Blessings of Serving a Mission

My Awesome Zone! We had zone activity today. There was pizza, rice crispies, and some

other cultural food that I don't know the name of. :)

Dear Family,

This has been an awesome week! I just have so much love and appreciation for this Great Work! It's not always easy, but any challenge is well made up in BLESSINGS. :)

Every Thursday at 7:30am is Relief Society. As part of opening exercises we always have a sister lead us in Our Purpose ("Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.") And then that sister shares her thoughts and testimony. I was invited to do that this morning! I love the missionary purpose. I shared how I've come to understand my purpose better as I have experienced challenges. Challenges, as I have let them turn me to God, have brought me closer to Christ. Because I have experienced the joy and the peace that comes from the Savior's atoning sacrifice I want others to experience it. The Church is so true!!

One thing I've really come to appreciate since I've returned to TSQ is the cultural diversity of the Temple Square Mission. We have sisters from all over the world from all different backgrounds. In my zone there are sisters from China, Thailand, Sri Lanka (country below India), Korea, Tonga, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, and Germany. They are all wonderful and have amazing stories about why the are serving a mission. A sister from Thailand shared that she is the only member of her family. She came on a mission in hopes of helping her family to join. Also, I heard about another sister in the mission whose parents weren't members when she came out, but they ended up being baptized while she has been out on the mission. It's so beautiful!

Sister O'Reilly and I took a large group tour of about 26 people around the square a couple days ago. After we were invited to join them for dinner (this is a new thing in the mission where we dine with the tour group if we're invited to). We had a good time getting to know some of the people.  At the end of the meal one of the elderly ladies said something like, "It's been a pleasure to get to know you. I can really see that you live your religion. It is who you are." Sister O'Reilly and I were so thankful for her comment. It made our evening knowing that she could see how this was something that is a part of us. 

One more AMAZING experience before I finish. When I was out in San Jose, California I heard of a conversion story in the mission about a woman who had come to join the church just in these last few months. Her story is incredible. She is a hospice nurse and she had very spiritual experiences as she helped people pass from this life to the next. Something several people in her care would say before they passed was, "The veil is thin." She had no idea what that meant. She began searching out which religion used this terminology. She couldn't find any church that did until she came to Mormon.org. She chatted with one of the Temple Square sisters (who I know!) and she asked about this phrase, "The veil is thin." Of course, this sister knew what she was referring to and began teaching her. Long story short, the temple Square sister referred her to missionaries in the San Jose, CA. 

Flash forward a couple of months, I was in the Family History Library in my church building of where I was serving and I noticed a woman working on her family history. I didn't think much of it. I don't even remember how we got talking, but we did and I found out who she was! She has such a strong spirit and a strong testimony of this Church. She has shared special experiences with me about miracles that have happened in relation to collecting family names and having saving ordinances done for them. She has a lot of happy family members on the other side of the veil right now. Oh, it was just such a privilege to meet her. I feel like the Lord made it possible for us to bump into each other that day. She will do a lot to contribute to the Kingdom of God!

I love you all so much! You are in my prayers. Thank you for keeping me in yours. :)

xoxoxo,

Sister Butler