JACE - Twas the Spooky Day

November 4, 2024 

Hey Everyone!

I'm just gonna be honest, not a whole lot happened this week. We were able to meet with Nikki and Terryiana again, and we're beginning to think that the 23rd might be a bit too soon for her to be baptized. Probably a bit of not staying on topic in lessons or not fully explaining the thing we need to. Definitely got to double down and make those lessons good! We unfortunately didn't get to meet with Adam this week because he has been so busy and working so much. Please pray for them because they need it! They've both been hit with a lot of hard things ever since they've been getting closer to truth, so the more help the better!

The only other thing that happened would probably be President and Sister Allred joining our district council to do some interviews. It was really good to be able to talk about a few things and actually have a somewhat personal interaction with both of them. I still have to get used to the differences they have from the Gochnours, but I'm sure things will smooth out as they go.

Anyways, that's the week. Good members and good meals, fun times and fun people! Something I read in a book called "The Continuous Atonement" by Brad Wilcox really stuck out to me this week. In the book, Brother Wilcox brings up the point that we have the chance to receive joy from the Atonement through the Saviour, but we also give Him joy when we choose to use the gift He has given us. It was such an interesting thought to me, so I just wanted to share it with y'all! So, this week choose joy! Use the Atonement and have Christ help you become better on whatever it is you need help with! I promise He'll be there to lift up and help!

Don't forget to look for rays of light from God and even be rays of light for others! Those miracles are everywhere, so don't forget to look!

Love Y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Another Transfer Floats Away

 October 28, 2024

Hey Everyone!

Things are going pretty well here! We got people we're teaching and we have some amazing members! All the fun times! 

Last Monday, we had a fun P-Day over in Mankato and we got to go have a lesson with our friend Nikki and her daughter. They're in quite the unusual situation, but they love what we teach and how it makes them feel. We ended that lesson putting them both on date for baptism for Nov. 23rd! So please, if y'all could pray for them, because they've already had some crazy things happen to test their faith.

We also were able to talk to a new friend, Alondra! She made a referral wondering about baptism and the Holy Spirit. She had an awesome story, recalling that she had an impression to read the Bible again. She wanted to know about baptism and how our church did it. So we were able to discuss it with her and we're planning to go meet her in person and hopefully teach her a bit more. So pray for her too!

We had our friend Adam on date for a while, but unfortunately he has some things that need to clear up before we can get him an interview with our mission president. So, please pray for him!

And with that, another transfer has come and gone as well! It's crazy to think that near the end of this transfer, I'll be out here for pretty much a year! I got to stay with Elder Mallonee for another transfer and finish his training with him. We get along pretty well, so that's such a blessing, and we have such big things that could happen this transfer! It'll be awesome!

That's a quick recap of what's been going on. It's going pretty well and we're moving work along. Don't forget to look for miracles and ways to be miracles for others! You never know who it will affect!

Love Y'All!

Sincerely, 

Elder Buchanan

JACE - General Conference and Other Fun Things

October 14, 2024

Hey Everyone!

Sorry, it's been a couple weeks, but I just got so distracted with other things last week that I forgot to email! We've had an interesting couple of weeks, so let's get into it.

As I said, we got a new mission president. President and Sister Allred are pretty cool. They came in on the 4th and the next week they did a mission tour to go and see all the zones and missionaries in the mission. I didn't really get to interact personally with either of them, but I had a bit of a confirming spirit feeling when they first introduced themselves that they are called here correctly. It should be interesting, especially since I was supposed to only have the Gochnours as my mission leaders, but the Lord does His things for His reasons.

We've had a lack of luck when it came to finding in the last couple weeks. Knocking doors, calls, sending a text about General Conference to every single person in our PMG app, and stopbys. But, we finally had a referral that wanted to talk to us! Her name is Nikki, and she and her daughter have been in some rough times lately. But they've enjoyed what we've talked with them about so far. She seems more interested in the Plan of Salvation, so that's what our plan is when we get to have a full lesson with her. We had a lesson that we were gonna cancel because she was too tired, but she ended up staying awake and chatting with us for about 50 mins. It was crazy and time flew like nothing. It is really funny how lessons do that sometimes.

Now, the big stuff! General Conference! It was so great to hear from our prophet, apostles, and other leaders! I was super happy when they said that Brad Wilcox was going to speak. I love him, and his messages always speak to me! When I was coming back to activity in the church, one of the things that helped was his book "The Continuous Atonement." Great book, go read it. But, he wasn't my favorite talk. My favorite was Sister Yee's from the Saturday Evening Session. Her story about her painting touched me so deeply. It reminded me that even when I make the mistakes, God and Jesus Christ know how to make them better. Also, the fact that Santiago, Dominican Republic(Brielle's mission, older sister) and Kampala, Uganda(Jaxon's mission, brother) got temples announced was so cool to hear!

That's kinda the big stuff! Thank you guys for your prayers and support! It's been interesting, especially with training this transfer, but we're doing pretty well! Remember, look for the rays of light that God has for you and find ways to be rays of light for others!

Love y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

P.S. If you wanna send me something, here's address

101 NW 2nd Avenue #12

Faribault, MN 55021