My heart is so full on this Easter Day!!  After attending the Young Women
broadcast last night and feeling the spirit so strong as the choir sang
"come hold your torches high" and then singing the opening song in church
today "He is Risen", I just feel so blessed to be a member of this church.
What blessings we receive by being members.  It is so wonderful to feel the
strength of the church when we are gathered together in conferences and I am
looking forward to next weekend now.  The youth have so many temptations
facing them today.  Last night the young women were counciled to stand in
holy places.  My heart was saddened when only 6 of my 16 beehives were there
with their mothers and I had reminded each of them just that morning.  I
felt it was such a great opportunity to stand in yet another holy place and
here from our leaders and was sad as my little beehives had chosen not to
attend.  I see so many of them struggle as one was in the hospital this last
month as she tried to overdose on tylenol and another's parents are getting
divorced and two others who come to church without active families.  I hope
that I can help these girls and I am glad to be able to help them and love
them at this time in their life.  But, I guess what I am trying to say, is
hold to the rod.  See the blessings that the gospel brings.  See the misery
that disobedience brings.  Endure to the end!  At this Easter season, find
Christ in your life.  Make his atoning sacrifice work in your lives.  Easter
is a symbol of new life, new beginnings as spring is here.  We each can
start a new life also.  Committ to do better than we are doing.
O.K. enough preaching.  I just love this gospel and know that it is true.
But, about us, Melanie had foot surgery this last week and spent her spring
break down and so we didn't do much except we did play "chicken foot" almost
everyday.  Melanie is healing very quickly and gets around very well with a
boot that she will have to wear another four weeks.
We had a big fire in our neighborhood this past month.  Two 6 year old boys
lit a match down by the river where there is alot of dry weeds and of course
it was a very windy day and so spread very quickly along the river where
several of our homes lie in our neighborhood.  Part of the neighborhood was
evacuated and the neighborhood was closed off, so for about a three hour
period many of us were at the church just sitting around watching the
flames.  A plane came from New Mexico to drop something on the fire and then
it stopped.  The fire went about 1/2 mile down the river through our
neighborhood and no one was seriously injured and no homes were destroyed.
It is a touching feeling to think of the many fire fighters and neighborhood
members who risked their lives to save us and our homes.  THe closest home
to the river had a lot burned around the home, but not the home.  We feel
very blessed.
I always enjoyed hearing excerpts about John's mission from LeeAnn in her
newsletter, and so I thought that I would share a few highlights of Brian's
mission from his letters.
Brian is very happy and enthuiastic about his mission.  He lives in a little
cottage behind the bishops house.  About 100 people attend his ward and all
are converts to the church and of all different nationalities.  He is in a
walking area and the ward boundaries are so big so there are 6 missionaries
assigned to that ward, 4 elders and 2 sisters.  He is teaching several
different families who are interested, but they have things to work out
before they can be baptised.  THey had an opportunity to go to a all girl
catholic school and teach about the LDS religion once.  They play hockey on
Saturday's with the ward along with some investigators, which he loves.
Here is his most exciting/scary experience in his own words "We usually try
and stop people on the streets to talk to.  We are never pushy, all we do is
stop walking and put out our hand and say 'hello, how are you doing today'
to people walking towards us.  So we see an Indian with a backpack.  Elder
Oien says 'how are you doing?'  He says 'what'?  Elder Oien repeats himself.
THe Indian throws his backpack off, puts up his fists up and says 'you wanna
fight'?  We then realized that he was drunk.  We didn't move, we said 'no,
we just wanted to talk to you'.  He asked about what.  We said we  wanted to
share a message about GOd.  He said, 'there is no God, this is my GOd'
(pointing to his flexed bicep).  We just stared in amazement.  He was just
yelling at us.  We finally decided to leave and he said, ' you're not
leaving until you give me some money for stopping me and taking my time up.'
We told him we didn't owe him anything and left while he  continued to swear
at us.  We were a little shaken up."  Other than that one  experience,
people are friendly.  He is enduring the cold weather.  One week it snowed
so much that church was basically cancelled.  THere were only 4
missionaries, 4 investigators, and 6 members there.  They had a testimony
meeting.  SOme days the roads are icy and they slip.  If one missionary
slips, the other buys him a donut.  He is just loving his adventure though,
always with a good attitude.  He loves being a missionary.  He has given a
few blessings to sick or depressed people and has been in three musical
numbers.  He is loving it!!
Our lives are boring compared to his.  We don't have much exciting going
on.  CLair lasted two weeks as our activity person, and is now 2nd counselor
in the Stake Young Men's.  THis keeps him very busy once again.  But we are
all healthy, and happy and doing awesome.  Hope you are all doing the
same!!! Love to you all!!!

Buchanan Family

April 2002