Short and Sweet

Family,

Well this email probably won't be very long at all because we are doing a Zone Preparation Day! I just wanted to let you know how much I love y'all! Thank you for all the prayers and all the love you send my way. I feel it daily. I am so grateful to have such a great family. I felt the spirit a lot on the phone last night. Thank yall for being there and sharing great stories. It makes me smile a lot. I know that gopsel is true. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that we can be forgiven of our sins through His Atonement. I know that Joseph Smith was the Prophet of the Restoration. I know that he was given all the power and keys to restore the kingdom of God upon the Earth again. I know that He calls prophets today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is our Living Prophet today. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that it will bring us closer to God. I know that it teaches us the higer law. I know that we will live as a family forever. I am so grateful for yall. I hope yall have a great week.

Love Elder Butler

Elder Richard G. Scott: The Importance of Covenants

What a crazy weekend. It has been great though. Sorry we are emailing late again. Our library is always packed and so it is hard to ever get emailing done on Monday. So things are going great hear though. Being in a three man is a lot of fun. We are always laughing! There is literally never a dull moment. It has been a bit hard to juggle 3 wards but it makes for a lot of work. I am so grateful for your prayers. Thank you so much for always keeping me in mind. I can feel it a lot!

Well this week has been a real interesting week to say the least. It is interesting how the Lord is in all of it though. I am so grateful for the power of the Atonement in our lives. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to re-evaluate everything in my life and make sure that everything was in order. I am so grateful for the opportunity the Savior gives me each day. I am grateful for the decision Elder Bartlett made. I hope that he will have a transformation as he uses the Atonement in his life. Its amazing how much love that the Savior has for each one of us. It was a really neat opportunity for me to feel at moments, the love the Savior has for those in my District. I really am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve in this capacity. I am growing and learning so much from these great Elders and Sisters in my District. Miracles are happening as our faith is increasing.

Well it definitely was a very revelatory experience listening to Elder Richard G. Scott this past weekend. I am so grateful that the Lord has restored his kingdom upon the Earth once more. I know that the Apostles are truly called of God and hold that Authority to act in His name and Special Witnesses. It was really neat for me to see the powerful testimony which he held. It was really neat to see how Apostles continue to grow as we do. I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to learn. I am so grateful for the Spirit that accompanied the meeting. Something that I learned that was pretty profound, was the importance of Covenants. It was really funny to me how he was talking about marriage so much but I soon understood that it wasn't about marriage it was about that Saving covenant that we make with our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for Coventants. I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father gives us power to keep his commandments. We just need the desire. Something else that I learned was that I need to be more dignified in my language. It really is all about Character and Integrity. I also learned that I need to "Forget Myself!!!" I can always do better on this. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to sit at the Feet of His Servent. What a blessing it was. I will never forget the feelings I felt.

So working between both areas has been really interesting. It has been a real challenge but we can see the Lord working in all the plans we are making. I am so grateful that it is His work and not mine. I would have no clue what I would do. Through this experience, I have come to be more grateful for the nightly planning session. If we don't plan well then we have no clue what were going to do. I am so grateful that we have the spirit as our tool.

I am very grateful for my companions. Elder Johnson is such a great missionary. He is so spiritually guided and always says what the spirit wants him to say. I am so grateful for his great example. He corrects me often and I am so grateful that he loves me enough to do so. I love him very much and am grateful to be his companion. I am so grateful for Elder VanDeren. What a great missionary. He is always making me laugh. He isn't worried about plans changing because that is what the Lord wants. He is always ready to go where the spirit wants him to go. He has a powerful testimony of the Savior as well which radiates as he shares it. I can tell that he truly loves the Book of Mormon. The Lord has really blessed me with great companions. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to learn from such great servants of Him.

I am so very grateful for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is really interesting to me how much it has grown just being in this area. I know why the Lord has put me here. I am so grateful for the inspiration that you receive. I have truly grown closer to my Savior while I have been here. Talking to some of the Seminary students has really helped my understanding of "who He is really?" I am so grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a part of this work. I am so grateful for the inspiration I receive on behalf of this area. I am just so very blessed to be a Child of God!

I Love the Temple!

So I am sure that you are wondering why I haven't emailed yet. Its already Friday!!! Well lets just say this week has been absolutely crazy. So our Preparation day got moved to Wednesday because we went to the temple. I am so grateful for that wonderful place. I love the temple. I felt so peaceful there as I went. I learned a lot and am so grateful the house of the Lord is upon the Earth. I wish I could go more but I know that my work is among the living. So we tried emailing on that day but there wasn't any open computers. So we tried emailing yesterday so same thing. So we are emailing today in Zebulon. Know you might ask the question "why are you emailing in Zebulon?" Well lets just say we are now covering Zebulon as well as Wake Forest 1st and 2nd. Elder VanDeren's companion went home this morning. So we are now in a threesome covering 3 wards for the next 2 and a half weeks. Its going to be really interesting. It has been a really hard week for me this week being his District Leader and seeing Elder VanDeren's companion go home. It reminded me of when Elder Jones went home. It was pretty hard for me and I know it has been pretty hard for Elder VanDeren. So these next couple of weeks are going to be really interesting. I know this is the Lord's will and we will do it his way. I have faith that everything will be alright. On top of that the Sisters are going into a threesome as well. So its been quite and adventure this week. Really has tested my faith, but been great. I love my District so much. They are such great missionaries.

I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that things are going well at home. Well I am sorry that this email is short but we have a lot of things to do today. We are having an open mic night at a coffee shop tonight. A lot of non members are coming. We are really excited about it. Then tomorrow we get to sit at the feel of an Apostle, Elder Richard G. Scott. I am really excited.

So this past week was a very great week for us. We have really seen a lot of a miracles as our faith has been increased in the Savior. This is His work so when we put our trust in Him He is able to bring forth those miracles. It has been really neat for us to see our faith increase. I am so grateful for the opportunity to study each week for District Meetings because it really helps me learn a lot. I am so grateful for the District that I have. I love them all so much. They are such great missionaries who have a lot of faith. I learn so much from their examples.

So this week we found three new investigators as we focused our thoughts on the goals that we have set. It was interesting to Elder Johnson and I how Preach My Gospel says "Set goals and make plans for...!" Well we did that this past week and saw a huge difference. It was awesome. We reached our new investigator goal. We are so thankful for that. We tried to make sure that we always had our purpose in mind.

We are starting to teach this new part member family. The wife is a member and just started coming back to Church and she just got married in November to her husband who is not a member. They are so wonderful. I am so excited to start teaching him. He has already committed to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. I really like him a lot. He is a great man. He has a lot of the same beliefs we have so I know that the Lord has prepared him. His wife, Sister Alford, is doing a great job at teaching him about the gospel. He is genuinely interested in learning more about it.

We started meeting with this lady who is wonderful. Her name is Donna Wynne. Her parents are elderly, like 89 and 90 and she comes from California and stays here for an extended period of time. Well we asked if we could start sharing the message of the gospel with her. She agreed. We had two lessons with her that week and invited her to be baptized and she said she would be baptized if she found out it was true. She loves to read and is really excited about reading the Book of Mormon. She has had some really great spiritual experiences already which have prepared her to meet with us. So we are really excited to meet with her.

We also started meeting with Aaron Lumpkin. He is a student at the Seminary. He requested a Book of Mormon and met with us. He is a really nice guy. He just got married last year and is expecting a child. He really wants to know if what he is taking in school is true. He wants to find out if what we are teaching is true as well. He said that he would read and pray about the Book of Mormon. So we will see how that goes. There is something different about him than all the other Seminary students we have talked to.

I am so grateful for these wards that I serve in. They are so great. I love the members. They have great spirits about them and are always trying to share the gospel. I am so grateful for my companion. He is so smart and teaches by the spirit. I am grateful to be a missionary. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to the temple. What a blessing it is to do work for the dead. What a blessing it is to feel a sense of peace from all the chaos that goes on in the world.

