8.5 Minutes! (details to follow)

I''ve got good news and I've got bad news. 

GOOD news: another fantastic week!  

BAD news: if your name isn't Robyn, Ted, or Maddie Buckwalter, the only way I can communicate with you is here on gmail. 

So no Facebook Messenger or Google Hangouts, unfortunately. I don't make the rules, I just follow them. (Robyn is cheering as she edits this letter!) Obedience makes ALL the difference on a mission!

THE BUZZ BROTHERS

I mentioned last week our district (group of 9 missionaries) found 20 new people to teach. Elder Orme said if we find 21 this week, he'll join the party and buzz his head, too. Sure enough, we found 27 new people to teach and he's rockin' a buzz cut now. Now 3/4 of us in our pad (apartment) have buzz cuts. We're trying to get Elder Maniaol to join the dark side with us, but every time we ask, he says with his limited, but decent, english, "I can't. My hair is my pride." I feel that tho. only 18 months left til i can grow out my mane again!

The FUNNIEST thing happened this week. We approached a house, the door was open so we just knocked on the house and a big dude named Joshua came to the door and immediately says this, "We are saved. Jesus is king and he's coming back in about (he then proceeds to look at his wrist with NO watch on it) 8 and a half minutes. You guys have a good day. God bless."  

In attempt to salvage/extend this frank conversation:

Elder Orme says, "Well, is there anything we can do for you guys?" 

Then Joshua says, "uhh pray."  

We said, "Alright, we can do that." 

He says, "Have a good day" and walks back to his couch. The dude was not having any of it. 

We got back in the car and started busting up laughing. Elder Orme says, "Well, if the Savior is really comin' back in 8 and a half minutes, I wanna get one last smoothie."

A funny quote from my companion this past week is, "I'm not mad, I'm just pissed" haha. Someone listen to "Is This The World We Created" by QUEEN for me. that song came to mind this week. I love QUEEN. 

We were out and about one day and stumbled upon four 12 year old skater boyz and decided to say what up. We skated with them for a bit and then gave them Book of Mormons or Books of Mormon, if you prefer I say it that way. One of the kids said something along the lines of: "I'm gonna keep this book forever." That was heartwarming. This is why we do it. Right there. We gave out a German, Chuukese, and Marshallese Books of Mormon this week so that's pretty snazzy. Many, many great times this week, however, I gotta conclude on something near and dear to my heart. THE BOOK OF MORMON. 

The Book of Mormon has been such a blessing in my life. It's something I absolutely love. I know that it is the word of God. I know that it testifies of Jesus Christ. I know that it's words "heal the wounded soul" like it says in Jacob 2:8. The Book of Mormon is so important to me because of its role in softening my heart and mind enough to rediscover my desire to serve a mission. A year ago today I had no intention of serving a mission, but because of the Book of Mormon, I am now serving my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ here in the Hawaiian Islands. The Book of Mormon provides so much peace and comfort. Check out this passage from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 33:10-11:

"And now, my beloved brethren, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and they teach all men that they should do good. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you that they are his words, at the last day; ..."

If you're not currently reading the Book of Mormon in your life, I invite you to do so. It will only bless your life - and you'll never know if you never try it for yourself. 

aight here's my fun pictures!!

aloha,

elder buckwalter🤙🏽

Hawaii: First FULL week: acai bowls, meeting & greeting

Goooood morning everybody! 

Greatest. Week. Ever. 

It all started Saturday the 15th when I was given my companion and area. My companion's name is Elder Orme from Sandy, Utah. Finishes his mission and returns home in December. He had quite the week: my man got "dear john'd", then got sick; then found out his family has COVID. Talk about a kick in the pants. I'd be a somber chinchilla if that happened to me, but Elder Orme handled it like a champ! We've been working hard to find new people to teach and listen to this, Elder Johnson and Elder Kellogg (homies from Las Vegas mission), you won't believe this! This past week our zone found 32 new people to teach! Our district found about 20 of those. CRAZY NUMBERS!! 

Shout out to my dad's mission president, Elder Neil L. Andersen who I got to meet in the MTC, I was asked to host his grandchildren for dinner when he came to speak to the missionaries in the MTC. He's been a friend and support to his missionaries (from French Bordeaux mission) since 1990.

Note: Nick's SKY DIVE Kauai t-shirt we got last year when we jumped 10,000 feet from an airplane over the gorgeous coast of Kauai !

If I really wrote everything that's happened in the past week, we'd have a novel and we don't want that. Just know that we've had some fun times, some crazy times, and some miracles for sure!! A few nights ago, my companion buzzed my head. I just felt that the time was right. 

Pre-buzz

Post Buzz Cut

Robyn here, "Nick looks like he did as a little guy with his 'summer buzz cut' and it makes me want to hug that face and rub my hands on his short hair. I"m extremely nostalgic!"

We talked with or rather got talked AT by a guy for 45 minutes who told us that Jesus Christ will return with the words Lord of Lords and King of Kings tatted on his thighs and that's just the least of it! In that moment I wanted nothing more to be a horse because correct me if I'm wrong, horses can sleep while standing up. 

We met w a lady named Kuulei who has been quarantined AT her work since March and this past weekend was her only time off where she was allowed to leave and we just so happened to text her. That's most definitely the hand of God right there. She has the CUTEST grand-daughter named Skylar. We got a picture with her.

After our long talk, Kuulei took us inside the store we were sitting outside of and bought us acai bowls:

My 1st acai bowl in Hawaii. a day to remember for sure. 

