Bohemian Missionary

"Don't dig up in doubt what you once planted in faith." -Baptist church marquee

What a miraculous week! As we've shown our commitment to doing all we can to bring to pass the Lord's work here in Alabama, we've been met with miracles and strengthened beyond our own abilities to complete the work we have been sent here to do.

Yesterday at church, we were enjoying the opening exercises of Relief Society. Sister Nelms, our teacher, had just begun her lesson when a member of the bishopric walked in and asked her to step out for a minute. (Let me just say, this woman is hilarious. She is so bold and really just does what she wants to. She's a spiritual powerhouse and we love bringing her out teaching with us. But what I'm focusing on here, is that she just does whatever she wants to.) She squished up her face, thinking about what to do, and pointed straight at me and said, "Sister, come on up here. Start teaching." I'm sure my face said it all- I was completely taken by surprise! Well, I marched right on up there, past all the women in our ward, looked at the page she was flipped to in the manual, and began teaching. This, my friends, is a stark example of the help Heavenly Father affords to His missionaries to complete His work. It also is a witness to me of the importance of continual gospel study. Can you imagine how embarrassed I would have been to get up there and have nothing to say about the topic at hand? I taught the first 15 minutes of the class, teaching by the Spirit and relying on all the studies I had done in the past. We should always prepare well when we are called to teach lessons, whether that be teaching investigators, family home evening, Relief Society, home teaching, or even our own children and families. But sometimes, the Lord calls us to teach in unexpected moments, and it is then that we are to rely upon the lifetime of studies that we have acquired. Ya never know when you'll be called up to teach or bear testimony, so keep those testimonies burning bright and spend time in the scriptures each day! Ultimately, the time will unexpectedly come when the Savior will visit the Earth again. Let us be as the five prepared women in the story of the Ten Virgins, with our lamps filled and our light burning bright. Make a goal today to have quiet moments through scripture and prayer and renew your testimony daily. Recognize the purpose of your life-- to prepare to meet God. "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." -Alma 34:32

I found an incredible scripture this week. Do you ever read a scripture and think, "Has that been there this whole time? I've never read that before!" PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE! Study them, memorize them, write about them, apply them. Those are the scriptures that Heavenly Father is using to guide your life in that moment. The one I found this week was Alma 26:22: "Yea, he that REPENTETH and EXERCISETH FAITH, and BRINGETH FORTH GOOD WORKS, and PRAYETH CONTINUALLY without ceasing-- unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed…" What the! That's awesome! 4 incredibly specific things we can do to receive revelation from God in our personal lives. Which one can you work on this week? Lots of people struggle with feeling like God isn't guiding them or they can't feel His presence in their lives. Well, there's your solution! Give it a try.

Love y'all!

-Hermana Busath

P.S. Our investigator Angelic accepted a baptismal date yesterday! She'll be baptized on August 9th. What a ninja! I love that girl. Plus, she gave me a gorgeous bracelet and told me it matched my style because I dress "bohemian". Never heard that one before! Hope it's a compliment! ;)

PICTURES!

-Cute socks that my momma sent in my package this week (THANKS MOM! I got the package! You're the best! All that stuff was so perfect. The quotes especially. We all enjoyed them. Love you!)

 -Papusas in our favorite little Mexican restaurant, Leo's

 -Our HUGE salads that we each for lunch. Mmmm

-Us in the library snagging manuals for the Gospel Principles class

-David and Vivi Currier and us

 -Mishelle Williams and me

 -Us with Angelic 

(I gave her that skirt cause she didn't have any church-appropriate ones. She rocked it!)

-Brother and Sister Hopper and me (they fed us TWICE on Sunday! What a rockin family!)

-Missionaries in our ward, Elders Turley and Dietrich and Sisters Child, Downs and Madsen

Hola Amigos Y Amigas!

Here's a funny joke my mission president told us this week:
"Soy milk is really just regular milk introducing itself in Spanish."

What a great week we've had! Well, other than the fact that Sister Krage left us this week :( She has taught me so much by her example of love and patience. We really miss her!

At transfers meeting, we had an awesome training from President Hanks. One of my favorite parts was when he talked about two types of people: those who spend their time lifting themselves up, and those who constantly seek to raise others. He talks a lot about being a "man-builder", meaning that we should all be people that build others up and not bring others down. Lots of times our natural man tends to pull another down in order to bring ourselves up. The truth is, we are in no way lessened through another's success. There is no "equilibrium" that says that if another person improves, we automatically digress. The purpose of this life is to become the best that we can, but also help others in their journey as well. As we point all our efforts outward, we become like Jesus Christ and learn to build others up. And as we do so, the Lord takes care of us and provides for us and builds us up, and we don't have to put any effort into improving ourselves. I wish I had my notes from the training right now, but I left them in our apartment. I know that this principle is true because I have lived it. I am happier when I focus on others because Heavenly Father takes care of my needs. If Christ is our Perfect Example and He never seeked to raise Himself up, we must also spend our lives in the service of others if we want to become more like Him.

So we found the best way to find new people to teach this week. We took a little trip to the beach with the other 4 missionaries in our ward, set up a couple tables and chairs, and painted nails/faces for free. It was such a hit! It's something the other sisters in our ward do all the time, and it worked out perfectly because we were able to talk with the huge Hispanic population and they could teach the sunburned whities ;) We even met a couple who has recently overcome an addiction together, and are 2 years sober. They told us that they had been praying earnestly for Heavenly Father to put someone in their path and introduce them to His church. They had attended many churches where they felt ostracized and outcasted, even after they had overcome their addiction. The husband was fighting tears as he heard our message about the love of Christ and the restoration of His gospel here on earth. He had been waiting to feel that sweet confirmation from the Holy Ghost that he had found the peace he was looking for. It's moments like that that affirm to me that we really are doing God's work and that the things we teach are His eternal truths. He is with us as we teach and testify.

This week we moved to a new apartment! We are so grateful for the added space and cleanliness there. Plus I have the best companion in the entire world, so we have lots of fun. I never want this time with her to end! Unfortunately she'll be going home after this transfer :( I can't wait to have such great missionary friends for life!

Yesterday I drank goat milk for the first time. Not as bad as I thought it would be... although the taste was mostly covered with chocolate. It was chocolate milk. We were at our ward mission leader's house with his family, the Hoppers. They have 5 kids (almost 6) and just recently bought a farm. It's so fun there. We love helping out! Oh and mom and dad, I gave them your information because they have wanted to come to Kirtland for a long time. I told them that they are always welcome at our house, if we have enough room ;) They are an amazing, solid family. I know you'll love them! Tonight we have a Family Home Evening planned with them and a few other investigators and less-active members of the church.

Speaking of whichhhhh, this week we were blessed to find an amazing young couple!! Let me tell you about them. We got a little message from mormon.org saying that there was someone named Daniel in our area who wanted to learn more about the Gospel. Saweeeet! We went over and found out that he's actually a member, just less-active. He wants to fix up his life and get back into living the gospel. Saweeeet! Then we learned that he lives with girlfriend, who we met a couple days later. Turns out, she has studied and prayed and talked with Daniel, and she already knows she wants to be baptized so she can be sealed with Daniel and her family forever in the temple. Saweeeet! And Daniel piped in and said that he wants to be a worthy priesthood holder by the time she gets baptized so that he can baptize her. Saweeeet! We love them so much! They have come to a prime time in their lives when they know they want to settle down and instill some values and religion into their family. Good thing they already had a knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and knew exactly where to turn to make this change! They're hopefully coming to FHE tonight with the Hoppers. I love them so much!

Other than that, we have had so much success with the Hispanic community here that we're planning to start a group/branch here as soon as we can. That's been our goal, and we're working with our ward mission leader and a lot with the less-active Hispanic members so that we can have enough Priesthood holders to start the branch. I have really seen the benefit in having a vision for the ward where you serve. The Lord blesses us and answers our prayers because we have specific goals and sincere desires to improve the ward in which we are serving. Please pray for the work to be hastened in the Guntersville Ward and for the Spanish Branch to be formed soon! Thanks, I love y'all very much! Keep being a good friend and example to those you know, and look for ways to serve others each day!

Love,

Hermanita Busath

P.S. I really love this quote: "Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, I will try again tomorrow."
-Mary Anne Radmacher

And now......PICTURES!

-Sister Child and I thought we might have more success if we got people's attention by painting our faces... 
j/k it's a face mask :)

 -Our last day with Hermana Krage :(

-The graveyards here are CRAZY! These people keep incredible flowers on the sites 24/7! 
Every graveyard is so colorful. It makes them slightly less scary ;) 

 -Finally a good picture with President Hanks and his wife :)

-Re-energizing ourselves with McDonald's ice cream! 

-Our new abode! Lovin it!