The Final Week Was A Busy One and Picture Worthy!

The laundry experience didn't go so well this week - the washer broke down while Benjamin's clothes were inside and they sat and sat and sat!  Yuck!

And now they hang and hang and hang.....drying by air takes forever!

A temple trip with one of their instructors - a pleasure to see this boy doing so many good things with every single minute of his day.

Another "small world surprise".....Taylor Bradshaw and Benjamin went to primary together in Beijing approximately a hundred years ago!  Sure enough, Taylor hits the MTC just prior to Benjamin's depature.  Taylor is headed to Taiwan.

The California gang is ready for departure on Wednesday!!

Flight plans in hand...a departure from the MTC at 4:50 a.m.

The supplies for candy sleds arrived safe and sound - super glue was sent instead of hot glue but other than that, all the fixings remained consistent with the family tradition.  Benjamin said that everyone loved the game.

Finished products and ready for racing.

They had the perfect idea to take a box apart and use it for the racing platform. So glad that they were able to use the MTC stairs to keep this tradition alive and well.

I love the blurs of candy speeding down the slide!

Departure time is getting close - YOU GOT THIS!!

It appears that he is ready and filled with enthusiasm - this place isn't far away but they are getting a treasure and part of my heart!

Another tradition was a Christmas Eve at the shooting range.  The District used water bottles and nerf guns to reenact this fun event.

Elder Anderson looks serious about shooting the next target.....

The favorite target of the day was .... Satan!  And next week, photos from the airplane!

Week Eight and Almost Headed Out!

NiHao Everyone!

What a crazy week this has been. Its hard to think that this time next week I will be on a bus headed to the airport. My time in the MTC has really flown by! My District received our Flight Plans Friday afternoon. It is really happening! I'm headed to the Oakland/San Francisco Mission with 8 others next week! 

As its been the week leading up to Christmas, my District has been doing well with following up on the idea to celebrate everyone's most beloved Christmas traditions. We went Caroling around the MTC on Thursday (in Chinese) and even got to stop in on the MTC Presidency and their wives. We also created and raced my family's beloved candy sleds (supplies lovingly donated by a fantastic woman) and also converted our classroom into a Nerf gun shooting range. Its been a really fun, but mixed-up Christmas this year. We have some very nice activities planned for this weekend, including a Nativity that my companions and I are participating in. I'm singing a solo of "O Holy Night!" Wish me luck!

We've also had some awesome classes and devotionals. There is a wing of the MTC that allows ACTUAL investigators to sign up to take the discussions from missionaries. Elder Anderson, Elder Thacker, and I made a couple of appointments with Linda, who's currently studying public health at BYU. It was so cool to be the first missionaries she ever heard the gospel from. She had a really strong desire to know the truth. Unfortunately, with all of the extra things going on that will happen this week as we prepare to depart the MTC, we will not get the chance to meet with her again. I learned how much the Spirit can influence a discussion and how powerful our message really is. Its amazing! I've had several opportunities to bear testimony in both English and Mandarin this week. Its comforting to know that regardless of the language we speak, the Spirit can speak to the hearts of everyone! I'll need to remember that my first few weeks in the field.

We've also had a few great devotionals. The Piano Guys, a well-known YouTube group (All RMs) gave our Sunday Devotional, playing some of their repetoire and bearing very powerful testimonies about their own missions and the life and reality of the Savior Jesus Christ. Tuesday night brought Elder Zwick of the 70, and he shared an experience that involved Elder Thacker! We got to meet him afterwards and shake his hand, which was pretty fun. 

I love you all, and wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Keep the Savior at you focus and love others just as He did, and your Holiday season will be blessed all the more. 

Love and Blessings,

 

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)

Photos from Week Seven

A package arrived this week from Grandma and Grandpa Butters!

The District Christmas Tradition calendar - they will each share favorite Christmas traditions and then try to reenact portions of those traditions together!  Great idea and a perfect way to bring the spirit of family and Christmas to each other!

Sister Peterson in a reflective moment -

The District learning to do a Tahitian Dance - well, trying....

Elder Anderson is feeling the Tahitian music - Benjamin demonstrated the HaKa that he learned in High School - the sister from Tahiti said that it looks better when Polynesian people perform it.

Yesterday was Benjamin's day - he shared our bowling tradition and then they gathered random items to use so the district could play along!  So awesome!

They used water bottles for bowling pins, an orange was the ball and Benjamin said that everyone had a blast!!

Benjamin mid-bowl!  This makes my mother heart so happy to see him sharing the things he loves and having his friends love them too.

Seventh Letter - Only Two Weeks Until San Francisco!

NiHao JiaTing he PengYouMen!

Another busy busy week for me at the MTC. We're counting down to Christmas, and are now even counting down the days to departure from the MTC! It feels like just yesterday I started my crazy adventure here, and I cannot believe the finish line is in sight. Headed to Oakland/San Fran two weeks from today!

This week has been much of the same, except we've received a new district of six elders who we've all assisted in helping adjust and make the crazy change to missionary life. My class got the chance to share a lesson with each of them, one on one, and it turned into a very nice discussion on relying on the Lord and having the assurance that He will help us through our challenges. They are all doing great. I remember being in their shoes, and cannot believe I'm already at the other end of the spectrum!

We've had a lot of other teaching appointments, with one of our investigators being "baptized" this past Saturday. This has led us to some great discussions on doctrine in our classes, and setting up interviews and learning a little more about the inner workings of missionary work.

My District is VERY excited for Christmas! We've all been sharing our family traditions over the past few days, and have combined them into one massive Christmas celebration. We will be doing makeshift versions of our traditions throughout the next two weeks. We've started off with learning how to Tahitian dance and bowling with water bottles and an orange for our first couple of traditions! (Bowling and Pizza on Christmas Eve is something I will miss for the next two years)

The devotionals this week have been AWESOME! Sunday night, the BYU Mens Chorus gave a concert to us, and it was beautiful. The "Madrigal President" part of me was awakened again! I love choirs and music. I also got to run into a couple friends from the choir (Cole Davis), which is always fun. Tuesday Night brought Elder Jeffrey R. Holland to the MTC, and wow, he is a powerful speaker. He testified of the divinity and power in the Book of Mormon, as our primary tool in assisting others to come unto Christ. He also talked about the hard work that we as missionaries need to put in in order to be blessed to see improvement in ourselves and others. It was a great evening.

I love you all! Thank you for the packages, notes, prayers, thoughts, and well-wishes! I'm so grateful for the support you all show to me! 

Merry Christmas!

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)

Between Departures (Tuesday Night) and Arrivals (Wednesday morning)

This is "alone" time in the MTC when half the zone leaves and the replacements don't arrive until tomorrow!  Hurray!  Everyone gets their own sink!!

Photos from Week Six

Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds sent the mini-tree for the Elders' room this season - I love the carefully positioned lights!

The lantern decorations are special honors for the zone leaders in Benjamin's zone - this tradition dates back many years.

The tie hanging in the foreground is signed by all zone leaders in Zone 2 - pretty cool!

God is so so so good!  Hyrum Richardson used to live next door to us in Beverly Hills when we lived in Shanghai, China - when Benjamin was in 2nd grade!!  This week, Benjamin taught him in practice sessions with members at the MTC!  Hyrum speaks perfect Chinese, served a mission in Taiwan and finally at the end of the session, he and Benjamin recognized each other!  I can hardly wait to send this photo to Connie Richardson, Hyrum's mom!

A chilly walk to the temple - Winter finally found Utah!

Sometimes Mommy Powers work especially well - I decided that Benjamin would enjoy this favorite of Christmas books much more than the rest of us - the smile says it all!

Another Letter from the Busiest of Busy Missionaries!

NiHao Everyone!

Another great, but kind of crazy week here at the MTC. 

This week we had another district depart, because of some issues involving that, my "tri-panionship" has been a "quad-panionship" with Elder Andersen from the District ahead of us. While at the start I was really stressed about it, it was great to have a more experienced missionary guiding us along for the past week. I learned a lot from his example. He also trained Elder Thacker and I to be Zone Leaders! Yup, new calling! We have already started our new assignment, and our first official act in office is to help orient the new district of SIX ELDERS we're receiving today. It feels like just yesterday I was entering the MTC, and now, I'm in one of the oldest Districts in our Zone! Crazy!

There was a lot happening this week. I've talked in the past about TRC, where we teach discussions to members rather than people pretending to be investigators. At six weeks in, we start doing out TRC sessions over Skype, teaching native Mandarin speakers who live all over the world. My companions and I taught Mei Huang, who currently lives in Melbourne, Australia. It was AWESOME! We challenged her to share her testimony with someone over the course of the coming week, and she was more than happy to accept our challenge. She said that to her, the Gospel is like really good food; once you've had some, you want more, and more, and MORE! I love that! It amazed me that even though I was talking to a woman who lived thousands of miles from where I am now, I still felt the Spirit and the incredible light she shared with us. I learned that the Spirit truly has no boundaries when testifying of truth. 

Christmas is coming, and it is alive and well at the MTC. We sing Christmas hymns practically every day, and most everyone has a mini tree in their room (mine is courtesy of some wonderful grandparents of mine.). We've also been participating in the "Light the World" initiative, looking for small acts of kindness to help those around us. Its been great. Thank you to everyone who has sent me a note, a package, or an email. I love all of you! 

We had a devotional with Pres. Christensen of the 70 last night. Both he and his wife shared powerful testimonies of the Savior, Joseph Smith, and most importantly, the Book of Mormon. They said that if it is true, then everything else about our church is too. It made me question what the restoration means to me, and what it confirms to me about truth. There is always something to learn here if we're willing to look hard enough!

Have a fantastic week! I pray for you and think about you often! 

Heavenly Father loves you!

Love

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)