Keep Looking for Miracles and Ways to Be Miracles for Others!

 July 14, 2024

Mom's Sacrament Meeting talk

Keep looking for miracles and ways to be miracles for others!

 This is my current favorite sign off on a letter from Jace. He always gives some kind of challenge or a request for prayers for his new friends. I love reading his letters! Through them I see so much growth in him.  Weekly video calls are great to chat and see his face, but the letters really show the change in him.

From his First letter:

I would like y'all to ponder something. When was the last time you felt the Spirit? I pray that we can all find the places we need to be to feel Christ's love for us. I say these things in His name, Heavenly Father's Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

From this weeks letter, 7 months later:

On our way back from the library we got to talk to a lady named Regina. We asked her how she was doing, and she gave the answer of "that's a hard question." So we talked a little bit about life and taught her about the Book of Mormon. … we were able to get her number and set up another time to meet with her. She seems super cool, so I'd like y'all to have prayers for her in the back of your mind. 

He and his companions have had many gifts of being in the right place at the right time.

 

Jace is serving in the Minnesota Minneapolis mission with President & Sister Gochnour. They call it the 1M mission, One in purpose, One in mission.

 

His first area was in Ashland, Wisconsin in a branch of 30 really committed members about 4 hours north of the mission home. He felt really comfortable there because it felt like home, having grown up in little town Pinedale, WY. The area is right on the borders of Minnesota, Wisconsin & Michigan and includes the Bad River Chippewa Native American reservation. While in Ashland, Jace and his companion were driving down a snow covered road at night and hit a deer. No one was hurt and the car had only cosmetic damage. Jace explained in his letter, “We made a joke out of it, because our zone is trying to focus on "inspired knocking." We inspired knocked him into the next life.” They had some amazing highs while in Ashland as well. A single mom and 2 of her 3 children chose to be baptized and the next week another friend was baptized as well! Such an exciting time!

 

Jace is now serving in Rochester, MN, home of the Mayo Clinic, with his MTC companion! Jace wrote, “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.”

 

Having a missionary serving from our family is a blessing.

With Jace, we have had 4 of our children choose to serve missions.

Brielle served in the Dominican Republic, Baylee in Peru, Jaxon started in Uganda then finished at Church Headquarters and now Jace in Minnesota. Each had their Highs and Lows.

Bri left for the MTC in the Dominican Republic in July of 2014 and spent the first 6 months of her mission the way most missionaries do – getting used to the area, learning the language, finding friends to teach. February of 2015 Baylee received her mission call.  March 15, 2015 we received a call that Bri had been injured in an accident. She spent a week in the hospital in The Dominican Republic then Sister Douglas, the mission presidents wife flew home with her, where she spent a couple of weeks in the UofU burn unit. She recovered well enough to return to her mission July 15, 2015. Baylee left for her mission in Peru on July 1, 2015. She also had the usual highs and lows. She even experienced Dengue fever but failed to mention that to us until she returned home. So, we had 2 sister missionaries serving from July 2015 to June 2016. Almost a whole year! In the middle of that year in February of 2016, we had a fire in our home and moved a few times before our new home was completed in December of 2016, days before Baylee returned home.

Jaxon left for the South Africa MTC in January of 2019. Things had started changing in the way missionaries communicate with families, so we were able to call and message him through WhatsApp. It was quite a challenge to send an 18 year old all the way across the world! He loved the MTC but struggled with the crazy life in Uganda. He returned home then began his service in the Church Headquarters mission in the Global Services Department working on the Gospel Library app and the Area Book app in Mission Support. We were still living in Pinedale at the time, so Jaxon lived with family here in SLC and commuted to church headquarters M-F. Until COVID.. and Jaxon went home to Pinedale. Because his work was already on the computer, he was able to log in from home and continue his mission through May 2020. Highs and Lows for each.

 

Having a missionary serving from your family is a blessing, but it isn’t always easy. We all have grown from the experiences we have had along with our missionaries.

March 10, 2019 - Master the tempest is raging

On March 10, 2019, I wrote the following letter to Jaxon while he was in Uganda struggling with the decision to return home:

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past week in the Come Follow Me study we read Mark 4:35-41. You may have read it too. This is the story of Jesus and his disciples crossing the sea in a ship and a great storm arises. Being afraid, the disciples rush to find Jesus and He is asleep on a pillow in the back part of the ship. Of course, they woke Him and asked, "Carest thou not that we perish?". The disciples were so afraid. So Jesus arose and used his priesthood power to calm the storm by saying, "Peace. Be still." Immediately there was a great calm. 

