JACE - Finally Made It To Waseca!

 August 26, 2024

Hey everyone!

I hope you all have had an amazing week. It's been an interesting one here for sure. Some good and some not so good, but that's life. Don't worry, I'll tell you about the good stuff.

We had Zone Conference on Tuesday! Lots of good messages shared. There are only 3 missionaries going home this transfer. Sister Criddle, who is in our district, and Elder Larson and Fergus, 2 of our APs. They bore such sweet testimonies, and I got my pictures with the APs! They're awesome, and I had to get one with Elder Larson since he's been AP since I got here! 

We had exchanges on Saturday with the Mankato Elders. I got to be with Elder Austin in Mankato, and we grinded! We went and stopped by as many of their referrals as we could, and we had a few miracles throughout the day. Twice we had someone pull into their driveway while we were there, and someone came to talk to us from across the park! I even helped find them a new person to teach! It was a good day. Haven't had a big grind day like that in a while.

On Sunday, we finally got to go to Waseca for church! It's a very tiny branch, and I think it might be a little smaller than Ashland. They so desperately want missionary work to blossom out there. They even announced that they're gonna do a branch fast next Sunday for missionary work to progress there. I want to do more for them, but we cover a pretty big area and ward even without they're area. I asked President and Sister Gochnour if there is an apartment out there, because I'm hoping to find ways to spend more than just one day every so often out there. We'll see what happens, but it was great to meet them!

That's all the bigger stuff that happened this week. Some pretty cool things, but I can always do better. The mission started a 40 day fast for missionary work. Different people signed up for different days at Zone Conference, and I signed up for the first day. It was definitely a bit hard that day, but I could feel the Spirit stronger in our interactions throughout that day, and I know that it's contributing to the whole mission, too! The power of fasting is real, so don't forget that! It was even interesting that the talks on Sunday were about the power of fasting and how it affects our lives! If you're struggling to quit something, need more courage, or just need guidance, fasting opens a way to let more of our Heavenly Father's light into our lives! Faith works both ways, requires action on your belief, and faith that your actions are seen! I promise as you use your fasting for more specific things, with a purpose, miracles will come in all shapes and sizes! That's why I always say to look for miracles, cause they are all around us! SO DO THAT!!!

Love y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Helping More People, Bit by Bit

August 19, 2024

Hey everyone! I hope you've all ahad an awesome week. It's been going pretty well over here. I'm doing this a little last second, but I'm not missing another week! 

Some of the fun stuff this week was going on exchanges with our ZLs. I got to hang out in Apple Valley for the day with Elder Wade. It was a fun time, and I got to learn the new Star Wars trading card game during lunch. It's got decent mechanics and gameplay, but it's probably not something I'll fall into out here. Maybe if I was at home. 

The best and most important part of the week was the baptism of Hannah and Adeola! They're from Nigeria, and it was a pretty quick teach to baptism from what I understand. I only got to be a part of it for a couple of weeks. But seeing Hannah's determination and willingness to accept what she was being taught was so cool! She even had thoughtful questions and answers during the lessons we had. We ended up having to give both talks in the baptismal service because we couldn't find anybody to do it. My talk wasn't bad, but it could've been better.

So yeah, those are the important things for me this week. Our finding could've been better, but we were able to talk to a couple people and give out a Book of Mormon after a doorstep lesson with someone. Hopefully I can tell you more about him next week.

That's all I got for you this week! If you want to see more pictures, be sure to follow the Google Photos! https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z9gYaPkuxFxe3dxT6

Love Y'all! Keep looking for miracles and ways to be miracles! I'd love to hear about some of them if you have the time!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan 

JACE - 2 Weeks Gone Already

August 12, 2024

Hey Everyone!

It's kinda crazy that 2 weeks of the transfer have already blown by. Guess we've been busy enough. Not gonna lie, I can't remember much of what has happened, and we had too much fun last P-Day, so that's why I didn't write. We've done a bunch of stopbys all over Faribault, Owatonna, Waseca, Northfield and a few little towns in between. There's definitely been a lot of driving, so thank goodness I'm driving! We've also just been grinding through our calls so we get around to some people who haven't reached out to in months. So we're decently busy enough.

