 baptisms for every missionary. I'm grateful my companions
before I came to the area had already determined that with the Lord's
help they would accomplish this. So far we have been able to
accomplish this goal & above it :) God is real.

Speaking of which while I was with Hermana Brough & Daines (While my
companions go on exchanges, I go with the other Sisters close to our
area, I kind of feel like a dork that's getting baby sat for the day
but whatever :) I love the Hermanas & it's fun to visit Spanish land.
We had an awesome lesson with their investigator Pedro & he told of an
experience that testified to him that the Hermanas were of God. He had
received a text from his Pentecostal friend saying, "God is not dead,"
right after he finished reading the text, he received a text from the
Hermanas, how cool is that!!! I think he is going to get baptized. The
Hermanas also had a movie night at the church & had a great turn out &
Pedro came to that as well. The movie was "The Testaments," he had
tears in his eyes after & woot!

So, President Cusick is the best, interviews went great & I had asked
if for a blessing, he gave me such a comforting & sweet blessing. He
is the best. In the blessing he gave me he said The Lord is pleased with me. He
blessed me with a lot of neat things, he blessed me with health &
strengthen & he blessed me to  follow & trust my capabilities of
spiritual promptings I get & to be patient in the spiritual promptings
that the timing will come. It was awesome. He is definitely an
inspired man of God because I remember thinking how random it seemed
that he blessed my health about 2 or 3 times, ha ha well it made sense
the next day. After working out my body was in a ton of pain & it was
pretty bad but my concerns went away when I remembered that the day
before I received a blessing for my health. It calmed any worries & I
feel so grateful to have the Priesthood bless my life, I am much
better because of it.

After my companions & I oh & the Hermanas were done with interviews &
we were about to leave to make the drive to our areas & before
President Cusick was going to interview some Elders he came out &
talked to all of us Sebring sisters & 4 elders. He asked what's the
difference between going to bed at 10:29 or 10:30 or 10:35? He said a
lot of cool/great things about Exact obedience. I liked what he said
about missionaries & their experiences with being never going back to
being just obedient, they have seen the miracles from Exact obedience.
I am committed to never going back, from now on, I too have felt &
seen the difference, I love God's love too much to give that up. Being
exactly obedient is the way I can show my love for God & for you my
familia! True happiness.

There is a whole other level of happiness that comes from knowing that
you are doing what's right the best you can, there is an immense
difference.

I have found once again the immense difference that God's love does.
We can only be exactly obedient if we realize God's love for us, that
is motivation & peace. I had to remind myself of that a lot this week
& I again am much happier because of it, I feel it & pray to remember
& feel it every day. It helps a lot & the way I can give back that
love is through my obedience & hard work on my part. Ether 12 was a
nice read as well on faith by the random :) tee hee instead of by the
way, I think I'll use that more, by the random....

Brother Snellenburger (ha ha best name) said he knows he sitting on a
fence & said it looks like the road by the church. :) He still hasn't
come to church yet but we are persistent on inviting him & I know
he'll come at least before he dies! Here's another little snippet from
his sweet prayer this week...
"Here we are sitting together again Heavenly Father. It's one of your
sons John again. I'm in good company, with my friends. Thanks for
sending them back, since I asked you to bring them back. I do want
them back. Thank you for these angels I do like them."Awwww he just
fills my heart up with warm fuzzier every time, love that love him.

We had a great Lesson with the Coghiel family!!!!!! :) unfortunately
Marvin wasn't there for it but it was awesome!!!!! They are from New
York & ha ha there is always a different member of the family we meet
when we go over (there's 2 or 3 different families there, lots of
cousins). I am so grateful for the 14 year old, Brandon not only does
he have saweet dreadlocks he has a pure light in his eyes. And most of
the family has already prayed about it & feel good about it & just
pray they will be diligent in reading the Book of Mormon. I can't wait
to teach them lesson 2 & it's my prayer they will come to general
conference. Speaking of which general conference is a perfect way to
invite people here a MOdern day living prophet!!! How exciting is
that, we Have a Modern day prophet, ha ha love it!!!! Thank heavens
for a mission I didn't really appreciate the basic things about our
church but when you take time to think about it it's really cool,
"holy cow, we have a Prophet!" I love seeing people's reactions when
we tell them there is a prophet on the earth today, it's priceless &
special. When that realization hits them as to what that means, ohhhh
man it is so cool! Some people are skeptical but a lot of people are
sincerely changed by just hearing that.

