Thanksgiving Picture of Tony

Tony's Mission President's wife sent us a nice email for Thanksgiving with a picture of Tony

 

Taiwan Week 27: It's Getting Chilly

Dear friends and family,

Well I just ate as much steak and pork as my body could handle for an American equivalent of 12 dollars. That's amazing! And we get to make it ourselves. We pretty much had a big missionary lunch today with half our zone and half of the Zhanghua zone. It was a lot of fun. I'm so full! We also bought district scarves because it's getting pretty cold now.

Last week I got to go on a lot of exchanges. Tuesday I got to exchange with Elder Fiala, my district leader. It was really great. I got to meet a few of their investigators and less actives. It was interesting that most of them are really trying to overcome a Word of Wisdom problem. I enjoyed getting to help them find faith and courage to overcome what they need to overcome. Their area has a lot more people than mine. We're in the same city. It's just split, so we have most of the houses and they have a lot of businesses. I had a lot of fun though and learned a lot.

Wednesday night we switched back and taught our English class. For some weird reason our class only had women in it. Where did all the men go? They had a lot of really interesting questions though. I taught them tongue twisters because that would really help them with pronunciation differences. They got really good. We also got to watch the movie on President Monson's life and calling as the prophet because the sisters have a really progressing investigator in our class and wanted us to watch it. I love that movie.

Thursday was really great! We struggled on lessons, but our big lesson was that night with Zhu dixiong. We taught the law of chastity and had the bishop peike. He did a really great job talking about the importance of chastity and explained the benefits as a family. It was great because his really cute 3 year old son was playing during the lesson and served as a great example! Zhu dixiong had his baptismal interview right after and passed! He's getting baptized this Saturday! I'm so excited!

Friday we had such an amazing Mission Tour Conference. Elder Larry Wilson, of the Seventy, came to speak to us. His wife did a lot of focusing on teaching about the Book of Mormon with understanding. It was really great to learn better ways to help investigators better understand the scriptures. Elder Wilson talked about Preach My Gospel and finding the diamonds hidden inside to better missionary work. He emphasized on a part about staying in contact with our recent converts after we leave the area and when we go home. He shared a few really amazing stories that occurred in these past few years that came from a result of some of the people he baptized on his mission. It was really great. It came in handy during the conference for me as well! While we were eating lunch, Song dixiong in Nantou called Elder Nickel to cancel their appointment that night, and I got to talk to him for a few minutes! He was so excited to hear my voice. I got to ask him how him and his wife are. (If you don't remember, she's the pregnant lady that we taught and baptized. Who is actually no longer pregnant, but now has an adorable 2 month old baby!). They're all doing really well.

After the conference, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Bennett, my zone leader, back to my old area! Well half of it. The area has changed a bit since I was there, so half of my old area is in the Zone leaders area now. It was really great. I got to visit a lot of investigators that I met on exchanges back when I lived there. I also got to visit the recent convert of theirs that I got to baptize my 3rd day on island. He remembered me and we had a great reunion. The zone leaders are actually working with his siblings to get them to be baptized as well. They like coming to church, there's just a little parental opposition at the moment. It was a lot of fun getting to work with the zone leader's investigators. I remember all of them really well from before. I also got to spend the night in my old apartment! I was buzzing with memories. It's funny because That was my old area, and my area now is Elder Bennett's old area. So we were updating each other a lot on our areas, former investigators, and recent converts. It was really great. I also got to attend their ward correlation meeting on Saturday. All those who attended remembered me. Their ward is doing really great with investigators right now!

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday was really cold and rainy. I was so cold. By night time yesterday, I was fearing I was getting sick. But it went away with sleep. Last night we also had a combined yuanling 1st and 2nd ward FHE. The other Elders did the spiritual share. It was the push-ups for candy... haha! Elder Hanset did the push-ups. He's on his 2nd move call of being trained. It still is a great lesson that impacts all those who watch. The whole meeting was great and a great way to establish relations with the ward. 

And you already heard about today. It was a great week! I didn't really do much in my own area last week. I was exchanging too much! But our area is doing really great though. I miss you all! Thank you for all the great letters and encouragement. This week is Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful for family. I love my family so much. I love how much the gospel blesses my family. I didn't know just how much until I got out here. Now I'm so blessed to see this gospel bless other families. Families can be together forever!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Buckwalter 

Taiwan Week 26: Have Miracles Ceased? NO!

