Monday, April 8, 2013

hi :)

i enjoyed your email. made me laugh out loud a couple of times :) my nephews are so cute! thank you for the fun updates and the silly stories.

i have been thinking a lot and i think i don’t want you to tell me if any of the pets die. i just don’t want to think about that while i am out here. thank you :)

did i thank you for the st. patties package? well thank you ver much :) that was a very cute package and i really enjoy the contents! those alligator socks are wonderful! they look nice on my feet and also in my drawer with my animal print socks and my sweater tights.

the easter package is also a delight! we love the m&ms and all that. the silly putty was an answer to a prayer i hadn’t actually said yet; sometimes there are kids in lessons that just need to be distracted or played with. i take play dough when i know we will need it but sometimes i just don’t know ahead of time. and the thing of play dough is just too big to be in my purse all the time just in case. but the little egg of silly putty is great! so thank you very much!

the belt is also cute! i wore it with my black dress the other day and it looked great. good find bob :)

so. being a trainer. its great :) i really have enjoyed it. it hasn’t been nearly as stressful as i thought. plus s. berg is great. i was definitely worried when i heard she went to byu. but no worries on that one :) she wears her byu shirt around our quarters, but other than that, she is a gem.

so for training we have a program that takes 12 weeks to complete. we have been instructed to complete it in 6. by the end of the training program, you are supposed to be ready to train if needs be. so yes. there is a chance that one or both of us will be training after 6 weeks. It’s crazy. we do a lot of studying. last i heard (which was 2 or 3 weeks ago) we have 10 more sisters coming out next transfer and 19 the transfer after that. crazy! our mission is going from 16 sisters to 52 in less than.. 4 months! we are in the middle of it now. sure is fun!

so last monday night we got a call telling me that i was expected to be at the missionary leadership training meeting the next day. i had never heard of such a meeting. apparently it’s for leadership (who would have guessed?) . sisters don't have leadership positions. why then, do you ask, was i there? well. straighten up your tie and comb your hair because you are reading a letter from the soon to be first sister assistant to the president this world has ever seen!

haha :)

just kidding. but i was asked to come to the meeting. i guess they are going to assign some leadership positions to sisters soon. they just asked me to go because i live close to the church that they were having the meeting at. but it was fun. i enjoyed being there. i had to demonstrate to everyone how they should tell a missionary of the opposite gender if they are crossing the line or something. it was so funny. one elder referred to the surge of sisters as a pandemic and one of the sisters immediately rebuked him in front of everyone and told him that that was offensive. hahahaha :) so funny :)

the meeting was fun, but i was just worried about my poor companion! she was left to be senior companion with a sister that came out at the same time she did! plus our gps broke!~ gah! that poor sister. she was a little bit of a lost puppy that day. but they taught 2 lessons while i was in the meeting! hooray!

something cool happened last night! we went to teach a less active; sister constantine. she is old and bitter because she has had a really tough life. she converted in the 90's ( i think) and fell away i dont know how long ago. i dont know many details, but apparently it is a miracle that we are even teaching her. at the beginning of our lesson last night she said 'there was another young sister who came that insisted that there was a man who saw god and another guy... i just sincerely believe that no one has ever seen god!' we were a bit nervous because we realized she was talking about joseph smith, and we were planning on teaching the restoration. but we asked some inspired (inspired indeed!) questions. then we taught the lesson of the restoration. by the end, the spirit was strong, she said it all made sense, and she had a renewed respect for the book of mormon and also a desire to read it. amazing miracle!

i did get to watch conference and i really really loved it. it was too bad that i couldn’t crochet on the couch but it was a very wonderful time. our only rules for conference were that we could only watch it at the church. i sure loved it:) it seemed to be all about family! it reminded me of.. you! get it? because you are my family. :) i can’t wait to get the ensign so i can read through the talks again!

hey do you think you could do me a huge favor? i am wondering if you could send me a little family tree of some sort. i dont need much. maybe just a paper i can fold up and put in my scriptures so i can show people every so often. i have a new found love for family history. i am sending a really cool story to the g parents this week. you will have to convince them to let you read it or something.

well i am going to be off now! i love you very  much family! i am so blessed to have been raised by you bob and dad!

