Thanksgiving

This is Crystal's Letter for this week. For those of you who would like to send her a Christmas card, here is her address. It costs 98 cents to mail a letter to El Salvador.

Hermana Crystal Bush
El Salvador San Salvador West/Belize Mission
Colonia San Benito
Boulevard El Hipodromo 537
San Salvador, San Salvador
El Salvador

Well here I am!

I am writing really late today because we had a zone activity today. We went to hike the Volcán de Santa Ana. At the beginning of the year I hiked a volcana named Isalco and this volcano is in the same area but it is a little bit bigger. It was super hard and now I am super tired. So before the mission I was not the biggest hiker and things have not changed. But it was very beautiful and it has a big crater with water inside. We had a good time and I had a really good time taking a little nap in the little bus that we rented. This week we got to see Claudia finally and it was really exciting because she just praised you guys. She had a good time visiting my family and couldn´t say enough about the dog. I think it is funny that one of my investigators has seen my house and the dog before I have.

Many funny things have happened this week but this might be the highlight. Last Sunday all of our citas (appointments) fell and so we went out contacting. Some lady let us in after some weird guy was asking me if I speak English or Spanish. So this older lady went to church years and years ago with a friend. So I asked what she remembered about the church or Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. So she began to tell us a very interesting version. According to her this is what happened: Joseph Smith was a young boy who liked to run in the morning and on time he prayed in a park and an angel came to him and told him where to find the plates of gold. So, he went to the airport to fly to Brazil where the plates were hidden. He tried to get them out of the ground but he couldn´t so he hired 4 men to help him get the plates out of the mountain. Well, there it is. It is a very interesting take on the prophet Joseph Smith. We explained to her what really happened and she laughed and laughed about her version and then afterwards realized it was a dream.

So, right now is the summer vacation in schools here and since we are in the city we have been fighting with finding people in their houses because a lot are leaving to go visit family or do some sort ofvacation. I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving yesterday. Our ward mission leader lived in the states for 20 years and his neighbor is a recent convert (Hermana Jenny) and so she made a Thanksgiving dinner which was delicious. She even made turkey with rice and bread and vegetables and french fries. It was very delicious.

We are working hard here in El Salvador. I love my companion Hermana Salazar. We get along really great and she laughs at everything I say which helps a lot. We took a lot of pictures today and some from yesterday but I will try to send you pictures next week. And yes, the picture that I sent last week is in front of our house. Hermana Ramirez always said it was the midget house because in one room my head almost touches the ceiling. We have a lot of positive investigators but they all have problems with something and with most of them it is the law of chastity. We are trying to organize a divorce some marriages or some other options.

I am so grateful for such great friends and family. I love my mission. I love the people and I love our investigators. After a year in the mission, I took some time to reflect my experiences and I am truly happy that I am here. So many people tell us each day that it is such a huge sacrifice that we make and yes it is, but it is worth every day. I love you all.

Hermana Bush

Oh, and by the way, I read Abby´s email about the cold and she says that it is hard and that she always felt sorry for me and Eli sweating in Norway. But right now, I can´t feel sorry for her. I got really

burnt today climbing the volcano. Everyone says that November and December and January are the coldest months but luckily for me it has been hotter than normal. I am just going to work on my tan.

I love you.