Oh sweet spirit! September 24, 2012

Well, this week has been full of blessings from the Lord. First off, I would like to inform everyone that last pday, my companion and I got the broken fan in our apartment to WORK! SWEET GOODNESS! I slept so good not sweating! :)

Also, an apology for not attaching pictures 2 weeks in a row. We're at a sketch place and I can't even find the usb hole.

Other than that, Work has just been phenomenal. Seriously. The spirit has just been SO awesome in our lessons. And people who I thought were on the verge of not progressing made a U-turn for the better! OH! It's amazing. We didn't have any baptisms this last weekend, but we will have between 4 and 5 this week. (But really 5, we just don't have one paper signed.) And they are all STOKED to be baptized! As are we, that they are making good choices. :)

So an interesting story from this week is that on Friday we were on our way up the mountain to visit our investigator Edson. We THOUGHT we had him marked for 6. But on the way a man yells at us from the top of his house "SISTER!" Usually, this happens alot. But with drunk men. So we don't normally pay attention. But for some reason don't ask me why, when he flagged us over, I went. Kindof like I seriously didn't have control over my feet. The whole time my brain is formulating excuses. "we have an appointment,..tell him to go to church sunday,.. you can still run." But no I walk up the stairs and we talk to him. We didn't even have and lesson with him, but he said that he had been trying to find the church for a long time and that he probably wants to be baptized. Well do you know what we did? We invited him to baptism and made him a calendar. He came to church yesterday and boy is he just so ready for the gospel! We're pretty stoked for him. Tender Mercy, huh?

Side Note: WHO IS STOKED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE!? It's definitely me!!! Oh man. I just LOVE Conference. WOO HOO! Not having baptisms that week is kindof sad, but I'm too stoked for conference for it too bother me too much. haha.

Also, there is this woman Isabel. Who I just LOVE. She was finally going to be able to go to church yesterday. She got up, got dressed, got her baby dressed, the member was outside her house ready to walk with her to church and what happens? The lady who she is staying with comes in and tells her that if she goes to church that Isabel can pack her's and Enascio's things and leave. So Isabel had to stay in the house. We ended up being outside Isabel's house later on teaching somebody. When Isabel heard us singing, she came out and sat in on the lesson with us. After the lesson, she apologized and was just so upset about not being able to go to church. When she told us what happened.. Well, i just kind of wanted to spit in Satan's eyes. Especially since the night before, she told us that she was not going to move back in with the father of her child because living the commandments and being baptized is more important than.. well, sex.
Man. Basically, something is going to happen. I'm not sure what Heavenly Father has up his sleeve, but it's something good for sure.

Tomorrow is my 8 month mark in the mission. It's kinda cool, but kinda sad in the same moment.

I hope everything is going well for everyone over in the states. The work is going really well,.. stressful at times, but really well.
Also, for all you lucky ducks.. Enjoy some gator football for me. :)

Love, Sister Buhler

Training September 17, 2012

So I am very sorry to report that I can't send photos this week because I forgot the cord to my camera. Blast! But you all will see pictures of my greenie next week.

We had a mom and her daughter get baptized Friday. They've been taught for a long time! It was such a blessing that our companionship was finally able to see them get baptized. They were really excited. Their names are Rute and Luana. :) Pictures will come next week.

Other than that, the work is going well here.. It is not without difficulties, but I know things could be worse. Sister Robinson is a real blessing in my life. I learn just as much from her as she does from me, I think! She's got a real positive attitude, but hasn't quite become accustomed to filth yet.. hahaha. But I really like her. Her portuguese is coming along really well too.

So President Oliveira went to a training given by Nelson and he talked about how all things we do in life should be framed around Moses 1:39. That and a combination of discussions with my housemates has helped me realize that there are 2 kinds of people that walk away from the mission: People who change, and People who become. I've decided I'm going to work a bajillion times harder making Heavenly Father's purpose--MY purpose. Not just my purpose for the mission, but purpose for the rest of my existence. Maybe that is just a no-brainer for the rest of you, but I've been under a rock of ignorance or SOMETHING. But yeah, I've repented of my ignorance and I'm working hard to be a 100times better missionary!

