July 28, 2014

Happy birthday, Brisbane! I thought of you all day yesterday. I can´t believe you´re two years old now. Let´s go to ice cream soon okay?

Let´s see. Biggest news of the week: Segundo and Consuelo Goicochea passed their baptism interviews this week and will be getting baptized on Saturday! After months they are doing it! To think that they have had missionaries for years trying to help them and that I have had the privilege to work with them as well makes me so happy. I´m happy that I will be able to end seeing them make these sacred covenants. He originally chose the 29th of August. That´s cool. I kind of like that date a bit, but I told him I wouldn´t be here and he said, no you have to be here and so now they will be baptized the 2nd of August at 3:00 pm and his family is coming in from Trujillo for it. It will be a very special day for all.

Another very special thing happened yesterday. Last week Bishop called to talk about some things since we hadn´t gone to church. I was talking with him while H. Skirvin was resting and he told me that an elderly man had come to church and had asked if I was there. When I wasn´t there he asked the Bishop for our address and our wonderful Bishop said that he couldn´t give it to him, but that I should be here the next week. He cautioned me to be very careful. He was concerned because he looked like a man ¨from the street¨and just didn´t want anything bad to happen. I had a few people from Bellamar go through my head and the person that matched the description would have been puzzling. But I was right. I don´t know if you ever remember me talking about the Rebasa family, but Hermano Rebasa has been inactive forever. Hermana Lasike and I worked with him a lot and although he never reactivated, a very beautiful friendship developed with me and his little wife. We even started to work with his son and I received a small package with a letter and a note from Hermanas Lasike and Evans telling me that his son had reactivated. A very special moment for me. Anyway. Yesterday in church Hermano Rebasa came. He said he told me before I left Bellamar that he was going to come see me before I returned to the states and he couldn't fail his promise so I was able to chat with him for a moment and he gave me a lot of chocolate. Even better, i got him to stay for sacrament meeting in the other ward with his granddaughter. I love that family and I was grateful to see him again.

I have read and re read the talk becoming perfect in Christ by Gerrit W. Gong of the seventy. I love it and I invite you to read it. It is a talk for young adults, but it is so relevant to all of us and the love Christ has for us.

I hope you´re all doing well. Be happy. Love life. Read your scriptures. Pray.

Love

Hermana Butterfield

July 28, 2014

Happy birthday, Brisbane! I thought of you all day yesterday. I can´t believe you´re two years old now.

Let´s go to ice cream soon ok?

Let´s see. Biggest news of the week: Segundo and Consuelo Goicochea passed their baptism interviews this week and will be getting baptized on Saturday! After months they are doing it! To think that they have had missionaries for years trying to help them and that I have had the privilege to work with them as well makes me so happy. I´m happy that I will be able to end seeing them make these sacred covenants. He originally chose the 29th of August. That´s cool. I kind of like that date a bit, but I told him I wouldn´t be here and he said, no you have to be here and so now they will be baptized the 2nd of August at 3:00 pm and his family is coming in from Trujillo for it. It will be a very special day for all.

Another very special thing happened yesterday. Last week Bishop called to talk about some things since we hadn´t gone to church. I was talking with him while H. Skirvin was resting and he told me that an elderly man had come to church and had asked if I was there. When I wasn´t there he asked the Bishop for our address and our wonderful Bishop said that he couldn´t give it to him, but that I should be here the next week. He cautioned me to be very careful. He was concerned because he looked like a man ¨from the street¨and just didn´t want anything bad to happen. I had a few people from Bellamar go through my head and the person that matched the description would have been puzzling. But I was right. I don´t know if you ever remember me talking about the Rebasa family, but Hermano Rebasa has been inactive forever. Hermana Lasike and I worked with him a lot and although he never reactivated, a very beautiful friendship developed with me and his little wife. We even started to work with his son and I received a small package with a letter and a note from Hermanas Lasike and Evans telling me that his son had reactivated. A very special moment for me. Anyway. Yesterday in church Hermano Rebasa came. He said he told me before I left Bellamar that he was going to come see me before I returned to the states and he couldn't fail his promise. So I was able to chat with him for a moment and he gave me a lot of chocolate. Nice. i got him to stay for sacrament meeting in the other ward with his granddaughter. I love that family and I was grateful to see him again.

I have read and re read the talk becoming perfect in Christ by Gerrit W. Gong of the seventy. I love it and I invite you to read it. It is a talk for young adults, but it is so relevant to all of us and the love Christ has for us.

I hope you´re all doing well. Be happy. Love life. Read your scriptures. Pray.

Love 

Hermana Butterfield 

July 21, 2014

This last week was pretty good. Tuesday we had to be a the bus terminal at 6:30 in the morning so we could see everyone off that was leaving Chimbote and take Hermana Taylor since she was sending her companion off. We went back to our area, ate breakfast, got ready and went back to the terminal to help all of the missionaries coming into Chimbote get to the  church building. Long morning but always good. Our zone leader also asked that I go buy poster board and stuff to make a happy birthday sign for President Marler. Did it. Didn`t turn out super awesome, but I did it. 

Our meetings that we normally have Tuesday were moved to Wednesday. When things get switched up the week always seems to go a bit differently which is pretty nice sometimes. 