i love you!

love,

sister lani buxton

Monday, April 1, 2013

hello!

yes yes it’s all true its soo true. i am training. but get this get this. there are 3 sisters that came out 5 weeks ago that are also training! can you believe that?! man. that would be so crazy to train that fast. so anyway. the sister i am training is named sister lindsey berg. she is really great :) i lucked out big time with this because this sister is cool! she has gotten used to the missionary lifestyle really fast and she is just very chill and willing to work. i really like her.

training is fun though :) you must have been praying for me :) i haven’t freaked out and i am getting just as much sleep as i was when i was a jr. comp. so this is good :)

yes yes jackie DID get baptized! oh it is so exciting :) i love that girl. her mom is letting us teach her, now we just have to do it! haha sometimes it is easier said than done. it would be great if her whole fam got baptized. i am sure they will. i just dont know when that would be. it might have to be plenty of time after i have left, but hey! i will accept a miracle if it comes my way.

bob francis, the born again christian. sigh.. we talked to him on the phone and he cancelled the appointment. he is just stuck right now. he is very worried about rocking the boat right now with his wife and all that. i think he wants to take steps in the direction of the lds church, but he is just scared. when he cancelled the appointment he thanked us for coming and he said he really enjoyed it. but then he kept saying  "i cant.... i.. i just.. i cant.." over and over. it was really heart breaking. but the good news is that he met a member of the church with not just similarities, it was like they were the same person! man it was amazing. so we will make sure he still has connections with the church and all that. and we will visit him again eventually. that guy sure is great.

so the r.s. activity. it was a celebration of the r.s. birthday. so the theme was birthday and also polka-dots. the invites, decorations, etc.. polka-dots. in the cultural hall is where the actual party took place. we had dinner and dessert and all that. on the wall they put butcher paper like 6 feet high and like... 15 feet across with a bow so that it looked like a big present. then we all thought of something we would be willing to do for someone else (iron some clothes, make spaghetti, paint nails, pick out your lice.." and we all wrote what it was and our contact info on our own individual polka-dot that was like.. 6 inches in diameter. they then decorated the present with the polka-dots of service. everyone that gave a dot got to then at the end, pick a dot. i gave "family home evening to your non member friend" (hahaha :) and i picked "sewing alterations and repair" so that worked out pretty well.

s caffall was wearing my skirt when it ripped. i dont really know how it happened. i think it got caught on a door or something but really i just dont know.

but s caffall sure is sweet! i told her not to worry about it and all that. on my first night of being a trainer i picked up my pillow and what did i find underneath... one of her skirts with a note to me (it was for "sister BUTxton" hahaha! oh i love that sister.) it was my favorite skirt of hers! wow. she sure is sweet to me. i really like that skirt! so that's that.

well in other news. this week has been great! robin handlin has been praying lots and she loves it :) now that she is reading and praying, she is motivated to be better! and isnt that what the gospel is supposed to do for us? motivate us to improve? she asked us on friday "so if i am not doing anything bad, what else do i need to DO? what else should i be doing??" wow! so good! then she happily committed to be baptized! what a wonderful lady :) 

that same day, we met with kelly, who has been investigating for a long time and she is practically mormon. she got pumped about the restoration and she also committed to being baptized :)

this mission is so much fun and this area is on fire! we are supposed to train in 12 weeks but because there are so many missionaries coming out, i am supposed to train in 6 weeks now! our area is really catching fire. we are having a hard time finding time to eat, let alone get through the whole training program! wow! how exciting!

hey it sure is good to hear about things back home! my nephews sound so cute!

thank you for the emails, letters and love!

much love,

sister wanay buxton!

Monday, March 25, 2013

hello :)

tis good to hear from you.

i laughed at the stories of my nephews. cute kids.

thank you for the updates of my friends.

we got our transfer call! i am staying here in the bedford 2 area and i am going to be training a new sister missionary who is probs on a plane or in an airport. sister caffall is going to be opening a new area and training TWO new sister missionaries! man oh man! does that tell you how amazing my trainer is? well it should. she really is great. we have had some lovely times together.

she is sad to be leaving the people here, but she also hasnt written the boy she likes for 4 months! so she will be writing him today. that will be good for her. she hasnt been writing him because his dad is our ward mission leader (who you met). which i still laugh about at least thrice a day. man that is so funny. did i tell you that she also dated another boy and his brother is in our ward? gosh! so FUNNY!

it is exciting to train! good thing the lord qualifies the called!

this area has truly caught fire! when we first got here, missionaries hadn;t been here for months. now we hardly have time to eat! last night we had dinner at 9:30 after we planned for  the next day. it is amazing how prepared these people are. i love being out here and it had been a blessing to open this area with sister caffall 4 months ago. that sister is great.

this week some really cool things happened. jackie duran finally got baptized! she was baptized thursday at 6:30. boy was it a wonderful event. her mom even came to the baptism! we saw jackie the next day and she was definitely the happiest i have ever seen her. on sunday she was confirmed. her mom came to church and stayed for the whole 3 hours! that was great.

robin handlin is a happy lady too! we read alma 34 with her and now she is happy and excited to start praying more often and read the bom more, too! after the lesson, she said a sweet, heart-felt prayer expressing how thankful she is that the lord wants to hear from her more often.

carolina's storm is finally passing. we visited her last night. we met her oldest daughter, elizabeth, for the first time. she is 19
she sat down with us and read the bom. oscany told us that she has been praying more and she has felt a difference and she finds comfort through prayer. carolina cried with happiness and told us that her 3 oldest daughters are coming back to live with her again. she has been praying for this to happen and she knows the lord is answering her prayers. she is so thankful! she loves her family so much! she informed elizabeth that they are going to the church on sundays and that oscany goes to mutual on wednesdays. it was so great to see carolina being so confident about the church!

before we left, i asked the family if they would all read some of the bom before we come back on thursday. they all said yes. elizabeth said "yes! i will! i am going to read a lot! i really want to. i have been wondering what religion i should be a part of." she said this and she doesnt even know what the bom is or where it came from! wow!

this really has been a great week. we see miracles every day!

pray for my mission! we are receiving 26 new missionaries tomorrow! ah! please pray for me to raise my new child well! she will need it!

 something really cool happened also. sister caffall borrowed a skirt of mine which ended up ripping pretty badly before the end of the day. i knew i couldnt fix it without a sewing machine, so i was considering sending it home to you. then, like 2 days later, we went to a relief society thing where we did a service swap. i was looking at my choices of service i could take advantage of. i thought i wouldnt be able to find anything. i mean what could i use? i have no time and no need and also a full belly. but then, to my complete surprise, i saw it. "mending and altering clothes". woWIE! i took that one real quick! my skirt is being mended now :) wow. what a blessing. and i didnt even have to ask for that one!

well.

i love you!

love, sister lani buxton

Monday, March 18, 2013

hi bob!

so first off, thank you for the email and the letters, i got a couple this week! thank you!

the rs dinner sounds fun. there is a city in my area called goffstown. their high school just put on a wizard of oz play. the whole town got into it and put up green lights and stuff to advertize. i think i might have told you, we got to help put some lights on trees. that was great. apparently the play was really really good and i think all their shows sold out! nice going g-town students!

also its good to hear that milo and logan are smart enough to know that the most comfortable position to sleep in is with feet on you. :) i hope erin is having a good time! sounds fun to me!

so this week was pretty great. remember samantha? we taught her and her 9 year old son one time and it went really well, but we havent been able to talk to her since. well. we did this week :) she has been going through some rough times, but we comforted her a little bit and she set up a return apt!

we found a woman who has been taught by the missionaries in the past. she was so happy to see us. she told us how much she loves the bom. she has a testimony of it and of joseph smith! she struggles with wow problems but she wants to get baptized and all that! wow! wowie! her spirit is so sweet. she told us that her favorite thing the missionaries taught her was that we lived with heavenly father before we came to earth. she said that when she learned that, it seemed familiar and it made so much more sense. now it is easier to talk to people and to love people because you know where they came from and you know that god loves them. man she was a cool lady.

on saturday we got up earlier than usual so that we could go down to boston to hear from..... ELDER BALLARD! wow it was great. also elder christensen and eyring from the 70 were there. they were all wonderful speakers and helped us with our missionary work. elder ballard took the time at the beginning to shake all of our hands. it was really sweet of him. i got to shake his hand! isnt that one of the coolest events!? yes. yes it is.

well when we got back to nh, i checked the phone. 2 voice mails. hm. i wonder who this could be.

it was a man named bob francis.

so i think i mentioned bob francis in a previous email. he is the one tha t is a born again christian and i learned from him that i am one too! we met him 2 weeks ago. he is very spiritual and he thinks mormons are cool, he even defends them when people are rude. but he just cant buy the whole book of mormon thing and all that because it is just too weird for him. he was a really funny and respectful guy. when we met him 2 weeks ago, i challenged him to read the bom, maybe just like a chapter or two, then to pray about it and to tell heavenly father that he will follow through with any answer he gets. he committed to do it! we asked if we could come back next weekend. he told us 'no, no, i will be out of town. dont come next weekend. i wont be here. but yes, you can come back sometime.' so we figured we would in maybe 2 weeks or so. that was 2 weeks ago. so.

back to the voice mail.

he left us 2 messages. he really wanted to talk. he wanted us to come over right away! he told us that he read the entire bom and wanted to talk about it. woWIE!!!!!!! so we call him back and agree to meet in an hour. we took a wonderful member of the church with us named brother mcgurn. when we pulled up to bob's house, he was outside waiting. he was so happy to see us. :) we had a lovely chat all about the bom and all that stuff. bob and bro mcgurn connected so well! it was amazing. they were practically the same person. bob told us that he read the bom every day since we met him. 5 or 6 hours a day. he wanted us to come back so bad that he rushed home last weekend when he said he would be out of town. he waited for us at his house from 1:00-5:00 just hoping that we would come, even though he told us not to, because he was going to be out of town.

he has a testimony of the bom! he says he can't deny it. he knows its true! wow. i cant tell you how shocked i was and am and also how happy!

he wants to come to church and all that. he said he feels trapped though because his wife and family would never go for it and they are all happily involved in another church. he loves his wife and his family so much. he doesnt want to cause contention. he doesnt want to disturb the peace that they finally found. he really just feels trapped. 

poor bob.

but i am not worried! this work is a work of miracles. little by little she will see that we arent bad. she will see that he will become an even better man and husband and then maybe things will start turning from there. i dont know how long it will take or when it will be, but it will get there. in the mean time, we are going to visit him again on saturday and i am so excited! wow! i just cant even... wow. 

ok one more story before i go.

jackie scott is a sweet old woman who i hope i have told you about. she was raised catholic. raised to fear god.

well.

we have met with her a few times. we visited her yesterday. she said she has been praying the way we taught her to and that she now feels god in her life. she isnt scared anymore. she feels calm now, even though her life is still a little scary. she has more trust in the lord and she knows he has been answering her prayers. gosh :) that right there. that is what makes everything worth it. just like d&c 18  says. my joy is full! just with this one person, my joy is full. but the thing is, there is so many miracles going on in this area! it is so amazing to see! it is amazing that i can be a part of it! man! i love being a missionary! its so good!

well, i best be off now.

i love you all and i am so thankful for all the support and love and prayers. thank you!

i love you!

love, sister lani buxton!

whoopie!!

Monday, March 11, 2013

bob and family,

isnt brother earnshaw the greatest? man. he makes me laugh erry time i see him. without fail. i am so happy that he went and visited you! i am sure it was a grand time with him. i was at his house saturday morning and he told me a bit about the visit and it sounded like a delight! i got to see pictures of you and that was really fun! i am so glad you got to meet him. what a treat!

jackie set another baptismal date. hahaha :) this time i think it might actually happen. we sat with her while she called people to get it all lined up within the family and all that jazz. she is so sweet. she really is eager to get baptized, she just doesnt see how other people's plans and the like can interfere. she is a sweety. i told her about you (bob) and she said she wants to meet you. maybe she will some day. that girl is wonderful.

carolina is doing a little better. she has just been so stressed recently but i think she is finding that working out and listening to the scriptures and the like are helping her lift her spirits and get her through these trying times.

