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