Week 17: Wedding Bells and Blessings

Hey guys! :)

This week has been amazing. Why? Well Antonio and Gaby got married on Tuesday! :) Everything came together so nicely. We had a lot of support from the rama. Jose and Jesus even came to the wedding! haha. I am so grateful that I was able to see them make this step together. They were so cute. Hermana Francis and I did Gaby and Valentina's hair. Valentina was jumping up and down and was so excited for her parents to get married. The first thing that Gaby said to us after the wedding was that their goal now is the Temple. It was so sweet and sincere. Antonio cried the whole ceremony. Afterwards he came up to us and said, "all those times you get doors slammed in your face and miss home, does this make it all worth it? Helping us find the gospel?" It was such an easy yes. I'm so grateful that he asked us that question. Because a mission is hard but when you have those kinds of moments, everything is worth it! And now they are ready to be baptized this Sunday! I'm unbelievably excited for them. Valentina asks us every time we see her when she is getting baptized! Yesterday was stake conference and we couldn't sit by them because we were singing in the choir. But after it was over Valentina ran over to us and gave us the biggest hug ever. She had the brightest smile on her face. It is amazing to see how much the gospel blesses families. It is so incredible to be apart of the lives of those coming unto Christ. There is nothing like it!

On Wednesday we did so much service. Hermana Francis and I had to wear these Teapot hats around and serve the tea and coffee at the Senior Center. They made us sing "I'm a little teapot" a lot. It was fun but kinda embarrassing. We wished we had pass along cards about the Word of Wisdom. haha. After, we went to help the Chavez's paint their house. It is still smokey. My arms were so tired after painting the walls and ceiling. It made me glad I have had so much practice painting our many houses. ;)

Gustavo.. he is doing great. We started teaching him about the 10 commandments. We only got through a couple because he had so many questions. He is having a pretty hard time understanding that we shouldn't worship anyone but God. He has grown up Catholic and has prayed to the saints his whole life. We asked him to pray to God and ask if what we said was true. We have a cita tonight with him. We hope he is understanding more!

The girls- they are doing so great! They accepted to be baptized! The only problem is that they don't have a way to get to church. But this week we asked Luz (their older sister/mom) if she would like to listen to a message from us (like we do every time) and this time she accepted! I don't know what it was, but something in her changed! We are going to be teaching them tonight and I hope that Luz will be touched and want to learn more so she and their family can all progress in the gospel together!

Jesus and Jose are doing well. They love the things they are learning in the gospel. They want to continue learning. Jose sent us a super nice text this week telling us how grateful he is to have met us so that he could have all these changes in his life.

Rebecca, Peter, and Angel are all still on track to be baptized next Saturday November 8th. :) They remind us when the baptism is every time we see them!

On Friday I went on an exchange with Hermana Rodriguez. It was so fun. We stayed in my area. We are both new in the mission and it was so fun to go out together and take on Santa Clarita. We had no citas so we just contacted all day! We ended up with 61 conversations. Which is CRAZY for our area and for one day. We were so excited and it was something that Hermana Rodriguez really needed. She told me that she feels like she really can be a missionary when her trainer goes home next week and lead her area. Yay!

Yesterday was stake conference and we had such great speakers. President and Sister Hall spoke and the temple president and his wife spoke. What a great stake to be in right? I just wanted to share a few things I learned with you guys.

-Our commitment to God is more important than any other commitment we have made

-We may be a full time missionary for only 18 months or 2 years, but our mission here on earth is for a lifetime

-Sister Hall challenged everyone to "Delete what you need to delete and add what you need to add to be a disciple of Christ online."

-We need to go to the Temple. Living the covenants made in the temple and applying the atonement is the only way to God's presence and exaltation

-We need to hasten the work by 1) personal conversion 2) sharing the gospel and 3) sanctifying families through temple worship, including Family History work. Our stake president challenged everyone to find and prepare a name to take to the temple by Christmas.

And I want to challenge everyone to share what you know everywhere you go. The simplest way to do that is just by saying hello to people! I think Lehi sums it up pretty well in 2 Nephi 2:8 "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah."

Oh how great the importance. I truly have a testimony of missionary work. Go and do! I am so grateful for the happiness of the gospel in my life and for the opportunity I have to share that happiness with others everyday.

con mucho carino,

Hermana Buxton

 Thanks for the Halloween package!  We loved the cookies!  They were so fancy!

Last night we had platanos fritos y frijoles y crema...fried bananas dipped in beans with cream. My stomach still hurts. Speaking of stomach... the member said that he is feeding us stomach next week. Pray for me..haha

Week 16: Stop, Drop and Roll!

Hello from sunny California! :)

How is everyone this week? I hope you all are doing well. Thanks for all the support and love from all my family and friends!! It means a lot and really has been making this experience special.

