October 13, 2015

Hi All!

I'm staying in Palin for another change! My companion is leaving.. That's going to suck. I love him a lot. He is a stud. He likes to work hard and that's something special! 

This last week was a week of miracles. Elder Giron and I have been working really hard in our area and we haven't had all that many baptisms. We just took pride in the fact that we were planting a ton of seeds for the near future. Until Thursday we didn't have plans of baptizing anyone this Sunday. We passed by Karla, who is a 9 yr old who has more than enough attendances. We began teaching her and the mom asked us, "Can she be baptized this Sunday?" We haven't even started the 5 steps! So we taught her a little and she was baptized this past Sunday. 

Then we were having our meeting with our ward mission leader and his nephew walks in. His nephew (12yrs old) has more than enough attendances and was almost baptized before but for some reason just didn't follow through with it. Elder Diaz (District leader) playfully started asking him interview questions, and this kid was responding perfectly. He had had a spiritual experience earlier that day and after talking for a little bit with him he decided that he wanted to get baptized the following day. WOW, IT WAS INCREDIBLE. God really threw us a bone because of the work that we have been doing! 

This week was awesome. We had a family attend church and they fit in like they were members. They told us they felt great in the church and I'm so excited to pass by today to teach them something new.

Story! So this past week Elder Giron and I went to go eat lunch and when we were about the enter into the house one of our recent converts (Irma) walked out or her house (neighbor) and she was crying. I asked her if there was anything we could do for her and she just pointed to her car. Her mother, another recent convert, was lying in the front seat. Her mom has been sick for a long time and was absolutely dead asleep in the front seat. Irma asked if I could carry her in the house. As missionaries we can't carry people so I called President Markham and he said, DO IT. ha So I took her in my arms and carried her a little ways into the house on to a bed. We gave Irma some words of comfort and left. Not 10 minutes later the members where we were eating told us that the mother of Irma died. Soo crazy! I carried a practically dead woman in my arms! Only in Guatemala.

I already wrote a ton so I wont add a spiritual thought. ha Love you all so much!!!

Elder Buhrley

October 6, 2015

 This week has been a good one! I really feel like I'm just going to say things that I have said before. but here we go!

We have a lot of people who are progressing! It's such a blessing! This Thursday we had lessons with 3 people in a row who had received an answer from God that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. That means that there will be baptisms here shortly! I loved how Alba, an investigator, explained it. She said, "It was a feeling that I have never felt before, but it felt so familiar to me. I loved it, I cried. I really want to go to church."  It's the best seeing these people, my friends, receive a spiritual witness that this is true! I love it so much!

We also got to do my favorite type of service a lot this week, CHOP WOOD! haha We chopped a whole lot of wood. I am getting real good. ;) 

Conference was in Spanish! Gosh it's so hard to understand! The apostles are always talking in phrases and words that don't translate well to Spanish! They use words I have never heard! haha but it was awesome. It's just not the same as in English, but it was a really spiritual experience and I loved it!

We have changes here on the 14th. I have a good feeling that I will be leaving, but who knows! If I leave it will be really sad because I'll  be leaving so many baptisms! and I love the members here. The mission is a blast. I'm getting refined and purified everyday and it feels so good.

EVERYONE! Push yourselves into positions where you feel awkward! You will grow! God pushes us so that we can grow, and it feels weird and we don't want to do it but its for our good! The diamond is made through pressure, and sometimes we got to push ourselves to have this pressure! 

I love you guys. Thanks for everything!

September 29, 2015

I always have these great thoughts about what I'm going to say but when I start typing literally nothing comes to my mind...

This week was awesome. We are seeing a lot of miracles and I am so grateful for it. We had a meeting with the assistants as a zone and they gave us a real heart breaker. We are underachieving as a mission and the assistants let us know. It really lit a fire underneath me. I take great pride in my mission and this hit me hard. So after this meeting my companion and I have been killing ourselves and it's never felt so good. 

We are seeing a lot of miracles. We had a lesson with and investigator names Felipe. He is a stud who has real intention to know how he can be closer to God. We brought the spirit really hard with him and answer every question that he had and taught about the restoration of the gospel. At the end of the lesson he told us, "When you guys are here I can feel the presence of God. I had previous plan for this Sunday but I will do everything I can to change them so I can go to Church with you guys." It felt so good hearing him say that. I love him.

We have a solid family in our ward and they had a cousin move in with them, his name is Selvin. We started the lesson with him and it was pretty obvious that he didn't want to listen but we just brought the spirit. At the beginning of the lesson he was lying sideways and was on his phone but then we just asked him to listen for 10 minutes and we promised he wouldn't regret it. I love seeing the look in the eyes of someone when they are feeling the holy ghost. He didn't want to listen at the beginning, but at the end of the lesson we challenged him to get baptized this 11th of October and he said that he would prepare. I love the holy ghost. It's incredible.

We had a camp fire! It was an awesome activity! Elder Giron and I chopped wood up, (Its the type of service we do here for literally everyone, I love chopping wood) and we had a campfire! We had almost all of our recent converts there so that was awesome! It was a bunch of fun. 

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! Thanks for everything! Know that I love you all individually! I know that the gospel is true. If you are having doubts, get down on your knees and ask God himself and I can promise you that if you do it with faith you will receive an answer. The Holy Ghost will testify to your heart that it is true. The Holy Ghost gives knowledge that man can not give. LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder Buhrley

September 22, 2015

 Hello everyone...

I really don't have much to write this week. We didn't have any baptisms so that was a bummer but we do have one set for this week. We are just preparing our investigators right now. We have a ton with a date of baptism so we are preparing them for their dates! We have some really great investigators and it's such a blessing to be able to be here to help them. It's amazing to be able to look at the change in someone. It's incredible!

As a mission we are reading the Book of Mormon in 90 days. It's crazy but it's so much fun. I just finished the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time here in the mission and with every verse read I'm learning more about God, Our savior Jesus Christ, and what I need to do to grow closer to them. The Book of Mormon is so powerful. In the introduction it says, The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the gospel restored. Which means that if we read that book, and follow it, we will have eternal life. There is no other book that I know of that has that promise. I challenge for everything to read the Book of Mormon daily. You will see and feel a difference within yourself. Read, Meditate, and Pray. Its powerful.

I'm teaching classes of English as a service opportunity and the other day when I was teaching in a member's house I realized that I really have forgotten a lot of English.. I can't speak Spanish like a pro yet, and I have forgotten my English. haha I am in an awkward place. :) 

The mission is incredible. If anyone has any thoughts about going. JUST DO IT. I promise you will every fiber of my being that you will not regret it. And for everyone else, there is missionary work to be done. We, as members in this church, have the message that is of the most worth among the children of men. We have what brings Hope, Peace, and Direction to those people who will accept it. Peace, because Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. Hope, because we know who our God is. We know he loves us and gave his son. We are the only church that has the fullness of the Atonement. We can change and we have hope to change to become closer to our Father in heaven. Direction. We know the plan that God has for us. The plan of salvation, the plan of happiness. It is our duty to share with every living soul this message. It's absolutely selfish to keep it to ourselves. As a missionary I'm constantly inviting and challenging people to meet expectations from God. Mission work is an expectation from God. I invite everyone to pray for opportunities to share this marvelous message. And when you have that opportunity to share, don't think twice, don't respect the views of men, share with that person. The Holy Ghost will lead you to them who are desperately seeking for this happiness. I can testify that. 

I love you all! Thanks for all the support! I am so grateful to have you guys in my life! I am so blessed! LOVE YOU!!

Elder Buhrley