ONE MONTH ALREADY?!

Time flies when you are doing the Lord's work. It's Pday again? Already?! I have to bring my journal everytime so that I can remember what happened every week. The days all run together.

Pdays are always wonderful. We have to put in 3 hours of proselyting and 2 towards study and then the rest of the day is ours. We basically just study and then head to the library, do sports at the church with the Elders, and go shopping. Oh, and we go over to the other sister's house to do our laundry since our apartment charges a million dollars per load. Thats always a fun time. I loooooooove Sister Pearson. It's such a blessing that I get to see her so often. Last monday we hung out and got pizza and candy and did laundry and wrote letters and talked about funny things that happened to us last week. So fun.

We also taught Zorina and Christina. We had Zorina read the Intro the the Book of Mormon in Tagolog and it made SUCH a difference. SO powerful. She understood it so much more and the Spirit was able to work in her. (Read the last two paragraphs of the Intro to the Bok of Mormon). She finished reading it and goes, ".....I will ask." MUSIC TO OUR EARS. Yay!

     ***I added the last two paragraphs so you could read what she was refering to********
            (We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3–5.)

 Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah.)  

Tuesdays are also one of my favorite days. District meeting! All of my bestest mission friends get together and learn and discuss our week and how to improve. Its spiritual and awesome and fun. Our district is SUPER musical. We all love to sing. We are doing a musical number at Zone Conference on Wednesday of this week. Its gonna rock the socks off the whole Zone. lol I still struggle with calling Ben "Elder Shurts". It's just not what I think of him as! But I do my best. It's super cool seeing him every week. It's nice to have a familiar face around.

Zorina's daughter Christina went to Activity Days! She had so much fun and fit right in! Such a good sign. We have been trying to get her really excited about the church so that her family can feed of off her excitement. We got to talk to Zorina one-on-one for a change and it was so good. She's basically the perfect mormon, she just doesn't know it yet. She has such faith and a desire to do good. She loves Christ and she knows that it is through him that we can withstand anything. She has had a lot of crazy experiences in her life and she has learned to rely on Him. I love her so much. We have praying that her husband's heart can be softened and that he will let her come to church. I have this image in my mind of all three of them dressed in white and just SO SO SO happy. They are glowing. Rekindled with purpose and direction. Ah! Whatever it takes, I'm going to help the get there. How great is the mercy of God! He loves us so much and see's us how we really are. It's been so amazing to witness a part of that here.

We met a lady who had so much faith. She wasn't interested in our message, but she I felt the Spirit so strong while we were talking to her. Both her husband and her son died within a year of each other and she also had to rely on the Savior to get her through it. I testified that she would see her family again and she said that she hoped so. I'm going to go back and talk to her about eternal families and the plan of salvation, because I know it is something that she is longing to know. It's just finding the right time to go back. Something I need to work on is emphasizing that we aren't trying to CHANGE beliefs, but build on them.

Wednesday was a great day! Probably one of the best so far!

• I got a package from home! YAYAYAYAYAYA! Thank you thank you thank you!
  
   
  
• Tom's 99 cent icecream cones on the hottest/humidest day ever
• Talking to a less active sister en espanol. The spirit was so strong and we were all in tears and gah.
• Family history. Okay, this involves a story. We went to the family history center and looked out our family search accounts. I found some super awesomely possumly stuff. Someone had traced Grandma Haralson's line all the way to the year 44. Yes. Like 0044. Like 10 years after Christ. What?! AND THAT'S NOT ALL. The reason it was possible to go back so far was because it was a direct line of royalty. WHAT? Directly descendant from people like King Henry I of England. And Princess of Aquitaine. And crazy crazy stuff. Look at it. It's amazing. I told Elder Beech because he is from England and now they all call me princess and bow to me. hahahaha. Of course, its all a joke, but it an awesome joke. Thank you Grandma Haralson for giving me the greatest blood ever.
• The tornado sirens went off while we were out. That was fun. So we went home and instead of laying low because of a tornado warning, I spent my night playing with frogs. Toads and tree frogs were EVERYWHERE. I love catching frogs. It was super humid so I was wearing my old lady nightgown and was outside in the thunderstorm catching frogs for hours. Sister Proffit was laughing so hard. She calls me Nature Girl. So fun. I LOVED it. Frogs even got into our house! I had to catch them. hahahaha Sister Proffit and I were getting ready for bed and praying and I look up and theres a frog sitting in the middle of our room. haahaha. Best night of my life.
  

