June 24, 2013

Hola familia!

What a week! New companion, WOW! Amazing. Seriously spectacular! Her name is Hermana Villanueve and she´s from Lima. She´s 22 and has been in the mission for 7 months. It´s hard because I feel like I´m being completely retrained in so many ways, but it´s a good thing. She is so strong and works through the Spirit. Nothing is really rote (which is difficult at times since I don´t know what to say a lot of times), but the people we teach are able to feel the Spirit which is more important.

We had the baptism for Melanie on Saturday! Wahoo! It was great because her family was there and everything was well organized (it helps when the Bishop and leaders have confidence and trust the missionaries). It was really special because Hna Diaz worked with Melanie for 7 months and it finally happened. Melanie seemed so happy and we are going to continue to work with her to help her grow and continue in the faith.

We watched the broadcast last night with all of the mission and the Turks said their goodbyes and bore their testimonies. Blech! So hard. The broadcast was rough because it was in Spanish so really there was a lot I didn´t get, but one thing that I thought a lot about was how we have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us, always. We have a brother who is the ultimate example of how to live, because he always taught and lived with love. Therefore, if we want to live effectively, if we want to become like them, we HAVE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER! It is essential. There is no other way to live righteously. It will be so hard to have the Turks leave, however, they have been here for three years and their time is over. They have been a solid rock in this mission and will be greatly missed. We are anxious and excited to meet President Marler and his wife soon. Please pray for them that they can feel peace as they transition into a very rough call.

Something I´ve been thinking about a lot over the last few weeks are the birds here. I´m a little torn. Let me explain why:

On one hand, they are very religious creatures. Very close with God. A woman we were teaching one day said something I loved. That the birds are always praying, always! Always singing and praising the Lord. I loved that. I want to be like that.

On the other hand, the birds here are also a  little confused as to their nature. At times I think they´ve forgotten their grand gift of flight. They scuttle around, bound to the streets and sidewalks. The only time I see them fly is when danger is too close. Often times when danger draws near they simply scuttle into a bush. It´s not unless the danger is fatal that they fly. I´ve thought a lot about how as humans we forget our nature. How we stay so close to the world when we could be flying. It´s not until we have trials in our lives that really test us or really hurt us that we turn to the heavens. I fear that one day these little birds are going to forget where they are able to turn -- just as I have witnessed in my own life at times that I forget where I can turn. Let´s never forget our nature and that we are able to do so much more, we just have to turn in the right direction.

Also I have been loving studying the family the last couple of days. The family is key to our salvation. Hna Villanueva said something I loved the other day. We can do a lot to strengthen ward members, but if we don´t strengthen the family there is a problem. We won´t live with our ward members forever, we will be with our families forever. Bah! I loved that. Let´s please try always to strengthen our family. Pray together often, read together, eat together, play together, work together. BE TOGETHER!

I love you! Be strong. Love always. Remember your nature.

Love Hermana Butterfield

June 17, 2013

Happy Father´s Day to all the Dads in my life! I love you all so much! Well, it´s been a week already! Time just seems to be flying! Let´s see, what´s been going on...

I have been studying faith a lot recently, it just seems to be the focus of my thoughts. Faith is truly the basis of everything we do. If we don´t have faith it´s impossible to do much of anything. I was reading in Hebrews Chapter 11 and I loved it. I invite you all to read it as well.

We have cambios this week. We found out last night that Hermana Diaz will be changing and leaving to a different area. It´s rather sad and I´ll be honest, I´m quite scared. She has been in our area for 8 months and knows it and the people like the back of her hand. I have 2 months here and...well yeah I couldn´t tell you much.  It´s so hard because everyone has 3 plus names and they say it so fast I can never really catch it. And the addresses are even worse to learn haha...oh dear. Elder Cook said that my new companion is awesome and probably one of the very best sister missionaries in our mission...no pressure.

Elder Espinal, our District Leader finished his mission today. So sad. He was an awesome missionary for sure.

