New From Sister Bush

Familia,

 

Oh how I love you all! Ok, so this email might be short because I don't have much time. Not because of your emails, loved them, but the stupid computer here at the library was struggling, argggg. Anywho here's my Mission President's last letter :( *sniffle* But I know God's timing is beautiful and I can't wait to meet the new President. I just love the Summerhays.  Here's his letter:

 

"Dear Elders and Sisters,

This is the last e-mail I will write you in the Mission Field. Today is the last e-mail that you should send to me at this e-mail address. Next week you should send an e-mail to President Cusick.

I conclude my expressions to you as I started them some three years ago by saying: I love you. I believe in you. I have confidence in what you can be and who you can become. I am convinced of the incredible things you can now do and what you can accomplish in your life. I feel this love, belief, confidence and convincing power because I know that in Christ you call do all things and be filled with His love. I know if you allow Him to abide in you through the Holy Ghost you can be marvelous and accomplish miracles. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep It, you will be Good and do Good. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, you will be certain that the Lord is pleased with your service as a Missionary. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, you will marry someone with the Same Spirit. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, His Power will be upon you and your posterity throughout eternity. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, you will prosper in all things both temporal and spiritual. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, you will live in a blessed and happy state in spite of trials. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, you will dwell with God in a condition of never ending happiness. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, that when you see Him you will discover you know Him and that you will be like Him. I know if you Get the Right Spirit and Keep it, that all will be well with you now and forever-in times of ups and downs. Remember This: The key to get the right Spirit and Keep it is to go with the PROS: Pray, Read, Obey and Serve and when you return home, Tee it up in the Temple at least once a month. I know this all to be true. Please: Stay in the Right Spirit now and forever. Till we meet, talk, or e-mail again, know that I am so grateful for the privilege of serving the Lord Jesus Christ as His authorized servant with you, loving you, and being loved by you. I will always believe in you.

President Summerhays"

 

Isn't he legit! Ok you heard me brag about them last week. So next topic, Betty Waters! Have I told you about her? Oh she is a fabulous, sweet, awesome, older black woman and has the strongest faith I have ever know. She knows the gospel is true we are almost done teaching her all the lessons and she's just waiting for God's timing on getting baptized. We prayed about July 13th for her and she's praying if that is the date to be baptized. Pray for her to get her answer!!! She has way strong faith and has gotten answers before like I said she already knows it's all true and loves it and yessum, we're praying she'll go for July 13th.

 

Oh, before I forget Dad, there's this man we met on the dock who's Japanese :) He is really inspiring, his name is "Hero" and we see him every morning on the dock on our morning run. He loves observing nature and said the sweetest thing about it and I love it. He said he loves nature because it shows God's love and that "nature is innocent, nature does not sin." He is inspiring, he struggles with liver failure and has to go in a lot during the week for 3 to 4 hours for them to pump out the poison in his blood and transfuse new. I am astounding by him and know he is being prepared for the gospel. We hope to be teaching him soon.

 

What did you all think of the fireside? I'll have more to say on that next time and I'll have to share a really cool thought/revelation I had in one of my studies recently.

 

Ahh I'm getting kicked off, I love you all so much and miss you more then you know :D

 

Love, love loooovvveeee,

 

Sister Tasha Cosette Bush

Baptism!

Dear Loved Ones, 

The highlight for the week was Sister Dawn Sloat baptism!!! Yeah! It was so sweet to see her husband baptize her, he's been waiting 9 years and on June 15th 2013 she was baptized! It was such a joy to have them both in church (Brother Sloat hasn't been to church for a while but he was worthy to baptize and confirm her, now we just need to get him back to the temple) and just seeing the spirit touch them during sacrament was beautiful. Sister Sloat is one of my favorite people ever and I felt so strong that I knew before in the preexistence. I can't wait for them as they plan to go to the temple together in a year to be sealed for time and all eternity. And Sister Sloat is dying to go for baptisms at the temple but it's closed until July 13, I think?  But she's planning on getting her patriarchal blessing as soon as possible. Anywho, it was really sweet to meet with her at her house before the baptism (she insisted on us driving with her and her husband, that made me super happy) and I love the memory of Sister Jenkins braiding her hair and seeing Sister Sloat just beaming. She's been wanting to get baptized for quite a while now! It felt like home away from home and ha ha they love us, they have had a couple of missionaries. It was cool because the first set of missionaries they had were sisters and then they had a lot of elders and then us! I got it out of them that we are their favorites but it was sweet they started and ended with Sisters, cool huh? It was also cut how one of the Elders (who had taught her) asked her what it was that the sisters had that they didn't? And she said "I don't know, it's just different with them." I can't answer the questions either but it makes me feel happy that Heavenly Father let it be us. Anywho I love her! Now we just need to convert her son Chris and get the missionaries to him in Hong Kong (he's in the military). She's already teasing him about setting him up with Mormon girls. Oh and Sister Sloat was such a good sport, the water in the font ended up being cold when she went in but she went in with a smile on her face the whole time! 

It was also really neat to realize she was the cleanest and most perfect person in the room after her baptism. I can testify that when we repent with a sincere heart and with real intent, God truly remembers our sins no more. He Himself says so in Hebrews that He remembers our sins no more, so know and believe that God will forget, So shouldn't we learn and move forward from the past if God does? Let whatever is troubling you from the past GO and LOOK FORWARD to the future if you have already made amends with God; for your mistakes and sins do not exist anymore. How great is that? Another thing I loved from Sister Sloat's baptism was the musical number she choose and had us do which was, "As Sisters in Zion." How sweet is that, ah I love her! 

Ok, other cool thing from the week was our specialized mission training, sniffle it was our last mission training with President and Sister Summerhays and good grief I'm going to miss them, they are amazing. I do know that it is the timing of the Lord and the new President will be just as great just in a different way. So what I loved about this training was what I usually love, how much of Christ's love and the spirit that resides there. I learned so much ! And cool fun facts we learn like the prophet and 12 apostles pray for the missionaries every Thursday in the temple and on June 23 there will be, and I quote from Elder Nelson, " the most important missionary meeting of the last dispensation." If that doesn't catch your attention or desire to watch, I don't know what will, if it doesn't... I'd say you have no soul :) tee hee Just saying,I really can't wait for it!!!  

So a lot of cool stories from the training that I'll try to tell or in other words prepare yourselves for another long email, muah ha ha ha..... 

First one= Golf story from President Summerhays, yay! They had a question/answer session for us to ask President and Sister Summerhays anything we wanted. And Elder Russell asked, "How do you stay successful and humble? or how do you gain success and stay humble?" Prepare yourself's for an awesome answer, bah! President responded with a story about how he grew up with the mentality of wanting to always win in sports and hoping the other team would lose. A classic competitive spirit in high school and through out his life but he realized how he didn't like having that attitude of being in a game and always thinking, "Don't make it, don't make it." So he sincerely prayed to Heavenly Father to have a change in attitude and for the help to practice the attitude of wanting the other players to win. Of course he continued to work his hardest to win but more and more he strove to have the attitude of saying in his head, "Make the putt," to whomever he was playing against. In one particular tournament, he and everyone else had already played and their was one last guy to go. If this guy didn't make his last putt, then President Summerhays would win but if he did this man would. President Summerhays sincerely said over and over again in his head, "Make the putt, make the putt, come on make it!" And the other man did and won and President Summerhays about shouted for joy, people could tell that his smile was sincere and handshake when he congratulated this man. And yet others didn't. Either way it came around again where President Summerhays had the last putt in another tournament and guess what, he made it and won the tournament. He discovered how much more joy is felt when wanting and rooting for other's success as well. So how do you stay humble while being successful? You cheer and pray for other people's success along yours! Doesn't mean you don't try your hardest and work your best, you just can relax and see others as children of God trying their best too. I loved that story! So love your neighbors and be your best! I loved how President said it, when you knock someone down pick them up, ha ha. 

Another neat thing about the Summerhays is how well rounded they are. I love that they love sports and musicals, they are huge into musicals and plays and art and I just think it's neat that they appreciate all sides of life. It was cool how they talked about creating a family plan to stay solid in the gospel because they are in the world a lot and they have to stand as that standard. It was apparent that family came first when Sister Summerhays shared how President once flew home for his daughter's finals basketball game in high school watched the game and then flew back out to the tournament he was in. They talked about the most important work you'll do is in your home, careers will take you away from home, so you'll have to learn to keep home sacred. Thank you mom and dad for doing just that, I seriously have the best parents ever! 

It was sweet too how when any missionary asked a question the whole time while answering the question, they looked directly at the missionary and I don't know why but I just thought it was cool how they made you feel like it was just a conversation between you and them. Needless to say they are wonderful and are people that just love. Oh and how they gained their testimonies was for President it was scriptures and he actually was a less active growing up and was reactivated when he was 17 years old. And Sister Summerhays said she gained her testimony from her first baby, she said she felt that she had a bit of heaven when she held her daughter in her arms for the first time. 

Wow, this email is getting longer and longer. One last story, that I loved! It's a native american analogy, where a grandpa is telling his grandson about how there's a war going on inside everyone, with a good wolf and a bad wolf and how it's a constant battle. The grandson ask's which one wins and the grandfather's response is, "The wolf you feed." 

AWESOME Right?!! Oh I love it! Anywho, they then did a skit about 3 different voices people hear, the critic, the stressed, and the deeper self (our spiritual true self). It was a very powerful skit and they talked about how Satan= critic, he poses as God because he's desperate to be like God but with Satan he destroys. The spirit= light, love, and gives us energy. Feed the good voice! When you criticize yourself and others, that's only coming from one voice, not yours but Satan's. Who you really are, isn't that. I'm loved this training because it helped me breathe and accept where I am and it's ok that I'm not perfect and to learn to love myself. To feed that good wolf :) Look for the good in the day, there is always 1 good thing in a day. We can't serve to masters choose today to be grateful or not.

Oh and one last thing, I love what another missionary said, "God loves us the way we are but He loves us too much to let us stay that way." Isn't that great?! YaY! We are God's finest creations, know it and believe it, I know that in my prayers I've been praying to see me as God sees me. God loves us, so shouldn't we as well? 

Oh and two last quotes President sent in his letter this week. 

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught,
"In this work there must be commitment. There must be devotion. We are engaged in a great eternal struggle that concerns the very souls of the sons and daughters of God. We are not losing. We are winning. We will continue to win if we will be faithful and true. We can do it. We must do it. We will do it. There is nothing the Lord has asked of us that in faith we cannot accomplish."

President Monson adds,
“On occasion we need to make a second effort - and a third effort, and a fourth effort, and as many degrees of effort as may be required to accomplish what we strive to achieve.” 

I love you all so much, I believe in you, and I believe in Christ and God,

Love you love you looooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeee you!!!!!! 

My Eternal Love,

Sister Tasha C. Bush 

P.S. Our bikes got stolen last week, ha ha no joke, and we had them locked up to a big palm tree and when we came out of the lesson they were gone. Also we reported it to the police and had a case number for it, called them to see if there was any update and they didn't even put anyone on the case yet. So yessum, I'll be calling the CTR bike shop, yay for bike insurance. 

P.S.S I love Sister Jenkins and I really don't want either of us to transfer this next transfer, we both really want one more transfer together because we feel like there's so much more work to do to build up the area and we have found a ton of unity together. 

P.S.S.S If you can keep the Sister and Brother Sloat's in your prayers and to keep coming to church, I know Satan will attack and work hard on them for choosing the right. And if you can pray for Tamika, we haven't been able to teach her any of the lessons yet, so if you can pray that we might be able to have a chance to teach a lesson with her. Thank you so much! And let me know if there's ever anything I can pray for. Love you all!

Bike Helmets in the Bathtub

Hello, Helloa loved ones!

 

This week has been fun, fantastic and tiring, but rewarding! I am so happy and love being on a mission. Won't lie, a couple of days ago it was really tough.  But God teaches us things we pray for.  I made the mistake of praying for greater faith the last few weeks and boy did it get tough. It was tough to find the energy and to remember the reason why I decided to serve a mission.  I was reminded very fast the next morning when Sister Jenkins and I were awoken by our phone with a different alarm we didn't recognize. Welcome to Hurricane Season Baby! We were awoken at 4:15am to text messages of Tornado Warnings and tropical storms, yeehaw!

 

So if you are wondering, the mission rules and protocall for tornado warnings= putting on your bike helemets and getting in the bathtub with pillows and what not. Yay for obedience, without it we wouldn't have awesome pictures of us with bike helmets on our heads and sitting in a bathtub excited and freaked out (not used to weather warnings at all, apparently it's not a big deal in Florida, people just hangout in their houses and react to it as people in Utah react to snow...for the most part) but we were hilariously delirious and we made a game of it. We created a show called, "Bike Helmets in the Bathtub," and we talked in British accents and gave awesome advice as what "to do" in emergancies (but really what you shouldn't do). We think we're pretty funny. Anywho we were up until 4:45am when we got a message that the warning was over. We went back to bed full of the giggles.  Later our little weather radio alarm went off and it was a legit warning, so back to the bathtub we went and oh man it was hilarious. We are safe and sound and there was a tornado that went through Gulfport, but nothing too serious, really it was a small one. Sister Jenkins and I are looking forward to creating more episodes of our show. 

But on to the part where I learned something...:) Besides being an entertained and looking like weirdos, it was really sweet and humbling during the other warnings. I knew that we were going to be fine and safe, but I also realized the importance of being on good terms with the Creator. I realized if this didn't go well, do I feel that I am in good standing with God? Could I confidently know that if I stood before my Maker that I would be ready and happy? It was a beautiful wake up call (well annoying with the alarm) and it was good for me to realize why I'm on a mission. I don't share this to scare any of you and seriously it was a tiny storm, no one was hurt. I share this because I learned a lot in that moment. The significance of life, how humorous a serious moment can be, realizing by the end of the storm it was something sooo small and at the end of it all is God. Life is simple, beautiful and it can be fun! Missionary work is FUN! It is so exhausting and rewarding at the same time :D

 

Yesterday, we had a beautiful lesson in relief society and (woot!) 3 investigators of ours came to church and happily 2 of our returning members might be able to be considered active soon. But I loved the scriptures that were shared, Exodus 3:11-14, D&C 88:67&68 and John 5:30-36. I thought it was neat to feel connected to Moses, thinking,"Hey a prophet of God was very insecure before his work." It was comforting to see despite his insecurities all that he accomplished because of God, because of Christ. I love God's response to him, "Certainly, I will be with thee." And even better, "I AM THAT I AM." I love that.  Life doesn't have to be complicated, it is as simple as God saying, "I AM." I find that beautiful that because HE IS, I CAN BE. With Christ and God we can take the impossible and make it possible and what a beautiful promise from God. All we have to do is obey His will and blessings from Heaven pour out upon us. So love Him and see what you CAN BE with I AM because HE IS. :) God loves you so!

 

Ok, I'll get out of preaching mode. Oh I don't remember if I told Dad or not, but I finished the Book of Mormon on the last day of May. I thought it was sweet to see that Dad finished it in his first 2 months of his mission and I did too! I didn't read the whole thing in 2 months but I finished it all by my first 2 months here in Florida. Yay! Oh by the way A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grandma E and Cassito bandito and Daphne and who else have I missed?! :D ha ha - I'm so considerate!

 

Other fun news, Sister Jenkins and I were able to go to the "Tropicana Field," the huge baseball field, home of the Rays, for one of our investigators high school graduation!

 

Well shoot, it's that time where I have to go again, but as always know how much I love you all and Oh everyone please don't do drugs! Ok, seriously tell your little ones and everyone you know.  We had an experience recently with a guy who was crazy and no doubt it was from drugs and beer. So don't do drugs, you will make a fool out of yourself. Alright on that note (ha ha!), keep the commandments, don't do drugs, but do however make fun random videos while sitting in a bathtub with bike helmets on, and know the most important thing to know is God's love!

 

Oh and keep up with going to the temple, I love you all so much and am so proud of my mama and dad, who are diligent temple goers :)

Love you more then I can ever say,

 My eternal love,

Sister Tasha Cosette Bush

P.S. Happy Father's Day coming up! I am extremely blessed to not only have the world's best mom but the world's best dad! Dad, I wish I could buy you a ticket to come play golf in Florida or even better buy you a golf course in New Zealand, that would be awesome! But not as awesome as you! Thank you for being there for me, I really am lucky to have you as a dad. Shoot I am about to be kicked off, I have a very cheesie letter coming about how amazing you are. I love you!!!

 

Learning To Go With The Ups and Downs

Hello Hello Loved Ones!

This week has had it's ups and downs but at the end of the week it ended on an up. Sister Jenkins and I have been extremely blessed as we have worked hard on our companionship and with the Lord. So happy note, it was such a tender mercy to have Sister Sloat and her husband attend church together for the first time in a long time. She is an investigator who has been ready for baptism for quite some time and now is finally the time. I know the Lord's timing is beautiful.

So before I go on I want to share the gratitude I feel for soldiers who sacrifice so much for our freedom and well being. I felt a deeper appreciation and connection to our veterans and soldiers when I realized that missionaries relate to soldiers in the sense of sacrificing everything for the well being of others. They see people die physically whereas we see people die spiritually. The fight is similar in the sense of wanting to bring people home. I am grateful for the Savior's example and pray that we will remember more fully to show our gratitude and strive to follow His footsteps. President Summerhays related soldiers to the Savior in his weekly letter and it made me think of putting our hands over our hearts when standing up for our Nation's flag and that made me think of a personal experience I had. When I put my hand over my heart I reflect on the thought that my heart is in the Savior's hands. I think of the piercings on His hands when I have it on my heart it reminds me of His love for me and again that my heart is in His hands. Thinking about Memorial Day and the deep appreciation I have for those who fight, I now can make that connection of thinking of the Savior and my country whenever I stand up for the flag and put my hand over my heart. I can think of the person who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our happiness, my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

So, where do I begin? I always feel so frazzled in writing because I don't feel like I update everyone thoroughly enough. There is so much that happens within one day and Dixon put it great recently when he said 1 day feels like a week and a week is only 1 day. It's crazy how happens!  Last week was full of ups and downs, but I can happily say once I got through the downs (even with how crazy it is) I am finally loving it!!! I love being on a mission, I love this work and of course I miss you all like crazy, but I love being here!

Here is an example of the ups and downs and the true reality of a mission. 2 weeks or so ago, Sister Jenkins and I met a woman named Theory (oh random note before I forget by the way Sister Jenkins is majoring in ASL and had the brilliant idea of starting an ASL class at the church, fantastic sneaky missionary tool).  So we met Theory 2 weeks ago and were riding past a house that she was sitting out front and we waved and said Hi cheerfully. As we were riding away I just felt like we should go back and talk to her, so we turned around, introduced ourselves and asked if we could say a prayer with her and if there is anything she needed prayers for. It was a really neat experience because as we got talking to her about the role God and faith has played in her life she told us of an experience she had where she had a heart attack and was passed out by herself in her house for 3 days. Her nephew couldn't get a hold of her, got worried and checked on her and found her on the ground at home unconscious. Luckily the doctors brought her back, but that experience showed her that God still needed her here. It was awesome and perfect because the spirit brought to my mind the story of Alma and how he was unconscious for 3 days, so I brought it up and read her his experience with seeing Christ and testifying of the happiness the Savior wants for us and that there is nothing that Christ can't fix or take care of. We gave her a Book of Mormon and prayed with her and it was a really neat experience, she was so receptive and touched. Well we got her address, planned to meet and were very encouraged by her when she said she had been feeling down, stressed and overwhelmed when we had waved to her, said hi and smiled at her she said it made her feel special and she said it just melted her heart like a marshmallow and made her day. She felt great about everything we talked about and Sister Jenkins and I testified it was the spirit witnessing to her God's love and truth. So it was a very cool experience and encouraging but it's so sad, we have never seen her since then and can't get a hold of her.  We have called and called, and tried to find her address but have had no luck. It is so much more discouraging when the spirit is there so strong and you know they know. It got harder after that because that Sunday we were planning on 5 or 6 investigators coming to Church and we were positive that they were going to come, but none of them came to church - super let down. After I had another rude awakening with that side of the mission, during studies on Sunday, I had a lot of awesome insights and Sister Jenkins was great in reassuring me and comforting me that this is part of the mission :) ha ha! She is awesome and has such a strong positive testimony. We were blessed from the Lord that day and things seemed to turn around again.

One of the best blessings last week was when we were looking for Theory's house and didn't have luck, because the house address didn't exist on the street :) whether that was a mistake or on purpose, who knows. Either way Sister Jenkins was firm in knowing that we were in that area for a reason. So we prayed and knocked on about 4 doors with no success, we prayed again, decided to knock on 2 more doors and then go on our way. It was so cool! The next house we knocked on we met Tamika Thomas and asked if we could say a prayer for her and she was ridiculously receptive and excited and such a sweetheart, a beautiful spirit, it caught us completely by surprise and I was stunned by how strong the spirit was. She automatically opened up about her life and all that she was going through (she's a mother of 3, her dad died recently, her mother is struggling and isn't even going to Tamkia's oldest daughter's graduation from highschool, is going to nursing school, and basically has a lot on her shoulders) and we testified to her truths from the spirit of God that she needed to hear. We said a peace and blessings prayer with her and I was a little intimated because Sister Jenkins asked me to say it and goodness, the spirit was strong and we all cried. After the pray we cried more as she told us that before we came she had been praying to Heavenly Father that morning for help and she had just made a cup of coffee and then we knocked on the door. It was so cool and even cooler that she recognized that we were sent from God! And before we could even offer to teach lessons and meet with her again, she was asking when we could come back and teach her children and their friends and her and my jaw just dropped. Ha ha! She was making our job easy. It was such a tender mercy and she is prepared and we are soo excited to teach her and feel very strong that she will get baptized - just praying with all of our hearts though. :) I know that there are no coincidences in life.  We meet people for a reason and God's timing is orchestrated perfectly, we just need to be open and ready to follow along with the conductor's hand. Then we can be in harmony and find the beauty in the last notes that lead up to the glorious ending of life's song. The main melody that keeps the piece complete is Christ, He is the center piece to life's plan.

In relief society the teacher had a neat object lesson. She told the story of Peter and Christ walking on the water and asked why did peter fall and begin to sink? Because he looked down, he took his eyes off the Savior. She then handed out peacock feathers and told us to try and balance it on 1 finger. She said you can always balance a peacock feather when you look and focus on the eye of the peacock feather, it's pretty neat and fun. She then completed it by asking where is our focus? When we focus on Christ our lives will be balanced. I know this to be true and have seen the immense difference in my life especially on my mission. I know that by small and simple means of scripture study and prayer, they make the biggest changes and affect the course of our lives when we choose whether or not to read them and pray. I know when we focus on Christ all other things fall into place and the happiness is found. And if you happen to look away or get distracted, don't panic, just like Peter turn and cry out to the Savior and He will be there to lift you back up again. Focus on Him, make the small effort to put aside your pride and ask him to help you, allow yourself to partake of the enabling power of the Atonement and witness for yourself the wonders and miracles that can happen in your life. Ether 2:24-25 and 3:2-6, 9-14.

