The Final Post From Washington Kennewick Mission

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."

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.

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

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

 

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...

 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

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

 


11/13

Hey you guys,

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

Update for Elder Butler's Blog

Dec 3, 2012

Hey so it was another great week. We had our Ward Christmas Party, Chelsie P. passed her baptism interview, and we had Zone Leader Council.

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. Chelsie 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.

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 something 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 fulfil 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 God 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

11/26/2012

The work here is going awesome. We found 3 new people to teach here. One of them is Natalie A. 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.

I love you all and hope you have a great week. BYE!!!!!
Elder Butler

 11/13/2012

Hey you guys,

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 DofC. 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. 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. Like for example this week is horrible. 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 Specialized 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 W. 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 Willow Creek 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 tracked 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 set of missionaries. And I hope I get to see that day.
I don't think that there was anything that i was planning on talking about.

I love you guys, and hope you have a great week. Talk to you next week.
Elder Butler

10/15/2012

Hey, that's great to hear about the football game. How is Kimball playing? Is he doing all that he needs to do to prepare for his mission? And also, that scripture is one that I've loved for a long time out here on the mission. I especially love the message from the verse before. (minus the wicked abominations part) But it helps us remember what we need to do to live happy lives, and that we have felt the Spirit testify to us that the Gospel is true.

One thing for us this week was Fast Sunday yesterday. Elder Wolfgramm and I planned before sacrament meeting that we would both bare our testimonies together. We really are trying to focus on member trust. If the members don't trust us, then they aren't going to refer their friends to us. So we decided that baring our testimonies, and complimenting each other on how well we both are at working, we would build the trust the members have in us. And guess what, IT WORKED. After sacrament meeting, we had loads of members come up to us telling us how much they appreciated our testimonies. And later on during Sunday School and Ward Council, we had 3 different members come up to us and tell us that they had people for us to teach. I'm soooo happy for Heavenly Father and His inspiring prompting to me to bare our testimonies in sacrament meeting. I know there are people to teach for missionaries all along the world. We as members just need to find them. So keep looking Mom and Dad!!! They're there, I know it.
Love you much!!!
Elder Butler

10/1/12

Hey guys, thats awesome to hear about all thats going on with the family. (car, talks, and eagle award) Keep doing work!!!!
Also, happy birthday to Kimball. I'm super glad that he's doing all that he can to be happy. I love you all, I'm sorry the email is short. P-day is the busiest day after all. I shall write letters to you all. BYE!!!

Here it is

7/9/2012

This week has been great! R got baptized and I got to do the ordinance after. He got out of the font, gave me a huge hug and was soooo emotional. We had a great program. President Greer and a bunch of other missionaries with their investigator were there. Elder Stewart and I shared a lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, using the Robles Family video( have you seen it yet???) As we were sharing it, you could tell everyone was feeling the Spirit. I am soo grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father has given me in this life. I'm sooo happy to be on my mission here. I hope we'll continue to find more people like Robert.

Elder Stewart and I also have a baptism tomorrow. It'll be D and D Dooley. The 14 and 11 year olds I've talked about before. Also, we just put another on date for the 4th of August. His name is G Smith. He is the only non-member in his family, everyone else is active, it's just him. So we're excited for this next 4 weeks!

7/3/2012

This week, we have R Morris' baptism scheduled and we are super excited for it! We will have pictures and everything from it next week. President is interviewing him tonight. Also, we went to the Temple today. Elder La R is here in the same zone as me. And right now he is training a new missionary. So there's a picture of our zone; our district; and Elder La R, his new missionary Elder C, and I. I love serving here and we have been finding so much success here. I love it!!!!

And now as a spiritual thought. Ever since I got out President Greer has been drilling us with the Doctrine of Christ which is: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. If you didn’t already know, this is what the "gospel" is. That was something that I didn’t really know that I knew. We're taught it our whole lives, but it never dawn on us that the gospel is a specific thing. Before my mission, anytime I would here "the gospel" I thought it just meant anything that had to do with church. But it is a specific pattern and process. If you look at 2 Nephi 31:21 it says that "this is the way, and there is no other way" So, something that I want to do is commit you and the family to set up an appointment with the missionaries in the ward, and ask them to teach you about the Doctrine of Christ using the "Robles Family Video" they should know what that is. The Doctrine of Christ is true, and without it, nothing else in this church works. It is the only way the Priesthood, the Atonement, or even the scriptures work. I promise you as you learn and study about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you will gain a greater understanding for the call to missionary work Heavenly Father has extended to all of us, tag or not. I love you, and know that this is true. Hope you have a great week!!!!

6/8/2012

This is a letter he wrote to President Greer this week. He wanted me to post it on here for you all to read.  

Hello President,
So I’m just gonna warn you hand that this might be a long email. I have two different experiences I'd like to share, and it correlates with a scripture I've loved as long as I can remember.  First off, Elder S and I are very pleased with the numbers we attained this week. I know it's because of our constant prayers and diligence, but there's still a lot of room for improvement. So we only hope to get better. But the first experience started on Tuesday at district meeting. Elder J was retelling us the counsel you gave him and the rest of the zone leaders at ZLC about making a colomn for questions when taking notes. He then invited us to try the process out in district meeting and see what type of questions come from it. Throughout the whole meeting, the only question I wrote down was: "Why doesn’t God just give us the referrals?" I already, to a point, knew the answer, but it had come to my mind, so I wrote it down. As I did, not even 5 minutes later Sis W calls and told us about a man who had called the mission office and was wondering where the closest church building was in his area. She then called and gave us his information. After district meeting we called him and set up an appointment with him for that night. We conveniently had our bishop in that ward coming out with us that night already. When we knocked his door, he opened it and invites us in. After he closes the door behind us, he begins to relay his story of how he and his wife had just gotten divorced and that because of some of the choices she was making he left. He did not want his two sons to be in that environment. He also has been out of work for 5 years or so and at this point had nowhere to go. But his sister had been taking the lessons for a while and he had remembered how the missionaries had been nice to him and knew that if he called us he would be okay. As we continued to talk with him, he brought up baptism, and asked if that was available for him and his 2 sons. We gladly assured him that it was. the three of them came to church, and we have a third lesson set for them on Wednesday night, where if all goes to plan, we'll have him set up for a date of baptism.Thats my first experience, now for my second one.

On Friday, my companion and I were filling our time by contacting a list of less active members that our ward council had no information on. As we knocked one of the doors, a woman answered the door but would only talk through the chain lock so we had little to no face to face conversation, but still was able to talk to her. We talked for about 40 minutes and most of it was about her. She did not believe in the church or God. She had been diagnosed with cancer, and from the look of it she wasn't older than 40. For quite some time she had been trying to get her name off the records of the church, and was very annoyed with the number of people that have knocked her door asking if she would like to come to church. As we talked with her, all I could do was ask: "Is there anything we could do for you? Anything we can help you with?" And every time I asked, she would decline. I think that happened 5 or 6 times in our conversation. It just hurt me to see someone at such a depressing time in their life to still not accept help.

My point from both of these experiences is that God is watching over all of his children. We are loved by someone that wants our happiness to be eternal, he pleads with us every day of our lives that we can be humble and willing to do the things that we need to do to be happy. and accept help."...we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth" (Alma 26:37).

I know this is true and that as missionaries, we can be the help that His children need. As we teach of Christ, others will rejoice of his gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

6/4/2012

Side note: I got a call this week from a sister in Washington wishing me Happy Birthday from my missionary son.

 Hey Mom and family, I'm glad she called you. We were driving back from service and her husband and she were talking about what they were gonna do for her birthday and I asked her when her birthday was, then the rest is history. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! (It was a wonderful gift to know my son was serving on my birthday.)

Anyways how’s everything going? Elder S and I are teaching a family of two kids, the mom is a member but she’s been in and out of jail and such so we are working through the grandparents. They are preparing for baptism on the 30th so we are excited about that. Their names are D and D Dooley. So I'll keep you in touch about that. So far elder S and I are just trying to fix this area up. We have been meeting various members of the two wards trying to get to know people and find referrals. But other than that, it's pretty norm right now. My clothes are doing great, same with the shoes.

5/21/2012

In our new area we're building it from ground zero but, it's good. I can see why heavenly father wants us here. We do have another baptism this weekend. It’s a 9 yr old that we just finished teaching. That'll be fun. 

Dear Family and Friends

Dear Family and Friend:

Ok, I’ve been a little busy.  One week I totally forgot to email my son.  Can you believe it?  I had to send a post card, but it was really cute (Politis’ Mansion). So here it is.

5-12-12

There was this one cool experience we had in church yesterday in sacrament meeting, The youth speaker spoke on being temple worthy, and she shared an experience from school. She said during lunch, she and her friends were talking about school and the various things that go on in that environment. As they talked the focus on the subject shifted to one girl that tended to be a little on the negative side of things. Before they new it, she and her friend began to gossip about all the different people in the school that had made them angry. The feelings had changed to something that this young women didn't like. So as she got up to dump her trash, she said about one person they were talking about:"I don't know this girl, so I probably shouldn't be talking this way about her, but I bet she makes good cookies." After that, she and her friend’s, never bothered with gossiping about the others around them. They all understood the principle over charity, and how everyone is a child of God, always remember that! I love you and hope you all have a great week.

Elder Butler

PS. He has been transferred to Richland WA.  They are teaching a 9 year old child. We are needing to build our teaching pool from the very beginning. My bike was stolen the last time I was in the Tri-Cities area and now I’m looking for another one.  The one here is so small it doesn’t really fit. I need another one.  (Mom called the mission office and Elder Wilson is going to work his magic and find him a bigger bike.

March 26, 2012

This week was great and full of awesome experiences. First off we had a specialized training on Saturday. President and the assistants talked to us. Also we had a guest speaker come and talk to us. President Greer’s nephew Spencer Larsen, who played for the New England Patriots, came to speak to us. I took lots of notes in my notebook, but it's too black and blue from all the writing. But I did have a couple points to share with you.

The first point is the "true happiness does not come easy. But, when attained, it brings to ones self a true assurance that he has done exactly what his maker has requested."( keep in mind that this is in the words of Elder Butler, so it might be a little off. But it works for me.)

Second, I'd like to ask a few questions: "as missionaries/members..."

-What are we to do?

-Who are we like?

-When did we become? (pertaining to the first 2 questions)

-Why did we choose?

And third, starts with a scripture in Alma 29:4-5. Another question, with my answer.

-Do we desire Good or Evil? Why do we desire Good?

-Answer: Yes, remember the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. He died so you and everyone you teach will and can live with our Father in Heaven. Salvation does not come cheap! It does not come easy, but it is essential. Jesus Christ was and is the only perfect missionary. It wasn’t easy for Him, so why would it be easy for you? "Press forward with steadfastness in Christ [and His Atonement]" That is the only way you will be able to fulfill your purpose as a disciple of Him.

3-12-12

Hey parents, so i got of things to talk about so hopefully O can do it quick...

First off, we had a great finding experience on Monday night. At the beginning of the transfer, we were invited to pray and ask heavenly father to have him put someone in our path that we could help come back to Christ. Monday night He did. Originally on Monday nights, we get picked up and go to a recent convert’s house to read the Book of Mormon with him and his family. But, he got stuck in traffic and thus we had to walk to our next appointment, which was in the other direction. So as we are walking through the high school parking lot (our members live behind the school) a small little dog pops out from behind a tree. It was limping and looked like it needed help. But we figured it's owner were right behind it so we didn’t stop. As we kept walking, a woman and her daughter came over and asked if us Elders could help with catching this dog. She wasn’t its owner but she thought it had gotten run over and it needed help. We tried to get it but we couldn’t catch it. But we did talk to her. It turns out that she was a less-active member, and hadn’t been back for a really long time. This statement was second by her daughter when she said "a really, really long time" (sounded a lot like Alyssa for a second). So taking this as an opportunity to help, we ended up setting up an appointment for the next night and went on our way.