Thursday was uneventful. lol Thursdays are daily planning and it takes forever. But I made cinammon rolls from scratch. Without a recipe. And without measuring spoons. #winning We had dinner with Sister Ash and Sister Roberts. The cutest old ladies EVER. They are mother/daughter and I love them SO MUCH. Sister Ash got baptized when she was 76! She is so faithful and awesome and and cute and old. And. Dinner was good! I was afraid, but those old ladies make good food.

Friday was a roughhhhh day. Sister Proffit and I have been having some learning experiences. But! We had an AWESOME lesson with an investigator named Stephanie! It was so good and spiritual! I felt like I was finally doing it right. Teaching by the Spirit is the best feeling. You KNOW that what you are saying is going to help them. And when you can see it in their faces that they feel it, its the best feeling in the whole world. Stephanie told me that she loves when I talked because I light up and my face glows. BEST COMPLIMENT OF MY WHOLE LIFE! Seriously. I know it's not about me out here, but when she said that I knew that I was doing what God wanted me to and that SHE could see it. I'm excited for her. big things are happeing out here. YAYYAYAYYA. A less active sister gave me a baby ornage tree today! hahaha. She's so funny. She's like "You're from Arizona right? How would you like to have your very own orange tree?" So. Now I have an orange tree named Cheesehead. lol That'll be the most unique souvenir from Wisconsin ever.

Kira got married on Saturday! It was so cute and fun to be a part of. I got to do her hair and had so much fun doing it. I got to feel like my normal self. It was GREAT.

 I am greatful for the knowledge that I have that families can be together forever. I also finished the Book of Mormon on my month mark! Yay! I am so grateful for that book. It has really helped come closer to Christ and to God. It has helped me learn how to be a better missionary. It had taught me about the nature of Christ. It has warned me of the evils of pride. There is a lot I dont understand, but I know that it comes with time. I know That the Lord loves me. Hes spoken to me by name. I know He loves me. I know Christ died for me and that He is the way to eternal life.

Sunday was also a great day!!! ALL OF OUR PEOPLE CAME TO CHURCH! The ward was awesome. Best ward ever. They swooped over William, Zorina, and Christina and took them under their wing. William had told Zorina that this week was her first and last time going to church with us. But apparently he told the ward mission leader that he liked it and that they'll be back! !!!!! GREATEST NEWS EVER! Prayers are answered. We have been praying for his heart to be softened. We have been working of fellowshippers for them and everything worked out beautifully! Life is so good!

God is watching over the people in Wisconsin. And I know He is watching over you too.

Hilariousness

Wisconsin is hilarious. Being a missionary is hilarious. This week has been a tough one, but God has given me plenty of reasons to laugh. 

First off. I knew Ben Shurts was in my mission. Little did I know he was going to be in the same zone. And more specifically, I had no idea he would be in my DISTRICT. #crazycoincidence So. I see Ben - Elder Shurts - every Tuesday. Talk about weird. Everyone was like, "oh, you know each other? Thats cool!" and then they were like, "OH! You were like actually friends and hung out and have inside jokes? Thats crazy!" So. Yeah. Even weirder, we go home on the same transfer and are both transferring to BYU Hawaii. What is going on here?

Tuesday we met a cute old lady. She's catholic (like everyone else in WI) and asked us questions about infant baptism and such. When we told her what we believed she was like, "Aw, thats wonderful. I wish I could believe that. I hope that's true. That makes sense." AHHHHH. We were like "BUT YOU CAAAAAN BELIEVE!" People are funny. We're meeting with her again this week so pray that she can realize she can change.

We also met a Hmong lady and we asked if we can pray with her (we pray with everyone). She was SO confused! She was like, "Pray for me?" "Why?" She was bewildered. But when she agreed and we asked if there was anything specific she'd like us to pray for, friends/family/ect, she goes, "no! Only ME!" hahahaha Okaaaaaaay,

Wednesday we taught Kira again with Sister Cummings. She is wonderful. She always tells us how blessed she is to know us. SO cute. Kira is doing well. Her wedding is this weekend! So exciting. I'm excited. Hopefully John will get baptized now.

We taught Zorina and Christina again. So confused about them. I asked Zorina if she knew that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus and she said yes. I asked her if she knew Joseph Smith was a prophet and she goes, "No! I don't know who Joseph Smith is!" Say whhhhhaaaa honey child? We just taught you twice! haha. So we explain the Restoration even more. Her daughter seems to understand. Zorina has a desire to learn. She relates to Joseph Smith in regards in knowing which church to join. She asked me, "WAIT. When are you coming back to teach me more?!" so. Good sign?

I also established my favorite way of contacting strangers. People in Wisconsin take really good care of their yards in the summer. Almost every yard has beautiful flowers and grass and it's so beautiful and not possible in Arizona. So. There was this one house that was just ADORABLE. So cute. SO I went right up, rang the doorbell and told the lady, "Hi, we're missionaries for our church, and we were just walking by and I could not let myself walk by without telling you how adorable your house is!" People love it. You can ask them about their flowers and if they take care of them theirselves and then talk about God and how he created the world because he loves us and wants us to have a place to live in beauty. #sneaky. People are really receptive though. I also got sick of people telling me they are Catholic and expecting me to be like, "oh, okay. Bye'" So now I say, "How that's great! How has your faith in Christ blessed your life?" or something about Jesus. Because thats one thing we can talk about. #evensneakier

Thursday I had my first dinner appointment in Wisconsin. Can you guess what we had? Brats and burgers! So typical. It was good. Lots of people there. Lots of food. And gross peach cake. i hate cooked peaches, but I braved it and just ate it. So GROSS. Slimey and gooey and warm. But. I did it because I'm nice.

Friday was kinda where the weird things started to happen. Hahaha. I'm laughing right now just thinking about it.

We went to the Habitat for Humanity Restore to apply to volunteer. The guy asked us our names and then said, "Oh, you have nametags..." and proceeded to be awkwarded out and read out loud, ".....Jesus Christ?!...........?" And then awkwardly slipped away as to pretend he was never there. SO FUNNY. So delightfully awkward.

Some people, man. SO hilarious. Some of my favorite is when you knock on a door and you can hear dogs barking or children playing, and then you hear someone hush them while they proceed to pretend they aren't home. #icanhearyou Or people will cross the street to avoid us. Or they will close their blinds as we walk by. Hello, I can SEE you.

We stopped by a less active members home and got like...confronted by her boyfriend-who was Wicken. He told us hes a warlock. It was actually hilarious. He even chased us down, like literally followed us and asked us, "Do you really believe the bible to be true?!" To which we replied yes, we did, followed by: "How can it be true if it is so violent, not proven, and written by man? Huh? Huh?! Think about that" We drove away and lauuuuggghhhed. What did he expect us to do-give up and wave a white flag, go "Oh my gosh, I have to go home!" So funny. But also so sad that people lack the peace that the gospel brings.

Saturday was a beautiful day. I saw crows, robins, red cardinals, bunnies, cats, dogs, frogs, and even a Bald Eagle swoop down over the Fox River. My oh my, was that beautiful! He was HUGE! And so graceful.

Wisconsin summers are pretty much heaven on earth. It legit smells like camping every night. People sit in their yards with a big fire and the crickets are so loud and it just is perfect quintessential summer. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't say out loud how beautiful it is here.

We stopped at a former investigators house and her aunt answered the door and was PISSED that we were there. They were in the process of moving and blah blah blah. So we offered to help. That instantly softened her heart.

Sunday. Oh Sunday. hahahahaha. Last night was the funniest thing ever. Sister Proffit and are walking down the street and come across a house with four guys sitting outside drinking (typical wisconsin) and playing hackysack. One guy named David made it to 8 and it was pretty impressive. They stopped us and wanted to talk. I felt totally comfortable and safe, so we had no objection. Share the word with everyone, right? So right as we are talking, the Catholic church bells start playing a song. One of them named Jason goes, "Whoa, and church bells. It's like we should get married or something." hahaha. We were like, "yeah, or something..." The old guy, Tinker, asked my name. I said I was Sister Butler. David goes, "will you be my butler?" to which I quickly replied, "No". haha He says, "come on, you've got to have a first name!" I said, "My name is Sister Butler" and he goes "My name is Reverend Sawyer!" ahahahhahaha, yeah okay. The old guy seemed sincerely interested, so we stayed to talk to him. Oh my, were those men intoxicated. So hilarious. Jason tells Sister Proffit, "actually. We're on TV! Thats our fake musician and those over there are cameras! HAHAHA. .....Actually. I'm sorry that was stupid. Im sorry that was stupid. I'm so sorry, that was stupid". He said sorry like 56734138 times. We thought Tinker was really interested, and then we realized that he was waaaaaayyy out of it. He sat down and goes, "Oh. Sister Butler. THATS who you are." and starts to like pass out. We were like...okay time to go. And he was eating a brat and was like, "this is a funny brat". Hilarious. We had called the Elders because he had asked us to. They didnt answer so we left a message. When we got home, Elder Kimzey called us and was like "HOW HIGH WAS TINKER WHEN YOU MET HIM?!" Apparently they went right over. Hahahahhaahha. Those poor elders, last referal we gave them was an address to a Catholic church. #sadstory.

So funny. Wisconsin is weird.Oh! I forgot that we prayed with a vampire! Oh my. ahahhahahah. We walk up to the library and a guy waiting for the bus is like, "Hey! Missionaries!" And starts telling us about how his mother in law is mormon and it seems all normal. Then it got weird. He started talking about how the only way he could get nutrients was through blood. That he had to eat raw meat with a little bit of blood and get blood transfusions. Thats why he was so pale. He couldn't nutrients from food. That's why it looked like he shot up. And then he told us the doctors can't figure out why, but that he is from Romania and his great grandpa was Dracula and thats why he is the way he is. Oh, and that he has the IQ of a supercomputer and that when he reads different languages, his third eye opens and he can translate. He found a thing that has the 10 commandments of how to survive an apocalypse and each one is in a different language and he translated them all. Then we prayed.

Real life. No exaggerations

Mission President and his wife and my Companion

Two pictures that didn't download with the previous post.  

I am a Survivor

I am a survivor. I survived the MTC. I survived being a Sister Training Leader. I survived the all-night traveling to Wisconsin. I survived the night at the mission home. I survived my first transfer training. I survived my first week in the "real" mission field. And I survived three tornados.

What?! Did I say tornado? Why, yes. I did. Let me explain.

On Wednesday, I woke up in Milwaukee in the mission home. (WHICH IS SO CUTE, BT DUBS). I got my assignment to Appleton 2nd! I'm opening a new area for sisters! Say whaaaaaa? #winning. My trainer, Sister Proffit, and I get in our BRAND NEW 2013 RED Toyota Corolla and make the drive to Appleton. Wisconsin is beautiful! As we start approaching the town, we realize that all of the streetlights aren't working. Some roads are closed. As we get closer and closer to Appleton, it looks like a giant ran through and just plucked all the tops of trees off. Some HUGE trees were just completely uprooted. We pulled over and asked someone what had happened. They said they had had a really bad storm that night. (We later found out from members that they ended up classifying it as 2 tornadoes in Appleton with winds of 116-130mph and 1 tornado in Hortonsville) WHAT?! We got to our apartment and we were locked out. Turns out we had got the wrong keys. We call the landlady and she gets us the right keys and is like, "oh. and the power will be out for 3-4 days". Awesome. Then we realize our phone is dead. We're driving around in the craziest traffic because trees are laying in the street and power lines are everywhere and guess what? We get in a car accident. Some lady backed up right into us even though Sister Proffit honked TWICE. But, no damage was done. So it's all good. We were all discouraged and stressed. I was like, 'hey. lets pray." So we did and I felt like we should go to the church to charge our phone. Turns out the church is out of power too. I'm like, "okaaaaayyy God. Why did you send us here?" when a lady pulls up and asks if we know where scouts is. We're like..."No....do you know who has power?" So we followed her home and she fed us dinner and let us charge our phone so that we could call the Office and the Zone Leaders and such. Super crazy day, but I was never like in a bad mood. I was super blessed with patience and laughter. I just kept laughing. Like, "this WOULD happen on my first day in the field!" So funny. 