Dear family and friends,

First off I'd like to say, NATE!!!! You're going to ALPINE?!?!?! That's so amazing! I'm so excited for you! I had a bit of an episode when I read that. That's going to be so amazing. You'll love the mission field so much.

Wow, so I feel like a lot has happened this past week! Monday was a rough night. But we had an earthquake during nightly planning that shook our room a bit. We're on the 11th floor, top floor of the building. Last Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting. I was beyond excited because we meet in the Nantou chapel, my old building. So I had a rush of memories flood in. I saw Elder Nickel. He's training in that area where I was trained. So cool! We had a great meeting on getting investigators baptismal goals and helping them accomplish their goals. President Bishop gave us an invite to get 3 people Week C goals. Those are people that have been to church at least once. So they either need to be current investigators without goals, former investigators, or part member families who have been to church before. This invitation can be pretty tricky. Because the week after you get them the goal, they need to have an interview so their baptism can be announced on Sunday. Then their baptism will be the following Saturday. But it's possible!

Wednesday was also a little rough down in one of our secondary areas, but at english class, we had a pretty alright turn out. One of our new investigators came, so I got to meet him. He's really cool and likes english. The spiritual share was really great. We shared about the blessings of repentence and it wrapped into a few of the classmates asking other questions about the gospel. They were all pretty involved in the scriptures that night. So good!

Thursday we got to sit with our investigator that came to english class. It's him and his wife. We go to their house to meet. They're really great, a little older, and have many questions. We taught them about the restoration. The husband had questions about the Word of Wisdom because he had heard about it before. And then they said the next few weeks are going to be pretty busy, so they can't come to church for a bit. That's a downer... But they still could set up for another time to meet during the week!

Friday was a great day of miracles! We had a lesson set up with a guy that was contacted on the street the week before. When we met with him, he was carrying the old chinese translation of the Book of Mormon. The new translation came out 3 or 4 years ago. It's a much better translation to understand. He said he had met with missionaries 16 years earlier in Taizhong. So we shared about the restoration and he had remembered a lot of it. He also said he had been to church before. Recently he wanted to check out some Christian churches, and then he was contacted by us a few weeks later. So we shared about baptism and got him to commit to a Week C goal! He sadly dropped it because his mom doesn't approve and didn't want him to go to church. So there's a little problem to work around. But he's still really good.

That night another miracle happened. We were meeting with an investigator that is progressing. He dropped his last goal because he couldn't make it to church because of work. He's really good though. He loves to read the Book of Mormon and is willing to keep all commitments. We got him a Week C goal too!

Saturday we had another miracle! There is a husband of a member that missionaries have been working with for quite some time. He's extremely nice. He had heard the lessons a long time ago, has read the Book of Mormon, and a bit of D&C. He's just not sure if he's felt the feeling that it's true. He's not sure how to recognize it. That's what us and the ward has been trying to help him recognize for a while. So we met with him and went through the baptismal interview questions. In the end, we got him to commit to a baptismal goal and helped him know that God will help him prepare to reach the goal. He's trying his best. We just need to help him know how to recognize the answer.

Sunday was a really great day. We got pretty nervous that none of our investigators were going to show up, but right before Sacrament meeting, our progressing investigator came. He likes church and is making new friends. Afterwards, a member came up to me with this 13 year old boy. She said he had come by himself to check out our church. Apparently his school teacher gave an assignment to find a church? So he came to ours. That's a miracle I'm so willing to take! He we sat with him afterwards and also got to set up to meet his parents that night. When we met them, they didn't have any huge opposition, but they want him to try other churches as well and see if this one is the one he wants. So we'll have to work with them a bit. But he loved it so far!   Also after church we got to sit with our progressing investigator and set up a baptismal interview for this week! So good!

The week was so great! I had a lot of times of stretching my patience and miracles to follow! You just need to endure, and endure it with a smile and faith. Have miracles ceased? Not in the least bit. I love you all! I love all the support from all of you. I keep you all in my prayers.

 

Love, Elder Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 25: Hey Nantou

Dear family and friends,

So there have been some changes. As you can probably see in the subject, I have been moved back to my old zone! Not my old area because Elder Harrison Nickell is training there! So we're now back in the same zone. I'm in Yuanlin. I came here once on a zone scramble for a day. And now I'm here! My new companion is Elder Stone. I'm way excited to start working here.

Well now for what went down last week. It was a struggle. A lot of our lessons fell through. But our investigator that came to the baptism met with us. He's doing really well, but can't meet for a while and isn't entirely sure if he'll want to be baptized yet.

Wednesday was cold. Really cold. I don't know where it came from. So our plan for a finding day didn't work out so much since the streets were pretty empty. But we were able to sit with the seaweed wrap owner and share a message about prayer. He said he already prays every night, but when we taught him to close the prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, he said he felt so much better afterwards. That night at English all the little kids had a costume party and came to the other classes to do trick or treating. It was so cute. They also sang with us. Afterwards we had pumpkin pie.

Thursday we went down to Qieding to visit the Ke family. They were pretty busy. So we didn't get to share much. But they're still doing really well. We then got to meet with a less active. He's the son of a really active guy that is so awesome. So we sat with both of them. The son is really cool. We see him every week when we go to email. He's just busy with work because he just finished with the military.

We were informed that our zone was doing some kind of puppet show at a blood drive on Saturday. So on Friday we all got together to practice it. It's all about the dangers of smoking. It was so interesting. It was all to a recording, so we just had to move the mouths. We also practiced songs we were going to sing as well. That night all of our lessons didn't show up and we were dropped by a boy because his parents didn't allow him to meet with us. That was a pretty sad.

Saturday we went to Dong qu for the blood drive. The puppet show was pretty interesting in front of this large crowd outside. But it was still pretty good. Then we sang. And then I got to donate blood! That was so unexpected, but a lot of fun. It was way hard doing the interview because the doctor didn't speak English and spoke all these Chinese medical words very fast. I've never given blood so fast though.   That night I had a sweet experience. There's this kid that was referred to us by a member in Yongkang. He was very golden when we first met him. But then he disappeared for over two weeks. The member told us not to drop him though. So we just keep calling him and hoping he answers. So when I called him, he answered. He said he'd been having some problems recently and needed us to pray for him. Then he said he will get back in contact with us soon. It was a really touching moment. He knew this gospel will help him.   Then right after that, Elder Smith had the impression to call a less active. He answered and said he needed us to pray for him too. Two really amazing phone calls in a row!

Sunday I told the ward that I was leaving, so I got some pictures with some people, including the Ke family. That night we visited a friend that has been a former for a long time that cuts our hair. I told him I was leaving and he said a prayer with us. As far as I know, he has never agreed to pray before. So that was really cool and a step towards progression! Then I packed up.

Now I'm here in Yuanlin! It feels good to be back in the mountains. I can't wait to start getting to work! I love you all! Thank you all for the wonderful support! I'm so excited to hear where Nathan is called to serve! I still need Michael's address by the way.

 

Love, Elder Anthony Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 24: On The Way To The Temple

Dear family and friends,

So pretty much I just wanna start out this email by saying that the Ke family got BAPTIZED!!! So good. It was quite a journey thus far. It happened yesterday morning at 7:30 before church. Their only free time is before church and church. Then they have to book it down to Gaoxiong right after. So we did all we could to get it before church. It was extremely early! My companion and I had to get up at 5:30 to get to the church in time to start filling up the font. We reminded a ton of members the night before, so there was a great turn out, despite the time. And one of our investigators came! But he had to leave right as we were going to do the baptizing. Talk about timing... I had the blessing and privilege of baptizing them. It was the mom and the dad. Next year their oldest child will be old enough to get baptized as well. It was such an amazing experience! Next stop, the temple! They really want to work towards being sealed.

Now for the rest of the week. My companion and I were really stressed last week and just wanted to have a relaxing preparation day. So we ate McDonald's, sat in those extremely hi-tech massage chairs, I bought my translator, shopped, and went home to either sleep or write letters. Oh and we got haircuts. Since our only investigator lesson cancelled, we got to visit a less active that we're working with. He just has work that's the problem. Work gets in the way with most people here. It's crazy. Then we visited another less active that we've been working with for a while. And I nearly died of laughter when I saw my companion get all cutie with the chihuahua puppy, knowing that he's scared of all dogs.

Tuesday was pretty much just a normal day. We did a lot of finding on the street. We also had a first time sit down with a guy that has a bit of interest. He's really quiet though. He's the one who came to the baptism. And we had some luck tracting that night and got a few people to add.

Wednesday we had another first time sit down with a really cool guy. He's a bit older and likes to cling to his religion he's had his whole life, but is still willing to listen. That afternoon we finally got to visit a less active that we've been really trying to help. The Bishop and a guy in the Elders Quorum presidency that we helped come back into activity came with us as well, and it all went really well. They all started talking about their kids and their responsibility to help them. They jumped back and forth between Chinese and Taiwanese, so I only understood about 1/4 of it. But I knew what they were talking about, so I could tell if the conversation was going good or not. And it ended very well. And since that was the first time Elder Smith had met him, he set up another time this week to get to know him more. So good!

Kevin was going to eat dinner with us that night, but then cancelled at the last minute because his boss called him in to work. I was depressed. English class that night was pretty good. Everyone made fun of me as usual. And then I had a good lesson on not judging others and looking for the good in everyone. It was really good.

One of our invitations for the week was to call through our entire ward list. So on Thursday we were able to do a bit of that and actually got to set up with a few less active members we've never been able to contact before. That night we sat with David and watched "The prodigal son." During the movie, there was an EARTHQUAKE! I just love emphasising that. It really was intense though. Everything started shaking and my chair was kinda bouncing back and forth. I had a lot of fun. It lasted about 30 seconds. And then we just kept watching the movie. Then we got to sit with an awesome guy in our ward. He's less active because he travels a lot and sometimes goes to church wherever he is. But he is probably my favorite guy in this ward. He's really easy to talk to and it's always a ton of fun. He just needs a boost of faith.

Friday was an epic day. We got to go on assistant exchanges with Elder Gulas! I love Elder Gulas! We had a first time sit with a less active and it turns out Elder Gulas had already met him once because the Elder that taught him was one of Elder Gulas' old companions and they ate lunch with him once. Then we had a family home evening with a less active and his family, and the kids were so dang cute! We then got to sit with our new older investigator and helped him understand prayer a lot more, which he really liked. Then we met with a former investigator and started to boost his faith again and got him to agree to a baptismal date! So we're working with him and slowly helping him prepare for that.

Saturday we went down to Qieding to see the Ke family and make some final preparations for their baptism. They were excited. Their kids were bouncing off the walls because we were there. That seems to happen a lot here. You sit with a family, the kids see two foreigners, then it's nothing but chaos. I love it.

And then I've already explained Sunday at church. But at night after our scheduled appointment fell through, I had a feeling to call up a former. My last companion and I ran into him last move call and ended up dropping him because all he wanted to do was bible bash with us and try to prove us wrong. So we ended our meetings with him on a bad note. So I was pretty scared to meet with him again. He said we could come to his work and sit with him. He has completely changed! He was much more humble, he said he hasn't been to his church in over a month, he's confused at whether that church could really help him, and he keeps looking over the Book of Mormon we gave him and thinking about the time he came to our church. Can you say perfect timing or what?! So we're starting to meet with him again.   And then we had a first time sit with a cool guy that owns a seaweed wrap store. Like the same kind of wrap that is my favorite food in Taiwan that I ate all the time in my last area but couldn't find here. So I found the place where I'm eating most of my meals now. And he's now an investigator!

And that is a wrap up of my week. It was a ton of fun. I'm so excited to keep on working. The move call ends this week. So who knows what will change by next week! I love you all! I love all the letters I get. Thank you for all the encouragement and support from all of you.

 

Love, Elder Anthony Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 23: Keep Your Fingers Crossed For A Family

Dear family and friends,

This past week has been so great, but so terrible at the same time! I had some intense eye pain the beginning of last week and it lasted a few days. I could barely open my left eye because it would sting and start to water up like crazy. But that left after a while. And then for the past few days I've had some intense stomach problems. Our first thought was food poisoning, but then we thought e-coli. Still not entirely sure because the symptoms were all over the place. I'm now in the process of recovering. I have little to no energy though. But that's all the bad news. Just lame physical junk.

Last Monday we got to meet with Kevin again. I was so happy to get back in contact with him again! We started to have the recent convert lessons. We found out that he moved out of our area... He's still in our zone though. But he goes to school outside of our zone and goes home to his family every week in another zone. So he's all over the place. And he said that because of his new job, making it to church is a little hard at times, but when he can, he'll be near where he goes to school. So we're gonna have to transfer his records up there. But we have a cool friend in that ward that is excited to meet him as well.

