Hola Everyone! 

Another week down, and this one flew by. Spanish is going well, I have learned how to use about 8/9 of the tenses that are used in Spanish so my vocabulary has expanded tremendously. I am learning about 40-50 new words every day and trying to retain them all. I have really been working my hardest out here, I am not slacking because I want to be ready to be out in the field.

This week a couple of cool things happened. We got to go out on the streets one day this week and go talk to people! I handed out a few pamphlets and Book of Mormon. It was so cool talking to real people. And the best part was, I COULD UNDERSTAND AND COMPREHEND EVERYTHING. Very big confidence booster for sure. I dont know how a bunch of 18-20 year olds could come from knowning almost nothing 5 weeks ago to being able to have 10-20 minute coinversations. The people are so awesome here, and pretty patient because we are gringos still trying to learn the  langage.

I also got another haircut this week. The first day I got here they buzzed all of my hair off , and let me tell you. I am pretty sure they got some random guy off the street, gave him 20 dollars, because this was the worst haircut I have ever recieved. I have found out that I have about 10 different callics in my hair that no amount of water can keep down, we just couldnt notice them because my hair has never been short. Well I got another haircut at a professional place in a mall this week. The cool part was we got to walk about 2-3 kilos to get there, and that was the fun part. I love just being out on the streets in Latin america, there is nothing like it.

As a lotof you may or may not know, Saturday July 28th marked the 1 year anniversary of my best friend Brody in heaven. It has not been an easy year in the slightest. I have thought about him every day for this past year and even more since I have been out here because I he told me last summer about how he was proud of me for doing what I am doing. I know he is still proud of me now, and is watching over me every step of the way. 

I find comfort in knowing that this life is not the end. There is a purpose and because of Jesus Christ and his plan for us, I know we will be able to see our sweet Ody again. I am out here because I know this, and I want to bring the same knowledge and share it with everyone. 

I love you all, thanks for those who hve written

me, continue to write, send pictures please they are my favorite! Next week I will be on a plane to Honduras, I dont know how much time I will have exactly to write, but I will for sure have more interesting stuff! Love you all!

Elder Butler

Ya Me Voy!

Approximately almost 2 years ago I embarked on a mission to serve my savior and Lord, Jesus Christ to serve as a representative of him and his church in the country of Honduras. Due to Covid-19, my mission was cut short by 8 weeks, but today, June 3rd would have been the day I returned home!

It feels like my mission was a lifetime ago and I still sometimes have trouble believing that its over. There were some who read my weekly letters, and probably many who didn't, but hey that is OK! I learned a few things.

1. Eat your beans
2. How grateful we should all be to have hot showers (also that we do not have to bucket shower) and WASHING MACHINES
2.5. Eat your tortillas ;)
3. How much my Father in Heaven loves and knows ME personally.
4. How much he loves all of his children so very much.
5. And how the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses lives and helps us find happiness during times of sorrow, hope when hope is lost, and lights up the darkness.

As a missionary I was blessed to meet many peoples and create lifetime bonds of friendship, and was honored to be a foot solider on the "front lines" to help others to come unto Jesus Christ.

I know that Christ lives. He died for us. Suffered for our sins. Through him and his everlasting Atonement, we too can RISE. I know that Christ has restored his gospel and his Church on the earth today through the Prophet Joseph Smith, who was an instrument to build up the kingdom of God on this Earth.

I know that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and tells us of the account of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. 2 Nephi 25:26 reads  And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. "
It is a reminder that God loves all of his children, and that Christ cares for all his sheep, from every fold and corner of the Earth.

Last but not least, I testify that we have a living prophet on the Earth today, Russel M Nelson, who as the prophets of old, communes with God the father and guides us in a path back to him.
I know these things with all certainty, I have prayed, asked, and have received witness that these things are true. I love the Gospel and who it has helped me become, though not perfect, always striving to follow the perfect example ❤️ Love you all, feel free to message me at any time!

