Number 94: A Certain German Pilot In Antioch

Good Morning Everybody!

Holy cow, was THIS ever a week to remember! We had some really cool experiences that have helped me to make some lifelong memories.

As per usual, I'll start with the people we are teaching. We had an AWESOME lesson with Chad yesterday after church. Chad is progressing well and has a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. We were able to explain the Vision of the Tree of Life as part of our lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We invited him to be baptized, but he got pretty nervous about making such a life-changing commitment just yet. He seemed a little scared. Elder Ratliff and I were able to talk to him about the commitment and made him feel a lot more comfortable about it. I am learning that conversion is a huge process and that it should be taken at one's own speed. He got much calmer after we reassured him that we can take this process at his pace. I felt like it was a lesson where I really was able to "teach to needs." Chad has reminded me that God doesn't expect immediate perfection, rather steady progression. I am grateful for that knowledge. In other teaching news, we were able to meet with Sylvia and talk a TON with her about the Apostasy. It made a lot more sense to her.

We attended a ton of meetings this week as well. We participated in a Stake Priesthood Leadership meeting where we were panelists talking to all of the Ward Mission Leaders in the Antioch Stake about how they can make their work more effective. We had to get up ridiculously early for it, but it was fairly decent. However, that meeting doesn't even even compare to the meeting we had on Friday. We had a very special visit from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf himself! He held a mission conference with all of us, and we all got to shake his hand and hear his amazing words. Getting the opportunity to hear from the current head of the Missionary Dept. was super special. He told us all about how much the Lord loves us, and also how much he expects of his servants. He asked us to always serve like we are in the middle of our missions. Mostly, he asked us to make sure that we have an increased ability to receive personal revelation so that we can help others with our personal access to the Holy Ghost. I loved how much he brought up how missions are a personal thing, and the Lord wants us to use our personal gifts to help others. Our service is personal, and the Lord wants it to be that way. I am grateful to have met him, have performed a musical number for him, and to have this in my list of experiences.

We also did some service this week, and did a ton of finding. We are busy planning out all of these routes to use to contact people, and it leads us to knock on some pretty interesting doors in the process. We knocked into a woman named Cheryl this week, and she had a conversation with us about nothing much in particular for about 45 minutes....that was memorable. Another memorable finding moment happened while we were looking for less-active Ward Missionaries. We chased one down into Marsh Creek (otherwise known as "No Man's Land"), and finding him had us walking around a farm and up a hill, with only a very angry dog behind a gate to greet us (or me...Elder Ratliff turned tails and ran...) In addition to the heat, we've done Stake Reports (a fun Zone Leader activity), had good interviews with President Durham, etc. It gave me the chance to ponder my obedience and my sincerity when I repent. I feel like I can always improve, but should probably have the "progress not perfection" attitude Elder Uchtdorf suggested, and apply it to that. Always a work in progress. 

It was a good week. I am grateful for the support of all of you in these last few months. Keep having faith and I will too! Have a great week!

Love you all!

Elder Butters/Bao ZhangLao

Roxene Visits Benjamin

Benjamin was discovered in his new Antioch ward by none other than, Roxene.....she was Grandma Reynolds' college roommate many years ago and then these two connected!  God protects us in many, many ways! Roxene is so lovely to Grandma and has already promised goodie bags and care packages for this good missionary!

The McDonald Family Provides Dinner and Photos!

Mom got these surprise photographs on her phone on Thursday evening from the McDonald family! They had invited Elder Butters and his companion, on exchanges, to dinner!  Always good to see this smiling face and the good people taking care of these Elders!

It's a good day when this face appears magically on my phone!

Photos From Antioch

Great companions and now one is leaving - Elder Li will hold an important spot in Benjamin's mission memories forever!  Thank you, Elder Li, for many many wonderful weeks in San Francisco!

The ward mission leader and his wife love Disney!!  Check out their mailbox!!!

Elder Ratcliff entered Benjamin's world this week and has made a lasting impression.  He is from Massachusetts and loves theatre!  Perfect match!

After serving in the Museum of Antioch, the Elders had some time to "play around" with the costumes.

There is never a dull moment with these two now that their paths have crossed.

Proof continues......

The Holy Hand Grenade (hand made) of Antioch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail!!!

#92: Weirdest Week in The Mission!

你们好! (If I can even say that anymore...)

I come to you all today in my new area. I have now been in Antioch for a full week now, and HOLY CRAP, I feel like I am serving in a new Mission! There have been so many changes thrown at me all at once, and it's been a little overwhelming. 

Anyway, a little about Antioch. It is a nice little utopia smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, and hot...BOILING HOT!!! It's a pretty cool area, though. My new companion is Elder Ratliff, a missionary from Massachusetts. We are pretty similar; we are both the second of six kids and are the first missionaries in our families. Fun thing, we entered the MTC on the same day and will return home together as well. He is a pretty cool guy. We have really enjoyed quoting movies and cracking jokes together. He's teaching me to really have fun, which I need to have more of! Work wise, we are the Zone Leaders here, and we cover two Wards, Oakley 1st and Antioch YSA. I don't think I could've been transferred to a more different area than what I've been used to in the Chinese program. Not only does everyone speak English here, but we work with people my age! It's really kept things exciting and different to what I am used to. 

We have dived right in this week. Elder Ratliff and I are teaching a few people right now. We were able to add someone new to our teaching pool yesterday, a guy named Chad. We were able to teach him the Restoration, and he had a lot of great questions about prophets and modern day church leadership. I'm grateful we have leaders to direct us and help us know where to go. He agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and seems like a genuine and sincere person. We are also teaching some people who have been taught for a long time, who have questions about the definitions of Priesthood Keys and the Abrahamic Covenant. Teaching them has led me to go more in depth in my studies, which keeps studies exciting. 

There are some very interesting people here, and we have had some pretty crazy experiences with all of them. Some of those people include Tina (a lady with a massive personality who runs a kitchen for the homeless), Danny (a recent convert who is applying to go into the military police) and lots of members with absolutely insane family stories...some of which I wish they weren't as open to share with us as they were. Anyway, we've had a couple of really fun days. 

I think the spiritual highlight of my week came as Elder Ratliff and I prepared and gave our first Zone Meeting. We created a Zone Vision with our missionaries, which will hopefully inspire them to work hard and work to become the missionaries they imagine themselves becoming. That has led me to think a lot about that idea for myself. We also had some really great lessons on hard work and forgiveness as part of Sunday School classes. One of my favorite quotes was about forgiveness and how the Atonement helps us to forgive:

Forgiveness is when we allow the Savior to carry the burdens we can't carry on our own. By saying I forgive you, Christ can take burdens from us. 

You'll forgive me if I don't have much to share spiritually...most of this week has been a blur of learning my new area and my completely new situation. Lots to get used to, but Heavenly Father is proving to me that he will keep my mission interesting right up till the very end!

We had fun this week... Elder Ratliff and I built the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," we quoted movies, sweated like crazy, etc. Antioch is proving to be a crazy area. 
Things continue to be interesting. I am grateful for all of the love and support you show me. Thank you for being my rock. I hope you all are safe and happy. Heavenly Father loves you all! So do I! 

Love,

Elder Butters 
包长老

Photos From Transfer Week

District Meeting (last one) in the Assistant's huge apartment!

The Chinese elders - a whole bunch of goofballs in one place!  Elder Li leaves the mission tomorrow!

A District P-Day sports day - everyone likes these days together.

Benjamin and Elder Burgess

Oscar Pemantle - he taught the elders many life lessons (one was not how to wash a white shirt).

President and Sister Gallagher - the Chinese Branch President and his wife.

Number 91! Zone Leader.....

各位大家好!

We've had a decent week here in Oakland. It's been an interesting last week here...more surprises than I can really fathom, but more on that later. We've been in a lot of meetings, painted some fences, attended trainings, and had some fun here and there. 

The theme of this past week has definitely been "Forget yourself and go to work." As I am staring down the tunnel at the end of my mission, I have had a lot of opportunities to reflect on my past efforts and how I want to give it all I've got these next few weeks. 

A big part of the week included my Heavenly Father telling me that there is peace and joy to be found in talking with others and sharing the Gospel. We went on splits with our Elders Quorum President and our newly called Branch Mission Leader this past week, and I went with him (Elder Perrone) and a member to visit a less active member, Bro. Tan. We met a few blocks from his apartment downtown, and we were able to have a very basic discussion on showing our belief in God. Bro. Tan only speaks Cantonese, and because of his language barrier, he feels that he isn't able to express his belief for God. What I've learned is more important than speaking what you believe is loving what you believe. Our actions definitely speak louder than our words, and they should be the initial manifestations of our belief in Christ. We are to become like our Savior, not just say "Lord, Lord, etc." We are to do the Father's will, and that is a crucial indicator of discipleship. I hope Bro. Tan got the message. 

I have had a lot of opportunities to share some of my deepest convictions with people. This past week, I was able to share with our friend Oscar Pemantle about the importance of family. Unfortunately, he has allowed his focus on his work to overpower his focus on his family. I was able to tell him of the eternal significance of the family. It made me sad that he was so obsessed with a material thing that he completely ignored those who loved him most. I realized that we as people really can become completely consumed with things of this world. It was a lesson to me to watch myself after my mission, to make sure I always put Heavenly Father and the Gospel FIRST! It was at times an uncomfortable exchange of words, but I'm very grateful for what was said and experienced. I felt like Abinadi, who I've been studying about recently. It is a missionary moment that will last with me. 

Speaking of studies, I am really focusing a great deal on the Atonement. The study pack Pres. Durham gave us is a fantastic resource, and I've really gone into detail with the study. This week I learned that Christ literally chose to give up His life; being part God, he had the ability to remain immortial, but he willingly chose to give it all up for us. It makes the phrase "He gave his life for me" ring much more true to my heart. I also learned that the use of the Atonement is in our reach at all times. We just have to reach beyond all of our capacities, so far that we have no choice but to rely on Christ's capacities to get us the rest of the way. That I feel is what it means to access the Power of the Atonement. As I come to the close of my mission soon, I am reflecting all about the things I have learned, and all that I have yet to learn. One thing I hope to learn coming up is more about how to draw Christ's Atonement more into my life. I hope to give it my all and reach up so Christ will help me through the next few weeks. 

We had transfer calls this week, and this one really rocked my world...its probably the biggest transfer I've had thus far. I have been assigned to be a Zone Leader out in Antioch! It is the hottest place in the mission, and is oretty much out in the middle of nowhere. The weirdest part, I will be speaking English... I don't quite know how to do missionary work in English... That should be interesting. I will miss being a Chinese missionary here. I have really enjoyed my time in the Oakland 7th Branch. Oakland is a special place, but I'm really excited for the future. Even with not much time left, the Lord still has surprises in store for me. 

我爱你们! 感谢你们给我的帮助!

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Butters/包长老