A little spoiled - staying in Celaya

Hi Mom!

Awesome!  Man, I thought they would have brought my package here because we had transfers. I'm staying with Elder Rowley!!! I'm super excited about it!

 So we brought the G family to our investigator J who has been in teaching for 5 years.  Hermana G talked about the challenges they had and about their sealing as a family.  Everyone was crying.  The next day we went over to visit them and J told us that she wants to get baptized.  They are getting married this week and then the next week she will be baptized. It was so awesome!  They are an awesome family he is a member but she isn't and they have a cute little girl too.   J's husband was shot in the leg and his leg is messed up.  Elder Rowley told them that if they follow the law of the gospel he will be able to walk even though the doctors told him he won't be able to.  He has walked into church the last two weeks.  Definitely a miracle!  F and J are doing awesome and progressing along very well.  They are super smart.  Every time we teach them it is super super awesome!  

Today is Rowley's Birthday so Friday we had a celebration for him at B's house with the family G. B brought some people for us to teach.  It was fun!  They are so funny.  The pictures are of the G family and B.  They are super awesome and take good care of us.  They make us eggs and let us use their washing machine.  We are going to go over there for noche de hogar (FHE) later tonight. 

The G family

Elder Rowley's Birthday

Ya, we have zone and district meetings every week.  Celaya is awesome.  I love all of the missionaries here. 

Our Zone Leaders had a baptism that we attended of a 12 year old boy .   He bore his testimony and it was so awesome.  It made me cry and I don't even know him.  He said that he knows that because of Jesus we get another chance and we get the opportunity to live with our families forever. 

There is this thing here called churriso and its basically pork and chicken mixed together.  It's the best thing on earth.  B brings us burritos at night every once in a while and they are soooo good. 

I love just kinda walking around mexico. haha  I like the way the music sounds here.  When I get home and can understand it, I'm excited to listen to it. 

No, not too sick.  I mean everyone gets diarrhea every once in a while. haha

I've got to go Mom. I love you.

Elder Bush

I am grateful to the G family and B for taking such good care of Hayden and Elder Rowley.  They are probably a little spoiled! :)  Hayden was told before he left that he would be washing his clothes in a bucket.  Having access to a washing machine I think is pretty lucky! He is set for another 6 weeks when transfers come up again.

I have become acquainted with a sister in Mexico who shared this short video clip with me right before Hayden left the MTC.  The clip is of President Eyring talking about how mission calls are given .  Even though I only know this sister through modern technology and have never met her in person, the gesture touched my heart more than she will ever know.  My favorite part is when President Eyring says, "You don't remember His face, but He remembers yours."  

Every picture Hayden has sent us his face is beaming and he has a great big smile.  I have caught myself many times as I have looked through the pictures saying, "That face!  Look at that smiling beaming face."  There is no doubt in our minds that Hayden is where is supposed to be.  We know there  are struggles and times of  homesickness, (not once has he complained) but that face is confirmation of our Father in Heaven placing him where Hayden is needed.  Every single week Hayden tells us how much he loves Mexico, how wonderful the people are and how much he loves seeing THEIR faces light up as they learn about the gospel.   

Throwing up and Showing up for Church

Hi Mom!

Last week was fine.  I'm doing fine. 

Honestly I don't know what I need, just surprise me haha.  la verdad I don't know haha.  I just want something from home. With candy and stuff, right?  haha I would like a sweater to wear over my white shirts for when it's a little chilly. Transfers are next week and it might be hard for me to shop.  I don't mind waiting.

Ya, it's pretty hot everyday.  We don't have any pictures but I will get you some.  

I wish I could be there for H and T,  they are awesome.  Our primary program here was Sunday too, it was awesome. 

We start each day by exercising, shower, study, study, study language, study and then go to work. We haven't had any big service opportunities.  We helped a family move but that was easy. haha

I threw up at a member's house.   I over ate.  They try to do everything for you. We were eating burgers and I tried to eat 3 because she put another half on my plate.  She told me I didn't have to eat it.  She is really cool.  She was baptized by Rowley so she is pretty close with us.  Anyway, I tried to eat the half but then all of a sudden everything went wrong and I ran to the bathroom and threw up.  They were laughing.  It was really funny.