we have been teaching a beautiful black family. actually mostly just the mom. her name is joyce. this sunday they finally made it to church for the first time! it was so grand. i think they all loved it. she has a baby named gloria, a 3 year old boy named matt, and a girl that is... 8? named nancy. matt has decided that my name is elizabeth and for some reason that kid just loves me! we laugh and laugh when we are around each other and he was beaming when we saw each other at church. i let him draw all over the pages of my planner, which i will cherish. when it was time to go to primary, he was scared and he fought it until i offered to take him. then he took my hand and was happy to go :) gosh. he definitely made my day. that family is so lovely. joyce is a definite truth seeker. i hope they continue to progress and love the scriptures. :)

why is being a missionary so great?? i just love it!

thank you for all that you do. i really love you! i cant tell you how excited i was to hear about you from my mission leader! i miss you ok? it just doesnt hurt the way i thought it would :)

please be happy my family!  ether 12:18

i love you!

love, sister lani buxton :) 

Monday, March 4, 2013

hey bob :)

thank you for the email

yes we have had a zone conference, it was good. not a ton to report on. it was at the joseph smith birthplace. the thing is, we didnt really get to do anything there. we just went into a church building and learned missionary things, then we went home. didnt get to tour the joseph smith birthplace or memorial or anything. didnt even really talk about him. just had a conference and then left.. 

but it was good.

my mission president really is the best. he leaves this summer, which no one is looking forward to. but its ok. i am glad i got to have him as my leader for a bit.

we have been trying for a while to get in contact with the grump. last night we finally caught him again on his steps. we talked for a pretty short time. then he warned us to leave. he wasnt very happy with us. i think we shouldnt go back for... some time. :(

jackie went to Massachusetts over a week ago to spend some time with her cousins (lds) and she forgot get phone and also about the baptism.. jackie! stop acting.... 15.. hahaha :) its ok though. she really acts pretty mature for a 15 year old. she is just... forgetful :) hahah. but last night she sent us a text which read: "sisters! i'm back! i miss you guys! i know you guys are sleeping so i'm sorry but i had an AMAZING time giving my testimony to the young women and men!"

so that was rather exciting :) silly jackie. we will be visiting her tonight.

also. her mom is letting us come over again to teach her, so that is really great :)

jeremy was busy when we went to our appointment with him. silly boy. his mom said we should give up on him but i told her that as a representative of jesus christ, i cannot!

caleb, the little boy is doing ok. his mom really likes us, but she has been cancelling appointments recently. hopefully we get to see them again soon. teaching them can be tricky at times because its a crazy house over there.

carolina is going though some really trying times right now. it is really sad, but she seems to recognize that the adversary is coming at her because she is following the lord more and more. it is so sad to see her cry and struggle. she is such an amazing woman and we love her so much. i just hope i am doing my part right and i hope she continues to try and try and not give up. that family sure is wonderful. her little girl fell asleep while i was brushing her hair last night. it was so cute!

robin and becca are doing well. still not coming to church, but they like us and they are even starting to invite people over while we are there, so that is really cool :) i love those girls.

oh! so this week i found out that i am a born again christian! we were talking to a man named bob who is a born again. it was great! he has met with missionaries a lot and has had some incredible spiritual experiences! it was really great to talk with him. but he explained that a born again christian is just a person who commits themselves and their lives to christ and is "born of the spirit" like it says in the bible. ( now we just need to help him understand that scripture even more.) but anyway its not actually a denomination. its just an inner commitment! well hey! thats me! :) this is great :)

did i ever tell you about brother earnshaw? oh man! he is so great. he is my mission leader in the ward i am serving. what a hilarious man. he is sister caffalls x boyfriend's (who she still loves and he loves her) dad!! haha isnt that funny? we see him and his family like.. 3 times a week. and he feeds us waffles every saturday! oh its a hoot. that guy is great. i always tell s caffall to marry her x so that she can have brother earnshaw as a father in law for eternity. that right there would be worth it!

i cant tell you how flattered i am that bum wants my art in his room! wowie!! thank you so much bum! go for it! i know that mom will help and you two will make sure they are safe, so go for it! thank you! i love you bum!

well the mission is going great and i truly love being a missionary. people say its a huge sacrifice, but really its a huge privilege! this transfer we are in is being cut short to only 5 weeks instead of 6. then we are getting 12 new sisters, which is more than sisters we have available to train!!!!!!........ ahh! so this means i am pretty much guaranteed to be training as of march 26.

sigh.

i hope i do well.

i love you all and i am very thankful for the letters, emails, love, support, packages, and thoughts.

i am not thankful for due dates before i get home.

i love you!!

love, sister, daughter, whatever whatever buxton!