So some good news, we finally got permission from Melani´s parents for her to be baptized! We´re planning on it for this Saturday! Hermana Diaz is really struggling because she has worked with Melani from the beginning for 7 months and now that we finally have permission she is being changed. It´s really sad, but I´m trying to stay optimistic...I can´t even imagine how she must feel. 

We also have started teaching a young man named Gustavo. We´ve met with him twice and he came to church on Sunday. Progressing investigator finally! He doesn´t have a strong belief in God, however, he wants to learn more. He also said he´d be baptized if he feels it´s true. Lot´s of prayers, please?

Also, happy moment yesterday, Santiago, the young man that was baptized when I first got here passed the Sacrament yesterday! It was such a cool feeling to see him practice his Priesthood. He is awesome and always enthusiastic to learn more about the Gospel and help.

This week we did intercambios and I went to the Zone Primavera with Hermana Bedoya and Hermana Arancibia (they are both in my district). We were talking with a woman that they know at her tienda when the woman reached into her shirt and pulled out a baby duck. What the heck?! Yes a baby duck, living, wrapped in what looked like a stretched out cotton ball. My guess is she was trying to just keep it warm since it´s been so cold. I laughed a lot after we left. Just so bizarre and I wasn´t expecting it at all.

Also, while in Primavera we helped Elders Cook and Hales set up for a mass wedding. It´s cheaper for the people to do mass weddings so their were 4 couples married on Saturday. Way cool.

We are trying to work hard always and trying to do what we can to strengthen our area. It will definitely be a change with a new companion so please pray that we can work well together and that I know enough about my area that I don´t ruin everything...haha...but really.

I love you all so much. Keep being good, keep being strong, and remember your covenants.

Love,

Hermana Butterfield

Faith without works is dead and works without faith is pointless!

June 10, 2013

For our last P-day we were able to go to Huanchaco. It´s an area in our zone that has a beach. It was beautiful.  We really can´t spend time on the beach, but it was beautiful to look at. We ate lunch in the house of their pensionista and then went to the beachfront church and watched Cars 2.

We are hoping to get permission this week from the parents of one of our investigators that we´ve been working with for quite a while. Lots of prayers, please! We are constantly contacting and searching for new investigators. I know the Lord is and will continue to bless us as we work hard and have faith in His works.

The Book of Mormon is so true. When we know this it´s easy to have a testimony of Joseph Smith as a prophet of the Lord. We are so blessed to have this truth that was written for us in our times. I feel the love of the Lord through it´s words and as we strive to live how the Lord wants us to, we receive blessings that we don´t realize.

 Continue to be amazing!  Love Hermana Bug

June 3, 2013

So some funny stories for you...mainly to do with my inability to pronounce certain words at times. These stories can go in my book of embarrassing moments like the rest of my life (:

So when you´re hungry you say yo tengo hambre -- I have hunger, right? the word for man is hombre. One day I accidentally said, yo tengo hombre...yeah, I have a man...obviously. Then, I was telling the family we pension with when my birthday was. August 29. But instead of Augosto, I said Augusto. The husband, Freddy, asked, who is Augusto? Hermana Jessica yelled, He´s her Hombre! They tease me about him a lot. But he came in handy the other day after one of our lessons when one of our new investigators (who is 63) asked if I had a boyfriend or was engaged because, well, he wants a wife (yeah no thanks). My companion said yes she is engaged to Augusto, he´s 29 and lives in the United States and is waiting for me. So if you all meet an Augusto who is 29...let me know, because I´m engaged to him and he hasn´t written yet (; haha oh my life.

Anyway, things are going well here. From enjoying all of the dogs in the streets and their little flea friends, to helping a lady pick avocados from her tree, Peru is always an adventure!

It´s been really cool to see Santiago (the first youth that was baptised while I was here) grow and get involved in his quorum. It´s really great to see how when you have people receive and magnify their callings how they bless lives. His Quorum leader has really taken an interest in their quorum and there is such a great unity now with the young men and they are embracing Santiago so well. He wants to start joining us in lessons which is awesome!

I am definitely learning that faith is a choice and not something that simply comes. It takes work, but it is worth it. Well my time is short today, but I love you all so much and for your examples to me. Thank you for everything you do and for who you are. You have made me who I am (the good parts at least)

Con amor,  Hermana Butterfield

May 27, 2013

Hola! I just love receiving your emails. They make my days so much brighter! Just so you know, I ate cow heart. It was delicious. Mom and Dad, you´d be proud of me. (:

Well, this last week we had cambios. We lost Hna Maza, my big sister. She was transferred to Chimbote. It was a sad day, but we continue to work. It´s just me and Hna Diaz now. She´s a really good missionary and I am learning a lot from her. She really doesn´t know any English, so we both get to practice the very important Christlike attribute of patience...it´s up there in being important. She has been in our area (Los Jardines) para 7 months. This next change will be interesting to see what happens and this cambio is only 4 weeks. Not sure why, but yeah, weird. 

This week in my training I needed to learn to extend the invitation for baptism. I did it in two of our lessons and they accepted and we planned a date. We will see what happens there. In order to be baptized, investigators have to receive all of the lessons and come to church at least twice. Getting people to go to church is so hard. Even the smallest thing will deter them from going. It´s a hard change for many people.

We really don´t have any progressing investigators at this point. But we continue to try to find people to teach. Please continue to pray for the missionaries and that they can find those who are prepared to hear the Gospel. Better yet, give referrals! Referrals are really helpful. Also, if the missionaries have someone at church, please do all you can to befriend them right away. If people can have a good experience at church, they are much more receptive because they can better feel the love of Christ through the members of His church.

On Saturday night, we went to Esperanza to give Elder Cook and Elder Hales the baptism clothes. They had two baptisms and we were able to stay for them because the entire ward was in Lima to attend the temple. Sad for them, but it was cool to be there for it. They were two young men -- about ages 8 and 11.

A really good chapter in the Book of Mormon that my District Leader, Elder Espinal, had us read is in Ether chapter 12. It talks a lot about faith. I always wanted to have faith like the Brother of Jared...I´m working on it (:

Well, I love you all. I hope you´re doing well. You´re in my prayers and I think of you often. What a blessing to know we have each other forever, yeah?   

Love Hermana Butterfield

May 20, 2013

Well, this week was a week!  Monday night I flew to Lima again. It was a smaller group this time, three Elders and myself.  Everyones favorite joke was that I was with the 3 Nephites...too bad they were all Gringos.  
I don´t think the 3 Nephites are white, let´s be honest. It was fun. It wasn´t too weird to be without Hermanas until we went to go to bed and I had a room all to myself...I never thought I´d struggle with that.

Tuesday we spent the day in an office basically just waiting. Everything we had to do only took maybe 30 minutes in total, but the lines were awful. We were able to go to the temple though, not to do a session, but we were able to buy a few things and see the grounds. It´s really beautiful, and the Lima temple looks a lot like the Boise temple.

In the airport we bought a lot of donuts...they aren´t anywhere else so it´s kind of a thing. I bought 4 to share with my companions...ants got into them though so that was a waste of 10 soles.  And when I say ants got into them I mean ants...if it were only a few it wouldn´t be that big of a deal, but you really couldn´t see the donuts underneath them...so...yeah.

Wednesday we had a meeting with everyone finishing their training because Hermana Maza finished her training this week. President Turk said something I really liked. That our goals are to be like the stars, there to guide us, not to be the sticks that beat us. It´s so important to remember and not to get down on ourselves when we don´t reach what we think we should have.

We had our second baptism! Woohoo! Her name is Diana and she is 10 years old. It was really a cool experience because she was one of the first people I encountered here in Trujillo. We searched for her a lot and finally made contact. Come to find out her mom and brother are members less active. She was baptized on Saturday.

