December 31, 2012 - New Year's Eve

hi bob!!
thank you for the email! it is great to hear from you. i can always hear your voice in your letters and email, which is a treat, a real treat :)

talking to you was a blast! i dont know if you could tell but i cried! i cried when i heard your voice and everyone else and i cried a little more when we had to say goodbye! i really do love you! thank you for making the phone call so much fun! i enjoyed it and it was just how i was expecting, which was cool.

so for new years we have to be in at 8:00. not so that we can get our party set up or make sure we have enough tooters or pans to bang on, but to avoid the drunkards of the night! on new years day we will be treating it like any other regular day! it is cool that missionary life is becoming normal for me. erry once in a while someone will make a comment on how we bring the spirit. sometimes i just forget that i can do that! it is just so normal for me now! it is so exciting!

thank you also for taking care of fotis! you do so much for him and for me! i am glad you are making sure he is happy. he is cool. thank you for being so thoughtful of me! its good that you still care about me.

so this week something really cool happened. but first let me take you back to my first day out doing missionary work in new hampshire. we met a lady on the street as she was going to her apartment. her name was angela. she seemed interested and had read the bom randomly as a girl. she liked us but said she was just too busy to plan on meeting with us again. well we have tried to stop by just to say hi to her since then. finally this last week we got to! she was so happy to see us! she even gave us hugs! we planned on meeting again for just a couple days later! so when we went to see her, we brought with us a member from the ward who just got baptized last april! first off, angela has AMAZING faith. she trusts god so much and she totally understands doing good even if people are mean. she understands agency and trials so well. she even teared up! secondly, angela and the member connected so much! they both have kids that are similar in age, the both have jobs, crazy schedules, they even have the same on line school! they both grew up southern baptist! they were so happy to have such similarities. third, angela totally understands what it would mean for her specifically if the bom is the word of god. oh she is so prepared! the baptismal font awaits her! she is a miracle! i am so excited to meet with her again. it will be a blast!

our investigator with a baptismal date is getting the fiery darts of hell thrown at her. or at least lawn darts of hell. life keeps interfering with appointments, she got sick so she couldnt come to church! ah! its sad to see. but she has faith and i think it will all work out soon. she is a great invetigator. she is really smart and wants to follow the lords plan, not anyone else's!

i must go! i love you! thank you!
sister lani buxton

Monday, December 17, 2012

i read the letter from your friend’s friend’s son who happens to be my district leader, elder hatch. i was so confused!!!!! hahaha then i remembered that story you read me from some friend of a friend or whatever. about the boy with the brother that died and is serving in my mission. so the next day at district meeting i asked my district leader if the elder from the story was him. he confirmed that indeed it was. i was so humbled. i just started crying. it was kinda embarrassing but i just suddenly had so much respect for him. it was crazy. ah! i cant believe that elder you told me about is my leader! he is such a sweet guy. the other day we got a voice mail from him and his companion. it had to be like 2 or 3 minutes long. his companion, elder cordova, was doing all the talking. but in the background, for the whole entire message was elder hatch singing "gloo-ooooo-ooooo-ooooo-ria." from the song angels we have heard on high. over and over and over and over! hahaha it was so funny! he is a sweet kid.

we are about to go candlestick bowling with our district (whatever that is). which will probs be fun, but that means i might not get to write you a letter this week. sorry if i dont. 

our address is manchester but we live at the edge of the wilderness. we go to the forest every morning to exercise and such. when i go to the forest its mostly just walking around and that kind of stuff. we have to start exercising in our apartment because snow is here.

we have one investigator with a.... baptismal date!! so exciting! i hope she follows through.

a cop interrogated us for being burglars the other day. we ended up giving him a mormon.org card! hahaha it was very funny. he thought we were really cool.

i am sorry i am pretty much out of time but i just want to tell you thank you and i love you! talk to you soon!

Monday, December 10, 2012

bob,

thank you for the letters and the bedding! manchester is so great! i come home every day smelling like cigarette smoke, kitty litter and curry. ah!

the food situation is great! my companion's previous companion was also veg! i talked to her and she said everyone is ok with it, and that if i eat at someones house, i just need to tell them ahead of time. she said that no one has given her grief about it. no one has given me any grief either! they are quite nice!

i have had a few member dinners so far. they pass around a sign up sheet in relief society for feeding us. it is frustrating though. when we eat at member's homes, we want referrals, not just food and interaction. it seems like some of them are taking it as just a fun thing instead of a helping us FIND people kind of thing. but it is nice that they love us. yes i make breakfast. and lunch and dinner. its no biggie. we buy things that dont take long to make. last week we bough SO MUCH FRUIT and we ate it in less than a week. oh that reminds me.

my blankets are indeed warm enough. the heat is always on in our apartment. (we dont even have to turn in on, i think the people down stairs just keep it going for us. ) i have had zero cold nights. i dont even have the electric blankets on my bed. plus there is a load of blankets already in there anyway. i need no more! i also found a red sweater in the closet that is made of lamb's wool and rabbit fur. i wore it once. it was itchy.

i have received dave's letters and package :) i have the tiny present (which i did not know was my watch thing, because i didnt open it!) it says on the paper "stinker! wait till christmas!"  hahahahaha but yes i got it. i also got a tree and a card from sister frank and the.. laurels? oh it made me JOYFUL AND TRIUMPHANT! i put dave's christmas presents under the tree haha :)

i hope carrie doesn t go to texas! i didnt want to either! get this; my companion went to byu hawaii and dated a boy named caleb. then she moved home and dated a boy named jay. then she turned in her mission papers. got her call to new hampshire. in the very ward we are serving is caleb's family. his dad is in fact, the ward mission leader!!!!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaahahahahahha aacough caugh caugh ahahahhahaaaaaaaahahhahaha. luckily he is serving a mission right now, so we never see him. also jay's brother is in this ward!!! hahahaha! he is married and has 4 kids. they had us over for dinner this last week. oh. its just so funny. how could this happen to her?!?! hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh :):):)


i have one hour for computer time which includes writing to the president (of the mission, not of the states! gosh.) reading emails, and typing back. today we got extra time though because we were having problems with the web address. so . yeah.

fotis is a trooper. as long as he is happy, i am at peace with him. i think i tried to look into soft sinking salmon pellets but for a reason i cant remember i was unsuccessful. make sure you look up what kind of food is good and bad for axolotls. i am sure you have. but i just want to make sure! i read stuff that said stuff about protein and fat content and all that stuff. sigh. thank you so much for being so kind to him and being so patient with him. i hope milo still finds his way into my room from time to time and gets a handful of nerds. bum too. i know they like that stuff.

it was cold last week but this week wasnt too bad. it has been raining and stuff. i love my coat a lot. i wear my underarmour e'rry morn when we go out to exercise. it is great! it has not been cold enough to wear boots or underarmour during the day. i am sure they will be wonderful. i love the hats you made for me. they are thee best. my companion loves them too. they are warm, dont mess up your hair, dont allow any breezes in. ah. the list goes on. we both love them. my companion is so great. she works hard, but we still find time to laugh :)

dont miss me too much :) i love you! i really do!

love, sister lani buxton

Monday, December 10, 2012

hey dad!

hahaha thank you for making me laugh while reading your letter!
me and my companion laugh every day, we have so much fun! it is nice to get the stress out that way.

thank you for being supportive of me while i am doing this. i cant imagine being mom with such little support out here. i love getting letters! it builds me up! my mission president really is great! he is so sincere and kind and just.. THE BEST!  unfortunately, he will be gone after 6 more months. our ward is.. potentially big but not everyone comes. we have a lot of less actives. it is frustrating. it is a lot like home though. like you said, the songs are the same. for the last two years i have been constantly changing wards and bishops and all that, so i dont feel out of place here.

this week was good though! last week we met a man named david ryan. he just happened to knock on his door. he told us we could come back but not to get our hopes up because he doesnt want to go to church  and all that. well we went back and talked to him for like 2 hours on saturday. he went on and on trying to let us know that he has different beliefs, but he was unsuccessful because his beliefs are that being spiritual is a very personal experience between him, god, christ and the spirit. he told us that god communicates with him through the spirit. told us that he doesnt like the robes and the ropes and the riches that people get when they are of a high rank in a religion. said he doesnt want to rely on other people for guidance. well guess what buddy? sounds like you are practically an ideal mormon! hahaha so he agreed to read the b.o.m. and ask god if it is true. we were sad when he didnt want to schedule a return appointment, but i hope he calls us when he realizes that  the baptismal font awaits him. :) eh eh eh.

but the mission is good dad! i am loving it so far! love you pops!
love, your horrible daughter, sister lani buxton

Monday, December 3, 2012 - First P-Day in New Hampshire

hi! :) this might be short, but if i still have more to say, i will write a letter :)

i have my bedding, and i spent the first night at the mission home anyway. it was great! the flights were good. i didnt convert anyone though. my mission president is SO GREAT. he told me so many wonderful things and made me feel so good!! he cried during our first interview and told me he didnt want to end the interview. he looked me in the eye and told me (and wrote on  a paper by a picture of me) that he is not going to worry about if i am going to really serve the lord because he trusts me! he made me feel so lovely!

i didnt starve on the plane.

i am happy to hear about sam! he sure is  a wonderful boy. i talk about him all the time and show his picture to people. how is he? how is him and miranda? how are the kitties? how is fotis? have you put him online yet? how are you? how is dad? how is erin and her family? how is scott and his? how is the business?

my companion is great too. she reminds me of jenny porritt, but me and this sister are pretty much exactly the same size. she is a great trainer and works hard. i am so thankful i am with her. we are in the bedford area. we have bits of manchester, bedford, goffstown and new boston in our area. we are shotgunning the area which apparently means we are opening it again after it has been closed for  while. they have been sister starved, so the members all love us.

we are in the city. i really love it here. everything is so cool and old and interesting. the people have been so amazing and receptive. since wednesday we found 10 complete strangers on the streets who were interested in the gospel. some of them we had to refer to other missionaries because they live out of our area and one of them didnt set up a return appointment because she said she was too busy, but that she wanted a b.o.m..

the other night we met two guys on the street. i could smell alcohol on their breath. after they found out we are mormons, one of them started telling us to get out, to save ourselves! he talked about tithing as if it was insurance or something. he was so concerned about us. the other guy was trying to talk over him, saying things like keep doing what you are doing! you are soldiers! anything good and from the heart is a good thing to do! karma karma! dont listen  to him! you are doing a good thing! hahaha it was great. i couldnt wipe the smile off my face the whole time. they were both so funny! we gave them  a mormon.org card with our number on it and told them to call if they ever wanted to talk more. about a couple hours later the one that wanted to save us called and asked if he could have a bible study or  gospel study with us!! hhahah we were so surprised! he was one that was out of our area, so we had to refer him to the elders. hha that was a great night..

this last weekend there was an event that was open to anyone. it was at the church building with tons of nativity sets (which they call a "creche" over here) and music and cookies. we handed out invitations this week. that was  great help for talking to people. it was nice.

oh! we live in the upstairs of an old member couple in the ward. there is  a kitchen with all the silverware and knives and strainers and tupperware and spices we need! there is  a living room with comfy couches and loads of pamphlets and pass along cards! there are two bedrooms, we use one to sleep in and the other as a closet. :) there is  a washer and dryer and.....  a little deck just for us!! it is so cute and so wonderful and always warm when we go there. we are so lucky! there was even a yoga matt, ball and hot chocolate already in there!

the squirrels are big here! the fog is thick when it comes! all the houses are actually apartments. we use the back door of most people's houses which is just so weird to me. i have met so many dogs! i love new hampshire! oh. but i do miss my old companion. sigh. she sure was great. well. this letter is  a jumbled mess, and i am not reading through it before i send it! but bob, thank you so much!! you do so much for me. it makes my day to hear from you. i got the letter from you on my first night here when i was at the mission home. i loved it!!! thank you thank you thank you for everything. my address is 247 blucher street manchester, nh 03102 but the mission office forwards everything to me.

i must go i love you so much bob!!! i love you!!!

love,

sister lani buxton

Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - The day before Thanksgiving and her last P-Day in the MTC

bob!

hey! i cant rememeber if i told you but i was OVERJOYED with the story of mayonnaise!!! oh that sweet sweet kitty! do you know how he is doing? i am just so happy about it. thank you for the letters! it is so much fun to read everything you write to me! also i dont think i mentioned that i am sorry about what happened with the car! ah! i am so sorry i didnt do or say anything about the tires.the scripture i want on my plaque is the last verse of the last book in the new testament. it reads something along the lines of "may the grace and love of christ be with you forever, amen." something like that. thank you for asking me! i hope there is still time to let him know. i am so happy to hear of erun's new house!! that sounds so wonderful and perfect for them. i am so happy they get to move in, even though it is months away. i hope the boys and the tank love it!!! thank you for staying out of the den of iniquity, i dont want any of my family in prison for life by the time i get home! i am sad i wont get your wonderful food and all that. i miss it. the cafeteria food is so so. there is always plenty to eat but holy boogers. everything is processed and greasy and from boxes and all that. but. i have grown close to the wrap bar. that stuff is heaven sent. thank you for telling me about my nephews! oh i miss them. they are so cute! i look at family pictures and such alla time. i love the little book you gave me! thank you so much. also thank you for the earring pictures! i would love to have 1-10. if they have a match that would also be great. i dont really have anything that goes with 11-22. dont worry about shortening them. no one cares. i have seen a lot of rule breaking e'rry day and no one really cares. there is a sister with a third of her head shaved, the rest of her hair like 2 feet long. there is a girl with a mullet. 1/4 of the girls' skirts are too short, jewelry is huge and flashy, a lot of girls look very casual alla time. i am glad i dont and that i have been keeping all the rules. my main point is these earrings arent going to be a big deal. they just want me to look good and put together. no one is going around with rulers and such. thank you thank you thank you for being so kind. and if there isnt enough time to send the earrings to the mtc, please just dont send them. i dont even wear earrings every day. and i dont need to.

