Monday, July 28, 2014

Week #78 Had a Great Baptism



Ni hao everyone! 

Well, first off this week has been long. We got hit by a typhoon which was not the best. We had a RC try to apostatize and tell me Satan is coming for me. 

We had a baptism which was beautiful!!!  The guy totally changed his life. It was beautiful. He was crying the entire time. It was hard to watch.  I had the honor of carrying him into the font and out of the font. He had a stroke. It was a really cool thing... former mafia dude... super amazing.

I had exchanges will the ZL. He said I was like Porter Rockwell so I will take that's a compliment. Its been a good week. This week has also been super duper slow. I have been trying to get new investigators. I went back to basketball contact in and it has been working so I am happy about that!!! 

That's it ya'll.

Elder Buhler

Monday, July 21, 2014

Week #77 We Got to Endure...It's Worth It In The End

大家好 All is well in the Republic of China. This week has been another long week of contacting but its all good cause we have a baptism this week which is awesome.  His name is Tang and well I can't tell you a whole lot about him I am thrilled to say that he has turned his life around.  I am super happy to help  helped him turn his life around. 

We literally contacted this entire week and nothing has happened. I have been taking some heat from some of my superiors.... but I have not faltered yet!  Just kidding!!! Anyways I always thought my Chinese was pretty bad but last night I got a call from an Asian elder and we had a like 20 min conversation and then I realized it was all in Chinese. I never ever thought that could happen. I have been studying characters and grammar like a mad man so I hope by the end I can read the book of Mormon better. 

Anyways we have been focusing on member lessons because if the members trust you then everything will fall into place.  I got to meet with Brother H. and they have this room mate who is from West Africa who is fluent in 5 languages and has a masters in business and law.... and is 27 so basically the future president of West Africa. Honestly he is a super cool guy with an insane work ethic...really inspiring ahha.

We got qinged out by the members. They gave us Costco food.... it was amazing. We went on member splits which is always super duper fun. I honestly hope I finish in this area. I love it here.  Anyways for those of you who are deciding whether to serve or not and think you would hate it or not be good enough ..... I would say try it . A mission will change your life. It sometimes won't be the most enjoyable thing in the world but man it will help your life and you will help so many. Growing up I never imagined I would be here, in Tainan or even on a mission but by the grace of god I am and its going swell. I love it here. I actually don't want to go home which is ironic cause this last week was one of the hardest on my mission but it is all worth it in the end. We just got to to endure. Love you all.

Elder Buhler

Monday, July 14, 2014

Week #76 Sunday was a Day of Miracles!

Dear fam bam!!!! Greetings from Zions Camp.... First off this week was rough ... morale was extremely low, but then help arrived in the form of a brown box filled with certain supplies. (We sent him a care package). It was the most timely rescue .... really though morale has been low for the last 2 weeks. We decided to drop all but two investigators and go contacting.... and man oh man is it hot as Hades out here!!! But we love it. We are working on our farmers tans. It has been worth it! 

Ah man,  anyways I got letters from the young women's of my ward. I was taken aback.  They are the last people next to a Division 1 football  coach that I thought i would receive a letter from. In it, there were three letters that all offered moral support. From Sister Crandall's "you are cool " to Sister Acors " these are the best two years." If you only knew. My favorite letter was a certain sister Katlyn Johnson who i have no idea who she is. She wrote something profound that  really helped. She said " I hope you never lose hope but if you do I hope you find it quick" .

I would be a liar and a fraud if I told you all that I have never lost hope on my mission but thankfully when I did I quickly found something to find faith and to hold on and never gave up. 

I don't know if any of you have seen Ephraim's Rescue. It's awesome. One part that I love is when Ephraim is healing the sick and a sister says " brother how do you go about doing so much good " and Ephraim replies "i try."  This statement is so simple but so profound . We all can do so much good. 

So I love the Sabbath because that's the day when miracles usually happen... and man did they. We got a family referral and another referral and we had an investigator accept  a week D goal and tang baba gets baptized in 2 weeks. Shen Bei bei showed up to church finally.  I missed my church buddy. At the beginning of the week, I would of never thought  this would happen. It was hot. We had zero lessons but like Ether 12:6 we receive no witness till after the trail of our faith. It was good. The trials are far from over but we need to have more faith. I need to follow my own advice with that. 

Its kinda funny we meet people everyday who because we are Mormons automatically hate us and think we are of the devil  just because of things on the Internet or misunderstandings people don't like us. I hate it. It really bothers me. However I feel after 9/11 a lot of people were taking shots at the faith of Islam and I feel that was a mistake. A lot of misunderstandings. 

