Another great General Conference

Well family,

It's great to be a member of our family. Really. Think about it... we all love each other. We get along (most of the time). We enjoy each other's company. It's great to be in such a family. It is a divine blessing from the Lord. Don't ever let yourself take that for granted.

This past week, like I said I would, I bought another shopka. It's black and super super nice fur. It's made from mink which is one of the nicest furs you can get a shopka made from. It was a little expensive but I bought one along with my companion, Elder Patterson and Elder Bell got a muskrat one. So, we'll all definitely stay warm this winter. 

The work has slowed down a little bit as of late. But we keep on working hard and trying to do our best. My favorite part of the past week was undoubtedly general conference. So many things were impressed upon my mind that it will probably take a few days of reviewing my notes to really recall everything I enjoyed. One thing stuck out to me from Elder Waddell's talk as he quoted President Monson who said something to the effect of, "Missionary work is one of the hardest labors in which we can endeavor." As I pondered on that, I had to agree and yet, I know that coming from the prophet, who I'm sure is a lot better at giving up of himself for others, does a lot more than what I or any other missionary is called to do. It truly is a demanding work but it prepares us so well for life ahead. I could think of no other thing I could possibly do right now that would be more worthwhile or important than a mission.

Elder Holland's talk in priesthood was outstanding. Very Elder Hollandish. And just what the priesthood holders of the church needed to hear. Elder Scott's talk helped me realize again that I really need to buckle down once again and memorize more scriptures. Not just so I can teach more effectively or know the scriptures better, but so I can enjoy the Spirit of the Holy word of God that He has blessed us with. Yesterday was a very hard day for me. Mostly because I was struggling inwardly in my attempt to do all the Lord requires of me and to be moldable. If that makes sense. As we spoke with people on the street between general conference sessions, I felt the Lord bless me with more love and desire to help the people amongst whom I serve. I looked into the eyes of a man named Sergei, who we often see near our apartment building, who was drunk and smoking a cigarette down the last bit he could. I looked into his eyes and knew he is a son of God, my brother, and I wanted so badly to help him overcome his addictions. It's hard for me to pass on my feelings in words but I want you to know that I know that our Heavenly Father loves each of us so much. More than we can understand.

This next week, President Pratt is coming for zone conference and we'll finally be meeting in our new building! Should be exciting and simply uplifting to see and learn from him and his wife. I've really come to love them too. I love all the missionaries that I'm serving with. They're great young men. Today, we're going to head off to see a datsan which is a Buddhist temple. Should be fun! I'll be sure to send pictures. Sorry that this email is so short. Promise to write more this next week. Remember that I love each of you a ton! Please tell Grandma Gee I love her! And Grandma and Grandpa Bush and Uncle Derek that I love them and have been thinking about them!

Love,

Elder Bush

p.s. There can be miracles. If you believe. It's all in the faith and acting diligently. 

I'm blessed to work with great people

Hey there everybody!

All is well here in Ulan-Ude. It's funny how each city I've served in becomes my favorite with time. This past week has been a spiritual one, mostly due to prayer and the camaraderie we share amongst the elders in our district. I really have been tremendously blessed to be the district leader of such stupendous missionaries. One because individually, they're great people. But secondly, because they work so well in their companionships. I've seen a lot of successes and miracles amongst the elders here in Ulan-Ude. More than ever before. And most of all, I've seen wonderful changes in myself and in the elders of the district in becoming closer to the Savior as we labor together in His work. The longer I serve, the more I realize that I am so far from perfection.

The senior couple here had us over for cake and milkshakes today before they left on their Korea trip for the birthdays of Elder Bean (Elder Steed's comp) and Elder Patterson (my companion). They really are such a funny couple and so loving in their own special way. We've really come to love them and feel very much a part of the Price family (that's their last name). They shared a tender experience with us just before they left about how the Lord has been blessing them since they've been gone. I know the Lord protects and watches over and blesses His servants. He loves us so much.

To tag onto that thought, I'll share with you all something I caught a glimpse of this past week. I've always wanted to know how missionaries were able to always come home and share with family and friends that they had come to know the Savior on their missions. I guess for the last little while, I've felt a little jipped because I've wanted to feel closer to the Savior, to feel as though I've come to know Him better through my missionary service thus far, but I felt as though that desire just hadn't been fulfilled yet. And I didn't really know what to do in order to fulfill my desire. I study the Lord's word every day. I pray now more than I've ever prayed before in my life. The book, "Jesus the Christ," in company with the New Testament has helped me to better understand the Lord Christ and His mission, but yet something still has felt as though it lacked. This past week, I didn't really have a monumental spiritual experience or manifestation. In fact, I don't really know that I did much of anything different in my daily routine besides simply trying to do better than I did the day before. At some point, I came to ponder about the Savior and the work in which I labor presently and it hit me. The experiences I've been having all along have been helping me come to know the Savior and I didn't really even notice or realize it. Now, I ask you all to please not misinterpret my words here because I in no way will or can come close to comparing myself with our Savior, Jesus Christ. But I strongly feel, thanks to the impressions of the Lord's Spirit, that the experiences I have gone through thus far on my mission have helped bring me one small step closer to Gethsemane. Speaking of our Redeemer, He willingly drank the bitter cup and took upon Himself the sins and infirmities of all mankind, a cup He would rather not have drunk. He had so much love for the Father and for all of us that he went through with the greatest act of love that has ever been completed. Again, I in no way compare myself to the Savior. I simply can say that I know in a very small way what it feels like to do things or press forward in a work that at times can be very discouraging and on one hand, your natural man self doesn't want to continue on. And yet, you go on because you love the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. I apologize if my feelings don't make much sense. It's hard to adequately pass on in word what I feel. In short, my mission has taught me things that I could not learn in any other way. I know the Lord loves us. I know Christ is the Savior of all mankind. I know God is our Heavenly Father. And I cannot deny what I know to be true.

I've really come to love the people I serve. I realize that much of what I've written today has probably been repeated in my previous letters. But I just want you to know just how grateful I am for the Lord's benevolent and generous hand in my life. It's been a rewarding experience to train a new elder because I've come to realize just how much Russia has become my home. I love this place, and rarely do I find myself discovering minuses or things that are less than desirable or for that matter, comparing what's here to home.

This past week had a little bit of the usual craziness since one of the companionships had to move to a new apartment. So we spent one day packing up and moving in. I will say, we did do a great job getting everything up four flights of stairs in the narrowest staircase ever! I'm surprised the fridge made it.

Lastly, rely upon the Lord. Because you're a lot better off when you do. I was called upon last minute to teach Sunday School this past week and was extremely grateful to have Heavenly Father's help. He is mindful of us. And aids us as we rely upon Him.

Oh yeah, last week, I saw a kid walking around with a USF sweatshirt. That was really weird and completely unexpected.

I love you all a ton and wish you all a wonderful, fruitful, safe, fun week!

Love,
Ст. Буш

p.s. I think I might buy a shopka today. Maybe next week. I don't know. I'll send you pictures once I get it!

A Week of Miracles

How is everyone doing?!

Great to hear from you all! Glad to hear conference was so good! Hopefully, we'll get the disks and be able to watch conference this upcoming weekend. We'll see if things work out. 

This past week has been a fantastic one! I had one of the greatest lessons of my whole mission this past week with a woman and her daughter who are interested in the gospel. They really are so awesome! The Lord is preparing His children to come closer to Him. Elder Patterson talked to the mother on the bus one day after district meeting and all he really talked about with her was that he was a missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ which really struck her as interesting, the fact that our church bears Christ's name. After that, she wanted to read the Book of Mormon, and she continues to tell us, "How could this book not be true?! Or be made up? Of course it's true!" Now we just have to help her see what that means for her, that the Book of Mormon is true. For the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and our message leads us to act and not simply to learn helpful or nice information. They love the feeling they have when they meet with us. We helped explain to them several times that that is the Spirit and He helps us know that what we're hearing or learning is true. We've also continued to meet with several other investigators, and simply put, it's been great to be a part of the Lord's work in this very special part of His vineyard. People often ask us, why on earth would you come here to Russia or even to this part of Russia, to this city of all places to do what you're doing? Because we're all children of Heavenly Father. And He loves all of His children. They probably ask that question because all they recognize or see are the material imperfections or unpleasantries (sorry I can't spell or think of any other words that make sense in English) that can be found in their city when in fact, if you take a moment and just look around, you can find a lot to love. Mostly the people. Why do missionaries always say "Love the people" when they tell future missionaries advice? Because it's the key to success in the Lord's work. For He loves each of us perfectly. And how can we expect to get anywhere in His work, or for that matter in this life, if we're not willing to do it His way?

