4-24-2013 Letter

4-24-2013

Hello everyone!

Elder Buckley is now in his second cycle here in Yonkers, and he's loving it still!! (: I can't believe I've been in the field for as long as I have been now it's super crazy but cool. And to hear that Ryan Garrison and Saul Marquez are back just blows my mind, didn't they just leave a little while ago?!?! Haha, oh man... But I'm loving it teaching the gospel here in Yonkers. As some of you may know, I recently had a baptism with Elder Pickard, my companion, and it went super well. Her name is Lily, about 35 years old, a girlfriend of one of the members Willie Quezada (He's the one from the last pic I sent, the one that baptized her). Her countenance is literally changed, it's such a crazy thing. We just went over the other day and taught a lesson about how to be a disciple and what that means, and she received it well and she wants a bible now to complement her Book Of Mormon reading, so we'll get that for her (: I'm really happy about that. And as far as those of you that are wondering, we should be having another baptism and a few more less-active reactivations come up soon, I'm hoping and praying that it works out. Something that still amazes me is that we teach 60% in Spanish and 40% in English, sometimes it even seems half and half, but I'm still learning that Spanish, it's coming along slowly but surely.

Something that I wish to do for everyone back home that reads my letters is compile a list of current investigators, what we're working with and dealing with, giving more info about them, and other crazy and cool experiences that I've been having as a person, missionary and in Yonkers and other places in total. I will do this starting tonight and have it all written out for everyone next Wednesday. Also what I want to do is compile a list of my new favorite scriptures and how I incorporate them in lessons, and just different stuff like that (:

I love everyone one of you back home, and I want you to know that I know that the gospel's true. If I can touch people's hearts through the Holy Spirit and bring the light of Christ into people's homes in the treacherous city of Yonkers, NY where the people are nasty and vile and unaccepted, the Gospel HAS to be true. To see the change that it brings in these people's lives is AMAZING and strengthens my testimony tenfold.

Be ready for a sweet cool e-mail the next week! I love you all, thank to everyone who has written!

Love, Elder Buckley 

4-17-2013 Letter & Picture

4-17-2013

How's it going everybody?! Man, Elder Buckley made it through his first whole cycle (6 weeks) who would have thought? (; I am still with Elder Pickard and everybody in the apartment is still the same as well which makes me happy. I had my first baptism!!! Her name is Lily and she is in her mid 30's and the missionaries have been teaching her for two years now and she's finally baptized. It's so cool. A lot of members and other people are starting to warm up to me now and a lot of the kids like me haha. The Spanish is still coming along well and we're teaching a lot. I know it's not about the numbers, but Elder Pickard and I had the highest ones overall this past transfer, we've been working really hard. I have been very tired lately and we haven't been eating a super ton, but we've been doing better this past little bit. It's hard to be a missionary a lot of the times, but I love it so much. I don't really know what to write this week since besides the baptism there really hasn't been anything so new or crazy, but I will include two journal entries. I love you all so much and hope that you are all doing well. I know that this gospel is true and that our Heavenly Father loves us. I know that when we need to, like Enos, we can pray when our soul needs nourishment. I know that families are sooo important, and even though a lot of people struggle with maintaining a happy family, especially out here, when we try our best to unify our family and involve the gospel when we do so, families can be happier and stronger. I love you all, keep going strong and keep the faith. Here's the two journal entries:

4/12/13 - Holy crap, I'm a terrible journalist. Well, today. It started off with a bunch of errands, taking fruit to the freaking Sisters, going to Target in White Plains @ Westchester mall, coming back in some of the most horrid traffic I've seen in the pouring rain, walking to the church to language study and making the baptismal program. Then we did less-active look-ups, and went back home. It was so hard man, a ton of walking and in the rain as well. Then we got picked up by Steven and driven over in his ghetto Crown Victoria to the house of Yadira. I was laughing with her and joking around a ton already, and only on the first visit, we were loving it. She made the day go from terrible to fantastic for me.

4/14/13 Holy freak today was crazy! Had PEC with the bishop, then church, and then a baptism for Michelle Denise for the sisters. It was Sister Richey's last day in Yonkers as she is getting transferred after a year of serving here, crazy. After the baptism, Elder Pickard and I went to the Saint Joseph's hospital to give a blessing but they wouldn't let us in, haha, oh man. We then walked to our dinner appt. at the Munoz family's house. I ate so much, and freaking everybody was there, it was so cool. Afterwards, we tracted into "Mongoo" (Jose Jimenez) and set up a time to visit him, then we tracted into Billy who hasn't been seen in 6 months and set up a time with him. It was great, a fantastic day and night. 

Pixs from week 5!!!

4-10-2013 5th week in the field!

4-10-2013

Hello there everybody! It has been a crazy fantastic week here in Yonkers, NY, I've been loving almost every second of it! (: The Spanish is coming along well, we've taught a TON, and being with the four elders I'm with is just such a blast, I am so blessed to be with an apartment of dudes that get along well with each other. Transfers are coming up soon, and I, no matter what happens, I get to drive next cycle I'm so stoked. I've driven twice so far, it's exhilarating driving in such a busy place, I love it. I hope though that none of the elders get transferred, although it will probably happen. I was in the biggest transfer so far, but they are still coming in!! 28 new ones this cycle, it's going to be crazy and I have no idea how  it'll all work but I have faith. Heck, I may even train! Which is a weird thought haha, I've only been in the field a month! :0 But I just can't wait to see what happens.

I have to start off with my blast of a P-Day that I had and will atttach pics for. We went to Harlem my comp's first area, and it was great! So busy and so fun, and I got a lot of good deals on sweet stuff. We had fantastic dollar slice pizza, I got 4 ties for 20 bucks from the tie guy, and they're gorgeous quality ties, beautiful paislies and polka dots. I also got a sweet NY hat for like 5 bucks and it's a quality genuine snapback. Anyone wanting to get good deals on things needs to come here they got everything! Haha,but it was also of course super rough and walking those streets is dangerous. But we had a great fun time, and saw and did cool things.

So how did everyone like conference? I loved it, Uchtdorf and Bednar rocked it, and Packers poem was awesome. And who knew President Monson was a pyro? The week of General Conference we didn't teach a ton because people travelled and were with a lot of family and such, it just didn't happen. However, we're starting the new week off strong. Monday we taught like 8 lessons. 8 OF THEM. Elder Pickard and I went so hard, tracted for a while, and it was just awesome. Later that night, with the hermanas, we had a dinner appt with a recent convert member, la familia Paolo (I am starting to transfer spanish things to english, I just don't even remember some things in english haha) It's dominic and his wife and they're a wonderful young married with kids couple who know both languages fluently and prefer to speak in english. It was an awesome dinner and dominic thinks I'm cool, we both shared in our love for Dr. Pepper, and now we're tight. A technique of impressing members and investigators and building relationships off of mutual agreeances is super important to have in what we do and who we talk with to get them to like you. Thankfully, I'm in, haha!

Tuesday we went to Judy's and had krispy kremes and cookies and we talked about her utah trip and she talked to us about all of our moms that she called haha. We then had our noche de amistad and went home.

Today, we've been sleeping and transferring music to ourr ipods and doing laundry and sprucing up. Now I'm emailing, haha, and tonight we'll teach about 3 lessons. I'm just loving it, it's growing on me hardcore here, but I miss everyone and home as well. By the way, tell Kylee and Bradford congrats! (: (Kylee is Mitch's cousin that got married last week)

I love you all, keep staying strong and relying on the Lord.

Elder Buckley

4-3-2013 Partial group shot of the Zone!!! Can you find me?

4-3-2013 Post

4-3-2013

What's happening everybody, Elder Buckley with a "holla atcha boy" from Yonkers! (: Life has been pretty fantastic! We have two baptismal dates for the month of April and I know for a fact one of them will go through. Pretty exciting stuff! I hope everyone, family and friends, is doing well and I feel the thoughts and prayers all the time, thank you. Life has, really though, been pretty tough as well. Living on not a lot of food, and pretty darn ghetto living conditions gets to me sometimes, but since we have a great quattro in the pad, it's been pretty fine. I'm also, and I know this might sound weird, but I'm starting to think white people are weird and I'm kind of upset when I see them!! Haha, I think this but I don't all at the same time, it's so strange. The Spanish culture is just so much more accepting of us as missionaries and people and they will invite you in if they're not busy. It's pretty nice. Whenever we tract during an APF for the English, I get sad because it's just a lot of door slams and yelling. True, a lot of the Spanish and blacks do that to us as well, but nothing nearly as bad as what the English elders and sisters go through. Anyhoo, I hope everyone is good, I love you all.

P.S. Ignore typos i have to go fast(:

3/27/13 Wednesday o glorious p-day! Well, mostly... we woke up, did laundry and Elder Rydalch and I had a pretty fun time in the morning in the streets going to stores. We then napped ate and began to clean LIKE NO OTHER. We took out tons of trash, and Elder Rydalch and I cleaned that nasty bathroom. The thing hadn't been properly cleaned out in transfers man, could have been a year. I wiped off like an inch of green/black mold off the window sill thing and about died. But now our bathroom and apartment is more or less clean! (: So then we got dressed, emailed for like 2 hours, and had another lesson with Olivia and the English elders and Hermano Polanco sat in as the member present and we translated his spanish as he talked to her about the Plan of Salvation it was pretty neat. Then we had the priesthood meeting at Hermano Quezadas house when we ate los tres culpes, salami, yucca, and fried queso. DELICIOUS.

3/29/13 Friday

Well today was a pretty alright day. But first I have to write about the split that Elder Cox and I had that was absolutely awesome. Elder Cox came over and split with me and thursday night for Friday. We all had a blast talking with him and staying up late having fun before beginning a long day tomorrow. In the morning it was great, we talked about how to set goals and involving the Spirit in those it was great, and we shared the quikry things about each others companions and it was just fantastic. I was the driver that day too, driving the flipping Corolla felt great. So, first thing was lunch and I tried to take him to the Yonkers deli slice but it was closed. SHUT DOWN. The best dollar slice in our area, gone. Sadness overwhelmed me, I had to take a moment for recomposure. We sucked it up and ate Lil Greasers right next to our church and then printed out english class flyers to go down elm st. Elm st is the most ghetto and dangerous street in our area, pictures of it will come next week. It was successful and fun and nobody died. Then we went and did an APF for the english sisters in Tarrytown and it was successful for Spanish only. Elder Cox and I rushed back and had a powerful lesson to Juan Lopez about la palabra de sabiduria y tambien la ley de castidad. Lo fue bien, y el elder cox fue bien con la idioma. Then, we went home and blasted gospel music with the windows down and sang at the top of our lungs. I hope I train fairly soon haha.

4/2/13

Tuesday

Best day ever man, but soooo long. Started off with some sleeping in because I still felt terrible from sunday and then we were off to another flippin fantastic breakfast appt con la familia Carrpio. This family is my favorite family so far, I need pictures of them soon. We reactivated them and now they love us. We went over and just had cool convos about all sorts of stuff. I played with their two littlest girls and they love me. We had a tradtional American breakfast, french toast, eggs, bacon and milk. Hermana Carrpio says I'm good with kids and that I will have a lot and have a great wife. She said Elder Pickard will have a couple of kids and have kind of a crazy wife. I don't know, time will tell! Hahaha. Then we left did english class flyers on the rest of elm st., had an amazing lesson with Lily who accepted a baptismal invitation for April 14th, then we had a surprise lesson with two investigators gabriel and martin, both english class students. Then we had a funny english class where I came up with the topic to teach about personal care and hygiene and it was a funnny class where we learned a lot as well.

These were the highlight-days for sure, and there was so many other things but I only have so much time. I love you all so very much and I hope you think about me as much as I do about you.Pray for me, and keep trying to do your best in everything. I have a testimony of this gospel and most assuredly of missionary work, and I hope you all can share it as much as you can.

Love,

Elder Buckley