Power in the Book of Mormon

Elder Petersen is getting transferred. I am really sad about it. I love him very much and its going to be hard to see him go. So I will be getting a new companion tommorow. Our district is also changing. President has called me to be a District Leader. The District is going to consist of Zebulon and Knightdale and the sisters. We are also going to a part time car which shall be interesting but that is what the Lord wants so we will do it His way. I am so nervous but really excited as well. It will help, really help me grow and expand my capacity to love.

Well this week has been a wonderful week. I am so grateful for our area book and the wonderful tool it is for missionary work. Elder Petersen and I have been seeing miracles as we have applied the training that we have received in our Training. We decided at the Training that we would role play in our companionship studies how to use the Book of Mormon more in our lessons. We have quite a few investigators that have concerns about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It has really helped us out as we have role played these situations and how we have used them in our work. We can't teach until we have aquired how to teach the doctrine by the Spirit. We have also been able to teach with more unity as we practiced in our companionship study.

Things have been going really great here in the Wake Forest Area. We have been going through our area books and it has been a really neat experience. We have seen so much success with the former investigators as we have stopped by to see how they are doing. We have gotten 3 return appointments with them and even taught one of them a lesson and is now an investigator. I am so grateful to have the area books. It has made me want to make sure that our area books are always up to date and that we are keeping a "neat and clean" record of those who weren't ready then to accept the gospel but now could be ready.

We met with the Fritz family again. I was on exchanges that evening but they had a good lesson with them. Brother Fritz has a big problem with faith and prayer. He has compared faith to believing in Santa. He has lots of support from the members in our ward who continually try and help him out. We have another meeting with him this upcoming week.

We will also be meeting with the O'Brians this week. They have really tested my faith which has been great. I have learned so much as I have put countless hours of study, pray and fasting for them. I know that if they read the Book of Mormon with sincerity they will find their answer. It isn't going to be by proving Jospesh Smith is a true Prophet with a battle of words. God is the only one that can testify to them that the Book of Mormon is true. I am so grateful for the power of the Book of Mormon. I am also grateful for them and their love for the Savior to continue learning.

We have a few appointments lined up for this week that will be wonderful. I am really excited. This area is starting to boom! I am so grateful for the support of our ward mission leaders and bishops. The first ward has all 15 names and the 2nd ward has 12 names. Thing are starting to get really busy and crazy but its all very exciting. The wards are amazing and I love them very much.

Well I hope y'all have a great week. Know that I love you and will give you more information about whats going on next week.

Love Elder Butler

Spiritual Guidance vs. Our Own Understanding

Things are going really great here. I can't believe its almost the end of another transfer. We find out this weekend if one of us is getting transferred. I have a good idea that I'm staying here and Elder Petersen is getting transferred. I talked to President at Training and I had to ask him to see if I need to get someone else to sing in the musical fireside that we are putting on so he told me that I will most likely be staying but we will see where the Lord wants me.

Well this week has been a really great week for me. I am always so grateful for the opportunity that I have to learn more about the gospel in our training meetings. I am so grateful for the spirit who teaches us all something that we personally need. I learned a lot from the spirit this past training and my testimony of the Book of Mormon really increased this past week. I am so grateful for The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. This is the only way that our investigators will gain a testimony of Joseph Smith. I am so grateful to have the restored Gospel in my life.

Well things have been going great here. Things can always go better but we have had some very challenging lessons. The O'Brian family is a wonderful family. I really love them very much and am so grateful for the opportunity that I get to know them. They have some really interesting concerns. The are very smart and know the Bible like the back of their hands. So they have a lot of questions out of the Bible which we try and answer with the Book of Mormon. It has really tested me doctrinally but more than that spiritually. We have had some really great conversations with them where the Spirit has guided our conversation. Other times in the lesson it was me just using my own understanding. I am starting to see the difference on how the Spirit wants the lesson to go and how I want it. Let me just say it always works when the Spirit guides it but never when I do it. They have problems reading out of the Book of Mormon because they don't believe Joseph Smith is a prophet so they don't even trust the Book of Mormon so they say "why would we read it?" it would be like reading a fiction book." We have to get them reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. That is the only way that they will find out all of this is true!

We met with another family this week as well, the Fritz family. I love them so much. They are so wonderful. They are a family of six that 2 members of the ward have referred to us. They are really great. We had a great lesson with 2 members that are really good friends with them. Brother Fritz works with a lot of members of the Church. He really has a lot of respect for what our church teaches and wants to learn more about it. We had a really great lesson with him. He doesn't believe in the divinity of the Savior. So we are going to be really focusing on faith and prayer in this next lesson. He is very intelligent and knows the Bible very well. He has a lot of questions that are lead by the Spirit. The spirit was very strong in the lesson and I know that he could feel it. His daughter also listened in on the lesson as well. We invited her to join but she said that was alright and just sat on the couch behind the table. At the end of the lesson she thanked us for coming and was really interested in the conversation that we had. I know that she felt something and said that she would sit in on our lesson next time. His wife will also be sitting in on the lesson this next week. They are such a wonderful family.

I didn't realize how hard it is to cover both wards but its a great challenge. We are going to try this week to be more involved in the second ward. The second ward has some really golden investigators (The Brooke's family and two youth). They won't answer our phone calls though. So it is really hard to get appointments with them when we can't get ahold of them and neither can the members. I know there are dozens prepared in both of these wards we just have to find them. I am so grateful to be in these area's. I love it so much and I love the members and the people that we have the opportunity to serve.

I am also very excited for this musical fireside that is happening in a couple of weeks. The wards are very excited for this as well. They are inviting a bunch of their friends which is great. We hope there will be a big group. It is a wonderful opportunity for people to feel the spirit.

Well I am sorry this is so short but I hope y'all know that I love you! Y'all are great. Keep up the great work and know that the Lord is always there for ya!

Love Elder Butler

P.S- I am finally caught up in my journal so I will be sending home them this week along with an SD Card. It will have what I sang in Sacrament this past week! It went pretty well.

I am thankful for all the support our mission president gives me!! I am so grateful to have a loving mission president, for talking to me while we were at the mission home. I wasn't expecting it at all but it was a wonderful surprise. I really have learned a lot from him and have been using the suggestions he has given me and our companionship. I have noticed a huge difference in myself and my companion since we have met with him. We are a lot more bold and are fulfilling our purpose more as missionaries. I am thankful for his being inspired to speak with me. I am so grateful for him and love him dearly.

This week has been pretty slow. Our investigators have had a hard time answering their phones for some reason. We have gotten a lot of appointments for this week though so we are really excited about that. The work here is going really good though. The ward is there 100 percent to support us and Brother Larson got the 15 names from the ward this week and the 2nd ward are going to decide on some names and contact them this week and have some people for us to see. We are really excited about it.

We had a whole family come to Church this week. It was wonderful. Our Elder's Quorum President invited them to his baby blessing and they came. We met with them this week to drop a movie that a member wanted us to drop off. He is a really great guy and has a wonderful family. The Friz family has 4 kids all over the age of 8. Brother Friz was like well when are you going to come over again and talk to us about the movie I watched. We set up an appointment with them for Tuesday. They are wonderful. A lot of the ward actually works with him so there are a lot of fellowshippers.

The Brookes family didn't come to Church again this Sunday and won't answer our calls. The members can't get ahold of them either so we're not sure whats going on there. We hopefully will find out soon! They are a wonderful family who is prepared for the gospel message!

We also have an appointment with the O'Brian family this week as well. They are wonderful! I am so grateful for them. I am really excited to meet with them again this week!

We are also seeing this new part member family this week, the Alford family. Sister Alford just got married. She is an active member. Her husband came to the ward activity this weekend and so we set up an appointment to meet with them this Tuesday. They are wonderful.

Our youth are amazing. They brought their friends to the dance so we gave them Books of Mormon to give to them. It was a really neat experience for us and them. I know that our youth are where we are going to find those ready to hear the message of the gospel.

Well I am sorry this is so short but we have a lot of things to do today for P-Day. We are trying to hang out with a member of our ward that is not to sure about going on a mission. His father is terminally ill. He only has weeks to live so we are trying to be with their family to help in any way we can. Hope you have a great week and know that I love y'all.

Love Elder Butler

I Have Grown An Inch

Well I am really glad to hear that everything is going well for y'all at home. I sometimes wonder what everyone looks like and how everything looks but it seems like y'all are growing so much spiritually, physically and mentally. I have actually grown an inch out here which has been exciting. I have gained about 10 pounds! With Elder Petersen getting sick and everything I haven't been exercising like I have wanted to and so I have been gaining weight but that will change this week! I am still crossing my fingers that I don't get sick. Elder Petersen is doing a lot better, which I am grateful for! I love my mission! Its the best experience ever! It sometimes feels like I have been out a while. I don't really remember things worldly anymore. Like sometimes when we talk to members about lets say music, I have no clue what bands I used to listen to. Its really weird. I am grateful for that though. I like being secluded from the world!

It seems like every week that I email you I say it has been a great week and I am learning a lot, but its true. My understanding of the gospel increases weekly and my understanding of the language of the spirit increases weekly. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve here in the North Carolina Mission. This week I read a talk that has just gotten me real fired up about the work. It talked about inviting everyone you meet to repent and follow the example of our Savior. Well I have seen miracles come from it. As we are declaring repentance among the people with love and boldness, they feel the spirit testify to them that all of this is true. I also feel that we have more QGC's when we approach it this way because people have something they want to say on the subject and it makes for a good conversation. I am grateful for my ward mission leaders here. They are always fired up about the work and help the members become fired up.

I have been studying a lot about the apostasy this past week. What a huge difference it has had in my teaching. I now understand more about the apostasy and how important it is to explain it clearly but simply. I hope that I can continue to increase my testimony on the apostasy so my testimony grows and I can bare my testimony with power and authority.

We have a new investigator that we are working with. Brother Wellborn is not the member in part member family. His wife attends regularly and continues to encourage her husband to come. Well we had a great lesson with him on Wednesday night. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and why its important to read it every day. We also told him about baptism and why its important to be baptized by the proper authority. He understands that and said that we would read and pray about being baptized and if the Book of Mormon is true or not. I am really excited about him. He is a really great guy and is very knowledgeable in the things of the world and the bible. He doesn't like to be forced at all but he likes to have really good gospel conversations with us.

We haven't been able to meet with the Brooke's family this week. They haven't answered our phone calls and weren't at church. Their daughter, Maddie, is involved with softball and that takes up alot of their time. So hopefully we will be able to meet with them this week. They are a really great family and have been prepared to hear the message of the gospel. We will also hopefully be meeting with the O'Brian family as well this week. I have been studying hard for them and am really excited to meet with them but know that its going to be the spirit and the Book of Mormon thats going to convince them, not anything I say.

We also had a miracle happen this week. We walked into Church and Brother Trubilla's Dad was there again. We were totally surprised about that but he really enjoys coming to Church and he came to support his son receiving the Aaronic Priesthood. It was definitely a miracle. We are going to have dinner over at a members house with Brother Trubilla teaching the New Member Lessons but are also going to have his parents come because they know the members that are having us over for dinner. We are really excited about it. Brother Trubilla is doing great! He has been inviting people like crazy to meet with us. He is a really great example to me.

Well know that I love y'all so much and know that you're always in my prayers. Well the computers about to cut off on me so I will talk to you later

Love Elder Butler