Tender Mercies & Grace 11/9/2015

Well I think I am in week two of being in the field and I have learned that Sundays are my favorite days. I feel such peace on that day and it is a time that I can go to church and forget about all the stresses of a mission for three hours! 

There are a lot of tender mercies on a mission such as the music! I love music and I am in a car area... so happy about that because it gets pretty rainy here! But in the car we listen to uplifting music and it is the best! And some of the music is pretty awesome!! 

The hardest part of a mission is getting yelled at by people, but then the people that want to hear the message make everything better! Another thing is that I am blessed with a weight set in my apartment! To me that is my wake up call that I need to stay in shape haha! I will post a picture of it below. And by the way I don't take that many pictures here because I would get robbed if I carried a camera with me haha! 

The worst thing about Tacoma is it gets dark here at 5:30! And everyone goes to bed!! It is so hard to knock on doors at that time. But they have these little Oreo brownies here that they sell in gas stations! They are the best, I don't know why Utah doesn't have them! 

Well one of the people we are teaching, her name is N., she is so ready to be baptized but is having a hard time seeing that if she just takes that step that things in her life will start to work out. I have seen it with many people. We had this convert who was trying to get a job and after she was baptized things started to fall in place and she got a job! God will help those who put faith in him. So yesterday, Sunday, we tried so hard to get N. to church but she couldn't go because she was sick and just got back from a funeral. It seems that every time we try and she wants to go something comes up in her life preventing her from coming. It is frustrating. But it was nice because we got to see her and talk to her last night. I know that this gospel will bless us in the next life, but more importantly God wants to bless us in this life. And that is what the gospel can do. I have seen it bless many people’s lives. They just had to put forth faith first!

I would like to tell you guys a little bit about the grace of Jesus Christ. Many people believe that we are saved just by his grace. Which is partially true. I heard a talk and this man, Brad Wilcox, related Christ's Grace to piano lessons. When a mother pays for a child to take piano lessons she is like Christ, she pays the dept. Christ paid the debt of all of our sins. Well in return our mothers want us to practice the piano and put in our part. That is our job, repentance, Christ wants us to repent so that we can make it back to our Heavenly Father. And that is the only way we can make it back. And just like practicing the piano, it can be hard, but if we continue to practice repentance diligently we can make it back to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. As missionaries that is our purpose is to declare repentance to the people so they too can enjoy Christ's Grace.

Well, love you all and have a great week.

With love,

Elder Bullough

New Missionary Training 11/3/2015

Pictures of Elder Bullough at the New Missionary Training:

Elder Josh Bullough with President & Sister Blatter

All of these photos, as well as many more, were originally posted on the

Washington Tacoma Mission's blog: http://calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com

1st Week & 1st Baptism 11/2/2015

So I arrived in Tacoma on Tuesday. It is so pretty here and very green. But It rains so much!!!! I am constantly drenched... And I have not seen the sun in what feels like a week! So my first area is in Lakewood!!! We only have Elders in this area because it is so dangerous. But I want to tell you that as I am walking in the dark at night knocking on doors I have never felt scared once. We truly are kept safe as missionaries. Plus Lakewood is known as the miracle land in the mission. We have the highest baptism rate in the whole mission because the people are so humble. 

I just had my first baptism on Saturday. It was a miracle, we had planned on it but J. never called us until an hour before, so we had to rush and set everything up. But everything went well and he was baptized! We have another lady, N., that is by far the most ready for baptism but has a hard time talking to her mom about it because she knows her mom will disown her. But I have confidence that she will continue to progress and be baptized! It will bless her life so much, I know it. In my mission we knock on doors... a lot. It was hard to accept at first because most people hate you. It sucks to get yelled at. But the people that let you in and listen make it so much better. 

I have been praying very much lately and they are answered every time! Whether I need food, or just comfort I know my Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. He also keeps me safe as I am in this city. 

I love you all!

Elder Bullough

FIRST BAPTISM IN LAKEWOOD, WASHINGTON

They've Arrived! 10/27/2015

(Elder Bullough's parents received this email today from the mission president and his wife.)

Dear Parents,

This is just a quick note to let you know that your missionary arrived safely in Tacoma today.  

We took our new missionaries to the Puget Sound. From here they will have a great lunch. Then they will be interviewed, given a brief orientation, and meet their new companion, who will also be their trainer.  After a very spiritual meeting where the departing missionaries will share their testimonies, they will be off to their new areas. 

We are thrilled to welcome them into our mission... You are also invited to check out the mission blog at http://calledtoservewa-tac.blogspot.com

May the Lord bless you and your family. 

President and Sister Blatter 

Elder Bullough & Other New WA-TAC Missionaries Arrive at Airport:

President & Sister Blatter take new missionaries to see Puget Sound:

The mission president's wife, Sister Blatter, took this cool picture.

LUNCHTIME:

Orientation for New Missionaries:

Elder Bullough waiting to meet his new companion & trainer:

And he is greeted by not one, but two new companions: 

Elder Ellis and Elder Lundgreen excitedly greet Elder Bullough

Meeting where departing missionaries share their testimonies:

New missionaries prepare to depart to their first area in the mission field:

Pictures from the MTC

PICTURES OF ELDER BULLOUGH AT THE MTC:

Elder Bullough & his MTC companion, Elder Hovey

 Elder Bullough's zone in the MTC

Elder Bullough loved running into friends from back home at the MTC:

Bryson Huntington, Matt Lyon, Jared Read, & Andrew Gray

Elder Bullough & Elder Jesse David

3 Cousins at Provo MTC together

Elder Josh Bullough has 3 cousins (all from the Bullough side of the family) also serving missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints right now.  Elder Bullough and 2 other cousins are at the Provo MTC right now. (The third cousin, Sister Meg Bullough, is currently serving her mission in Panama.)

In a recent letter from one cousin, Elder Jace Bullough wrote, "I was also blessed to see both cousins this past week, which is a blessing because with over 2,000 people here [at the MTC], with very different schedules, you don't really run into people by chance." Thank you to Elder Jace Bullough for these pictures: 

Sister Katelyn Schmidt and Elder Josh Bullough entered the MTC on the same date. She has been called to serve in the Hawaii Honolulu mission. They too, have now run into each other at the MTC:

Sunday at the MTC 10/23/2015

Hey guys,

I don't have time to write much this week. But I had an amazing Sunday last week and noticed how much closer I can be to Christ. Sundays here are like a blessing because you actually get time. In the MTC it is all about time management... one thing I have learned that I am not so great at, but it will get better as time goes on.

We had a speaker on Sunday that was the best talk I have ever heard and it was by Chad Lewis!!! For those who don't know him, he is a former football player for BYU and the Philadelphia Eagles. He talked about how he and four other guys went up Mount Kilimanjaro which is the highest volcano in Africa. But the interesting part is that they did it with three veterans that all had been injured in war. He was saying how at the beginning he and a coach for one of the NFL teams had been talking about not getting blisters and then they looked at the man tightening his prosthetic leg. At that moment, they realized that it wasn't about them but how they could help these veterans get up the volcano. This reminds me of Christ and how he carries us when we are hurting and he can help us climb the mountains in our lives.

Well, I hope not too much is misspelled and that this is understandable because I had to write this pretty fast. P-Day was great and a funny thing... I have never in my life been so excited to do laundry than today!!!

With love,

Elder Bullough