Thursday, December 8, 2016
November 23, 2016
Well! Happy Thanksgiving! Im doing some late night preparation for a conference that we are having tomorrow so I just thought I would shoot out a quick email!
We have 6 baptisms for this weekend! That's going to be a blast! We are going to have a wedding this Saturday! WOOHOO! We don't have that much time to work in our area so when we are baptizing the way we are its just the mercy of our Heavenly Father. He has seen us working hard:)
I love the mission. I would easily stay here for another two years. I don't want to leave. I feel as though I have finally understood how to baptize, how to lead, how to be a real disciple of Jesus Christ, and now its coming close to an end for me! I am going to enjoy these last few weeks as much as I can!
I will leave the office this Monday to go and train!That's going to be so much fun! I will get to be a normal missionary again! I have learned so much as an assistant. I will use all of these things in my new area, with my kid, and also for the rest of my life! Its a blessing to serve.
Well! I love you guys! Your emails are always fun to receive! Don't worry about Christmas! I will be fine! The only thing I ask for Christmas is that you guys talk to me on Christmas day! haha
I think I am going to buy some scripture casings here though. There is a guy who does them all out of hand and they are all leather and they are really cool. That will be my Christmas:)
Love you family! Take care! Tell everyone at thanksgiving that I love them! Enjoy it!
Elder Buhrley
pics- President Markham
Elder Gonzalez and I after a late night office run and we were both just destroyed
November 10, 2016
Hey!
We have some great investigators that we are working with! We having been working to find families and we found them! The gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families! We have an incredible family of 6 that I love with all my heart! La familia Barahona. We have been having some of the most spiritually heart felt lessons with them. We found them in the street a couple weeks ago talking with people on our way to an appointment. The dad told us today in a lesson that that day that he left the house he asked God for help. He said that he wanted to know the truth but didn't know where to find it. He wanted to know what he was missing in his life. We found him that same day and as we have been visiting him he said that he feels like his life is becoming more full. He says that he feels joy that he has never been able to experiment. Today he just broke down into tears telling us how grateful he is. After that the wife starting talking about the way that the family has made a 180 degree turn for the better. She then bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how she received her answer from God that it was true. She said, "Its not how I expected to receive it, I thought maybe an angel would come or something great, but I just feel it and that's all that I need to know that the book is true." We were all emotional. At the end of the lesson the 15 year old son said a prayer and thanked God for saving his family.
Well. I would just like to bear my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that he payed for our sins and Atoned for all of us. I testify that He wishes to heal and clean every last one of us. The biggest miracle there is in this life is the miracle of being clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love it when it finally clicks in an investigators head that they really can be clean for what they had done in the past and when they finally take that step to be clean it changes them forever. When was the last time the spirit told to your mind and conferred to your soul "Your sins are forgiven thee"? I love preaching repentance. I love living repentance. I love my Savior who makes it all possible. Its a true privilege to have His name on my lips all day everyday.
We have been working really hard and it's been so fun! I have never been more tired in my life but its all worth it! I am loving every second of it!
We have some great investigators that we are working with! We having been working to find families and we found them! The gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families! We have an incredible family of 6 that I love with all my heart! La familia Barahona. We have been having some of the most spiritually heart felt lessons with them. We found them in the street a couple weeks ago talking with people on our way to an appointment. The dad told us today in a lesson that that day that he left the house he asked God for help. He said that he wanted to know the truth but didn't know where to find it. He wanted to know what he was missing in his life. We found him that same day and as we have been visiting him he said that he feels like his life is becoming more full. He says that he feels joy that he has never been able to experiment. Today he just broke down into tears telling us how grateful he is. After that the wife starting talking about the way that the family has made a 180 degree turn for the better. She then bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how she received her answer from God that it was true. She said, "Its not how I expected to receive it, I thought maybe an angel would come or something great, but I just feel it and that's all that I need to know that the book is true." We were all emotional. At the end of the lesson the 15 year old son said a prayer and thanked God for saving his family.
That's why I serve a mission. :) It was a lesson that I will remember the rest of my life.
Right now we are working on getting them married because the mom got married young and now its difficult to get a divorce. We have a member who is a lawyer who is working on all the paper work right now. Its just a bit sad because when they are finally going to get married and baptized I wont be here! But whats really important is that they will be getting baptized!
I also got to go back to Chimaltenango the other day and saw my converts! There is nothing better than that! It was a good week!
Well. I would just like to bear my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that he payed for our sins and Atoned for all of us. I testify that He wishes to heal and clean every last one of us. The biggest miracle there is in this life is the miracle of being clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love it when it finally clicks in an investigators head that they really can be clean for what they had done in the past and when they finally take that step to be clean it changes them forever. When was the last time the spirit told to your mind and conferred to your soul "Your sins are forgiven thee"? I love preaching repentance. I love living repentance. I love my Savior who makes it all possible. Its a true privilege to have His name on my lips all day everyday.
Thanks for everything! I love you guys!
Elder Buhrley
November 5, 2016
Fam!
We have been hitting it so hard this week! We have been running a ton of meetings and we have been living the law of sacrifice in order to make everything run smoothly. I honestly haven't slept this week, but God always keeping me moving! ha
We are working with all diligence in our area and right now we are teaching some lovely families. A family of 7, who aren't progressing the way that we have been hoping, but slowly and surely are progressing. We had a family of 6 at church this last Sunday and they loved it. I have felt the spirit so hard during the lessons with them. My companion and I found them in the perfect time of their lives and they are progressing incredible fast. The only thing is that the mom was married before and so we are working out on a divorce with a member who knows a lawyer. It breaks my heart to see these dumb laws destroy spiritual progress. This situation is bringing up the same feelings that I had when I was in Villa Nueva and a family we were teaching couldn't be baptized because the wife got married when she was 16. This wife of the family we are teaching right now was married, by force, at the age of 13. The lawyer is already involved and he is going to take care of everything so this family can we baptized in 3 to 5 months... I won't be there but sometimes you just won't be able to see all the results of your labor. I will keep you updated with them.
We have another couple that we found as being guided by the spirit, it was a cool story that ill probably tell you when I get home because I am lazy, but they are just progressing wonderfully. The husband is an inactive member and the wife is just eating up the gospel. The husband loves the church but when he was in his teens he got a little lost in the world but now they are a good looking young family with two cute little girls and they are pumped about the gospel. ha
Get these young kids reading Preach My Gospel! Who wrote preach my gospel? Prophets and Apostles. Who wrote the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Prophets and Apostles! Preach my Gospel is scripture! Its written to make you a successful missionary. That book is the biggest blessing as a missionary. Have them be focused on reading and studying Preach My Gospel. Have them understand the doctrines found in in chapter 3 and help them live and internalize them. "You cant convert someone past your own conversion." The first convert that you will have on our mission is you! Have dad get them pumped out of their minds with all of his stories! Get Caitlyn there also to give a great testimony! Gosh I would love to share with kids about mission work! There is nothing that can beat it!
I was listening to a talk the other day by Neal A Maxwell that was incredible. Its called, "Swallowed Up in the Will of The Father". Neal A Maxwell talks about discipleship and about consecration. What type of disciples are we? He broke it down into three types,
1- Those who understand that they are short from the glory of God and they do all in their power to know His grace.
2- Those who are honorable but are not valiant. Keep the commandments and ordinances but are most often times falling short with the sins of omission (what we don't do) instead of commission (the obvious sins that we shouldn't commit, don't steal, commit adultery etc..).
3- Those who are grossly entangled with the ungodliness of the world.
He speaks a lot about how we need to make the differences to move from the type 2 person to become a type 1 person. We need to become valiant disciples of Christ and become consecrated to His will. "These omissions signify a lack of qualifying fully for the celestial kingdom. Only greater consecration can correct these omissions,which have consequences just as real as do the sins of commission. Many of us thus have sufficient faith to avoid the major sins of commission, but not enough faith to sacrifice our distracting obsessions or to focus on our omissions." The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a list of "do nots", but a process of a changing heart, changing your heart and will to become the will of Gods. Its not a passive act but an act of valiance. "Consecration, likewise, is not shoulder-shrugging acceptance, but, instead, shoulder-squaring to better bear the yoke." Lets be better! Lets look to build up the kingdom of God and do all our best to live the law of consecration! Let visit our neighbors who aren't going to church! Lets be better disciples! I invite you guys to listen to this talk! Its a good one!
Well its always good to hear from you guys! Thanks for all the help! I love you family!!
October 25, 2016
Hey fam! I am doing great!
So today was change day and it went really well! Elder Gonzalez and I planned out change day so that it went by really fast and all the missionaries found their companions quickly and were able to have more time in their areas. President told us that we have always had the same problem of having a change day that drags on instead of getting people with their companions fast and get them in their areas quickly. Elder Gonzalez and I really thought about it all and put some sweet stuff into plan and we saved a lot of time today! haha It was a small victory but a victory none the less!
I am still with Elder Gonzalez! We are loving it! I could stay with this guy until the end of my mission and be happy, but also I hope I get to train a new missionary before I come home! I guess we will see how it all goes down!
We have two baptisms for this Sunday! One is really set and the other is still more or less but we have the faith we can baptize him! Baptizing has become my favorite thing to do. Scoring a touchdown, hanging out with the boys, going boating, all are great stuff that I plan on doing, but all fail in comparison to baptizing someone and helping them participate in the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ.
