This has been one of the busiest and most rewarding weeks of my mission so far. There have been a lot of changes and a lot of cool things going on.
Firstly, I "killed" Elder Smith on Monday... He is now home in Allen, TX, and will be missed around here. My new companion is Elder Tung. He is from Hong Kong, and has served for 19 months. Funnily enough, he served with Elder Smith previously in the Oakland Chinese Branch! He was at BYU Hawaii for a little while before his mission studying social work. We are already off to a great start here in Hayward! He is also our new District Leader. He is very dedicated and motivated to help, and his Cantonese comes in handy with a lot of our members and investigators!
We've been able to meet up with all three of our investigators this week. Sis. Lu is someone we haven't been able to visit in ages, and we met her a couple times at her doorstep. She told us about her concerns with her testimony, and we were able to bear witness of the power of the Book of Mormon and the confirming witness we receive if we pray and ask to know if it is true. She read and said she felt at peace, which is great. We also discussed with our other investigators, Bro Wu and Sis Fang, about the separation of religious conviction and a normal belief in something. Both Elder Tung and I shared that a strong belief in something is good, but in order to develop a testimony, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes! They seemed very happy with our visit, and are continuing to read the Book of Mormon (They are now up to Alma 30s, which is incredible!) We are making progress, slowly but surely!
In other news, we've encountered some service in the sun (man, its burning up here, especially the past few days), a Zone meeting on baptismal goals, fixing a self-installed shower door, a few rounds of UNO for a finding game night activity, and a LOT of rice! Seriously, a heck of a lot of rice, even by Chinese missionary standards....
We have quite a summer shaping up for us in Union City. We are doing well and working hard. Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, and kind words on my behalf. They truly mean the world to me!
Wo Ai NiMen! Have a great week!
Elder Butters (Bao ZhangLao)
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