Brother Trubilla stepped into the waters of baptism this past week!!

Elder Petersen has been feeling alot better so its been a more eventful week. He still has this really bad cough but hopefully he will get over that. We have been helping a couple of young men in our wards to decide to serve a mission. We have a FHE tonight with one of them on the subject of joy. I really hope they decide to go on one. The Message in the Ensign this month was all about serving a mission if you are worthy. So we are trying to get them to come on splits and try to talk about missionary work all the time with them. Hopefully that will get them fired up about going on a mission.

Well it definitely was a wonderful and inspiring week for me. I am so grateful to be serving in this great area of Wake Forest. I have a true love for the people here, members and non-members. I am so grateful to be embarked in the work at this time in my life and at this time of the year. We have truly seen some miracles this week which has been really wonderful. I am so grateful that we have Zone Conference to help refocus my thoughts and recommit to my Savior that I'm going to do better. I have seen a real difference as we have been using the Planning guidelines more and have felt more inspired on where we should go. Our focus on the Key indicators really helps us plan meaningful activities for the day and the week. I know that as we continue to use these guidelines throughout the rest of my mission that it will lead me to those who are elect and ready to make covenants with our Heavenly Father.

Brother Trubilla stepped into the waters of baptism this past week!!!!!! It was incredible! The Spirit was so strong at his baptism. He definitely was ready to make that covenant with his Heavenly Father. The Lord definitely taught me a lot as we have worked with him these past 8 weeks. I learned to have a lot of patience and learned how to listen better. This is the Lord's work not mine. It needs to be done His way not by some other way!! His parents attended the Baptism and really enjoyed that experience. It was evident in their faces that they felt the Spirit and didn't know what it was. They also came to Church on Sunday to support their son. They really enjoyed that and the members really fellowshipped them and made them feel welcome. We will hopefully be meeting with them this week as we teach the new member lessons with his new home teachers. We are really excited about that.

The Brookes family is doing good. They have very busy schedules and its really hard to find a time that works with them to meet. It seems like they are always on the run. The whole family has been reading and praying and they feel good about what they are learning but still have a lot of questions. They have concerns about the Book of Mormon and why we need it and they want to know where in the Bible it talks about Christ visiting other people. So I am really excited to find a time to meet with them, hopefully this week. Brother Brookes was sick so he wasn't able to make it on Sunday but Sister Brookes and Maddie were there. They had a real enjoyable time. The ward has been so good about fellowshipping them. I really love this family a lot. They are honest seekers of truth. They have been being prepared for a while and they are ready to hear the message of the restored gospel.

We met with a new family this week, the O'Brian family. They are neighbors to the bishop. He asked if we would go with them to teach them because they had alot of questions. They met with the missionaries before but it has been a while. They are wonderful. Brother O'Brian is a quadriplegic and has had some real tough experiences in his life. His wife started following the teachings of Christ only 3 years ago. They have a lot of great questions. Brother O'Brian likes to study deep doctrine (like the journal of discourses). We had a great first meeting with them. They have a lot of questions on the apostasy which is great because the questions they have asked I don't know the answers to, so I have some studying to do. I know that the Spirit will help us as we pray in faith to know what to share with them. They are seekers of truth as well. They don't know how the Holy Ghost feels so we are going to have to help them with that so they can know when they receive answers to their prayers. Brother O'Brian is feeling as of now that everything he has been learning so far is just making it more clear to him how the "Mormon religion" isn't true. It was a comment that worried me but I know that if we put our faith in the Lord that he will help us guide him to what questions he needs to ask and where he needs to read. So its definitely going to be a great experience. I already can tell that I am going to learn a lot with him. He is really going to help me rely on the Spirit more and not use the understanding I have but that which the Holy Ghost has to offer.

I am grateful for the opportunity we have to set goals each week. I have really seen as I have been striving to meet my goals that my faith grows in the Savior. I need to work harder at keeping focused. My mind wanders sometimes and I have made the goal when that starts to happen to hum a hymn or to read scriptures. I hope that it will help me keep my mind constantly focused on the Savior and the people that we are entrusted with.

Well I hope y'all know that I love you so much. I can't believe how time flies. I love it out here though. I really hope that I get to stay in Wake Forest for a while. Good things are happening here and the people are really amazing. I love them all so much. Know I feel all y'alls prayers and that it gives me strength. I hope the week goes well and hope to hear from you next week.

Love Elder Butler