Tuesday, June 30, 2015

June 30, 2015

Heyyyy

This week has been a blast! So much has happened! It was soo much fun!
I don't know where to begin...
We are working like crazy and seeing the fruits of our labor. It's been such a blessing. We are going to be baptizing a beautiful family this Sunday! So excited! We have a lot of investigators with a date for their baptism so let's just pray they don't fall through!

Elder Martinez and I are now best friends. We sat down during companionship study one day and just talked it all out. It was probably the best thing ever. A true answer to my prayers. God has been blessing me with patience and charity and I feel it. 

Today we had interviews with President. How much fun are interviews during the mission?! At home I dreaded interviews! Now they are like the funnest things ever! I learn so much and President Markham uses the gift of discernment and knows everything. I went in with a question and I didn't even have to ask it; he just sat there and told me the answer to my question. The Holy Ghost is incredible. 

I received my package!!!!!!!! Thank you Brook and Gretchen! I compare receiving a package to Christmas day. I'ts awesome! The other day i ripped a hole straight through the bottom of my shoes... so that was sad. I took them to a guy yesterday and got some new soles on them. I am wearing my shoes down. WE WALK SO MUCH! ha I  love it!

I love hearing from you all. So great to hear you guys are spending time together. I bore testimony the other night about family home evening. I just said, "I will always remember my parents trying to have family home evening. Did I want to do it? No. But we would sing a little, pray, and talk about the gospel a little, and then eat something good. This thing is not something big. But it is something that I will remember for the rest of my life. My family isn't perfect, but no family is. But one thing we have always done, is try to follow Christ, and we have been blessed." I got to go on and bare testimony about how the parents can be an example and help their kids in righteous ways. (Disclaimer from Gretchen:  I had to laugh a little when I read this part as FHEs were often a struggle for us.  I'm glad that ANY efforts we made were noticed and appreciated.)

The Lord truly blesses and helps us. The Holy Ghost is our best friend. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He will help you in everything. Like any good gentleman, he will come when he is invited and stay when he is appreciated. We need to appreciate him. He is guidance directly from God. He only says things that will help us. We need to LEARN TO LISTEN, AND LISTEN TO LEARN. I love the guidance of the Holy Ghost in my life. 

Thanks everyone for all the support!

Elder Buhrley



Wednesday, June 24, 2015

June 23, 2015

HEYYY!!!

This week has been eventful! We are working hard here in Patulul! It's so different with a new companion. It's been hard to try to get used to everything with him but I think we are at a good place. Don't have much to say! Just working hard and enjoying it all!

This week is the hottest week of the year. They have a name for it because it is so hot. So that's been nice. haha I sweat 24 hours during the day. 

We baptized a little girl named Julissa! She is awesome! Her older sister is a member so we met her and told her to go to church and at church she was like. "Please baptize me!!!" haha I was like... "Okay!" so two weeks later we baptized her! ha. She is soo funny and is going to be a good member. 

Besides that we are just looking for news. It's been fun but so frustrating. I loved teaching with Elder Hintze (my old companion) and just getting used to my new companion is so hard.  I have been praying a lot for guidance on what to do with my companion. I was reading in Preach My Gospel and it talks about charity. Please read these two chapters, 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and Moroni 7 44-48. This scriptures are so strong and totally changed the way I look at my companion. Charity is a gift from God. It is the most important thing to have. James could move mountains but if he didn't have charity it didn't mean anything. I love how it says, when we die, those who died with charity, will meet Christ and realize that they aren't so different from him. Who doesn't want that? I want to meet my maker and realize that we are best buds. Ha. I fasted for the gift of charity and it made such a big difference in my relationship with my companion. Don't get me wrong, I want to slap him around every once in a while, but it's getting better. Slowly but surely. It's been a refiner's fire but I growing. I am really understanding a lot about marriage. It's so stupid, but true. If I can handle this I can handle my wife. I'm learning patience, endurance, love, and problem solving skills. haha 
The mission is such a rollercoaster! But I'm loving it! It's so hard but it's hard for a reason. I am learning so much everyday. The mission is a blessing. Someone shared the quote, The mission doesn't change people, The atonement of Christ changes them. And it's so true. I love I am being changed and bettered. I love you all! Thanks everyone!

I love the pix! How awesome! Man, Bear Lake looks so good! Enjoy it enough for me! I love you guys so much! 
Love the sports updates Dad! Ha, I miss sports. My body is straight wrecked. I don't think my knees will ever get better, or my back, or my shoulder. It's just so annoying and I don't know why I can't just be healed up already. Thanks for everything! I should be getting the package this Thursday that you guys sent!

Elder Buhrley

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

June 16, 2015

HEYYY!!!

So... Two of our baptisms fell through! That sucked! But we will baptize them different weeks. One had to leave out of town and the other drank cofee... ha 

I got my companion, Elder Martinez! I am not going to lie it's been soo hard! It's been testing my patience like none other! I have been trying to endure with patience. He only has 2 weeks more than me and is always trying to put dominion over me in weird ways because he is the senior companion. But I just do my best to stay humble and teachable and it turns out good. It's really hard, but the Lord put us together for a reason.. and I am just trying to be humble before him. 

The language barrier has been interesting. I can get my point across and stuff but I can't express emotion. It's really aggravating. Buts I'm learning!

