1 transfer done, 12 more to go!

I survived the first transfer and my first exchange! Woot!
Honestly, I have like...nothing to report on this week. Oops.

Monday was a hard day. I was wicked and unrighteous and had a bad attitude (hey, it happens, even to missionaries) and the Elders all ditched out on sports to buy a 5 foot sword at the mall and then play Risk. Laaaaaaaaaame. So what did I do?? I played basketball in the church gym BY MYSELF while Sister Proffit wrote letters. Lame sausage.
On a happy note: We met with Stephanie, which is always super spiritual and fun and full of love and joy and laughter. And guess what? She accepted a baptismal invitation and agreed to work towards October 12th!

Tuesday was the last district meeting of the transfer. I love all those crazy missionaries. We have so much fun together, but we also have really awesome spiritual experiences and we love being missionaries. We did a lot of role-plays. They are so hit or miss. Sometimes they are hilarious. Sometimes they are super spiritual and full of revelation. Tuesdays were mostly just hilarious. haha. Elder Beech said that ours was really good and we are awesome teachers, so yay.
We tried to take district pictures....which failed. hahaha. We all put our cameras on self timer and lined em up on the stage. I got zero good ones. But. I did get some pretty funny ones. I'll have to steal one of the elders' memory cards here in a sec to steal some of their pics.

We also took Ginger Club pictures. So preshpresh. I love my district. They all agree that I am a ginger. #winnersforeternity Elder Beech, Sister Proffit, and I all have the same color hair but you'd never think that until we actually compare. SO funny how red hair works like that. Mine is actually more red than Elder Beech's. WIN. Ginger club fo life, foo.

Wednesday was our exchange! It was so cool and utterly intimidating at the same time. Sister Stuart came to Appleton to be with me and Sister Proffit got to go to Madison. Sister Stuart and I got to get into homes that Sister Proffit and I had never been able to get into. It was really cool. It was really cool to have a different person to learn from for a day.

Thursday  we volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity Restore again. I did so much work. We had to move and organize 60 boxes of flooring. The boxes were huge and filthy. My arms were literally black. My face was black. It was awesome. I love getting dirty from working hard. SO FUN.
The ward had an icecream social for the Relief Society and our investigator came! It was so fun. We made friendship bracelets and talked and ate ice cream. It was the perfect fellowshipping activity. You go, Appleton 2 ward.

Friday the 13th was the luckiest day ever. More evidence that the Lord is truly hastening His work preparing people. MIRACLES. We started teaching Stephanie and reading from the Book of Mormon (that girl is on FIRE, btw). Her fiance comes in and starts asking questions. Basically, he's super prepared to and life is awesome and things happen for a reason and life is great and God is good. Miracles. New investigators. Bringing FAMILIES into the gospel. Yay sauce!
We also went to dinner at the Cummings home. CUTEST HUMANS EVER. It was Brother Cummings birthday so I got to decorate with crepe paper! Yaaaaaaaay. I love parties! Sister Cummings is my favorite human. Elder Beech and Elder Kemper were there too and it was so fun. (oh yeah! President just changed the rule and now Elders and Sisters can have dinners with members together!) It was so fun. I want to be their best friends forever. Such great examples. Such great human beings.

Elder Kimzey and Elder Croft had another baptism this week! They are on fire! The baptism was so precious. It was a father and a son and it was just too tender. And our new investigator friend came and LOVED it. Talked to Bishop and like....everyone. Baptisms are the best thing to bring investigators to.
We also had dinner with the Petersons who are also the cutest humans ever. I wrote last week about having so much love for everyone, and it just keeps growing! AHhhhhhhh. I just want to be best friends with everyone and know everything about their lives and talk about the gospel and share testimonies and help everyones friends get baptized. Its so annoying. hahaha The people in Appleton 2nd Ward are the best humans ever. Sorry everyone else.

Sunday was hard. I was wicked and upset all day. None of our friends came to church. It's really hard to be happy and spiritual and enjoy church when you are just so devastated that none of your friends came. Blahhhhhhh. Repentance was necessary. But. The day got better and now it is Pday again and life is awesome.

I say it every week, but I love being a missionary. Its sooooooo hard and sooooooo awesome. You learn to love everyone. Elders become your best friend. Investigators become your best friend. Members become your best friend. Everyone is your friend and everyone is who you love. Its so exhausting. hahahaha. but AWESOME.

SO MUCH LOVE

Another week down! This week was so fun. SO MUCH FUN.

It's crazy how much love you feel as a missionary. Sometimes I think my heart is going to explode. I love the people we teach. I love my investigators. I love the ward members. I love my district. I love President and Sister Cutler. SO MUCH LOVE.

P-day was on Tuesday last week since Labor Day is a "Prime Proselyting Day". I had so much fun! The Elders had been telling me about secret tunnels that they had found under the church. I was SO all over that. So first thing they did when we got to the church to play sports was show me how to get it. Sister Proffit wouldn't go with me cause it was dark and full of spiderwebs and dirt and rusty things, but I wanted to go explore so badly. Thankfully, the wonderful Sister Pearson saved the day! The tunnels were small enough to crawl in, but that's about it. I carried a stick to tear down cobwebs and a flashlight in my mouth. haha. It was so fun. There is one part that you can stand up in and its by the podium in the chapel. If the bishop was sitting on the stand during church, you could see his feet. It was so legitly fun. I don't know what was so intriguing about
                                                                                   tunnels under the church, but it was like the greatest P-                                                                                    day activity ever.

We also played soccer with the Elders. So fun. I am sooooo outta shape and they are all legit pro athletes (okay, I exaggerate..but still). BUT. I made a goal! (: Sports is part of my favorite part of P-day. Being a missionary is great and I absolutely love it, but sometimes its so great to just wear real clothes and play games with other people.

Elder Kimzey took us to a natural oils store to look at essential oils. Oh my goodness, hilarious-town. Elder Kimzey LOVES essential oils. He convinced me to by some peppermint oil since I've been having some pretty bad headaches. And I got wintergreen too. haha There were like 6 of us in that store freaking out over different oils. SO funny. Those poor employees.

We also had dinner with a family in the ward that I ADORE. I love having dinners with families because it's as close as it gets to my own family. So its kinda bittersweet, but it's also awesome sauce. I can't wait to come back and visit these people that I love.

Wednesday we had Zone Training in Oshkosh. Yes. Oshkosh. Like the overalls. I loved it. The zone leaders are Elder Kemper and Elder Beech, who I serve with in the Appleton 2 ward. They trained us on faith and my mind was blown. Somehow I keep learning things right when I think I understand. We talked about two types of faith: Faith 1 - willingness to do what God requires no matter what, and Faith 2 -the power God gives to those who do His will. With Faith 1 comes Faith 2. It was super awesome. Changes the way I think about faith and how I read the scriptures.

We also had District Lunch after at Culvers. So fun. I love our district. We have so much fun.

Thursday was the greatest day. We had to go to Oshkosh again all day for new missionary training meeting. There we talked a lot about the doctrine of Christ and how to work with members. It was super awesome and spiritual and fun. President and Sister Cutler are the greatest. They lead us with such love and understanding. They work alongside us. I just adore them.

Also. Sister Proffit and I are opening the Appleton 2 area for sisters, so we got a new apartment with all new stuff. Well, we've been here a month and stuff was still unassembled and in boxes. We just haven't got the time to put nightstands, dressers, and bed frames up. Usually the Elders aren't allowed in our apartment, but when they heard that we still we sleeping on mattresses on the floor, they offered to put our stuff together. Since we would be hours away in Oshkosh with President all day, the Zone Leaders okay'd them and Elder Croft and Kimzey to go over and put our stuff together. So we cleaned our house real nice and left them lunch and treats to eat while they were there.  OH MY CUTENESS. We came home to the cutest apartment ever. They left sticky notes with scriptures and quotes and pictures all over our apartment.

They put Halloween cobwebs all around my bed (we have a "pet" spider named Aragog. We let him live in our house because he eats the flies that somehow are always around. Anyways. I like him,. I had a dream that he build his web around my bed and it was cute? haha idk But I guess I had told they elders and they thought it would be funny to recreate). So cute.

They also left a crown on my pillow that said "Royalty" since I'm related to King Henry and make them call me Sister Princess sometimes. hahahha. They even FILLED our shower with balloon. SO MANY BALLOONS. It was the greatest thing ever.They totally exceeded all expectations. Not only did they put our stuff together beautifully, but they were nice and thoughtful. So precious.

Thursday was also awesome because we had a super great lesson with a new investigator! She has SO much faith in Christ. She is searching for truth and has tons of good questions. I invited her to be baptized and she said yes! My first baptismal invitation! YAYYYYY. We have been asked to commit everyone to read the Book of Mormon for 10 minutes every day, and she said she'd read even more than that! Yay! I'm excited to work with her.

Kira's husband got baptized on Friday! SO HAPPY! His baptism was so special. It was the first time in a really long time that I thought of my baptism and how I felt. I felt so jealous of that warm clean feeling. But then the Spirit reminded me that that is how I should feel every Sunday I take the Sacrament. So, that's what I am studying and working on. You should do it to!

I am so happy or Kira! I just love her. I know the gospel blesses families. Elder(s) Kimzey, Crot, Thompson, and Larsen sang a musical number at the baptism and it was so tender. SO tender. I've been able to watch them practice all week since Sister Proffit accompanied them, and it's been so great. I sat there beaming! So proud.

We also taught a cuuuuute lady named Katie. I just love teaching! I love the Spirit! I love getting to know people and being able to give them tools that will help them.

Saturday we volunteered at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, So fun. I was in charge of cleaning light fixtures. I got to clean this super awesome antique chandelier. It was SO PRETTY. It sold right afer I put it on the floor. I also got to work out in the rain that morning and it was way fun. I ran around and did jumping jacks and lunges and it was so fun. So sore. The Hmong elders have been teaching me Hmong! Nyob zoo. Kuv lub npe hu au tsai tses pab.!{Hello, my name is Sister Butler. Well. I don' t have a Hmong name, but they call me Tsai Tse Pab because it means daughter sister helper. So yay! I am daughter sister helper!} I love learning Hmong. Hmong people are so cute and their food smells really good. haha. We have a Hmong neighbor who is SO CUTE. She speaks absolutely no English, but sometimes Hmong elders come and translate. Its fun.

Yesterday at church was wonderful. Sacrament was so good. Stephanie came to church with us! Relief Society was AWESOME. Elder Kemper signs so he and Elder Beech come to interpret for a deaf sister. Elder Beech sat next to me and was like, "Is Relief Society always like this? This is awesome!" It truly was so inspired and what everyone needed to hear. I just love everyone!

That's what has stood out this week. SO MUCH LOVE. I love it.

Hello again from Appleton!

Hello again from Appleton, Wisconsin. Land of the free and home of the brave.

I'm obviously in a weird mood today. Yaaaaaaaay for Tuesday P-days!

 

(Aisles of cheese.  Even chocolate cheese)                   (Buying flowers for yourself is always ok.) 

This week FLEW by. I'm glad I brought my journal with me, or else I'd have nothing to report on. 

Monday was SOOOOO HUMID. While I was emailing it was raining. Then we walked out and it was a wall of disgusting hotness. Probably one of the hottest days here so far. And it had JUST rained a ton so it was sick nasty. Every Pday we all get together at the church and play sports. The elders and I tried to play ultimate frisbee outside (my comp refuses to play, so she watches and writes letters), but we only lasted for like 20 minutes. Too humid for life. So sweaty. It was like swimming in hot air. Yuck. 

We visited a sister who hasnt been able to make it to church because of medical things. She talked our ears off. She was hilarious. She told us all about her mission and she has some GOOD stories. I can't wait to add some more to my book. It was a great visit. 

We also had dinner with some members. Oh my heck. The Thiels are the nicest people in the whole world. Great food. Great discussion. Brother Thiel used to be on the Mission Presidency Council so Sister Proffit was super intimidated the entire time. haha It was great. 

Tuesday was sad cause we didnt have district meeting, but it was also AWESOME. We got some really great lessons in. Sister Rose got to come with us to teach Zorina and it was such a blessing. Sister Rose is also from the Phillipines and speaks Tagalog. Oh my goodness, it made all the difference in the world. Sister Rose would tell her things and explain and Zorina would say, "Oh, I didnt know that!" Sister Proffit and I were kinda like *facepalm* because we have been telling her all of it for weeks. haha. But it's great that God has given us three native Tagalog speakers in Appleton 2nd Ward. #miracles.  Sister Rose is also the best missionary ever. She is a pro. She was extending commitments and runnning the show. It was great. 

It also rained again! I got to dance in it. hahaha. We thought  there was gonna be a tornado because the sky turned green, but it was just a thunderstorm. But I was in love. Sister Proffit calls me Nature Girl. It gives me strength. It centers me. hahah. I'm strange.

Wednesday was Zone Conference. I love missionaries and I love President and Sister Cutler. Our district sang Come Thou Fount as a special musical number and it was really fun. We learned a lot about the Atonement. President Cutler promised that if we made sure our ward members understood the Atonement better, we would be promised more referrals and baptisms. #challengeaccepted. There was also a really cool prophecy said. Thousands of people in Wisconsin will be baptised in the coming years. When the Lord says he is hastening His work, he definitely means it. 

Thursdays are weekly planning and it takes forever and everyone basically hates it. 

But Friday was the BEST DAY EVER. We had THE GREATEST LESSON EVER. We met with Stephanie for the second time this week and we planned to teach the Plan of Salvation. She is the greatest, most prepared person ever. She brought up Laman and Lemuel and how they were terrible brothers before we even follwed up with her committment to read the BoM. Not only did she understand what she read, but she related it to her own life!!!! AND she was so excited to talk about it. We were literally speechless for a bit. That almost never happens. And THEN. We got into the lesson and she like...already knew everything about the Plan of Salvation. I asked her what she thinks happens after we die and she goes, "Well. I don't know. I think there should be levels in heaven. Like murders should go in the lowest, and then there should be a place for those who are good but not always good, and then like a real heaven for those who follow Christ. ?!?!?!?!?!??! WHAT?! Who knows about the levels of glory? No one. Everyone gets super weirded out by that part. We were literally speechless again for like 10 seconds. We were beaming. Grinning ear to ear, baby. Greatest thing ever. We explained the levels of glory and she totally got it. Crazy. That literally NEVER happens. She always says she knows what we are saying is true because of the glow in our faces. We have met with her 3 times, but she is starting to glow too. She looks so good. The change in her is wonderful already.  It is literally the most amazing thing ever to SEE the Spirit working inside of someone. I challenged her to notice her own glow even more and to watch as she continues to grow in "glowiness" as she continues to learn and act. She was excited. She wants to make shjirts with glow in the dark paint that says, "found the glow?" New bestest friend. 

Saturday we sent the WHOLE day out. We had tons of miles left, so we drove all around our area. Literally after like 7 hours of being EVERYWHERE in our area, we talked to like 8 people face to face and only 4 if them were actually nice. hahha. Oh well. Getting yelled at actually isn't that bad. It's mostly just sad for that person. The gospel just brings so much peace. I know that if they would let their guard down for 2 seconds, I could answer their questions. Oh well. We testify as much as we can. I always try to leave a grumpy person with a good experience, so I ask them about their dog or their car or something. Everyone will talk about something they love. Even if they just yelled at you for 5 minutes about how corrupt your church is. I hope that by leaving on good terms and conversation, it will soften their heart and leave them more receptive to missionaries later. Lets hope. I like being a real person rather than a missionary robot. Real people have real conversations about things that are close to them. The good things is that uyou can relate the gospel to almost anything. 

Zorina and her family came to church again!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is SO good. Miracles have happened. Williams heart has been softened. Getting people to church is the hardest part. 

Oh! And John, Kira's husband is getting baptized this week! :D So happy! 

I have come to realize my responsibility as a missionary and representative of Christ even more this week. Everyone is struggling. Everyone comes to us for help. Relief Society presidents. Young women. Ward members. Investigators. Everyone. Everyone is leaning on us. I started to really feel that pressure. I don't feel adequate. I don't know how to ease peoples burdens. I'M the one that needs help. BUT. I have also realized that I don't have to do it on my own. Christ is the one who is helping these people, not me. I don't have to feel that pressure. We have been studying a lot about the Atonement and it's enabling power. The Atonement not only gives us freedom over sin, but it gives us actual power to do hard things. Grace is one of the biggest blessings of the Atonement. Christ is the one we lean on. He knows how to succor all people. As a representative of Him, I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but I am learning how to hand it over to Christ to help me with. 

God is good!