Well I hope you know that I love y'all. Thanks for the package. It was great. I was wondering... don't worry I wont burn down the house boiling water again.... if you could look through my stuff and find my black hymn book and send it to me. I gave mine away this past week to Blake Larson. He is inactive but really felt the spirit while he was singing it with us and Brother Larson. I was also wondering if at all possible you could send me a bit of cash. I had to buy some new luggage since mine was falling apart because of the airlines and I had to buy a few other things. My clothes are starting to look really bad so I have had to replace some of that. So if you could that would be great. Hope you know that I love you and am so grateful for all you do for me. Have a great week!!!

Love Elder Butler

Tornado Aftermath

Well I am sure you are wondering what happened this past weekend. Well you don't have to worry. I am doing good. So are all the missionaries in our mission. We got hit with 62 tornados this past weekend. The weather was pretty crazy. I have never seen so much rain, wind and hail in my life. We went to the Church and just hung out there until the storm calmed down. The Tornado that was by us hit only 5 miles away. A lot of the missionaries are helping with clean up. Wake Forest didn't get hit that bad but the surrounding areas got hit really bad. I hear that Pinehurst and Goldsboro got hit really bad so I have been praying a lot for those areas. It is amazing how the Church is always there to provide service to the surrounding communities. We have quorums that are going to be helping all week to help some of the people that really got affected. It was pretty crazy. Never thought I would be apart of that. It was a real blessing to us. The Lord really does bless his missionaries.

We had a great Zone Conference this past week. It was our Activity Zone Conference. We made some pretty cool t-shirts. It was alot of fun. Well at the Zone Conference we found out there we are seeing.......wait for it........ RICHARD G SCOTT!!!! He is coming for a Stake Conference in Kinsten so we are having a three hour meeting with him. I am really exctied. We will be seeing him on April 30. So I will let you know how that goes. President Scott (Temple President of the Raleigh Temple) had something to do with that.

This week has been a really great week. I have learned a lot about myself and how I can improve on my teaching. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I am so grateful to have Zone Conferences that motivate and inspire. I am so grateful for the spirit who teaches me daily. I know that the topic at Zone Conference was inspired. I learned a lot about prayer and the importance of it. I am so grateful for my companion Elder Johnson. He is such a great missionary. I continue to stand all amazed at the things he does and says. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father put us together. I am really learning a lot from him. He really is a very great missionary. I am grateful for the opportuninty that I have had this past week to partake of the Sacrament. I am grateful for the speakers who are inspired to speak and help us and our investigators grow. I am so grateful for the support the ward gives to our investigators. They really make them feel included and help them feel loved.

We had a lesson with Brother Wellborn this week. He really has nothing against being baptized but dropped the date the we set with him. He said he was going to be out of town but we couldn't set another date with him. We know that its just a smoke screen. We know that he wants to talk to other people. He is worried that being a member of the Church is going to completely change him. Make him not be the same person. So a member invited him over for dinner and he got invited to a family home evening to see that we are all normal. So we are really excited about that. I know that he is prepared. I know that he understands the importance of baptism. I hope that we will be able to help him into the waters of baptism and help him truly become converted to the gospel.

We have been having a lot of run ins with students in the seminary. It has really tried our faith but helped us grow a lot. We met with a couple of guys who tracted into us and wanted to meet with us. We went to the Church and gave them a mini tour of the church and asked them what their purpose was with meeting with us. We feel like one of them is prepared to hear the gospel just not at this time. He is getting sent to Salt Lake City, Utah. He feels thats where the Lord wants him to go. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways.

We also met with Brother Trubilla this week. He is doing great. I love him so much. He has truly been converted to the gospel. He is sharing the gospel left right and center. He is going to be giving two copies of the Book of Mormon to his parents and then a copy to his neighbor. We know that he has truly been converted and its because of the power of the Book of Mormon.

Well I am really excited about this next week. We have made some great goals that we feel have been lead by they spirit. We are trying some new ways to plan this week to try and make sure that the spirit is present and makes our plans instead of us making the plans. It cannot be some other way. We also had a really great weekly planning this week. I am so grateful for the time we have to prepare. Preparation is very important.

Well I hope y'all have a great week. Know that I love y'all so much. Keep up the great work and thank you for all the prayers in my behalf.

Love Elder Butler

I Finally Have Put a Hole In My Shoes!!

Well this week has been a really hard week for me. I ended up being really sick from about Wednesday night to yesterday. It was really hard not being able to work. But I took the opportunity to do alot of praying, studying, making sure everything is up to date with our area books and making appointments with those that we have been trying to see. It really has been a different pace being sick. We are always going going going which is good but the Lord definitely helped me learn something. I learned the importance of the Priesthood. I know as we rely on the Priesthood power and have faith in the Savior we can be healed. I also learned a lot about a ward family and the importance of being apart of that family. Everyone was so worried about me and made sure that I was comfortable and got me what I needed to get better. It was surely an amazing experience for me. I learned also to prioritize things as well. I learned that patience is key and that we need to be COUNSELING with he Lord each day to make sure that our days are purpose driven and that we aren't doing activities that are not the best. I am so grateful for my companion Elder Johnson. I really love him. He really helped me out when I was sick and was there ready to help me and to serve me. He truly loves me and I can feel that through his service.

We did however have a great District Meeting. I got really inspired By President Eyrings talk that he gave in conference. It really helped me look at what I could do to improve the quality of our District Meetings. The Spirit was so much stronger as we tried some new ideas and made it into more of a discussion rather than me teaching them. The Holy Ghost was really the teacher at our meeting. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity. I am definitely learning a lot and I know that the Lord is helping me every day help the district see miracles. I love my District very much. I know that the missionaries under my stewardship are purpose driven in everything they do. Each companionship is perfect. The members, investigators and non members see that we are called of God. What a blessing it is to learn from such great missionaries. They really have changed my life. I am just so grateful for them!

We had a miracle this past weekend. We have been praying a lot about the Brooke's family. They are ready to hear the gospel and want to hear it but don't ever have time to meet with us. We haven't seen them at Church in the past like 10 weeks until yesterday. The Lord sure has shown us his tender mercies. I know that the Lord blesses those who are obedient. So Maddie (the daughter) came yesterday and we were talking to her and she said "I miss coming here and so does my parents. We really love coming to Church and it has been different since I haven't been coming!" They want to have us over not only in their home but they want the Parrish Family to be involved. We are going to be hopefully meeting in the Parrish's home this week and have a lesson with them. It really was a great miracle!

The Lord has prepared the people here in Wake Forest. I know that there is at least a dozen people that the members know that we can teach who are prepared. I know that there are Dozens ready for us to find on our own efforts as well. The Lord is waiting to bless us but I have come to realize that its upon my obedience, the higher law, that we will be able to find those people. I am so grateful the Lord is with us all the way. I hope and pray that I can continue being an instrument in His hand and that He can keep refining me.

I am really excited for the Zone Conference coming up. Its going to be wonderful. I am so excited to learn from the spirit. The topic for discussion at Zone Conference is really what I need to hear. We have investigators that need help with the topic of prayer! I am really grateful for my Zone Leaders. I know that Elder Brown and Elder Torres are called to serve this Zone. I feel of their love and am so grateful for it. They are truly inspired.

Guess what. After 16 months I finally have put a hole in my shoes!!! What a blessing it is that I am able to walk and do the work of the Lord. Have a great week!!

Miracles Awaiting Us

WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEK!!!! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. What a great time it is for us to be living on the Earth. I am so blessed to be serving for the Lord full time. What a blessing it is in my life. What a blessing it is to have that wonderful opportunity to hear from our Prophet. I love him!!