 

We can incorporate this story into our lives by remembering when life gets like a crazy storm or it seems like everything around us is against us, (Or when we are asking, “Carest thou not that my child is hurt or sick and I can’t get to her?” or “Carest thou not that my child is struggling on the other side of the world?” or “Carest thou not that my child has stepped away?”) we only need to turn to the Savior and He will calm our storms. Things might not be completely reversed or stopped but He will help US to be calm amid the chaos. 

 

I have always loved the hymn Master the Tempest is Raging. Not your average hymn. 

You’re singing it now aren’t you? “The winds and the waves will obey His will. Peace, Be still.”

 

There is one thing I learned this time I studied this story that I hadn't thought about before. Throughout the journey on the ship, Jesus was there. He was there through it all experiencing it with them. Even before the disciples turned to Him for help. 

So I need to remember He is there with me, and you, in all that we are experiencing, waiting for us to ask for His intervention. Just like the picture where Jesus is standing at the door without a handle. He is there knocking, waiting for us to let Him in. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I asked my children here at home how Jace serving a mission has blessed their lives. Baylee, who is now married with 3 adorable little boys (I swear Im not biased!) shared some thoughts:

It has been super helpful and super cute to have the boys praying for him, having that specific something to pray for. They each do it on their own, it’s often Eli’s (the 3year old) first thing when he starts his prayer. He says, “Dear Heavenly Father, bless Jace in his mission” and then he will sit quietly and kind of roll his eyes up in his head until we prompt him with something else to say.” She continues, “ I feel like we have more opportunities to discuss missionary work since we can follow it up with “just like Jace on his mission, right boys?”

 

She is right. I find I am always looking for things to share with Jace, either from the Come Follow Me podcasts I listen to, or from the scripture of the day that the bookshelf app sends to me, even from Facebook or Instagram posts! Looking for these things adds light and joy to my life everyday.

 

Elder Kearon gave a talk to missionaries at the MTC in Provo on June 22, 2024. He quoted from page 3 of Preach My Gospel and Doctrine and Covenants 79:1, “You are called and set apart to ‘proclaim’ glad tidings of great joy, even the everlasting gospel.” He wanted to emphasize the importance of Joy in sharing the gospel. He said, “you are led by optimists…stop worrying so much—just work hard and be happy.” My favorite quote from his talk was when he quoted Acting President Jeffery R. Holland who shared the following poem from Robert Louis Stevenson:

Find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all.

Joy. I guess you can say that is the blessing from having a missionary serving from our family. Through the Highs and Lows we can still find the Joy because we know who Jace is serving. Who we all can choose to serve. Our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ. I love Him.

 

In, His name, Jesus Christ, amen.

 

JACE - Such A Quick Turn Around

July 8, 2024

Hey Everyone!

Well, three days later, and here I am again. Nothing super notable happened in the last little bit. We had testimony meeting yesterday, and there were some beautiful ones given. We also had a fun time walking through a bunch of JWs on Saturday. Apparently they have a yearly convention here in Rochester, so it was interesting walking into the park and not being the only ones in dress clothes. We didn't get a chance to talk to any of them the first time we walked through, but on our way back from the library we got to talk to a lady named Regina. We asked her how she was doing, and she gave the answer of "that's a hard question." So we talked a little bit about life and taught her about the Book of Mormon. She said she has even come to some of our services before, and she liked what she saw. So we were able to get her number and set up another time to meet with her. She seems super cool, so I'd like y'all to have prayers for her in the back of your mind. 

I'd also like to give some more info on the miracle that is the Wei family. Apparently, the way that we got into contact was also a miracle! They got a little introduction to the church through an Activity Days activity, which is awesome for Max being 8. But that day, they were teaching Max how to ride his bike in the church parking lot, because it's a big open area. But at the same day and time they were doing that, Activity Days was having their own bike riding activity! It's so crazy how much of a miracle they are, and they have such a hunger for knowledge! Definitely pray for them, too!

That's about it for today. The next email will be a normal time frame, so it will be a bit longer. We have Zone Conference this week, too! Ok, I gotta go!

Love Y'all, Look For Miracles!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - July 4, 2024 - Happy Independence Day!

 July 4, 2024

Hey everyone!

They switched our P-Day to coincide with the 4th, so happy 4th! We started out the day with a ward pancake breakfast, which was so good! And because they moved P-Day around, there's too much to write about from the last week and a half. So I'll just talk about some of the bigger things.

We've been able to have some awesome lessons with the Wei family! They have such a great thirst for knowledge, and they're trying to implement prayer into their lives too! We extended a baptismal invite to them, but they don't believe they're ready yet. But it's no problem! We're here to help them, and that's the big thing I'll ask of y'all this week. Keep them in your prayers! They've come to love church, the ward is super inviting, and they're just awesome!

We got to help the JustServe lady in our ward with a booth at Rochester Fest! Really, they just left us to run the booth for an hour a half, but it was fun. We were just trying to introduce the JustServe app to as many people as we could, so it was too bad. The worst art was that the wind was so bad that it broke the gazebo we were supposed to have over us, so we were just in the sun. Luckily, I've noticed that I don't burn too bad here because of the lower elevation, so that was nice. We also got to meet a member from Austin named Rolando. He gave us a training on streeting and talking to people last transfer, so it was cool to see him there. He even bought us lemonade!

Here's an awesome spiritual experience! Last Monday, we were kinda lagging along towards the end of P-Day hours, so when we finally left the church, someone else pulled into the parking lot. They came up to us wondering if we were members, but then saw the tags and they were so happy! Ths family, the Site's, were in town for getting testing done for the husband at Mayo Clinic. They came to the church looking for someone to give a blessing, and luckily 3 sets of missionaries were heading out at that time. So we pulled in the Roch 4 Elders, and we were able to give the blessing. I definitely know that the family was led to the church because we were there. It was a very special moment. Something I don't try to take for granted is being a part of those moments for people. I've been so very blessed to be an instrument in the Lord's hands for people for almost 7 months now. And I can't wait to do more of it!

That's all I really got for y'all. The next email probably won't be very long either since it's only 3 days from now. But, just keep looking for miracles and ways to be miracles for others!

Love Y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Here I Am Again

 June 24, 2024

Hey Everyone!

Transfers have come and gone, and I got to stay here in Rochester with Elder Timothy! I'm super happy to stay because we got some awesome work to do! We've been having fun too, so let's get to the week!

Monday - Last P-Day was a zone P-Day! It was a fun time playing pickleball, Magic, and a bit of basketball. Everyone brought snacks and even the Gochnours came because we were the only zone in the mission to hit its goal for the transfer. It was a fun time, but Sister Gochnour's videos that she took made me realize I really gotta get on the weight loss grind. So that's my new goal for my mission. Eat better and eat less! It was also raining the whole day, and some of it was super hard too! But it was pretty cool to watch and listen to!

Tuesday - Today we had some fun times, kinda. We had some service and a lesson with a lady named Mary Jane. The service was pulling as many thistles as week could, cause they were everywhere in their yard. We ended up teaching her a restoration lesson and giving her a Book of Mormon, but later in the week she sent us a message saying they weren't gonna be leaving their church. Darn it! But we got to have a lesson with the Wei family that came to church on Sunday. They have just a genuine curiosity about the church and religion as a whole, so it was an interesting lesson because their son has a kids Bible, so he knows a lot more about Christianity than the parents. But I can see them getting baptized by the end of the transfer. We'll see, though.

Wednesday - District Council today was pretty sad, as it was Elder Guinn's last one. Love ya, man! He bore a super powerful testimony at the end and we went to a place called Snappy's for lunch afterwards. Good, juicy burgers for pretty low prices. Then we unfortunately will probably be our last lesson with Taylor, because she is just to set on not being baptized again. It wasn't fun to tell her that we wouldn't be able to meet with her as much anymore because of our purpose. Then we had a lesson with a guy named Peter where we brought along a joint teacher, but I think he might have scared Peter off by overloading him a bit. We can definitely use that JT for certain other people, but that's our bad for bringing him to a guy who hadn't even really got to know us yet.

Thursday - Today was a pretty normal day. We ended up going to Audrey's house to mow her yard, and found out she had fallen and broken her wrist. Then came back, showered, and headed out to Plainview, which is about 30 mins for dinner. Then we checked the dots we have around there, and we found a dude named Devan! He's met with missionaries before, and he said he's even had his own witness of the Book of Mormon! They just couldn't keep contact with him. So our goal is to keep that contact and get him to church! Then we got to go to activity days and played a fun game that I will definitely take home with me. It's called LRC Wild dice, and it was fun with a bunch of 8 to 11 year old boys, so it'll be great to play with a bunch of adults!

Friday - Today didn't really have a lot going on. We set up some lessons with people, so that's about it on the work. We walked through Mayo Park, and the river running through it is running pretty full. Even part of the sidewalk is covered in water! 

Saturday - Today was a packed day. We had a lesson with a dude named Ricky, who was a green dot when we first got here. He's been on the books for 7 years, and his only thing about being baptized is his family really doesn't want him to. So we kinda just relayed the fact that he knows what he needs to do, it's just the fact of realizing what God has asked him to do. Then we went to a fellowship so we could talk a bit more with someone we talked to in the park. Bob is just trying to convert us to what he believes. So we know who we're taking along to talk with him next time. Then we got to have a lesson with my first Facebook find! His name is Ngor (pronounced gore) and he's had a lot of brushes with the church from missionaries when he was younger to going to Utah State for school. We taught him a restoration, and he was pretty receptive to the whole thing! It'll be great when we're actually able to meet with him!.

Sunday - The Sabbath is always the best day of the week. The Wei's came to church and the talks were great. They said they liked Sacrament and it made them think a bit more about life. Then they both seemed to like Elder's Quorum and Relief Society. We even got people saying that they're gonna try to fellowship them a bit more and would love to JT with us for them later on. It's just gonna be a great thing to see how the Weis progress!

So that was the week! We ended up being pretty busy for the last week of the transfer, and I'm still super happy that we get to stay for another 6 weeks! If y'all could pray for the Wei family, Devan, and Ngor, that would be great! Hopefully their curiosity in the Gospel stays alive!

Love y'all! Watch for Miracles!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - Transfers Approach

 June 7, 2024

Hey Everyone! It's about that time again. A time of dread or excitement, depending on who you are. It's transfer week! I personally don't think that either me or Elder Timothy will be getting moved out, since we washed in. Had some interesting things happen this week, so let's get into it.

Monday - Today our district adventures took us accidentally outside our areas. We went and climbed the Elba fire tower. Not too far out of the areas, and a little bit of walking and a lot of stairs. Just some fun hanging out. We actually found someone that previous missionaries had talked to and he invited us for dinner. Justin is an interesting dude, but we were able to have a good conversation and talk about some challenges he's had with our beliefs. We're not gonna be able to meet for a while, but hopefully we can have some better answers for any questions he has.

Tuesday - Today we got to go on exchanges with the ZLs. I headed off with Elder McKone in Roch 3's area. I gotta be honest, I hadn't heard very fun things about him, but after seeing how he is for a day, he's a pretty good dude. We were booked up for lessons in the afternoon and after dinner. Was pretty cool to see how the spirit affected each lesson though.

Wednesday - We had district council today. Next week will be Elder Guinn's, one of the Roch 4 Elders, sort of funeral for his mission. It will be interesting. We had a lesson with Taylor where we tried to talk more about coming to church and baptism, but she seems so determined on just read with us interactions and not getting baptized because she's been baptized too many times. We might have to drop her before the end of the transfer, which will be such a heart breaker. Please pray for her so she can realize the importance of the authority we've taught her about,

Thursday - Today we had an interesting institute class with President Mattheson talking about the importance of the First Vision and why we use it so much in our teaching. It was an inspiring lesson and made me realize that I should study the JSH a lot more! We had a few interesting lessons today as well. We taught a couple members of a part-member/inactive family because she wants to have those lessons and encouragement to come back to church. There is also a chance of having a progressing person in that house, too. But she wasn't able to join us because she had just had her eyes dilated. Later, we had a lesson with a guy named Allen. He was very concerned with the humanitarian efforts that the church does. While we didn't have all the answers, I think we were able to answer some of his questions. Then we finally got to give EJ his tagalog Book of Mormon! We had a great discussion about following Christ and had a small restoration lesson with him. Today was a fun day.

Friday - Today was a fun one. We got to have lunch with the Roch 4 elders because one of our recent converts, Thomas, saw his 2 year post on Facebook and invited them over. He made a nice spread of mashed potatoes and gravy, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, corn and blueberry pie. I'm not usually a fan of fruity desserts, but it was pretty good. Then we headed out to a lady's farm to do some service for her. Her name is Vicki, and we got her to come to church last week and we had a good discussion about how she like church and how she's felt the Holy Ghost in her life. Her issue is that if our church is the true church, what does that mean for all the others that are just doing their best with what they have. I think we were able to explain it pretty well. She definitely is gonna need some prayers, though! Hopefully she can see the truth in what we've said and what she's experienced.

Saturday - Today was definitely a super slow day. We had to move weekly planning back a day because of service. But we just weren't super in it today. We both decided we'll hunker down and get to work this next week, cause we know we can do better!

Sunday - The Sabbath is always the best day! And it was even cooler because we had a family show up to church! The Tian's came to activity days a couple of weeks ago, and that's how we got their number. We were actually trying to just set up a lesson with them and they just said we can come to church. So their first experience with anything actually church related is Sacrament meeting and Sunday School, so hopefully it wasn't too much. And then I got to call my day for an hour! It was a good little discussion, got to hear how he's doing, a little bit more about some mission things I should try, and how the Buchanan reunion went. Kind of a bummer to miss it for the first time, but I'm here doing His work, so I guess it's a good reason.

That's pretty much it for my week. If I could ask for y'all to do anything, it'd be to pray for the people we're teaching. We've had to drop some people we thought were doing good, but it's just the way it goes sometimes. Always be on the lookout for those small miracles in your life!

Love y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan

JACE - I Got To Play With Adult Legos!!!

 June 10, 2024

Hey Everyone!

I hope y'all are having a great first couple weeks of summer! This week was kinda weird. We weren't able to do a lot of finding this week because the weather just wouldn't quit and we ended up doing a bunch of service! But let's start at the beginning.

Monday - For our fun P-Day activity, we went to a free zoo about a half hour outside of the city. They had eagles, foxes, wolves and a bear. Just a lot of cool animals, and luckily it was free. In the evening, we had a couple of lessons planned, but they both fell through. Super sad, but we can only invite.

Tuesday - Today was kinda more of the same old, same old. We had a couple lessons planned and they both fell through. One of them, the phone just wouldn't work, and the other didn't pick up. Not gonna lie, having all these lessons set up that just don't happen is pretty disheartening. But I just gotta remember that it's them, not us. We can only try to invite. We ended up mowing a lawn for an older member in the ward today, too. Nothing too bad, interesting how it's not much of a chore out here.

Wednesday - Today was the adult Lego day! We got a call the night before from a member who moved to Buffalo a while ago. So Elder Timothy knew him, and he still has a house in our area that he rents out. He was needing help replacing the floors with laminate because the last renters had ruined the carpet in there. So, we got to go out to Elgin for a couple hours and help start the project. We had to run back to town for a couple planned lessons. One of those lessons was with Taylor, and we got to meet her in person! She's super cool! We were able to give a physical copy of the Book of Mormon and she even brought up that she doesn't do some Word of Wisdom things! Once we are able to actually get her to church, I think a baptismal date is in her future! But the day doesn't stop here! Brother Day sent us a message while we were doing Facebook and asked if we would have the time to go help with the flooring again. I was having fun with the first round, so I was like "Round 2, baby!" They had gotten most of the 2 other rooms finished, and they were starting on the big living room. After the owner got the floor started, I took over for the next couple hours and just went to town. I'm pretty sure I did 1/4 to 1/3 of the floor pretty much by myself, except for the measuring of end pieces I needed cut. I was just having fun! Maybe it could be something to do as a job at home, who knows!

Thursday - Fun part about today was that we had district council that we delayed a day so we could go to BWWS! It was a fun day out and about. But the best part was that we actually got to have a little with a dude named EJ! We have a special language Book of Mormon that we've had since transfers, and haven't been able to get in contact really well with him. So it was such a treat to be able to chat with him and know he's a real person. We still have to figure out a time to get him the book, but a little phone lesson is progress!

Friday - Today was a bit of a weird day. We had a visit from the housing coordinator for a little housing inspection. They took away things that we didn't bring in, one of which was a tv that we underestimated how big it was. On its side, it measured to my chest. Almost wished we had used it, but also was just surprised as to why they had it in the first place. Then we went and mowed the lawn for one of the recent converts, Audrey. Again, wasn't too bad. Even made a new record on how fast we finished it. That's pretty much the extent of that day.

Saturday - Today had a couple of surprises. It was Elder Timothy's birthday for one, so he got a bunch of messages from people in the mission for his birthday. Somehow the majority of them were sisters, so hmmm... But for the surprises, we were out doing our comp study and daily contacts, when a dude named Bob came up and pretty much streeted us. We had a nice discussion about a few different spiritual topics. He's a super big fan of the 10 commandments, and said he had read the account of Abinadi in Mosiah as well. We might be able to persuade him, but we have a member that would great to have a conversation with him again. Then, for dinner that night, we had an asian lady sign up to feed up, even though her records aren't in Rochester. She was just super nice and said she understands the fact that we are away from our families for a while. It was both weird and nice.

Sunday - The Sabbath is always the best day of the week! Today, I sang in sacrament. I just love being able to share my testimony of the Savior with the talents I've been granted. Everyone seemed to like it, and we even got someone to come to church because of my singing. She's just super supportive, and hopefully we can get her on the path to baptism soon.

That's the week! A lot of fun ups and a few downs. It's something so weird to me that we have all these lessons that just keep falling through. But I just need to remember who's in charge, and just to be the best sower that I can so someone else can come along and reap a bountiful harvest. I read Matthew 13 the other day, by way. But I hope you have an awesome week and keep looking for ways to help those around you!

Love y'all!

Sincerely,

Elder Buchanan