Well this last week we found out that Jacob didn't receive our email That was rather disheartening to say the least. This week will mark another mile stone he will have been out 7 months by the end of the week. It is hard to believe in someways and in other ways it seems like he has been gone forever. Anyway here is his latest letter. It is a little on the short side.
"Hey! Missed hearing from you this week, but it's ok! I don't have much time, but I hope everything has gone alright. We've been working really hard and have passed all sort of trials, but there are even more people to find here. We're really excited for Conference and we praying for the people we're teaching. I still would like to know what's going on with the big move, I hope everything is ok at home. Well, I was thinking about the letter I sent to Cody, really what Dawn Hans said. Really all the credit goes to Our Heavenly Father, we're so blessed to be such a tight family, after all that has passed. I thank God for this opportunity to show Him how much I appreciate the blessing we've received. Thanks for allowing God to bless our lives. Well, love you all and I'll hear from you next week!
-Elder Butterfield
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Week 28
Well is it week 28 and things are moving right along. It won't be long before it is Mother's day and I will actually get to talk to Jacob. I was able to go to the temple this last week and guess what name I had a lady that was from Mexico born in the 1700's God does work in mysterious ways. Here is Jacob's latest letter/
"Well, another week come and gone, but what a special week it was. I only heard a little bit from an investigator about the earthquake in Japan. Was it really big or something? My friend, Mike, is in the Sendai mission; maybe the earthquake was in a different part of the country. I'm confident the Lord watched over His servants. The weather is scorching, a little breeze is lovely, but they're few and far between. Well, this week I welcomed in my new companion Elder Flores. He has served for only 7 months, so we're a pretty young companionship. He's from Chihuahua, where the gangs are very rough. We're looking forward to great things in this area, after a great start. We were able to baptize a teenager, Omar, and two girls, America and Amairany. Omar finally got permission from his mom to get baptized, and he's going to be an amazing convert. I told him that we're going to be friends forever, and his baptism was the first step. Well, I'm really loving it out here, it's a special place and a special time to be a missionary. Love you all, and I'll hear from you next week!
-Elder Butterfield
"Well, another week come and gone, but what a special week it was. I only heard a little bit from an investigator about the earthquake in Japan. Was it really big or something? My friend, Mike, is in the Sendai mission; maybe the earthquake was in a different part of the country. I'm confident the Lord watched over His servants. The weather is scorching, a little breeze is lovely, but they're few and far between. Well, this week I welcomed in my new companion Elder Flores. He has served for only 7 months, so we're a pretty young companionship. He's from Chihuahua, where the gangs are very rough. We're looking forward to great things in this area, after a great start. We were able to baptize a teenager, Omar, and two girls, America and Amairany. Omar finally got permission from his mom to get baptized, and he's going to be an amazing convert. I told him that we're going to be friends forever, and his baptism was the first step. Well, I'm really loving it out here, it's a special place and a special time to be a missionary. Love you all, and I'll hear from you next week!
-Elder Butterfield
New Members
This picture is of Jacob and his companion and Omar, America, Amairany they were all baptized after getting permission from their parents.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Week 27
Well week 27 has come and past and it really seems hard to believe. I am anxious to hear Jacob on the phone which will happen on Mother's day. I can't wait. He just seems to keep growing more and more with each letter. He is such and example to me and also an inspiration. Here is his latest email.
"It's not always easy standing up for what you believe, but it's the right thing to do. I've been learning that recently as I've been reading Jesus the Christ. This week we really pushed hard to teach, to find and to baptize. I found out that my companion is leaving to be a District Leader and that I will stay in the area and receive my new companion, Elder Flores. A few tough things happened this week, and I really think it's time for a change in our area. We were blessed to baptize a daughter of God who has been prepared for quite some time. Cristina, a 19 year old, who attends Institute was baptized this Saturday after a final test. Appearently her sister is very Catholic, and did some nasty things to Cristina so that she wouldn't get baptized. We met with Cristina the Friday before her baptism and she came in tears over what her sister had done. We read a few words from 3 Nephi 11, really the testimony of God the Father, and of His Son, Jesus Christ. When combined with the words the Hold Ghost gave us, Cristina accepted her commitment to God and stood up for her beliefs (or really knowledge). My mission is really looking up, we went to see some old pyramids today and I'll send you all kinds of photos next week. I'm really excited to receive a new companion and ready to get down to work here in Poza Rica. Also, who wants to hear a funny story? Well, today we went to the pyramids called ''Tajin'' (look it up) and there happened to be a tourist their who was the only other white guy in the whole park. He came up and talked with my about all the missionaries he's seen in all parts of the world. I wanted to talk to him, but it was nearly impossible to speak English! Just about everytime I opened my mouth, only Spanish came out. The man was from Manchester, England and really a nice guy. Maybe someday the missionaries will talk to him in his home. Well, thanks for writing me and telling me what's going on at home. Love you all and can't wait to hear from you next week!"
-Elder Butterfield
On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 7:06 PM, < rbutter@charter.net> wrote:
"It's not always easy standing up for what you believe, but it's the right thing to do. I've been learning that recently as I've been reading Jesus the Christ. This week we really pushed hard to teach, to find and to baptize. I found out that my companion is leaving to be a District Leader and that I will stay in the area and receive my new companion, Elder Flores. A few tough things happened this week, and I really think it's time for a change in our area. We were blessed to baptize a daughter of God who has been prepared for quite some time. Cristina, a 19 year old, who attends Institute was baptized this Saturday after a final test. Appearently her sister is very Catholic, and did some nasty things to Cristina so that she wouldn't get baptized. We met with Cristina the Friday before her baptism and she came in tears over what her sister had done. We read a few words from 3 Nephi 11, really the testimony of God the Father, and of His Son, Jesus Christ. When combined with the words the Hold Ghost gave us, Cristina accepted her commitment to God and stood up for her beliefs (or really knowledge). My mission is really looking up, we went to see some old pyramids today and I'll send you all kinds of photos next week. I'm really excited to receive a new companion and ready to get down to work here in Poza Rica. Also, who wants to hear a funny story? Well, today we went to the pyramids called ''Tajin'' (look it up) and there happened to be a tourist their who was the only other white guy in the whole park. He came up and talked with my about all the missionaries he's seen in all parts of the world. I wanted to talk to him, but it was nearly impossible to speak English! Just about everytime I opened my mouth, only Spanish came out. The man was from Manchester, England and really a nice guy. Maybe someday the missionaries will talk to him in his home. Well, thanks for writing me and telling me what's going on at home. Love you all and can't wait to hear from you next week!"
-Elder Butterfield
On Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 7:06 PM, < rbutter@charter.net> wrote:
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Week 26
This weeks letter was very moving because it was literally written for someone in the family that is having a rough time because their views are different from the views that are the most vocal around the state. It is always hard to be on the opposing side but we must stand for what we believe. Know one will ever be able to tell me that there isn't inspiration and divine intervention. Here is this weeks letter!
"I always get really emotional reading your letters. It's something else, that's all I can say. I really expected to receive an email about Maddie one of these days, and here it is. She was a good pup, I could've treated her better, but she will be missed. Sounds like she had all kinds of problems and really couldn't live much longer. What really got me from this letter was the news about Madison. Hate is so ugly and completely contrary to what God wants His children to experience. We had the Area Seventy over the entire country of Mexico, President Daniel Johnson, come and speak to us this week. It was really something else, he didn't give a discourse or anything, but slowly guided us through a chat on faith. In thie end, everyone in the room was edified, and something different passed over all of us. There were certain points to his visit that we had to understand, but really just an amazing spirit. Something that struck me was a remark by his wife. She talked briefly about the emotion of God, and how sad He is for His children. In the book of Moses, Enoc sees God crying, and can't comprehend it. The All-Powerful Being brought to tears, because His children hate one another over the worries of the world. I don't know if I can understand it either, but I want to change the way I look at others for this reason. Just yesterday, some guy on the street wanted to argue with me about politics. I was really upset with myself for arguing, but also because this man judged me without knowing a thing about me. The truth is that we do that every day, maybe not to such an extreme degree as verbal argument, but in our minds and in our hearts. When the hate is sufficient, no matter the reason, words and actions spring forth giving the devil more and more power until something drastic happens. Luckily for us, we ceased communication with this man and left him yelling, ''espérate!'' which means ''wait!'' It made me remember that Christ told His Apostles that they would be hated, but that they would receive a reward apart from the world. Although sometimes we are hated, for whatever reason, we just have to remember how short life is and how much we will miss if we worry about things of the world. If only the whole world focused on the life to come and not the life we live, I guess that's why there are missionaries. Christ never doesn't command anyone to not partake of His salvation, and He loves all with a perfect love of which I testify every day. Well, I think that I've ranted on too much today, but that's my feelings on the situation of the the world. Thanks for your prayers and support. Only 18 more months, I better use it the best I can!"
Con amor,
-Elder Butterfield
"I always get really emotional reading your letters. It's something else, that's all I can say. I really expected to receive an email about Maddie one of these days, and here it is. She was a good pup, I could've treated her better, but she will be missed. Sounds like she had all kinds of problems and really couldn't live much longer. What really got me from this letter was the news about Madison. Hate is so ugly and completely contrary to what God wants His children to experience. We had the Area Seventy over the entire country of Mexico, President Daniel Johnson, come and speak to us this week. It was really something else, he didn't give a discourse or anything, but slowly guided us through a chat on faith. In thie end, everyone in the room was edified, and something different passed over all of us. There were certain points to his visit that we had to understand, but really just an amazing spirit. Something that struck me was a remark by his wife. She talked briefly about the emotion of God, and how sad He is for His children. In the book of Moses, Enoc sees God crying, and can't comprehend it. The All-Powerful Being brought to tears, because His children hate one another over the worries of the world. I don't know if I can understand it either, but I want to change the way I look at others for this reason. Just yesterday, some guy on the street wanted to argue with me about politics. I was really upset with myself for arguing, but also because this man judged me without knowing a thing about me. The truth is that we do that every day, maybe not to such an extreme degree as verbal argument, but in our minds and in our hearts. When the hate is sufficient, no matter the reason, words and actions spring forth giving the devil more and more power until something drastic happens. Luckily for us, we ceased communication with this man and left him yelling, ''espérate!'' which means ''wait!'' It made me remember that Christ told His Apostles that they would be hated, but that they would receive a reward apart from the world. Although sometimes we are hated, for whatever reason, we just have to remember how short life is and how much we will miss if we worry about things of the world. If only the whole world focused on the life to come and not the life we live, I guess that's why there are missionaries. Christ never doesn't command anyone to not partake of His salvation, and He loves all with a perfect love of which I testify every day. Well, I think that I've ranted on too much today, but that's my feelings on the situation of the the world. Thanks for your prayers and support. Only 18 more months, I better use it the best I can!"
Con amor,
-Elder Butterfield
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