It was an adventure getting the baptism ready. Hermano Alexis the assistant to the President always prepared the font and other arrangements but he had classes. So we got to do it. Long story short the side yard of the church was flooded, the font wouldn´t drain and then it wouldn´t drain fast enough, we used buckets to make it go faster, all in skirts...45 minutes before the baptism...we were a little wet but it all worked out and it was pretty fun I will admit (:

A woman that we are teaching named Roxana continues to come to Sacrament meeting. She came this week with her 3 year old! She has to work so she always comes in her uniform and it´s a real challenge, but she desires to be there. It´s cool to see how it is changing her family, because her family life is pretty rough. I hope that it can continue to change for the better because it truly makes her happy.

Well I love you all. I hope you´re doing great! You

are my stars that help guide me in my life (ok, my brothers are kind of like sticks that beat me on occasion (; but I love you all the same).                           Con todo mi amor,  Hermana Butterfield

May 13, 2013

Hey everyone! 

So yesterday was pretty awesome! I loved seeing my family so much. You are all just so beautiful to me and I love your spirits. You have each helped me so much in so many ways and I am truly blessed to call you my family. I wasn´t expecting James and Anna or Grandma to be there so that was such a fun surprise. The babies are getting so big and I loved to hear Brisbane´s laugh and see Logan´s smile. What gems.

So this week was pretty fun. Monday was p-day and we had it with our zone. We watched 'How to Train Your Dragon' (in Spanish). And then we played volleyball. That was fun.

On Tuesday night we were finishing up proselyting. We decided to go to one more house before we returned to our room. As we were approaching the door we got a phone call. It was the office asking where we were...um proselyting? Elder Cook forgot to call and tell me that I was supposed to fly to Lima with a group of missionaries. Oops. We had to be to the office in 20 minutes...it´s 20 minutes away at least and I had to pack still. So we booked it back to our room, I shoved some stuff in a bag, we grabbed a taxi and left. We got there in 25 minutes...I´m not sure how that happened, but hey, I´ll take it. It may have something to do with the fact that there are no traffic laws (to my knowledge). haha

Lima was cool. We got to the hotel at about 2 in the morning. I´m a fan of hotels here. They have hot water and lack little bug friends haha. I felt a bit weird being there but it was nice.  We woke up and went to the place where they do paperwork for ID´s or something, not really sure what it is, but I´ll figure it out eventually. We stood outside for 2 hours and some of the missionaries were able to go in a do their stuff, but a group of us didn´t have some sort of papers so we went somewhere else so they could do fingerprints, check our teeth, etc. Basically it´s so if they find our bodies they can identify us. So don´t worry or anything.... haha I thought it was hilarious.  I fly back to Lima tonight and will return tomorrow night. It´s hard because I feel like I miss out on a lot that happens, but it´s necessary. 

We finally contacted a little girl that we contacted on the street in my first week here. We´ve gone to her house a few times, but she´s never there. She came to church with us and she wants to be baptized! Diana is ten and she reminds me of a Latina version of Shannon. She´s sweet and really smart.

I ate pollo ceviche yesterday...it was actually really good. I never thought I´d say that, but it was good.  The weather varies day to day. It has actually been rather cold here. Yesterday and today the sun has been really strong though. It´s hard to know what to expect because it´s never consistent, but it´s good.

I am so grateful for great families in our ward. They are so wonderful and such a comfort. They always are willing to give a hug or a smile and it helps so much. I really have been so blessed with a great ward. Changes are coming up! Can you believe I hit my month mark here in Peru on Thursday.  I can´t believe it. It´s crazy how time goes when you don´t think about it that much.

Hermana Bond, an Hermana in the mission shared a great scripture passage with me. DyC 50:40-46. Read it. It´s awesome.

Well, I love you all. You´re amazing and I am so blessed to have you in my life. Keep being strong, and keep being good. When we are obedient to the Lord´s plan, He blesses us so much. I know this, and I see it in my life everyday. He doesn´t take away our challenges, but He gives us the strength to overcome everything if we ask Him.

Love Hermana Butterfield