We have a Baptism planned for this week! Hannah and Adeola just moved to the states from Nigeria a few weeks ago. And it's been interesting being moved in while they are progressing towards making that covenant. Their willingness is so desirable. They're so cool! I've also met a few people that had gotten baptized in the last year, and they're great as well. Roberta is a sweet older lady that we go read the Book of Mormon with twice a week. We get to help her understand it more, and we have fun conversations. Then there's Duane, and he's a cool farmer as well! We got to go look at his cows went we went out there and Elder McNeil was able to make one of the cows pretty much scream back at him. It was funny.

One of the most interesting things that has stuck out to me is how plain some certain things are in the Bible and it astounds me that other churches don't observe these standards. Something simple was the setting apart of Paul and Barnabas before they were sent out on their mission. It hadn't really stuck out to me so much before, but something like that is a basic building block of how Christ wanted the church to be run. And there are so many churches who just disregard it! It's crazy what you will find in the scriptures when you are able to take the time to study them. Definitely one of my favorite parts of being a missionary.

Well, just a quick short email for y'all this week. Don't forget to look for God's miracles in your life, and be miracles to others!

Love Y'All!!!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - My Last Day in Rochester

 July 29, 2024

Hey Everyone! This week hasn't been too interesting. And, as the title says, today is my last day in Rochester. Transfers has been moved to Tuesday now, so I'll be heading to Faribault, MN. Luckily, I'm with a missionary I already somewhat know, so this next transfer should be fun! Now, onto the week recap.

Tuesday - Not really much happened today. We had a couple of lessons, one with someone who still just needs to get over the fact that him being baptized is up to him, not his family and one with someone the ZLs gave us that they put on date. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and challenged him to read it. While testifying of Joseph Smith and the truthfulness of the book, he almost went bashy for a sec, asking us if we believe the word of one man. But he accepted our challenge and hopefully can start actually getting his own testimony. I don't think he should've been on date yet, but Elder Timothy will get to work with him more.

Wednesday - Today was Elder McKone's last DC. It's kinda sad that he's going home, but all good things must come to an end. After that, we ended up doing a little bit of service for a lady. She wanted us to mow her "yard," which was barely anything there. I was getting frustrated because I kept finding rocks with the mower and I didn't need her blaming me for breaking it. It's funny how one of the most prominent lessons I've learned just being in Rochester is how I want my yard to look when I have my own home.

Thursday - Today we made our way out to Audrey's house to mow her yard. It was fun to go out there for one last time. Before that, we went to lunch with her and another lady in the ward named Sister Fieck, and we were just having a grand time and getting some good laughs in. Audrey is definitely gonna be one of the people I miss the most here.

Friday - Today we went out for one last round of service at Vicki's house. We ended up doing a lot of digging so she could build a retaining wall near her garage. Her property is in a constant state of projects, so at least Elder Timothy and his new companion will have somewhere to do some work. I also made sure to teach her about the temple and that because of the temple our families can be sealed together for time and all eternity. Her husband passed around 8 years ago, so I thought that would be a comforting thing that could bring her closer to the church. We did have a few lessons today as well, but the best thing was having interviews with Pres. Gochnour. Both him and his wife are so awesome, and it was great to be able to get some of the things I needed to get off my chest. Just pretty refreshing, especially right before a new transfer.

Saturday - We ended up doing service for Vicki's mom this morning. She's a sweet old lady. We just did some weeding for her and picked up some branches that were in her yard. Again, not really much happened today. We had a good dinner and did a bunch of calls. Had to do Weekly Planning today too because of all the stuff that was happening yesterday. At about 10pm we got the T-Board drop, finding out that I'm leaving and Elder Timothy was staying with a greenie. They'll have a lot of, but it will be a learning experience for him, considering he doesn't do a lot of talking at member meals and such. They'll do great, though.

Sunday - Oh, Blessed Sabbath! Always the best day of the week! It was kind of a sad time letting people know that I was gonna be leaving, but at least this time I could tell people. We even got Vicki to come to church because we told her we'd tell her there who was leaving. But hey, whatever gets people to church.

So that's pretty much my week. Nothing too big besides finding out I'm leaving. I'm hoping I left a good enough mark here in Rochester on the people I've been able to teach and serve. But now it's on to Faribault and new people to learn and serve!

Don't forget to look for miracles and be miracles for others!

Love Y'All!!!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan