JACE - Transfer Week is Here Again

 March 25, 2024

Hey Everyone!

It's crazy that the end of the transfer is almost here again! I am kinda ready for it. A bit of a change would be very nice to have. But we're having some interesting things happen this week.

We were able to avoid going to urgent care for my foot, but we ended up having to go anyway. After p-day was over, we went to help an inactive member prep for a taco fundraiser. We were tasked with cutting up vegetables. (You can see where this is going.) I was cutting onions, which was kinda hurting my eyes. And Elder Parkin was cutting up lettuce, then he cut the top of his thumb. It was a real good cut, so we had to run to the urgent care and get his thumb glued. A small little miracle off of it was that the office lady was an inactive member of the church. It was nice to be a little reminder for her.

We had exchanges with the Grand Rapids Elders on Tuesday. I got to go and hang out with Elder Jarman there for the day. We were able to do a little bit of good work. I brought along some Lorcana cards I had bought and introduced the game to him. He enjoyed it, but he has spent a lot more money than he should have on Magic. If he gets another game under his belt, he'll end up spending way more! And it was free cone day at DQ, so we were able to get some ice cream at the end of the day.

We were able to have a couple of lessons with Charmaine this week. She is struggling spiritually.With her being new to having the Holy Ghost, she is still trying to figure out how the Spirit works. So please pray for her. Satan is trying to throw everything he has at her, and she needs the help.

We had stake conference this week. We were able to catch the adult session on Saturday. We had kinda forgot about it, but luckily we caught it after dinner. A lot of the talks were about the temple. I do miss being able to go to the temple whenever I want. So at least hearing about it and what it means to people. They say we are going to go next transfer before the temple closes for 6 months, so that will be good. For the general session we got to go to Duluth. President and Sister Gochnour were speaking, so we also had in person interviews for the transfer. I explained that I'm ready for a change. I love them so much and they are definitely the leaders I need for my mission. We ended up coming back in a snowstorm, which is still going today. So winter wasn't over anyways.

My invite for y'all this week is try to make time for the temple. Whether it be baptisms, endowments, or sealings. Spend more time in one of the most sacred places we have. I wish I would have gone more before I came, but I can testify of the power of the temple. 

Love y'all!

Sincerely

Elder Buchanan

JACE - St. Paddy's Fun

 March 17, 2024

Hey Everyone!

This week has been a bit more eventful than the last couple. It has been a fun time, but I did have one little problem.

On Tuesday, we had exchanges with the Elders in Virginia. I got to have Elder Morris here with me. We were able to have a good time. We got to do some Facebook work and knocking. We got a number and even met up with one of our less actives. Her daughter has actually been the driving force behind them coming back. It's been slow for them, but they've been trying. They are awesome.

We got to do some service this week. We helped President Mika stack a bunch of milled out wood so they could dry. To be honest, it wasn't the hardest job I've ever done, but we got to have some good conversation with him about things going on in the world. Then we were able to help one of our members pack up some stuff since they are moving in July. But the best part of that is that Brother Bay is big into Pokemon cards! We got to chat and marvel at his collection. I thought I had a lot of bulk, but he's got at least 10 times what I had. And he has graded cards and sealed product, too. We even got to play a round of the new Disney trading card game Lorcana. It's fun, and plays a bit like Magic. Thanks for that, boys. 

Now to the not so fun. We were able to have exchanges with the ZLs on Friday. That's not the bad part. I got to hang out with Elder Jones in Duluth for the day. We did some good stopbys, calls and even had a lesson. But on the first stopby of the day, the curb decided to say, "screw you." I went to step up on it and rolled my ankle pretty hard. So I was walking on a sprained ankle for the rest of the day. Since then, it's just been annoying to walk around. My leg is stiff and it does hurt if I bend it too hard the wrong way. It doesn't help that we aren't supposed to use our car this coming Thursday. But we'll make it work.

I also just want to testify on the power of the Book of Mormon. I've been doing the March Madness challenge, trying to read the Book of Mormon in a month. Reading it that fast has given me the chance to actually connect all the events together better. I recently made it through the record of Ammon and his brothers preaching to the Lamanites. It's an amazing opportunity to be able to relate more to their service and look up the vigor they had to keep going even when times were hard. Even though in my short time as one, I love to be able to have the chance to "Boast in my God!" I'm grateful for the privilege, and I know that it is a privilege, to be able to serve Him and bring the truth to those who need it. 

I love you all! Don't forget to look for the small miracles!

Sincerely

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Two Weeks In A Row!

 March 11, 2024

Hey Everyone!

Hope y'all had an awesome week! This was pretty good. It's kinda funny how the days can feel slow, but then it's already p-day.