Tuesday we went out to visit the Ke family. They're doing really great! It was pretty busy at their work, so we left for a bit and ended up getting two new investigators in the process! We went back and they had a friend there that we met before. He had a sudden curiosity about the church, so we shared a 1st with him while we waited for work to slow down. He then gave us all his info to give to the missionaries where he lives. So Sweet! We finally got to sit with the family and shared about the Plan of Salvation, wrapping in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and finishing with the Law of Chastity. A lot, I know, but they had heard it all at church before and accepted it really fast. They're so golden!    We also sat with a guy that contacted us a few days earlier and said he used to meet with the missionaries. He's really good too. We're still not sure why he stopped meeting with the missionaries, and I can't find his previous teaching record, but we're excited to work with him!

Wednesday we had a district service opportunity at a retirement center! I love doing service. We were cleaning out they're recreation hall. It was a good sized room that was completely covered in dust and spider webs. Like it hadn't been used in decades or something. I killed spiders sizing from microscopic to 4 inches long, lifted heavier objects than I have in over a year, and pretty much made my own long sleeved shirt out of spider webs. It was a ton of fun.   That night we also got to eat at a favorite burger place of mine with Kevin! He's doing really well still and was getting ready to head back to where he goes to school. We'll be moving his records this week. Such a depressing thought...   And English class was a lot of fun too. My class loves making fun of me and telling me I'm going to go bald in the future. NIGHTMARE!!

Thursday was so amazing! We had Zone Conference. So we left really early in the morning to get on a train for Gaoxiong. We either had to leave really early and get there really early, or leave at a more reasonable time and risk being late. Never be late! So a ton of missionaries got there early and we all had a great McDonald's breakfast. It's been a long time since I've had that. Zone Conference was extremely great. President Bishop focused on working with members. Member referrals are the most golden investigators because they already have a friend in the church. And getting members involved in the lessons early helps the investigator have a new friend early on.   I was then happily surprised to see my trainer, Elder Allen! Him and a few other companionships from up north came down to help with training, Including Elder Greer! So I was way excited to see them. It was such a great reunion. We had training from one of our senior couples on family history. It got me really excited to do it as well! And then the Assistants taught us about quality less active rescuing. It's not just meeting, sharing a spiritual thought, and then inviting them back to church. It's friendshipping, helping them overcome their problems, inviting back, and strengthening. Many less active members know why the missionaries are going to visit them, because their less active! But many missionaries treat it like it's only a job or something to check off the list. Real rescuing involves having that desire for their well being and showing it. It was a really good lesson.    I was also sung to with a ton of other missionaries with birthdays in October, November, and December.

Friday we went back to see the Ke dad and go over the baptismal interview questions. He was by himself at work and was really busy, so it was a little difficult, but he wanted to and we finally got through it. That night we got to sit with a cool kid we met with a few weeks ago. He's really good as well, just very busy with college.

Saturday was all over the place and it seemed like we got nothing productive done. Everyone stood us up at our appointments. It was really annoying.

Sunday was really good though. Us and the Zone Leaders got to the church really early to interview the Ke dad. It all went over really well! We also got to show them the font and demonstrate how to be baptized. A little while later after our classes were over and were about to head up to Sacrament meeting, Elder Crandall came up to us and said the Ke mom might also be getting baptized next week. We were surprised because she didn't feel ready before. So all 6 of us missionaries were talking to them and she said she felt ready now and wants to be baptized the same day as her husband! So she's going to get interviewed this Wednesday and will be a drop in week A! So we're keeping our fingers crossed that the interview goes well and we get a family baptized this coming Sunday!      Later that afternoon, we were able to sit with an 85 year old less active that lives rather close to the church. His house is flat out amazing. He was the CEO of some company here in Taiwan and is well known by the government officials. He has an autobiography of his life, and the last 50 pages are all about his life in the church. He was baptized around 15 years ago. His health isn't too great and hasn't been able to wake up early enough to get to 9:00 church for a few years now. We really took to heart what we learned at Zone Conference and really wanted to show him that we cared about him. In the end, we told him that Sacrament meeting started at 10:45 and we would come ride over to his house and ride back to church with him so he can be a part of that. So I'm excited for next week! A baptism in the morning, a confirmation a few hours later in Sacrament meeting, and a great older man to come see it as well.

That was my week. Pretty rough physically, but amazing spiritually. Thank you all for your love and support. I love the letters I've gotten. I love letters. Until next week!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Buckwalter

Taiwan Week 22: Conference Weekend (for me)

Dear family and friends,

This week has been a lot of fun. We had a great district training meeting on Tuesday on working with members and getting to know the ward more. It'll help a lot since my ward is a bit more reserved than in my last area. It'll be great to work with them even more. After district training meeting, Elder Smith was helping one of the sisters pass off one of her phase 1 lessons, so I got to make a ton of phone calls to referrals and found that a lot of people didn't have interest and didn't want to meet. Bummer... But that night was great because we got to meet with our Bishop and talk about the ward. He gave us a list of people he wanted us to get in contact with that haven't been to church in a while.

Wednesday was Taiwan's birthday/independence day...? I'm not entirely sure. I heard birthday a lot until English that night when one of my students went in full detail of them breaking off from China. I'm still a little confused, but it was a special day for Taiwan! All the government businesses were closed and no one came to English class. It was pretty depressing. We were able to visit a less active that we've been working with though. It's been really hard to figure out what exactly he needs, until he mentioned a list of friends at church that were his good friends. Suddenly a huge opportunity clicked because we now had significant people that could visit him that might have a better influence on him than us two Americans! So we've been working with them and finding out time that they can come with us to visit him.

Thursday we got to bike down to Qieding to visit the Ke family. It was really awesome as we shared the Plan of Salvation. They enjoyed it a lot. And using the scriptures helps so much! We got a little nervous, because we also wanted to talk about the law of tithing. They own a business and that usually is the stopping point for most people that have their own business. So we talked about the blessings God has given their family, especially since starting to learn about the gospel. Then we came in with the law of tithing and asked him if he'd be willing to pay tithing after baptism. With the most sure sounding voice, he said yes! Such a miracle! This family has been well prepared by God.

Friday after weekly planning, we had Zone Leader exchanges. I got to go with Elder Crandall to his area. It was a lot of fun. We saw Elder Smith and Elder Westbrook a lot since we go to the same church building to teach lessons, but it was sweet getting to go around their area and meet some of their investigators. I also got to watch the second half of "The Testaments" with their investigator getting baptized this week! I love that movie! And the kid is so great. We ate dinner with him afterwards as well.

Saturday was conference! I loved it so much. We got to the church to find out that they couldn't get the 1st session in English for some reason, so we watched it in Chinese. A little weird. I was pretty happy to know I could understand most of it though! Us 6 missionaries went in on 2 Costco pizzas for lunch. I love having one of those in our area. And then we got to watch the 2nd and 3rd session in English. I loved it so much. Conference is such a blessing. It's like a spiritual buffet. All the talks were amazing! And that night we got to sit with a less active that we were told to go find. He was really happy to see us because he hadn't seen missionaries in a few years. His little 3 year old girl kept saying she wants to go watch conference. So they said they would come.

Sunday was really great with conference again! I LOVE conference! Everyone was chilling at the church eating lunch between sessions because we only have an hour between sessions. So it was a lot of fun eating with the two wards. Once the final session ended, we had a few meetings. One of them was a huge breakthrough because some of the ward members found a way to get in contact and find one of our recent converts that has completely disappeared. I haven't even met him yet because we haven't been able to get in contact with him. But with the help of the ward and family connections, we found a way. We went to his house that night and talked with his family. He wasn't there again... But at least we found out what his schedule is roughly like. So our chances of finding him has increased! We also had two pretty great lessons last night. One was a first time sit with a referral we got from one of our investigators. And the other one contacted us while we were going to get the pizzas the day before. He's a former of a few years it seems. So we're excited to meet with him more as well!

Well that was pretty much my week! There were some really frustrating times, but it always got better as I just kept pushing forward. That's always what you gotta do! There was a quote from conference, I think one of the Saturday sessions, that I really liked. I can't entirely remember it at the moment, but it's talking about faith. This is what I got from it: "With faith comes a trial of faith, and then an increase of faith." I see that almost everyday out here. Never let a trial overcome you and pull you down. It's through the endurance that the lessons and the blessings are received.

I love you all so much. Thank you so much for the love and support. Thank you for all the letters and updates on your lives. Have a wonderful week!

 

Love, Elder Anthony Buckwalter