Also, the power and internet went out in our city yesterday so we weren't able to email. That is why this is coming so late! Sorry!

Also, a fun fact for those who are interested.. I now run every morning. Yes, I hate running, but I need to do it. Haha. Sister Payton and I have a transfer goal of running to the top of a very far away hill and back by the end of the transfer. Without stopping. haha. I think we will achieve it sooner than the end of the transfer but goals are always good anyways.

I hope the Lord is blessing everyone in the states and especially my ward!

Love, Sister Buhler

I was preggers and I didn't even know it!! September 10, 2012

I'm going to be a MOM!!!! I will be recieving Sister Robinson from the United States later this week!! I'm really excited. :) She's from Brigham City, Utah. I'm really excited. But I feel slightly bad since most of our investigators speak creole... :/ oops. On the brighter side... I speak creole. haha.

Well, to start off it has rained EVERYDAY. No I'm not kidding. I attached a picture of people who were running in the streets with soap in their hair and on their bodies... Genius idea right? Way to save on the water bill! hahaha. But for some reason, even though there was a TON of rain outside, we didn't have water for most of the week in our house... or electricity. Weird, but we have both now. :)

We had the baptism of Deisa this weekend. I love her. She's so full of life and is always laughing. She's the reason why her inactive brother is coming back to church. And why ONE DAY her parents will come back to church and be sealed in the temple. I've got a really positive outlook on her. :) She's adorable!

Also, this has been a really great week of work. Seriously. I LOVE our investigators, so I'm really glad I'm not leaving Sao Filipe. Especially, Isabel. She's from Sao Tome. MAN. She is so happy all the time and her baby is SO STINKING CUTE. Seriously. And she had a boyfriend, but they were getting in a lot of fights and he was treating her bad.. I got really sad for her, but then I realized she can get baptized now!! WOOOO!! I really love her. I'm glad I'm not leaving. :)

ALSO, we just got elders put back in Sao Filipe! So now we are sharing our branch with a companionship of Elders! Which is GREAT, because our area had a LOT of people prepared and we don't have enough time for them all! I looked at the numbers from last month, our area had 10 baptisms and the next leading area in fogo had 5. I'm telling you, it'll be a huge help.

I also attached a picture of me with my recent convert from branch 2. Hahaha. Pierre. After his baptism, he cut his hair. Now, not only is he going to church looking sharp every Sunday, but the sisters are teaching his friend that has HUGE dreds. Hahaha. Pierre told his friend that he can get baptized with the dreds, but 2 days after, they're taking him to get a haircut. HAHAHA. Oh man. We never even told him cutting his hair was needed! So funny.

Oh and I just LOOK fat next to the Droga e lixo sign.
ALSO! Sister Vanderhorst has gotten transferred to FOGO!!! She's on the other half of the island though... in Mosteiros. :/ but i saw her for a little bit today! I was one happy camper. :)

Anyways, I should get my daughter Wednesday or Thursday. I'll let you know ALL about her!
Until later gators!
Sister Buhler

Do you know what blessings are? September 3, 2012

Well. Let me just tell you this week has been FULL of miracles. :) First and foremost, I would like to say that the OTHER sisters had a baptism this week. Thanks to us. We marked the baptism for them last Sunday and he got baptized 2 days ago. hahaha. He´s a kid who has been taught A LOT by sisters and we finally got him to sit down and admit what he wanted in life. :) He's a sweet kid. RICARDO! :)

Other than that, I am also attaching pictures of the 2nd Noah's Ark downpour from last night. We were sitting under a tree training a member and out of nowhere started DOWNPOURING. We had to run into a bar for shelter. When we finally decided it wasn't letting up, we swam our way home. hahaha. I'm kidding about the swimming, but the puddles were pretty huge. People were running out of their houses to take showers in the rain. And the whole city lost power. It was kind of neat. We lost our last hour of teaching last night, but luckily we had decided to leave the house an hour early to teach. :) It was cool.

So we visited 2 inactive families this week and they both showed up for church and bore their testimonies. :) It was really awesome. One of the families,.. I'm not sure why they ever went inactive. I guess when she got pregnant 7yrs ago she just forgot to go to church? Haha. Well this Sunday she went with all of her 4 kids and husband. It made me SO darn happy! The other family is an inactive mom with 2 kids. When we went to teach her this week, it was like a Liahona moment. I wasn't sure what scripture to use, I was just SO sure that the only scripture in my mind was wrong, but after we read it, she was crying. We were so blessed to be able to have that experience with her. The spirit was SO strong when she bore her testimony in church. I know that the Lord was giving her trails so she could find peace in her life. What a loving Heavenly Father we have!

Also, transfers are this weekend and my mini will be going home. Sad. BUT I'm excited to know what is going to happen! Who I'll recieve... Hmmm!

Also, President Oliveira challenged our whole mission to have 10 new investigators with 10 baptism dates marked... And last week we had 12 new investigators. SO basically our plate was really full this week, but we ended up with 15 new investigators and 5 more dates marked. I'm not too disappointed. I feel like the Lord understands we tried our best.

Also,.. This is the third paragraph I've started with also.. hahaha. Um. So I really feel like I can see how much I've grown in the mission! Especially in teaching! I didn't know I was applying so much! But now I feel like I really understand how to teach by the spirit. It's basically the best thing I've ever learned. :) Heavenly Father is so great for helping me.

Other than that.. It's our companionship's turn to cook in the house. I'm pretty excited because that means more Cape Verdian/American food again. :)

Soooo that's it! Until next week! TCHAU!
Sister Buhler

Ternas Misericordias (Tender Mercies) August 27, 2012

So I don't remember if I said anything about Igor in an email, but let me give you a little background on him. He is an investigator that we received when we FIRST got here to Fogo. Took us forever to help him realize that he needs to be baptized and FINALLY after a few weeks he was like, Yeah, I need to be baptized. We took him to get an interview and in the interview he said he didn't want to get baptized anymore. It was super sad because we had worked for a long time with him. We continued to pass by like once every week to see how he was doing. And this week, a little less than 2 months later HE GOT BAPTIZED! Wanna know why? Let me tell you.

Well, last Monday my companion and I were on the road walking to a Family Home Evening that we had planned. We had plans to stop by his house and another investigators on the way. When all of a sudden I felt the need to invite a less active to go with us. He wasn't exactly on the way. In fact, we had to completely turn around and go into a different zone to get him. And on top of that, the last 2 times we tried to visit him he was never home. But you know, if the spirit's talking, you gotta listen. So we turned around to go get him and WHAT DO YOU KNOW, he's home! And had nothing to do and was SUPER excited to go with us! And the whole night he helped Igor find scriptures during the lesson, he introduced Igor to people and made him feel welcome. Towards the end of the night one of the members turned to me and was like Is Igor getting baptized this weekend? I was like, I dunno. Ask him. Then I turn to look at Igor and he has the HUGEST smile on his face and he's shaking his head up and down. AH! And what do you know, Saturday he was baptized. :)

The picture of me with a little girl getting baptized, that wasn't from our area, but she's an old investigator from the other area. He name is Clarice. Clarice couldn't get baptized because of her family situation. Last transfer she came up to me saying, "I'm not going to church anymore. I don't want any of this!" I gave her a hug as she started to cry and told her that it was just a trial and that she needed to stay strong and that I knew that Heavenly Father loved her so much. She came RUNNING up to me in the street 2 weeks ago, "BUHLER BUHLER! Eu vou batizar proxima semana!!" AHHH. I'm so happy for her. :)

As for news from this week, my companion's grandma died Saturday. So she went back to her city Sunday to be with her family, but she's back today. I passed Sunday with my friend Lu as my companion. Lu is leaving for a mission in Brazil soon. :) It was alot of fun. :)

ALSO! My companion and I made Cachupa this week! MMMMM. Delicious!