Oh wow, here it go again this email is huge, ok I will wrap things up
real fast, ahhh just so many awesome things & miracles happened this
week. We had a Church tour with Ramona & she loved it & she was
talking herself through things/ teaching herself for example she said
things like, "if it was not true how would it have lasted this long,"
& "I have a problem with Joseph Smith but I'm praying to be open & I
realize that God has always had prophets,so why not now? He doesn't
change." Can we say the Holy Ghost was at work or what?! :) made my
day & it was a very powerful spirit in the chapel as Sister Westberg
played hymns on the piano & Sister Beck & I sang. I got really choked
up while singing "How Great Thou Art," because that's been how I have
felt lately to God. Ramona was definitely touched & I pray she will
accept a baptism date next time we see her! She is a little older &
with here sincere & open heart desires to know truth, I know she is
not set in her ways, I pray she will accept that she has already
received the answer that it is true. Keep her in your prayers please
:) oh & Brother & Sister Carter( who are her neighbors & friends) said
she had told them for 2 hours all about the church tour & how special
the experience was to her! Woooooot, the church is true!!!!!!

Ok to wrap up again ha ha had a great lesson with The Lyons family I
love, love, love this family, Coleen & Amir are so prepared & At the
end ha ha we were treated with a beat box improve by Amir & his 2
older sons who surprised us with an improved religious rap, say
Whhhhhhaaaatttttt. Epic! And Coleen said that we always show up when
she is having a hard time, that we always come at the perfect timing,
God's hand is inspiring how He works things out perfectly.

Oh & one last thing ha ha We had a successful day in the rain on
Saturday & before it rained ( it was our walking day & we forgot
umbrellas mind you ha ha) we went to this Springtime on the Mall which
is outside on the main street of cute little Avon Park. Anywho, we met
a lot of great people & even bumped into a person who use to be a
member & talked about how he wants to come back & his wife is not a
member, no worries or big deal, we are just giving them a church tour
this week & one of our members met them on Sunday, woot. Oh & he
(rick) is a bee farmer.

Ahhh I can't forget, ha ha ok no wrapping up for me, this is the
coooollllest thing ever!!!!! At this Springtime on the Mall I had seen
this guy & we had made eye contact & I was going to give him a card
but my companions & I were in a conversation already. Well later on we
were at this one tent & he came up to us, I gave him a card & we
started talking & he knew a little about the new temple in Fort Lauder
Dale & we were able to get his contact info & invited him to church.
It wasn't that long of a conversation but to our surprise he actually
came to church & even bore his testimony. Ha ha here is the experience
in Sister Beck's words,
"Javier Hernandez came to church! We met him yesterday!! He came and
it was fast and testimony meeting... I was definitely more nervous
than ever in my entire life, because we haven't been able to teach him
or tell him what to expect at all, I didn't want him to be freaked out
ya know. So, I prayed and prayed and prayed the entire sacrament. It
WORKED!!! During one testimony, he touched my leg and said, "Can
anyone go up there?" I of course told him yes and was blown away that
he would even want to. I got a bit antsy because the testimonies born
today were quite long and not the most spiritual testimonies either.
But, in the end, he got up very last. He bore his testimony. He
explained that he was a prideful man now humbled. That he wanted to
learn about the church, if we would have him... Well for 5 months
because of his contract. :) I know that God answers prayers, His
spirit will touch everyone and will testify of truth every time it is
presented. God's plan is perfect and He knows His children perfectly.
Javier came up to us yesterday. God placed us perfectly in Javier's
path. By the way, Javier already looked up Mormon.org... No big deal."