This week was Zone Conference! It was a lot of fun and a lot of good Spirit. We were able to head down Tuesday evening and stay at the mission home so we wouldn't have to drive 4 hours in the early morning to be on time. I chose to leave behind a good pair of walking shoes because I thought we wouldn't do the morning walk the Gochnours do because of Zone Conference. Lo and behold, I was wrong. But I was able to keep up with Sister Gochour and one of the Spanish Elders the whole time. My calves were on FIRE! After ZC, our Zone met up at Raising Cane's for dinner, which was a blast. Just being able to be together for a bit longer was great. But it did cause us to not get back to Ashland until midnight. It didn't help that I was developing a cold all day, so I was dead tired.

The next fun thing was Saturday. We went out and did some service for the Rusts! They live in Iron River, which is a 40 minute drive from Ashland. Our branch reaches so far in every direction. In the morning Brother Rust checked in to see if we were coming, and then after we said yes, he said, "Also, here's dinner." and sent a picture of the hunk of pork he was smoking. The service wasn't even that bad, but the pay off of smoked pulled pork sandwiches was awesome. And Brother Rust has some awesome stories. We planned to leave at 6 and ended up talking til 7. Then when we shook hands at 7, we ended up chatting for another 40 minutes! It was a fantastic day!

Then we have the Sabbath, which is always good, no matter which way you spin it. But today was Charmaine and her kid's Confirmations. It is actually super special to be able to be a part of the circle to welcome someone fully into the church. We did end up having to do Charmaine's twice though, because Brother Wilber forgot to confirm her as a member before giving the Holy Ghost. But they each received beautiful blessings to go along with it. Her 6 year old didn't want to be left out, so we gave him a quick blessing. Then we had John's baptism. It was a great service. The ward mission leader, who has been giving John the rides to church, was the one to baptize John. The only issue was that John is a little taller than me, and Brother Cousineau is about shoulder height on me. Brother Cousineau said John is the tallest person he's baptized. And the baptism almost went bad, too. John's foot slipped out from under him in the font and almost caused him to catch the corner of the stairs with his head. Luckily, Brother Cousineau had a good hold on him and kept him safe. Then we did John's confirmation as well. I freaking love the Ashland branch. They've been so welcoming to our friends. We had a bit of a luncheon after, and Sister Mika, the Branch President's wife, made some butterscotch brownies and decorated it to welcome John. Too bad I didn't get a picture before the words got destroyed.

Which leads me to my invite this week. I'm inviting y'all to remember to be welcoming to those who are new somewhere. Whether it's church, a job, or team, it really affects the person's view of the thing they are walking into if the people there are wanting them to be there. Make people feel loved, and they want to stick around.

Love you all so much! Keep working hard and getting better!

Sincerely

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Marching Forward In Faith

March 4, 2024

Hey Everyone!

This week was an amazing one! 

This last Sunday was so special. Of course, it's always special because of the Sabbath and the sacrament. But we had Charmaine, Liam, and Z'Nyia's baptism! The Spirit was so strong while we were watching them make that covenant. I asked Liam how he felt afterwards, and he said he felt happy after coming out of the water. I even noticed Charmaine getting emotional as Brother Wilber was saying the prayer and after as well. Even little Elijah was asking if she was crying. It was also so awesome that her mom came and supported her and her kids getting baptized. Maybe it might spark something for her too, but who knows!

The rest of the week was kinda more of the same. We had a lesson with John, in which we marked him off for %100 of principles taught. His baptism is this upcoming Sunday, and he is going to be an amazing member! 

We had 2 lessons with Charmaine and the kids to get them all up to %100 taught as well. But after our Friday lesson, the reservation was having a Ring Dance event at Northland college and Charmaine invited us to go. So we went and got to watch some people do little hand drum performances and watched their elders do a prayer circle as well. It was quite interesting, and Charmaine said March is the start to Pow-Wow season. So hopefully we get to experience one of those.

The funny thing of the week definitely goes to Saturday. We had exchanges with the Grand Rapids Elders. Our exchange spot is in Duluth, which is an hour and a half away from both of us. So we got up and were out the door by 7:30. When we got to the spot, we sat there for about 30 mins. We decided to call them to see where they were at, and they weren't even in their car yet! They were still in PJs!!! So we found a new middle spot between G-Raps and Duluth and met them there. After Elder Barton and I made it back to Ashland for the exchange and did our P-Study, we only had 2 hours to do actual missionary work before we had to exchange back. Still, it was a good time. Just a funny circumstance. 

Now it's March! How is the time flying so fast! A cool thing for this month is that we were challenged to do the March Madness challenge. Which is reading the whole Book of Mormon front to back in a month. I've already made it to 2 Nephi. It's a little harder for me because I like to read my scriptures out loud, but I've felt the Spirit as I say all those words out loud. 1 Nephi 11 hit me a bit more because of Nephi seeing the life of Christ and what he would go through for all of us. So, although it's a couple days late, I would like to issue the same challenge to all of you. It gives a great reason to read a great book!

I love y'all so much!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan