Email 81 - Someone Please Open A Door!

NiMen Hao!

Happy Memorial Day to you all. We celebrated with a little Zone Activity that we just returned from. I am grateful for the men in my life who were willing to give their lives for the cause of freedom, justice, and valiance. I look up to them 

Well, there is nothing much to talk about this week! Work-wise, it was pretty slow. We have been trying to find constantly...we knock, and knock, and stop on the sidewalk, and talk, and and ask for contact information, and then ring another doorbell. Oh, but not before we knock again! Its been a long week. We have run into some pretty crazy people, though... This week, Oakland offered us a young Vietnamese kid playing Pokemon on his tablet (he thanked us for his help with it, which was a mission first for me), and a man who told us all about some religious theories he come up with about the end of the world. This involved him presenting a binder full of pictures to us, folding up dollar bills to look like buildings on fire, and talking about how no one else on earth can match him when it comes to doctrine. I think Elder Mitchell and I know a guy...Russell M. Nelson! It was really awkward, but incredibly memorable.

We were involved in a lot of service, too. We filled out time by helping to move furniture in a school, setting up a canopy in a member's backyard, and more typing of Oscar's manuscript. I know this is probably sounding pretty repetitive from week to week, but we are really trying to find right now, and much not has been going on in our area. Its been kind of a bummer.

However, Sunday this week, I attended possibly one of the best Sacrament Meetings on my Mission. One of the speakers, the wife of the High Counselor assigned to our Branch, spoke on Writing the Atonement on your Heart. She shared six ways we can improve our appreciation and our application of the Atonement, and I thought I'd share them with you. 

1) Be Kind
Christ was kind to everyone, even those who may not have deserved His kindness. To people who had sinned, such as the woman caught in adultery in the New Testament, He responded simply with the commission to "Go and Sin No More." No punishment, no judgement, no unkind word. He simply loved and wanted people to love their fellow men.

2) Pay Tithing

Our monthly contribution of 10% is NOTHING compared to the infinite price that Christ paid in taking upon Himself our burdens and sins. We can handle giving something small back to Him.

3) Be Forgiving of Yourself and Others

All of us are imperfect, and making mistakes is a part of life. We need to accept that, and remember that Christ has already paid the price of those mistakes for us. That should motivate us to move on and strive to be better than we were before.

4) Be Grateful

Thank God! He has given us so much. Try imagining that you are at the Savior's feet when you pray. It might help you to show more gratitude and offer more of your heart to your Him

5) Have Joy

The purpose of our life on Earth is to have Joy, and Christ's Atonement gives us that opportunity. He died so that we can be happy, and He wants only that for each of us. I think that's a beautiful thought. 

6) Take the Sacrament

Our speaker definitely emphasized the power of the Sacrament. It is a time of remembrance, renewal, and cleansing. It allows us to have continued strength as we move on into a new week, confident that as long as we remember the Lord, He will be on our side. 

I am grateful for my Savior. His Atonement is for us all, and I hope that I can continue to experience its power. I know He feels the feelings my companion and I are going through right now, and He is here with us in this work. I am so grateful for that. 

I am also grateful for all of you. I appreciate the constant continued support. Have an amazing week! 

Wo Ai NiMen!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao