Dear Family,
Here is my first hello from
Brockport! This has been seriously the LONGEST week of my entire mission! Not
that it's been a terrible week or anything, it's just been so long!
I'm not going to lie, this week has
been one of the hardest of my mission though. In a lot of ways I feel like I've
started my mission completely over. Full proselyting is a different world.
There's only one way to go from here, and that's up ;) So that's a happy side!
I think the thing I miss most about
the sites is that no matter how good or bad things were going in your area that
day, you could always go to the sites and KNOW you were making a difference as
you bore your testimony there. Here it's a little different. There isn't that
refuge like the sites, so you really have to look inward and account to the
Lord and realize that even if people don't want to listen to you that if you
give this EVERYTHING you have, you ARE making a difference.
This email up until now sounds quite
dismal, but it really isn't dismal. Yes, this is SO HARD but that doesn't make
it a bad thing. It makes it a learning opportunity. :)
My first full day here in Brockport
was an interesting one ;) Our area is HUGE and I mean HUGE geographically. We
really kind of have like 5 smaller areas in our one big area and because of
miles we can only make it to work in one of those smaller areas each day
instead of being able to bounce around among all of them. Wednesday we spent
the day in Hamlin. It was UNBELIEVABLY hot and we kept getting lost. We had an
appointment at noon and one at 7 p.m. so we had those hours in between to fill
so we tried to see as many people as possible... no one was home. We had
absolutely nothing else to do and so we just tracted in the hot humid weather.
Both of us were DYING! I think President Francis was in tune with our vibe
because he called us in the middle of the day just to let us know that he
appreciates us. Can you say tender mercy? :) I really love President and Sister
Francis so much. I'm so glad I got to work with them so closely for the time I
did. Anyway, it was a rough day but we know why it was so rough. It was a
character building day ;)
I've had some really good personal
studies this past week which has been my lifeline in so many ways. The Spirit
has been answering my questions and concerns and really helping me feel God's
love. I've just been praying my guts out for the faith to find new people to
teach, the faith to give my whole heart to this area, etc. I read Doctrine and
Covenants 64. The whole section really was an answer to prayer and the general
feeling I got was to live in the present and give Heavenly Father absolutely
everything I have. The verses that really helped most were verses 33-34 that
say, "Wherefore, be not aweary in bwell-doing, for ye are
laying the foundation of a great work. And out of csmall things proceedeth
that which is great. 34 Behold, the Lord arequireth the bheart and a cwilling mind; and the
willing and dobedient shall eeat the good of the land
of Zion in these last days." I know I can do this. I know Heavenly Father
has put me here for a reason. I know that if I keep focusing on the miracles
that I will continue to see success in this area -- whatever success Heavenly
Father deems for me to have.
We are giving it everything we have!
I pray for all of you every day and hope everything is going well. I love you
all so much and can't even tell you how I couldn't do this without you. I've
decided to start "dedicating" each day to someone I love each day so
when things get hard I can remember that I'm doing this because I love my family
and know we will be together forever.
Love you all times a billion! I love
being a missionary so much (oh, side note, the Brockport ward is awesome! It's
small but I love everyone already). I know that the message I have the
privilege of sharing right now is 100 percent true! Don't ever forget how much
I love you all or how much God loves you!
Love,
Sister Butters
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