Thursday morning we went to play soccer. We play soccer about 3 times every week which is really fun. It really helps my companion and to be honest it helps me a lot too even though she`s good at soccer and I`m terrible at it haha. It`s fun though and I`m improving a tinge. This last week, however, somehow collided with one of the young men that always comes to play. I hit the ground pretty hard and I'm a bit bruised up but I'm fine. Poor kid felt so bad and what do you do in situations like that? You try to make sure the person is okay and help them up but when he tried all the elders started yelling "Don`t touch her! What are you doing?!" Poor guy!

We had interchanges again. Always fun. I went this time with Hermana Childers to Chimbote Chimbote and Hermana Mathis stayed with Hermana Skirvin. it was a good thing. I always like working with the Hermana leaders. Hermana Childers is actually cousins with Chris Childers. remember him? She`s from Idaho Falls and we are in the same group haha

Then Saturday Hermana Skirvin wasn`t feeling super great and that night threw up twice and couldn`t keep anything down.  We went to the clinic Sunday morning instead of church and she got an iv.  She slept pretty much all day yesterday and the elders came to give her a blessing last night.  She`s doing better today. Not 100% but a bit better.

Times going kinda quick and I`m pretty excited to see you all. How long are you guys going to even be in Peru with me? One week? 

love you all.

love,

hermana butterfield

July 14, 2014

Well, it`s been another week. I survived changes and I will be ending here in Gedeon in Chimbote with Hermana Skirvin. This will be my fifth change in this ward making it the longest time I have in an area. Four changes in Los Jardines in Trujillo. Three changes in Bellamar in Chimbote. And now five in Gedeon. I`m happy to be ending here with so many people that I have come to love and consider family and close friends. I can`t quite believe I`m on my last change and I`m hoping that I can just finish off how I should.

Super bummer about changes -- Elder Cortez, our zone leader got changed to Trujillo. He finishes with me so he got changed on our last transfer. So sad. He`s definitely become a good friend and we have been saying since we got here four changes ago that we were going to ¨die¨ here in Chimbote Buenos Aires together. Nope. I will be the only one in this zone that finishes this change. Here come all of the trunky jokes straight to me....bah.

This week was actually really rough for me so I`m hoping that this next week can be better. One good thing that happened though is that Saturday morning we went to clean the church with Segundo Goicochea. He`s one of our investigators and he really wanted to help clean the church and let me tell you what, he understands the importance of where he worships. He and his inactive daughters took more care in cleaning our assigned area than our most active members all with enthusiasm and care. He`s a great guy. We`re going to try to work with he and his wife to get there date moved up.

Sunday was good. We had ward counsel like usual, but it ran over quite a bit because the first counselor of the stake presidency came and I`m hoping that the semi-training that he did will be beneficial. Our ward is really good, but the counsel lacks some umph in getting things done. Then we got permission from Hermana Editta to go have lunch at another family`s house. It was good...really oily, but it was good and I love the family so it was lovely. Just so you know, carbrito is not lamb like I always thought...it`s goat. I love goat. Who knew? I found out as of yesterday. hehe

"Many times we await instant solutions for difficulties, forgetting that frequently it`s necessary to put in practice the celestial virtue of patience." That might not be a direct quote, but it`s close. It`s something I have to remember and learn to put in practice more. It`s been the theme of this last week.

I love you all! It looks like you had a really fun, hot weekend. Save me some huckleberries please. I`d love some good pancakes or crepes when I get home.

Love,

Hermana Butterfield

P.S. That is definitely Heather`s child. She is beautiful. 

July 7, 2014

Hello!

Well it´s been another week here in Chimbote, Peru. I´ve seen lots of miracles and I have felt the Lord´s hand and love some much. It looks like you received miracles on your side of the equator as well. There is always something to be grateful for that´s for sure. 

A pattern I´ve noticed throughout my mission and I guess life, is that almost always just before something wonderful happens, the adversary does all he can to discourage you so you won´t take those steps forward to witness miracles. Usually our hardest moments happen so we can´t witness such spectacular things. I try really hard when I´m having a very bad day or moment to think that I have to keep going, because if I don´t, I´m going to miss out on something wonderful. This last change has had it´s ups and downs, nothing to bad, but I have been so blessed to see the Lord´s hand especially in this last week and I know it´s after the trial of our faith that the miracles come.

Camila passed her interview a couple of weeks ago and we have had some awesome lessons since with her and her mom. Her mom wants to be baptized as well and so we have a partial family to work with. Love that.

The Goicocheas chose a date! It´s kind of far away so we are going to work on that, but they chose a date. Another family. Love that too.

I was able to do interchanges with one of my great friends from the mission, Hermana Mathis. She´s from Reno and she is great! We had a lot of fun and we saw a lot of miracles. I got to celebrate part of the 4th of July with her which was great because she shares my love of holidays. We went and played soccer in the morning and then made pancakes for breakfast. We got one of the members to track down root beer - not an easy task - and he also got us Dr pepper since there was only one can of root beer. He also got us Pringles which we hadn´t asked for, but. he got them because they´re American. So we made root beer - Dr pepper floats and since the zone leaders had to come fix our shower due to a lack of hot water for a couple of days we shared the tradition. They thought we were crazy, but they seemed to like them. Then when Skirvin came back we had some awesome lessons and then had a ward activity - movie night. So we got to eat some popcorn and watch a cute Disney movie - The Rise of the Guardians - it´s one to buy if you haven´t yet. It´s definitely on my list. In the end, a super good fourth. Much better than last year where we didn´t do one thing haha.

I sure am happy I have a loving family. I´m happy you had a safe weekend and that you´re doing well. I love you lots!

Love, Hermana Butterfield