to answer your questions; my district is WONDERFUL. i love e'rry one i am with e'rry day. our district leader is named elder semadeni from wyoming. he is so spiritual and fun and sweet. he is an amazing leader. there are 4 sisters including me. our district gets along really well and everyone is happy with each other. we are is such a good place right now. oh also, i am the travel agent (at least thats what i like to call myself) for a group of 11 people. we are leaving the mtc at 4 in the night (morning by other people's standards) on sunday night (monday morning). i am so excited! but please please dont send anything to the mtc that wont get here by saturday. does that  make sense? i hope i am ya know.. making sense.

rememeber eric scofeild? i saw him! remember my friend erin that was giong to serve and now she wants to get married instead? she broke up with him and now she is coming to the mtc one week from today!!!! i flipped when i found that out. i am so happy! anyway. i must go now. i love you all and thank you for your letters! (especially the hand written one!!!) thank you thank you thank you! i love you and miss you all but not a whole lot!! hahahahahahahahahah :):):)

much love,

your daughter, horrible daughter, sister and aunt,

sister lani buxton.

hey i love you!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 - First P-Day in the MTC

hello all! my first time on a computer for a while! it is strange to touch anything electronic besides light switches and key card machines.

thank you for the letters and the love and package and everything. did you know that the howards sent me 24 krispy kreams?!? i am going to share them with my district tonight, and they dont even know! it will be such a krispy surprise! i hope they like doughnuts. i cant believe they did that for me. they are so sweet. tell them i was completely surprised and very thankful. i ate one this morning because we didnt get breakfast because it was temple morning for us and there was no time. so it was perfectly timed.

i hope your retinas are ok, i hope you havent been checking your email nonstop for days. as you might know by now, wednesday is pday for me. it has been great so far. we went to the temple which was wonderful. i took a nap. and me and my companion got chips and salsa! we are in the laundry room right now waiting for our clothes to dry. laundry is so cheap! i am so happy to be where i am! i love the mtc. i love that i have been called of god! i love that i am learning so much with people that are here for the same reason! it is so amazing to be here. our district will be in our classroom and we will all be silly and talkative and fun and then right exactly when it is time for personal study, everyone is quiet and goes right to work reading PMG and their scriptures. well that is what happens most of the time. sometimes we just cant calm down and focus, but usually that is when we are talking about how exciting it was so teach our "investigators"!! haha.

yesterday me and sister korman (my companion) had an "investigator". he was from chile. he was catholic. his accent was very heavy. he was probs in his 40's. we started talking to him hoping that we would help him feel the spirit and all that. but after a while he just started talking and talking and telling us stories. he told us about how much faith he has in jesus christ and god. he told us how god answers prayers and loves him so much. he told us how he prays countless times every day thanking god for his beautiful sons and all his blessings. by the end of the "lesson" he had tears in his eyes, s. korman was crying and the spirit was SO STRONG! i was so happy! i told him that he just told us exactly what our message is all about! i told him he was ready for heaven! hahaha we were all laughing and we were all so happy! we did not teach him anything! he taught US! i love him! i know he is a volunteer here but he taught me so much and helped me to feel the spirit. it was so wonderful!

being at the mtc has been very good for me though. it is hard to wake up so early every morning. class is fun, the only thing that is difficult is sitting through class for such a long time day after day. but we learn great things and i am thankful for it, at first it was hard to understand rules but i learned something very quickly. obeying rules is one way to show faith and because i am showing faith, the spirit has a much easier time getting to me. i am much more in tune with the spirit and with jesus christ. i always heard before that if i keep rules as a missionary, i will be more happy and more successful. i said yeah ok i will keep the rules but i never understood why i would be happier or more successful. but i have learned that it isnt keeping the rules that will keep me happy and successful. it is showing faith by obedience that keeps the spirit closer to me, which brings happiness. i love heavenly father and jesus christ so much. they have blessed me with so much happiness. this last week i have been able to focus so much and i have been so emotionally strong. i know it is a gift from christ and i am so thankful for it. 

how is everyone at home? how are all you guys? i want to know all about everything! i love you all so much! thank you for the support and love.

i will talk to you soon!

much love,

your missionary,

sister lani buxton!!

November 7, 2012 - Going to the MTC

With a cute little wave and an enormous smile she fairly floated away into the MTC, accompanied by 2 fine young Elders.
I have a picture.
Several of them actually.
I want to put them here.
Can't find my camera.
The one that has my memory card.
The one that has the MTC pictures on it.
Great.
Wait for it.

November 6, 2012 - Setting Apart

Work in progress.
Wait for it.
She got set apart.
President Topp.
I have a picture.
I want to put it here.