March 15, 2016

Hey! 

This last week was great! We had the wedding and it was awesome! We also had 2 baptisms! Karla and Ana made convenants! I hardly got to work in my area this week because iv been on the constant division trail to take care of the Elders in our zone. Elder Guzman and I killed ourselves this last week but it was a lot of fun! 

Elder Guzman and I just felt the impression to visit the house of some Elders last Wednesday and we found them in their beds watching a movie at 12:30 in the afternoon. That was the most disappointing thing. I chewed them out real good.. Then looking at them sitting in their guilt and remorse it hit me- How great is the patience of God? How patient is He with each and every one of us? I can't remember the quote perfectly but Elder Holand said once, ¨Imperfect people are the only type of people that God has had to work with."  I have a long ways to go to develop more patience and more love. I bet it would get pretty frustrating to work with me , but thank goodness that God is perfect, and He is patient with me and loves me even though I am completely imperfect. What God really wants from us is change, and thank goodness I am changing a lot! 

Something else that hit me hard this week was a lesson that we had in our area with all our recent converts (our area are only recent converts). We talked about faith and trials. We shared the scriptures in Mosiah 24:14-15. God sees fit to chasten his people to try their patience and faith. It's so true. Without trials we wouldn't be able to grow. I talked a little bit about exercise and how God is the perfect personal trainer. We get baptized and think that we are all good and God will pour out blessings over us. But we sometimes forget that the blessings only come after the trial (D and C 58:4). We will put the example that our faith is like a muscle. To grow a muscle we must work it hard and push it to the limits. When we lift weights we are actually destroying this muscle so that it grows even stronger. God puts these weights in our lives. He puts us under pressure so that we can grow strong after. He is the perfect personal trainer and only puts on our shoulders what He knows we can handle. He wants us to grow. I don't have time but that's my thought.. I can't finish it. haha 

Love you guys!

Elder Buhrley

March 8, 2016

Wow! Time flies!

This past week was really good. We did divisions almost every day. Divisions are so draining! The only day we didn't do divisions my companion, Elder Guzman, got really sick and we had to go to the hospital. I wanted to die sitting in a hospital for 24 hours without being able to do anything. I got to write letters to my converts which was something nice. 

Our wedding didn't happen.. Guatemalan law is so dumb. We had to do some more stuff with the paperwork but Martin and Ana are getting married tomorrow and Ana is getting baptized this Sunday. We are also baptizing Karla this Sunday so that should be good. 

Today was my first zone training. My companion and I got to talk to the whole zone and it was cool. We talked about excuses. Really, excuses are from Satan. God is not a God of excuses. We just said, "We are not going to listen to any more excuses. From this day forward, no excuses. We know that things happen and that we don't always meet goals but we don't want to hear why you didn't meet them. We want to hear what you are going to do differently in the future to meet them. "

Our minds are so powerful. Sometimes, well not sometimes, about all the time we are the ones who limit ourselves. "The members don't work with us, our Bishop isn't very supportive, our ward mission leader doesn't do anything, no one wants to listen to us, etc..." We put these barriers in our mind. Barriers that are between us and success. Moroni 7:33 We are able to do all Christ is able to do. Do you think that God limits us? Absolutely not; we are the ones that limit ourselves. We put these imaginary barriers in our minds. We build our own excuses and doubts (with a huge help from Satan). 2nd nephi 27:23.. I invite you guys to read chapter 17 of 1st Nephi. It teaches how we need to work in order to have success. Look deeply into the example of Nephi and how he built that ship. 

I love my mission. I'm so proud to be a representative of the Lord. I love this time I am having in Guatemala. I love my Savior and am so grateful for all that he has done for me. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost in my life, teaching me and guiding me through it all. I love my Father who is in Heaven. I love life. Thanks for everything and all the support! Love you all! 

Elder Buhrley

March 1, 2016

Hi All,

I'm in an Internet shop right now with Packer Wilkes and we are just chatting about the good ole Lone Peak days. haha. He is one of the assistants in our mission and we are doing divisions.

This last week we had an area 70 come to our mission, President Duncan. He is an incredible man and it was a true privilege to hear from him. He taught us about how God is hastening his work and how we need to always be changing and receiving revelation on how to do it. It was awesome and he just blew our minds away with some of his ideas.

The day after the meeting we had a leadership counsel in President's house.  President Duncan was there and he just blew us away again. It was so powerful and we are putting into practice a lot of new things. I'm so excited for the work!

We have a wedding tomorrow! We have 2 baptisms this Sunday! Other than that.. not much to say! I love you all so much!

Elder Buhrley

Photo- Every one of my houses has had weird animals, This house we have a cow. haha

February 23, 2016

Hey everyone! This week was a good one! 

We baptized Maria and Jessica. They are awesome! I love little Jessica. She is 9 and soo funny. We are going to marry her parents and baptize them also! It's going to be a blast! 

Being a Zone Leader is so different. I'm learning so much. A lot about love. If people don't feel your love they won't listen to you. I'm also learning about making sure people feel my love but at the same time not allowing disobedience. It's crazy and it's something that I am trying to develop. 

This ward I am in is absolutely incredible! I love it so much! It's how a ward should be! They are so happy when we are baptizing! They want as many friends in the church as possible. They got pumped when we told them that we are baptizing. Our area is one half of the ward, and our area is huge! The only members that live here are recent converts. We have 33! They are so great though. They love the church and mission work and its so fun to be with them. 

I love my companion. Elder Guzman. He is awesome. I love him tons.

I love you all! Thanks for everything! That's it for this week! 

Elder Buhrley

February 17, 2016

Hi Everyone!

This week has been so crazy! We baptized Suceli! She is awesome! It was a really good baptism. We had a lot of investigators and people that we had reactivated in church this Sunday. It was a perfect Sunday. Then it hit me... I HAVE CHANGES. None the less I received a call Sunday night from President telling me I was leaving Villa Nueva and that I am now called to be a Zone Leader in Antigua Guatemala. It was a call I wasn't expecting! 

I am now in the beautiful mountains of Guatemala! It's incredible here! I only have one day here but I already love it! My new companion is Elder Guzman from Nicaragua! He had Elder Hintze as a trainer also so we are ¨brothers¨ in mission slang. I am really excited to be with Elder Guzman. He is ending his mission this next change so I'm just learning everything I can from him. 

It was hard leaving my Villa Nueva. I only had 1 change there but we saw many miracles. I left 12 baptisms there... So I was kind of wanting to stay there but it all is good! 

Antigua is awesome. Its the prettiest place. The whether reminds me of spring time Utah weather (on a good day, not the Utah spring where it snows and then is hot in the same day, but a nice cool Utah spring day where you can smell summer around the corner). Our area isnt in the city of Antigua but in the farms surrounding Antigua. The people are very humble and accepting. Its a complete change from Villa Nueva. Im really excited to be here! 

A smile changes everything. I noticed the other day that my face just hurt because I was smiling the whole day. It's something that never happened before the mission. ha I know that a smile makes a huge difference. I have learned so much about love here on the mission and I am so thankful for it. I love life. I love my mission. It's an attitude of the mind. It's an attitude of the soul. When we are reading the scriptures, praying steadfastly throughout our day, and live the gospel, our soul rejoices. All the things that Christ taught, that the church is teaching, that the Bible and the Book of Mormon teaches, all these things are from God, and God gave us these things that we may be happy. That is His one and only purpose, Our Happiness. Don't give thought to the everlasting lie that happiness and the Gospel are separate things. I always thought that they were different before I came here on the mission. I now have come to know in a personal way that the Gospel of our savior Jesus Christ is happiness. Real, true happiness that comes only through our savior Jesus Christ and His Gospel. I challenge all of you to experiment. Read the Book of Mormon every morning, Say a pray in your heart or in a private place every hour of the day, follow all the commandments as closely as possible and take the sacrament with a broken heart. Do this for a week and you will not be able to deny the results. The feelings felt. It's a well being of the soul. Alimento para su alma. Just do it and see for yourself. :)

LOVE YOU ALL! I thank you all for all the support!

Elder Buhrley

February 9, 2016

Hi Everyone,

Wow! This year will be the only year in my whole life that I won't be able to watch the Superbowl and the Broncos won!!!! Dang that sucks but at the same time is soo awesome! YEAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, now on to the good stuff;)

We had a really good week. We are really pushing ourselves really hard. I am loving the mission. We are finding some really awesome people and we are helping the people who we have already found progress. It's a bit crazy but it's all good! I'm getting really good at organizing things.

We have an investigator names Suceli. She has been listening to us and we have had some really spiritual lessons with her. We have talked to her about baptism but she hasn't wanted to do it. We just invited her to pray to God and ask if she should get baptized the 14th. The next visit her uncle was there and he had some questions so we answered them and shared the restoration and he is crazy positive. When we were leaving Suceli told us. well, I prayed.. and my companion and I at the same time, "What did God say?!" 

And she just told us,  "Well, I'm getting baptized the 14th, what do I need to do?" haha I love it when investigators receive answers!!!

We have transfers the 16th of this month. President Markham already told me that my companion and I have changes but we don't know who is leaving or who is staying. ha President loves to mess with our heads. I really hope I stay but it's all good whatever happens.

These are the standards of the Guatemala City Central Mission

1-Obedience with exactness

2-Diligence in all things

3-Honesty (DON'T LIE, DON'T LIE, DON'T LIE) 

It's something that I know has helped me during my mission to closer myself to God. I'ts simple, but sometimes we forget to do the simple things. Like being obedient to the commandments of our Father who is in Heaven. Like being actively engaged in a good cause. Diligence in our church callings and not waiting for someone to tell us to do something good. D&C 107:99-100. Like being an honest person and someone that the Lord can trust. Knowing to put Him first.

The small things are the things that make the difference in our lives. Its the small things that bring about the big. Alma 37:6

I love you guys! I hope everything is going well! GO BRONCOS!

Elder Buhrley

February 2, 2016

Hey everyone! This last week was a fun one!

 

The good and the bad. Ill start with the bad. So we have been preparing the Family Martínez for wedding and baptism. The parents (Juan and Victoria) and their son(Carlos) and his girlfriend (Flor). Carlos and Flor aren't 18 yet so we got all the paperwork done to get them married with consent of their parents. Everything was awesome. We waited in a line for 2 hours one day and another line for 4 hours the next day to get all their paperwork set up at the bank. I never thought I could do that in English and now i successfully did it in Spanish. haha but the bad is that the country of Guatemala decided to change a law this last week. They put a new law that states minors can't get married... so that was a Little hard to hear...

The good was that we married Juan and Victoria and it was incredible! The ward really helped! They haven't seen that many baptisms here so they are all ready to help out the missionaries now. This month of January was a good one. We would have had 6 baptisms, 3 being families,  this month if the law wasn't so difficult, but we brought some incredible people unto Christ and that's what really matters. Carlos and Flor will be getting married and baptized this next year when Flor turns 18. I will die when I receive that pic when I'm home.

It was a great week. A lot of tears of shed. Tears of happiness. It's such an incredible experience to see these dear friends that I am teaching change their lives. I have been a first hand witness to their changes of heart and when they are bearing testimony in tears I cant help but shed one or two with them.

I love the mission so much. It's crazy to think I am completing one year here in the mission this Thursday. I am not the same person I was before. I have come to know my Savior, and my Father who is in heaven. I have applied the atoning blood of Christ in my life and now I have the wonderful privilege to help others apply it as well. I've never been so happy.

I love you guys so much! Thanks for all the support!

Elder Buhrley