YEEHA! He even said he was sure there would be a church some where
else for him too when he leaves after 5 months, how cool is that? Oh &
he said he liked it a lot said he asked if we would have him. Ummm
yes, yes God will have you good sir. How great it that? We are
teaching him this Tuesday & I think we will be preparing for a baptism
:) I am so happy general conference is is week!!!!!!!!!

Ok & one more fun,delightful story that made my day. Let's just start
is one with "Oh my," as sister beck says, ha ha. On Saturday, while we
were walking in the rain to an appointment I saw a guy sitting on his
front porch. He didn't look the happiest but was kind & said hi back
to us. I went up to him & gave him a Mormon.org card & told him to
check it out, that it had a lot of great things about Jesus Christ on
it. I asked him if he needed a prayer for anything & he kindly
declined so we continued on our merry way. Tee hee the rain was
pouring & I was loving every minute of it, seriously it is a blast to
be drenched, I want to walk in the rain more without umbrellas.
Anywho, on our way back from the lesson we had walked pass the house &
the man wasn't there. We had made it to Main Street & were crossing
the street by the gazebo & were about to start running because the
street light was about to change when we heard someone shout out,
"wait!"

We turned around & saw this guy running bare foot after us. He asked
out of breath, "where's your church at?" He told us of how he hasn't
really had God in his life ever since his mom passed away & he was
thinking he should try God again. Of course we were all excited &
gladly told him & then came the funny. He then looked at me & he
started with, "I know this might seem really weird but" oh my giggles
my face expression must have been priceless in that moment & in my
mind, I was thinking, ohhhh no because at first I thought he wanted to
get baptized but then I realized wait a second...I knew what I was
going to have to say & I felt really bad because that was soooo sweet
of him to coming running in the rain bare foot.He continued to then
say, "will you go out with me sometime.?" I apologetically told him,
"I can't, I'm a missionary but that was really kind of you." Lol I
awkwardly said "but hey we can give you a church tour & come to
church." Lol oh man, but it ended really well we were able to get his
number & we will be stopping by With a member to teach him, well I
hope he'll let us come by & teach him & not be embarrassed from it. Ha
ha My companions & I all had a really good time after laughing about
what just happened, don't worry not in front of him & we weren't
laughing at him just the random situation of it all. It made my day &
heck it would have been a super cute story had it not been on my
mission. I mean come on, in the pouring rain on the Main Street of a
little town? How cute is that? Yeah, NOT on my mission, lol lol LOL.
Hope ya'll get a good kick out of that one, I sure did :) oh but keep
Bryan in your prayers that he'll recognize the spirit & to study more
about the church on Mormon.org.

Alright that's enough Utah & what not! LOve you with All my heart &
pray & hope you feel God's love today!!!!

MUch much loveeeeeeee So much Love,

Sister Bush

P.s. Cool quote that I really like, "He who takes offense where no
offense was intended is a fool. He who takes offense where offense was
intended is a greater fool." -Brigham Young

Woot for God's love & no offense!

P.s.s. If any of you are curious here is the interview work sheet we
have as missionaries, it is awesome, I mean that because there are
always ways to improve as a missionary. It's a long checklist & I
thought it'd be fun for the grand kiddos to get a sneak peak of the
obedience we have as missionaries.

