JACE - Getting Used To The City

May 20, 2024

Hey, Everyone!

Rochester is such a party! It's so weird being sent from a huge, spread out branch to a super close city where you see at least one other set of missionaries every day. But Elder Timothy and I have been a bunch of fun. It's still hard for me to talk to random people on the street, but now I have to worry about talking to people in malls!!! It's genuinely terrifying to me, but hopefully I can get over that. 

We haven't been able to do a lot of teaching because we haven't been able to get in contact with any of the people the last Elders were teaching. But, we found one new person whose name is Taylor. We had a good restoration lesson with her, and she said she had even been to our church before. She even straight up said she believes Joseph Smith is a prophet. She says her family is having a lot of different issues of health and monetary means, so if you guys could pray for her that'd be awesome. 

Now, the best part of the Rochester 2nd Ward is the fact that we've been getting fed every night so far! It's crazy. There's a lot of fun families here, so it's been fun trying to learn names of the little kids in different families that have us over. There is always a sweet spirit when we get to share the little message with them at the end, and the kids actually want to listen and participate. I pray that my kids can be like that someday, but I won't hold my breath. 

You guys have an amazing week! I'll keep grinding and I'll hopefully bring some better news next week! 

Love y'all!

Sincerely, 

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Hello, From And--- I Mean Rochester!!!

May 13, 2024

Hey Everyone! 

Sooo, they sent the "Wong" T-Boards the week before. More people got their visas and some people went home that weren't planning for the week before. So the guy who was supposed to be in the Rochester 2nd ward went home, so I got moved from the trio into a companionship with my MTC COMPANION!!! I was so excited when the new T-Boards dropped, because I kept getting told from everybody that they never got to even serve around their MTC comps. So Fun!

We had our late Zone Conference with Elder Wong, and it was so different from what I was expecting. Pretty much as soon as he walked in, he was cracking jokes left and right. Most of the subject matter of the meeting was working with members and how powerful they are in helping people come unto Christ. Remember, it's not just the missionaries that are called to do it, find ways to help them succeed!

My last week in Ashland was great and sad at the same time. After ZC on Wednesday, we headed to the Rust's house one last time. We hung out there and he made the birthday steaks I had asked him for. It was a fun visit, and I got my hugs from Brother Rust. Definitely coming back to see him after I'm done. Then Thursday, we head out to Ironwood for my last day in Michigan. The main purpose for going out there was to go and see John. But we got a message that morning from him that said he wouldn't be able to do a video call because their RV and garage had burned down. Gave me a bit of a scare, but luckily they're fine. Can't wait to see how he progresses. Then Friday was the real sad day. The main thing was seeing Charmaine and the kids one last time. She is still struggling so hard with her choice of moving into town and being part of the church. I gave her a blessing and a journal edition of the Book of Mormon with my testimony written in it. Please keep praying for her, because she needs it. 

New area and new life. It'll be an interesting time, but I know Heavenly Father has sent me here for a reason. Keep looking for ways that He is influencing your life. He is always sending rays of light to guide and strengthen us.

Love y'all!

Sincerely

Elder Buchanan

 

JACE - I Would Have Been Disqualified

May 6, 2024

Hey Everyone!

In case y'all didn't know, it's my birthday today! Hard to believe I've already spent almost 4 and a half months in the mission field. I've been able to meet so many cool and awesome people, and I'm excited to keep it going. As a gift to myself, I asked my mother if I could go golfing for my birthday. I ended up buying cheap tees, cheap balls, and a few clubs from goodwill. It was a fun time, and the course was full of hills. Definitely got my work out there.

 

We have zone conference this week, so they dropped transfer boards last Thursday, and I will be officially moving out of Ashland. I'm going to Andover, Minnesota which is about an hour north of the cities. I'm also going to be trio-ing for the first half of the transfer before one of the Elders goes home. It'll be an interesting time being in a more busy area and being able to see missionaries a whole heck of a lot more. 

Gotta be honest, there's only a couple of things worth mentioning for the last week. The first is when we decided to try and go to the college for our comp study one day. We were heading to the library, but it was somehow closed, so we just walked around the campus talking about what we needed to. But because of that, we ran into Ben and we were able to have a small conversation and get his number. We got to have a restoration lesson with him later, so hopefully he stays interested. We also decided to get frisbees and play around at the college that has some disc golf things, and a dude named Max came out and threw around with us. As we were throwing, we were able to have a beliefs talk and a restoration lesson. He was so cool to talk to, and we were able to give him a Book of Mormon, too! Funny how changing one small thing makes something big happen.

So here's my invite to y'all. Look for those small things you can do different that could turn into big miracles. You never know who you could help or what you can find that helps you come closer to Christ and Heavenly Father. 

Have a great week everyone! Love y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Two Weeks Gone, But There Was The Temple!

 April 29, 2024

Hey, Everyone!

It's been a little while! They changed our P-Day last week to match up with our day at the temple! So, I didn't really have a lot of time to write last week's email. This week's gonna be a little shorter, so sorry about that. But Ashland's been a good time. I love the area, but I'm definitely ready for something new. Definitely where I'm planning to visit after I'm done. But the best part of the last 2 weeks was the Endowment session we were able to do! I definitely needed a it, since I hadn't gone since January. It was such a powerful reminder of the love and remembrance God and Jesus Christ has for us. I challenge everyone to go to the temple this week, in some way. I can promise that the temple will strengthen you.

Love you guys!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan