Week 11: Trust God and Believe in Good Things to Come

This week has been really awesome! It was a full week and it made us so exhausted. But being busy in missionary work is good!

On Monday, Jorge texted us and told us that he had to move back to Oregon for his job. :( In his text he told us he wanted the "amazing hermanas to come bless me with a prayer before I leave." We were at another appointment but we got there right as he was pulling out of his driveway. We were able to give him a Book of Mormon with our testimonies in it and he promised to read it. He told us that our message had changed his life and he wants to keep learning. So the Oregon missionaries are about to get a SUPER awesome referral from us!

We did a ton of community service this week. We are supposed to try to do 10 hours every week. We worked with "Help the Children." They do a lot of good for the Santa Clarita Community. We helped sort through donated food and put them in boxes for families in the area. It was really fun and half of our district were able to go! We have gone twice now and they always love having those "Mormon young people" there to help.

We also volunteered at the Santa Clarita Senior Center with Hermanas Jensen and Watts. We served them food and it was so fun! They are all so cute and crazy. One old guy said, "You Mormons are here too?? I can't escape!" hahaha. A lady asked me about who sent me on a mission. I said, "Well Heavenly Father did!" Her face lit up and she said, "I knew God loved us still! He sent missionaries to Santa Clarita. That proves it!" She asked me how old I was. "Almost twenty." "Oh to be young and twenty again! Hunny you love being twenty for me okay?" All of the seniors who speak Spanish think it is so funny that we speak Spanish as twenty year old white kids.

We also served at the Veteran's Center this week on 9/11. It was so fun, but sooo hot. We painted the fence, laid sod down, and planted new plants in the flower beds. I loved serving there because it reminded me of my wonderful family! I kept telling Hermana Francis, "My family would LOVE this. They would love helping out like this." I also found the Air Force flag to take a picture just for dad!

I love teaching Marily (15), Youcely (13), and Rosie (11) so much. They are such special girls. They love learning about the gospel so much. Rosie was practically jumping up and down at our last lesson. "I think I finally get how to pray right. Can I please show you??" She gave the cutest little prayer ever. "Thank you Heavenly Father for my family. Thank you for sending such amazing girls to us to learn more about you. I love them and they are a part of my family always." She made us a bracelet so we could always remember her. When she found out my name was Rachel she said, "Now I want my name to be Rachel!" haha. They all love the Book of Mormon and have started reading it! Rosie made a list of all the words she didn't know so we could explain them to her. As soon as we leave they text us, when can you come back?? We are free tomorrow night! They are so special and we are so excited to keep teaching them. We are teaching the Plan of Salvation tonight and we are so excited because Rosie always asks about living with Heavenly Father before this life.

This is Angel. He is Jorge and Marily's nephew. He is 6 years old. He wanted to give me a hug and when he did, he didn't let go! It was the longest hug ever. He is so adorable. Marily said "He just feels the love whenever you guys are here. He loves you guys." It made my heart melt! I love this family so much. He is adorable. He painted his face blue. :)

Gustavo wants to be baptized! He told us that he has seen the changes in his life and knows that he needs to take a step to show God he is grateful for the knowledge he has given him. He is so cute.

Jesus and Jose have been praying and learning so much. They feel like they need to know more before they make the decision to be baptized and don't really understand why they need to be baptized again.

We also got the coolest referral from the Korean sisters! They are a family from Mexico: Antonio & Gaby and their kids Gaby (16), Antonio (13), and Valentina (7). We taught them the first lesson and they absolutely loved it. Antonio said that he learned more about Heavenly Father from the Joseph Smith experience than anything he had ever heard before. Wow! He is so cool. He told us that in Mexico they had a lot of money: a big house, multiple cars, everything they wanted. But he wasn't happy. In fact, things were bad. They moved here and now live in a little apartment. He told us that he had had so much in his life and he didn't understand why he wasn't happy. He has been looking for something more. "Then the missionaries came to my door and I think that is God's way of telling me that this is it. This is the answer to true happiness." We quickly agreed! Guys I wish you could meet this family. They are sooooo awesome.

We had nine investigators at church this Sunday! Maybe partly because Hermana Francis and I were speaking. :) But regardless we are so grateful for Heavenly Father's hand in the missionary work out here. Thank you so much for your prayers...they really are working miracles!! We even got a call from the assistants who gave us a round of applause. haha  But the real thanks goes to Heavenly Father who has been preparing the hearts of these wonderful people to receive the message of the restored gospel.  After church, the elders told us Antonio got up in priesthood to introduce himself and he said, "Hola, soy Antonio. Estoy aqui para saber si esta iglesia es verdadera." He is so awesome! He was telling everyone that he wanted to know the truth. After church he came up to me and told me "Sorry Hermana. I need to leave fast because I am going to meet with your bishop about how I can change my life." I was completely speechless. This guy is so ready. That night he and his wife texted us this (its translated..): "Gaby and I are very grateful for this new phase in which you have been sent from God. We continue to be amazed of the Spanish of the Hermana that only has two months. You did a really good job and your words touched our hearts. Gaby and I were crying. We felt something beautiful in our hearts. Thank you so much for your great mission. We are looking forward to next Sunday at church. God bless you and please still do your mission. You are both doing great. Thank you again. Cordially, la familia Soto Navarrete." (That was a pretty big confidence booster as missionaries! :)

Our talks yesterday were on missionary work. I talked about how we as members can be better missionaries. 1) Pray for missionary opportunities. 2) Express your love for your friends and serve them. 3) Be an example of the believers.

This week we also had a mission conference with Elder Carlson of the seventy. I got to tell them about how we used to live by their son and daughter-in-law in Del Rio. Sister Carlson was so excited and she texted her son right then. He said, "Yes of course we know Wade and Jodie!" Sister Carlson was like, "Well you aren't lying then!" haha. Here are some things I learned at the conference:

-Our purpose is to invite others to Christ. (Everyone's purpose, whether you wear a name tag or not. And the others includes everyone as well, even your family)

-Never think that the rules don't apply to you anymore.

-Accept and embrace change. Use Adjusting to Missionary life the rest of your life. Elder Carlson said he uses it now as "Adjusting to post military life" It reminding me of you dad. haha.

-Heavenly Father has given us the right tools and direction. So we will always be successful

-Teaching and learning have the same definition: listening and observing

He also told a military story, but most of it went right over my head. I felt like I was being briefed on a combat mission the whole time. I needed dad there to explain half his vocabulary! It just made me think of the hymn "We are all enlisted in the army of God."

The musical trio at the Mission Conference. (Elder Linford, Hermana Francis, and me)

Now that this is the longest email EVER, I just wanted to remind you all how much I love the gospel. It is true and I know Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to share the happiness of the gospel with everyone. The gospel brings us hope in our lives. I wanted to share this quote with you guys from this month's Liahona.

“Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. … My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. … Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. … It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come. … Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Love you guys so much!

Hermana Buxton

Me, Hermanas Francis, Watts, and Jensen after the Mission Conference. Stuck in infamous LA rush hour bumper to bumper traffic.

I made a Greenwood smoothie today. My companion said it was good enough to be on the menu at Jamba. Compliments to Sister Greenwood! :)

Week 10: Pretty Much Famous!

A little boy we talked to on the street gave us flowers and told us we were pretty! Yay for a sister missionary confidence booster from a six year old!

Hey guys! I hope you are all doing well. This week we have had lots of cool experiences.We taught a new investigator on Tuesday! His name is Antonio and he is from Guatemala. He just moved here 3
months ago and he loved the first lesson about the restoration. He understood everything and wants to learn more! We have another cita with him tomorrow.

Our clase de ingles is going really well. It is super cute when the students sing hymns or pray in English.  :)

Our English Class

This week we were walking around Newhall, when a school bus pulled up and dropped off a bunch of kids. All of the sudden we heard "THE MISSIONARIES" and eight kids were hugging us. haha. They are the Corona and Chavez kids. They love us so much and hug us every time they see us. It makes my heart melt and makes me feel pretty famous. We are so glad that they love going to primary and that their parents can see how much they love church. It is really helping in their reactivation. We are teaching two of them, Peter and Rebekah, because they haven't been baptized yet. It is super fun to teach them and it is so different than teaching adults. Last time we went, we talked about prophets and taught them the song "Follow the Prophet." They loved it! And then we got to test our math skills by helping them with their homework. I was having a hard time remembering how to add and multiply different kinds of fruit... haha. Oh the life of missionaries.

Chavez and Corona Family kids. We love them so much! 

This week we knocked on the door of the COOLEST family ever. La familia Nunez. We were able to teach them the first lesson and they loved it. They are all siblings and they are living together while their parents are in Mexico. Their names are Jorge (21), Marily (15), Youseli (13), and Rosie (11). They have other family members that live there too, but they weren't home. They are so awesome. We shared the Joseph Smith experience and Jorge said "Wow. I feel it in my heart. This really happened." Marily told us that God put us in each other's paths for a reason. IT WAS SO AWESOME! And Jorge and Marily came to church on Sunday! They asked us to come to church. Seriously, these guys are the best. Marily loved young womens. We got to go with her. It was so weird to be back in young womens again. Our rama combines with the English ward for primary and the youth programs, so it was also weird to have class in English. haha

Marily and Jorge

Speaking of Church, guess what??? I am now la organista de la rama.... yup! It is so hard! They give me the songs right before the meeting starts, so playing them is really hard. I make lots of mistakes, but I hope that I get better over the next transfer. We also met with Jesus and Jose. They want the church to be true super bad. They feel like they need to learn more before they decide for sure. We had a long talk about reading the scriptures and praying to know if it is true. They promised that they would. Jesus told us that he asked God to lead him on the right path and then we came and started teaching him! We told him that is an answer to his prayers. It was a cool experience. Also, Jesus has ran a marathon before! And he did it with only two weeks of training. He is crazy. But he showed off his medal to us!

We didn't get to meet with Gustavo this week because he got sick, but he did make it to church this week! We have a cita with him tonight! Jose P. was able to come to church too! (This week we had six investigators and two menos activos families at church. The congregation was doubled!). Gustavo is progressing really well and he told us that God answered his prayer and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who restored the true church to the earth. Yay! We are super excited. He also loves the Book of Mormon and reads about 10 chapters every day... yep. He is showing up the missionaries on studying. haha. He tells us he prays for us everyday.

We teach in both Spanish and English. We only teach in English if the investigators want to attend the Spanish branch for the culture, which most of them do.  Most of the people we contact only speak Spanish though, so I get to use it quite a bit. Most of the Spanish speakers live in San Fernando. Santa Clarita is mostly English. I am still learning Spanish pretty quickly though!

And guess what! Elder Carlson from the seventy is coming to do a mission tour Thursday and Friday. All of the Spanish missionaries get to have a conference with him all day Friday. Hermana Francis was asked to sing and I am now accompanying her. AND we were able to find a cello for Elder Linford to play for us! Our musical number is going to be super pretty..."Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

Working on our musical number!

I was able to play the violin this week!

I love you guys so much. I hope you have a wonderful week! I pray for you everyday. Remember to pray and read your scriptures! We had zone conference this week and we talked about how the scriptures are like the Liahona. A compass to guide us through life. In Alma 37:44-45 it says "For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point you a straight course to eternal bliss . . . For just as surely as [the liahona] did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise." I love this promise. If we heed the word of Christ in the scriptures, we will be happy and know that we are on the right path.

Amo el evangelio de Jesucristo muchisimo. Se que esta iglesia es verdadera. Las escrituras contienen la palabra de Dios. Si siguimos las ensananzas en las escrituras seamos felizes! La experiencia de Jose Smith paso, el restauro la iglesia de Jesucristo, y por eso, tenemos la verdad y sabemos el camino derecho. Te amo!

Hermana Buxton

Hermana Jensen, Hermana Watts, Hermana Francis and Hermana Buxton at Zone Conference!

At the pupusaria! It is Salvadorian food. It is so delicious :)

 Eating pupusas for the first time.

Dinner at the park.  The family that was going to feed us got sick, so they gave us food to eat and we had a picnic!

Week 9: Happy Missionaries!

Food given to us by a family in a local ward.  They wanted to make sure we had food to eat!

Hey guys! This week was so fun!

We have been working with two less active families this week. (the Corona's and Chavez's) We sort of invited ourselves over to their houses for dinner. (Hey we don't get a lot of dinners, will you please have us over this week?) It was pretty funny, but they both said yes and we got to meet with their families and invite them back to church. They both said maybe and we didn't think either of them would come. But this Sunday both families came to church! We were so excited!! We have been working hard with them and both of their families are amazing. The kids want to learn more to be able to be baptized so we were just all smiles on Sunday! The Corona's signed up to feed us every week this month. Hermano Corona told us "okay we signed up to feed you so now you have dinners and we don't have to come to church anymore, deal?" But then he laughed and said, "just kidding, we are going to try to come every week." We are some happy missionaries! He told us that he knows the gospel is true. He knows the gospel is perfect, but it is up to us to live it. He wants to make the effort to live it again. It made me think about the little ways in our lives that we can make a little more effort to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Mom, this week for district meeting I made your banana bread! It was a hit. Everyone loved it so much. My favorite comment was from Elder Linford, "It tastes like home." The food that the miembros de la rama makes for us is always so delicious. I have a new love for Hispanic food. I love this area because I get to speak to so many different Spanish speakers from around the world who have different cultures and foods. I think I will get pretty good and picking out different Spanish accents by the end. I can already pick out the people from Guatemala because they talk like you, dad!

Yummy Enchilada's

Missionary work is so exhausting. We have something to do all day everyday. But it is also so amazing. Sometimes I just want to sleep, but I am so grateful for being able to serve Heavenly Father and his children.

I went on my first exchange this week with Hermana Hartt! She took me to Sylmar where there are cowboys who ride their horses to the store or just around town. It is so funny and I thought about Aubrey. Almost every house has a gate here and sometimes it is hard to knock on doors, either because the gate is locked or because they have scary dogs that bite. We came to a house who had a "beware of dog sign." The dog was huge, but it looked pretty friendly. We felt like we should go try to knock on the door, so we just shrugged our shoulders and said okay. The dog was very friendly and loving. When we knocked on the door, the lady was so surprised to see us because apparently her dog is super mean and a biter. We got to share a message with her and it was so cool to see how Heavenly Father prepares ways for you to share the gospel.

I was in Sylmar with Hermana Hartt and there are actual cowboys that ride their horses down the streets. I took some pictures for Aubrey and Grandpa Jones!

There was a baptism this week and we were able to take Jesus to see it! He really liked it and especially loves the hymns we sing. He loves having us over and learning with us. For the baptism Hermana Francis and I gave the missionary moment in Spanish and I was so nervous! We talked about Joseph Smith and his experience praying and seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I was so grateful for the chance I had to bear my testimony of this experience. 

Yesterday we had breakfast with a family from El Salvador and we ate fried bananas dipped in beans and cream. Believe it or not...it was actually really good!

I am so grateful for this time I have to learn more about the Savior and our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful that I get to share the gospel with everyone and see them be happy in their lives! I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church restored through Joseph Smith.

I love you guys and have a wonderful week! As one of our investigators always says "Bendiciones de dios en sus vidas"

Love you all!

Hermana Buxton 

 Taco Truck!

 Cute dog!

I love these guys so much! We started out teaching Jesus. Then his brother Jose joined us, and now their sister Marilyn started meeting with us too! They are so cool! The birthday of Jesus was yesterday and he wanted to make sure to celebrate it with las hermanas. haha. 

Hermana Hartt and I found some donkeys to share the gospel with.

This is Marco, the fruit stand guy! 

Week 8: Beware of the Coyotes

Hey guys! I am so excited that I get to write to you and share all about my week.

 

First of all, we had really good food this week! I learned (sorta) how to make taquitos this week! And how to make this really yummy guacamole. Also, we ate Guatemalan food dad! It was chicken and vegetables with rice in this really yummy sauce. We get to try food from all over here! My favorite part about dinners with the members though, is learning about them and where they came from. They think my Spanish is pretty funny, but I think that it makes them like me more. haha

 

I forgot to tell you last week, but we are also teaching an English class! It is so fun. And believe it or not, I am learning more Spanish from the English class than anywhere else! haha. We have 5 people in our class. All of our class members are not from our church. So it is really fun to sing hymns and teach them how to pray. And as we teach them English they teach us Spanish. :)

 

This week we had a first week follow up conference with President Hall and his wife. They did such a great job. President Hall is such a good speaker and he is really nice. I learned a ton from the meeting...

 

Christ has asked us to follow Him and become "fishers of men." The task isn't sometimes, or only if we feel like it. We need to leave our nets and boats and immediately follow Him. The bible says that the men he called straightway left and followed Him. Also, the call to be a missionary isn't just for those wearing a tag. We need to be missionaries wherever we go. The Savior asked three times to Peter, do you love me more than these fishes? Peter responded yes I love you! But the Savior said "then feed my sheep." We need to put aside things of the world, our "nets", and constantly strive to feed His sheep. We need to be missionaries in our hearts all the time. I love this quote from Elder Holland about how to feed His sheep. "We have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back." (Elder Holland, "The First and Great Commandment").

 

Sister Hall had all of us stand and sing "popcorn popping" from the primary songbook. We sang it and had a lot of fun doing the hand movements with the song. At the end, we sat down and she taught us a great lesson from singing this primary song. She told us that we sang the song wrong! At first I was thinkng, what is she talking about? I have been sing the song since I was little. How could I have sung it wrong? Well, come to find out that we all sing "popcorn popping" when it is supposed to be "blossoms popping" the second time. And here are the lyrics from lds.org to prove it:

 

I looked out the window, and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Spring had brought me such a nice surprise,

Blossoms popping right before my eyes.

I could take an armful and make a treat,

A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet.

It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

 

It was such a simple song that we all had sung the words wrong. Sometimes we think we know all the answers. Or that we don't need to study the scriptures, because we won't learn anything new. This experience taught me that even if we think we know everything, there is always something we can learn and improve on. Always.

 

This week the zone leaders called us and asked us to go help translate at a Marriage and Family Conference. At first I was thinking "Did you mean to call me? Because my 8 weeks of experience doesn't qualify me to translate..." But my companion and I accepted and we went (pretty scared) to the conference. Unfortunately, or luckily, (depending on how you look at it) I didn't have to translate for anyone! But I learned so much there. Elder Garns from the seventy and his wife came to speak at it. It was so good. They talked about how humility is the best attribute to have in any relationship. He related it to the Savior. Christ atoned for our sins and shortcomings. His atonement is the power to save us and enable us to change and become better. Our part of that equation is to be humble. Without humility, we cannot become better and cannot become more like our Savior. When we have humility, we have the power to forgive, change, find happiness and help others find the love of Christ. I wish you could have heard his talk!

 

I sent you the picture of me next to the Greenwood Place sign! Isn't that so cool? I cannot believe how many little things happen here to remind me that Heavenly Father knows us and that he has a plan for us. I know that Heidi has been helping me and I am so grateful for that.

Our investigators right now are so awesome! Here is an update.

 

Gustavo: He is progressing and understanding our message so well. He is having a hard time understanding why he needs to be baptized again, but our last lesson with him we brought a member who testified very strongly about baptism by the right authority. We think he finally got it! And he also has this really cute dog that they call Osito. (little bear). And dad, Gustavo has so many fruit trees in his backyard! You would love it. He has a problem with the birds too. :)

 

Jose and Jesus: They love the book of Mormon so much! They read more than what we left with them as well. They said that if God tells them this is true, they will be baptized. We are so excited for them! They have so much faith. Jose read the testimonies in the front of the Book of Mormon, which inspired me to go back and read those as well. I am so grateful for our investigators, because they teach us so much. Jesus was able to go to church this week! yay! He realy liked it and just kept saying that we learn so much in our church. At the end of the three hours he said "where's our next class." I laughed and said that that was our last one. He was a little sad and told us that church went by really fast. I thought about that a lot, because sometimes I feel like church is so long. I need to come to church ready to learn and absorb everything just like Jesus did. He is super awesome.

 

Some funny things:

We were out contacting in Val Verde one night (which is pretty much the middle of the desert) and we were walking down this dirt road and the people we talked to who were out on a walk said "watch out for the coyotes." We thought they were teasing, but everyone we passed said the same thing...so we decided to hurry back to our car and not take our chances with the coyotes, especially since there were no lights on the road. haha. But you can see the stars so brightly in Val Verde. It is so pretty. Maybe it's a good trade off..stars for coyotes. haha. Also, everyday when we go outside to work out, there is this bird that works out with us. It is hilarious. It does side steps up and down the railing of the stairs. I need to remember to try to get it on video :)

 

We speak a lot in both spanish and english. I think in the long run, I am going to have an easier time switching from english to spanish if I ever need to talk to people later or translate. I will have had so much practice on the mission! Learning spanish is pretty difficult, but I know that Heavenly Father will bless me as I keep trying! Thank you all so much for your prayers, I have felt them so much. And thanks for the letters and the package. :) They made my week so special!

 

I am so grateful that I moved around a lot and learned how to make friends. The transition would have been much harder if I had never moved and never learned how to not be shy. It has helped me so much! The members keep thinking that I have been here for a few months already! And Hermana Francis has helped with that a lot. She is a great trainer and has helped me learn so much already! We are great friends :)

 

I am so grateful for everything the Lord has blessed me with, especially for the knowledge of this gospel. The gospel truly has all the answers and Heavenly Father loves us more than we know. I am so grateful that we are led by a Prophet of God once again. With him, we are kept safe from bad things and he helps us know the path we need to take to return to live with our Heavnly Father again.

 

Te amo muchisimo!

 

Con amor siempre,

 

Hermana Buxton

Week 7: Hola from California!

Wow, this week has been the best week so far! (Well I guess week and a half. Gotta count the last part of the CCM in there as well!) What has happened since my last email... hmm. Seriously so much has been jammed into the last week and a half I hope I remember everything. Well, here we go:

The last few days at the CCM were so fun. It was so sad to say goodbye to my district and my awesome teachers. I am so grateful for everything they taught me. They helped me to have confidence in my Spanish and how to help and teach people. They were wonderful examples of good missionaries! I hope I can apply all the many things I learned in the CCM to real missionary life. I also asked one of the Elders in my district, Elder Webster, for a priesthood blessing for my foot. He blessed me that I would be able to do all the things the Lord asks me to do without any pain. As soon as I got into the field, all pain in my foot was completely gone. Priesthood blessings are so amazing and I am so grateful for them!

My district at the CCM

We left the CCM at 2:00 in the morning. It was a long day of traveling. I had many conversations with people in the airport and on the planes about our church. They would say things like "I have seen people like you before." or "You are giving up school and work and choosing to be away from your family for a year and a half??" When someone told me that, I realized how crazy it is to people that we as missionaries would give up these things to serve the Lord. And it is a little hard! But I know with all my heart that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and I want to share that with everyone. That is why I have chosen to put my life on hold and serve the Lord. Because He needs our help to share the gospel with all of our brothers and sisters.

When we arrived in Burbank, our mission president,  President Hall and his Spanish assistants (who are actually also in my district), Elders Neff and Hoyt, came to pick us up from the airport. We drove to the closest church building where we packed a night bag because transfers weren't until the next day. They fed us lunch and gave us newbies a little orientation. I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep after such a long day. But then some missionaries came to get all of us to go out and talk to people on the street! I went with Hermana Allen. She was so awesome and helped me know what to do. We talked to many people in Spanish and English. We met this really cool guy named Alex who was really interested and were able to teach him the first lesson on the side of the road! We also gave him a Book of Mormon. He told us that he believes that God put us in his path for a reason, because he doesn't usually come home that way. He said how grateful he was to meet us. We told him we would send the missionaries in the area to come teach him more. It was so cool! Heavenly Father prepares people to hear our message in such awesome ways. That night we stayed with the Sister Trainer Leaders. President Hall let us go to bed early and get up late, so we were very refreshed in the morning and I am so grateful for that.

So transfer meeting! We sang called to serve in English and it was so weird! I kept accidentally starting in Spanish. haha. My trainer's name is Hermana Francis. She is from Utah and has been out for a little over a year. She is super experienced and knows Spanish so well. She is amazing! Our area is the biggest in the whole mission! We are in Santa Clarita and in Rama 1. Our area covers Castaic, Val Verde, Valencia, and New Hall. We have a red car and her name is Ruby. haha. Everyone wants to drive her because she has a USB port for music. Our apartment is so awesome because we have our own washer and dryer and don't have to pay for laundry. I guess it's one of two places that has its own, so I am pretty lucky!

Now for two cool stories about my companion and area. Back in the first week of the CCM I had an impression to pray for my trainer. I obviously didn't know her at the time, but Heavenly Father did. And I asked you guys to pray for her too (thank you so much for doing that by the way. My family is so awesome :) Anyway, when I got here and met my companion, and saw just how amazing she was, I decided to tell her. I told her that my family and I had been praying the last few weeks for her and I am so grateful for prayer! I know Heavenly Father answered my prayer, because I have THE BEST trainer in the mission. Hna Francis teared up and told me that something changed in her mission the last month. She told me that she had not had any success the first year in her mission. Then last month she met this cute family from El Salvador, taught them, and was able to see them be baptized. She loves this family so much! And she is so grateful for your prayers! She knows that your prayers helped that miracle happen. Isn't that so awesome? Prayer is amazing and works so many miracles. Okay and the story about the area. When president Hall told us what our area was, I had this feeling that it was where I was supposed to be. I didn't know the area very well, so I didn't know where we would be exactly. I came to find out that Six Flags Magic Mountain was in my area. Heavenly Father really is there and he really know us. Being here, where Heidi and I came on our last trip together before she passed away, has made me so happy. I feel so close to her here. I am so grateful to look around and know that we have such happy memories here! President hall had no idea that I needed to be in this area, but he was inspired of God to put me here. It is so amazing to me. I love the gospel so much! Miracles are real.

