The Great Plan of Happiness

At zone conference with Sister Exposito (we were in the MTC together)

Guest Services

Hello family!

I'm loving the fall here. The changing leaves, the chilly but not freezing weather, and the Autumn season treats! Today we found a gluten-free bakery that sold pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. They are the closest thing I've tasted to real gluten muffins. It was so yummy!

This week was very busy. I will back track. 

Wednesday: Yesterday we had zone conference for the majority of the day! The training's were focused on the doctrine of the Godhead and the Plan of Salvation. Sister Risenmay taught about the Godhead, and something I love that she explained was how once the doctrine of the Godhead was distorted, it sealed the apostasy. What was one of the first things brought back with the Restoration? The knowledge of the nature of the Godhead. We know that Heavenly Father knows us personally, as he called Joseph by his first name. We know that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, but are 100% united in purpose.

Then we had an eye-opening, spiritually mind-blowing training by President Risenmay about the Plan of Salvation. This has always been one of my favorite topics. I just love learning about who we were before this life and how this is a small moment in comparison to the big picture of God's Plan.

I'll just list some points that I learned more about than I have before:

• The intelligence, or the spirit within us, is eternal and has always been in existence.
• I never really made this connection, but Satan's plan was a big fat lie! It never would have worked even if for some reason it went into play. Satan said that he would make us all be obedient so that we would all make it back, but that would disregard any form of progression, which is what makes it possible for us to become like God.
• Each person in the whole world has seeds of godhood within them.
• Lucifer was one of the noble and great souls in the preexistence. This isn't doctrine, but president described Lucifer's fall like a general authority of the Church apostatizing. Satan had enough power and influence to draw away 1/3 of the hosts of heaven, so it makes sense that he must have been an incredibly persuasive teacher. Persuasive enough to deceive even elect children of God.
• All of us on earth today stood shoulder to shoulder with the noble and great ones testifying of Heavenly Father's Plan, and that Jesus Christ would be our Savior.

I'm so grateful to have this restored knowledge of the Plan of Happiness. It shows how great Heavenly Father's love is for us. He wants us to make it back home to Him. He has made it possible through His Son and through His Church. He has given us many aids to guide us. The Book of Mormon. Prophets. We also have the help of the Holy Ghost, church leaders, and our family. He is so merciful! 

A mission comes with all sorts of challenges, but I know that the Lord makes up for it by his unbounded blessings. I'm so happy and I feel so much peace. This is true! 

To finish my email for the day, I want to share a story about a sweet family who came into one of the Visitor Centers. There was a mom and a dad and they had two sons, perhaps the ages of 10 and 8. I shared with them about the Restoration using the pamphlet. They said they were spiritual and I got the vibe they weren't very interested. I shared about the Book of Mormon and showed pictures as I explained. I invited them to take one and experiment with Moroni's promise. I could see on the parents faces that they were going to say no, but their 10 year-old boy started nodding vigorously as I extended the invitation to read it. He was intrigued I think because of the pictures and the brief explanation behind them. The parents took one because of their son. I hope and pray that they will experience the strong Spirit of the Book of Mormon and want to meet missionaries. They were okay not to keep in touch, but I know someday they will read it and find out there is so much God has to bless them with.

I hope you have a blessed week! I love you all!

xoxoxo,

Sister Butler

During zone conference:

Elder Spencer: (senior missionary in charge of mission vehicles): "What are you going to do when you're backing a car that gets too close to something??"

Us: "Say stop."

Elder Spencer: "No, you're going to yell, STOPPPPPPP!!! Try it again."