So I am staying another transfer with Elder Johnson. Nobody in my District is changing which has never happened for me before. They are really great missionaries. Things have started to really pick up in each area. The Lord really truly is blessing us all. We are still without a vehicle for the moment. Elder VanDeren gets his results back on his MRI sometime this week. So we will see what happens. There are a lot of things going to happen in this next month. On April 11 there is FHE at the Hopkins who are in Falls Lake Ward. They are having a musical FHE for our investigators. On April 29th we are doing an Open Mic Night at a coffee shop. We are inviting a lot of members from the community to come and perform and have a good time. We are going to talk to everyone. Its going to be really great. We have activity Zone conference as well next week. We also have a temple trip this transfer. So this month is really going to fly by. Oh and its My Birthday and MOMS Birthday as well which adds to all the excitement!!!!! So I have decided that I am going to be a little more positive. I have been worrying to much. I need to stop and trust in the Lord! I am just really pumped up and ready to work HARD this next transfer. We are going to find these miracles that are waiting for us. We need to seek them.

Well I will tell you this week has been a really amazing week. I have seen the blessings of the gospel in my own life and the lives of others. We are truly seeing miracles as we put or faith in the Savior. I have also realized the importance of the Spirit being the teacher and using us as His instruments. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord at this specific time in my Life. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be another transfer in the Wake Forest Area. I really love this place a lot. The members are wonderful and really trust us, and the people that we meet are really awesome. I hope that I can keep on becoming and talk to everyone. That is one of my goals this week, to look for someone who is prepared to hear the gospel in every activity I do. Even if it is going out for lunch at a fast food place!

So we had a miracle this past week. We got home from an appointment around 8pm and decided that we needed to go and see this part member family, the Gants. So it was dark and it was about 4 miles aways so we plugged it into the GPS and started riding. Well we were biking for a long time not knowing where we really were and then we stopped and we thought we had reached our destination when in reality it was 7 miles away from where we were supposed to be. Well it was about 8:50 and we had to decide what we were going to do. Before we got in this neighborhood I told Elder Johnson we are going to see a miracle. So we prayed and asked Heavenly Father what door we should knock on. Well by this time it was 8:56pm. We walked down the long driveway and knocked on this ladies door at 8:58. We knew that we had been sent to this area for a reason. We wanted to at least knock on one door because we knew that we had a long ride back home. So we knocked on this one door. Well she was on the phone the second time we knocked and waved us to wait a minute. Well we talked to her for a moment and explained what happened and she was fine with where she was at. Well we both walked away realizing that it was probably just a test of faith on our behalf. Well we rode up the hill and the security guard was driving towards us. As we were talking to him we realized that we had come in the back way to a gated community. As we were talking to him we invited him to be taught by us and he said " I am really busy but I want you to come and teach my family your message." We got his number and had a really good feeling about him. It is amazing the miracles the Lord has in store for his people as we diligently search for them. It was a testimony builder to me that we need to work till the last moment. Its not till that last moment that we will see that miracle.

We met with Brother Wellborn and had a great lesson with him this past week. We shared with him the Plan of Salvation and had Brother Cooper Epps with us on exchange. He bore his testimony powerfully. I know that he is going to make a great missionary. Well we talked to him about the purpose of life and then he went into saying "Well I already live the lifestyle y'all live. I drink coffee but I can stop" Well we invited him to be baptized on April 30th and he accepted. The Lord truly is effecting his life. It was really exciting to see him really figure out what his problems were and what he needs to change. It was really exciting. The only problem we have with him is that he doesn't want to meet every week. But we are doing service for him every week so that will help us make sure that we are having daily contact with him. I am grateful that his wife is active and is always there for him. I know that the Lord has prepared him to hear the gospel.

We have been working a lot with our ward with the President Harding Challenge. We have seen some great success from it and it really is exciting the members to do missionary work. It is something that definitely takes patience but in the end it will bless the future missionaries of this area and it will bless the members individually. I am so grateful that we have an inspired leader who acted upon the promptings of the Holy Ghost. I have seen a difference in our district because of this Challenge.

I am so grateful for the opportunities I have to work with so many great missionaries. They really are teaching me a lot and I am so grateful for their faith and wisdom. I truly love each one of them and I know that the Lord has put them in their respective areas for a reason. I am so grateful for the power of the Spirit which blesses our district meetings.