An elder in my district who was previously serving in Apia Samoa (Legrand's future mission) is gonna hook me up with a lava lava (the dress skirt-kilt-thingy) and you already know your boy is gonna ROCK that thang.

We had a facebook devotional last night w Elder Groberg aka "Kolipoki" - the dude from the Other Side of Heaven movies and his message stressed the importance of prayer, scripture study, and gratitude. It was a simple, but powerful message. 

There's so much more to say, but ain't nobody got time fo dat so I'll let the pictures do the talking. 

Got Jordan Melton's wedding invitation on my fridge, no big deal. 

aloooooha

ELDER BUCKWALTER🤙🏽

A L O H A !! Moved to his First Area (adios, Quarantine!)

FIRST area & companion in HAWAII:

Nick's new companion is Elder Orme from Sandy, UT. He's been out in Hawaii for 1.5 years already and loves it. Elder Bucky is sooo happy! From the minute he landed on Oahu, he was posting and messaging us photos of the views, saying, "I'M HOME" and look at this face. It speaks the truth :)

They got to do service on his first day in the new area: Makakilo, Oahu. He arrived Sat. August 15th to his new area after quarantining from July 30th through August 13th. 

I've been wearing my matching flower on and off for 3 weeks in Nick's honor ;)

Love to see them embracing the island culture!

Mask mandate, COVID-19, is a most unique part of this experience. So unexpected!

If you know Nick, you know he lives for FRUIT and SMOOTHIES.

This is his DREAM LIFE!

He's loving studying the gospel of Jesus Christ daily, serving others, meeting the members and the missionaries. And really hoping to bless some lives every single day.

Wait til you hear about the Buffalo Wild Wings fiery dinner (and HOT peppers) that happened his first weekend when Captain G ordered hundreds of wings for 12 missionaries, issued some dares and now owes some Elders free wings for ONE year! (including lucky Elder Orme!)

Le Quarantine: Nick's second letter from Hawaii

This cracked us up. And tickled us. And warmed our hearts. Love this kid! His vocabulary and sense of humor and sarcasm is still going strong:

TITLE: "almost out of quarantine"

Aloha and good morning, friends and family! These past 2 mornings I have started out the day by listening to the tabernacle choir and let me tell you, it has been nothing short of life changing. It's impossible to be grumpy or unenthusiastic after listening to those bangerz🤧  Sooo on Thursday night I'll be set free from this mandatory 2 week quarantine and that night we're gonna have dinner at the mission home with President and Sister Walker, who I have come to absolutely love. President Walker is such a powerful speaker and Sister Walker is a doll, of course. Speaking of Sister Walker, she grew up with the dude from the Other Side of Heaven (Kolipoki, as my fam calls him) and he's gonna be speaking to our mission later this month!! Knowing how big of fans my fam is of those movies, I'm pretty excited for that. 

When i do get out of this quarantine, I'll be serving on Oahu because there is actually another mandatory 2 week quarantine if you go from Oahu to any other island. so to avoid that, they're just gonna keep us on Oahu for the time being. I'll figure out where exactly on Oahu and who my companion is probably some time between Thursday and Saturday.

INSERT BY MOM: Two weeks in strict quarantine: the apartment was stocked with food and drinks. These four were roommates for 14 days and couldn't leave. Most were brand new missionaries, trying to figure out the work in a COVID quarantine.

I call this the 'Quarantine Quatro' bunch. At least they had a balcony to sit out on and enjoy the views!

That's pretty much all i have for you folks today. Almost burned down out apartment yesterday when Elder Chan was attempting to make some fried chicken on the stove top. a traumatizing experience for the poor guy, we love him nonetheless. I'm helping a ward mission leader in Seattle overcome an addiction. I'm messaging someone from Vegas named Olanzo just about the goodness of God, we'll get down to the nitty-gritty here soon hopefully. I commented on Justin Bieber's facebook and let him know him and his wife's baptism lacked proper authority. My Book of Mormon studies this week were phenomenal. I studied all over the place including Moroni 9 with my former Zone Leader in Vegas. Shoutout Jonas Nunn., fellow Texan! Moral of the story is I swear the Book of Mormon gets better and better every time I read it. 

Can't think of anything else I've been up to. I had a quarantine 'stache goin' on, but I shaved it a few days ago. So far I've had pineapple, apples, strawberries, and raspberries and they all have been delicious. Can't wait to try more fruit. I live and breathe fruit. Anyways, aloha!! I'll see what pics I've got, but you truly can't expect much of me when we literally can't leave our apartment -- haha. Only a few more days left of this though and then I will be finding and teaching like an absolute mad lad. I'll include the screenshot of my comment on Justin Bieber's baptism post. 

🤙🏽

elder buckwalter

Elder Bucky arrived in Hawaii: first letter

Made it to Hawaii and I am absolutely loving it. 

Quarantined in Honolulu for the next 10 days or so. Your boy is studying the Book of Mormon and general conference talks all day every day because that's all I can do because of the strict quarantine. If I leave my apartment its 1 yr jail time and/or a 5000 dollar fine. Miss me with that! haha. 

Don't want this email to be a long one, but just know that I'm doing AMAZING in quite literally the most beautiful place on earth. Like literally, this is the happiest I've ever been on my mission and no its not just because I'm in Hawaii, haha!

I've found myself having so much joy and happiness as I try my best to be like Jesus and love others as He did. My weird anxiety and self consciousness prevented me from writing a longer email, but I love y'all. pics included (for my mom)