It is learning to go with the ups and downs and finding joy of life's roller coaster, the end result is returning home and you can either enjoy it or painfully endure it. If it's up to me, I choose to enjoy! It doesn't mean it's always easy and there are definitely frustrations.  Sister Jenkins and I have had to try really hard to work with each other. We have had our moments of aggravation with each other but it's been great because we both are sincere in our relationship with the Lord and we both desire to be lead by His spirit and have unity in companionship to bring about greater blessings and work from the Lord. To bring His sheep to the fold but we need to gain His trust and work together. It's nice because we talk to each other about everything when we're mad at each other. We try to get to the bottom of things and we both are willing to work on our own parts that contribute to whatever the problem is at hand. You have to when you are with someone 24 hours or you will boil over to insanity. We laugh about it a lot because we have had to work hard with each other because we are so similar and it's hard, but I am so grateful for her and the improvement and strength our companionship has made. We have fun and love each other but it doesn't mean we don't have to work at it. The best part is, we try to put the Savior and the Lord between us when we have frustrations so that we take contention and anger out, which isn't of God and focus on what needs work. It was beautiful when one of these times we were having a hard time and were talking through things and she stopped and said a prayer and it was awesome because it brought the spirit and it's the best to have God's love at the head of everything. It's a process but it is worth it in the end and things can be dealt with just like the Savior did. I love what one of the other missionaries said at a district zone conference, he said, "Us and trust can't be spelled without "U"." Awesome right? It does come down to trust and I like to ask myself daily now, "Have I trusted today" or "Have I trusted in the Lord today?"

Well I love you all and I need to run but remember everything happens for a reason and I love you all so much!!!  Oh and last happy news (and why this week ended on an up), we have 3 baptism dates set!!! We reached our goal for the week, they are Sister Sloat, Robert Janjanin, and Theresa.

Love you all so much, my eternal love, God speed,

Sister Tasha Cosette Bush

Hmmm...what to title this email?

Hello family!

Ahhhh, I only have 9 minutes, so sorry this is going to be a lame email but I want to thank everyone for writing, and I truly to appreciate each email and letter and it means a lot. This week has been amazing as Sister Jenkins and I have worked harder to be a more unified companionship. It is incredible and the work moves forward and the spirit flows more between us. We get along great but we were able to work out more by being more open and I just adore her and am grateful for communication! It's been such a learning experience and I appreciate that we are able to give each other advice with out taking things personal and being able to work through figuring out why things bother each other and we don't stop until we figure it out. It again has just been awesome, I am so grateful for her!

Anywho, I'm so sorry that this is going to be short, I wish I could write something more inspirational and what not but for now I will just have to send you all some pretty awesome pictures of mailboxes. Oh and mam, I love you so much, your email almost made me cry in public but I held it together, I love you!

Be Strong, remember who you really are and more importantly whose you are (God loves you so much!). Oh and here's my mission president's letter for the week, all of his letters are great but I thought this one was really cool.

"President Summerhays 20 May 2013

Dear Sisters and Elders,

Shortly before I embarked on this wonderful missionary journey, a sports announcer asked my son-in-law, “ why would he (me) give up all of this (the competitive golf world) to do missionary work?” Why would I? Why would you? Why would a collegiate basketball player or football player leave his university career for two years? Why would a filmmaker leave his passion to serve and not even watch a movie for two years? Why would we leave our fathers and mothers, our school or our work, our friends and family and other things that we cherish? We all give up a lot that is dear to us. It is a good thing for us to pause and remember why we were willing to give up all to serve our Lord.

As missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we need to place our whole confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. We face many challenges and much stress and anxiety every day. As we live His teachings and look to Him as the Way, the Truth and the Life in all phases of our lives, we receive help for our anxiety about the future and our ability to handle these challenges. The fundamental principle of our religion is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement is a principle that requires action and delivers power. Faith in Him is more than mere acknowledgement that He lives. It is more than professing belief. Faith in Jesus Christ consists of complete reliance on Him. He knows how to help us rise above our daily difficulties. Always seek to learn so that you can apply. Make this your motto: “When the Lord commands, do it, and if possible, do it today.” Do not procrastinate. Delay will rob you of the Spirit that you could enjoy today. Repent and immediately will the power of the Spirit come. The Power that will come immediately through the Spirit is the Power of peace. The Power of strength, the Power of happiness; the Power of Love; indeed any Power that we need to accomplish the purposes of the Lord in our lives. I testify this Power will come immediately upon our repentance or our commitment to change. Consider these truths:

“..harden not your hearts any longer; for…now is the time and the day…therefore repent and…immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you…do not procrastinate the day of your repentance…for this day is given us to prepare for eternity…” Alma 36:31,33.

“…do as He hath commanded you; for which if ye do He doth immediately bless you…” Mosiah 2:24

“When obedience ceases to become an irritant and becomes our quest, IN THAT MOMENT, God will endow us with Power.”

Now is the time for us to improve. Today is the day to act on the things we have been prompted to do. Let us not miss out today on the happiness and peace that will come immediately upon our demonstration of faith by our improvement. Join me today in exercising faith unto repentance: so that we may enjoy His power. I pray that God will bless us all to believe in Him, to accept Him and to fully trust in Him. I love you all. I believe in you all.

President Summerhays ☺☺☺"


I love you all! Keep up in being happy and strive to be a missionary this week or for one day :D

Love,
Sister (Tasha) Bush

The Plan of Happiness

Helloa, helloa!

 

Goodness this last week has been all over the place. I was so frustrated and discouraged but the Lord gently reminded me of His love for me and why He has called me to the work. So before this email gets incoherent and what not, I will simplify with the 2 biggest things I learned this week.

 

1. The Lord only asks a little of us and in comparison to all that He has given we should happily enjoy the process of growth rather then endure. We should be giving as much of our lives as we possibly can to Him instead of going to Him and demanding that we get what we want and expect us to do nothing on our end. He only asks for our love and a small portion of our time to pray and read scriptures and how hard is that?! We get blessings for obedience, isn't that incredible?

 

2. The plan of happiness is for me too :)

 

So, this week I had a lot of hard days, I had many times that I just longed to not be on a mission. I realized on Friday just how much I miss home and my family. I was craving to be back in the comfort of home and being able to do things for me.  Heck I even missed school! :p ha ha! But it was hard. I really miss everyone and it seemed so daunting to have 17 more months, during personal study I went into the bedroom and sobbed. I prayed to Heavenly Father, saying, "I don't know if I can do this, I can't do this." And yet in those moments of frustration and desperation I felt so much peace and love in my heart from the Lord. I have felt very insecure and overwhelmed at times in teaching the gospel in thinking, wow this person needs salvation and how can I possibly help them see that they can be so much happier. It was nice to talk it out with Sister Jenkins and realize to stop giving myself such a hard time for not being perfect at it all. And to also not feel bad that I had feelings of not wanting to be on a mission because that is normal. I also felt bad because I love the Lord and that is why I'm here and I felt bad for then not wanting to be here. I started to compare myself to the Book of Mormon prophets and feeling like a terrible person because I wasn't as cool as they were in having such a strong desire to serve a mission after fighting a war. I was amazed with how and where they found that strength to want to serve mission after mission. And then I felt a lot better about myself when I remembered and even Sister Jenkins brought it up that even Gordon B. Hinkley had his moment of not wanting to be on a mission when he wrote his father that he was wasting his time. Gordon B. Hinkley was an amazing man and even he had his moments of, "This is Hard."

 

So friends and family, it's ok to admit that sometimes life is hard, but it's nice (and takes away a little bit of the fears and frustrations) to just be able to admit it. To be able to get off your chest - wow this is hard and scary, aggravating and painful. I can testify to you all that the best person to be completely open and honest to about life, is God. Go to Him in your prayers and be honest.  Let Him know - I love you, but right now, wow, this is hard. And then will your eyes be opened to the purpose of it all, then will you start to see the bigger picture and realize that this isn't anything you can't handle. :) Realize, "Hey maybe I can have a goal to do 1 thing for God everyday." Then will you see His hand more fully in your life. He knows us so well, shouldn't we take the time to get to know Him? Shouldn't we take the time to cry, calm down, breathe and look to Him in seeing what He is teaching us about Himself in our trial?

On Friday, a lot of our investigator's weren't following through on appointments and what not. It was especially painful to have a recent convert who I care very much about call us and let us know that the church wasn't for her anymore and that she didn't want to see us. Tender mercy though, was finding a letter from my Dad which gave me the positive lift. Another tender mercy was going to Willie Pearl's house, this sweet elderly woman who I doesn't remember that she is a member of the church, is in a wheel chair, is almost blind, and had a difficult time speaking and forming words. We read to her from The Book of Mormon and sang two hymns.  It took everything within me not to cry while we sang and she tried to hum out what she could along with us. It hit me so strong, "Who else would take time to sing to her if not you." Who else will serve if not you? Who else to make her day a little more interesting then just the pointless noise of the tv in the background? She called us angels and said that she hoped she made us better, as we were leaving I asked to give her a hug, she said she would like that very much. It caught me off guard when I went to give her a light hug and she with her frail skeleton bone arms hugged me with a strong embrace. It wasn't me helping her but her helping me. I have never felt so much love and as hard I was trying, I broke and I cried. She didn't realized how much she truly did make me better. And I realized that I was asking the wrong question when I said who else would take time for her, who else then her would have been the right angel that I needed in that moment. That moment where God let me know that I needed His love just as much as His sheep that I am lucky enough to be called to serve. But it's not just for me, it's for all of us. D&C 4: 3, "Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." If you love God you are called to His work, that doesn't mean serve a mission but I think you all know what it means. :)

 

Friday still had it's up and down, an investigator we cared about didn't show up for a church tour but it was during that time that I realized that this plan of happiness I am teaching to everyone is for me too! Again God wouldn't send me here to be miserable and I know that He truly wants us all to be happy and successful!!!

 

I love you all so much and argggh the timing is ticking. I hope I can remember to tell you about the story of the woman who's name is Theory. She is awesome! Anywho, I realized no matter the days that are hard the whole day, it makes it all worth it when there is that one person who said, they needed you. It is worth it when One person says you make a difference because you waved or smile or talked to them, you changed their life. It is my prayer that you wonderful family and friends take that time to help make the difference for One person. Even if it's your spouse or kid or close friend, let them know what a benefit they are in your life. And knowing you all, you already do.