[And. Who knew there were tornadoes in Wisconsin?! Not I!]

So. Thursday we spent the day cleaning up a members back yard. Oh my goodness, talk about tornado. I'm really thankful for it though, because it gave us a reason to be outside working in normal clothes and talking to neighbors. We shared a couple messages with neighbors. It gave people something to talk about God easily. I'm surprised at how not afraid I am to talk to strangers. God has provided in that area, that is FOR SURE. Everyone we talk to, we ask to pray with. President Cutler said that people in Wisconsin have no trouble praying in public, and he was right! So we have potentials to go visit from serving all day. Kitty is a lady who I was super impressed to work on. Pray for her! She has such faith in God and His protection and so I'm not going to give up on her. I also got a super awesome Mormon sunburn/tan. Oh joy. And bug bites. Even more fun!

Friday we visited a referral from the Appleton 1 sisters (AKA SISTER PEARSON-my MTC companion <3). She is a cute Phillipino lady named Zorina and her daughter Christina. So precious. As we knocked on her door, she was really hesitant, but she finally let us in. (Oh. And everyone has screen doors so it's like impossible to actually get in unless they really want you to. They just stand and talk until they close the door on your face.) We went in and she was listening to preaching like, "REPENT NOW. GOD DAMNS THE SINNERS!" I almost laughed out loud. BUT. The lesson went so well. We taught her the Restoration and she seemed to understand it. There is a little bit of a language barrier because her first language is Tagalog, but the Spirit was SO strong and thats all that matters. We taught her daughter too, and that was fun. We invited them to a ward breakfast on Sat but she was running a marathon with her other church. Darn. her husband came home and he was not very happy to see us. He is gonna be our struggle. But. High hopes. Pray for them. Oh! We also taught a recent convert named Kira. Shes cute. She is getting married on the 24th which is SO exciting cause then her bf can get baptized! #joy! I'm going to do her hair for the wedding, so thats super fun.

Saturday was the ward breakfast and we went early to help out. And yeah, Rachel Moss's parents are in my ward! They are super nice and super cute. We got to talk. The ward is wonderful! Most members are recent converts, so they are SUPER STOKED about missionary work. And there are a TON  of single sisters who are so excited that they can have missionaries over now. So. I'm looking forward to working with them. Bishop Weed is awesome and reminds me of our friends in the ward back home. He's like a mix of Brandon Moss, President Rolfe, and Bishop Jensen. They just left for AFRICA. We also had to set up our whole apartment. Its new and the Elders that moved us in didnt bother setting anything up. We still have dressers and drawers to put together. Blah.

Sunday was fun. It was ward conference. Like I said, love the ward. But. I'm sick. I've been fighting it since the MTC but it finally hit me. Blaaaaahhhhhh. So not fun. I got a blessing and got permission to take the day off to rest. So thats what I did. I slept ALL day.

I feel pretty good today. More energy. Thankful that it is P-day.

We have SIX missionaries in my ward! 4 Elders and us. Thats crazy. The ward recognizes that means theres a lot of work to be done on their part, so thats great. Elder Beech is from London and I love listening to him talk. So funny. Our ward mission leader is AWESOME.

We have a Hmong neighbor who is SO CUTE but doesnt speak a lick of English. We had the Hmong elders come over yesterday to translate for us and that was fun. Her name is MiYang and shes old and cute and our hallway always smells like delicious Hmong food. Hmong is a crazy language. But its really pretty. And I'm working on getting a Hmong name. Pray for that too. lol

Speaking of language, I'm ALREADY picking up an accent! #yes! I say "oh yaah" a lot. Its funny to talk to natives because they are so stereotypical. They really do talk like how we say they do. Its great. I love it.

Being a missionary is awesome! I LOVE IT. It's hard but it's fun. And I already had to deal with a tornado. Two tornadoes! 

PS    I have my address. It is:

Sister Ciarra Butler

1224 E Northland Ave #3

Appleton, WI 54911

You can send letters and packages there. Idk if I'll be here for 6 weeks or 12. So if you are sending me something close to those dates, just send it to the mission office and they will forward it to where I am transferred. Just make sure that they know that I have no idea how long I'll live in one place. 

Better late than never.

So Ciarra is off and going.

A week before her departure date she was scheduled to have her gallbladder removed.  She had been sick for a few months and we couldn't really put our finger on what exactly it was.  Well after a few tests we figured out gallbladder seemed like it was the culprit.  She pushed through, healed up and left on time to the MTC.

I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to write for her and how much of the letters home I'm supposed to put on here so I guess I'll just do my best.  


July 26, 2013

Hi Mom!

 

I have a SUPER QUICK second to write and tell you that I have arrived and I am safe and well!

 

I like it here! Its not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Well. Kinda. Glad I'm not learning a language.

 

I also forgot to give Richard that thing that I have. Darn!!! Will you send me his address in a dearelder letter please?????

 

My Pday here is on Thursday, so that's when I'll have more time to sit and write a full email. It'll be my only Pday in the MTC. Crazy. 10 days left! And the temple is closed so no temple for me :(

 

Oh! I feel great! Was sore the first day, but we sit like ALLLLL day long so it works. Dont worry about me, I feel great, really!

 

My companion is Sister Pearson and I adore her. We work well. I'm senior companion already!

 

I saw Taylor Roberts, so tell his mom hes doing well. Kari and I took a picture so could you ask her for a copy and email or send them to me?

 

Love you tons! Miss you! Learning a ton!!!

 

Sister Butler

Aug 1, 2013

Mom!

You are crazy. But our schedule is pretty crazy too. Like, oh my goodness. Every second is planned down to the minute. It would be annoying if I wasn't doing the Lords work. The MTC is amazing. But it's also a lot of hard work. I will send a letter home with more info about what I have learned. Emailing in 30 minutes is super stressfull. There's so much going on in the laundry room and so many emails to answer.

And yeah, what the heck, family and friends? Where are my letters? Everyone else is getting packages full of candy and snacks and letters and dear elders every day. I'm just sitting here like, "La-dee-da". (But a HUGE thank you to those that DID write, letters are gold and they mean the world). Everyone else, I am calling you to repentance. :P

My companion and I get along SO WELL. We literally finish each others sentences and read each others' minds. We have so much fun together. Lots of laughter. We study well together too. The Elders in our district CANNOT focus on anything, so we usually have to study in a different room. Some days are amazing. So much revelation and inspiration!!! Studying is fun. It's all we do every day, but I crave it nonetheless. You learn so much. You learn about yourself, your investigators, your purpose, your companion, anything! Study the scriptures. Its amazing.

Sister P and I also got called as Sister Training Leaders! Thats the equivalent of a Zone leader! Booyah! I'm sending my letter thing home. Save it. Frame it. Do not lose it.

Our branch president taught us that when Abraham saw many of the noble and great ones, that we were also included. Every missionary that has ever served was foreordained to in the preexistence. We knew we were coming here to do this. He challenged us to read our Patriarchal blessings and we would find evidence of this. Our purpose is to invite people to come unto Christ. We are his literal representatives. It's a lot of pressure, but I am reassured that He will provide for me.

The Elders in my district are hilarious. They say the darndest things. Elder Cluff once told Sister Pearson "It's a good thing my chair is ordained an elder because it was playing footsies with yours!" So fuunny. They then debated the gender of chairs for a good time. #effectivestudying

Quote of the week:

Elder Stuart: We are having a hard time getting to bed on time.

Brother Warner: Is it too hot?

Elder S: No. Just some rank smells in our room.

Brother W: Did you talk to custodial?

Elder S: No. I think it's more of a personal problem.

*cue riotous laughter of from Elders*

Hahahahhaha. Elders also quote Mean Girls all the time. So funny.

Gotta go! Love you all so sososososososososo much!

Write me!

Crazy Eyes

A couple weeks ago I was in my happy place. Rexburg. SexyRexy. Iceburg. The Burg. Idaho. Idahome. 

On my last night there, my friends Taylor and Christa and I went and googly eyed things. I'm just going to let pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!