Chopping Tree Branches for Friends

Chopping trees for Elaine and loving life along the way!

Week 30 - Lots of Doors and Perhaps Some Chinese Teaching!

NiHao Everybody!

There has been a lot going on this week! We have walked a lot, talked a lot, and have had a lot of very cool opportunities to feel the Spirit.

We were able to give a priesthood blessing to Bro. Duong, a less-active member of our branch who recently suffered a stroke that has rendered the right side of his body immovable. What was great about it is that he himself requested the blessing! Afterward, Elder Smith and I were also able to do some service with Sis. Duong, helping her to organize and clean out her garage. We hope to be able to help them even more in the coming weeks. On another service note, we helped Elaine this week chop a lot of the branches off one of her bay leaf trees in her backyard. Really fun!

We've continued our busy schedule of walking and talking in an effort to find new people to teach. While tracting on Tuesday, we knocked the door of a woman named Ms. Tang, who was Chinese invited us in (This combination NEVER happens!). She has two young boys, and is interested in having them learn a little bit more Chinese. Our new Branch President thought that a Chinese class for the local community could possibly be a good finding opportunity, but we didn't think much of it at the time. Low and behold, she knows other people who would be interested in such a class as well. So, now two white guys may just become Chinese teachers as well! We are planning a lot of activities around those lines, and we hope to see some results from it as we continue to tract as normal. 

We also had a great lesson with our investigator couple. We are slowly going through the commandments with them, and amid our discussion on Thursday, Bro. Wu started having questions about the Godhead. We were able to explain the relationship of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three separate beings, and they seemed to understand much better. It was a moment that both Elder Smith and I felt like we taught according to the needs of our investigators. I'm slowly learning to discern my investigator's needs, as well as to follow the voice of the Spirit, and our lesson was a cool manifestation of the reality of that principle. I hope to develop that as we continue to find and teach. In addition, we had Zone Conference on Thursday in San Mateo, which was very fun, and always a highlight of the transfer for me. 

I hope you all are having a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I'm honored to be related to people who gave up so much to serve the country and the people they love. Have a wonderful week!

Love

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)

Week 29 Photos - Good Times In All Ways

Family of geese that live outside our apartment!

Wu DiXiong and Fang JieMei! Two favorite investigators who attended family night this week and loved every minute of it.

At the Branch President's home for FHE - playing Who's The Spy!

A SONIC run with Smith, Toman and Gomez.  P-Days are awesome!

Week 29

GeWei DiXiong JieMei NiMenHao!

Well, that's another week for the books! There's been a lot happening. We've (as always) have spent quite a bit of time walking about and talking and knocking and now, sweating. Summer is making an early appearance, and it has been up in the 90s for most of the later part of this last week. This has made for drinking a LOT of water, and feeling drips of sweat run down my back at awkward intervals. But hey, it beats the HECK out of being frigid all the time. My favorite doors this week have been opened my a magician with a blue mohawk, and an elderly gentleman. When we asked him how he was doing, he responded, "Terrible. I'm dying of cancer...." That was awkward...and the continued swearing as we continued our conversation only added to the awkwardness a little more...

We taught Wu Di Xiong and Fang Jie Mei again this week. A miracle happened with them; they told us that they are really starting to feel at peace and comforted when they pray. They are terrific on keeping commitments, but we haven't been sure if they are genuinely developing testimony. After Thursday, we feel great about them. They continue to be an active part of the ward and have settled in to the branch family already. They attended our monthly FHE activity on Saturday, and really threw themselves into it, food, games, and all! 

We also went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders, and I was with Elder Gomez (who's from Guatemala) in the English Area. We taught a lesson to their recent converts, the Blys, about the Plan of Salvation. I felt a really sweet spirit throughout, and we both agreed afterward that the Blys really needed to hear that message! I'm so grateful for the Plan of Salvation, and the fact that our family relationships can withstand time and carry into eternity! What a massive blessing! 

Speaking of blessings, We also got to attend the temple with our branch on Saturday. There is only one day a month where ordinances are performed in Chinese, and we got special permission from our mission president to go attend and help with baptisms and confirmations for a few of our branch's recent converts! The baptistery in the Oakland Temple is massive and absolutely beautiful, and I got to participate in confirmations and act as a witness to a few baptisms. I wish we as missionaries were allowed to attend the temple more, but I am so grateful that there is a temple in my mission. The temple is a very special place to me. 

Another less spiritual blessing: its awesome when you walk into a sandwich shop one day and the cashier (a member) pays for your lunch. Good people are all around us!

I love you all! Thank you for the support and love you offer to me! Have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)

Week 28 - Tired and Working Hard

MeiGeRen Hao!

This has been a very interesting week for us! We have seen the Lord's hand in the work as we've striven to find those prepared. One such person we found while tracting this week was Hameed, who let us into his home. When we asked him why he did so, he told us of how 15 years previously, he was working on the East Coast, where he would cycle a lot. The only people willing to stop by and assist him whenever he had bike trouble would be missionaries. He wanted to know why these young men in white shirts and ties were the only ones so willing to help out. It was a testament to me about how we never know what the small acts of kindness we render can do. It ended up planting seeds of faith in Hameed, which allowed us to teach him the first lesson. The Spirit was strong throughout, and he agreed to a second appointment later this week. It is always nice to have times like that to perk me up when nights of tracting (which we're doing a lot right now) get long and repetitive.

We also continued our weekly meetings with Wu Di Xiong and Fang Jei Mei. Their faith and excitement about the gospel is admirable and infectious. We taught them about Following the Prophet, as we originally planned to do, and then, surprisingly, Bro Wu asked us a question about tithing. He keeps every pamphlet and every talk used by teachers in Church and Priesthood lessons, and while looking through the D&C Pamphlet we use in Sunday School lessons, the idea of tithing caught his eye. We explained the commandment to them, and they committed to live the commandment without a problem at all! Elder Smith and I were flabbergasted! It was a miracle to see their faith and their incredible desire to learn. They are so eager to learn and understand the gospel. Teaching them has been a real blessing. 

There have also been a lot of changes happening to our branch recently. Bro. Tam, our Branch Mission Leader, was called to be our new Branch President! Pres. Lee was also released yesterday, which was sad. He is a great example, and will definitely be missed. It will be interesting to see how the branch moves on with new leadership, the next few weeks are sure to be a little different while everyone adjusts. 

We of course also got to call home for Mother's Day, which was Awesome! I love my family, and it was so great to hear from all of them, especially because I was able to contact them while they were miles away on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean! Technology is amazing!

I love you all and am SO grateful for the blessing that each one of you is in my life. Have a great week!

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)

Photos from A Long and Tiring Week 27!

The missionary DVD player for devotionals and conference talks before bed at night.

Can you guess which arm Benjamin wears his watch on?

A character created by Benjamin especially for Molly - his name is Grugg.

Time for bed after a long day of walking, talking to men who only wear boxer shorts to answer the door or, perhaps, fuzzy brown tights, and listening to lots of Catholics too.  Bring on the sleep.

Twenty Seventh Email from Union City!

GeWei DiXiong JieMei, ZaoAn!

This has been a slower week for us in the mission. We are doing well, working hard this week trying to expand our teaching pool of investigators. 

Our finding efforts have led to a lot of knocking, and a lot (and I mean, A LOT!!!!!) of walking. We have finished up a few small neighborhoods a few blocks away from our house, and whenever we have a massive space of time, we walk down and start knocking. We have met some very interesting people because of it. The highlight this week was that two men came to their doors practically naked, one in boxer shorts, and the other in woolly, skinned-colored tights...totally unfazed by the fact that we were there, not even worried about it. In fact, "Mr. Tights" was more concerned about the food he was cooking than talking to us. Only in California, right? We've also managed to find some Chinese people in our efforts, but not many interested just yet. We're hoping for a miracle to see some new investigators

We've also run into a lot of members (the white shirts are visible, so the honking, and the screamingfrom car windows, and the letting into the house for drink breaks are coming around full force!) They are such a great example of kindness and love to Elder Smith and I

Bro. Wu and Sis. Fang are still our only current progressing investigators. They came to church on Sunday, and are really enjoying their time with the branch. We took our 2nd Counselor, Bro. Zhao, to visit them this week to talk a little more about baptism and confirmation. Nothing yet, but we're still planning on meeting with them and talking to them. 

Now to some of the fun stuff this week; Elder Smith is now teaching me to solve a Rubiks cube, which has been fun! We also went out to dinner with our Branch Mission Leader at a Taiwanese restaurant. Bro Tam is such a fun guy. Also, our Branch is set to get reorganized soon; President Lee just anounced that his family will be moving to Hawaii in July. This will be a big adjustment for the branch, as President Lee has held the branch together in his calling for a number of years. We will see what happens, but a lot of change is definitely afoot for the Union City 3rd Branch!

Thanks for the constant prayers, support and love. Love you and miss you all! Have a fantastic week!

Wo Ai NiMen!

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)

Photos of Burgers, Barr, and A New Stick!

A student in Benjamin's famous English class, made him a stick to use while teaching!  Edison is jealous and would consider his mission a success if someone ever makes him a stick to do anything with.

Doing exchanges with Elder Barr today and teaching in Spanish!

Brother Bartlett, my new favorite person, took this group to dinner at Fuddrucker's in Union City! He is an artist for Disney and dresses up as C3PO for Disney events!  Good times being had by all!

Six Months!!

NiHao Everybody!

As the title suggests, this week I passed my 6 month mark! Its crazy to thin I've been out that long already. We're still working hard and trying to be good missionaries.

We've taught Bro Wu and Sis Fang this week again, and they are doing great. We taught them the Word of Wisdom, which we were nervous about (they offered us wine at our dinner appointment with them a few weeks ago...), but then a miracle occurred. They told us they should absolutely have no issue with keeping that commandment! Elder Smith and I both are in awe of their commitment and their faith. Its truly inspiring. 

We also went on exchanges again with the Spanish Elders this week. I had fun with Elder Barr in our area, and he especially enjoyed English Class, where we taught animal names as a means of hopefully improving the student's pronunciation of basic English phrases and sounds (yeah...it needs work...). My language is getting there, still improving I hope. Elder Smith and I have also done a LOT of walking and knocking again this week. We've been able to tract into a few possible new investigators, as well as SO MANY members! Things are starting to heat up in the Bay Area (we're supposedly going to be in the 90's tomorrow!), so we've been out without jackets, white shirts blaring in the sunlight. This leads to honks and calls from car windows practically every minute we are out and about in Union City. The area is great! We had the coolest dinner appointment this week! Bro Bartlett bought us dinner at an awesome burger place called Fuddruckers. He's an artist for Disney, while on the side making special cameo appearances in TV ads and special events as C3PO from Star Wars! I picked his brain for ages on the character and some of his coolest stories. He just got back from Japan where he helped to christen an new airplane decorated to look like C3PO. It was fun to connect with someone who knows about my acting routes!

In other news, we've come to an end of another transfer in the mission. Elder Smith and I will be staying together in Union City for another six weeks, and we will be welcoming Elder Santos into our companionship tomorrow morning. This will be the last transfer of both of their missions, so I will be "killing" two birds with one stone! HAHA! Should be interesting.

Wo Ai NiMen! Keep strong and have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)