Photos From Transfer Week

A Picnic dinner put on by Elder and Sister Spanos for the District.  Thank you!

A Prime box from Mom and Dad - perhaps this will be the last one as "coming home" is getting close.

Elder Steinke, the Zone Leader, isn't hear for much longer.....we love him!

Goofing off in the office - we have a good time together!

Can You Handle The Heat?

你们好!

Another week in the books, and with this one, another transfer for the books. This has definitely been a transfer to remember; my companion is awesome, the area is always interesting, and more than anything, I've been able to see the Gospel work in people's lives. It's been a great culmination of learning and growth for me.

We started with exchanges with the APs, and I got to work with Elder Wilkinson in our area. He is a great lovable guy, and we had a good time passing out excess supermarket food to the needy. We also gave him a Chinese name and tried to find a few potentials. I am grateful for the example of our leaders and the fun they bring into the work. We continued finding efforts, trying to incorporate several new ideas into our proselyting. We set up a stand right in the heart of UC Berkeley Campus, complete with pictures, pamphlets, and copies of the Book of Mormon, which we tried to disperse as we talked to passers by. We managed to place a couple of Book of Mormons, and surprisingly talked with a lot of Chinese students who are here studying for the summer. They were pretty excited when they found out we could speak Chinese! We also spent our Saturday in Antioch, the most eastern part of the mission. It was a scorching 105 degrees! We sweated through everything... It was a cool experience. However, we still have found no one. 

Nonetheless, God has put us in the paths of people who needed our help. We got a call from a random Bishop in the area on Thursday night, saying that he needed missionaries to give a blessing to a child in the hospital. It was no coincidence that we were able to drive to the hospital in about five minutes and rush upstairs, where we found an unconscious  5-year-old Duncan Robins and his parents. We were informed that Duncan had just hours before past into a diabetic shock.His brain was swelling and his temperature and heart rate unstable. I had the opportunity to give him a simple blessing. The Spirit in the room was something I will never forget; it was amazing to feel such love for a little boy I'd just barely met. Little did I know that I would be giving Duncan his last Priesthood Blessing in mortality. We found out about his passing two days later... It was an experience that I will never forget, because I got to see the Gospel in action. I am comforted to know that Duncan will be reunited with his family one day, as a perfect being. I am so grateful that we were able to bring hope through the Priesthood. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real, and that through our Savior, we can return to live with our families eternally! I am grateful that even though my mission has not been one with massive amounts of baptisms, it has been one full of little impactful events that have accumulated to one amazing mission. And that is something that I am even MORE grateful for. Funny how well the Lord knows us and blesses us. I am constantly in awe of Him. 

In other news, transfers happened...and Elder Mitchell and I are STAYING in Oakland! 

BUT.......I will be welcoming my SECOND SON!!! Yes, I'm training again!! We will be in a trio with a missionary who will be waiting with us for him visa to Taiwan to come in. Should be a party, seeing that I haven't been in a trio since I was in the MTC. We have a packed first week planned for him, with a lesson with a potential, several meetings we need to attend, and the departure of our Mission President. Lots going on this summer. 

Love you all! Have a great week! Thank you for all of the amazing things you do for me!

Love,

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao

An Assortment of Photos

The manuscript is COMPLETE!!

A brand new 2018 Toyota Corolla and this is the reaction.....?

Dinner with Jimmy and Amy Choi, members of the branch.

A New Hope - Promptly Goes Up in Flames

各位家庭朋友早安! 

Well, there isn't much to share this week. We had a lot of ups and a lot of downs, the biggest of which had to do with a New Investigator we found. We visited Bro. Wang this week. He formerly met with the missionaries, but invited us up to the top deck of his apartment complex. We had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and then came back three days later to answer all his questions regarding the Book of Mormon. After constantly asking where the "proof of the First Vision" was, he said he wouldn't have time to read and find the truth for himself. Needless to say, he is no longer our "New Investigator..." That was a bummer for our week. We tried to let him know that the evidence he was looking for was ib his hand, and all he had to do to find out if it was true was to ask God, who has promised He will respond! 

We didn't have much success finding after that, other than placing a Book of Mormon at one point while street contacting around a Chinese mall. I like the simple times we have to share basic sincere testimony. Those simple contacts have an impact on me. We do have a big week of referrals to contact this week, which will make things interesting. 

I guess because we lacked on our numbers, I had a positive week of Spiritual insight. I love our Prophet! His words are inspired and I love being able to read them. I was touched this week by his words on the Book of Mormon, and the duties of the Priesthood. He has helped me to see that though God expects us to be better, He will also help us to do so. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and for the example of Priesthood service that I see in the men around me, especially my own Father (爸爸、父亲节快乐!)

Some fun things this week: we got a new car, we visited a few members in their homes, Elder Mitchell told more jokes, we had a District lunch, a special training with Pres. and Sis. Frandsen involving once again practiving the essentials of Missionary work, we made dinner for hungry Spanish Elders who don't know what it's like to not have a dinner appointment, and we finally finished Oscar Pemantle's book. We had a good balance of hard work and fun. 

It is so hard to believe that another week has already gone by. Time is going by too fast, and I wish it would slow down. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father, for this Gospel, for the Plan of Salvation, and for the love and support I get from all of you! 

Have another great week!

Elder Butters/包长老

Photos From Beginning of Summer Fun

All the Chinese elders returning from a branch BBQ.

The very sexy missionary tan that comes with walking streets and knocking doors in blazing sun.

The sweet potato that was bigger than Benjamin's head - passing out sweet potatoes to Chinese families this week.  This one was particularly requested!