Teaching has been cool.  We got investigators to show up to church!  He is a member and she isn't. They are low on money because he can't walk.  They don't have enough money to get married which they need to do before they get baptized.  They have a beautiful 2 year old daughter.  Everything is super humbling.  They live on a dirt road and their house is concrete.  Our apartment is bigger than their house.  We are praying for them and trying to help them as much as we can.  

Our other investigators are awesome.  The gospel answers all of their questions and helps them.  I love seeing the spirit light up someone's eyes while we are teaching them the gospel.

Elder Rowley got hit by a bike.  It was a one way street so he only checked one way.  A bike came flying in.  We have missionary protection so we are fine.  haha  He didn't get hurt, it was just really funny!

I got to go Mom.  I love you so much!

Elder Bush

Planting Lots of Seeds

Hey Mom,

My week was pretty good.  I'm doing pretty good.  I'm really frustrated though.  I just wish I was fluent in Spanish already but it will come. haha  I can pretty much understand everything that's going on, I just have a hard time communicating back.  This week went by pretty fast.  We have been walking so far away every day because that is where our investigators live.  Its been hard and tiring. It's frustrating because we are working hard but haven't had a lot of results.  We have been planting lots of seeds.  We have been working and visiting a lot of menos activos.

Ya, we had interviews with President, it was really cool.  President and Hermana Williamson are the best.  Transfers are every six weeks.  There are a couple things that could happen.  Either me and Elder Rowley will stay in this area together for another transfer or we will get split up.  We will just see. There are about 130ish missionaries in my mission. 

I have been missing you guys, but that just means I love you.  Can you send me The Teachings From the Presidents of the Church?  Do you know that series?  I want the Joseph Smith one.  It takes like 3 weeks to get here.  Just send it with a bunch of candy and some other gifts.  hahaha  Is that too demanding?  It's ok if it takes a long time to get here, I would rather wait for it.  I just want a package from you guys. haha 

Ya we know the members pretty well.  They are nice people.  We have two investigators that are really loving what we are teaching them and we have another that is basically just saving up money so they can get married and then be baptized.  We pray every day that they come to church haha.  We aren't really supposed to knock doors here.  

I'm stoked for Cannon.  I am so happy for H and T.  That's awesome.  As a missionary that means so much more to me.  My goal isn't to baptize people, it's to give people the blessing of being sealed to their family like I have been blessed to have had.  The family is what brings us happiness.  It is how we return to our Father in Heaven, it is everything in the Gospel.  Send them my love they are awesome people . 

All of the people freak out when I show them pictures of our family.  They say, "oh your mom is so bonita," and they call Austen and Dad guapo.  They just think Dillon is the cutest thing ever.  Probably because he is blonde and has a radiant smile haha. 

Time to go, Mom.  I love you.

Elder Bush

My favorite quote from his email: 

"My goal isn't to baptize people.  It's to give people the blessing of being sealed to their family like I have been blessed to have had.  The family is what brings us happiness.  It is how we return to our Father in Heaven, it is everything in the Gospel." 

Working Hard and Chugging Along

Hi Mom,

The week was pretty good but not too much interesting.  We got two new investigators that are super smart and know a lot about the bible, but they also know about all the flaws of stuff so the gospel just filled in everything.  It was super cool!  The spirit of confirmation was there super strong.  It was really cool.   They actually ended up coming to conference.  We have been working hard but the results aren't showing.  That is the tough part of the mission I guess, but we just have to keep on chugging along. 

The plates they serve here are so freaking huge!!!!  I take a long time to eat it because I run out of room.  They ask me if I don't like it and I'm like this is so freaking huge!!!!!!! no tengo espacio!!! haha  The food is super good.  You eat everything with a tortilla so everything is a taco.  Burritos aren't really a thing here.  The food isn't really spicy but they put salsa on everything and that is super spicy. I haven't eaten anything too weird. 

Ya I watched conference.  Some sessions in English and some in Spanish.  I liked Elder Ballard and Elder Cook.  Their talks were cool.  I also liked Elder Renlund, he was the last talk and the newest Apostle.  It was super cool.  There were some other cool ones where you couldn't help but cry.  

I think we have like 4 progressing investigators.  The language is coming pretty good but I need to be more diligent. I have created a plan to follow. 

We live in an apartment.  There is a family in our ward that let's us use their washing machine.  (He is lucky.  There are other areas where they have to wash their clothes in a bucket.  I am sure Hayden will get his turn. Ha!)  Ya Mom, I'm 18, I take pretty good of myself haha, you don't have to worry.  I have been to the store like 30 times.  Everything is good.  Elder Rowley is pretty cool.  We play hoops and it is refreshing.

I have to go, Mom.  I love you so much.

Elder Bush

We received an email from Hayden's Mission President's wife this week.  What a sweet surprise to receive this picture of Hayden and his companion, Elder Rowley.  President and Sister Williamson made a visit to Celaya.  She said they are doing well and working hard together.  

Each week I am so grateful for modern technology as we are able to email chat with Hayden for about an hour every Monday on his p-day.  We are all usually at our various obligations (work, school) but we each still get the personal communication with him.  Gone are the days of waiting weeks to receive a letter in the mail.  We are so blessed!

Thank you for your love and support for Hayden.  He welcomes letters, his email address is at the top of the blog.  You can also leave a comment. You are all so loved!

First Week out in the Field - Celaya

Well Mom, it has been a heck of a week.  We woke up at 4:30 am and headed to the mission home.  Mom, it was really a beautiful experience.  4 or 5 hours later we arrived in Queretaro.  It really is a beautiful city.  President Williamson was there to greet us once we got off the bus.  He hugged me and told me that he was looking forward to meeting me.  It really seems dumb, but it calmed my nerves haha.  We then went into the bus station and the AP's greeted us.  They are super cool.  I like them a lot.  We then went to the vans that would take us to the mission home where we met Hermana Williamson.  She is awesome.  We headed up to the mission home neighborhood.  Mom, it is so pretty.  We went into the home and ate lunch and mingled and had interviews with President. Wow, Spanish is messing with my head. When it was my turn for the interview we began with a prayer.  President Williamson said the prayer and in it he said things about love for my investigators and standing in water of baptism with them.  He also asked that the spirit would calm me and clear my mind and continue to feel it as he had already felt it from me.  We then began talking about me.  Mom, this was a really beautiful moment for me.  He is such a humble man.  I don't know how to say it, but he told me if you need me I'll be there while looking me right in the eyes.  Mom, it helped me so much.  Once I left his office I was beaming.  

The house and the city is beautiful.   After our interviews we then went to the offices and I rode in front of the car with President.  He talked to me like I was his friend and it comforted me even more.  He is the perfect President for me, the Lord knows all things.   Then I found out I was going to Celaya and that Elder Rowley would be my companion.  I took about a 1 hour bus ride to Celaya where Elder Rowley greeted me.   He has been out about 14 months.  We then took a taxi to our house (Scary! Driving here is insane.)  Then Elder Rowley and I went to familia Gurreros house and they fed us.  I love them.  They are an awesome family and they love us.  Then we met and taught our investigators.  It was another beautiful moment.  I was actually able to communicate and understand them.  Well, understand them. I'ts harder to formulate sentences but I have been getting better.  We then went home and went to bed. 

Elder Rowley is the perfect companion for me, Mom, the Lord knows all things.  This week has been the best week of my life.  It has also been really sad.  I have had heart breaking moments.  It has also been the most scary (buses here are freaky). 

 I'm going give you a general overview of the week.  We eat comida with a familia every day at 2:30 because lunch or dinner doesn't really exist here.  The food is sooooooo good, you eat everything with tortillas though haha.  Drunk people talk to us all the time, it's freaky. haha  Elder Rowley does most of the talking because he is actually fluent in Spanish. haha  But I have gotten so much better as the week goes by.  He has taught me how humility and obedience really help a lot.  

The weekend was the heartbreaking part.  We think Satan got to our investigators.  They are a 19 year old couple and live with the familia Garcia who are awesome and take care of us too.  They were going to get married and baptized in two weeks.  For some reason she wanted to return with her mom.  She knew that being here with her Uncle's family and getting baptized was the right choice. They know that the church is true but she got scared.  Elder Rowley and I bore really powerful testimony to her and told her lots of things.  I reminded her that she had told me that this was the right choice because she was scared before.  I was helping her and she told me she knew baptism was the right choice.  I reminded her about that, but nonetheless after the familia Garcia and us bore strong testimony she still wanted to leave.  Elder Rowley and I took it hard.   We were really close with them and really loved them.  We were pretty depressed Sunday but Elder Rowley picked us up and we moved on.  Now we are working hard once more.  

We are here today, p-day, and we played hoops.  It was fun.  After we played hoops we talked to the familia Garcia.  I played a game with their daughters.  We played a game where you have to write things that start with a certain letter in different categories.  It is super fun, it helps me practice Spanish.  Talking to kids is the best practice because they are the hardest to understand. haha  I love them.  I love everyone here, mom. 

I have to go.  Love you, Mom.  You're the best.

I am late getting this post done.  This is from our email chat on Monday.  It was so exciting to hear about his first week out in the field.  I am amazed each week by his growth and the way he changes.  We laughed about the Spanish "getting to his head."  I cleaned this up a bit.  It is obvious he struggles to think of the right words in English sometimes.  We look forward to hearing from him tomorrow.  We are grateful for all of you and your love and support of Hayden.  Please email him if you would like.  His email address is in the header of the blog.  Also feel free to leave a comment, he reads the blog.  Hugs to you!

Mission Home Bound

On Monday Hayden left the Missionary Training Center in Mexico City and took a 3 hour bus ride (with 9 other missionaries) to the Mission Home in Queretaro where he met his Mission President and was assigned to the area where he will begin his work.  Monday afternoon I received this email.

Hey Mom, 

I made it.  It's awesome here.  I'll give you more info later today.  My area is 30 minutes away.  We will email later tonight.  Keep on checking your email. 

Love you mom. 

Elder Bush

As instructed, I kept on checking my email....about every 30 seconds until I went to bed and NOTHING!!!  As soon as I got up Tuesday morning I picked up where I left off the night before checking.  Mid morning we received this email from his Mission President's wife. 

Dear Brother and Sister Bush,

I am writing to tell you that your son, Elder Bush, has arrived safely to the mission field. We are so thrilled to have him serving in our mission. Elder Bush will be serving in the city of Celaya with Elder Rowley.  Celaya is a great place, has wonderful church leadership and also, one of the counselors in the mission presidency lives in Celaya. (Side note: he runs a Caramel sauce factory and it is the best thing you will ever taste!)
Elder Rowley has been having lots of wonderful things happen in the area and so Elder Bush will find missionary work to be busy and fulfilling.
We are so grateful for his enthusiasm, his worthiness and his willingness to serve. It was like a new clean refreshing breeze when we welcomed these wonderful missionaries yesterday. So great!
Because Elder Bush went on a bus to his area, I don't have a picture of him and his companion but will forward that along as soon as I see them.

Thanks you again for your wonderful son.

President and Sister Williamson

That face!!!  His great big beaming smile brought tears to my eyes.  

Tuesday night we still hadn't heard from Hayden and Joe thought I should email Sister Williamson back to make sure everything was ok.  Not hearing from him was a little out of character.  I emailed her back and Wednesday morning we received this email from her.

Sister Bush,

I thought we gave each missionary a chance to write before they left for their areas. However, some thought they might have time to do so when they arrived at the new area. Maybe this was the case and then he didn't have the opportunity. Nonetheless, you should hear from him on Monday. In the meantime, I just talked to his companion this morning and asked how Elder Bush was doing and I think his exact words were, "He is awesome! He is going to be a fantastic missionary and we are doing great together." I´m sorry you haven´t heard from him  because I told them all they needed to write and let their parents know they were here. (being a mom myself, I think this is a first priority . . . or at least should be). Anyway, don´t worry. He is doing well and is with a companion who played basketball for Lehi High so my husband said they would most likely beat any other companionship in a two on two game.:) We are truly so happy to have him here. I´ll give him a little ´what for´ so you will be sure to get an email on Monday:)

Sister Williamson

As soon as I read that his companion played basketball too I pretty much lost it.  What a tender mercy to have that connection with a great companion as he begins his service.  We can hardly wait for Monday!  

I have had many people ask about emailing Hayden.  Yes, please do!!!  He would love to hear from you.  His email address is in the header of the blog.  Also feel free to leave a comment for him, he reads the blog.  I think I fixed it so that comments will show up.  If you comment and it does not show please let me know.  Thank you for your love and support for Hayden!!!  

Week 4 - The CCM

 How are you doing, Mom?  Yes, I got your package, I thought it was awesome!¡!¡!¡!¡!  Thank you so much for all of the junk food, it's been nice. haha  Ya, that Sister is super cute.  She wrote me a message on there that roughly translates in English to "Your parents love you so much and wanted you to have a happy moment."  I feel so cool because everything is in Spanish and I can understand it haha.   The brownies were delicious!  Everyone loved me because I shared.  Thank you so much for the package, Mom, it was really amazing.

I love talking to Latino missionaries because I can understand them and speak back pretty good.  I love learning Spanish.  

Elder Rusch is awesome. I think he is doing pretty good.  Gosh!  The power shut off again!!  Luckily this draft saved.  Sorry its taking a long time.  We play frisbee a lot and our District is undefeated!!!!!!  This week is going to be sad because one of the Districts in our Zone is leaving after Sunday.  We are sad because we got pretty close with them and they have been here ever since we got here.  We always play frisbee with them.  They are a bunch of funny people too.  They are hilarious. They wore all black to one of our frisbee matches because they were going to "the funeral of our winning streak". lol  They are hilarious!

Elder Bush and Elder Rusch

Anything else specific you want me to answer?  Oh ya, by the way, my next p-day is on Wednesday because we have meetings Friday about leaving to the field and stuff.  I'm excited to be in the field, but I'm nervous because I don't feel like I'm ready so I just have to work super hard so that I can be. Things will be ok though.  I'm super excited to meet my Mission President and his family.  They look like they are super awesome.  I'm excited because all of the guys in our District and the other guys going to Queretaro are super close and so it's going be fun riding the bus there with them and everything.

We are only supposed to take pictures on p-day.  My teachers were bums and wouldn't take one but they will take one with us on our last Saturday here.  Here are some of the guys going to Queretaro. Elder Paul didn't want to look short so we tried to make him look taller, that is why he is standing in front of me.

 Me, Elder Paul, Elder Harmon, Elder Fillmore, Elder Carr and Elder Rusch

I love you like crazy, Mom.  Thanks for being a wonderful mother, without you I wouldn't be the person I am.

I love you so much, Mom.  Got to go.  Talk to you more on Wednesday.

The day after Hayden left I was at Walmart.  As I pushed my cart down the main aisle a couple of missionaries passed by me.  Instantly and unexpectedly I was hit with a wave of emotion.  I immediately turned down a side aisle so that I could regain my composure.  Until it was my own son I had not fully comprehended the sacrifice, service, dedication, and love that goes into being a missionary.  Some ask WHY would they do such a thing? 

 I will never be able to pass another missionary and not want to hug them, buy them a meal, or take a picture and send it to their mom.