Mind and Body

So this week of course was an interesting one once again!

I'm basically on the biggest roller coaster in the world here (even though the people have probably never even heard of a roller coaster before). I have some of the highest highs and lowest lows I think out of anyone I know, but mostly I enjoy. 

SO here's the thing. I won't go into too much detail, but I'm sure you all have great imaginations so you can infer what has happened. My stomach has not felt too well this week. Yeah, you knew it was going to come at some point but you hope it never comes. Luckily enough for me though, The Lord was merciful upon me and helped me to have the strength to go out and teach every day this week. However, as soon as we returned to the apartment the pain returned but that's alright. Today I'm feeling much better and I'm hoping that will be left behind me. I'm thinking that all of my little afflictions are in the past now. 

So onto the good news! Remember that crazy guy who I talked about who had the orphanage and claimed to be an apostle that we were going to? Yeah, well we stopped going there because he wasn't a member and it kind of hurt my heart to see those sweet children living in such poor conditions. I do think that God recognized our efforts though because when we were walking back from that place one time a man named Brother Wah stopped us. Now, Jacob's Town is about a 40 minute walk from the chapel and so when he stopped us we didn't really think much of it. We gave him a pamphlet and invited him to church but we didn't even take his number because he lives so far away. We are very foolish people obviously.

Brother Wah has now attended church the past 4 Sundays. We walk to his house every Wednesday and Friday (because we're not allowed to take motor bikes anymore) which is still about 40 minutes each way. It is totally and completely worth it. This man reads everything that we give him (which is also rare because most people have a hard time reading so they don't try) and he truly understands it and accepts it. He is the best person you could ever wish to teach on your mission and is just a perfect investigator in the church for missionaries and I love going to see him. He has even told us that someone called him one week and said something was wrong with his car on Sunday, but he came anyways because he knew it was just the devil trying to keep him from getting closer to God. Then the next week he couldn't find his keys so he broke the lock on his door because he didn't have time to search and so that he could get to church on time. He then replaced the locks later. Yeah, he's awesome. He's a sure baptism and I'm so excited for it.

In other news, the rain hasn't started except for once at night but I know that it will come some. Probably a week or two away now. We have rain boots and an umbrella though so I'm really excited. Again, they say at times it will rain for 7 days straight, day and night. So pumped.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures that I was able to send last week! I was really relieved that I finally got to give people an idea of what kind of area I'm in. It's super cool and I thank God every day that I'm able and physically fit enough to serve in such a remote, but incredible place. I truly feel blessed.

Oh! Also, last week I found Ramen Noodles and that made me really happy. I made them today and I'm pretty sure that ants had gotten in them but I think I picked them all out so... It's probably fine. If not, well they probably have protein so that's cool. 

Hope you are all doing well and I encourage you to keep sending your love I like hearing from you!

I guess pictures aren't working right now so I'll try later.

Elder Bush

A Portion of Letter to Dad:

The people that I meet are so amazing. Everyone here is so kind and willing to listen to our message. Even if they aren't interested they still are willing to listen. Luckily we get the generator to be on until 5 in the morning so we have fans on at night (I have 2 :)). However, since one Elder left at the transfer I get up at 5 to turn it off every morning. I think about how early you get up each day and how hard you work. I try to do that as best as I can but man I get tired. We walk probably around 5-10 miles a day because we aren't allowed to take bikes anymore.I always get up on time though because of your example.

 The Book of Mormon is so true and I miss going to our home ward. Church here is good but its very different. It doesn't feel like I'm truly at church. I don't know how to explain it though it just is.

 I miss the temple a lot and often wish that I could go there because it brings such a feeling of peace that I wish I could always have with me. 

I'm so happy that I'm able to do missionary work here. These people love me so much and it makes it so easy to show my love back to them. Especially the children. They all make me smile and are so beautiful. The work is hard sometimes, but its so sweet and Liberia is the best mission in the world and I'm so blessed that the Lord trusted me enough to send me here. I often wonder why God blessed me so much in my life, but I'm so glad that He did!

One More Photo....

We Finally got PHOTOS!!

 These are kids that we have met while proselyting. The one on my lap, along with probably 20 other kids yell, "El-der Bush! El-der Bush!" every time that I pass their house which is like once a day!

 Okay the house is our apartment!

 I bought a scripture case made out of beads which is cool.

 (This is the bracelet that his cousin made for all of us when Steven's grandma passed away. It says "Families Are Forever" and "Be Like Bernice". He's been wearing it for 13 months)

John the Baptist (Photos!)

 Before I get to any stories from this week I would like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my best friend Connor. Hope you had a good birthday yesterday buddy. Also, shout out to my parents anniversary tomorrow!

I've got some good news this week! We had another baptism and it was sweet once again. Here's the really cool part though, I performed the baptisms and there were 10 candidates. It was between three companionships though so only 2 of them were Elder Ojo and I's. Still pretty sweeto if you ask me.

In other news, I got sick this week because I slept with my mouth open I guess and I lost my voice so it sounded really funny when I would try to teach but its all good. I'm feeling much better now so don't worry about me the work is sweet.

Today marks exactly two months of me on my mission and sometimes its felt like thats gone by fast and sometimes slow. Most people say that your training goes by slow and then it strats going really fast so I think that will be true.

 Rainy season is coming and I'm so pumped. First of all, rain is tight. But second of all, they say it rains nonstop... For like a week straight at times. They literally said day and night for 7 straight days it will rain and I'm so ready for it. They give us rain boots and an umbrella so it'll be all good.

Some improvements were made on the apartment so we get small running water at night but the other missionaries still take showers with buckets. I just use the small amount of water that falls from the shower head because its enough for me and its easier that way. So maybe no more bucket showers but we'll see.

 I just wanted to share this one story because I thought it was so funny and ironic. We taught a lady and she has a boyfriend who she's been with for 10 years now. Obviously she's breaking the law of chastity so we told her that she should marry the man so that she wouldn't be breaking the Lord's commandments. She said that she would but they don't have the money. She then went on to tell us that she needs her man to buy her a $1,000 US ring before she can get married made of pure gold. I really just am baffled at the people that we meet sometimes. This woman lives in a small cement hut that has one room and no working power or running water. And yet, she needs a $1,000 ring. I don't know.

  Anyways, the work is going really well. The first transfer ended yesterday and I think we taught close to 150 lessons or so in those six first weeks in Liberia so I'm getting much better at speaking and teaching the people here and I'm really starting to love it. The next six weeks we have some more baptisms planned and we're going to keep working so hopefully we can exceed our expectations. Liberia is a crazy place but I love the fact that each morning I can wake up and say that I'm in Africa. How many of you can say that? That's what I thought.

  I'm going to try to send some pictures that I was able to copy onto my flash drive so I'm really hoping that works! Hope you like them!

  Elder Bush

I believe these were taken when he first got to the Mission Home in Liberia.

The Mission Secretary, Trudy Allen took these photos when Steven and his companion came to the Mission Home for Interviews. April 6, 2016

I'm Coming Small Small

My man I tellin you!

Sweet is the work in Liberia. I'm constantly in a state of bewilderment that I'm in Africa. I forget that this country is on a different continent sometimes but its an awesome place please don't ever visit it. 

So my mom told me I should be more descriptive of what Liberia is like since I can't send photos right now. I hope that I'll be able to soon. So this is my attempt.

Liberia has a few roads that are concrete and they are usually very packed with broken cars and many motorbikes going down the road. Everyone here that drives is a taxi driver pretty much. you pack probably 6 or 7 people in a small car and head on down the road. Besides the few main roads its mostly dirt roads with lot of trash on them. There's also a lot of sand here. Our mission is fairly close to the beach actually and we even went there earlier today which was pretty cool. It's usually pretty loud unless you're in one of the small towns that we proselyte in. There, people live in small houses I guess you could call them. Made of concrete if you're a little more privileged and maybe just the zinc sheets that most use for their roofs if you don't have that kind of money. So basically most people kind of live in what you might call a hut but its probably not that bad. Most of the people in my area right now get their water by pumping it out of a well and they also drink that water often which is pretty scary but I guess they're used to it. Besides that, its really hot all the time and its around 90 degrees when I go to bed, at least according to my clock. The people are great though. They're extremely humble and loving, but they can be stubborn as well which I explained in my last email. Again, no white people but I did see some when we went to the mission office which is in town the other day for a special interview for one of our baptismal candidates. The town is a nicer area but I've only been there like twice so far so I don't know too much about it. 

Other than that, Liberia is very poor as you know. It's unfortunate because if they could get their act together this place really could be a vacation spot because it's really beautiful. Especially at night there are beautiful sunsets and the weather is perfect. But the rainy season is coming and that means it will dump rain day after day all day long so don't worry. They give us rain boots.

As for me, I'm just really grateful for this opportunity. I hope I don't make it sound like I don't want to be here because every day I think about how cool it is that I got called to serve here. I mean our zone goal was 100 baptisms in like 5 districts I think. Small area, and we may not achieve it but still that's crazy. I fell super blessed and I hope I'll be able to send pictures soon because I've been trying to take a lot. 

I love walking around certain areas because like 20 kids will yell, "Elder Bush! Elder Bush!" when that see me coming. It's mostly because I'm white but I hope they like me for who I am as well :)

I love all of you and I love reading any emails that I receive so continue to send them please and give your advice because I could always use it. 

Oh and by the way one of the other Elders cut my hair today for the first time since I got here and it actually went pretty well. I need to find the clippers and everything to do it though because I'll need to cut it again eventually and I can't rely on others to have the supplies I need so we'll see how that goes. 

I got to watch Sunday afternoon conference at church and let me tell you... Jeffrey R. Holland is an apostle of the Lord and there's no doubt about it. I loved his talk and I think I can really apply it to my life and experiences here on my mission. 

Okay I love you all and I'll talk to you soon! Sorry I was going to end earlier and then I kept remembering things so this is the end now I promise. Sorry if you were confused.

With love,

Elder Bush

Sweet is the Work

Hello friends!

First things first I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Hope you have a great day even though I can't be there to spend it with you :)

So this was a pretty normal week, no baptisms and no stories that were too crazy I don't think, well at least for Liberia you know.

This week we actually got to watch General Conference and it was broadcast live at our chapel which was really cool! They are going to show it again on Sunday so we'll watch it again and maybe I'll talk more about it next week. 

Liberia is awesome. I'm really enjoying the people and all the experiences that I'm having. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I think about the fact that I'm in Africa and I think wow, that's weird. It's also awesome, there's no place that I'd rather be. 

A couple of things I keep forgetting to share about Liberia though. To be honest, everyone said that the food would be crazy spicy, and I don't know if I've just gotten used to it or what but I don't really think it's that bad. I actually enjoy it for the most part but I'm not a big fan of the fish. Another thing, sometimes I hear American music which makes me happy, but no matter what song it is, Chris Brown is in it. They love Chris Brown. He has to be the Justin Bieber of Liberia cause his music is the only music that I hear it's kind of crazy. 

Since we teach so many lessons I'm greatly improving my teaching abilities. The hard part and easy part about Liberia is their education level. Generally they are not well educated and have a difficult time following what you're saying. This can be good because they can more receptive of the spirit in that sense, but at the same time it can be bad because they won't get the point that you're trying to make. 

For example, in Ephesians 4:5 it says, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." We often use this verse in asking why there are so many churches. However, after explaining this and several other things they still say, "Yeah but all churches are truth it's just about your heart." I really want to say no, you're wrong but you can't really say that. 

Another issue is that they all have "their church." We were teaching a guy this week and we asked if he knew the Book of Mormon was true, he said yes. We asked if he knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet, he said yes. We asked if he knew that our church was true, he said yes. We asked if he would come to church and he said, "I got my church."

They're funny people sometimes but I love them. Obviously they have their free agency and they can choose to accept our message or not but its difficult to know how to respond when they don't think about it the way I do. Needless to say, they are frustrating, but also so loving and beautiful.

Continue to write me and all words of encouragement are appreciated! So happy birthday to my father as well because today is his birthday and I can't say it in person myself! Love you all!

Elder Bush