The Neumann's and the Cheung's at the branch BBQ.

Perfect mimic - this photo sent to Dad for Father's Day.

Number 83 - Here Comes the Sun and It's All Right!

大家好! 

The weeks are rolling by faster than ever. I can hardly believe how fast June has gone already. Elder Mitchell and I have been up to our usual service this week, as well as our typical finding. There were also unfortunately some big down points during our week... We had to drop both Lisa and Aris as investigators. Without a few weeks of contact (and an email to other missionaries sent behind our back gelling them how rude we are for just stopping by...), we've had no choice but to start off on a blank canvas. It was tough to say the least...However, that isn't to say we didn't have any good spiritual highlights as well;

We've continued our contacting of less-active Priesthood-aged men in our Branch with our new Branch President, Elder Frandsen. We had a great appointment with one individual in particular, Bro. Liang Zi Zhi, whom I've visited before with Elder Carns. We talked to him and he told us an incredible conversion story all about the power of prayer. He also responded really well to a lesson we shared on the Book of Mormon. Once hearing that Prophet's have encouraged us to read it every day, he removed his copy from his bookshelf, and immediately put it on his bedside table. It was a spiritually powerful evening, easily a highlight for my week. 

We also had Zone Conference this week, our last one with Pres. and Sis. Frandsen before they end their mission at the end of the month. They will definitely be missed, but they left with some incredible thoughts to all of us missionaries. Sis. Frandsen shared a message on putting on the armor of righteousness, and Pres. Frandsen talked about the Lord turning us into what He wants us to be. He used the example of sculpting us into a "work of art." I love that analogy. I am grateful for the opportunities this life allows us to let God help us to become what He not only wants us, but NEEDS us to be. However, that will only happen if we allow him to do so. It was powerful, just like all of Pres.' talks to us. We will miss him for sure. However, we are excited to welcome Pres. and Sis. Durham in a few weeks. But, more on him later...

We also are now finally into Summer. It has been HOT! We've been serving outside a ton, and both Elder Mitchell and I both received our first sunburns of the season...we are rocking some pretty awesome looking tan lines....Its bad...

So, our area isn't experiencing very many miracles when it comes to our key indicators. However, we are definitely seeing miracles come up involving our Branch. We are having more people in attendance at Sacrament Meeting, we are having people more willing to serve, and we are experiencing more spiritually-uplifting meetings. Slowly but surely, I feel the Lord is accomplishing a great purpose in our Branch. We hope that helping the Branch increase in their efforts to do member-missionary work will help. 

To wrap up, we gave out massive sweet potatoes, helped pick up massive platters of food from Chinatown in Oakland, and also acted as the "grill masters" at the Branch BBQ. It was a fun week!

Please continue to pray for our area. We have some potential investigators to visit this week. We are so grateful for the help the Lord is giving us to strengthen the Branch, but would love to see some conversion work as well.

Love you all, and have a great week!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao

Missionaries? More Like Free Moving Service!

各位家庭早安!

Well, I think the title says it all...this week we served, served, did service, and then served some more. It was absolutely NUTS! We did just about anything and everything, from passing out free groceries to the needy, to writing a book and running shopping errands, and helping load and unload two different moving vans in the span of about three days! Needless to say, when there's a job to be done in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Elder Mitchell and Elder Butters, THAT'S WHO! We are glorified handy men, and specialize in writing complicated manuscripts and working irrigation systems, among others. 

Not to say that this week hasn't been spiritually uplifting, of course. Actually, this week has led me to thinking a lot about my testimony and personal spirituality. While going out finding, I was thinking a lot about some potential and former investigators we've had, and their unwillingness to commit to do things like read the Book of Mormon, pray, or go to Church. It's frustrating, but I realized, that I was being somewhat hypocritical. I've been expecting to find new investigators and get our area booming, but at times find it hard to motivate myself to do the essential things necessary to do that, like knock more doors, open my mouth and talk more, etc. It was a needed wakeup call, and I was grateful for the small reminders of the Lord. He really wants us to become better. I invite all of you to figure out something that you could be more willing to do to have the blessings of the Lord more abundant in your life. 

Also, I learned a great lesson from a High Council member this week. Bro. Neumann serves in our Branch, and had us over for dinner on Friday. We talked a lot about how choosing to apply yourself is something that makes all the difference in the end. It can change your work ethic, motivation, and general attitude. I am becoming more and more aware that we as people are the decisive element to our success, temporal AND spiritual. I want to do better at choosing to apply myself in everything I do, and I started doin just that this week. For example, I chose to run harder and faster and got better exercise one morning. I chose to spend a little time pondering Ensign articles this week. And I chose to make every time we went finding count. We had a miracle of receiving a referral from SLC as a result! It was an important lesson for me to learn, and one that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life! 

In other news, we made fun dinners at home, went contacting less-active Elders and Branch members with our Elders Quorum President, Elder Frandsen, and kept on knocking! We also went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and I had a fantastic day with Elder Steinke! He had a lot of great advice for me on diligence and love of the work, and we just had a fun time talking to each other. We also had the chance to answer the call to give A priesthood blessing in the hospital while we were together.  A great Elder and leader. 

Elder Mitchell and I are having too much fun! He's a great guy, and I am enjoying Oakland with him. We sometimes need to be more focused, but this week helped us to grow together. I loved it.

I love you all! Have an amazing first week of June. It's hot and sweaty here, but it's nice to get some sun. 

我知道耶稣是基督!

加油!

Elder Butters/包长老