I love this area already. It is so beautiful. I am in the north valley, so it is a lot nicer place to live in. Hermana Francis is new to this area as well so we are learning together! Our district is all of the Spanish speaking missionaries in the Santa Clarita Valley. There are 10 of us. So most of the missionaries are in San Fernando. But I am excited to work with this area! And Hermana Jensen (my companion from the CCM) is in our district! I am so excited. I love her so much and she is such an awesome missionary. She and her companion are the bike sisters in our district.

The Beautiful San Clarita Valley

 

The San Clarita Valley District

We found 2 new investigators this week! Jorge and his brother Jose. We have taught them about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith and about the Book of Mormon so far. The both were so excited to read the Book of Mormon. They asked us to share our favorite scriptures with them. I shared Ether 12:27 and Jose loved it! He said he was so grateful that we gave him the book! And he has already started reading from it. They are both such amazing people. We have done lots of contacting and sharing the gospel this week. We also have been trying to visit members and menos inactivos and get to know them.

I love my mission so much so far! I am so glad I decided to come. This week was my first Sunday at church all in Spanish. My head was spinning! But I am so excited to learn this language. It is going to be hard, but I know I will be able to do it with the Lord's help. Just like in Ether 12:27, he will make my weak Spanish strong!

Last night when we were contacting we met this cute family with 2 little boys. Their family was interested in our message and so we are going to go back this week sometime to talk to them. Their 5 or 6 year old son picked us flowers and game them to us. We kept calling him "coquete" (flirty) and the family thought it was so funny that we speak Spanish. They were surprised I had only been learning for 6 weeks! So that made me feel really good. :)

I love you so much. I pray for you guys everyday. Aubrey I hope you have a great time starting school and seminary! And congratulations on finishing Personal Progress. I am so proud of you :) That is a huge accomplishment. And you are so smart. I loved all the shark analogies relating to the gospel :) like, you may not die from the bite, but it can leave emotional and physical scars, don't try attracting the sharks (bad influences), when you go into the ocean (world) go to the places you know are safe and stay away from shark infested waters. I am going to use those when I teach some time!

 The Library where we email from.

I forgot to take pictures this week, so I will send some next week.  I hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Hermana Buxton

Week 6: Safe in California!

This isn't a letter from Rachel, but instead a letter from her mission president's wife, Sister Hall.  We were able to talk to Rachel on the phone for about five minutes yesterday during her layover in Phoenix.  She is doing great and is excited to get to California.  I asked her what she was going to miss the most about the CCM and she said her newly found third cousin, Hermana Burnham.  They became good friends in the CCM and she said it was sad saying goodbye. We will hopefully get a snail mail letter from her later this week, but we won't get another email until Monday.

Rachel's CCM district {picture sent to us by Senior Missionaries at the CCM}

From Sister Hall:

It’s my favorite day—New Missionary Day!  We welcomed 20 missionaries today, English, Spanish and Korean!  We are so thrilled to have them here.

You can get a feel for Day 1:  From Sister Hall's Blog (this is a general overview for all missionaries arriving in the San Fernanado Mission.

Day 1, Part 1:  Bob Hope Burbank Airport 

The Delta flight from Salt Lake City arrives around 12:15 p.m.  El Presidente and the Assistants and I are there waiting.  Burbank is a small airport, which we are very grateful for, and we stand out from the regular flying public.  Ken gets asked a lot of questions about the airport since he looks so official.  We spend the wait time reviewing the hows and wheres and whats of the logistics of getting 25 people and luggage sorted and picked up.  We wish that Burbank would consider installing chairs to wait in (it is a small airport). 

Finally the plane lands and people begin to come out through security.  The missionaries will be last--they always are last.  Partly because they are polite and let the others off first, partly because someone will need to use the bathroom so they will all wait, but mainly because they are terrified and once they walk through that gate they are really here. Often other passengers will let us know they are coming.  "There's a whole bunch of people in nametags on their way."  If there are members on the flight they always let us know that the new group looks good. 

We greet them, shake hands/hug as appropriate and begin to gather the luggage.  Since they have stalled as long as possible getting out, the luggage comes quite quickly.  Elder C, half of the amazing Elder and Sister C team, meets us at the curb with the king-cab pickup and a trailer for the luggage.  Other senior missionaries (as necessary) are there for transport and we get everyone in a seatbelt and head off to the North Hollywood Stake Center.

At this point the new missionaries are still nervously chattering with each other, some trying to ask questions, some in awe of the weather and palm trees and some are really, really quiet.  I think I would be one of the quiet ones.  (Rita, stop laughing)

Part 2:  North Hollywood Stake Center

The stake center is only about 10 minutes from the airport.  Waiting for us there are the awesome Elder and Sister J and awesome Sister C.  They have come with food.  Pizza and pudding cups!  There are some administrative things that simply must be done on day one, and so while eating their pizza they watch a safety video, turn in/fill out/lose paperwork all while looking like deer in the headlights.  I always feel so nervous for them because no matter who you are or how prepared you start, this is nerve-wracking.

