2/5/13
Elder P and I are still trying our best to find God's
children. (Short email this week.)
1/28/13
A great thing happened this week
while we were down in Heppner. The night before we had correlation with our YSA
branch mission leader who actually served his mission here in the WKM in
2008 . He served a lot of his mission down in Heppner and gave us a referral to
try while we were down there. That night we set goals to find 2 new
investigators, and get 12 oyms. During the next day we found the street the
referral was on, and decided that we had enough time to tract the street and
accomplish the goals that we set. So we went out to do the work. With the first
door we knocked on, a man answered the door and let us in. We talked with him
about prophets, and he agreed that we really need a prophet here on earth at
this time. He wanted to learn more, and we set up a time to come back. (NI -1
OYM-1) Then about 5 oyms later an older woman answered the door and let us in.
Turns out she's related to the only family in the branch that has a son on a
mission, and had wanted to learn more about the church. We taught her about the
D.O.C and then set up an appointment for next week. (NI-2 OYM-6) then by the
time we had 10 oyms we had one more door to knock. Turns out the family that
lives there had met with missionaries in the past and was really good friends
with the branch mission leader. We didn't get to teach them, they were going to
the high school basketball game, but we set up an appointment to come back the
next week. (NI-2 OYM-11) Now our time was up and we had to run over to our
dinner appointment. As we were heading back to the car, there was a man outside
one of the doors we had already knocked. We did talk to his wife earlier, and
she really wasn't interested in what we had to tell her, but I knew that we
were accountable for the goals we set and the Lord had provided us with an
opportunity to achieve it. So I turned around and talked to him, and it turns
out he really needed a message on the atonement right then. He had just gotten
back from his job, and had had a lousy day. He was fed up with where his life
was going and wanted a change. We were able to set up a appointment with him
for next week and as we left, he thanked us for the time we took to talk with
him. (NI-2 OYM-12) We did it!!! We got the goals we set, and we were able to
help many of God's children come closer to Him. By the way, we found out later
that the referral we got was on a different street than where we were told. So
it really is true about how the Lord does work in mysterious ways. We just need
to have faith in Him and work. I love you again.
Elder Butler
1/28/13
And to
answer your question about our baptism last Saturday, it didn't happen. She
still needs to work out the coffee drinking stuff. She get horrible headaches
from some heart medicine she takes and the caffeine re-leaves the pain. But,
she's working on it and will be baptized soon. We were able to find a new
investigator for baptism this week though. Her name is Lilly Harmon. She's 96
years old too. (Don't ask me why we keep finding these old people to teach. We
just teach and ask questions later.) But, Lilly has a lot of family that are
members, and her Son just got baptized and she now want's that for herself.
She's on date for the 9th of February. She's full of fire and really excited
for her baptism
1/22
my new
companion will be Elder Paxman. I've served around him before. He's from Dallas
TX and loves basketball. so we plan on having a fun time together for the next
5 weeks. Also, we're getting Sister into our zone. Be cause of the huge in flux
of new missionaries, we're getting 16 this week half of which are sisters. And
then next transfer, we'll be getting 30 as far as we know with half of them
being sisters again.
1/14
I'm trying super hard to make sure I'm
doing the right things for those that I serve. This past week I set some goals
that I wish to accomplish before I go home. One of them was to memorize
something Pres Eyering quoted in General Conference once. It's called "The
Fellowship of the Unashamed." And in about two days, I did. It says:
"I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. The dye
has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is clear.
I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my path is rough, my companions are few, my guide reliable, my mission is clear!
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate at the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, or let up. Until I have stayed up, stored up, and prayed up for the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And when He comes again, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear."
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is clear.
I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven. My road is narrow, my path is rough, my companions are few, my guide reliable, my mission is clear!
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate at the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, or let up. Until I have stayed up, stored up, and prayed up for the cause of Christ. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And when He comes again, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear."
As I say these things in my head, it
helps me understand more of my purpose and teaches me more about how I should
act as a missionary of His Gospel. I always pray that I can find those that
need this message and are ready to receive it. I love you dad and hope you have
a great week.