Its sad. I  have finally come to love the mission and I only have a short time left a meager 5 and half months.  it took me so long to realize this. I did the work but I did it because I knew it was the only way to go. Now I do it cause I love it. I don't know what changed. Lately some former teammates have been telling me to just give it all these next 5 and a half months and ya know they are right.  I have seen the difference between a life with the gospel and a life without in my own life and its better with it. I hope that i can finish and make up for my stubbornness and all the times where I was more of a problem than a helper. Last night we met with members and well got lost and showed up 40 min late... We ended up 15 miles off target but hey got to explore a little. It was nice meeting these convert members. They are great people. 

Well I love you all. Congrats for Cassie coming back from Bolivia and Jacob for playing in his first college game. Good luck to Caitlin and Jared as they go to dance and soccer camps. I love you all. I hope to return better than I left.


Elder Buhler

Kirk Out

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Week #75 Happy Birthday America!

Ni hao family!!! How is everyone doing lately?

Well, all is well in Taiwan. I'm just loving the mission!!! So Sam was not able to attend church this week so he now needs to wait another week. I still feel he will get baptized but I feel like all your prayers are really helping. 

This week has been challenging because Elder Galrura and I have dropped all our investigators except for 2 of them and have spent the entire week finding. It has not really been in our favor. We didn't hit standards so we should expect a good ol mah session from our superiors. However we are striving to be better. 

I had exchanges with Elder Kim who was Elder Cutler's MTC comp. It was good. I learned a lot from him.  He had some good suggestions to help me improve as a missionary which I feel is what I need. I am nowhere near the missionary that I want to be and I know I need to improve. I called some elders that were leaving and going home and some remarks from them were enjoy this last bit of your mission. It comes quick, enjoy the goods and the bads and to give it my all and these last six months will define my life. Also its never worth it to break the rules so some solid advice from the veterans. 

Tough US loss. I was actually teaching a English class and the theme of the day was why America is awesome and right then a little Asian boy raised his hand and in his awful accent said "the US just lost." I think part of me died however I must move forward.... Poor Beckerman.... poor Neymar. I actually kept him in my prayers. 

Last night we visited an awesome family .... ah man they made being in Taiwan worth it. The husband, a former bishop, said we need to find prepared people not people who we just you banfa baptize because they go less active. That is what we don't want. 

Anyways on the 4th of July we went to a shi tou which is just a place where you eat a lot of meat. That's pretty much our week. Elder Galura and I agreed that you got to know the reason why we celebrate 4th of July or else you miss the entire point and just BBQ and have fire works. It's like Christmas, there is a reason and a lot of people miss the point. 

It has dawned on me i have about 6 months left on my mission. I am trying to work hard and enjoy it more. I have come to love my mission even if it has humbled the fetch out of me ahhaha.  Well I love you all. Cassie stay safe out in ... that place. Jacob don't die of heat stroke. Go Argentina. Congrats to Trevor Isofa and Ashley Huffaker... peace.

Love, Elder Buhler

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Week #74 Pray for Sam to Get Baptized!!!!




Ni hao everyone,

Well this week has been a fun one!!!I went on exchanges with two elders!!! Elder Cornelius from Oregon which was so much fun. He is such a bro. I would actually like to chill with him after. He loves soccer and he really, really wanted to go pro but didn't .... but he is still super awesome at it. He loves back country bow hunting.... well now I do too.... anyways yah it was a super chill exchange. Really fun. We both really love the church. 

Anyways, the next exchange was with Elder McDougal from Idaho Falls. He is really smart. We both really like science so instead of the normal swapping sports stories we talked about black holes, God,  science and all that. And to be honest it really really helped my testimony. I think one of the biggest things I am afraid of is if I go home and still pursue physics that one day I will run into Stephen Hawking and he will just rip me a new one. I really want to have a stronger testimony and be able to withstand his brain power.

Anyways.... oh ya last week we ate a huge bowl of bing.  Pictures will follow.

I gave a ten minute talk on faith in Chinese.... which is like a milestone for me. I filled the talk with ancient Chinese proverbs so people would think I was super smart. ahahahaha.

We also had a ward party and they had a watermelon eating contest... and well I won.... 4 times in a row. Needless to say they don't want to mess with the Elder Bear Cat but after I   won the 4th time I walked away from the table and just threw up all over the ground... the Lil kids loved it. um....

We also got a baptismal goal for a dude named Sam!!! so pray everyone pray!!!

I love you all. Congrats to Cassie for being in Bolivia... that's sick. Congrats to Jacob and BYU winning games.  Congrats to Jared for giving the Timberline graduation speech. Also congrats to mom for the triathlon and dad for putting up with everyone and most of all congrats to my lil princess Caitlin. 

Love you all! Elder Buhler