Back to the City

Hola Madre! no se precupe. Aveces, nos orbidamos muchas cosas, gracias a nuestras vida y la multitud de las cosas tenemos que hacer cada dia. Sin embargo, recuerdase que Dios es siempre primero! Ok i'm done writing in Espanol. lol 

Well I'm in the capital now, Zona Mariscal. My area's called Peronia. A lot different from Puerta de Hierro. My companion is Elder Carrillo, de Nicaragua. He's awesome! The thing i like about him the most is that he tries to be a friend with every one here. The area is really different geographically. It¡s literally built into the side of a mountain (actually a lot of Guatemala is built into the mountains) but literally everywhere we go has super steep inclines. Don¡t worry, i'm stretching and eating plenty of frijoles for my muscles to recover. But i like it here. The members are great, and the ward mission leader helps us teach everyday. 

I'm really progressing spiritually. I've really been focusing on repentance a lot, and how i can improve everyday. The power of deliverance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ is amazing! there's still so much i have to learn, but i'm enjoying every minute of it. I started reading Jesus the Christ. So powerful.

Thanks for everything mom. All the lessons you've taught me, big and small, are being applied here in the mission.I'm being obedient and trying everyday to help someone out. You sure are right about teaching by the Spirit. That's been one of my focuses, and i'm starting to see the fruits of my labors. This time I have to serve truly is a blessing.

The mission has helped me refine myself, and I couldn¡t have done ANY OF IT without Bishop W. I know that he won't be brought down by any trial or tribulations. He truly is a man of God. 

I'm going to have to send you my testimony next week. We had problems finding internet. Also, I'll send you pictures of me in Puerta de Hierro next week. I'm torn about what scripture i want on my plaque. I can't decide whether i want Alma 29:9 or Moroni 8:16. i'll give my decision next week.

Glad to hear Bethel Football is rolling along. Let me know if anyone¡s gong to Ohio State!  

 Ya you're right, time is flying, at the end of this exchange I'll have 6 months! yikes. Time flies when you're lost in the service of the Lord.

Cool fact i learned about humility. in the vision of the tree of life, there's one big difference between the first group of people who took the fruit, then left, and the second group. What's the difference? The second group literally fell down and worshiped (sorry can't quote it correctly). But isn't that true? The whole Book of Mormon is a testimony of what happens when the people take the fruit, but don't humble themselves before God. Spiritual thought of the week, and just another reason why i absolutely love the Book of Mormon.

Well time's winding down and I still have to send emails to W and R! Love you mom with all my heart. I really do mean that. I truly do pray for you everyday. Know that you will always be in my heart. Love you mom. I know Dad's proud of all of us. Rejoice in the Lord and His everlasting love, and how through him we'll always be together!

Con Amor Eterno, 

Elder Butler

pss took money out this week. Don't worry.

psss. the cable is wrong the right one should be in the box to my camera

pssss. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!

Hey mom! 

Don't worry if you didn't have time to write. I know you're working, so no tenga pena lol How was your lesson this week. I know how much you love to teach, and the lessons you prepare to teach,help you learn for yourself  and are such great blessings. How's school going? Has the football team started playing yet? Wish them luck for me!

So i'm being transfered. I'm sad to leave, but ready to move on. As corny as it sounds, i know that i'll be able to see them another time, hopefully here in Guatmala, but more importantly,after this life is over. 

 I'm ready to go where i'm needed, and i'm going to continue serving with all my heart might mind and strength. I've really been focusing on the Savior and His example this week. I've been feeling the Spirit more this week, and this is my simple invitation for you. Focus on the Savior. 

Love you Mom. Manda salud a la resta de la Familia! i will write more next week. Love you mom! the Lord will help you in every thing you do because of the great sacrifices you have made and continue to make for me and the family. Thank you for being such a great friend and teacher. What would i do without you!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Love ya Forever,

Elder Butler

Aloha

Que tal? Como esta su vierno?  Que paso con Reillypalooza???? Does it kick off this week? Have fun in Idaho this week! I always loved out trips to visit the Brimhalls and the Astlunds. Gail told me about how her trip with Shannon and Linda went well. i still have to email her back...grrrrr...Managing my time while emailing is dificult, but this week we're emailing in a nice internet cafe in the mall. Much better than in Puerto, so all my emails can be dispersed in a nice, orderly fashion. Well it's chiqote (chastizing) time. You have to read your scriptures. No ifs ands or buts. Scripture study helps us in so many ways. Look how it helped Joseph Smith, where would we be without his great example of searching the scriptures. But I know that you're a diligent person, just make sure you read EVERYDAY, even if it's only 1 verse!

Well that stinks about your iphone. I could send you one from here lol but  they're actually more expensive. 

The Lord blesses us for allllll of our righteous desires, but sometimes it's in his way. Look for the tender mercies in your life. I know you'll be able to be more diligent and focus more if you read your scriptures. Every building has to have a strong foundation, scriptures, prayers, testimonies, and covenants are what should make up every strong foundation. Remember, the wise man built his house upon the rock.

Well i'm being transfered. Mixed Emotions. I really love the people here, so i feel it's natural to be a little sad to leave, but at the same time i think it's a sign i'm doing what i'm supposed to. To be a good missionary you have to love the people. The members are geniuinely great people and they treat each other like family. The environment is literally like a family of God. But i'm saying my goodbyes today, and moving on tomorrow. I wrote my name on the pole of missionaries at the house of the Perez Family, which means i have to return someday, so plan on a return trip to Guatemala in the future! Can't help but have a little regret because my Spanish wasn't up to par, so i feel like i could've had better relationships with them, but i know ill be fine. They love me, and i love them. I'm stoked to move on though. I'll find out tomorrow where i'm going, and I'm ready to start helping my fellow bretheren and sisters.   

My studies have been focused on studying better lplus a lot of focus has been put into the Savior, his life and teachings, and how i can do better personally to honor Him, and follow His example. Last week was really busy so we didn't have a lot of time to study, but I'm learning more and more every week, and i have a genuine desire to learn more and more. I often find myself sad at the end of study time because i just want to learn more and more.

So anything significant going on in the world? Guatemala is Guatemala and I had bubblegum flavored soda this week. Unbelievable. Guatemala has much better soda than the states.

My emails are boring sorry about that. Do you have the emails of Elder Bennett and Laret? if i send you an email for them could you forward it for me? Mom hasn't emailed me. I know will's busy so i don't mind, but a little concerned. I know she's at work right now. Just make sure you forward this to her.

Hope you like the pictures! Giant spiders and cockroaches! The picture with Elder L and I is with Hno. Mario Perez. His family is super strong in the church. He's the guy that I promised to come back and visit. More pics to follow, and ill try to get some funny ones. I just don't carry my camera with me much bc we don't have time to stop and take pictures much, lot's of work! But i'll actively search for funny things to photograph lol

Well i love ya with all my heart. I'm praying for you and the rest of the family everyday. I know that in no time we'll be chilling in the front room sharing stories of the past two years. I'm close to 5 months in the mission,  Almost a quarter of the way through my mission....yikes! where is the time going!?!?!?!?!?!?! Love ya sis, Cuidase!

Con Amor Eterno,

  

News from Puerta

I've been praying super hard for you guys. John's going to be in 6th grade, and you've got school starting! I pray that you'll be able to keep up with the everyday grind. se que el senor les bendicirà a ustedes con la fuerza para vencer todos!

Interviews went well with Pres. He's really pleased with my progress, and he told my companion my Spanish is really good. I told him about my goals to help us reach 300 bautismos and he was glad to hear my goal. The spirit's been putting in my mind the number 7. I really want to do my part and more.

I think I'm staying in Puerta. We find out Monday, but it's highly probable my comp's leaving. we'll see.

The past week numbers- wise wasn't great, but we've got new investigators attending church. Vamos a bautizarse!

Mi espanol is getting better and better everyday, but I can't settle. I have to study more and learn more so I can be a better teacher and respect this gift God has given me.