General Conference was amazing!!!! I loved every minute of it. I learned a lot about myself and how I can become better and how I can help my investigators progress. I also learned about the pattern of teaching from the Authorities. They are truly inspired men. I love each one of them and sustain them. I am so grateful that the Windows of Heaven are open and that the Lord really pours out his blessings to his children as they are worthy.

Thank you for all your support. I hope y'all know that I love and pray for you everyday. I am so grateful to have a wonderful family. What a blessing it is in my life. Keep up the great work. Y'all are doing so great and I am so proud of you and I know that Heavenly Father is proud of you. I feel bad for y 'all because you live in the world right now. It must be hard and I look up to you. I know that as you keep his commandments and endure to end he will bless you continually. The Heavens are Open!!!! HALLELUJAH!!! Hope y'all have a great week

Love Elder Butler

Faith to Obey

It seems like the weeks get busier, shorter and more rewarding. It seems like the same, crazy weather pattern is happening here as well. It was like in the 80's last week but its now in like the 40-50's this week. I cannot wait for spring to be here but thankfully as of April 1st, Suit season is over! I am really excited about that.

Well this week has been really good. Elder Johnson and I got sick towards the end of the week but we had a really great beginning of the week. I am so grateful to have such a great companion. I really do love him very much and am so grateful for his beautiful and strong testimony of the gospel. It really is changing peoples lives, mine included.

We met with a family for Family Home Evening at the Jones. It went really well. We had a great dinner and really good conversation with them and then we went and had a great lesson. We showed them a clip from Mormon. org "Lifting Burdens" and it really brought the Spirit. It is really neat to have the apostles and Prophets of our dispensation testifying of the Savior. What a spirit that was felt. Susan is in the right place to learn. Her husband passed away a year ago and she has some really great concerns that we are excited to help her solve. Her son Kyle is so smart. He asked really great questions and has some really intellectual answers. I know that if they develop faith that their love for the Savior will grow. We will hopefully be having another appointment with them this upcoming week.

We met with Steve Fritz again. We were going to have a drop lesson with him because we felt that he wasn't progressing but he recognized that he felt the Spirit. He described the feelings of the Spirit and we got really excited. He has really changed a lot since we have been meeting with him. I know that the Spirit is working with him and I know that it is just a matter of time before he finds out for himself that there is a God. We are really excited for our lesson with him tommorrow. It should be great. We hope to start teaching his daughter Alyssa. She really has a lot of potential. She really is yearning to learn but for some reason doesn't want to sit down at the table and listen.

We also met with a part member family this week, the Alfords. They are great. The ward has really been doing a great job of fellowshipping them and have really opened Eli's heart to hearing the message of the gospel. We stopped by to see them and it was a really neat experience. He said that he wanted to learn more and that he would read the Book of Mormon to find out if its true. His wife is doing a great job of helping him come unto Christ. We are really excited about that. He wants us to come over again next week!!

We also met with another part member family, the Littles. He is really into the Baptist belief but would like some questions answered. So we are going to meet with him to evaluate his questions and see if he truly is seeking to find out if the gospel has been restored to the Earth. I am really excited about them. His wife is an active member so it should be great.

We have some really great goals to work with the members more this week and become more organized. We feel that we can do a better job of being organized which will cause less stress. I am so grateful to have a planner where I can record EVERYTHING! It truly is a blessing for me.

So I have been studying a lot in Alma this week about being exactly obedient. It was amazing to me to read in Alma 57:21 about the strippling warriors. They had faith to obey whatever their mothers had taught them. They Obeyed, Observed to perform and did it with exactness and it was because they had faith in the Savior. If we have faith in him we truly love him. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to repent daily. I know that I make many mistakes but because of the Savior's Atonement I can be forgiven of my sins IF I continue to endure to the end and forsake the sin. I am so grateful for the patience my Savior has for me. I am really learning alot about his plan for me. I just need to get on board.

Well I hope y'all know that I love you very much. I am so grateful for the Love and support y'all give me. May the Lord continue to bless you in all you do. May y'all have a revelatory experience this week listening to General Conference.

Love Elder Butler