Christmas

Oh what a Christmas in Liberia! These past few days have been really fun and really crazy. I think I've gained about 500 pounds in the course of 3 days. Gonna have to do some serious dieting and exercise after the New Year is finished. Can you believe that the year is almost finished? Weird.

We actually had some good success in our missionary work this week despite all of the activities. We found a couple that is married and who seem fairly interested and have also received some new people to teach so I'm really excited about that. Hopefully a couple that we are teaching will get their marriage certificate soon. 

Besides that we had a pretty sweet Christmas party for all the missionaries on Saturday which was actually a lot of fun. We exchanged gifts and things and had a good time.

I was super excited to talk to my family on Christmas! Everything at home sounds like its great. Can't wait to go back in 4 years! 

I really enjoyed Christmas this year and I'm so grateful for all the wonderful support and love that I feel from all of you guys! I wish you all the best and hope you have the best holiday season. I'll make sure to share some of the warmth from Liberia with all of you real soon because its starting to get really hot here. Somehow I'm still getting a cold but whatever. 

Love you all talk to you soon! 

Elder Bush(right side near edge)

Warning to Full-time Missionaries

Please. If you are serving your mission right now stop reading this email. It will only leave you feeling sad I promise you. ;)

Liberia I tell you...

This week was really great and also crazy hectic. I felt like we had absolutely no time to relax or do anything. Whenever it's like that though time seems to go by really fast which is great. 

The reason I said that Full-Time missionaries should not read this email is because on Saturday we had a baptism for only our companionship. Elder Obasohan and myself baptized 9 people on Saturday and then confirmed all 9 on Sunday. In all honestly it was supposed to be 12 but then we had some small issues with a couple of the people and decided that they weren't ready yet so hopefully we'll get to baptize those ones later. But yeah, 9 people!! Isn't that awesome?! We have been working with these people for so long and I was so happy that they finally made the decision to be baptized that I wanted to be the one to perform the ordinance. There was one small boy who came to be baptized and then started crying and saying that his dad would cuss him and his sister so he didn't want to be baptized in that church.... We'll try and work with him and the father, but he didn't end up being baptized. Other than that the baptism was a great success and there were even a lot of members there to support and welcome them to the church. What a beautiful 2 days!!

That was mostly what I remember from this week. There were some other things too but I always seem to forget you know. 

We asked one small child this week who God was and he said, "the son of God... I don't know".

One woman that we are teaching this week said that Americans were really lazy because they don't even wash their own dishes they just put them in a machine. She even went as far as to say that they are lazy in their education because they only do a few subjects or something like that. I just laughed because Liberians are sometimes the laziest people that I've ever met and their educational system is so poor it's not even funny. Americans are a lot of things, but one thing they are not is lazy. Well, most of them at least. 

I still love Liberia though. I am so grateful to serve here. I truly love the people.

I love all of you and wish you a very Merry Christmas. My Christmas on you! (Meaning you are supposed to get me a gift for Christmas... A lot of people say that to us.)

Much love,

Elder Bush

Tell Your Ma Say I Here

Hello all of my wonderful friends,

This week was good and very busy. So busy in fact that I don't really have time to write to you guys because we were doing lots of stuff yesterday.

There's this song that they play here all the time now called Tell Your Ma Say I Here and it's kind of funny but I guess it's also a really bad song so don't look it up... Actually you wouldn't understand it anyways so go ahead. It just makes me laugh that's all. 

Lots of good stuff from this week but you'll just have to wait till next week to hear about it. For now just know that I love you and things are going well. Talk to you soon.

Love,

Elder Bush

Christmas is coming o!!!!

December 2016

Hello all how the day? I guess I could say morning since it's early in Sac Town and other parts of the states.

This week was cool. My companion and I are getting along pretty well and working well with one another. Things are really going well and I'm really happy with the progress that we are making in our area and as companions. We can fight but it's all friendly of course :)

We had the opportunity to go out with the Senior couples this week on Tuesday to proselyte. Elder Obasohan and I went with Elder and Sister Barker mainly to visit with some less active members of the church because that's mostly what they wanted to do. It was a really great experience and I learned a lot from them. They always highlighted a truth of the gospel in whatever we were teaching that really helped to focus on the true purpose of our message. I'm not sure how well the people that we were talking to understood them, but maybe their words were meant for me more than they were for the investigators that day. Sister Barker was funny and reminded me of my mom a little bit which made me happy.