Interview Worksheet

1. I diligently arise no later than 6:30 AM each day.

2. I start my day with 30 minutes of physically demanding exercise
every morning except Sunday.

3. I begin serious personal study each day at 8:00 AM (Start varies on Sundays).

4. We start meaningful companion study every day at 9 AM (Time varies
on Sunday).

5. I make good use of my time as outlined in Preach My Gospel.

6. I diligently retire to my bed at 10:30 PM, having concluded my
personal prayer.

7. We have meaningful planning every day, focusing on our goals and
activities to accomplish our Missionary purpose.

8. I have personal prayer day and night.

9. I read the Book of Mormon daily.

10. I adhere to the rules, processes, and guidelines contained in the
Missionary Handbook and Preach My Gospel.

11. I use my mobile phone only for approved proselyting purposes within my zone.

12. I use my internet and e-mail time appropriately as outlined by the Church.

13. I accurately report my key indicators in the Missionary Portal weekly.

14. I write my Mission President report weekly.

15. I report to my DL, ZL, weekly on time and accurately of my stewardship.

16. I am faithful to my mission president and to my temple covenant of
obedience.

17. I believe I am recognized as a highly obedient missionary by my
fellow missionaries.

18. I consistently ask "Who do you know that could use a message about
Christ or a blessing on their home and family?".

19. I earnestly strive to speak to everyone.

20. I encourage the head of the household to pray at the conclusion of
the lesson.

21. We always extend a baptismal commitment with a date that we have
prayed about within the second lesson.

22. The bishop, counselors, and WML know me well and are familiar with
my diligent efforts.

23. My testimony is growing.

24. I seek God's acceptance of my work each night during prayer.

25. If the Savior were my companion would I be comfortable with my efforts.

26. My personal appearance including hair, dress, and grooming is
always consistent with that of a representative of the Church.

27. My apartment is always clean and uncluttered, being free of
inappropriate personal items.

28. If I listen to music, it is always appropriate, uplifting, and
does not cause companionship conflict.

29. My car and/or bike are always clean and well maintained.

30. I am doing all I can to create a culture of obedience in the
Florida Tampa Mission.

31. Online Missionaries - I am exactly obedient to the rules and
guidelines of being an online missionary.

32. I use my planner appropriately daily to plan and set goals.

33. I use the Preach My Gospel tracking page to keep track of my
studies as it applies to investigators.

34. I use the area book daily as outlined any in my daily planning.

35. I am using my Facebook time appropriately.

36. I use my iPad appropriately to study, plan, and teach.

37. I am using my electronic Area book to keep accurate track of all
my contacts and lessons.

38. I am using my electronic planner to plan my days and record everything.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello - I Hate Goodbyes!

Dear Familia & Friends,

Don's baptism was on Saturday & he was so prepared he was shining
before he was baptized, super sweet. We've moved his wife's date as
she is working on quoting smoking. She is so close & I know that she
loves the gospel too, it's just getting over this trial, luckily she
is going to a class that will help & she is trying. I liked Sister
Beck's talk at the baptism on the Holy Ghost, she did a great job &
described it well in that the Holy Ghost will tell you if it's good or
not, pretty simple, just need to listen. Cute, Lila said about her &
Don, "I'm a bandaid & he is, we stick together." They are so funny, I
really enjoy our lessons with them.

We had an Awesome lesson 2 with the Crawford's & the Fields. Holy cow
Sister Crawford asked the best question I have ever heard from
teaching lesson 2, she asked "Is there baptisms in the spirit world?"
LOVE her! That was awesome!!! She & her husband are golden & I'm super
sad, they leave today to go back to home in Pennsylvania but woot we
might be able to still have some Skype lessons with them. I hope to
stay in touch with them & the Fields they are incredible people.

Let's see, we've been bumping into a lot of 7th day adventist's lately
& it's amusing to me how caught up they are on sabbath day worshiper a
& Sunday worshipers, it 's super sad how lot if them won't even listen
& demand that their church is the true one & that's that. Luckily we
met a cool woman who is 7th day but she was open to having us come
teach her. Pray for her, Alexandra, heart to be softened more so to
not just learn about what we believe but know it is God's. She is
prepared & I just hope she'll let go if being obsessed with the
sabbath being on Saturday or at least not allow that to blind her
better judgement.

In Miranda's lesson (a women Sister Westberg found on exchanges)
Sister Westberg asked an inspired question, she said, "what would it
mean to you to be a member of Christ's church?" Miranda said that
would be Exciting! And when we had asked her, "How'd you feel about
what you heard from Joseph Smith's experience?" She said, "It's
Touching, I feel Warmth & comfort." The spirit was wonderful & she
committed to be baptized when she knows it's true. We walked away
uplifted from that lesson, unfortunately even though she & her
boyfriend said they would come to church with their kids, they never
showed up, grrrrrr. It is funny how hard it is for people to come to
church, it drives me nuts. Awe well, we will keep trying.

So, some quotes from my fav 91 year old, "I'm all about that iron on
patch business"- Brother Snellenburger & "Here we are again Heavenly
Father," as he starts one of his sincere prayers, he's adorable, just
wish he'd COME to CHURCH!

You all better still be going to church regularly!!!!!!!!

So hymn 141 verse 2 is nice & let's see scriptures...hmmmmm oh Brother
Fields gave a really nice talk in the Atonement, here are some of the
scriptures he used, Isaiah 49:14-16 & 54:10. I liked what he said
about how if anything we get from his talk, he'd hope it would be for
us to Feel the atonement. He also said how important it is to not only
remember Christ but to remember that He remembers us, isn't that
sweet. He also read the 6th verse of Nearer My God To Thee & prayed
that we would allow the Atonement to have such an effect on our lives
that we will be nearer to God. Brother Fields is going to be a general
70 one of these days.

I hate saying goodbye to people & I am going to miss them so much,
they are always so willing to join us for lessons & are just
inspiring. Thank you family for being my inspiration. I love you very
much & don't know how I'd keep going if it wasn't for you. I love
looking at the family calendar, even though I miss you all so much but
it does lift up my spirits remembering each of you. I love you family.

Love,

Sister Bush

Wheat Thins

Dear Familia & Friends,

I love our sweet 91 year old investigator, he is a sweetheart & he
cracks me up. He has the funniest phrases like, "I lost my butt!" In
reference to is stocks down at $1.15 or "The old man's been patting me
on the poo poo again," the old man would be Heavenly Father. Sister
Beck & Westburg found him or rather he found them, he requested a
missionary visit on Mormon.org. Anywho, they've been teaching him for
about 3 or 4 months & they helped him pray for the first time in his
life about 3 months ago. His prayers make me tear up every time or
almost, I've worked really hard not to cry when he prayers. The way he
prays is touching, it sounds like he's just having a conversation & my
favorite thing is when he starts his prayers, it's always unexpected
because of how natural he is about it. For example we will ask him to
pray & he'll have a response to us asking him & then it sounds like
he's about to make another comment & then all of the sudden he is
praying.

For example, "Ok Heavenly Father, it's your son John." Or one of my
favorite prayers..."Well Heavenly Father, it's your son John again. I
want to thank you for bringing these folks together tonight. I want to
ask you to keep them safe.. I want them back. Ok I want to thank you
for my friends in England's health is doing better, I think it has
something to do with our chat last night & these visits with these
angels. I want to thank you for that."

Or hilarious, last time in part of his prayer he mentioned that, "I'd
like to see these girls again real soon, not mangled up somewhere in a
car." Bah ha ha oh my heart this guy is great, I love this man,
praying he will have the courage to accept a baptism date & really
accept the Atonement. I think he hasn't forgiven himself for things in
his past or perhaps he's scared of change. I just pray he will feel
the motivating effects of the gospel & atonement. Even us missionaries
need that, just to be candid even though we have the greatest work
that we are involved in there are days that we just flat out don't
want to be on missions & to be home. I can understand why missionaries
come home early, it is hard. Even when you are being exactly obedient
there are times that it takes everything in you to put up with some of
the daily things us missionaries see. And the hardest things are
seeing people choosing misery when they have happiness right before
them, which is funny because the same goes with us missionaries.

So, I can't say it enough of the importance for members & missionaries
to work together. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: "So many of us
look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar
with this work knows there is a better way. That way is through the
members of the Church. Whenever there is a member who introduces an
investigator, there is an immediate support system. The member bears
testimony of the truth of the work. He is anxious for the happiness of
his investigator friend. He becomes excited as that friend makes
progress in learning the gospel.

"The full-time missionaries may do the actual teaching, but the
member, wherever possible, will back up that teaching with the
offering of his home to carry on this missionary service. He will bear
sincere testimony of the divinity of the work. He will be there to
answer questions when the missionaries are not around. He will be a
friend to the convert who is making a big and often difficult change.
... The process of bringing new people into the Church is not the
responsibility alone of the missionaries. They succeed best when
members become the source from which new investigators are found."

I feel like everyone thinks that only a select few will make it into
the celestial kingdom, how sad is that & far from the truth, God wants
us all to make it back to Him. We need to strive with all of our might
to bring our family back. Will we be held accountable for such? I
think so & with that we individually need to not have any regrets & go
forward with the Atonement leading the way to help guide us in our
actions & not just show us the way. I think that's why faith is
sometimes blind because we aren't doing our part to work hard but if
we did, if we read & knew the gospel better we wouldn't be as lost, we
wouldn't be as blind. Invite, invite, invite, our purpose is to invite
others to come unto Christ whether they accept that or not is not on
our heads but whether we try or not is.

On Friday we did exchanges with the Spanish Sebring Sisters, oh Sister
Beck & Westburg are STL's which they are awesome at it but it's a
little weird for me because I use to be one & I feel silly because
whenever they go for MLC (which is the big meeting the leaders have) &
I get to go stay with other Sister missionaries for the day. Anywho,
on exchanges we had a really cool experience that taught me a lot. We
were walking & there was a man we saw across the street & he was a
little scary looking & we were going to just keep walking but I just
decided, "why not." I went up to the man & invited him to check out
Mormon.org & he was actually really cool. It was awesome because I was
able to ask him if he has faith in Jesus Christ & he opened up about
how he's taken a step back from church because he had a negative
experience where he was surprised about something bad that happened.
He has a ton of great soul searching questions, for example he asked
why does God let bad things happen? We were able to testify that we
have the answers & that Christ church has been restored & woot woot,
I'm so excited to teach this guy & his wife & daughter who are super
nice. They have only been in Florida for one month & are from New
York. Woot woot! We will be teaching them this week, please keep them
in your prayers, the husband is Marvin, the wife is Bridget & one of
their daughters is Trisha who's 20.

Oh other people to keep in your prayers, Don & Lila Townsend, Don's
baptism is this week on Saturday, we have to move Lila's baptism date
because she is trying to quit smoking. She has gone from 20 cigarettes
a day to 4 or 6 a day. Praying she'll be able to overcome this. I love
these two, they are somewhere between the ages of 55 & 70, ha ha not
sure what age but oh my heart they have such a delightful sense of
humor & are a real joy. Ha ha the first time I met them it was super
hard to understand them because Don has a hard time hearing & Lila's
got a quiet voice with a thick southern accent & she doesn't really
have teeth. Oh how I love them, really if I'm having a hard day they
help brighten it up in a matter of seconds. I'm so excited for Don,
his eyes just shine, I can't wait.

Random hymn I don't think I have singed before & it's nice, Hymn 224
"I have work enough to do," check it out.

Oh & by the way lovely news we had from President Cusick, he has given
us permission to read our emails through out the week during our
personal time if we get any, we just cannot respond until Monday. But
his reasoning is that if we would get a letter it's the same concept,
you'd read it when you get it. Woot woot, so yeah just for ya'll to
know. I still love letters ha ha but anywho!

Happy news, we had 6 investigators at church today, woooooottttt
Haleigh....not positive how to spell that alright :)

Oh read Joseph Smith Matthew super cool & I've been reading in JSH
1:27-64, it's great, I'm excited to read the chapters that Moroni
quoted in verse 40 & 41.

That's enough out of me, Love you all with all my heart!!!

Keep it up & as they say here God Bless!

Love, love, loooooovvvvveeee LOVE love,

Sister Bush

Then Sings My Soul!

Dear Familia & friends,

So surprise transfer? On Wednesday Sister Godwin & I got a call from
President Cusick with the news that we were to pack up & meet the
downtown STL's at the mission office. From there we were to be taken
to our new areas in new companionship's/tripanionships. It was quite
the surprise & while hearing the news I had to stay strong & not cry.
I really love Brooksville & I miss the people very much & I wish I
could have said goodbye to a lot of people & set a baptism date with
Brother DaCosta but I just get to trust in God that it will happen.

