Cody's final email!

I´m coming home.... Words that I still can´t believe. The reality that my mission is basically over is something hard to believe. I mean, you give everything (literally everything) that you have into it for two years and in return, you are eternally blessed. I have been asked several times during this time I have had as a missionary, "What is the most important thing you have learned?" and to be honest, its hard to answer that question. I have learned so much these two years that I could write a book haha. But, one of the most important lessons I learned during this time is the importance of enduring to the end. Let me give you an example to illustrate my point: Before the mission, I was pretty dedicated to running. One of my life goals was always to complete a marathon (26.2 miles) and, if possible, do it in under 3 hours. A few months before the mission, I decided to take a shot at it and run the Oklahoma City Marathon. I remember starting out at a good, comfortable pace. Not running to hard, but fast enough to keep up with my goal pace. At about mile 10, I said good-bye to some friends I was running with and continued on the marathon course as they turned to finish the half-marathon. At that point, I decided to run considerably faster. A burst of energy came into me and I continued with that energy for quite a bit of time until mile 18. Mile 18 I hit, what runner´s call it, the "wall". In short, its when the body runs out of energy. I remember thinking " oh great, I still have another 7 miles and I´m hurting. What am I going to do now?" I continued to run through the pain until about mile 23. At mile 23, I began to think about walking. I knew that if I walked, I wouldn´t achieve me goal, that I would come across the finish line a few minutes after 3 hours. As these thoughts were running through my head, I remember seeing one of my summer coachs. He asked me how I was doing and I responsed, "Ive been better." Then, with a bit of encouragement and a energy pack, he told me to continue strong. Those last 3 miles were probably the slowest 3 miles I have ever ran in my life. But, I didnt stop. I continued strong and came across the finish line in 2:57:13. Life is a marathon. The mission was a marathon. There were so many times I wanted to stop and walk or I hit the "wall". But I knew my end goal. I knew how many more people I could help and how much better their lives would be because I didn´t stop. I don´t have words to thank ya´ll for "pacing" me through these two years. Your e-mails, letters, and support kept me on the course and at the right pace. I will forever be grateful. This Thursday I get on a bus to Porto Alegre, where I will stay until next Tuesday. Next Tuesday I get on a plane and arrive home on Wednesday. Next Monday I won´t have much time to talk, so it will be mostly confirming things before heading home. This week will be full of interviews, dinners, and finalizing things. The mission was a dream come true, a life goal completed. I will bring with me some much that will help me through my next marathon called life. I want to close this chapter of my life with my testimony, something that grew so much these two years. I know that I am a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that this is His Church and that it was restored on the Earth again through the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is another testement of Jesus Christ. I felt the Spirit testify to me of its truthfulness. Feast upon the words of Christ. Live the Gospel. But most importantly, Preach it! Make it to mile 26.2 running! Eu amo vocês!!!! Um grande abraço, Elder Cody William Buhler Missão Brasil Porto Alegre Sul

Updates on Elder Cody Buhler- he comes home this year!

Updates from Christmas and New Year's Hey Family, FELIZ NATAL! Can you believe its Christmas already? Seriously, after my one year mark, time is flying by. Its almost 2015! I guess I will start out by telling you all the times for Skype. Here we go: If anyone has problems or questions let me know. I hope this works out for everyone. remember, those are the times, give or take 15 mins to 30 mins. Well this week was tough. I came down with an intestial infection haha. Went to the hospital twice. got an ultrasound and blood test again. man, i cant stand the health care. unfortunately, with obamacare the same thing will happen in the U.S. okay, enough of politics though haha. anyways, doing better. i was out of the work for the entire week though, doctors orders. so, nothing new with investigators this week. sorry. I want to take a bit of time to talk about Christmas. I am so grateful for my mission because I have come to realize the true meaning of christmas. The Church has been doing a big campaign called He is the Present. I dont know if you all had the chance to see the small video. Its really good. You can find it on the church website. just type in he is the present on google and you will find it. So, as missionaries, we have been giving out pass along cards to people that talk about the film. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to give a class about the life of christ. As I was preparing for it, I took some time to think about the life of christ. He really is the present. He gave his life so that we might have a chance. The words of John explain it better -Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13) President Castro asked the same question this year to us that he did last year - What will we give Chirst this year for his birthday? What a great question! Its his birthday we are remembering. So, what will you all give Christ this year for his birthday? Family, thank you for being my Christmas present this year! I could write about each one of you all day, unfortunately i dont have the time to do so. You all have talents and abilities that have shaped my life, that really i dont have the words to describe. You mean the world to me. You have made this the best christmas that I have had. I love you all very much. Thanks for influencing my life, for helping me be the person I am today. Merry christmas and talk to you on thrusday! Be safe! Love you! Remember, he is the present, and so are you too! Love you! Elder Buhler Hey Family, how are you all doing? Well, has it not been a happy everything sort of week. We had Christmas, now Caitlin's birthday, and then the new year. okay, its the new year? what? its something hard to comprehend that I am coming home in 5 months. it still seems long and far from my hands, but then it doesn't. so in respect to time, that's how i am feeling haha. i will know for sure this week about my date. president still hast called me. probably get it today though. this week went really slow after chirstmas. we were a bit down and things were just hard. needless to say, i am so happy i got to talk to you all. everyone seems to be doing great. yesterday was a crazy day. we were walking by a field when i heared something crying. it appeared to be under a tree so i looked further and found two new born puppies. as we looked around, no one was around nor was the mom of the puppies. so we jumped the fence and went to work to help them out. we got the first one out and then took to an investigators house to help him get out of the rain. the second one we went back for and unfortunately, it was hurt bad. some animal had bit it in the back and was bleeding bad. these puppies were only about 3 days old and hadn't opened their eyes yet. anyways, we took the other back and tired everything, but it didnt make it. flies has laid magets in it and it was too crazy. anyways, the other one is doing good and has a new home with some neighbors of the investigator. we named him Thor. i will send a picture next week. brasil has a big problem with stray dogs being born like that cause there is so many road dogs. its sad. well, i hope you all have an awesome new year! 5 more months! Love you so much! be safe and see you next week! love you! Happy birthday Caitlin! Elder Buhler

A few updates from Elder Buhler! These are for the past few weeks!

August 11, 2014 Hey Family, Eventful day. Transfer calls were today. Looks like I will be training. Yeah, means I have to more a lot more productive haha. So, tomorrow I will be headed to Porto Alegre to pick up a brand new missionary ( dont find out his name until tomorrow) and then I have to train him all about missionary work! should be interesting! Elder Sanok will be headed to Montana, which luckily is still in my district. Bummer though, cause we got along really well. He is going to be Senior already though #likeaboss. On a more happier note, Elder Sanok and I did some fishing today in a monster lake and killed it! I caught two, one about 2 lbs and the other about .5 lbs and he caught one at about 2.5 lbs. these things were serious lake monsters! teeth i have never seen in my life! its was awesome. felt like a real bass pro haha. so thats why im using email later tonight. so yeah, those are the updates for the week. nothing new besides that. i hope all is well at home. miss you all so much and love you! have a good week! Elder Buhler

July 21st, 2014- Hey Family, How are you all doing? I hope you all had a fantastic week. This week was good for us here in Aguas Claras. Investigator C was baptized!!!! She is 76 years old though, so both Elder Sanok and I had to enter the water to baptize. It was really spiritual and I am super happy to bring another soul into the true church. As with our other investigators, we are continuing to work with them, but they are all at a stalemate. Many of them want to be baptized, but our scared of not enduring to the end in the gospel, or rather, quitting after being baptized. Anyone have any advice for this? We would really appreciate it. Tomomrrow is Zone Conference in the city. It will be werid to go back and see my old area. I enjoyed my time in the city, but I am sure grateful for the opportunity to be in Aguas Claras with a great companion. We get along great and the work is awesome here. In two weeks I officially make one year on the mission! Wow! one year! done! wohoo!!!! Feels so good. I finally feel old on the mission! I can´t wait to see yall´s faces in 10.5 months (we all get home a few weeks earlier because of how transfers play out). I miss you all so much and so excited for this year to finish up! Love you all so much! Have a safe week! Love you! Elder Buhler

During the World Cup! July 14, 2014 Hey Family, Monday! Great day, right? I hope everyone had a great week. This week went well. It was really fast. A few updates for ya´ll: Saturday we will have another baptism, assumming all goes well. Investigator C is awesome! She is like 75 years old and really has a desire to be baptized. She used to practice a religion called batuki (a religion that worships saints), so before we could continue to help her progress, we had to take all her saints of the house. Crazy stuff ha. Anyways, she is doing well and we are really excited for her baptism. Investigator A is an another really awesome investigator. She just started coming to church because of a friend, but we set a baptism date of July 26th with her. I am hoping all goes well. The members here so much with baptisms. It is one reason I really love this area. Investigator P is so elite! He works a lot, so we always have to teach him at his work. He came to Church Sunday, by himself. That rarely happens here. He knows the Church is true too. The only things we have to do is marry him to his wife. That will be a fun process. Two Americans who know nothing about Brasilian marriage haha. Anyways, that really about all our potencial investigators for baptism soon. This week in church we talk about service. Wow, I loved it. Service really does bring blessings and happiness. After the mission I want to give so much service, especially to the missionaries in our ward. Really though, give them dinner if you have time. It helps alot. Look for ways to serve this week! I love you miss you all! Have a great week! Be safe. Love you! Elder Buhler Mosiah 2:17 Go Germany!

Updates from Cody!

Updates from Cody: You can email him at cody.buhler@mylds.net or write at Elder Cody Buhler Av. Princesa Isabel 342-B Santana 90620-000 Porto Alegre, RS Brasil Hey Family, I thought I would shoot out a longer mass e-mail this week because it has been a while since I have done one. Well, this week was fast and short, such as every week in the mission. Transfers end in 2 weeks and next transfer is 4 weeks (not the normal 6 weeks), so wow. I will be on my 7th transfer in the next 6 weeks. Crazy to think about, that in July I will only have one more year left. I am also really looking forward to General Conference and Skyping on Mother Day´s, but we will talk more about that a bit later. To update you on my week: Monday: P-Day! Glorious P-Day. That´s all I need to say about that. Tuesday: Don´t really remember too much besides the normal District Meetings and work. Wednesday: Volunteered to work at a blood donation at the church. We taught a lesson to about 40 Brasilian soldiers who were waiting to leave after donating blood. Thursday: Volunteered again at the blood donation. Really hard day. Really had to depend on the Lord that day. T.V. crew came and filmed the blood donation, it is on the internet and went all through Brasil if you want to see it. My companion was on it ha. Friday: I forget what happened on Friday too. I believe to went tracting and knocked houses haha. Saturday: Another service project. Moved furniture at a member's home. Sunday: Church! good day. That about wraps up the week. I miss you all so much and love you! have a great week! Elder Buhler

Updates from Cody!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to give you an update from Cody! Sorry some of the posts are late! He has just been very busy! I will get more updates next week for you. Life in the city is great. He is telling me about a family he is teaching right now, that the weather is very hot right now, the World Cup is picking up with all of the collectable items being sold, and he keeps getting better and better with the language! You can write to him at cody.buhler@myldsmail.net. He writes every Monday as of right now! Thanks for the support, I know he sure does love hearing from everyone! Hey Family and Friends, Sorry for the lack of updates, been really busy. I promise there will be more of them now. Well, after 3 transfers in Butia, I will be headed to Porto Alegre 2 tomorrow. I am really excited to serve in the city. I will have an American companion this transfer. Things are going well here in Brasil. It is very hot, like 105 F, and wow, I have never sweated so much in my life. I hope all is going well back home for yall. Have a good 2014. Elder Buhler

Updates from Cody-last week

Tomorrow is Cody's day to write so I will post more! He has been doing more individual emails and letters, so if you want to hear more, make sure to write him! Oi family, well transfer ended. i will be staying in butia again with a new brasilian companion. my old companion is a Zone leader now. hopefully my portugese can get better with my new companion. what else? we had another baptism this weekend. that was nice. we also saved a wild parrot. funny story. anyways, i hope all is well in the states. i miss you all so much and love you all so much! be safe and love you all tons! Cody

Updates from Elder Buhler

Here are a few pictures Cody has sent these past two weeks. He is writing more individual emails and letters, so to hear updates, make sure to write him at the address below or his email at cody.buhler@myldsmail.net! He'd love to hear from you. He writes on Mondays!

Elder Cody Buhler
Av. Princesa Isabel 342-B Santana
90620-000 Porto Alegre, RS Brasil

thanks for all your love and support!

Elder Buhler

Me drinking chimarrão, the brazilian drink that tastes like grass ha. everyone here drinks it and missionaries can drink it and thats how i got sick probably. you take turns drinking it and then pass it to the next person.

the nice brazilian house ha.