:)

Monday, February 25, 2013

hey bob!

great to hear from you!

lead kindly light is definitely one of my favorite hymns. it has been on my mind this last week. on Wednesday i finally got a dictionary out so i can understand the whole song. look at you! second counselor in the rs! that is sad you have to leave your beams. i remember when we had that calling together. oh. so fun :)

hey. saggy birthday scott! nice job with that. its hard to imagine that kainen is growing. i kinda thought he would be the same when i get home.

man! isnt time going by faster in the last almost 4 months than it ever has?? wowie!!

ok. ok. ok. so this week was great. first item of business. i redeemed my self with the whole dog thing. on tuesday we were walking up this big gravel drive way. when we were half way up, a huge dog came at us. like the size of a saint bernard. i dont know what kind of dog it was. he was barking lots and he was at full speed in our direction. also another dog was coming up even faster behind him. this dog looked like a sheep dog. i slowed down a little but kept walking in their direction as they sprinted in mine. when they came up to me, they sniffed for about 1.3 seconds and then we were instantly friends. that big dog was practically knocking me over just from rubbing up on my legs. they really liked us. the dogs that is. i was filthy for the rest of the day.

also this week good things happened with the dejesus family (carolina's family). carolina told us about some of her spiritual gifts and we talked about the spirit and its influence. the spirit was very strong. all 3 of us cried. now she wants to get baptized. that evening with her was definitely the most powerful experience i have had since being out here. that lady is amazing!

we taught her family later in the week, which went well! ivan (9 years) and oscany (15) want to be baptized! that family is so cute. ivan cant get enough of us and church! he is so great. oscany cant stop smiling when ever we bring up church and the young womens program. i love that girl.

yesterday there was a storm and we had to stay within five miles of our apartment. all of our plans fell through and our backups were further than five miles of our apartment. we still had quite some time before the end of the day. we were struggling to find what it was that we were supposed to be doing. it came to the point where we were going to see 'that one person that we found in our records who met missionaries one time years ago and i think she might live in this apartment but actually i think she just works for someone in this apartment..' sigh.. so we went to the apartment building. this building had 3 floors with 9 apartments on each floor. as we opened the door to the building, we were greeted by a woman with a huge smile on her face and her arms wide open. (this was not the 'one person' we were going to look for.) she immediately grabbed both of our hands and put them around her! she then started talking in a language that we later found out was albanian as she marched us happily down the hall to her apartment. (good thing we werent going to an appointment because we definitely had no choice in this matter.) she brought us in and sat us down, introduced us to her husband and just could not stop talking! hahaha :) she was so happy to see us. i had no idea who this woman was and neither did sister caffall. we had never seen her before. once she settled down a little she started talking slowly in broken english. she if from albania, they moved here in november to live with her daughter who moved here like 12 years ago. they told us about their 2 daughters and how much they love them. the other lives in italy. the womans name is violeta. her husband is ladi. the daughter they live with is named ermira. when we got a book of mormon out they told us that elders taught them a little when they lived in albania. ladi told us that he likes the bom. when ermira got home she told us that she has met with missionaries in the past, that her kids love missionaries and church and that she was happy to see us! by the end of our visit, we set up a time to come back an teach them english and the gospel. violeta hugged and kissed us a few times and sent us lovingly out the door. WOW! i still dont understand how any of that happened. why did violeta know.. did she know.. i dont think... but she.. why was she??? how was she...? oh i just get exhausted when i try to figure it out. it just makes no sense and it is just great. i think the bottom line is that the lord knows them and loves them and we needed to find them and i dont know how we would have if he wasnt aware.

we also found a lady while tracting who was baptized into the church as a kid but has drifted as her parents did. she is VERY spiritual and so sweet. we are so excited to teach her! she isnt even on our ward roster. its a miracle!

how is everything going? good i hope! i love you very much and wish i could tell you more!

i love you

sister lani buxton