We had a little miracle this past week. Yesterday, at sacrament meeting, we had 10 investigators in attendance! Isn't that crazy?! I think it is! One of those in attendance was a woman we had talked to on the street the day before and had invited her. I'll be honest, people don't usually come when we invite them. Rarely does that ever seem to yield any fruit. But this woman came! And brought her granddaughter with her! The rest of our investigators had member friends invite them and had support there and it's just awesome to witness and be a part of! The members here a really great at helping us and doing missionary work all on their own. They love to share the blessings the Lord has poured out on them. How wonderful it is to behold!

I had a neat experience on the bus ride to the library where we write home each week. We were talking to people on the bus and as we were about to get off, we walked up to the front of the bus and there sat a man who collected money for the bus fair. I thought to myself, "should I talk to this man?" And I began to doubt that he would be interested. He had seemed pretty angry at one point during the bus ride and I thought to myself, "I really should talk to him, but it would be a lot easier to just get off the bus." At this point, this rough looking Russian man turned to me, and with a smile began to talk with me. We got to know each other and he asked for an invitation before I could even turn the conversation to the gospel. His name is Aleksei and he taught me today that I should never hesitate to talk to anyone, no matter what I, imperfect Elder Bush, may think. I pray the Lord will touch his heart and that he will call or show up someday just as that woman did yesterday. The greatest thing I've really begun to grasp lately is that there's nothing that happens in this work without the Lord's hand in it. For it is His work. If we expect to assist in His work, we better expect miracles. If we doubt miracles can happen, we will not assist in this work. I know it.

This past week is probably such an awesome one because I've seen little miracles each and every day. And because I've felt the spirit witness to me that this work in which I am participating is true. There is nothing more important on the face of this earth than the work of the Lord. I didn't understand that for myself 1 1/2 years ago. And as I'm starting to come around the bend to the homestretch of this mission, I'm beginning to realize that 2 years is not enough. I have so much to learn because I know so little. 

I love you all so much and I pray for you always. I hope this next week brings lots of smiles, fun, and blessings from on high.

Love,

Elder Bush

A Crazy Week of Travels

Dearest family,

Y'all ain't heard from me in quite some time! Sorry about that. We didn't really know where to go in Korea to find internet and we all thought that we would be able to write a little more at least in the airport but they closed the cafe right when we got there. To sum up, the week before I left was a little hectic in trying to prepare for Elder Phillip's and my absence since our greenie companions would be serving together and we wanted to make sure they would be prepared for all that. Saturday morning (a week ago) the branch did service at the new building cleaning up the territory around the building and it really looks nice there. The building is beautiful and we can't wait to move. The only reason we haven't been able to and they keep putting it off is they're having trouble getting the contract in place for water to the building. Something's not working in the communication between the church and the city and maybe some other people in between. So, anyways, someday we'll move there.

Elder Phillips and I left Ulan-Ude last a week ago Saturday at 4 in the afternoon and took a train which arrived in Irkutsk just after 11 pm. We hopped in a taxi and stopped by the senior couple's apartment to pick up Elder Zamora and then we were off to the airport to wait for our flight which left at 3 am Sunday. Waiting is never my favorite activity in the world, but we eventually got on the plane. (We flew Korean Air which was awesome!)  We got into Korea at about 6:30, got our stuff and headed to the temple where we were met by some members who took us to the English branch. That was really weird! It felt like being home, which at first I really didn't like that feeling. I've really come to love a smaller branch where everyone speaks and sings and prays in Russian, but I learned some great things from the speakers and it was a great experience. We found a Russian woman who lives there and tried to meet with her later in the week, but it didn't work out. We did a little shopping, met up with Elder Phillip's friend who's a member serving in the army near the South Korean, North Korean border and went with him and several of the Seoul Korean missionaries to a war museum. That was interesting and felt very touristy. His friend then took us on the base nearby to buy American food at the grocery store there, and that was intensely weird! In fact, I didn't like it very much because it was far too much like home. Literally, you walk on base and all of a sudden, you feel as though you've returned to America. The roads, the yards, the buildings, the people all speaking English, it was just plain weird. I did get peanut butter though which was a plus. I've been loving that the past few days. :) Elder Phillip’s friend thought we were crazy when we asked for 4 jars of peanut butter.

We got to go to a family home evening at an American member's home which was way fun! They have an adorable little girl who has started talking and it was crazy that I couldn't understand her! I felt as though I was hearing a Russian again for the first time and couldn't for the life of me understand her! She really is super cute. We had waffles for dinner and whole American milk. You all know how much I love my milk. ;) We had a wonderful spiritual thought afterward. I love the feeling of going from friendly conversation to teaching about the gospel. I always love conversing with people because it's always interesting to learn more about someone. Yet, the feeling of the spirit as He accompanies our words as we teach of the gospel of Jesus Christ is incomparable.

So basically, we flew home, got into Irkutsk late Wednesday night, got on a train Thursday morning and returned to Ulan-Ude. Oh before I forget, we also went to Costco thanks to the senior couple allowing us use their card, and I bought a new suitcase since my big one was is completely trashed. It's probably the same one that I looked at before my mission. It's a little small but great quality and hopefully, it'll hold up and do the trick. Saturday, we had a baptism here in Ulan-Ude which was, as always, a very spiritual and wonderful experience. The father of a family who had already all been baptized earlier was baptized and they're all looking forward to having the opportunity to be sealed in the temple. One of their daughters, on a mission in St. Petersburg, is probably SO excited to hear that her father finally made the decision to be baptized. The gospel is all about the family.

We have some awesome investigators we're working with now that just popped outta nowhere! One is a 10 year old boy named Misha and his mom and grandma. They all love coming to church because of the comfort they feel there, and they've expressed interest in being baptized. A little over an hour ago, we met with Misha before school and he prayed at the end of our lesson! It was one of the greatest experiences of my mission! To hear a 10 year old say such a simple and yet heartfelt prayer!

Saturday evening, we had a branch talent show and we (the missionaries) did a cooking show skit thing where we had the senior companions speaking with our junior companions behind us but they stuck their arms out and pretended to be our arms. It was absolutely hilarious! And we were glad everyone liked it and that we pulled it off since we came up with it last minute. We "made" American pancakes and made quite a mess considering our comps couldn't see what they were doing. Hopefully, I can get a copy of the video and show you once I'm home.

Well, I guess in a nutshell, that was my last two weeks. Sorry if it doesn't make much sense. Basically, I'm doing well and loving where I'm at. Hard to think I don't have much time left. 6 months is so short. Thus, I must thrust in my sickle with all my might and have all the faith I can muster to allow the Lord to work miracles through me. That's all I'm essentially called to do. Have faith and do His work. If you do it His way, miracles will come.

I love you all. I pray for each of you. I'm so glad to hear how the Lord is blessing all of you. :)

Love,
Elder Bush

No letter this week

We did not get an email today.  Spencer was traveling to Korea and must not have been able to get to a computer.  If something comes later in the week, I will post it.

Hello from the other side of the globe

Do you ever stop and wonder how far apart we really are located from one another? Crazy. You're all on the other side of the globe! The best part of it is that I know the Lord is watching over me and you, and despite the distance, everything will be okay. First off, thank you Mom for your email and your insights. The atonement really is such a beautiful subject. So deep and yet so simple. The more I learn, whether it was in school, or Russian, or the gospel, I realize just how little I really know. Thank you, Dad for your email too. To answer your questions, I would have the means to listen to a talk on CD if you were to send it. Just let me talk with President Pratt to make sure that would be ok to listen to and I'll get back to you (hopefully) next week. A week from now may be a little crazy since I'll be going to Korea which requires me to take a train out of here to Irkutsk and then fly who knows where to eventually get to Korea. While traveling is a bit of a drag at times (especially taking a flight at 1 am and arriving at 7 in Vlad or the flights Elder Waltman took with Elder Jones for ZL's council... remember those, Elder Waltman? Not the favorite part of the mission) traveling is however at times pretty exciting and always an adventure.

The work is picking up some here in Ulan-Ude. Honestly, I would have to say that it's not really picking up because of anything we the missionaries have done. It's all from the Lord. Random people just show up to church who want to know more and meet with us or members invite their friends who desire to know more about us. The important thing I've learned on the mission thus far is that we must do everything we can to bring about the Lord's work and then He can begin to work miracles through us and amongst our surroundings.

One thing I wanted to mention to you all, especially to Mom and Dad is that I'm super grateful for how much you write to me. You always write to me just enough to keep me in the loop, and while to someone else, they may just seem like meaningless details, they're really important to me and it's super helpful to know more about what's actually going on at home.

I'm not really sure what I should share with you all about this past week. Got to meet with a young guy who's pagan. Yeah we'll see how that progresses. He prays to many gods and he also speaks a bagillion miles an hour. It takes just about every ounce of my being to follow him when he speaks. We also met with a woman that Elder Patterson talked to on the bus about the Book of Mormon. It was really neat to hear her as she told us that normally she's never interested in talking with people about religion or about God, but for some reason, when Elder Patterson asked her if she believed in God, she felt something inside that really got her interested and led her to want to read the Book of Mormon. We helped her identify that as the Spirit. It's so awesome to see how the Spirit works and to realize the power that His impressions can have on us. It reminds me of President Joseph Fielding Smith's comment in the Gospel Principles manual chapter 7 on the Holy Ghost. He talks about how seeing an angel or even the Son of God would not produce the same convincing feeling as can the Holy Ghost. How true is that?! Just look at Laman and Lemuel! They saw an angel. They heard the voice of the Lord and yet with a little time, they seemed to forget it all and returned to murmuring and breaking the commandments. We also met with this guy named Aleksander. It was a very interesting meeting since he has a hard time focusing on the topic at hand and he seems to be a little more interested in the fact that we're Americans. Although, he did tell us yesterday he has two dreams: to go to France someday and to see where Mormons live (Utah). Due to his research and things he's heard and seen, he's become super interested in learning more about the Mormons. I guess why I tell you all about this is because this past week, I've really come to love in a small way each of these people. Despite their differences, they're all children of Heavenly Father. They are my brothers and sisters, and I love them and want them to have the joy the gospel has given me. Many people we talk to daily share that they're already happy or they already have joy. Some even think that it's insulting that we Americans would come to Russia (a very historically rich religious country) and assume that what we have is "better" than what they already have. The point is not that what we have is "better" nor is it a question of nationality. We share with everyone the fullness of the gospel as it has been restored in our day by a living prophet. Why wouldn't you want something that would make you even happier, even stronger in your faith in Christ, or even closer as a family? If I hadn't received a personal conviction that the Lord in our day did call Joseph Smith to be a prophet, if I didn't know the Book of Mormon to be true, the last thing I would ever really want to do in this life is walk around and talk with people about probably the most controversial topic ever in the history of mankind: religion. But, I know it's true. And I cannot deny it. I am compelled to share what I know because it's true.

I love you all. Sorry this letter this week may not be all that interesting. But I hope and pray we will all realize how blessed we are to have the fullness of the truth. That knowledge most certainly doesn't make us "better". It makes us more responsible.

LOVE you!
Elder Bush

p.s. Tell Grandma and Grandpa Bush and Uncle Butchie thank you for their letters! I love them so much!!

A little paint on my suit... yeah that's worth it.

My dear family,

How is everybody doing? Sounds like things are well. And it sure sounds like things are going well with the beginnings of the business. I continue to pray for you dad and I know the Lord will continue to bless you all.

Last week after writing you all, we got a phone call from the other elders that they had met one of our investigators, who has been impossible to meet with lately, at the bus stop near the church. So, we ended pday a little early and headed off to the church to meet with him. We talked outside for a little while (he didn't have time to go inside the church and actually meet because he was in the area to see someone else) but while we talked, we began talking about the plan of salvation. After talking some, I offered him a pamphlet so that he could read more about the Plan of Salvation, but he didn't express interest and told us he wouldn't read it. We continued to talk and Elder Patterson then grabbed his pamphlet and tried to give it to him. This time he grabbed it and showed interest. Funny thing was, it was in English. But, he expressed interest in reading it and reading the Russian translation as well and pretty much I learned from that experience, sometimes you have to try again with maybe a little different approach. You never know what will happen. Later that evening, we had FHE (family home evening) with the branch president's family, and it was wonderful to be in their home! You could immediately feel the spirit as you entered the home and as we started FHE. We're really striving to work more and more with the members and the branch president and branch council, which he invited us to attend this past week, and basically, things are going well in Ulan-Ude.

Tuesday, Elder Phillips (my zone leader) and I had a sweet experience. After district meeting, we headed off to the church together to attend a meeting for zone leaders and district leaders that would be held via Skype. How cool is technology? Yeah, it's way cool. From Vlad, the assistants were able to join together elders on Sakhalin, in Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, and Ulan-Ude. We're all pretty far apart. Think about that... From Vlad to Irkutsk is practically the distance between you all and Trev right now. It's so cool how technology can be used to help the Lord's work to move forward. It was such a helpful meeting because now I know what I'm supposed to do as DL! and how I can improve district meeting.

To go along with what I just wrote above, I have a couple really neat stories about prayer and faith. When we arrived to the church on Tuesday for the meeting, we got into the family history center and turned on the computer and realized we needed a password. We then attempted to call the family history center consultant but she was unavailable. (Her phone may have been turned off or didn't have service). So I prayed silently that we would get through. The next time Elder Phillips tried, we heard a dial tone and got through and she gave us her password. Once we got Skype opened up, we realized something was wrong with the internet because we couldn't get on to add President Pratt as a contact. As I examined all the possible internet related stuff I could find while talking to the assistants by speaker phone, I said to Elder Phillips, we should pray. As I began to bow my head, I looked over to the router and I began to see the status light, which had remained off the entire time, flash which meant we had service again! All I had to do was simply express faith in the Lord, and he made everything work. I feel He sometimes waits to see if we will simply turn to Him for help when we're in need and once we've made the turn, he shows us a very simple but evident answer that I cannot deny. Anyone could tell me, oh Elder Bush that was just a coincidence. There was just a problem with the internet connection but it came on with a little time. No. I know the Lord answers our simple prayers and I know He did last Tuesday because I felt the Spirit testify to my heart that that was the Lord's hand we saw. And boy was that a great meeting we had. The Lord made possible that meeting for us (the alternative was linking us by telephone into the Skype conversation without video which would have been awful because cell phone reception in the church is awful). To add onto this all, as Elder Steed and I were on an exchange, we were searching amongst the dacha's (basically all the little Russian homes that are on the outer parts of town) for a member’s home and we couldn't find it. Once we thought we had found it after asking several people, we realized the house didn't have a doorbell and the fences were too high to be able to see inside. I had tried to call her several times already, but she too had been unavailable. So, I turned to Elder Steed and said, "Let's pray right here in the middle of the road." So I prayed that we would be able to get through to her and after I finished, as I called, I also got a ring back tone and soon got through to her and figured out she would meet us at the church later that day. So cool!!! Prayer works in very simple yet very real ways.

Being on an exchange with Elder Steed was great! I love serving with him. Elder Patterson and I got to teach a few lessons this past week with investigators which was especially great for him because it's hard when you don't have that many people to teach.

This past Saturday, we decided to go try the painting here in Ulan-Ude. It was pretty fun and successful in Irkutsk and so we decided to try it here. I was the only one who had done it before, so I was kind of in charge of the drawing and painting. At first, no one seemed interested at all. As in no one was even coming up to see what we were doing. Think about it, six guys in suits painting on the back side of wallpaper in a crowded street with shops on either side... yeah I'd be super interested to see what on earth they were doing. (By the way, have you ever really thought about how funny that sounds in English? "What on earth are you doing?" Translating that into Russian doesn't make any sense.) So anyways, with time, people began flocking to us and were really interested. We got to talk to a lot of people. And it really was a lot of fun. I don't know how, since we, the missionaries, completely blanked and didn't tell the members what we were doing, but somehow, some of them found out and showed up to help. We'll definitely include them even more in the future because it's super helpful having them there. Through it all, I got lots of paint on my hands and a little on my suit. At first I was a little bummed but in the end, I realized, whatever doesn't come out will remind me of what we did that day. Who knows? Maybe what we did, talking to people about the Plan of our Heavenly Father for us, about why we live here on earth, where we came from, what will happen after this life ends, why this life is so important, maybe all of that will help at least one person come closer to Christ. Two girls called us yesterday and showed up to church all by themselves. Might I emphasize, by themselves. We never truly know the fruits of our labors.

It was great to have the youth back in the branch yesterday since they returned from the YSA conference in Yekaterinburg, which seems to have been a blast. That stuff is so important for the young people, especially in Russia.

Well, I love you all a ton. Hope all is just dandy back in the sunshine state! The weather has been getting colder here the last few days. Crazy to think soon it will be time for jackets and coats and scarves and shopkas. Good luck to each of you!

Love,

Elder Bush