I'm Grateful For the Support You Have Given Me

Hello Persons reading this! 

Just let me say I love you all and am grateful for the support you have given me! 

This last week was full of meetings. But first, last night we had a lesson with the Waltons. One of their sons is investigating the church.  Last night,  Sunday night, we shared the story of Joseph Smith and watched The Restoration: The Prophet of the Restoration. The spirit was present in that home, and the family bore their testimonies to him. It was a very powerful experience..

 Wednesday we had Zone Training.  Elder Dalling and I had the opportunity to instruct the 20 missionaries in our zone! It was amazing.

Thursday we had Zone Conference. Half the mission/missionaries were there. Elder Dalling and I had the opportunity to conduct the meeting. The Mission President's wife, Sister Brinkerhoff, shared this quote with us from Marion G. Romney at the April 1980 General Conference. 

"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity—the pure love of Christ—will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness."

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1980/04/the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng

I really enjoy the Book of Mormon and the peace it brings to my heart. For those of you that have never read it. Please read these three verses. Moroni 10 3-5: 

  3. "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts."

 4. " And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost."

 5. "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

Put that promise to the test. Figure out why I am here, sending this email, and serving a mission. I know it is the word of God and it has brought much peace and happiness and will in the life to come. I just want others to feel that happiness as well.

I love you all. Take care

Elder Rush

Part of a quick note from Mitchell answering some of my questions.

We cover the Boulevard, CastleRock, RosePark, and Victorian Village wards. There really is no set schedule other then studies in the morning. After 10 am it is just crazy and chaotic. It is very exciting though. There is a family history center by the Temple that we email at. We are allowed to go to the Temple once a quarter. We are okay!  We are doing well and staying busy.

I love you and miss you so much:)

Elder Rush

Sorry no pictures this week:((((9

  

A Warm Welcome to Idaho Falls!

Hello!

This last week has been pretty busy. I found out I am being transferred to Idaho Falls to be with my MTC companion Elder Dalling. We will be the Zone Leaders there. That will be exciting but I am nervous. 

This last week was filled with Good Byes and much learning from other learners. 

It snowed too but it melted in a couple of hours!

So here are some inspiring picture quotes.

Love Elder Rush

The shortest Email so far! Though he made up for it with pictures! Love my Elder Rush!

Here is a letter to Elder Rush from President Brinkerhoff concerning his call as Zone Leader. So proud of my amazing boy!

Dear Elder Rush ,

This letter confirms the assignment I extended to you to serve as a Zone Leader.  Congratulations on this assignment.  With this assignment, great trust has been placed in you.  I trust that you will be an example of:

*  Exact obedience-the blessings that come to missionaries, who are obedient with exactness are immeasurable, and by being an example you will be able to help the missionaries in your zone be obedient.

*  A Preach My Gospel missionary so that you can show the missionaries how to be successful.

*  A leader who lifts and inspires the missionaries with love.

*  A missionary who is focused on your purpose to bring others to Christ.

*  A leader who is diligent, humble, and effective

Remember to always call upon your Heavenly Father.  The Lord will qualify you for this work as you rely upon Him in faith.  You can also call on the assistants and me for counsel and guidance.

As with all assignments in the Church, at some point in time a release will be issued.  Until that time serve with all your heart, might, mind and strength in furthering this work. It is a privilege to serve with you, in this leadership role.

Love,

Marvin T. Brinkerhoff Mission President

My guess is the person taking this picture is not very tall.

The Murdochs, Elder Rush and Brother Kepler

So serious! Studly men! 

The Shaws and Elder Rush

The Robinson Family, Elder Rush and his new monkey friend!

The Hadley family and Elder Rush

The Kepler family with Elder Rush helping with handstand practice, or assisting with cleaning out pockets!

Elder Rush and Jacob.

Elder Rush and Brother Spicer

The Cluff family and Elder Rush.

The Tillotson family and Elder Rush.

Of course, so long to Elder O'Brien from Canada, who really likes..... Hockey!

I love this quote! It reminds me of our valiant missionaries out serving our Father in Heaven; Gods Army! 

Heading to Idaho Falls as Zone Leader.

Hello!

This last week has been pretty busy. I found out I am being transferred to Idaho Falls to be with my MTC companion Elder Dalling. We will be the Zone Leaders there. That will be exciting but I am nervous. 

This last week was filled with Good Byes and much learning from other learners. 

It snowed too but it melted in a couple of hours!

So here are some inspiring picture quotes.

Love Elder Rush

The shortest Email so far! Though he made up for it with pictures! Love my Elder Rush!

Here is a letter to Elder Rush from President Brinkerhoff concerning his call as Zone Leader. So proud of my amazing boy!

Dear Elder Rush ,

This letter confirms the assignment I extended to you to serve as a Zone Leader.  Congratulations on this assignment.  With this assignment, great trust has been placed in you.  I trust that you will be an example of:

*  Exact obedience-the blessings that come to missionaries, who are obedient with exactness are immeasurable, and by being an example you will be able to help the missionaries in your zone be obedient.

*  A Preach My Gospel missionary so that you can show the missionaries how to be successful.

*  A leader who lifts and inspires the missionaries with love.

*  A missionary who is focused on your purpose to bring others to Christ.

*  A leader who is diligent, humble, and effective

Remember to always call upon your Heavenly Father.  The Lord will qualify you for this work as you rely upon Him in faith.  You can also call on the assistants and me for counsel and guidance.

As with all assignments in the Church, at some point in time a release will be issued.  Until that time serve with all your heart, might, mind and strength in furthering this work. It is a privilege to serve with you, in this leadership role.

Love,

Marvin T. Brinkerhoff Mission President

My guess is the person taking this picture is not very tall.

The Murdochs, Elder Rush and Brother Kepler

So serious! Studly men! 

The Shaws and Elder Rush

The Robinson Family, Elder Rush and his new monkey friend!

The Hadley family and Elder Rush

The Kepler family with Elder Rush helping with handstand practice, or assisting with cleaning out pockets!

Elder Rush and Jacob.

Elder Rush and Brother Spicer

The Cluff family and Elder Rush.

The Tillotson family and Elder Rush.

Of course, so long to Elder O'Brien from Canada, who really likes..... Hockey!

I love this quote! It reminds me of our valiant missionaries out serving our Father in Heaven; Gods Army! 

Time Flies too Fast!

Hello EVERYONE!  How are things going? How is the weather? I hope you are all doing fantastic!

Well next week I will have been out for 6 months! That is completely insane! Time flies too fast! Also we get transfer calls this week so we will see where we will end up!

Things have been getting better! I had these weird mood swings the past couple weeks but I found an antidote for it! We have to talk to everyone and share the gospel with them so we have been doing that! The other day we were able to pass out 6 Book of Mormons, multiple pamphlets and many pass along cards! It was quite fantastic! 

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to take 2 people to the temple visitors center, that was very spiritual. I really enjoy the opportunity to study the Gospel of Jesus Christ everyday but wish we had more time! There is this really cool devotional that was given at BYU recently. I encourage you to read it and apply it to your lives. It is about having real intent in all we do!

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2015/01/living-with-purpose-the-importance-of-real-intent?lang=eng

I have some homework for the whole family like everyone. There is a talk by Elder Bednar called The Atonement and Journey of Mortality!

It is amazing and has helped me recently. 

Hope you are all having a wonderful life! Keep me updated please!

Love 

Elder Rush

The Idaho Falls Temple, where Mitchell talks about taking 2 people to the Visitors Center. Also, his grandma and grandpa Middleton were married there 57 years ago.

Fluffy pillowy clouds!

~~~~~~~~

This is Mitchell's reply to his sister, Kristalyne's letter. I loved her account of Stake Conference where we had the priveledge of having Russell M Nelson, an Apostle in our church, speak to us.

Oh my goodness!!!!

Thank you for sharing that message from Elder Nelson. That was amazing and I was filled with the Spirit reading! Holy Moly!:)))))))))) I miss you so much!

Elder Rush

Today was stake conference with Russell M Nelson! It was so amazing!!!!! He is so sweet and humble! He had a great sense of humor too. The spirit was soo strong when he spoke!!! I know with out a doubt in my mind that he is an Apostle of God!!!!! I know that this is Christ's church! I know that our Heavenly Father loves us more then anything and wants us to return home! We are soo blessed to have the gospel!!!! I want to share it with everyone!!!!! I'd like to share a few things from Russell M Nelson's talk today!!!!

First, he talked about how the gospel is the hope of the world! He said that our amazing missionaries are the key to bringing the world the truth! I felt the spirit so strong! I'm so proud of you!!! You are doing an amazing work!!!! You're saving the world! Evan would call you a super hero!!! :) he also said we have more missionaries than ever before, but we need more. He said to teach your children and prepare them to be missionaries! Amazing!

He had all of the children stand and sing, 'I am a Child of God' . It was so touching!!! He said teach these precious children the meaning of these words; they're more then words, they're truth. I wish everyone knew this truth! He said teach them that they are created in His image. Help them converse with Him He loves to hear from His children! Teach them that their Heavenly Father wants them to return home more then anything!!! He said teach them that Godhood is family!!!

At the end he gave us an apostolic blessing. He said I bless you to feast upon the words of Christ and apply the teachings to your life. I bless you to be examples and missionaries. I bless you with success in your occupations. He paused and said I have a feeling that you have a concern of illness...I bless you with healing. I bless you to know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ! It was amazing being in the presence of an Apostle! I'll never forget how I felt!

Elder Rush and Elder O'Brien have a new look

Hello Persons of the World!

How is everything going? How is the weather?

Well it is getting warm here and I love it! No more freezing Elder Rush! Things are going well here. Elder O'Brien and I are working hard, finding people to teaching, and doing our best to fight through our trials! A fun story for this week is we were going to see a family we had not seen in a couple of weeks. We did not have anything schedule with them just a random visit! We knocked on their door, they opened up and  let us in. They told  us they had just been thinking about us and it was a coincidence we showed up then. We asked to share a message and we talked about faith. The son said  to wait because they were talking about faith right before we walked in and that it was another coincidence. So that allowed us to testify of how God works and gives us signs to build our faith. We talked about John 9 which is about Jesus, on the Sabbath, heals a man born blind—The Jews accuse Him of Sabbath violation.

—He lectures them on spiritual blindness.

In the 3rd verse it says "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

 The man was born blind so he could be healed by Christ and the works of God should be made manifest in him. Sometimes we wonder why bad things happen to us and other people. Maybe it is so God can give us a sign to build our faith or a trial that will cause us to turn to Him and rely on Him more. I know that God is our loving Father in Heaven and cares for all of us. He wants to help us. "God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe." -Jeffery R. Holland

I love you all! Take Care

Elder Rush

I love that my boy calls me mommy and loves and misses me. Makes my heart sing!

HELLO MOMMY!

How are you doing? 

Elder O'Brien and I are doing well!

We have had a busy week trying to find people, see everyone, and get ready for stake conference!

Oh boy! I love you very much mom! Miss you too! 

Hope you are doing well and I will keep you all in my prayers!

Love you

Elder Rush 

I was having a "miss my boy terribly day". So I email my friend, (spy) in one of Mitchell's wards asking if she saw him. This was her reply!

I sure did and last night... It is Stake Conference this weekend..   He seems good.. I know we have a couple of disappointing weeks with the people, I attend with them when they teach, but they  had 2 baptisms last week so their spirits are up... The Mission President's wife in her talk today mentioned both the Elders and Sisters working in our stake and said what good missionaries they are... She is so right... Your son is an excellent missionary and works hard to encourage the investigators without getting so close that they make changes for him instead of themselves.. That is so important... He understands that he is sharing God's words not Elder Rush's words and he wants to make sure the investigators know that.. you and your husband and I am sure his sisters helped.. have raised a wonderful young man... no wonder you miss him so much!

Princess Elsa, oh I mean Elder Rush and Elder O'Brien looking good! This made me laugh and laugh! Love my boy!

Mitchell's caption, "We are teaching a horse! He ran away eventually!"

Families are so Important!

Hello!

How is everyone doing?

This last week was a long one but it was great! I became sick on Wednesday and I tried to push through it but that was a bad idea! I felt like a furnace and I had an awful migraine. It was super exciting though. We had two baptisms: one for Josh Parris and one for Milenf (Miles, Miley) Murdoch. Both were awesome. It is crazy to see the change that comes over someone when they have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their life. I saw Josh two days after his baptism and his face had changed and his countenance had changed. It was a wonderful thing to witness. I also had the privileged of confirming Josh a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. That was exciting as well! 

Last week I read two talks that address the importance of families and loving others. I encourage you to read both when you get a chance. (inks at the bottom) I love that we have the knowledge that the family is the fundamental unit of Heaven. Families are so important but people are destroying them. The family is seen as a burden but it is a special opportunity that God has given us to take care of a child of God. I ask that we all respect families and teach each other the standards we need to be disciples of Jesus Christ! I love you all please be safe and be smart!

Elder Rush

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/loving-others-and-living-with-differences?lang=eng

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/what-matters-most-is-what-lasts-longest?lang=eng

Elder Rush with Josh and Elder O'Brien

I Made a Promise to Be Happy for the Rest of My Life!

Hello Everyone! 

Hope you all had an amazing week! I know I did! I made a promise to someone that I had to be happy for the rest of my life, so wish me luck! 

Let's see this last week was pretty exhausting but there are so many miracles that happened that I forgot them all and will probably just write about 2. Yesterday Elder O'Brien and I followed the example found in Alma 17:3

 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God. 

We ran from appointments, talked to everyone, and were able to teach 6 families effectively. I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost all day. Elder O'Brien and I were super pumped.

It has been crazy, there have been many changes in our zone lately, missionaries have been going home, which is very sad :(  But it has helped me recommit myself everyday to my purpose of serving the Lord. :)  I was reading in the Book of Mormon about Captain Moroni, who was a stud muffin as this scripture says:  

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. 

Captain Moroni Is a great example to me and I hope we can all strive to be like him!

I encourage you all to read Moroni 10:3-5 in the Book of Mormon and do as it directs. I know the book has changed my life and it truly does testify of Christ!

I love you all! Take Care

Elder Rush

Here are the verses in Moroni Mitchell is referring to:

 Moroni 10: 3-5

 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truthof it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Harmonica playing Elder O'Brien with my "Stud Muffin"

Zone leaders van, nice arm Elder Rush! Love my boy!