After lunch?  Miracles.  Seriously.  It's on the schedule.  We schedule miracles and the Lord, in His infinite mercy, blesses those new missionaries with miracles.  Meeting us at the stake center are some of our very best Elders and Sisters and for an hour and a half, our brand new missionaries will have a temporary companion and they go out into North Hollywood and find people to teach.  And they do!  They are scared and don't know what to say and don't really speak Spanish yet, but they find people to teach! 

And that changes everything.

The hardest part of missionary work is starting.  It is opening your mouth that first time and asking a complete stranger if they would like to learn of Jesus Christ.  It is learning that you can do this. 

Part 3:  Mission Home

Between finding and paperwork/training, President is interviewing each new missionary.  He needs to briefly get to know them and receive inspriration on who their training companion should be.  This is getting trickier since the groups are getting larger.  Sometimes the interviews go through and after dinner.  He has already reviewed their application and knows a bit about them, but it is nice to meet them in person. 

I leave North Hollywood before any of the real action takes place--I have to get kids from school and make sure I haven't burned down the mission home cooking dinner for a billion people.  One nice thing about cooking for new missionaries is that they have just come from the MTC and so they think I'm an amazing cook.  I'm really not.  It's just Mexican pulled pork and Suzanne's super salsa.  But it is food and there are actual couches to sit on and so life is good.

There is a difference in their faces from lunch to dinner.  There didn't used to be.  We just started the proselyting in the first hours of landing a few transfers ago.  Before it was all administrative and there was only tiredness.  Now, they are missionaries--still nervous but not terrified.  It is a miracle.

We send them off to their temporary beds (no one stays here--we have a teenage boy so no sisters can stay and a teenage girl so no elders).  They are exhausted.  Utah to California isn't a long flight, but emotionally it is a long day.

Day 2:  Transfer Day

This is the great a dreadful day.  Great because you finally meet your companion.  That's why it is dreadful, too.  It is a scary thing to be assigned to some stranger to live with 24/7.  You don't even live with your family 24/7.  Now you will always be within sight and hearing of this person.  You will be a part of every conversation, every phone call, every text message.  There is no escape except the bathroom.  It is a hard adjustment.

President Hall meets with the trainers for 90 minutes before the Transfer Meeting.  The Assistants and I meet with the New Missionaries.  By the way, they are New Missionaries, not Greenies.  President Eyring personally instructed us when he extended the call that we were never to call a new missionary a greenie (also it is in the handbook under not using slang).  So we don't.  In fact, when you come to visit us we will ask you not to do it either.  I think one reason Presdient Eyring mentioned that to us is because these new missionaries have the same power and authority to teach--they just are new, and we need to respect that.

I have no idea what the trainers learn besides Follow the 12 Week Program.  The Assistants teach about companionship study and I teach about being anxiously engaged (anxiety).

Finally, finally! It is time for the Transfer Meeting.

Transfer Meeting

Everyone who is getting a new companion comes to the transfer meeting.  Some will be training, but most are part of a companionship where one, or both, are being transferred (no, we don't say whitewashed, either).  It is often over half of the mission.  As the new missionaries come in, everyone is standing and singing Called to Serve.  It is really a good welcome to the mission.  The new missionaries briefly introduce themselves (I'm Sister Smith from Palmyra, New York) (No, we don't have a Sister Smith from Palmyra, but wouldn't that be awesome?!)

President Hall then starts in with the actual business of transferring.  "In the Canoga Park Zone, Elder A will be transferring out and Elder B will be transferring in, etc."  It takes a while to go through it all but it is fascinating to watch.  Hope, joy, sadness and terror--all in one meeting!

The unspoken odd thing is the names that don't get called, but rather get said good-bye to. Those who have finished their missions are now sitting, companionless but together.  It always makes me sad and happy to see them as they say goodbye to not only their companions, but to the mission.  They will have going-home-training, dinner and testimony meeting with us later in the day, but for now they have the bittersweet task of helping others on their way.

After the meeting everyone heads out.  Well, the new missionaries and their trainers have to get yet another picture taken to mark the historic day.  But then they all grab their two suitcases and one side bag and off they go with a new companion and/or a new area to good deeds (note to mothers everywhere, your missionary really is limited in what they can haul around--keep that in mind before sending the giant packages).

We'll see the new missionaries and their trainers in a week for some training they might actually remember and to see how they are doing.  By that time they will look even more different.  And by the six-week follow-up they will be indistinguishable from the trainers--they all will look like what they are: Missionaries.

One thing that has changed is they arrive from Utah much earlier now and we also have missionaries arriving from the CCM in Mexico.  This means that nobody slept much (or at all) last night.  Fortunately, with the earlier arrivals we can get them to bed early.  Tomorrow is the Transfer Meeting and they will be assigned their companion for at least the next 12 weeks. 

Preparation day (also known as Email day)  is Monday, but they did have a chance to handwrite a letter today.  When you write your missionary please help them to focus on their purpose of inviting people to Christ.  It’s always fun to hear about home, but what helps missionaries is knowing that you think what they are doing is important.  So share how your scripture study is going, what have you learned this week about the gospel, how you are busy telling everyone, “my child is on a mission!” and explaining what that means.  

We love your missionary.  We are so glad to serve with this new group.  The Great California San Fernando Mission is the place to be!

Love,

Sister Dianna Hall

Week 5: A giant moth and a dog on the roof!

¡Hola mi familia!

Well this week has been a crazy week for our zone. There have been three injuries in our zone. The first one: It rains a lot here and it comes out of nowhere. An Elder was running from the Comedor to our classroom building because he forgot his umbrella. The floors of every building here are tiled. So he was running and hit the tile and slipped. He knocked his front teeth out and broke his nose. Second injury: A girl in our zone strained ligaments in both her knees from praying on the hard tile so much. She had to be in a wheel chair for a few days. Everyone thought it was pretty funny that she injured herself from praying! And then there's me, the third injury. Yup. I always seem to be getting hurt. The roads here are really uneven and cracked. I rolled my ankle running during gym. It wasn't too bad so I didn't do anything about it and then yesterday I couldn't even hardly walk. I went to the doctor on campus who put me on crutches (not fun) and told me that he wanted to get x-rays of my foot. So, we got to go out of the CCM walls into crazy Mexico City once again! (Which was really fun!) 

Pictures from our drive to the doctor:

The wall outside the CCM

The Stake Center

On the road

A dog on the roof (Jack's brother)

The moat around the CCM
It looks like my foot is fine, but the doctor is going to get a second opinion. I'll hear back from him soon. But pray for my foot :) I can't be a good missionary if I can't walk around when I get to California! 

My new cool medical sock!

So now for the craziest story of the week. On saturday morning my companions and I walked over to another district's classroom across from ours. When we got there, all the Elders were whispering and acting really weird. When we asked them what was going on, they pointed to the coat rack and said there is a giant moth over there. We turned and looked and saw this huge moth, bigger than my hand on the coat of one of the hermanas. We all started laughing. "Very funny guys." and "It's not very nice to try to scare everyone with a fake moth!" It literally looked like a halloween decoration. They kept saying no it's real! But of course we didn't believe them because how in the world could a moth be that huge? So Hermana Eastin went to TOUCH IT to prove that it was fake. The whole time she was walking over there the Elders kept saying "Stop!" over and over. But she touched it anyway and it started flying around the room. I am pretty sure the Elders screamed louder than us and they hid under their desks! It was so freaky. And after it decided to stop flying around terrifying all these poor missionaries, it decided to land on hna E! Oh my goodness this moth was so freaky. 

Hermana Eastin and the huge moth!

This week was a little hard. Sometimes classes are hard to understand. One of the workers here named Claudia came up to us out of the blue. She dosen't speak any english so her words were all in spanish. But she told us that she felt like she needed to tell us that we only get to have one mission and that we should always be happy! She told us that in Mexico they have a saying of "desahorgarse" She then pushed her hands away from her and made a whooshing sound. We didn't understand completely what she meant, but when we asked our teacher he told us it sort of meant let it go. Which of course just reminded me of Frozen and I had the song stuck in my head the rest of the day!

On sunday night we watched the Testaments. I think it is my favorite church movie. My favorite part is the end, when Christ calls Helem by name and heals him. It made me think that Christ knows me by name and knows me personally. (And all of you). It also made me think how Christ is the great healer, and can heal us of anything. Whether it be a physical ailment or spiritual. Even things like impatience, sadness, or anger. I am so grateful that our Savior knows us and will help us with anything!

 A beautiful sunset 

For our Tuesday devotional, our branch was the choir and we sang "juventud de israel." It was really powerful and it was an amazing experience. Our speaker was an area seventy. His name was super cool! Elder Netsahualcoytl Slinas. His first name is aztec and means fasting. I thought it was a cool name. My favorite part from his talk was "Don't waste any minute, any second, to testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ." I love this part because the message that Christ lives and loves us is the most important one we bring to others.

I was able to find Elder Alley! It was fun to see him and talk about Del Rio! He is a good missionary and a really nice guy. It ended up being that we were in the same zone the whole time. His parents told him to find me too. Lauren Norris' little brother is coming to the CCM next week I guess! Too bad I won't be here to say Hi to him as well! 

Hermana Buxton and Elder Alley

Also, a shout out to the Murphy's! I got a letter from them in the mail this week! Thanks guys. I love your family so much. And Megan, you make me laugh so hard. Good luck with your folk dancing this semester!

I am starting to get really excited to go to San Fernando this Monday! I can't believe I have almost made it thought the six weeks here. Time seems to go by fast and slow all at the same time. I am excited to talk to you guys on the phone at the airport! So make sure your phones are by you at all times on Monday. :) 

My Branch  at the CCM

I love you guys so much! I know Heavenly Father is watching over you. I have a strong testimony that God loves us and knows each and every one of us. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers and that He will answer your questions. I am grateful for my Savior, and I know he is the Savior of the world. 

I love you all! 

Con amor siempre y para siempre,

Hermana Buxton

PS The cookies came today!  Thanks! :) You guys made my day! My district loves you.  haha