The Bushman/Jensen system

This week was a lot like last week. I find things are a lot less dramatic with a North American companion. Less dramatic is definitely a good thing in mission work. After the painfully reclusive Elder Coats, and the solely Spanish speaking Ponce, Elder Bushman is a first class comp. He´s actually me, from a different walk of life. I´m convinced we´re the same person. Which is funny because I have been known to say I would never want to live with myself, because I would drive myself crazy. Quite the contrary, I find living with my other side somewhat alleviating to say the least. Especially when the work is so difficult. It makes the Pension a sanctuary. A beautiful English speaking sanctuary.

Allow me to explain further. Consider this quote.

"I don´t consider myself pessimistic, but sometimes I predict the worst so I won´t be disappointed when it happens."

Sound familiar?

That was directly from Elder Bushman. And that´s when I knew we were brothers.

From a self taught pianist who half heartedly pushed his way through high school band wishing to be somewhere else, to having the hamburger song from veggie tales unashamedly memorized, Elder Bushman is me. Albeit a slightly altered me (you can thank Spanish Fork for that) But me nonetheless.

Ok, so enough about Elder Bushman. Things are going fantastic here. The initial shell shock of elder Ponce´s departure has worn off, and the Bushman Jensen system has been put in place in Ensenada. We´re putting up numbers. Finding, contacting, teaching. And, as of November 20th, and quite possibly sooner, baptizing.

So a little more about Karen.

This week we had an appointment, and she finally decided on a date. The 20th of November. She also decided on someone to baptize her. In the moment, I was readily expecting her to pick Elder Bushman. His Spanish being supreme. I was shocked and humbled when she said, "I´ve chosen someone so profound, with so much faith... Elder Jensen."

It was a sacred moment. One of those moments that lets me know why I´m here. One of those moments that starts to outweigh how hard the past four months have been.

When we went into Karen´s house for that appointment, it was clear skies, muggy and humid. Very hot. When we left, it was so dark I couldn´t see my hand in front of my face. A storm had moved in over the small space of an hour.

This storm was unlike any I had ever seen. Thick darkness, and then above, lightning constantly rolling across the heavens. We tried to get on the bikes, but with little success as we could barely see the paths in front of us illuminated. I felt like I was in a movie.

The weather here is crazy. Honestly disturbing.

Anyways, I guess the best way to describe me right now is content. Content with Ensenada, content with my companion and my investigators. Content on a mission only really ever means one thing. Everything is about to turn upside down.

Love you so much everyone. Thank you for your support and letters and everything!