So we packed up Wednesday & Sister Godwin was dropped off in Hudson
with Hermana Rasmussen & White, they are wonderful Sisters, I love
them & it was Great to see them when we dropped off Sister Godwin. I
spent the night with the downtown Sisters in Tampa & in the morning
the senior missionaries Elder & Sister Severinson picked me up & off
to Sebring we went. I love the Severinson's, their daughter in law had
once been my orchestra teacher while Ms. Hen was on sabbatical & she
also taught me violin for a short while too. We had a fun drive with
them & they always make me feel so loved.

So it was quite the surprise but I am deeply grateful. Sister Godwin
had made some goals to be happier & kinder, she had noticed & had
mentioned she has had problems before because of her tone if voice.
She was working on it & things were getting better but I am happy to
have had the change happen & am surprised by how God answers prayers
in unexpected ways. I was willing to work hard with the challenge of
it all but woot now I can focus on the work rather then an unified
companionship. Not meaning that in a mean way, I just think that this
is so much better for Sister Godwin & I. And overall I have walked
away learning so much especially about the atonement in way I didn't
realize or expect.

I am learning to let things go faster & to focus on today as a new
day & focus/live in the present. Forgive now because the moment has
already come & it's gone so let the anger or hurt or whatever go with
it. With Sister Godwin I was constantly having to deal with hurtful
things & it really gave me good practice in helping me let things go &
decide not to fight, for what pride? I don't need it. I'm excited for
her because she is now two really good & hard working Hermanas & it
will be good for her.

So I've found more of the positive reasons why I served with sister
Godwin rather then the negative. I'm also seeing/ learning my
strengths as well from when things get hard or challenging. So it's a
positive boost for me, I am lucky I know how to work through things &
communicate my feelings & not run away from them, i give that credit
of dealing with things healthy like from my parents. Thank you again
mom & dad for teaching basic human treatment & I feel so much more
stronger.

ALL because of God I now serve with two of the most upstanding &
outstanding Sisters in the mission. Oh I didn't tell ya'll ha ha I am
now in a trio with Sister Westburg & drum roll Sister BECK :D I love
these two so much & crazy & awesome, Sister Beck knows Aunt Penny &
our Ellsworth family/ most of them. She is a delight & I have found a
new best friend. Sister Westburg is cool to, not to dismiss her, ha ha
it's just neat that my parents friends the Becks daughter & I are
companions & aw it's great. These two are amazing, they are hard
working & I really really reeeeaaaallllyyy missed a hard working
companion  & I didn't feel like I was my best. Now I have
two hard working companions who by the way have 10 baptism dates.
Yessum, there is a family they have been working with that is about 7
people & our neighbors. I love how are days are full of work & if not
we are diligently finding & walking to find people. It's been such a
blessing, I love them.

It was a little hard this week with the surprise change & oh let me
apologize if I have ever said anything mean about my mission
President. He really does love us missionaries & he sometimes is harsh
because he sees our potential & I guess the way to see his love is the
fact that he is willing to have the courage to be blunt. Sister Beck &
Westburg are Sister training leaders & at MLC President talked about
his love for the missionaries & put it this way, "who loves you more
those willing to pretend there is nothing wrong & tell you your
perfect or those willing to let you know how you can improve to become
your highest potential." So even though he has a little more of a
blunt way of doing things I see more clearly His love & I support him
:) we are on good terms now & he is a pretty awesome mission
president. Our mission is experiencing miracles left & right & like he
says we are to hastening the work not maintain it, these are the last
days it's time to pull it together & invite EVERYONE to Christ.

Really, thank heavens for revelations from Heavenly Father, I love
Him very much. I love repentance & having a clearer perspective on
things. I am changing/ purifying my heart to being a better
missionary, a better person, a better daughter of God. I care about my
Heavenly Father, I need to show Him more respect & not disregard His
loving & wise voice. He knows what's good for me, it's time for me to
listen & to DO. By the way Thank you mama for seeing me as a human
doing not being. :) For I greatly need to & I get it now.

In chapter 8 of preach my gospel under the section of accountability
it hit me hard, I have so much to improve on & I had Blamed my
previous companions for the lack of progress. I can not do that,
having stellar companion's like sister Beck & Westburg makes a huge
difference & helps but I started to slack off before them & it's time
to step it up. Alma 5:15-19 & D&C 137:9. I had a few painful moments
this week where I realized that the mountain I prayed for, the trial
of faith turned out to be me. I am my own mountain & it's been very
painful but good to cut/be brought down to the depths of humility &
work on facing my flaws & getting rid of anything that is not of God.
I have learned so much of finally letting the Atonement heal me. I had
written President explaining that I didn't know how to use the
Atonement, I didn't sin in any extreme way just that I needed to be
healed through Christ by letting things go from the past & I didn't
know how. He sent a nice response back & I like how simple it was. He
had said the Atonement is a powerful thing & can heal overnight if you
let it. I like that he didn't tell me how to, that is something I had
to figure out on my own through prayer. I prayed a lot for it & to
understand more & it was sweet in church the speakers spoke on the
Atonement. Also in Relief Society someone had mentioned the need to
remember who we really are. We are daughters of God of a Heavenly King
& we have His genes.

It hit me hard & as I pondered things through out the day as we three
amigos were teaching I didn't fully feel it until a lesson with the
Crawfords. We had watched the Joseph Smith movie with them & were all
crying after & I read from 3 Nephi 11:14&15. I just cried as I read
those verses to them & I felt so much of God's love & I felt it, I
felt that power of the Atonement. I remember earlier I my mission to,
the atonement's fullest capacity comes through helping others & bearing
testimony of truth. It is healing & I love that feeling of love. I
love the Crawford's & they are visiting the Fields, Sister Field &
Sister Crawford are sisters & sister field is a member & introduced us
to the Crawfords who aren't members. We will be teaching them before
they go back home but we should have them set with a baptismal date
before they go :) I love my companions, I love their testimonies, they
are powerful & this is the best trio I have ever been in. It's only
been a few days but we really getting along & i love how much I am
learning from their teaching skills! hard work ethic & humor. Ha ha
they are so funny & are an answer to prayer.

So random scripture time...

Jacob 5:11-13, 61-64, 74-75

In Helaman 8:13&14 it stuck out it me that he called the past prophets
our fathers, I like that comparison of the prophet representing our
Heavenly Father & Christ. They are our fathers & shouldn't we listen
more. When we deny what our prophet has said present & past we deny
God. Verse 14 & 15 love love lovvveeeee, look to God and live. Verse
22, 24 life is a witness itself of the truth of God.

Getting people motivated & excited to share the gospel, have I ever
testified of it more fully? So everyone What missionaries need from
the ward, not their food :) We need their testimonies to bring friends
& others to the gospel, to meet with us missionaries. Thank you to
Chelsea! I am so proud of my Sister, she is diligently trying &
working with the missionaries in finding opportunities to build
relationships with others to eventually introduce the gospel. Woot we
can do it!

By the way hymn 221 dear to the heart of the shepherd talks about
Hasten the work wowa it's in a lot of hymns & it's standing out to me
a lot, epic.

Sometimes I feel like smacking my head against the wall when in ward
counsel out here on my mission, I am baffled the things adults waste
time talking about. Out of all the wards Tampa 1st has been the best
in talking about things that matter. But even they once had a silly
small thing for an activity that the discussion went on longer then
what was necessary. It cracks me up. Oh & the things that upset people
& what they make a big deal over, argggggg it is tiring, too many
opinions & all on matters that are the least of concerns that really
matter. Anywho random complaint over.

Ok, have fun, bah ha ha ha another long email oh & here's my new address...

1015 West Bell Street Apt #40
Avon Park FL 33825

Don't worry if you've already sent your letter mom & dad I had texted
my new address to the missionaries who are in that apartment so hey
can mail it to me.

Alright much love on & enjoy this scripture too!

"They did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in
their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the
filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the
purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification
cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God" (Helaman
3:35).

LOVVVVVVEEEEEE so much LOVE,

Sister Bush

P.s. The hymn How Great Thou Art was how I was feeling this morning to
God & best depicts how I feel today, I love God!!!!