1/7
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Hello ,
last week was awesome. Specialized Training coupled with ZLC, it couldn't have been much better than that. I was reading in the Book of Mormon a couple days ago last week. (And by the way i'm ahead of my goal right now to finish it before my mission) And as i was reading, i came across some thing in Mosiah. It was in chpt. 3 : 3-4 it says:
"Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.
For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy."
I really enjoyed this scripture because of what it says in regards to us taking what we learned and sharing it with those we serve out here. My mission has helped me see the vast importance of the Gospel. It's really scary how much i didn't know before my mission. But, now i feel empowered, or even endowed with a great tool now. I know that the Gospel is there to help us on our path. And I hope that i will always be able to find someone in my life to share it with. I know that the Gospel is true, and I know that as we "eternalize" it, we will see many great blessings i our lifetime, here and hereafter.
I figured I'd tell you that. I'm trying super hard to stay focused and work hard. This week we put another person on date for baptism. Her name is Linda T. She lives down in Heppner so we only see her once a week. But we've taught her twice, and a week after the first meeting with her, she had already read to 2 Nephi in the Book of mormon. Linda is really searching for truth and we're super excited for her.
Hello ,
last week was awesome. Specialized Training coupled with ZLC, it couldn't have been much better than that. I was reading in the Book of Mormon a couple days ago last week. (And by the way i'm ahead of my goal right now to finish it before my mission) And as i was reading, i came across some thing in Mosiah. It was in chpt. 3 : 3-4 it says:
"Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell thee; for behold, I am come to declare unto you the glad tidings of great joy.
For the Lord hath heard thy prayers, and hath judged of thy righteousness, and hath sent me to declare unto thee that thou mayest rejoice; and that thou mayest declare unto thy people, that they may also be filled with joy."
I really enjoyed this scripture because of what it says in regards to us taking what we learned and sharing it with those we serve out here. My mission has helped me see the vast importance of the Gospel. It's really scary how much i didn't know before my mission. But, now i feel empowered, or even endowed with a great tool now. I know that the Gospel is there to help us on our path. And I hope that i will always be able to find someone in my life to share it with. I know that the Gospel is true, and I know that as we "eternalize" it, we will see many great blessings i our lifetime, here and hereafter.
I figured I'd tell you that. I'm trying super hard to stay focused and work hard. This week we put another person on date for baptism. Her name is Linda T. She lives down in Heppner so we only see her once a week. But we've taught her twice, and a week after the first meeting with her, she had already read to 2 Nephi in the Book of mormon. Linda is really searching for truth and we're super excited for her.
12/31
Hey Family,
this week has equally been fun and enjoyable. Starting off, it was great to see all of you on Christmas. Elder Phillips and I had fun opening our presents. Along with the things i got from you. The family that let us Skype you got us super cool presents as well. They had there RM son come and ask us what we wanted for Christmas. He told us that there was a very well off family that helped him pay for his mission and that same family wanted to buy us a special Christmas present (little did we know that the "well off" family was his parents). And it took us a while to think of what we wanted (i felt bad asking for something.) But we told him, and they got it for us :) I was really curious about those new toe shoes. They're made by Vibram shoes. It's a company based out of England. I've been working out in them and they are awesome. I would strongly recommend them. I plan on using them for hikes and outdoors activities. But anyways, our Christmas was awesome.
Also, in regards to the work. We got 8 new investigators this week!!! We worked really hard this week and Heavenly Father blessed us with some very special people to teach. Along with the 8 nooobs, we put 3 of our investigators on date for baptism. One of which was our investigator down in Heppner, along with 2 up here in Hermiston. There names are Betty Wilhelm, Mary Lum, and Wayne Tulie. Please pray for them and ask Heavenly Father to bless them with the courage and strength to follow through with this great step in their life.
Now, i have another thing i wanted to talk about. One of the members down in Heppner is a recruiter for BYUI. And she told me i should apply to BYUI right now, just in case i do end up wanting/needing to go there for school. I'll forward an email that i got form her today. She asked her supervisor about us and our particular situation and when we need to. This way you have some info on what I'm doing.
i love you, I'll be on for a little more time today (probably till 11:15) BBBBBBYYYYYYEEEEEE!!!!
Elder Butler
this week has equally been fun and enjoyable. Starting off, it was great to see all of you on Christmas. Elder Phillips and I had fun opening our presents. Along with the things i got from you. The family that let us Skype you got us super cool presents as well. They had there RM son come and ask us what we wanted for Christmas. He told us that there was a very well off family that helped him pay for his mission and that same family wanted to buy us a special Christmas present (little did we know that the "well off" family was his parents). And it took us a while to think of what we wanted (i felt bad asking for something.) But we told him, and they got it for us :) I was really curious about those new toe shoes. They're made by Vibram shoes. It's a company based out of England. I've been working out in them and they are awesome. I would strongly recommend them. I plan on using them for hikes and outdoors activities. But anyways, our Christmas was awesome.
Also, in regards to the work. We got 8 new investigators this week!!! We worked really hard this week and Heavenly Father blessed us with some very special people to teach. Along with the 8 nooobs, we put 3 of our investigators on date for baptism. One of which was our investigator down in Heppner, along with 2 up here in Hermiston. There names are Betty Wilhelm, Mary Lum, and Wayne Tulie. Please pray for them and ask Heavenly Father to bless them with the courage and strength to follow through with this great step in their life.
Now, i have another thing i wanted to talk about. One of the members down in Heppner is a recruiter for BYUI. And she told me i should apply to BYUI right now, just in case i do end up wanting/needing to go there for school. I'll forward an email that i got form her today. She asked her supervisor about us and our particular situation and when we need to. This way you have some info on what I'm doing.
i love you, I'll be on for a little more time today (probably till 11:15) BBBBBBYYYYYYEEEEEE!!!!
Elder Butler
12/17
Our week has been great!!! We did have the baptism last week with
Chelsie. We just had transfers and we've been trying to do as much as we can
with what we have to work with. This time of year is super busy in regards to
meetings, but it's also the most fruitful. I'm sorry it's a short email. But,
we're splitting our email time between today and tomorrow. We are going to the
temple tomorrow so we're trying to save time with things. I love you and please
email me back as soon as you can. :)
Elder Butler
Elder Butler
12/3
First off our Ward Christmas party
was awesome! It was a prime rib dinner ( I know it's against my diet, but it
was for a good cause haha)
plus, we also had investigators there so it was even better. We also sung a couple songs.One with the ward choir and one with another companionship of missionaries. The one with the missionaries was fun. A day before we made giant Christmas present costumes. and we wore them at the party and sung in them as well. I guess one of our investigators video tapped it, so we're gonna get the video and send it.
And right before the party, we had Chelsie P baptism interview. She is an investigator that we've been working on for a while 11 weeks ago she was atheist and now she's getting baptized!!!! Her husband is a newly activated member and will get to baptize her on Saturday. I love the Gospel, it kicks Satan's trash. (you can quote me on that.)
Also, on Friday we had Zone Leader Council. That's where the missionary pictures came from. you might be able to recognize some of the missionaries in the pic. Three of them have been my companions. (La Rue, Peterson, and Hopkins) Honestly, my favorite part about missionary leadership is going to meetings and learning from President and others. I love learning. I feel my mission has instilled in me a stronger yearning for knowledge. I love it!!!!
Also, here's some thing I read yesterday during fast Sunday. It's in Alma 37: 14 And now remember, my son, that God has aentrusted you with these things, which are bsacred...
plus, we also had investigators there so it was even better. We also sung a couple songs.One with the ward choir and one with another companionship of missionaries. The one with the missionaries was fun. A day before we made giant Christmas present costumes. and we wore them at the party and sung in them as well. I guess one of our investigators video tapped it, so we're gonna get the video and send it.
And right before the party, we had Chelsie P baptism interview. She is an investigator that we've been working on for a while 11 weeks ago she was atheist and now she's getting baptized!!!! Her husband is a newly activated member and will get to baptize her on Saturday. I love the Gospel, it kicks Satan's trash. (you can quote me on that.)
Also, on Friday we had Zone Leader Council. That's where the missionary pictures came from. you might be able to recognize some of the missionaries in the pic. Three of them have been my companions. (La Rue, Peterson, and Hopkins) Honestly, my favorite part about missionary leadership is going to meetings and learning from President and others. I love learning. I feel my mission has instilled in me a stronger yearning for knowledge. I love it!!!!
Also, here's some thing I read yesterday during fast Sunday. It's in Alma 37: 14 And now remember, my son, that God has aentrusted you with these things, which are bsacred...
16 But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with
these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command
you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do
with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can atake them from you, for God is powerful to the
fulfilling of all his words.
17 For he will fullfil all his apromises which he shall make unto you."
Heavenly Father doesn't just give us
blessings/talents for fun. He expects us to use them, to profit from them. To
help others with them. I love the parable of the talents. I love being able to
recognize attributes Gos has given me and using them. I know that if we do
that, He will help us with everything that we need. I love you all and hope you
have a great week. BYE
Elder Butler
11/26
The work here. It's going awesome. We found 3 new people to teach here.
One of them is Natalie Arias. She's sisters with a girl in our YSA branch, but
not a member. She has had questions about the church for a while, but has never
really sought it out, until now. Last week we explained what the book of Mormon
is to her. She has a lot of friends that feed her Anti-mormon stuff but, she's
going to the source and asking us all the questions. So, it's been going good.
We also had a great turkey day. 3 different dinners and a whole lot of pie (don't worry i stayed under 170 the whole day haha) This week was just great.
Elder Butler
We also had a great turkey day. 3 different dinners and a whole lot of pie (don't worry i stayed under 170 the whole day haha) This week was just great.
Elder Butler
11/19
HEY PARENTS!!!!!
This past week has been a great opportunity for me to gain more knowledge and understanding of the gospel. Elder P, and then the Specialized Training/Interviews helped me in retaining the things I've learned so far. It's also been a hectic week in regards to staying up to date on all of my studies and what not. I'm literally "losing my self" in the work. I hope Heavenly Father will continue to sustain me in all that I'm doing. I'm just going to keep trying the best I can and making sure we have the Spirit in all that I do.
On a lighter note though, just like i said in the beginning, this week was full of meetings, but we were still able to get a lot of work done. We've started teaching these two sisters in the YSA branch named Nancy and Dana (pronounced Donna). It was awesome, cause we've been trying to meet with them since i arrived here, but for some reason, we couldn't until today. And it's also really weird because they're our age, and I'm used to teaching older people. But, it's super fun anyways. And when we met with them, we had no real idea of what to teach them. We just had figured that we'd go in and get to know them and set up an appointment for that next week. But, we had a littler extra time at the end to share a spiritual thought and I figured I'd share Mosiah 4:27 (they're both college athletes, so it works.) And we were able to get a concern from them in how they were super stressed in their lives and they didn't know how to get everything in line and sorted out. So we taught about how the Gospel allows our live to be better and how the Holy Ghost directs us in the way we need to go. All we need to do is follow Him. After that, when we got home, we looked back on our original notes on what we were going to teach them. (Keep in mind that we made these plans way back at the beginning of the transfer) And when we looked at our plans, it turned out that what we had planned to teach them, was exactly what we talked about in how the Gospel puts things in order for us. Once we saw that, we knew that Heavenly Father had prepared these two girls for us to teach. We had a follow up appointment with them yesterday that went really well, and we have another one for this coming Saturday. IT'S AWESOME!!!!
I love you people and hope you have a great week.
Elder Butler
This past week has been a great opportunity for me to gain more knowledge and understanding of the gospel. Elder P, and then the Specialized Training/Interviews helped me in retaining the things I've learned so far. It's also been a hectic week in regards to staying up to date on all of my studies and what not. I'm literally "losing my self" in the work. I hope Heavenly Father will continue to sustain me in all that I'm doing. I'm just going to keep trying the best I can and making sure we have the Spirit in all that I do.
On a lighter note though, just like i said in the beginning, this week was full of meetings, but we were still able to get a lot of work done. We've started teaching these two sisters in the YSA branch named Nancy and Dana (pronounced Donna). It was awesome, cause we've been trying to meet with them since i arrived here, but for some reason, we couldn't until today. And it's also really weird because they're our age, and I'm used to teaching older people. But, it's super fun anyways. And when we met with them, we had no real idea of what to teach them. We just had figured that we'd go in and get to know them and set up an appointment for that next week. But, we had a littler extra time at the end to share a spiritual thought and I figured I'd share Mosiah 4:27 (they're both college athletes, so it works.) And we were able to get a concern from them in how they were super stressed in their lives and they didn't know how to get everything in line and sorted out. So we taught about how the Gospel allows our live to be better and how the Holy Ghost directs us in the way we need to go. All we need to do is follow Him. After that, when we got home, we looked back on our original notes on what we were going to teach them. (Keep in mind that we made these plans way back at the beginning of the transfer) And when we looked at our plans, it turned out that what we had planned to teach them, was exactly what we talked about in how the Gospel puts things in order for us. Once we saw that, we knew that Heavenly Father had prepared these two girls for us to teach. We had a follow up appointment with them yesterday that went really well, and we have another one for this coming Saturday. IT'S AWESOME!!!!
I love you people and hope you have a great week.
Elder Butler
11/13
All is going well here in Hermiston. We have a couple kinks to work out still, but I know this zone is going in the right direction. Last week at zone training meeting, we as a zone agreed to study the Book of Mormon as a zone. We came up with applying the Doctrine of Christ into the study as well, so each week we as a zone will read various excerpts from the Book of Mormon pertaining to one of the principles of the DoC. Last week was faith, and we read 1 Nephi 2-4, Alma 32, and Ether 12. And this week we'll be focusing on Repentance by reading 2 Nephi 2, Enos 1, and Alma 34. I hope this is what the zone needs to get re-vamped into using the Book of Mormon more readily in our proselyting.
Also, President has asked us to re-read the talks from this last General Conference and reading from the talks has been great! I've been able to see and understand more of what the Brethren want us to know and feel about the Gospel. I hope to always be able to go back and re-read the things we learn in conference.
Guess what!?! Elder Paul B. Pieper of the seventy is coming to our mission on Thursday. So we all get to go up and here from him. I'm super excited! And, what's even better is that he wants to meet with all of the zone leaders before to give us more training. Also, super excited for that. I'll tell you more about it next week.
In regards to the work, it's different. Because we're zone leaders, we have less time to proselyte. Monday was P-day and we had 2 companionship's move to different apartments so our whole day was taken by that. (I didn't even get to play basketball :() ) Today we have Stake Correlation which means lots of paper work, we don't plan on leaving our apartment till 4 pm. Wednesday we drive to Heppner, which I'll explain more about in a little bit, Thursday is the Pieper Conference, Friday is the day we'll take to plan for the next week, along with exchanges with the Assistants. Saturday we have Interviews and a special training which will take all day, and then Sunday is Church day. So we really need to buckle down and stay focused in the work.
Now, I mentioned Heppner. Heppner, Oregon is a little town about 55 minutes south of Hermiston. We cover a little branch of about 100 people down there. So we drive there once a week and do as much as we can to fire up the missionary work there. it's been really great actually. Our days in Heppner are fun, we teach a whole bunch of people, and it really makes the members down there (as few of them as there are) happy. Most of the people we teach will listen, until they realize that church means commitment, and then they don't want to talk any more. But, we do have one solid investigator named Betty Wilhelm. She's 72 years old and loves it when we come over to talk. She was going to come to church, but she ended up having to go to the hospital for some breathing problems. But, she's fine now and we're going down to teach her again tomorrow. Also, the branch that Heppner attends (The Willowcreek Branch) only has about 40 people that attend church. The building isn't much bigger than the Roseburg High Seminary Building and their chapel is the size of our primary room in the Bruceville building. It's a little different, but we love it. And so do the members. Last week we tracted into the EQ Pres/YW Pres house and as we talked they both said that they were super happy to see missionaries here in Heppner. Both Elder Phillips and I feel that one day Heppner will have their own missionaries. And I hope i get to see that day.
Elder Butler