This week in the Chavez/Corona home: Well, their house caught on fire! I know. It was scary! Actually, Rebecca was the one playing with fire. So lesson to all parents or future parents out there: keep all fire making tools away from your children! Luckily everyone is okay. They were sleeping outside in a tent because of the smoke in their house. The fire started in the kids' room and ruined their closet and beds (meaning no clothes or shoes- all burned and melted together.) The smoke made everything black. We went over to help clean the house and repaint. I think I smelled like smoke for a long long time after! I feel so bad for them. As a missionary you have limited resources to help and you always wish you could do more than you can. But on the bright side, Gregory Chavez and Luis Corona were able to receive the priesthood this week and they passed the sacrament! It was so awesome to see that. Hermana Chavez teared up and told us thanks for coming to find them. She loved seeing her son in the gospel again. Peter and Rebecca are so excited for their baptism. Right now we have a date of November 8th. And Angel Corona just turned 8 and wants to be baptized with Peter and Rebecca so we are super excited! We have been working with these two families since we first got here and they have progressed so much in the gospel. Hermano Corona (who at first was so against coming back to church and laughed at everyone else who said they would) is taking all the seminary aged children to seminary in the morning every day! Now that is dedication. I'm telling you, they are pretty wonderful families! I hope they continue to increase their faith, day by day and week by week.

A calendar marking their baptism!

Jose and Jesus! The came to church yesterday! Woohoo! Jose told us in our last lesson that he knows the Book of Mormon is true. He even shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon with his friend! He told us he knows it is the word of God and the spirit has confirmed it to him. He loves the book of Mormon! He also told us  "if the book of Mormon is true, then how many other books of scripture are out there that God hasn't revealed yet? Right here in the book it says Nephi had a vision of Christ visiting other nations. So there is more scripture right?" He is reading everyday and his testimony is growing every time. We asked him if he has been praying to know if he should be baptized again. He said he was thinking and praying about it and he kept telling himself, "Jose, you know the answer. You already were baptized and promised to follow Christ. You don't need to be baptized again." He said normally when he answers his own question he stops thinking about it. But the question of baptism has been on his mind so much and he can't get rid of it. "I don't know why, maybe God is trying to tell me something." He still says he doesn't have an answer, and we are patiently trying to help him understand his answers to his prayers.

Marili, Yousely, and Rosie are doing well. They are having a hard time because they have all said they know the gospel is true and want to come to church, but their older sister won't take them. She takes them somewhere else on Sundays. We are trying hard to find a way to help them come to church!

And the Soto Family. :) We love them! We are helping them prepare for baptism. They are all super excited. Especially Valentina. There was a baptism last night and we took them to it. Valentina was so excited about it. "Do I get to wear those white clothes, too?" Today Antonio and Gaby are going to get their marriage certificate so they can be married tomorrow! We are so excited for them. :) You guys are all invited! haha. Gaby said her first public prayer in church this week. She was so nervous but she did great! They already have so many friends at church. Every week we are more and more amazed at how much the Lord has prepared them and is helping them in their conversion.

This week was interviews with President Hall. As sister training leaders, Hermana Francis and I needed to be there all day as members of our zone came to be interviewed. As they waited we did little training sessions on lesson planning. We also had them bring their area books so we could help them get theirs up to date in preparation for the iPads (whenever they come). But our zone was super on top of their area books and they didn't need much updating! It was really fun to be there. President had a meeting with us before and after. He is the best mission president ever. So kind and loving to all of his missionaries. I feel super blessed to be serving in Santa Clarita near him and his family, and to be a sister training leader where I get special training from the president. I already have a super good relationship with him. He is the nicest man ever and we are so lucky to have his spirit and wisdom leading and guiding our mission. We are in some of the best hands!

We also had a combined ward Halloween party with the English Ward. Valentina came with us. It was her very first experience with Halloween (since they just got here in May). We taught her how to say trick or treat! She was so cute in her Halloween costume. She asked us what she was in English and then proudly told everyone she was a Greek princess. She is adorable!

I love you all so much! You guys are the greatest! I know this church is true. I have been studying a lot this week about how God is our loving Heavenly Father. I know he really is! He loves us all and knows us. He will hear and answer your prayers. I also know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He has outreached loving arms to all of us.

I hope you have a wonderful week! Don't forget to pray and read your scriptures. :)

Les amo muchisimo!

Hermana Buxton

Week 15: Grateful to be a Missionary

Mi Querido Familia,

Here in sunny California the work is going on strong. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have the opportunity to share the gospel. Watching others change their lives because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is changing mine. I love being able to serve and teach those around me. Truly the Lord is the master in His vineyard and the work of Salvation is taking place all around us! It is definitely taking place in my little corner of the world. Something that I have really come to know this week is that the gospel changes people one by one. And the Savior's example teaches us to love, serve, and teach one by one, according to their needs, desires, and experiences. Conversion takes place gradually and is different for everyone. But as we continue on the path of conversion our entire life, the atonement will enable us to keep going and endure to the end.

This week so much has happened!

Peter and Rebecca: They are the cutest! We made them little missionary tags and taught them about missionary work. Peter insisted on being called Elder Chavez for the rest of the day.

The Soto Family: Well, it's happening. Antonio and Gaby are getting married! :) We are having a boda! (wedding) It is October 21st and you are all invited in spirit.:) This family amazes me on how much they are willing to do in order to live according to the commandments of God. They are so prepared to be baptized and I know that the gospel will continue to bring their family closer together. They are so excited to be sealed together as an eternal family next year in the Temple. When we told them about this wonderful part of God's plan for our families, they cried and said that this is what they have always wanted. They want to be together forever. Truly “There are many yet on the earth … who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” D&C 132:12. Our job is to find them! I have seen this in the Soto family. Everything comes so easy to them. They have wanted this their whole lives but have not known where to look. It makes me think about how important sharing our simple testimonies with our friends and family is. We can truly change someone's life by being bold enough to share. There is a talk by Elder Uchtdorf that talks about being bold but not overbearing in our missionary efforts. Being overbearing is being bold without love. When I read that, I realized that the only way to be bold and to invite others to come unto Christ is by having love for others. At another lesson with them, Gaby asked us how to pay her tithing. "I know it is a commandment but I don't know how." We told her not to worry we have a whole lesson on it. ;) But their desire to do the right and be good people and go the extra mile it a testimony to me about how true this gospel really is. And how much it blesses our lives and the lives of our families.

Marili, Youcely, Rosie: They got to see a little bit of conference on their phones! They are doing so well and love the gospel and reading the scriptures. Marili brings her Book of Mormon to school with her. I know, so adorable. They told us that they know it is true. :) Marili told us that she was curious to know what religion one of her friends was. When she asked her, she said she was Mormon. Marili said "Oh I have your book right here!" and pulled it out to show her. The Lord places people in our lives and us in theirs to help each other come closer to the Savior.

Gustavo: He is doing great! His fruit in his backyard is ripe now and he always gives us pears and these weird tomato fruits that grow on trees. He loves learning the gospel and he told us that he might get baptized in December. haha. We told him we were going to hold him to it and get him ready.

Also this week I got to go on 2 exchanges with the hermanas in our zone. The first one I went with Hermana Watts. She is so great and I learned so much from her. Especially about working hard. We stayed in my area and so it was fun to lead the lessons with our investigators. I also got to get behind the wheel for the first time here!

The second exchange I went with Hermana Herrera in Sylmar. It was the same area that I went to on my very first exchange. So we got to go see Marco the fruit stand guy again! He gave us the yummiest fresh fruit with limon y chile all over it. :) Hna Herrera is such a good missionary. She taught me so much about being confident in lessons and teaching the people according to their needs. We also got pizza for dinner and ate it outside while practicing rolling our R's. People probably thought we were crazy!

Also another crazy thing: Hollywood likes to film movies and TV shows in Santa Clarita. We see movie sets all the time. However this week we actually got to be on the set of NCIS while they were filming! We watched Special Agent Gibbs say his lines for a part of the episode. We were serving at the senior center and that's where they decided to film! One hour it was a senior center and the next it was a police station. Good ole movie magic! It was super fun.

We also were able to do service at a 5K race this week in Sylmar.  We handed out medals at the end of the race.  It was so fun!

I love you guys so much! Keep sharing the gospel :)

Con amor,

Hermana Buxton

We shopped at Vallarta this week. Which is basically the latino version of Costco. We figure that buying our groceries there will make us more latina right? :)

 Elder Correa's birthday party yesterday! We had a piñata and drew all over the side walk with chalk.

Nuestro Distrito de Santa Clarita!

Week 14: Learning Patience

Hola!

Last Monday night we had street tacos. The owner of the truck took a picture of me and Hermanas Francis, Watts, and Jensen eating our tacos to put on their facebook page. So even though we aren't on social media yet, our name tags are out there for all of Santa Clarita to see. (and the world I suppose)  Now everyone can go to the taco truck that the Mormon missionaries go to. haha. He thought that we were helping him with his business, little did he know he was really helping us to share the gospel. ;)

I finally made it to the Habit...just for dad!  And yes, it was super yummy!

This week we have all been super excited! The iPad minis are in the office and we were going to have training on them this week. But then President Hall emailed us this today: "I have some disappointing news. I received a call from the Missionary Department that they have decided to postpone the rollout of iPads to our mission."  I guess we will have to wait a little longer. :(

This week the Sociedad de Socorro (Relief Society) canned beans and rice for emergency preparedness. It made me laugh because their food storage is so different then ours. I was thinking "Where's all the wheat?" It was fun to learn how to do the whole canning process.

Last Wednesday we had a Sister Trainer Leader Training (phew what a mouthful) and Mission Leadership Council with the mission president. I learned so much from that day. I really need to learn how to be a good missionary and disciple of Christ. I know that through this calling the Lord is slowly helping me to become a better person. It's just like giving a talk on Sunday- the person giving it always benefits more and learns more from the experience. I've decided that's how it is with callings as well. I'm learning so much more from my hermanas than they are from me. And I am learning so much from the Lord, so that I can learn how to turn my weaknesses over to him, so that he can make them strengths.

This week we put a big poster up in Val Verde advertising our Clase de Ingles. We got a call from an older lady asking us to teach her. She works during the times we teach our class, so we just decided to teach her separate as part of our community service hours. She is so hilarious and crazy! Her name is Angie. She really wants to learn English so she can talk to her grandkids. She also told us that she learned how to read and write on her own because she didn't have the opportunity in Mexico. She is so cool.

This last Friday we had Zone Training Meeting. It was pretty nerve racking to teach our zone with the zone leaders. But it turned out pretty good! We talked about preparing for conference and we hopefully inspired everyone to get out and find new investigators to teach! :)

The Hermanas at Zone Conference...minus two who had to leave.

General Conference was so good...as always! I love listening to the speakers and to the spirit. Our mission president's wife, Sister Hall, challenged us to go into conference with a question. And to really apply Moroni's promise. Because it is really our Heavenly Father's promise to us. If we ask sincere questions with a humble heart, we will receive answers from him or he reconfirms truths we already know. I really took this to heart and thought of 14 questions. I know. I'm crazy ;) But truly every question was answered. The main one I had was "How do I guide my life by a living prophet?" Well that one was definitely answered! 'Prophets' was such a big theme in conference. God calls them and we sustain them, even when it is not popular. But his prophets will never lead us astray. I know that to be true! When we stand behind the prophet and declare the truths he tells us, we will always be blessed and always stand in the right.

We had 7 investigators come to conference this week! :) Jose and Jesus came to the Sunday morning session. It was so great and Heavenly Father truly knows their needs and desires! They love the message of the restoration and to hear apostles of God testify of it and of Joseph Smith as a prophet was such a confirming testimony to them. We are excited to hear more of their thoughts later!  :) Oh and as a sidenote.. we were teaching them this week and guess what crazy thing happened? Jesus was telling us about this movie called the testaments that he watched. He talks about bible movies all the time so we were just going along with it. Then he said "I liked the part where Jesus came from the sky and appeared on a pyramid." And we were like.. wait a second. The Testaments?? About the Book of Mormon? He said yes..he has seen it 4 times! But he didn't realize what book it was until this week. Apparently they had bought it at a yard sale a year ago or so. Hermana Francis and I were speechless. I said, "Do you understand how much Heavenly Father has prepared you to hear this message? He loves you guys and knows that you are ready to know about the restored church!" It was so crazy. Heavenly Father is truly in every aspect of our lives!

We also had Gustavo come to the Sunday afternoon session. We haven't been able to see him in about 3 weeks because of his daughter's wedding in Colorado. But he remembered to come to conference which was so cute and says a lot about him. He came in his work boots and jeans and was so embarrassed. He kept saying sorry that he came straight from work. But he just really wanted to hear the prophet. :)

The Soto family also came Sunday afternoon. Valentina wore this pretty sparkly dress that we helped her pick out. "I need to look pretty for conference!" They are all doing super well. I love them so much. Valentina jumps up and down every time we come over and has the biggest smile on her face when we talk about baptism. She even brings it up sometimes! "Wait how many more days till I get baptized?" So cute. Hopefully we can still be on track for November 2nd because they all want to be baptized. (Except for the older daughter. She doesn't want to listen to our lessons.) But pray for their family because we want them to all be happy together. 

Peter and Rebekah no longer have a baptismal date. Their dad doesn't feel like he can baptize them yet. So we are super sad and the kids are even sadder. But we are going to keep stopping by and teaching them! Hopefully they will be able to get baptized next month!

Elder Lindford set up his slack line for our zone activity.  It was so much fun!

 Hermana Jensen and I had to do some yoga on the slack line in honor of our MTC experience together!

I love you all so much. Thanks for your prayers, emails, letters, and packages. They mean the world! I have the best family and friends ever! You guys are the best. :)

OH! And enjoy Meet the Mormons this weekend! Don't forget to go watch it! :)

This is our mission at the preview showing of Meet the Mormons!  I'm three rows back on the right side in the red shirt.

Love,

Hermana Buxton