Elder Gonzalez and I were planning this afternoon our meeting with the new missionaries. We were thinking about it. We started asking a few questions, (If you want to invite the Spirit, ask a question). We asked questions like, "what would I have liked to know when I started my mission?" "What are the needs of these new missionaries" "How do we want them to feel as they leave this meeting". We both were writting every idea that came to our minds and we ended up really thinking about the Doctrine of Christ. 1-Faith 2-Repentance 3-Baptism 4-Reception of the Holy Ghost and 5-Persevere to the end. We both want them to understand the importance of the Doctrine of Christ. We want them to feel excited and uplifted to leave this meeting with all the desire to baptize. Its something that I really wish I would have understood better as I had started my mission. We started to write it down and the spirit was there giving us a lot of great thoughts, (We did this in a wendy´s, so you really can recieve revelation where ever you are). The Doctrine of Christ really does apply to just about everything. To be able to baptize someone we must live and be converted by the Doctrine of Christ. 1-Faith, do you really have the faith that you can baptize someone? What is the price required to pay in order to help someone be baptized? We are also going to share the talk, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with them. 2-Repentence. To be a baptizing missionary you need to be constantly repenting and constantly changing. Look for ways to be better and to be cleaner. 3-Baptism. What does the Sacrament mean to you? In spanish Sacrament is, "Holy Dinner", and thats exactly what it is. You are having a Holy Dinner with Christ. You have an interview with Him. Tell Him how you did this last week and make promises on how you will better the next. 4-Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is everything in the work of the Lord. Without the Holy Ghost you cannot and must not intent to preach the gospel. Thats the difference between explaining the Gospel and teaching the Gospel. The teaching is to be done all by the Holy Ghost through you. 5- Persevere to the end. In this mission we knock on doors, we walk fast, we talk with everyone, and we dont tire of good works. It doesnt matter how the weather is or how we feel, we give it our all untill 9pm. We keep knocking doors until 9pm, because many times, in a very symbolic way, the family of 5 that is waiting for you at the last door of the street are only going to be possible to reach at 8:59pm on a rainy day, after being soaked and being rejected the whole day long. After the trial of our faith God grants miracles.
I guess I will let you guys know how the meeting went when I write you later!
Love you family! Thanks for everything! I am loving the mission!
Elder Buhrley
Friday, November 18, 2016
November 18, 2016
Hey! This week was great! We had a ton of fun and have been working really hard! It feels good at night to go to bed exhausted! We have been able to see many miracles this week and it feels good to have the spirit!
We are teaching a great family of 7! They are so great and are progressing very well but just haven’t made it to church yet! They are feeling the Holy Ghost and are receiving answers to prayers but just are scared to go to church because of experiences in past churches. We will continue w
In the mission I have learned so much about the incredible atoning sacrifice of our savior Jesus Christ. I have learned so much about it by experimenting it. Faith, Repentance, Baptism (Partake of the Sacrament), and Endure to the end. The doctrine of Christ is amazing. It is simple as we take a look at it on the outside, but as we start internalizing it and living it, it becomes personal and becomes something so much more meaningful. It is the way to access the power of the Atonement. I have also learned in the mission what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. For Christ to know us it was necessary for Him to have to suffer. For us in a very symbolic way to be able to know Him, we must suffer also. “All roads to salvation must pass through the Garden of Gethsemane.” –Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
It’s okay to go through hard times every once in a while:) It’s okay to suffer a little as my mission President is always saying! Ha I love the mission! I have taken upon me the yoke of Christ and I am learning of Him with every step of the way!
Have a great week!
Elder Buhrley
November 18, 2016
Hey! This week was great! We had a ton of fun and have been working really hard! It feels good at night to go to bed exhausted! We have been able to see many miracles this week and it feels good to have the spirit!
We are teaching a great family of 7! They are so great and are progressing very well but just haven’t made it to church yet! They are feeling the Holy Ghost and are receiving answers to prayers but just are scared to go to church because of experiences in past churches. We will continue w
In the mission I have learned so much about the incredible atoning sacrifice of our savior Jesus Christ. I have learned so much about it by experimenting it. Faith, Repentance, Baptism (Partake of the Sacrament), and Endure to the end. The doctrine of Christ is amazing. It is simple as we take a look at it on the outside, but as we start internalizing it and living it, it becomes personal and becomes something so much more meaningful. It is the way to access the power of the Atonement. I have also learned in the mission what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. For Christ to know us it was necessary for Him to have to suffer. For us in a very symbolic way to be able to know Him, we must suffer also. “All roads to salvation must pass through the Garden of Gethsemane.” –Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
It’s okay to go through hard times every once in a while:) It’s okay to suffer a little as my mission President is always saying! Ha I love the mission! I have taken upon me the yoke of Christ and I am learning of Him with every step of the way!
Have a great week!
Elder Buhrley
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