Photos from A Great P Day Activity at Strawberry Hill

A District service project in the gardens at Strawberry Hill for P Day - riding home in a gardening truck was the highlight for sure!

The kid's still got it!  Hits the splits on an old stump......13 months in and everything still works like it should!

P Day breakfast with the district before District meetings.

The District - Benjamin will remain here after transfers on Tuesday and become a trainer to a new missionary arriving tomorrow!

Trainer and Thanksgiving

NiMen Hao!

Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! We definitely did over here in the Bay Area!

Before we get into that, we had some disappointments at the beginning of the week...Unfortunately, one of the Church Headquarters referrals we received (a woman named Donna Wu) finally returned some of our calls, and told us she wasn't interested in meeting with us...that was fun. 

But, regardless, the good definitely outweighed the bad this week! We have been trying to achieve a mission goal of helping 200 people be baptized since June of this year, and we only have 33 to go! In an effort to more fully achieve this goal, we have been asked to set 4:00-6:00pm everyday to go our and find new investigators! This can be done by tracting, street-contacting, whatever, all in an effort to find those truly prepared! We are already seeing great blessings from this initiative!Thanks to this new finding time, we have been much more diligent in trying to locate those prepared, especially closer to our apartment. Elder Li and I have tracted into several potentials these past few days, so we hopefully will get to add anew investigator soon!

I went on exchanges with Elder Fernandez this week, and he is a totally fun Elder. He goes home on Wednesday, so it was the last exchange in his mission! We did yard work and cleanup at Golden Gate Park, which I love, and had an incredible lesson with the Sunset Elders' current investigator, Glen. Glen shared with us his concerns about the difference between revelation from church leaders and personal revelation. Elder Fernandez pulled out a scripture from D&C 58 quite literally out of thin air, and it provided the answer to Glen's queries perfectly! I was in awe of the power of the Spirit during that lesson. It was a great motivator to me to keep up my studies and to more fully try to remain worthy of the Spirit.

Speaking of studies, I have learned some AWESOME things this week! Especially after the experience with Glen, I felt kind of down on myself and the current situation of our work. I was jealous of and coveted the opportunities English speaking missionaries have to teach and share meaningful testimony compared to a Chinese missionary such as myself. I read in Alma 20:29-30 the next day, which tells us that the Lord gives us specific trials and challenges individual to each of His children. It made me realize that my mission will have different struggles, but that those struggles were ones that the Lord intended for me to receive personally. Further studying the parables of Christ's life has really confirmed to me how personal the Gospel is to each of us, both in the way we chose to live it and the specific plans Heavenly Father has for each of us.

I am very proud of our District this week! Not only were we able to have a fun Thanksgiving together, but we were also able to achieve our District Baptismal Goal of three baptisms! We are all very excited about that effort and the blessings the Lord has given us. I hope we can further contribute to the 200 goal as it comes to a close over these next few weeks.

By way of Thanksgiving, we had an incredible dinner with Hermana Betty herself. She is an incredible woman, who invites all of the missionaries in the San Francisco Zone over to her house every Thursday night for dinner. About 10 of us went over last week to spend Thanksgiving with her. She is such a good lady, and so lovely to provide such a wonderful memory for all of us. 

It is definitely good to be grateful! I am grateful for the Gospel, and this chance that I have to strengthen my relationship with my Savior. I am grateful for all the blessing that I receive through this work. It's been hard, but its doable. 

Love to you all! Have a great week!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao

Photos from Exchanges and Planning Meetings

Elder Kotiah and Elder Ferandez aren't too much fun to have around......exchanges are rather dull and boring and the guys don't get along very well.

It is a chore to labor beside these men and the days are long and difficult.

We never have fun on exchanges....nope, we never ever do.  Love these guys!!

Benjamin loves Elder Li but the question, "How is it best to throw pizza in someone's face?" didn't seem to fit in the middle of a late night planning meeting at the library.  Hang in there!

Week 55: Revelation and Becoming a Trainer

DaJia Hao!

Another week come and gone!  Its been a good one for Elder Li and I. 

Firstly, we received another miracle with a referral who lives in our area! Though we have tried to contact Donna Wu twice by phone and once at her address, we have been unable to make contact with her yet. We are praying that we will get a hold of her soon, so hopefully we can add a new investigator! That would be a real miracle! While we wait, we have been doing some late night tracting, and also have been working with some of our Recent Converts. Bro. Guan is doing well, but we want to help him increase in his testimony. We hope that a Priesthood-related calling will help to keep his current testimony burning and help it to grow in the process.

Our 2nd Counselor has recently stepped up to the plate as our Ward Mission Leader (Bro. Gao, our previous one, was released this week), and has done a great job! He has developed a computer program system that will allow us to quickly upload information about our week and our labors, almost like an electronic Progress Record. It is so great to be working so closely with someone who genuinely wants to improve the missionary efforts of our Branch. He is excited for the upcoming "Light the World" initiative, and is actively trying to find ways to help us as missionaries. I love that.

Speaking of which, "Light the World" is coming up again this year for Christmas! If you haven't had the chance to look it up yet, DO IT! Every way we can bring others joy this Christmas season will only make it more memorable for ourselves.

This past Thursday, I went on exchanges with Elder Kotiah, and we had a great day together. We did service and also sat in on our YSA's Institute class. We also had a great time talking all about what we should be focusing on as missionaries. He explained to me that though numbers a great, we need to make sure that there is a face to the number. I really appreciated that. At the beginning of my mission, I was a very "numbers-based" missionary, wanting high numbers for the sake of getting high numbers. I learned that unless we focus on the people behind our indicators, those numbers won't mean a thing. Missionary work is about PEOPLE! I was grateful for his wisdom and council. He's a very good-hearted missionary.

We also had some great conferences this week! Zone Conference was on Wednesday, and we had some great trainings on Personal Study, improving our Teaching abilities, and improving Finding efforts. It was a really fun day. What added to the fun was that a miracle took place! Elder Li and I went to a Polynesian restaurant for dinner after the conference while waiting for a ride. Not only was the food free (the owners were members!), but someone requested a blessing while we were there! Because no one else was in the restaurant, we were able to give the blessing right out in the open. It really brought the spirit and a special feeling to our day. 

I've been having great studies lately, particularly in taking the time to use the footnotes sections and other manuals and available resources, which Pres. Frandsen has been pushing us all to do. I've been focusing this week on the story of Ammon in Alma 17-18. I wish I had the same faith he did; the ability to see tribulation as a way to teach his fellow servants about the hope the gospel can bring, and the power that comes when we plead with God for him to give it to us. My language study is improving too, which I desperately need right now, especially considering I will be training next transfer.

Next week I have some goals to be better at utilizing all of my time, and not wasting it. Something I've learned on my mission is that we don't have much time, and that we need to try to use every second we have. I have had troubles with that in the past, and will strive to improve in that capacity her in the field. I hope that I can be a good example to my new companion next transfer. 

Oh, right...I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER! Both Elder Li and I will be trainers starting at the end of November for two new arriving Mandarin Elders. He will be returning to Hayward, and I'll be staying here in San Francisco (YES!). I'm very excited, but terrified at the same time. I hope my Chinese is up to par! 

Wo Ai NiMen, TeBie GanXie Wei NiMen Dui Wo De BangZhu!

JiaYou! Gan'En Jie Kuai Le!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao

Week 54 - Giant Memories and Events including a GA and a China Visitors!

DaJiaHao!

What a week! So many memories, many of which have become highlights of my mission! 

We had my first Mission Tour in the field this week, conducted by Elder Scott D. Whiting of the Seventy. The meeting was a great positive experience for me. It inspired me to be a little more committed to this work then I currently am. I sometimes struggle with the thoughts of if I'm doing enough or how I can better improve myself.  Elder Whiting had some very powerful things to say, for which I am grateful. I also got to provide a special musical number, "This Is The Christ," which was great!

My favorite part of the week was our Visitor's Center lesson. A week ago we received a phonecall from Pres. Frandsen, asking us to teach a man and his son who'd come from China to investigate the church. Fridaymorning, we rove up to Oakland and were introduced to Bros. Liang WenFeng (father) and Liang YangShou (son).  Bro. Pinkerton, their member connection to the States, accompanied them on the visit. He informed us that Bro. Liang WenFeng is a very well-noted businessman, and was interested in helping to open the doors for the gospel to be preached in China! Thus, he had come to meet with the missionaries and learn a little more about the church. Elder Li and I both felt terrified and so excited: we are the only companionship of missionaries currently in the mission that both share experience e with living in the Mainland, and we had waited for an opportunity like this for EVER! In some small way, I feel that Friday's proceedings were one of many reasons why I was called to this mission. China means so much to me, and the idea that I could have a small part of opening the doors to the preaching of the gospel there is something remarkable! 

The meeting itself was a little interesting. It seemed more like a business transaction that an actual teaching scenario. Though very intrigued by the temple and the presentations at the VC, Bro. Liang constantly asked Elder Li and I "How can I help you?" We didn't really know what to think, so we both shared our experiences of living in the Mainland as active members, and from what we've experienced needs to be done from here. It was an incredible experience, and I pray that it is the start of something very special. 

(Please note: this does not mean in any way that the gospel will now be available to China. We simply fulfilled our assignment, and I have no other information as to the future of China and its relationship to the church! That is all! But still, HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!) 