So we encountered gigantic spiders last week. I'll send pics next week! 

 

Got the packages! Thanks for all. I'm glad you sent the peanut butter because my comp likes it a lot! Nothing was stolen. I love the pic that you sent me! It helps me stay motivated when I'm feeling down, along with our family pic.

Gospel wise, I started the BOM again. I love the examples of Lehi in the beginning. His obedience to the revelation God sent him is perfect for our time. If he would've ignored it, literal captivity and death. He followed it, and received life and freedom, temporally and spiritually. The same applies for our lives. If we ignore revelation, it leads to spiritual captivity. If we follow revelation, it leads to spirtual and temporal freedom. Pretty general thing, there's more I could type, but i feel that point is so crucial for us to understand.

I'm really working hard to prepare for September (and for the rest of my mission).

 

1. I will accomplish all my righteous goals. 7 baptisms for my next area or Puerta is a righteous desire, and I know most of what I need to do to accomplish it. I'm willing to heed the guidance from the Spirit to better myself to be a better missionary also.

2. I want to persuade many people of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel. Simple, but bien claro that i will help lots of people.

Hopefully more funny experiences or crazy things will happen to spice up my emails a little more lol Love you guys with all my heart. You guys are a huge motivation for me to succeed and help the people of Guatemala. Love you guys!

Con Amor,

Elder Butler

The work goes on

Hey mom!

Como esta? que piense usted sobre los mormones? Usted seguirá el ejemplo de Jesucristo y ser bautizado este 1 de Septiembre? hahaha lo siento, aveces me orbido cómo a hablar Ingles y cosas no son sobre la obra misional lol

Hey how's the garden? i prayed everyday that the plants would be ok. Anything else new? I can't believe it's already been 4 months for me. It feels like yesterday i was stepping on the plane. I love what i'm doing so much. Even the rough days are a blessing. Sometimes i have to figure out the disguise of my blessings, but many it's great to be a missionary. 

 We had divisions with the zone leaders last week and i learned a lot from Elder Varela. We're both a lot a like. We're older missionaries who had to learn a little later than most the importance of the gospel. We're both jokesters but teach and talk relatively the same. I really learned from him that we need to just need to be excited about the work. 

The best thing i learned this week, and maybe during the mission so far, is that a lot of times we forget the element of charity. Moroni 7 is incredible. I've had a ton of faith and hope during the mission, but i really lacked charity, whether it was the same drunk guy we talked to every night or my companion. I feel the Spirit guiding me more ever since i started focusing in adding the aspect of charity in my life. I love the time that we have to study. I realized how much of a blessing it is to have that time. A lot of people look at a mission as time lost or wasted. How many people can study the Gospel  for 3 to 4 hours everyday, then afterwards go out and preach it to help out their fellow brethern? it truly is a blessing to be in the service of the Lord. Hey can you put up my testimony of the BOM on the blog? I would love it if you could do that.

As for packages, we get to pick them up every Reunion de Cambios, at least for our area. We live super far away from the mission office. It's just super inconvenient for them to send packages down to our area. 

Hey how's Anita and the clients? Summer trips should be wrapping up soon. Hope they went well. I think about them all the time and the important life lessons they've taught me (the people I worked with).

.

So have you wondered what the music is like down here? i've got some songs for you to youtube lol look up "hasta gue salgo el sol" by don omar. I hear it everday in the taxi's and buses lol 

Hey one other thing. We have interviews with President Brough next week, so we're probably going to email Wednesday.

Sorry if my emails lack content or feeling, I've just become accustomed to listening to other people and i just want to hear about how everyone is doing. 

I'm really grateful for all your prayers. I want you to know i'm working super hard and i'm going to keep helping the people of Guatemala. Love you lots mom. You truly are like one of the mothers of the Soidiers of Helaman. I know that doesn't sound too smooth, but i hope you feel the heartfelt gratitude i have for you and the things you've taught me.  Te amo con mi todo corazon mama! tambien por la familia! Somos juntos eterno!

Con Amor Eterno, 

Elder Bootler