Besides that this week was pretty normal. I cooked fried rice today and it's pretty good actually so I guess I'll come home a full blown cook and barber so there's that.

We also saw two guys start to fight and that was really funny for some reason to me. They both were too scared to take the first hit so neither swung for a while until one of the guys pulled out his knife. After that they both started to look for something to hit the other with. One tried to grab a chair that someone was selling but they said no. These old women were clapping and doing some chant encouraging them. I think after they couldn't find anything they just kind of gave up on the whole thing. Probably fighting over 5 or 10 Liberian dollars I don't know. Cool stuff always happens in Africa you know. 

I am really grateful to be in Africa this Christmas. Let me tell you why. Every Christmas I always try to focus on the Christ in Christmas like everyone says right? But amidst the holiday season I always seem to get lost in the presents, decorations and general season for reasons other than Christ. However, this year I am in Africa and although I will not be with my family there will be no presents. There will be no concern about anything but our Savior Jesus Christ and my family and friends and family at home. I can't imagine children here will get many presents but they are the happiest people on the earth regardless. My goal this year is that I don't worry about anything for myself but only things for others. Sharing the gospel and putting a smile on others faces is all I need this year. It may sound cheesy but I really feel so blessed to be in such humble circumstances this year. I hope you can feel some of that too. 

I'm so happy to be serving the Lord for two years and I'm so blessed to be doing it an a country with such wonderful and humble people. I hope one day I can be as loving and compassionate and kind and charitable as they are. 

Happy Holidays!

Elder Bush

Pics

Only a few pics cause I'm lame. Make sure to send me pictures though because I like seeing your beautiful faces.

Sister Kofa, Elder Osei, Elder Tayie, Elder Bush, Elder Tana playing Monopoly on P day because Sister Kofa is my favorite person in the world!  I'm pretty sure that I've never played Monopoly before but it was fun! It is a really long game though and we didn't finish and I'm not really sure how it would end...

 Bad picture of me and my comp (light skin one) at the conference

WE EATIN' STAKE

First of all, yes I know how to properly spell "steak". Liberia has not changed me that much. But there is huge news from Liberia! They just started their first Stake again! 

For those of you that don't know the significance of a stake, it basically just means that the church is growing and that's a good thing. The church is in branches and districts when it first starts somewhere, and then turns into wards and stakes once it grows and gets more established, which is the case here. On Sunday we had the big conference and the Area Seventy came and it was super great. The Elder's Quorum President in my branch was made to be the District President which is cool. 

The church is really growing in Liberia and it makes me so happy to see such great progression here after all the hardship that these people have gone through. The truly faithful and devoted members really deserve this and will continue to be blessed as they continue the work and keep the commandments. 

For me this week was interesting. It's always a little different to adjust once you receive a new companion but I'm doing my best. Everything good will come with time and patience and love and by being obedient. We saw a lot of people this week though which made me happy. I feel that getting a new companion or area always gives you strength to work hard again so that's what I look forward to when there is a change. 

Thanksgiving was pretty normal here because apparently they have their own thanksgiving and it was like the first week of November. I almost forgot but then I remembered and made sure to get some nice food going. We ordered some food from a place that is in town and they delivered it for free! Basically a chicken place but it's good food. I had some mac n cheese too so I made that. The good part about not seeing things about Thanksgiving is that it didn't make me think of home as much! 

Everything here is great and small small my companion and I will work together and get everything figured out in our area. We're trying our best so that's all we can do right? Okay-o. 

Much love to you all!

Elder Bush

Sleep at Last

Hello fam,

I have great news for this week. Not really this past week but for the coming week I'm so excited about. 

This gone week we had some interesting days once again. I got sick a little bit this week but I'm better and I'm feeling alright now. I think part of it could have some from lack of sleep honestly. Not too much sleep for the boy the past 6 months but all of that will change now! We struggled a little bit this week to have lessons, well relatively I guess. I don't know how many lessons other missionaries teach in different missions but we only had 24 this week and that's a pretty bad week for me. 

Anyways, we had a little conference broadcast thing on Sunday for the West Africa Region and there were some really good speakers. Elder Stevenson was one of the ones who spoke because he just came here not too long ago. They talked a lot about how life can be really hard but you need to continue to push forward and God will bless you. A lot of people here have a tough life and I think they saw that when they came here. One of the other speakers that spoke before the broadcast started was President Yanforth. He is the District President here and he spoke about the church first starting here. He has seen a lot of things here as far as the church is concerned. He was there from the very start and probably has so many cool stories. He also mentioned an old man who was one of the first members who is in our area that we recently helped to reactivate. He said that the church in Liberia now has somewhere around 9,000 members! It's really growing here and missionary work is moving. 

I got my new companion today and he's super cool. His name is Elder Obasohan and he is from Nigeria but he's not like a lot of the other Nigerians. The best news really is that he doesn't snore! I tell God thank you. I'm really looking forward to working with him and I think things will improve a lot. I've been having a hard time small. 

In other news it's beginning to get really hot here while it's getting really cold at home! So all of you guys are starting to bundle up in layers and I'm beginning to sweat from every pore again. I actually kind of enjoy the heat to be honest. You just tend to get used to sweating every minute of the day. 

This transfer we should be having some baptisms that I'm really excited about. One family is getting married and will shortly after be baptized, and a lot of others that we've been talking to and working with for a while will finally enter the waters of baptism after some great conversion processes. I love the work I am doing and I feel that this new companion will help me to gain back some of my strength and motivation because I need it! 

Love you all!

All the best,

Elder Bush

More Pictures!

Football (soccer)  at Hotel Africa which was supposed to be like the biggest hotel in Africa but then I think the war came or something I'm not sure...

 The aftermath of about maybe a 30 to 45 minute rain I think. My companion decided to take off his socks and walk through it in his Crocs. Small children just stripped down to their boxers and ran through it hahahaha.

 One cool bridge we pass

 Our district with matching ties we got (poorly) made for us.

Me and my friend Nessie

The kids in their school uniforms.

 The Youth program

 Me carrying bucket on my head like an African :)

Desean Jackson jersey that I found and bought for less than $3 US.

Allergic to the World

Hey friends and family and everyone else! How the day? Hope your body fine-o because mine was not this week. 

Couple of things first. Tuesday it rained so hard I think it could have filled all of Folsom Lake in about an hour or so. Liberia weather is nuts and I'm getting a little tired of such bipolar activity. Saturday they told me that I would be getting a new companion so that's interesting. And on Friday I thought I was going to shrivel into a ball and die.

So here's the story. On Wednesday morning I started to feel really itchy all over my body and I kept scratching all day but we just continued because I figured it was just the heat or somethings. I got some rashes on my body that night but I just went to sleep and in the morning it was all gone so I thought problem solved no big deal. Wrong. Thursday morning I woke up and we had a meeting so on the way there my face started to feel funny and when we got to the church the rash or hives had gotten to my face and it was puffed up a little bit. I called the Mission President's wife and she just kind of said to wait it out  so I did and by the end of the meeting I felt okay and it had gone down. We went to eat and then after we ate it started to come back again but like all over my body really bad and really itchy. Once we got back to the apartment I took an allergy pill and it completely went away again and once again I thought that was it. Well I was wrong again. Friday I was completely okay and then Friday night I decided to exercise a little bit which was the worst decision ever. My face swelled up and looked like a grape that had sat in the sun and was turning into a raisin. It was one of the grossest things I've ever seen and I will not be sending the pictures for that reason. I took more allergy pills and waited for a while while my chest gave me extreme pain that I didn't understand. I thought maybe I overdosed on allergy medication because that was my third one that day hahaha. It went down but it wasn't even until Saturday night that it went away completely. I'm scared to exercise now. Apparently some other missionaries have had the same problem recently but we don't know what it is. Super weird but I think I'm okay now but maybe that's foolish of me to think again haha. I don't seem to have any problems today though! Just thought I would share that little story with you :)

Everything else is good and the week was a little slow but this week should be really fun I think!! Love all of you guys and that's about all I'll share for today. I'll try and send some pictures. 

Much love,

Elder Bush

Photos!

 Elder Bush celebrating his 20th birthday at his apartment and at Monroe Chicken--kind of a tradition for the elders to go there.

 The birthday shirt Alisa and her kids made for Steven's birthday

 Elder Bush and his Companion, Elder Tana from Hawaii

 The baptism of Janet--She was afraid of the water but she did it!

 Basketball near the river in New Kru Town

 The Primary Program--didn't go so well because the mics weren't working

 The coolest elder in Liberia-he thinks..

I'm Coming Home

Just kidding I will never be coming home I think after two years they'll just tell me to stay.  Ha bet I scared my mother and a few other people.

In other news, this week was just another ordinary week. I feel like each week when I come to write my letter I forget about all the stuff that has happened during the week. 

OH I just remembered one. Okay on Monday last week we went to play basketball in another area on a court that is actually not that bad for Liberian standards. It was really fun, but then it wasn't even until later that night that I realized that I had lost my mission phone. I was so bummed because all of the people that we talk to each day are on that phone. I called it and it was still ringing which I thought was odd. The next morning we called it again and it was still ringing but no one was answering. We decided to take a chance and go there in the morning to look for it before going out to teach. We looked around the court for a while and finally had the other missionaries call it and by some miracle we found it! It had gotten kicked off the side of the court I think and was hidden in the grass so no one saw it and took it. I really believe that God hid it so no one would find it because he knew how important it is to our work. I tell God thank you. 

I just have one other really long but amazing story I want to share. Once upon a time there were 3 little girls that visited the church in an another area and wanted to be learn more and be baptized in the church. Because Elder Bush is very stubborn he insisted that we met with their parents to teach the family before the actual possibility of a baptism would take place. Finally, we met with the parents. I will focus on the single mother of one of the 12 year old girls and her 9 year old brother (although the parents of one of the other girls both are attending church they can't be baptized until they solve their marriage issue). So, we finally met with this woman and her two children but at first it wasn't looking too great. She told us that she had already been baptized and she liked to shake body (dance) in her church. We basically just told her that we wanted her just to visit along with some other scriptures that helped us with our case. She agreed... 

5 Sundays in a row now she and her children have attended the church. She reads the places we give her in the Book of Mormon. She believes and prays about what we tell her to be true. And this gone Sunday she told us that she wanted to pay her tithe before she becomes a full member. Every time that we see her she just looks so happy. She gives us food every time that she comes and tells us that she has no problem with getting baptized now. We are hoping that next transfer she will enter the waters. She is absolutely my favorite person to teach and I love meeting with her and seeing the difference in how she was before and how she is now. This gone Sunday I was praying and fasting that she would continue to progress and overcome the fear of being baptized in the church. I love this gospel so much. 

This letter is very long now so I'll end here. We played football (soccer) today and that was fun but I should never be a goalie again. Africans are crazy. 

Love you all,

Elder Bush

P.S. Pray for your country and this Presidential election. I'm proud to be a Liberian now ;)

Short and Sweet

This week will be short because we played basketball today and we got a little behind but at least I'm getting to you!

Really fun to play basketball today but so much heat and sunburn which is sweet I have an awesome farmers tan. This week was not too eventful. Someone broke into our compound this week which just means inside our gate. All they stole was just two pairs of shoes which were outside (unfortunately one of which was my sandals for a reason I don't understand) and they reached inside our window in a different room and took one of my flash drives which made me sad. The only thing that I had on it though was just pictures which are still on my memory card so that's good. Just have to be more careful I guess. I will copy all of my pictures from my camera onto another flash soon. Then I can send some. 

We had over 30 investigators in church again this gone Sunday. One of the members also made me a bunch of food for my birthday last week which was really sweet of her. They have a lot of money which made me fel better because everyone wants to cook for us but I always feel bad when they don't have any money because it's like, I don't need that food you do! But yeah. 

One couple said that they would be getting married in December so we could finally baptize them because they've been coming to church for so long now! That made me happy. Everything is okay here! We also had interviews with President this week which were good.

Love you guys! Hope God will be with this country after the election on the 8th... Pray for your country... 

Elder Bush

Out of the Teens

What's up everyone? yes I am no longer in my teenage youth and am now a big adult with lots of responsibilities and wisdom. I don't feel old, I feel the same. In fact, I still feel really young like I'm 17 or 18. 

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! it means a lot to me that you all sent your love from so far away. I bless Gah for ya'll-o.

This week was cool. I didn't do much for my birthday because I don't make too much of a deal out of it. We just went out and proselyted like any other Saturday. Today we did go in town to a nice little restaurant though to get some food which was pretty sweet. But I got a wonderful package from my beautiful mother that made me very much happy. Amazingly enough, she sent it on Tuesday and I got a call from the office saying that they had it on Friday! Only 3 days is insane. 

The really good news from this week though was from Sunday. We had 27 of the people that we are teaching come to church. Even 4 came late that we didn't technically consider to count because they were so late but still. Chi, Liberia is sweet! We're hoping for several baptisms in the next month or two. 

We had one baptism on my birthday which was sweet. Sister Janet is 9 years old and both of her parents are members. The reason she wasn't baptized when she was 8 was because apparently she was living with her grandma or something. She had a really hard time going in the water though because she was deathly afraid of going backwards. It was really sad but also kind of funny and she finally went and I was happy. Yeah. 

Short letter this week so I can try to respond to you all. Love you guys Liberia is cool sometimes.

Elder Bush

Photos

 The more exciting way to cut your lawn...

 This is a keke. Six Elders are crammed in this one.

What A Ride

Oh what a life here in Liberia. Things have gone up and down and all around this week it really was quite a roller coaster. 

I'm still doing well and everything is great in the life of this missionary so here is a little about my week. 

My companion and I had a little rough spot at the beginning of this week that we eventually figured out and everything is cool now. Kind of makes me want to never get married because I like my independence and doing what I want to do... But I guess maybe one day I will do that who knows. We had another service project where we use machetes and other stuff to cut down weeds and grass. Yes, we just use machetes! it's super tight and I'll probably bring some home. It was fun and ants here really suck.

I was feeling a little discouraged because I was thinking that this transfer (6 weeks) we will probably only have one baptism but then something happened... WE FINALLY FOUND A LEGALLY MARRIED COUPLE. I don't think you understand how difficult it is to find someone who is married legally here. I'm so excited to teach this family and hopefully see them progress. Bro Emmanuel and Martha are very kind and they have two children. One is 8 and the other is 6 and they are very willing to listen to us. They told us that next week they will visit us at the church and I really hope that is true it would make me so happy. Another blessing that came was another woman and her 3 children that came to church on Sunday and are ready for the gospel. She's not married, but she isn't living with a man. We taught all of them and are hoping they will be ready by November 19th. Even the ma of these small children that we were teaching came to church again and we weren't even able to see her this week because she wasn't home. Yesterday we had 21 investigators come to church and I couldn't be happier. I can really feel the blessings coming in and we're very hopeful for some upcoming baptisms. I love this work that we are doing so much. I look forward to helping others know the truth each and every day. 

After church we went and saw a less active woman who has been coming back to church and she had a bunch of food for us. Very nice plantains and chicken and all kind of stuff to make me fat but it was very sweet. 

The only other bad news was when my companion almost killed a keke driver because he wanted to charge us more than what the drive cost us... I held him back and he's doing okay now. We all learn from our mistakes so it's all good. Hopefully it won't happen again, I'm just glad I was there because that dude would be in the hospital right now if I wasn't. He said he was sorry and drove away nervously hahaha. 

No running water right now but hopefully that gets fixed soon. I'm happy right now and my stomach hurts a little bit but no wahala. I love you all. Keep me in touch and updated. 

Elder Bush

Wha Good Wit Da Fam

What's up my people. Aye I speakin the real coloqua now-o. I tellin you if I talk to you now now you would get me at alll. Just wait for two years to come I will speak it good good!

It's so weird to be on mission and actually love to study. This week I was going through Mosiah and read about Abinadi again. That man absolutely destroyed everyone that he spoke to. He spoke with power and authority and confounded people in their words. As I study I feel like I want to do the same. I feel that the more that I know, the more I can call upon the spirit to help me to bring people to a better understanding and testimony of the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon. I don't mean that I want to argue, but there is something really powerful about being able to defend yourself and your beliefs with both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Sometimes I wonder if Pastors here actually read the Bible because they don't understand it.

We had a great week and we taught a lot of people. We began to visit some different people and had a bunch of people give us others to teach. We received one woman who when we met with her had like 9 other people (all women) sit down with us as well. They all listened and understood and said they would come to church. Unfortunately it rained so I'm sure that was their excuse. I love how Liberians are so ready and happy to share the gospel. They want their friends to know and tell people they should meet with the missionaries when they are saying false things about the church. It makes getting referrals and new investigators so much easier because usually we don't even have to ask.

One woman was near us as we were teaching a man named Emmanuel this week who said she was interested and would come to church. To our surprise, both her, her husband, and brother Emmanuel who had only come one time were all to the church on Sunday! Not yet sure if they're legally married but it was still wonderful to see. Also, the parents of these children that we have been seeing also came to church on Sunday! One of them had a concern because we don't "shake body" at our church, but hopefully we can work that out.

Oh Liberia is sweet. On Saturday I think, we were about to go out and all of the sudden HEAVY RAIN came. Chi, not small thing my man. It rained all day pretty much but the rain around 10 am was extreme. To be honest with you, I'm actually getting a little tired of the rain. I love it, but to have to walk in it and carry my umbrella everywhere is getting to be a pain. Plus, I get cold a lot even though it's like 80 degrees outside. I will die when I go home.

Everything here is very good. Our apartment is very nice and the people are great. No wahala from me :) Hope all is well at home and everyone appreciates the little things! I can never take constant power for granted again... Oh America.

Love you all!

Elder Bush

What's Up

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I feel like my letter last week was weird but hopefully the one for this week will be better.

So first off, we had conference this week and I met a white family here from Salt Lake that are all members and they, more specifically the father, are the coolest people in the world. He started an orphanage here and is living like a real Liberian honestly. They treat missionaries very well. These people have limited power, no running water and are constantly taking care of little children with no parents. They say they also share the gospel and have baptized some people. They are not in my area but I wish they were. We have gas stoves but until last week they were just using coal. But now they have one gas stove thing I guess. Crazy. I talked to them at the Conference. Their children also go to school here which I think is nuts. Apparently they just got a big donation which should help them. They're really cool people.

This week we finally got to meet with the parents of some of the children we were teaching and that was super cool. They seem somewhat interested and I'm really happy and ready to start teaching them. This Monday was also transfer day and nothing happened. My companion and I are still in the same area and are going to continue to work hard.

There is one woman in our branch who was recently baptized that we saw this week with some major issues. We saw her when it was getting dark so I couldn't see her face too well, but I could tell something was wrong. So I asked her what was wrong right away. She kind of looked to her friend sitting by her and said, "This boy smart!" I feel like I've developed a talent for knowing when something is wrong with a person. But anyways, she turned her face and said something like, "Ain't you seen the bruise the returned missionary gave me?" Her husband served a mission in Nigeria and is a police officer. Sadly, he now often gets drunk and then beats her. She's taken him to the police, but they are all his friends so they don't do anything about it. So yeah, Africa is sweet sometimes. Doesn't mean all returned missionaries are like that obviously, but it's just sad to hear about because that just sucks. We talked to Mission President so hopefully he can help to do something about it.

Today we went back to my old area to visit few people. It was good to see those few but I also need to stay focused on my area. Things are good here in this area and we are trying our best. I think our companionship is improving and everything is okay. The only problem is the snoring that my companion can do. I don't get too much sleep but maybe when I get home I can rest small. Sweet is the work, hot is the sun.

Love you all,

Elder Bush

These are some questions from my mom, and answers from me:

Your last couple of letters have not been very informative. Even though your day seems ordinary to you, we would love to hear how it goes. What do you eat for breakfast lunch and dinner? Who are you teaching? What are you studying and learning about? What do you have a testimony of? How do you get to the mission office? These are the things we wonder about because we want to know every little detail about your crazy life or your ordinary life in Liberia. Do you have running water and flushing toilets in your new area? No well? I wish I could just be a fly on the wall and see everything! How did you get to Conference and how many sessions did you see?


Okay so this area really is really making my last look a lot worse, at least the apartment. Like I can't complain about anything. We have current in the apartment every night from about 7 at night to 6 in the morning. There is always running water so we haven't had to draw from a well at all. There is a local supermarket that has expensive cereal that I buy and eat for breakfast. There is this like sterilized and very processed milk called Uht milk that I drink that isn't that bad. My companion often tells me that he is feeling hot and I tell him that I'm feeling cold, or at least not sweating super bad. Dry season is coming again soon and I'm actually kind of excited. We're teaching a lot of people who are not married but this week we got some great new investigators that we're excited about. A lot of times smaller children want to be taught, but if you teach them and ask for their parents then usually you can teach families which is cool. We get to the mission office by these small three wheeled vehicles called keke which are sweet and then also by being packed into a car which isn't that fun but not hard to find. Right now I'm studying the Old Testament and the Bible. Why am I studying the Old Testament you might ask? Well, come to Africa and you will see. Basically it is to have more knowledge of the Bible, have a good knowledge when I take the class at BYU and to confound more pastors in their extremely flawed view of the Bible and religion. But I'm learning a lot and I really enjoy studying now. I've read the New Testament and the Book of Mormon so that's what I'm doing now. We watched conference this week, just the Saturday afternoon session and it was really great. I listened really intently to the messages and loved every minute of it. We also got to watch the Priesthood session. Apparently some other chapels had a hard time viewing it, but I really enjoyed it.

My American Friends

My dear friends. There are a lot of things separating us from each other but I think the biggest one besides that very large mass of water is the fact that I will now consider myself to be Liberian. Sure, it may be a little premature and you may be asking yourself why I am even saying this. I am asking myself the same question but I just feel like I am part of this country now and nothing seems out of the ordinary any more. Also, nothing too eventful happened this week so I needed something to say.

It's been 7 months and I'm happy to say that it has not felt like that much time. This week went by so fast and made me feel like I am just an ordinary citizen here. I miss nice things from home but nothing seems to phase me anymore if that makes sense.

Nonetheless there is still much more to see and do in this place! This week we had 2 people baptized that we have been teaching. Bro Melvin and Zayzay. Bro Melvin is an older man around 40 and we had to go in town to have his interview because of some mistakes he has made in his past, but his interview went well. President Carlson was really impressed and said that he will be a great leader in the church one day even. I love our mission President so much. That guy is so cool he just makes serving a mission really enjoyable.

This week I had a little hard time because I don't sleep too much. My companion snores all night and I'm just busy sometimes but I get enough to survive so that's all I ask for.

Oh, I was the baptist on Saturday.

 And one day I will explore the giant termite hills that you see around Africa. They're really cool. Not too much else has happened, but we are working hard and seeing some success so hopefully we don't die.

Love you all and I'm sorry this email was boring next week something might happen I'll let you know.

Elder Bush

Even MORE

The four Americans that came with me! Now 7 months in and still strong!

My previous companion losing more weight

 

My MTC companion is now a Zone Leader. Thank goodness that's not me.

This is the guy who always fixes our generator when bad stuff happens to it. He's pretty cool and likes me a lot for some reason but I don't really know why. Maybe he will teach me how to fix it one day. Africa stuff right?

MORE PICTURES

Cool pictures in my area! You can see the chapel from a place that is full of water and we have to walk over planks to get through. Our chapel is very big. I like walking over the planks and shaking it as I go to see if it will break. Hopefully it doesn't. The whole place will be dry in a couple months during dry season.

My companion before and after I cut his hair.

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Apostle Visit

So this week was really sweet. Gary E Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and visited us and spoke to us. Again, probably not much meaning to you but I thought it was cool. His message to us as missionaries was pretty simple but very powerful. My favorite part was when he explained that we know obedience leads to blessings and blessings lead to happiness. In contrast, Wickedness will lead to punishment and punishment will lead to sorrow. He said that most people mistake this pattern and seem to think that wickedness will somehow lead us to happiness but that is not how things work. So we need to be sure that we are obedient to the Lord and his commandments and then we can expect happiness.

Besides that it was a pretty normal week. Elder Soares of the Seventy also came to us and was with us on Sunday too when we had a conference. It was far away but we still had some of the people that we are teaching come which was great!

I don't feel like writing that much today so I'll write more next week. Love you all and I'll try to send some pictures because those are worth a thousand words right? ;)
This first pictures are of some children platting my hair in my last area.

Baptism in last area :)

One of the people I baptized in my last area named Comfort

You tink dat small ting?

The subject in this email doesn't really have anything to do with what I am writing today but I like it when people say that.

Anyways this week was normal and also pretty fast so I was happy. Missionary work in Liberia is sweet my man. Even though things aren't always easy, I'm so happy that I'm here and not anywhere else.

The coolest thing that happened this week was when there was a thief that got caught at the church. Hopefully my mom an attach that story because I already sent it to her and I don't feel like writing it again. But seriously if you ever go to Africa please do not steal they will beat you until your brain does not work anymore. 

"The Story":We had a meeting for missionaries at the church today, but immediately following the meeting there was a guy who got cornered into the church compound because people chased him there and started beating him because he stole a big water barrel. After people beat him with rods and sticks for a while they finally locked him in a room and waited for the police to come. In the room he broke the window, but don't worry there are bars on all doors and windows so he couldn't get out.

In Africa, and especially in Liberia, if you steal or thieve, even if it is something that would cost about 10 LD(about 10 cents), these people will literally beat you to death. People in the community or just around will come and join in and just start beating you until you die or until someone pleads for your case. Especially if it's not the first time they've caught you. Africa is cool. Justice done the right way if you ask me. A biscuit in exchange for your life makes sense to me. ;) Anyways, that's my story. Stay free America.

My companion and I did not have a baptism this week but the other elders in the apartment did and let me tell you... TIA (This is Africa). Anything that could have gone wrong basically did. The font had no water and no power to pump water so we had to carry buckets of water and dump them into the font from one singular faucet outside until the thing was full. The people that were supposed to be baptized were late so we had to go to their place and get them. There was even a woman that was supposed to get interviewed that morning and when President Sayon (the guy doing the interview) finally came very late the woman failed the interview because she still had some issues she needs to fix. All kinds of issues but the work must go on! 

The only other news is that some General Authorities from the church are coming this week and that's really exciting. Apparently an Apostle is coming as well but we don't know which one yet. We think it may be because they are finally going to create a stake here which would be really exciting because all we have is branches right now. Sorry for everyone who isn't Mormon because I'm sure that this part is really confusing and doesn't make any sense, but just know that some church stuff is going on and I'm excited for it!

Everything with my companion is good. He is a good guy and we had a really nice talk this week where he opened up to me and told me some things that have happened in his life that have not made it too easy. We're working well together and seeing a lot of progress from the people that we are teaching so all is well.

Liberia is still Liberia.

Oh! This apartment also has a water heater and I finally turned it on and started using it this week and it was so sweet. My first hot bath without a bucket in like almost 7 months. Livin big!!

Love you all bye bye o

Elder Bush

99 And 1 Sheep

First thing is first... I apologize for the depressing letter from last week. Things really started looking up this week and I'm really happy so let me tell you about it.

This week I would would like to start by explaining what happened on Wednesday. As missionaries, sometimes we change companions for a day so that we can learn from other missionaries and experience different areas and whatnot. Well, Wednesday I went with a missionary named Elder Mensah to his area to proselyte with him and spent the night at their apartment. My experience there was not great. Not to go into too much detail, I didn't enjoy the night too much, and I didn't really enjoy the way that the day went because of how we taught our lessons... I know I'm being vague, but I don't want to speak ill against others too much. THE POINT IS, that when I got back to my apartment, with my companion, and with my own bed and everything I was super happy. I felt that the experience made me realize that things could be a lot worse than what they are.

I have really grown to love my companion. He is a sweetheart and just has a little anger issue that we're working on now. He got upset in a meeting with just missionaries this week and had to punch the wall a couple of times just to make sure that it was solid and wouldn't fall down. After he walked outside though and I talked to him and cooled him down a little bit he said his hand was okay and the cement wall took the win... This time.

But anyways! He got a huge 44 pound package from his mother full of junk food this week which made him really happy and it made me happy that he was happy. But he is also super generous with the food which is nice.

One other story that I wanted to share. We taught a lot of people this week and a lot came to church actually (19). But I think the best part was when we met with this one woman called Sister Sharba. She said that she was baptized in 2011 and was preparing to serve mission, but then she got pregnant and didn't go. She actually continued to stay in the church until she saw all her other friends going. She did not go to church for two years straight because she felt bad because she wanted to serve a mission so bad but felt shamed when she saw everyone else going and she couldn't. We talked to her, but most importantly, we listened to what she said. I did my best to really understand how she was feeling and then responded. I told her that as bad as she feels, her 5 year old son has been telling her that he wants to go to church, and the best and greatest responsibility a woman has in this world is not to serve a mission, but rather to bare and take care of children. That is the greatest gift that He has given them and that is what she needs to focus on. And while that is the best gift, she needs to focus on that child and do what is best for him, which is to come to church. I told her that even if she did not serve a mission, her son still has the opportunity to, but the only way to do that is if she comes to church with him. I felt the spirit as we taught this woman and as she told us that she would come to church. The greatest part was, however, when we saw her at church the next day... For the first time in two years. She had friends that thanked us for bringing her back. I felt so grateful that at least I could try to do my own small part for this woman and that the Lord did the rest.

I love my mission. I love you all! Hope you have the best week :)

Go find those lost sheep :)
 Elder Bush