A man on a mission: Alex Buness

For one young man from Wrangell, the future is looking southward – first to the Rocky Mountains and then to Southeast Asia.

Alex Buness, a 2011 graduate of Wrangell High School and faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is headed to the church’s Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah for a 12-week course in how to present the gospel and seek converts to the faith.

Buness’ mission will take him to the Philippines – and it’s a challenge he said he is looking forward to.

“I have been looking forward to this all my life,” Buness said. “I have always known I was going to serve a mission, so I couldn’t be more excited.”

All missionaries in the LDS church are required to maintain strict worthiness and grooming standards while in training and in the mission field. That preparedness is one of the keys to the success of any mission and Buness said he believes he is doing all he can to be ready.

“My parents have always had me grow up in a pretty high-standards environment,” Buness added. “That goes for the kind of movies I could watch and have always really stressed being worthy of my priesthood in the church. It is something you prepare for from the age of eight years old.”

Going through his preparations for serving will include learning the basics of the Tagalog language at MTC.

Even at this early stage in the process at Wrangell’s branch, Buness said he also has a favorite scripture that gives him inspiration in the gospel.

“The first passage in Psalms has always been my favorite,” Buness said. “It is only a few verses long, but they carry a lot of weight for me.”

Buness’ father, Monty Buness, a former lay-leader in the Wrangell branch, said the experience has also been challenging for him.

“The best way to put is to say it is bittersweet,” Monty said. “As proud as I am, sending him off for two years to a foreign country can put a little strain in your life. It’s a neat thing for him and I hope it will be a great two years.”

The MTC, which is located near the campus of Brigham Young University, can house, feed and teach up to 3,800 missionaries from wards and branches across the world at any given time.