Hace aproximadamente 2 años, me embarqué en una misión para servir a mi salvador y Señor, Jesucristo, para servir como representante de él y su iglesia en el país de Honduras. Debido a Covid-19, mi misión terminó temprano por 8 semanas, pero hoy, el 3 de junio habría sido el día en que regresaria a casa!

Parece que mi misión fue hace una vida y todavía, a veces tengo problemas para creer que se acabó. Hubo algunos que leyeron mis cartas semanales, y probablemente muchos que no lo hicieron, pero bueno, ¡eso está bien! Aprendí algunas cosas.

1. Como comer frijoles
2. Qué agradecidos deberíamos estar todos por tener duchas calientes (también que no tengamos que bañarnos con balde y agua frio) y LAVADORAS
2.5. Como comer tortillas ;)
3. Cuánto me ama y me conoce mi Padre Celestial personalmente.
4. La cantidad de amor que El tiene para todos sus hijos.
5. Y cómo el Evangelio restaurado de Jesucristo bendice vidas y nos ayuda a encontrar la felicidad durante los momentos de tristeza, la esperanza cuando la esperanza se pierde, y ilumina la oscuridad.

Como misionero, tuve la bendición de conocer a muchos personas y crear amistades para toda la vida, y me sentí honrado de ser un soldado para ayudar a otros a venir a Jesucristo.

Sé que vive Chirst. El murió por nosotros. Sufrio por nuestros pecados. A través de él y su expiación eterna, nosotros también podemos LEVANTARNOS. Sé que Cristo ha restaurado su evangelio y su Iglesia en la tierra hoy a través del profeta José Smith, quien fue un instrumento para construir el reino de Dios en esta tierra.

Sé que el Libro de Mormón es otro testamento de Jesucristo, y nos cuenta el relato de los antiguos habitantes de las Américas. 2 Nefi 25 dice "26 Y hablamos de Cristo, nos regocijamos en Cristo, predicamos de Cristo, profetizamos de Cristo y escribimos de acuerdo con nuestras profecías, para que nuestros hijos sepan de qué fuente pueden buscar una remisión de sus pecados ".
Es un recordatorio de que Dios ama a todos sus hijos, y que Cristo se preocupa por todas sus ovejas, desde todos los rincones de la Tierra.

Por último, pero no menos importante, testifico que tenemos un profeta vivo en la Tierra hoy, Russel M Nelson, quien como profetas de la antigüedad, se comunica con Dios el padre y nos guía en un camino de regreso a él.
Sé estas cosas con toda certeza, he orado, preguntado y he recibido testimonio de que estas cosas son ciertas. Me encanta el Evangelio y en quién me ha ayudado a ser, aunque no es perfecto, siempre me esfuerzo por seguir el ejemplo perfecto ❤️ Los amo a todos, ¡ envieme mensajes en cualquier momento!

Eso solo es una fracion de las fotos que tengo, entonces si no se ve en una de esos, voy a poner mas poco a poco!! Si tienes fotos de nosotros, enviemelos!! 

The Release

 

 

Farewell Honduras back to Reggie (my pup!) ok and my family!

                   

 

Week 90 - (And Maybe Weeks 91 & 92? :)) World Covid 19 Pandemic

New Companion!

Hey well this week has been a wild one (I'm pretty sure I say this every week, but this one tops it all haha)

First off, this week, my old companion Elder Nolasco (La República Dominicana) finished his mission. He was an awesome companion, and I think we both passed some of the most meme changes of my entire mission, seeing some of the weirdest and funniest things in my whole mission. BUT good news, my new comp, Elder Sanchez, is from Colombia! The DR and Colombia are two of my favorite Latino American countries and the people are way cool. We already get along great, so that's awesome.

We started off the week with a few reunions, and have had some meetings with president as well, and things have been crazy with this whole Corona Virus thing. The good thing is, we are prepared. One thing that we believe in the church of Jesus Christ is constant revelation from the Lord to help guide us in difficult times. We also believe that the Lord has restored the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on this Earth, and has called upon Prophets and Apostles to guide us in the difficult World. Just like Moses guided the House of Israel in the wilderness, we have Prophets today to help us. Things like having months of food supplies for cases of emergency has been taught and preached in the church through revelation given to the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley in the late 90's. Thanks to this loving revelation from the Lord, Many Latter-Day Saints are PREPARED. Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets "
Out here in Honduras, we have also been prepared with food to last us over 2 weeks (lots of freaking beans) for the case in which we go into quarantine for 14 days. Its nothing for sure, but the precautionary steps have been taken.

We went to Walmart to buy all the stuff on the list that we were given, and it was just a blast. Ill connect some pics on this email for y'all to enjoy.

                                                                                     

                                                                               

                 

This week, despite all the uproar, we got to work on Friday and Saturday. We had a very awesome experience with a guy named Israel. We were walking the the street, and one thing I have been trying to work on to get better is to TALK WITH EVERYONE. The message that we share is one of a kind, and is so important that we have to try and share it with everyone we see. Sometimes that can be harder than it sounds, but its amazing to see the rejections, and the miracles. With Israel, he was one of them. He was walking in the street with a bible in his hand, and was obviously part of another church. He made eye contact with us, and my first impression was to just wave and keep walking, but I decided to go against my instinct and approach him. He began to dispute and have questions, but we deflected all of his attacks and tricks, and just decided to express our love and respect for him and his beliefs. He had a few questions about what we believed, and it was awesome. We didn't shut down any of his doubts, but we simply invited him to pray about it and trust in the Lord. He said he would and we set an appointment to talk more with him. As he was about to leave, I felt to impression to gift him the Book of Mormon that was in my hand. When I gave it to him, he looked in shock. Then he just responded to my surprise, "I know you may not believe me, but you have no idea how long I have been praying to God to be able to get one of these books. All I want to know is that if it's true or not. " I shared my testimony to him that it is, and helps us come closer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I know this work is true and is the most important work upon the face of the world. I sometimes stop and think to myself about how grateful I am to be a part of it. These next few weeks, its possible that I wont have access to write in the instance that we get locked into our house for a few weeks. It will be kinda boring, but don't worry about me because Honduras is better than the states right now! Only 6 cases here in the entire country, so I'll be good! Everyone take care I love you all!

Elder Butler

Week 89 - And Here We Go

Well Today I had some time to write but I went to cut my hair and when I came back I had to enter into meetings sooooooo this one is not gonna be that long.

My Comp goes home this week, which is pretty sad because I loved Elder Nolasco, but the good thing is I have a dope connection in the Dominican Republic to add on my connections list and tropical places I can go visit and stay for free!

When you start your mission, you go through a training program called "12 Weeks" where you learn and adjust to how the missionary life is, and it helps prepare you for the next two years. Tomorrow, I'm about to enter into my last "12 Weeks", but this time they are making me think about and prepare myself for the next year of my life at home, goals, and basically what I am gonna do for my future. Kinda Baggy(trunky) I know, but I'm just focused on how I can focus and give everything I have left for the next few months. SOO here. we. go.

Love you all, sorry for the sucky letter this week! Ill do better!

Elder Butler

Farewell Dinner for missionaries who are leaving this month.

Week 88 - Coke & Soccer

Hey fam, whats good. This week I don't have a lot to write about because I wasn't in my area almost the entire week! Writing these things are tough to think about sometimes, but i do what I can.

So my comp is finishing up his mish next Monday, so today instead of doing the norm for P-Day, we took a 2 hour bus to another city called Comayagua, which is an awesome little city in the middle of the country, and let me tell ya, IT'S HOT. Dry hot, but basically a desert. We came here because its where my comp started his missions he wanted to see some people and a few of his converts from the beginning of his mission, so we came on up here. We also have to finish up writing early to have a little bit of extra time to go visit so this ones gonna be short and sweet!

One of the cool things that happened this week was on Saturday there was a Young Men's activity where they invited a ton of nonmembers to play soccer and had a mini tournament of 4 vs 4. They were short games and To try and get a few younger dudes to come to church I made a bet that if they win, I would buy them a coke and we could chat and share a message, and if we win, I would buy them a coke, we would share something, and they would come to church the next day ;). Guess who won?? Eric and Douglas 15 and 16, both showed up to church. I told them  the deal was they only had to come to the first hour, and kept to my word, but to my surprise they told me they wanted to stay for the second hour. The youth Sunday school teacher wasn't there, so My comp and I took control of the class and took advantage of the time to share about the book of Mormon and explain it very simply. We also made the class a lot more fun I think. I went and talked to them after, and they told me they wanted to come back next week and I didn't even invite them. Heavenly Fathers just throwing people our way :) Love this work!

That's all folks,

Elder Butler

Week 87 - 100 Days Left2

Hey peeps, my mom has told me that my letters have been getting weak, so i'm sorry about that if they have! I've had a little less time to write and a few more things on my plate but we are going strong! Quick Shout out to my cougars who beat #2 Gonzaga, all the exciting wins BYU has is when i'm gone lol.

This week me and my comp found a pulperia that sold canned water, which is apparently a new thing (mostly people buy water in plastic bags), and even though it costs 6 times more than a bag of water, we buy them for the memes and because its funny. Ill put a pic of us.

Well Good news, today marks 100 days left until im home (haven't been counting, just a comp let me know!) it's been kinda crazy to see how time has flown by, but I've been super focused! The only problem is that in about 2 weeks I have to start planning my next YEAR of my life, and it stresses me out just a lil bit. But I'm not really worried about it too much, I'm definitely focused.

This week we had a baptism planned but the lady we were teaching had some doubts and didn't feel ready so it didn't happen. Instead of getting down about it, my Comp and I looked for every little blessing that happened each day and point it out. When some appointments fell, we always happened to find and start talking to someone in the street who was super positive and wanted to hear more. Blessing. We put 3 baptism dates for March. Blessing. We helped 5 new members be able to take out names to go to the temple, and have found many new families during the week. Blessings on Blessings. In the mission there are lots of ups and downs, and it's sometimes frustrating when the things you want to happen do go the way you planned. When this happens, I try and keep my focus on the promises that the Lord has given me in the work, and try and see how he is always helping and sending us blessings.

As I prepare my mindset in what it's gonna be like being in the real world, going back to college, it's almost like a fantasy because teaching this gospel has been my life for the past 20 months, and you kinda just forget about the real world. But the truth is, it's all coming up and I have noticed how easy it is to get expectations of how I want everything to be, and Ive already seen that not everything will go according to plan. But ya know what? I'm okay with that. I know the promises and blessings that God has in store in my life will bring me joy and happiness beyond belief. I will be led in all things I should do, study, and maybe not do. I have been shown the potential of my life and I'm happy. One of the greatest truths that exists in this life is that God loves us and has a plan for each and every one of us. The adversary wants us to feel stress, worry, and sometimes that we are worthless. He wants to block our vision from things far greater in worth. The best and easiest way for us to overcome these attacks is to first:
1. Keep Positive attitude
2. Focus on daily blessings
3. Trust in the promises we have received
4. And try and keep our connection and relationship with our heavenly father constantly growing and alive through prayer and the scriptures

I trust in my future, and I know this gospel has helped me do that. Christ lives and loves each and every one of us.

Elder Butler.

Week 86 - Work and the Glory

Hey guys. Another week and a good one at that!

There are two little girls in my area who are the granddaughters of a lady we are teaching and they LOVE princesses. Well, thanks to you guys and forcing me to watch every Disney princess movie ever made 10000 billion times, I held up a pretty good chat with them.- I let them know that I have met all the princesses before (their favs are Cinderella and bell) and they wanted to see pictures of the real life princesses and of the Disney castle in Disney World!.

