Josh participated in a Tri-State Seminary Activity
He's dressed in the robes of Aaron
Dear friends and Family,
I am feeling good, we have a water purifier now (water was poisoning us), and the difference in our moods and health is astonishing! Also we have had a very rough 2 weeks, I will be honest, it's been pretty sad and terribly frustrating at times, but, no worries, we have the Lord. It's been nice to feel the great achievements in my mood since becoming a missionary and how Faith can truly build the character and help you be more sturdy in the face of resistance. No longer weakened, it seems, I won't forget the Lords' hand in every blessing in my life, especially attitudes, these blessings keep me moving forward.
the Arc of the Covenant
So The Law of The Gospel by Brad Wilcox is a BYU-I devotional that he recently gave and his imagery really moved me. He said something along the lines of a game you play on the bus to get to the front (like Big Buddha for those of you that know that) and when you messed up you went to the back. How disappointing it feels to go to the back right? It's like the atonement and our individual sins bring us to the back of the bus, as long as we keep trying, the bus continues to move forward on it's own, no matter our position in the bus. So we must stay on the "Bus" of the atonement and we will always keep moving forward.
Inside the Ark
the Big 10
Even when other people revile and say all manner of evil against you, blessed you can be, if you keep that eye single. Our recent convert from several weeks ago has gone back to another church and has given up on ours, which is sad, but agency is agency. We have had many other peoples and situations come up in our ministry as of late, thankfully God the mighty man that He is, is always aware of our deepening commitment to keep on. Christ had a difficult mission, I don't expect mine to be much easier.
Love y'all -Elder Joshua Dean Rush
Sept. 14, 2015
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Robes of Aaron
Dear Friends and Family,
Everything is hard, WOAH surprise, but hey if I wasn't honest y'all wouldn't read my emails right? Well really the hardest thing is getting up and trying to find/see people who actually want to see you! Who actually want to hear the good news, who don't want to argue, who are truly seeking for some light. Elder Ralph and I sure do have fun though, I mean it sounds like a struggle but even though every door we seem to hit, we get a negative response, sometimes we get some hilarious encounters. I guess young, well groomed boys is threatening haha. We had this poor older woman who just looked SO scared of us and she just slowly shut the door...it was weird, but it was funny. One person asked us why we hate the bible and we said that we didn't, then they just closed the door saying "I don't believe you!" daww haha, keep on walkin' right?
Yep, that's me
the Table of Shrewbread
God is good, the south is wonderful, and we just keep on walkin' in the path of Jesus Christ.
Repenting daily, saying sorry, and giving our lives for the good cause, lifts us up so we can keep on movin' down the river of life. Remember the good and the bad for that is the purpose of life.
love y'all -Elder Rush
Sept. 21, 2015
Rush Road
Dear Friends and Family,
Great week with some good moments and some good stories. First thing in the list of experiences is something important for everyone to know: We need to say nice things, and we need to not take offense at everything, and we need to respect one another a whole lot more, if the world is ever going to be positively affected by us. Turns out not everything we say is always the best thing to say, even if its true, we gotta watch the way we say our words. It seems like a hassle, but its a principle of the gospel, just read James and Romans 11, saints say saintly things.
Okay, so on Thursday, we went to this Foster care meeting thing that all these adults in the community all meet and plan and make sure the kids of foster care and adoption are taken care of. We as missionaries don't have much to do with this, in the case with children, but they were using our building to show the video "the drop box" and what a touching one indeed. It was also a good time to share the restored gospel, especially concerning children with special needs and the responsibility to raise and rear children with love and kindness. We contacted quite a few very kind and open people.
Thanks Elder Toone!!
Another amazing thing that happened was that this week, we really had the bishop and some members really encourage us to keep going, because we have been having such a hard time finding new investigators and keeping motivated, but the members saw our need and lifted us up. I am very grateful for the Spirit led timing that came with that surge of love.
Things get hard, things are easy, but the main concern is what do I take out of those experiences? Let yourselves grow is the best thing I've learned on this great mission. Take whatever you can and improve upon it.
Love y'all, take good care and let me know how y'all are doin'.
-Elder joshua dean rush