It's been raining alot this week. Which is super awesome because it means that we occasionally get cooled off when we're walking or it'll be alot colder at night. :) I love the rain!

AND everyone should be happy to know my companion is teaching me alot of creole. We have a wall in our kitchen where we write portuguese words for the greenie in our house. There is currently a creole translation square! But sometimes we doodle... I attached a picture of the doodles.

Anyways, thats it for this week! I hope all is well over there! I haven't heard anything about it yet, but Gator football should be starting up soon right? Someone should keep me updated on that. :)

Love, Sister Buhler

I'm a mom to a mini! August 20, 2012

So Sister Gomes left Fogo yesterday. She'll be home soon! And I recieved a mini missionary! Sister Silva! I was already friends from her from last transfer and now she's my companion!! I'm very excited to have her. She's really dedicated to the work, which is super great because that means we can work super hard and accomplish alot! :) I'm also excited to have a filha! Hooray posterity! hahaha.

This past Thursday we threw a dance for the branch. It was alot of fun and alot of people showed up. :) Hahahah. These people are hilarious when it comes to dancing. I really wanted to rip of my tag and start dancing, but I didn't. haha. One more year and I'll be able to bust some moves!

So Thursday and Friday I had a TERRIBLE stomach ache. Which is dumb because I'm never weak in the stomach. I thought I was developing a milk allergy like some folks do on the mission.. but nope not a milk allergy. A fish allergy. Wanna know how I know its a fish allergy? Because I broke out in hives at 1am Friday night. I thought a swarm of mosquitos was eating me alive! I had to hop out of bed, take a cold shower, rub benedryl itch relief cream ALL OVER, and I slept with the ice pack from our freezer in my bed. One of the worst nights ever. hahaha. But apparently its the fish I ate those two days. My companion says it was "Serra." Alls I Knows is that I ain't eating that fish again. hahaha.

So we had the baptism of Djoni and Victor this week. I love baptisms. We're working on reactivating Djoni's family. They're some really nice people. :)

Apparently, there are some problems with companionships in the mission... Because president asked all of us to fast and repent. Hahah. I love my comp, but I hope everyone else is getting better!

Also, our district went to the beach today for pday. It was alot of fun. And I was FINALLY able to play soccer!! YESSS! It was alot of fun. I also made pizza today because it's our member friend, Lu's birthday! :) MMM.

Anyways, that's all that is interesting this week!
Tchau!
Sister Buhler

Zone Conference Delayyy August 13, 2012

So sorry this letter is super delayed, but we had zone conference yesterday and so pday is today!

We didnt have any baptisms this week, but one of our investigators in our old area before the division got baptized! Danny!

Anyways, there isn't a whole lot new about this week. We have been on a mad hunt for new investigators. But with zone conference yesterday, MAN! I am so pumped to find more. It's all about listening to the spirit, ya know? After we left zone conference yesterday, I felt like I was walking with new eyeballs. We contacted a kid with a busted up foot from a motorcycle accident. He's really nice. I have a good feeling about him. We'll see. :)

Other than that... we had some other sisters stay at our house last night. Man. I love people from Mozambique. hahahaa. They are funny.

My companion is leaving this upcoming Sunday before church. She's going back to Portugal. SOOO I'll be getting a new comp soon. I tried to see if President was going to tell me yesterday at Zone Conference... Nada. Hahaha. He's a smart man. Honestly, my mission president is one of the most powerful men I know. He's awesome. I'm really lucky to be in this mission.

We had the blessing this week to contact a whole house of inactive members who are keeping most of the commandments! The mom (she's not married) and her 2 kids and nephew went to church. MAN! It felt really good to walk with a family to church. :)

Anyways, other than that I'm in good health. No funny stories. Maybe next week.
Love Sister buhler