The lamina hut where the family Pop live.
We had a CRAZY MIRACLE! The family Pop, the lady who I wrote about who had a vision that her daughter would be healed if she went to our church. They got baptized and 3 days after their baptism they had to rush their handicapped daughter to the hospital. They did a test on her and the doctor said that it was fatal and that they needed to do an expensive surgery and she would probably die. The father, Timoteo told the doctor to do the test again. The same result. Then with faith, Timoteo told the doctor to do the test again. Because of his faith in Jesus Christ, and his faith in the blessing that Elder Hintze gave, the doctor came back and said that the results were completely fine. And that his daughter was fine. There have been many other miracles that happened that day that I can't write them all. Family Pop is still walking an hour and a half to church. They are in deep debt because of the hospital.Timoteo is working all day, except one hour, and during that one hour we visit them. They are the most faithful family I've ever seen in my whole life. Timoteo is starving himself but he's still praising God for the miracle of his daughter. Last time I saw them the daughter was now moving one of her arms.


Which is absolutely incredible. I know God still is a God of miracles. I know angles administered to us in this day. I have seen things that I could never deny. I love this gospel. Never take the priesthood for granted.

Love you all!

Elder Buhrley

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

June 9, 2015



HELOO!!!!
I'm sitting at a computer where the keyboard only works if you hit it really hard in the right way and it's the most frustrating thing ever...  ha ha.

Guatemala is great! We baptized this past Sunday, Luis Pu! He is the brother of Pablo who we baptized a few weeks earlier. He is the swaggiest kid ever. He took of my plaque and put it on his pocket and was like, "I'm Elder Pu", and started verifying my reading in the Book of Mormon and stuff and it was soo funny! He is a future missionary!

Elder Hintze dies tomorrow. He ends his mission and it's the weirdest thing ever! He is the coolest guy ever, so if anyone wants to hook my brother up with some food or a date, the name's Doug Hintze at BYU. haha.  Dang it's going to be sad without him. There are only a few  guys I have ever known who have taught me more than that guy. I love him. Feed him lots. And to get even more depressing..... the mango season is over... So sad... I will be receiving a Latino companion tomorrow so that will be awesome! My Spanish is good but I want to speak perfect Spanish. I'm excited. 

The field is white.. My gosh it is sooooo cool to see the Lord preparing people. We are teaching a lot of families that have a baptism date so I'm really excited to see that. There are so many miracles going on here and I feel so blessed to be able to witness them, and then be that tool in the Lord's hands to work them. I love the mission!

Elder Buhrley


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

June 2, 2015

This week was a good one!
It's going to be a short letter! We just worked our butts off this week. My papi chulo, Elder Hintze, is ending his mission this next week... So he has been killing me pretty good. I love it. I'm going to miss him soo much. He is such a stud.. Mom and Dad, I sort of promised him that you guys would feed him a few times. ha so have fun!



We didn't have a baptism this weekend but we have some really cool investigators. Patulul is such a blessed place. Everyone is soo tight here. I love em! For P Day we went on a hike and had a picnic as a district and we found some armadillo hunters. so i had to take a pic. ha 

Cool spiritual thing. I didn't manage my money very well. We had to pay for a wedding and everyone was having birthday, and being a gringo missionary you have to bring cake. It's like an unwritten rule. So Elder Hintze and I didnt have any money at the end of this month. We had 10 bucks. We decided to put aside our money for our fast offering and put our trust in the lord. Its was so awesome! We usually have to pay 15 quetz every lunch but everyday this last week we had a member provide us with food. That never happened the weeks before! We honestly didn't pay for anything this last week and it was such a testimony builder! When you put the lord first he truely does take care of you. 
Love you all! 

Elder Buhrley

May 26, 2015

Hey!!!

This week was awesome! We had some success this week! We had a wedding and 4 baptisms. It was a solid and busy week. Hilda and Timoteo, who are the couple that walk over an hour to get to church, got married. We threw them a pretty awesome wedding if I do say so myself;) It turned out great. But it was so stressful. Being a wedding planner would suck. It was so awesome seeing them so happy. I LOVE EM!




We baptized an 8-year-old named German. He is what I imagine Hunter Apostolos being when he was 8. He is my little gangster. Undoubtedly the funniest kid in the whole world. Every lesson I'm dying laughing. A day before his interview for his baptism he said, "I drank coffee," and we just died. It was the biggest hit to the gut: an investigator can't drink coffee for the 10 days before his baptism. We just sat there with him in defeat. Then after he was like, "I don't want to get baptized anymore, I feel like all this is wrong." And we just died. And then he was like, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA PSYCHE!!!!! You should see your faces right now! HAHAHAHA I'm getting baptized this Sunday!" Hahaha, that little punk got us so bad. I couldn't stop laughing.

We baptized a 14-year-old named Danny. He is such a stud. We saw him in the street and like what we do for everyone we invited him to church. AND HE CAME! That never happens. But his neighbors are members so he came and fit in perfectly. His dad died when he was younger and his mom is working and i think that the church is the exact support that he needs.
We baptized Hilda and Timoteo! Man was that special! They are sooo great! It was awesome taking them down into the water and seeing how happy they were afterwards. They have such strong testimonies. They will be strong members for life. I feel so blessed to have baptized them.
The mission is such a great experience and I'm loving it. I love the gospel so dearly and feeling more love for it with every lesson i teach. Thanks for all the support! I feel your prayers! I love you all soo much!!!