Crunchy Leaves and Happy People

I loveeeeeeed this week. I love them all. Ahhh. 

It was so hard but Heavenly Father blesses those that work hard for him. Our mission standard for proselyting hours changed from 20 to 23. That doesn't sound like a huge difference, but we were having such a hard time even reaching 15 for a while. So much traveling happens over here... but this week we really worked hard and travel contacted and made the most out of every single minute. We did it. Woot.

18 months are going by fast. Too fast. As I look back and see how I’ve progressed, I have learned that the most important thing that I know is that God is my Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ is my Savior. I am so thankful for that knowledge.

I had the beautiful experience this week of teaching a humble man that I will never forget. We had a fireside with my whole zone called “The Singing Elders” Fireside. Four Elders in our mission are called to travel throughout the mission performing at Firesides for anyone interested in hearing about the Gospel. The Program goes through the timeline of a person, and helps us to understand our identity as Children of God. Before the performance we had a little mini training with the missionaries to talk about our purpose for being here. Our main goal is to bear our testimony to people after the performance and ask for referrals. We were given the opportunity to say a personal prayer beforehand and then go out and greet people before it started. I prayed for the ability to speak Dutch well and be a light to the people I meet.

It was during this evening that I learned about "the one." There was a man who showed up a bit late. I scooted over and gave him my seat. During the performance he asked me a few questions like “is it okay to clap? And why are there accents other than Dutch? After the performance I talked with him about what he felt during the performance. He wasn’t at all familiar with missionaries, and thought our church was actually the Jehovah Witnesses. He explained that he had just heard about the fireside from someone on the train. She happened to be a Young Single Adult member I had just met before it started. She joined us and we taught him a lesson right there in that chapel. Such a cool experience to teach with her, she was a return missionary.

We bore powerful testimony that God loves us and is aware of us. He had no idea how to pray or why we pray, so we testified of the importance of daily prayer. I gave him my Book of Mormon, and he was slow to accept it because of how big of a gift it seemed, but by the end of the night he accepted it and said he wanted to try reading in it. He was so humble and asked for a good place to start reading. He was not very sure about how Jesus Christ can help him personally but I know that through the Spirit we were able to help him feel the importance of the Book of Mormon.

That night was a huge confirmation to me that Heavenly Father leads us to the people who need to know of his love. Heavenly Father blessed me with the ability to forget about myself and be aware of those around me. He helped me not worry about the language and just dive in and start teaching with another ward member I hardly knew.

I know that God is my Heavenly Father. We come to know him through daily prayer. I know that his Son Jesus Christ was sent to atone and suffer for Me, and for you personally. I know the Holy Ghost testifies of truth, and although I am not perfect, he makes my words perfect through the Spirit. These are simple principles that we may be so used to, but I know that they are important. I hope we can become SO good at remembering these principles because this is the foundation of the Gospel.

Highlights of the week...

Karen received a priesthood blessing from the Elders 

to help her with the surgery she´ll be getting for her organ failure... 

she has so much faith.

Exchanges in Tilburg with Zuster Cowles. 

Fall is beautiful hereeeeeee.

Visiting a less active and getting to teach her friend about the Book of Mormon.

Playing Skipbo and eating homemade Bami- indonesian food...
with some lovely members.

Mission Leader Council in the Mission Home. 

Traveling with Zuster Voss and reminiscing about our whole mission. [MTC buddies]

MLC is Amazing

 and I am so impressed
with how many amazing missionaries
I serve with.

Also.... Jasmine is getting baptized on 28 November! 

We are happy and so excited for her decision.

Silly Sisters!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

We don’t really celebrate that here, 

and the Dutchies don´t really eat Turkey, 

but I’ll be thinking of all my fellow Americans.

Remember Who You Are
Return with Honor
Peace Love and Harmony
Choose the Right

Ik hou van jullie!

Liefs,

Zuster Bush