Elder Li and I have  talked a lot about trying to find new ways to find. We have been struggling with that for a while now; it seems like whenever we get a new investigator, after our first meeting, they are blown off the face of the earth...I guess I need to be more patient with that. But until then, we will try some new locations for finding this week, in a hope to reach out to someone! In an effort this week, we managed to stumble onto a Bible Discussion Group on the campus of San Francisco State University, and they welcomed us warmly. We talked to a guy named Chris about the Book of Mormon, and he had a lot of challenging questions. It was a cool way to spend our early afternoon.

We've also spent more time with our Branch this week. One of our sisters had a baby shower for her first son who is due in January, and we had a fun game night with our YSA members, where we played a game called "Secret Hitler." Simply put, its a game where everyone receives and identity and then everyone has to figure out who Hitler is. It was a LOUD night!

Love to you all! Things are good, a little wet and a little lacking of a teaching pool, but good. Have a fantastic week!

TianFu Ai NiMen!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao

Photos of Allergies and Visitors

These two best friends and companions purchased matching ties in China Town for the mission tour of Elder Whiting, a General Authority visiting from Utah.

And then the kid found out he is allergic to Kiwi Fruit....what?  Swollen lips and hives.....super fun!

$40 later, with allergy medicine in hand, all is well and he will not be eating Kiwi Fruit anytime soon.

Asked to meet with a prominent business man from China, these boys talked at length about the church, the gospel, the difficulty of accessing the church in China and more.  Elder Li and Elder Butters are the only companionship in which both missionaries have lived on the Mainland and could speak to things they have experienced trying to be a member of the church in that part of the world. Such a profoundly fantastic experience and one that may not have come to Benjamin without his unique background and life history.

Week 53 Email - Costco is not for Elderly Chinese Women!

NiMen Hao!

I hope you all had a very festive Halloween! Elder Li and I spent our night deep-cleaning our apartment, which is the typical way a missionary sensibly spends his or her Halloween night. 

Needless to say, we've had a lot of fun this week, with a Temple Day, cleaning the apartment, and a host of other meetings. However, this week has been a tough one as well, but its interesting to see that the weeks which I have the most struggles are also the weeks which I grow and learn the most.

Our primary proselyting effort this week has been going around San Francisco with a list of Less-Active members, trying to locate some of them that have "fallen off the map," so to speak. Elder Li and I have really enjoyed this activity, it has brought a real sense of accomplishment checking names off our list (both literally and figuratively). We've tried to do some finding along the way, and also made a trip to a college campus this past Tuesday in order to attempt to find some potential there. So far, nothing concrete has come of our efforts. We will keep trying.

We had the first Language Conference on my mission on Saturday, and it was the highlight of my week. We are a mission with 11 different language programs among those who serve here, and because we're so diverse, language learning has somewhat taken a back seat. We gathered at Temple Hill to receive some training on how to improve our studies, and how we as language-speaking missionaries can improve our utilization of the Gift of Tongues. 

I had the chance to apply some of the things I learned and felt into an appointment we had Sunday night. Mandarin has been stressing me out as of late, and I never feel like it will be good enough. However, I was intrigued about how much we learned at the conference about how the Gift of Tongues relates to having Charity and Love for the people we serve. I realized that I'm so worried about what to say at times, that I never take the time to listen.
Anyway, at our appointment with Bro. Tzeng (an elderly member who requested a Priesthood Blessing last night), I decided that I would simply try to "listen with love (that phrase has been ringing in my ears since Language Conference)." It was wonderful. Though I didn't understand everything, and though I had to ask for the definitions to a few words, I felt as though I understood what Bro. Tzeng was saying. What's more, I felt I better knew how to respond. It was a blessing that came at the end of a very tough week. I am grateful for what the Spirit taught me that night. I now want to make sure that I focus on my listening skills just as much as my vocabulary and speaking skills.

In a more lighthearted turn of events, we helped a Potential Investigator and her friend on a grocery run to Costco for a service activity...we spent about an hour and a half in the store, watching three women bicker and fight about what to get, how to stack things in the cart, and which bag of frozen dumplings would be the best to buy...Costco has now taken on a new meaning...it was crazy! What added to the craziness is that the potential decided to use one of the little shopping cart-wheelchair things (my family calls them "Disneyland Fat People Chairs...), and she had no clue how to drive it...She made some very interesting purchases...This woman spent $100+ on toilet paper and paper towels ALONE! It was a very frustrating and long afternoon, but an afternoon I will not forget. Its been fascinating to see just how many ways we can show love for others as disciples of Christ, and it made me grateful that past trips to Costco with my family were never that adventurous. 

The weather is definitely cooling off here, we've finally made it to Autumn, it seems. The city is beautiful, and signs of Christmas are already being seen all around (I'm not a big fan of that...). Should be a nice November here.

Love to gratitude to you all for the incredible joy you bring into my life. I miss you all, have a fantastic week! Happy belated Halloween!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao