The Big ONE

So, this is the one. The one year mark... Nothing was the same. Actually everything is the same nothing really changed.

I can now officially count down the months instead of counting up. That's coo.

So this week was a much better week than the first week. There were so many improvements from our lessons, to the service on Sunday and even to the apartment which we hesitantly call home. Let's start with our lessons.

As companions, we discussed how we could invite the spirit more into our lessons because we felt that there was a lack thereof. We decided that we really needed to focus on the people that we are teaching and less on the things that we have to say. One of the ways that we went about doing that was by truly focusing on listening to those that we are teaching and not thinking about what we want to say in response. I feel that I have gotten a lot better at that and I tried really hard to focus on others more this week. (I also feel that this will be a valuable skill to possess when I get married in the very distant future.) I thought we did a really good job of that and also extending our commitments more genuinely and lovingly. I thought we made great strides this week and all of us noticed the difference.

Aside from that, church was way better on Sunday. The generator wasn't working which actually made things kind of nice because it was easy to hear and the talks and instruction had sound doctrine. That was nice.

Our apartment got so much cleaner this week which made me so happy. Going to college and being on my mission has made me to be a much cleaner person because no one else cleans up and I hate when things get so dirty! I hate the filth. We got some clean water in our tank this week and I actually had some help cleaning the apartment! We cleaned up the kitchen, the bathroom, the back patio, the various rooms and just everywhere I guess. It looks so much better and it just makes me feel good. Thought I would let you know.

On February 18th, my one year mark, we had a little bit of fun in our compound which got a little dangerous but everyone is fine so it's cool. Some people came and cleaned up a ton of stuff that was in the compound and put it into a big pile. So, since we have 7 stupid boys in the apartment and one super cool one with great ideas (that's me) we decided to burn it all! So that's what we did. it got super huge and threatened a nearby guardhouse, but ultimately it was a success. I enjoyed it. I also made a cake and shared with the rest of the apartment.

Besides that, everything is normal and cool. I run to the beach every morning. Yeah, take that winter. It's beautiful, but I can't go swimming so that is super sorrowful. That's about it. It's very hot here. Every day.

Love you all, have a great week.

Elder Bush

1. One of my companions in our beautiful area

2. Super nice hotel/restaurant that we went to on P Day

3. Helping recent convert cook

4. Sweet fire

New Area, New Life

Well my friends this week was possibly the most interesting week so far on my mission and I don't know where to start. So let's start with the new apartment and area. 

My new apartment is one of the best and one of the worst apartments in the mission. It has a very large compound in what seems to be a fairly safe area. It is not far from the beach and me and two other missionaries in the apartment actually run to the beach every morning for our exercise which is pretty cool. Two of the missionaries have washing machines which they let others to use and we have pretty reliable current in the apartment from around 7 PM to 6:30 AM every night/morning. Now here are the bad things: The apartment is disgusting because no one cleans up after themselves and it gets dirty extremely fast. I think I did the dishes every day this week and I'm very sure that when we get back tonight I will do them again. The septic tank started leaking again today and it smells so bad. But those things are really not that bad, the real problem is the water. The water that comes from the tank outside is super dirty and can't be used for like anything because of how gross it is. The mission keeps saying they are going to fix it but apparently they've been saying that for like 2 months now so we'll see. So we fill up buckets of water using the water filter from the sink to take bath. Every night and every morning. The internet cafe is nice though. Honestly the water thing is already starting to bother me less I took a bath in the dirty water the other day it won't kill me. I'll probably start drinking it too soon just for good measure. 

The area is pretty cool and we are working on that one small small. It is a little bit far from the church and we had a difficult time getting people to come from there this week but we will continue to improve. My last week in Upper Caldwell we had 27 investigators at church and this week we had 2... Small small. 

My companions are really cool and they make things really fun so I'm really happy about everything even though having a threesome is kind of strange. We worked hard this week and I felt like there was some considerable improvement within the companionship even in the small week that we had together and I think that we will continue to move forward that way. 

I think it was on Wednesday we passed by this guy that was trying to give us a hard time. He called us over and asked if we were saved. We were like well we're trying you know. And he said show me in the Bible where it says we are trying to be saved. I was kind of confused. He then told us that we needed to know Jesus for ourselves before we started going around deceiving others and told us to go and read John 3:16-18. I told him he should go and read St Jude 1:10-11... I let my emotions get the best of me because that scripture is not too nice but I was pretty upset. I was honestly a little disappointed in myself for letting it get to me but we actually passed to him later in the week and said hello and he seemed to be happy when he saw us so I don't know. 

The worst part of my week ironically came on Sunday. Church is in this small little house that is inside a compound not far from our apartment. The small house is not really the issue I was actually okay with it but it was my first time in one like that. The disappointing part came from the branch. Let's just say that there were a lot of things said during the service that were not in line with the teachings of the church. That really bothered me. I won't go into detail but let's just hope that they make some improvements in the future. A lot of the branch members are super sweet though and we got a referral from one man which was also nice. We're fighting it! 

Today was super fun though. We stopped by my old area today because we needed to go there for something and I met a man that I used to teach when I was first in Paynesville. He was so happy to see me and he said, "You were the one that brought me into the church! My son is baptized and me and my wife will be getting baptized on March 18th!" While we were teaching him, he and his wife were not married and are now finalizing their marriage certificate and will be baptized on the 18th of next month. So wonderful to hear what small thing the Lord can help me to do can make such a big difference in someone's life. We also went to a super nice hotel today and had some really good food. 

I'm really learning so much about myself and what I can truly do for the Lord on my mission. I've been feeling so much of the Savior's love for me lately and what a positive influence I can be for others if I am obedient and study the scriptures every day. I love the scriptures so much. 

Quote of the day: "A wise man learns from the mistakes of others, a fool by his own." - Benjamin Franklin

Love you all so much sorry this was so long!

I forgot to put new pics on my flash so you will get newer pics next week.

Love,

Elder Bush

 

Don't Tune

Whenever you surprise a person in Liberia or scare them you tell them, "Don't tune, don't tune mah man." Kind of like, don't get afraid or something you know. So I know I didn't send a letter last week but don't tune my man everything is okay.

Last week in the café the internet stopped working and then the power went out and it was getting late so we just went back to the apartment and I didn't finish what I had started but that's okay. I'm not dead. IN FACT, I have some news!

I have been transferred and I'm already in my new area of Thinker's village. I am now in a threesome or a tripanionship with Elder Mineer from Utah and Elder Eguko from Nigeria. I just got here today so I really don't know too much about the area or anything but it is really close to my first area so I will probably see a lot of the people that I used to teach before so that's kind of fun!

I was definitely a little sad to leave the branch in Upper Caldwell because I really began to love the branch and all the progress that we were making and the people that we were teaching. However, I am really excited to start in this new area and get to know a new branch. I guess I had to allow someone else to enjoy Upper Caldwell branch at some point. A lot of people were sad, or at least acted like they were sad when I told them that I would not be there again. I'm sure they'll be fine!

So these past two weeks have gone so fast! We had zone conference and some trainings that have really helped me to strive to be a better missionary. Elder Obasohan and myself were really working hard to teach a lot of different people and expand the area and missionary work. This gone Saturday we had a baptism for two people combined with 3 children of record which was a real struggle but eventually turned out alright. I have confidence that the branch and the missionaries will take care of them.

This morning when the couples came to pick me up I realized I have acquired too many things... People have just given me some things and I have yet to get rid of some others but small small. When they took me to my new area they went a super long way because they needed to drop off another missionary somewhere else but it was the coolest drive ever. It was like we were just straight in the jungle and everything was beautiful and green. Africa is dope. I would attach pictures but I forgot my usb in the apartment so next week.

Other than that I don't think there is really anything else to talk about... Everything is going fine and I'm sure that this area is going to be really sweet. Both of my companions are cool and I'm excited to serve with them. I'm healthy and happy and love all of you!

Much love,

Elder Bush

 We had a football (soccer) match at this big abandoned hotel called hotel Africa

 One night it rained harder than I have ever seen before and our whole compound was flooded and Elder Osei and Elder Selby got drenched!

 

5 bears for 5 dollars... Sweet deal. Wish i would have gotten some.

 This was another day that it rained a ton and we didn't have any umbrellas...

  This small girl broke her arm and this is how they tried to fix it... not great medical care here but at least she's really cute!

  Our baptism of 9 people!

  Church Christmas Party!

 "Intertement Center" There are a lot of these...usually just a TV and some drinks for "Entertainment"

11 For Nothing

There is really nothing significant about 11 months besides the fact that it is one month away from 1 year. Just think about that for a minute. 1 year on mission we tell God thank you. You aren't supposed to count the time but when the 18th comes around obviously you know how long you've been out. But I couldn't be happier! Well, if I had some nice cold ice cream maybe that would help but let's move on now.

So this week was a pretty normal week for the most part with the exception of last Monday which will be addressed at the end of this letter :)

We have two people that are progressing towards baptism for the 4th of February. One is a girl named Siah and then the other is a boy named Johnson who is 16 years old. Johnson's parents are working on getting their marriage certificate so that they can also be baptized soon, but after thinking about it for a while we decided that we shouldn't make him wait because he really wants to be baptized and is smart and accepts everything. So we're looking forward to their baptisms very soon! 

There are 3 boys that we are teaching that are the children of one woman who is a member of the church. The boys are really good but we had kind of a funny experience with the more intelligent brother this week. He is really accepting of everything, but when we taught him about the authority, or the priesthood, he was like yeah I want to get the authority so that I can start my own church! We were like ehhh... Maybe we need to explain some things better... So the next day we came and talked about how there should only be one church. We used Ephesians 4:5 and also 1 Nephi 14:10 to help him better understand that plenty churches is not a good thing. We tried not to do it in a mean way so I don't think he was offended and he said he understood. They generally have good intentions, the reason he wanted to start a church was to spread the gospel but we told him that he should just serve a mission. He's super funny actually.

Okay just one story was kind of funny this week from this guy we met. We could definitely smell a little bit of alcohol on his breath and he was asking like a million questions but we started to talk about God and who He is finally. So we asked him what he thought God looked like and he was like "well, I think God is probably like maybe 70 to 75% spirit and maybe like 25% body." To you that probably isn't funny at all but sometimes the answers these people give to questions we ask just really make me wonder what is going on in their brains.

Besides that everything is normal. I played basketball this morning and I'm really bad so I'm sure everyone will be able to beat me when I get home... I also love you all.

Oh and last Monday I cut my hair. I've always wanted to buzz it and I figured that I'm in Africa and it doesn't really matter if I'm ugly or not (nor does it ever honestly) so now is the time to try! So I buzzed it and this is what I look like now! Just be grateful you don't have to see me every day :)

Elder Bush

My People

What's good my American friends? Hope your lives are all splendid.

So this week was pretty good out here in Upper Caldwell, Monrovia, Montserrado County, Liberia. It is really hot but it really can't compare to what it was like when I first got here almost one year ago... Think about that. I still sweat a lot but I can't complain. 

Let me get straight to the important stuff. We went to teach some boys who are the children of a member of the church on Saturday and I really raised my rep as an African. I don't know if they don't have ladders here or what but cutting palm nut out of palm trees is no small task I tell you. There is a palm nut that is high up in the palm trees here that the people use to make this certain food that always hurts my stomach. So in order to get it they get a long bamboo stick that has little notches on it that you use to climb up it and then use a machete to cut down the palm leaves and then the palm nut. So that's what I did on Saturday. I climbed the bamboo stick (stick is singular, only one there) and cut down the palm leaves and palm nut with a machete... Unfortunately before I could finish the bamboo broke that I was standing on and I fell and now I'm coming home. No I landed on my feet and it was really cool but I was bummed I didn't finish the job. Next time.

Okay, other than that we are having some good progress with the people we are teaching. We didn't really have anyone this week that was new to teach but those that we are seeing are doing well. I've been really happy about some people that have not been coming to church that we saw and sat down with this week. We met a guy named Augustine who has not been coming to church for a really long time and had a really good lesson with him. He told us that he knows the church is true, he just has felt that the devil has been making him feel weak to come. I don't know why but I love meeting with less actives for the first time. The first lesson with a less active is always when I feel the spirit most strongly. It's like everything in that lesson just comes out without me even thinking about what I'm saying or asking. He was really appreciative of us coming and said that he would be coming back. He even bore his testimony at the end of the lesson saying the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true and Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. It was really cool and made me feel good. 

We also had interviews with Mission President this week and I love that man. I had a lot of random questions that he was so patient with and answered so eloquently focusing on the truths of the gospel. 

Love you guys so much! Keep the faith!

 Me and some children that never leave me alone

 

 Me and a super cute African child

Elder Bush

No Bad News-o

Hello my friends, 

Sorry I didn't write anything last week I just forgot or something I'm not really sure. It was a decent week but it had the ups and downs as it always does. We went to a traditional wedding for some investigators that we hope will soon be getting their marriage certificate. (In Liberia to be considered legally married you need to have a marriage certificate from the government, the traditional wedding that they do doesn't really count unless they get the paper that says they are legally married which is not small thing I tell you). It was really interesting but also kind of long but I wasn't feeling too well anyways so it was okay with me. Traditional marriage is kind of weird but basically it's all about money. The man's side has to pay the bride price for the other side and it takes a long time to finally finish everything but it's interesting. They asked me to say a prayer over their marriage and I thought they were just asking me to say a closing prayer but when I got up there they were like kneeling in front of me and so I said the prayer over their marriage... Super weird and I asked Mission President later and he was like yeah you weren't supposed to do that but you didn't know so don't worry about it. So funny but also kinda cool. 

The man that got married also wore the African cut off sleeve suit to church yesterday and it was super dope the man was flexing. I don't know if I'll be able to send a picture hopefully! 

This week was really good actually. It felt like it went by really fast. We had a zone training meeting on Thursday and they talked a lot about obedience and although I'm not doing anything wrong, it was a good reminder for me to focus more on being even more exactly obedient. There was also a new missionary there whose name is Elder Hinson. He will be the last missionary coming to this area for a very long time because no Elders are going home until August. I felt a little sorry for him because he just seemed really nervous and just really new. It just reminded me a lot of when I first came because it was not easy. So I'm praying that he keeps working and stops talking about home so much becasue that's about all he talked about with me... And Star Wars. He likes Star Wars.

We struggled a lot this week with people being home when they said they would be home which was really frustrating. We didn't have as many lessons for that reason but we had a great turn out at church. We had a lot of members at church and 32 investigators attend Sacrament on Sunday which is the most that I have had since I have been on my mission. The work is really moving!

All is going pretty well besides that. Can't complain about anything really. We're teaching some really good people. I feel like the people that we are teaching are either really great and willing to accept everything or they are just not accepting anything but that is part of the mission. We even had a couple that we have been teaching ever since I got to this area tell us that they are fixing their marriage certificate and they already paid the money for it and everything. It was such a great blessing to hear that from them after all the prayers and encouragement that we have had for them. So grateful that they truly want to follow their Savior and make a decision and sacrifice that will benefit them in their life so much. I don't know if I will be in this area when they get it or not, but of course it is not about me, but the family themselves that they are making this incredible step in their life. 

Besides that I think everything is pretty normal and cool. It's super hot here which I'm sure is hard to imagine in the cold of the winter at home but I'm sweating like crazy again so that's cool. I also found more Macaroni and Cheese so... Yeah.

Love you all and hope your week is wonderful!

Elder Bush