Friends of the Silver Spring Stake

✨ SEMINARY SUNDAY - Hello to Brother Joshua Mays who will be teaching at the Stake Center!

I’m excited to be serving as a seminary teacher this year! This is actually my first time ever attending seminary—either as a student or teacher—since I joined the Church as an adult. Over the years I’ve been blessed to work with youth of all ages in the Church, from Nursery and Primary to Young Mens and Youth Sunday School. Some of you may even recognize me from Girls Camp, where I’ve helped the past couple of summers (including as the camp cook just this year!).

Outside of church, I’m an ecologist with a special interest in freshwater fishes and sponges, and I used to teach college biology in North Carolina before moving to Maryland a couple of years ago. My wife and I are about to celebrate our 20th anniversary, and we have three kids (including Jonah, whom I’m sure many of you already know). If I teach seminary as long as I’ve been threatened, there will be at least one of my own children in this class for the next seven years—heaven help us all.

For fun, I will be spending a good portion of my free time following college football this semester, and some of that obsession will inevitably leak into class. Don’t worry, though, because none of us will be awake enough to be bothered by my ramblings anyway *wink*.

Lastly, I’m grateful for this new opportunity to serve in the Church. Admittedly, I am far from an expert in either scripture or doctrine, and I recognize and appreciate God’s wisdom in giving me a way to know Him a little better. I’m also pretty excited to have each of you along for the ride. It’s going to be a great year.

❤️ourseminaryteachers

🤩 It’s SEMINARY SUNDAY! Let’s introduce this year’s Seminary teachers!

I am Justin Bush, teaching Seminary at the Carrollton/ Lanham Chapel. This is my first year teaching, and I am looking forward to the school year ahead. I grew up in Houston Texas, and then served a mission in the Belgium Brussels/ Netherlands mission, where I learned French. I still enjoy studying the scriptures in French! My amazing wife, Megan, was also a missionary in Belgium and we had a fun friendship while serving there. After we both returned home, we kept in touch and eventually started dating. And I can confidently say that every blessing I have is because I served a mission!

Professionally, I am a naval architect by trade. I design and overseas the construction of ships. I have done this for offshore ships, a shipyard that worked on Navy ships, the Coast Guard, and now for the past year, the US Navy! I really enjoy the work that I do, and think ships are some of the coolest things mankind has built! I am especially excited that in the Spring we will study Noah’s Ark!!

Most important to me is my faith and Testimony. I have seen the blessings of Heavenly Father in my life and look forward to helping my seminary students see similar blessings in theirs. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer! I know He loves me. And if He loves me, then I know that He loves everyone else, especially Seminary students!

We are going to have a blast this school year! And I am so looking forward to this wonderful early morning adventure we have ahead of us!

❤️ourseminaryteachers

✨ Welcome Home, Sister Fullmer!✨
After 18 months serving in the Oklahoma Oklahoma City Mission, she is finally home! She’s grown in faith, love, and strength—and she’s excited to share what this experience meant to her:

“ I served in the Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Mission, Spanish-speaking. I dedicated a year and half of my life full time to God and helping others to come closer to Him. I never planned on going on a mission and I had other plans with my life. When I thought about my relationship with God my plans changed and I decided to take a leap of faith!

I wasn’t a perfect missionary but I learned and know now that the Lord qualifies His children for His purposes! Nothing could have prepared me for the miracles and blessings I saw while serving and I truly believe that a mission is a sacred experience that will bless one’s life for forever! God is good!”

July:

🇺🇸 Happy Fourth of July! 🇺🇸
Today we celebrate the birth of our nation and the precious freedoms we enjoy. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we express deep gratitude for the liberty to worship, to gather, and to serve.

We are thankful to live in a land where the gospel can flourish and where agency is honored. May we use our freedoms to lift others, strengthen our families, and follow the Savior more fully.