We got to see three baptisms from my last area (the ones who read the entire Book of Mormon before finding us) got baptized! I got to go and surprise the baptism because it was close and it was just full of joy.

Also this week I got to go back to Siguatepeque (my old area), and see the family that I helped get married and Baptized. The Husband, Nery, who was inactive for 12 years is now the Elders Quorum Counselor, Gabriela his wife is the Young Woman's Counselor and there 12 year old daughter Dayana finished her personal progress in just 6 months after being members. They have a date for a sealing in the temple in September. This work is true and it brings joy to my heart. Love you guys

Elder Butler

Week 85 - Piñata

A big congrats to Utah Jazz fans, I guess miracles really do exist because that's a one time, lucky shot win but its all good. Have your win it wont make a difference. This week was another good one.

Had a pretty funny experience with a person we were teaching! we were talking in the street with this guy, and were telling him about how he should have come to the ward activity to play soccer, and out of nowhere this 65 year old lady walks up to us and states "Oh, I love to play soccer too. I like it because sometimes you play a little rough when its with men and sometimes you just "accidentally" bump into each other, its just exciting. I don't mind it when people fall on top of me when I play." We just stood there in silence staring, when she realized she was being a little bit perverted she stated "no not in a bad way not in a bad way" Lol. you guys may see memes on the internet, but we live memes everyday out here in the dirty Hon.

WE had another baptism! It was pretty sweet, his name is Franklin, a 15 year old kid who was supposed to get baptized a few weeks ago, but last second got nervous and didn't go through with it. But we invited him to pray about it just to be for sure, and his answer came through understanding the Plan of Salvacion and about how we can be with our families forever.  Franklin's parents both passed away when he was only 4 years old, and this became a bigger interest for him. In the Church of Jesus Christ, we believe that our families existed before our life in the earth, and can continue to exist through the help of our savior Jesus Christ. Although he felt nervous before hand, he shared about how he felt that this he mom guided him to do it. This week he will be going on a youth temple trip and doing the Work of Baptism for his mother who passed away. These are the reasons why I came out here for 2 years, to help people understand that families can be together forever, literally. I left my family for two short years, because I know ill be with them forever. I know this is a truth that no one can convince me otherwise.

Love y'alll
Elder Butler

Week 84 - Nuevo York

Sup fam,

Another one for the this week, not to be baggy (or trunky), but today marks 4 months until I'll be home. Crazy how time flies, too fast to be honest, not sure if im even ready for the real world! Its exciting and all, but I try not to stress about the future too much right now because I have enough work on my plate to worry about here in Honduras! So if anyone's worried about me thinking too much about home, think again!

This last change has been an awesome experience and we have been able to see some amazing miracles! My comp, Elder Nolasco, is from the Dominican Republic and hes awesome, easily one of my favorite comps ever. This guy lives and breathes basketball and baseball, which is one of the best things about Dominicans. Wanna know reason #2 of why I think Dominicans are the best? In the Dominican republic, there is a super famous comedy movie named "Nuevo York" which is New York, about a guy who goes from the Dominican Republic to New York and shows his experience. Supposedly its super funny because there are a ton of Dominicans in NYC, and basically everyone in the DR thinks everywhere in the US is part of New York. Lol. For example, someone would ask "Hey what part of New York are you from? Los Angeles or Miami." Now this is not even the best part about this movie. The best Part is they made a sequel to the first movie. Whats the second movie  called? "Nuevo York 3", yes, They named the second movie the third one because the producers said that the second movie always does the worst, so they just made it the third. Made me chuckle pretty good.

This week we have another baptism, so stay tuned.


We had a leaders meeting today so P-Day was cut short, put here's a few pics of me after eating a freaking hot chile pepper!!

Love y'all

Elder Butler