 

I can't say it enough, I love you all so much and miss you more then words can ever say. And I am so happy I got to skype with you mom and dad. I love you two so much and it was such a blessing to see you, I love you, I love you, I love you!!!!

 

God be with you all, my eternal love,

 

Sister Tasha C. Bush

Week 5

Dear Loved Ones!

Oh goodness so much has happened and I have never felt so close to the Lord in my life, this week's focus has been on less actives or what we have been encouraged to say, "Returning Members." I love that because it has such a positive connotation to it, we are helping them return and remember the testimonies and relationship they already have with Christ that they have just forgotten. Instead of less they are gaining that remembrance and discovering the love the Lord truly has for them.

Keys things I have learned this week: the beauty and truth of being exactly obedient even in the smallest forms. We hear repeatedly here in the mission field, "Obedience brings blessings but exact obedience brings miracles." It is so true! I know I gain an added measure with the spirit when I am constantly repenting and striving to be better. That's another thing I found beautiful, to repent as often as possible. Repentance doesn't have to be a negative thing, it is very motivating and turns your thoughts and heart to the Savior consistently  And it is very motivating finding even in the small things that desire to want to show my love more for Heavenly Father and Christ. Another thing I have learned and cheesy but true = Love! It's the biggest tool to keep me motivated, to remind me why I'm serving, and to remember who I am and to learn more fully of God's love. I always am turned to the lyrics from Les Miserable that best describes this, "To Love Another Person IS to SEE the face of God." This week I have poured my heart and soul to God and found my answers into not giving up on the mission. It has been tough to Love people with all your heart and see them decide to walk away from God and to learn my part is to just trust in God that it will work out. And so far it has!

Beautiful purple blossomed trees in Florida

The sweet little girl we have been meeting, (Danesha), we were thrilled with because she said that she believed and said yes to the baptism invitation. It was such a wonderful experience but a couple days latter we had her aunt call telling us that we shouldn't be calling or texting a 10 year old girl and she told us that if we called again she would call the cops on us. I was stunned because her mother has always known, we have only called to set up appointments, and we only text out a scripture of the day, every day. Nothing inappropriate. We were kind to the Aunt but after we hung up I was so frustrated because this little girl has such a strong testimony and it killed me to know that this was being taken away from her without a choice on her part. It was so sad too because she kept calling our phone and left a voicemail crying on it. We then got a text from her saying that she wasn't with her aunt and was with her mom. We were lucky to text the mom and make sure everything was ok and we are meeting with her this week. We have been very blessed! I am praying with all my heart that her mother will give permission for her to be baptized, this girl is special!

Anywho other blessings: we asked our branch president's (President Stretch) mother-in-law to pray to be baptized, she is 102 and goes to church, has read The Book of Mormon but hasn't been baptized because she doesn't think she needs to because she's been baptized in the Methodist church. We explained in a tactful way why she needed to be baptized and asked her to pray about it and on Sunday when we say her she was a lot more positive about it all. She hasn't prayed yet but we are meeting with her on Tuesday/tomorrow and we are praying she will pray to get that answer :D So pray for Sweet Sister Stutzs! I know it would mean so much to Sister Stretch, she clearly has a wonderful relationship with her mother and I know that for Sister Stutzs the blessings she could obtain from this step would be amazing.

Oh and speaking of our focus with Returning members, Sister Jenkins and I discovered yesterday we have about 60 people to bring back to church and to help rekindle their testimonies. Crazy eh?!

Anywho, my time is running out on the clock but I love you all so much. And I will be writing snail mail letters home today, so woot to the woot! Oh and I'll have to write about the beautiful blessing I received from the Branch President, very neat experience.

The last thing I wanted to write about before I'm kicked off :) I wanted to wish Mama, a belated happy birthday. It about broke my heart when I realized I never sent a letter to wish this amazing woman a Happy Birthday!!!! Mama mumsie :) I love you so much. I am seriously the luckiest girl in the world to have you as a mother. You have prepared me for a mission my whole life without even realizing it because you are that much of an incredible woman and qualify along side Emma Smith  that beautiful description of an Elect Lady. You have taught me to Love with all my heart, you have taught the importance of selfless service, you have been the example of always having a bold and humble testimony of the truth of the gospel and of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that any of the success I have out here on the mission is credited back to you. I only hope to honor all that you have taught me in the knowledge of being a daughter of God and a witness of Christ. I love you and will have a letter coming your way of everything or at least try to write everything that I am grateful for because of you. I love you so much and again I can't express enough the depths of love and gratitude I have that you are my mother.

So much love for you all and of course miss you like crazy but I can be happy to know that the Lord is watching over each and every one of you!

My (cheesy) eternal love :)

Sister (Tasha) Bush