Some Answers Take Time

大家好!

This has been a busy week for me. This has also been a week full of some very poignant spiritual experiences. 

When it comes to our teaching pool, we are back to the typical Chinese fashion of deciding to avoid talking to the missionaries like the plague rather than just be out front and honest that they are no longer interested. I find that very hard to deal with, because we just end up chasing people down all the time without any real motivation. Francoise is unfortunately in that category now, which is really sad... However, we have someone else we are teaching right now. His name is Wang Pu, he lives up north in Richmond and was previously taught by the missionaries. We had a lesson with him all about how we can feel the Spirit and what it influences us to do. Elder Lee had the great idea to share Ether 12:6 with him (receive no witness until after the trial if our faith), and it really struck a chord with him. It taught me that in order to be influenced by the Spirit, we first need to believe that we will receive answers. Wang Pu is working on developing that faith. He is reading, and prays specifically that God will send him answers to his questions. It's cool to see him develop his faith like that. 

My favorite part of the week was Zone Conference, our first with Pres. and Sis. Durham. They both did a fantastic job. We talked about the importance of talking to everyone we meet, because "proselyting is talking to people." It's nice to realize that our success as missionaries, whether or not we are called to serve full time, is not determined by the number of baptisms we have, but the amount of people we share the Gospel with and invite to learn more. I think that's something a lot of people don't realize. It makes me more confident that I can do my part. We trained on finding, working in the Visitors Center, and studying effectively. We also received a special pack of conference talks and scripture references all about the Atonement. Pres. Durham testified that as our testimonies of the Atonement increase, we will have increased faith and desire to share the Gospel. I found the conference very insightful, and I really am trying to make my study of these new resources detailed. 

We took a challenge to have an engaging Gospel related discussion with at least 10 people everyday! As such, we have run into some pretty interesting people. We met Dr. G, a Holocaust survivor who couldn't stop talking to us about how much money he had, as well as a whole bunch of people while out and about knocking doors. One man was very surprised that we could talk to him in Chinese. It's fun pulling that out of our pockets and surprising people! 

The biggest thing we have been doing this week is service.... We are literally the go-to people for service projects. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand and leaves us little time to do actual proselyting, and that can get frustrating at times. Over the course of one week, we have passed out groceries, moved furniture, weeded, laid cardboard, and even organized the Mission Home Materials closet. It was busy work. Good to know people can count on us to help out, I guess. 

Things continue to move along. We've seen some miracles in regards to finding people this week as a Zone, and motivation among missionaries continues to escalate. I am grateful for the Gospel. I am grateful for my Savior and His Atonement. I am grateful for the time i have to spend getting to know him better. 

我爱你们! Have a great week!

Elder Butters 
包长老