    The next day we came over with one of our ward missionaries, we got to know them more, and learned a little about her past. Turns out she hadn’t gone to church since she was in young women’s. And now she has 2 unbaptized children, (14) (11) and a un-baptized boyfriend. So we invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, come to church, (and mutual for the kids) and take the missionary lessons. After the lesson, back in the car, we offered our thanks to Heavenly Father for Him putting someone in our path that we could help. And as we did i got a confirming blessing of the Spirit that this was indeed a heaven sent family. I loved that.

Also, we were able to meet and learn from none other than Russel M. Nelson!!!! We didn't know until Thursday or i would have told you last week. But, it was such an awesome experience. At the end of him speaking to us, he gave us an Apostolic blessing. These are some of the things he blessed us to:

1.      Come to love Jesus Christ and His Atonement for us.
2.      Be a true disciple.
3.      Feast upon the word and always apply those teachings in your lives.
4.      Have health, strength and safety on your missions.
5.      Continue in a lifetime of service to the Lord
6.      Love your families and bear testimony to them to bring them closer together.
7.      Have a shield of protection and to avoid accident and injury.
8.      Be a force for good.
9.      Be completely obedient.
10.  Know God lives.
11.  Finally, he blessed you with his testimony as a special witness of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Again, I was very happy and privileged to sit at the feet of a apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and I am so very grateful for all i have been able to experience here on my mission. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

2-27-12

Stake Priesthood meeting yesterday, it was an exciting experience to see and feel all the Priesthood in the chapel. We sung "Behold a Royal Army" and when we started you could use a knife to cut through the air. The Spirit was so strong, and it confirmed to me that this is God's royal army, and that He has given man the Authority to use His power on the earth again. And i love it. i love you all and hope you have a great week.

2-21-12

Hey you guys,
these past couple weeks I've really been focusing on staying obedient to the white handbook. It definitely helps me understand how important this work really is. But, as i was reflecting on my past year and the things I have done so far, i came to a conclusion. And i feel that this scripture in Mosiah 3:19 helps illustrate this, along with D&C 20:30-31.

When we listen to the natural man, and justify our wrongs, we un-sanctify ourselves and loose our connection with the Spirit. But, when we follow the counsel of King Benjamin and become a saint through the Atonement of Christ, "...and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Then do we become sanctified through Christ's Atonement, and then are we able to see miracles in our work.

I feel like M and her two daughters are a great example of this. Many times throughout their conversion process was there complications. But, they knew what was at the end of the road, and they wanted it, so they pressed forward. It was a great experience being able to see them get baptized and to have them enter into this wonderful gospel. It really is a marvelous work and a wonder. And I can understand why our Heavenly Father's greatest glory is to see His children make such righteous choices. And i love it. I hope you have a wonderful week.
Till we meet again...

Elder Butler

2-13-12

So sorry for the short email, but we did have a great experience this week. First off, M and A did pass their interview, and they are set to be baptized this Saturday. Also, transfer calls are this week too. So, I'll have that info as well next week. But back to M. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but she had some past mishaps that required her to be interviewed by the 2nd Counselor in the mission presidency. So when ever that happens, we always have extra anxiety. But she passed. When she came out of the room, she was in tears. It took her a little time to regroup, but after she did, she shared why she was so emotional. The thing that got to her was that she had been carrying the load of that past transgression for 21 years. But now that she has been passed for baptism, she’ll never have to worry about it ever again. She's free of all of the weight that would bring her down, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. To me, it was one of the best experiences of my mission to date. I love the Savior, and I'm eternally in debt for His sacrifice. I hope that in my last year for this mission, i will be able to have many more instances like this one. I love you, and wish you all a wonderful week.