9-27-10

SO not a lot has happened since Thursday when i emailed last. Friday and Saturday we were trying to play catch up and we got to see a few of the people were working with. Judy and Toby tried to drop us but we were like you have to read the book of Mormon and pray about it before you can really know. We kinda did the same with one of our other investigators. No one came to church. Its so hard to get people to do the stuff we ask. No one seems to be reading and praying and no one wants to promise that they'll go to church. its really dumb but we cant do much except for invite them to do so.

I can get packages at the post office but it might be a good idea to send them to the mission office nearing transfers just in case it takes a while or something so i get it for sure. The pants are great i needed them so bad. And thank you so much for the ties. Its kinda missionary tradition that people can trade ties if they want. They take ties really seriously. But yeah get me some ties from the cupboard and stuff and feel free to send ties out whenever. We went the other day to a JC Penny outlet and i got two ties for like $6. It was really awesome. The thing with the USPS is that the mission home can forward them for free that way. So if your sending stuff directly to me UPS or FEDEX is fine just when it goes to the mission home it needs to be USPS.

I know just how you feel with Peter slacking off. That's pretty much everyone that we are teaching. Its all really up to intent. Does he really want to know that this church is true? Is he Willing to act on that answer? Does he know how to get his answer? Does he know why the book of Mormon is so important? The whole thing is that the priesthood authority of god was lost from the earth. If the book of Mormon is true then Joseph smith was a prophet and restored that authority because he used the power of god to translate it. If the book of Mormon is true everything else we believe is true because we have that authority and a prophet that speaks to god.

I'm not sure how much the shot is but sister Pfile said it was like 100 and something. Ill talk to her again and see which doctor she recommends and how much it will cost and stuff. Ill be waiting for that coat. I was thinking about getting like a hoodie jacket thing just for the in between till it gets really cold. Early in the mornings its like low 40's then by the middle of the day its like upper 70's mid 80's its ridiculous. the other day our windshield was covered with ice and then later in the day we were like sweating it was so hot. It would be nice to have some gloves too. that are wind and water proof and that are warm. Ill def need that and i want some of those wrap around ear muff things that dad uses. But besides that i think I'm good. Thanks so much for the packages. Everyone was jealous of me.

I cant wait to hear back from everyone and i love you all

Elder Butler

Questions I asked Elder Butler:
1- Do you get Dinner Appointments with the members in Antonito?

every once in a while we do but not that often because there are only like 40 active people in our branch

2- What have you cooked for yourself?

Mostly just like raman noodles and some pizza, sandwiches, eggs, cereal

3-Do you and your comp eat together (ie cook meals together, you cook one night he cooks another) or separately?

We eat separately
4- What is your apartment like? What do you see out of your living room window?

the apartment is really small and kinda trashy. it smells a lot but we don't spend much time there. The window faces more apartment on the other side. but we keep the shades shut all the time
5-How far away is the grocery store?

theres a grocery store in town but its kinda expensive so two or three times a transfer we go to a town that's a little bigger called alamosa where theres a walmart and we buy stuff there
6- What kind of car do you drive?

We have a Subaru Impreza. Its really weak and we only get 1250 miles a month and everything is pretty far away so we save miles as much as we can
7- When are you going to send home some pictures?

Ill send pictures home soon. Theres a couple pictures i wanna take first before i send the card home. Are there any specific picture you want?
8-What is a typical day like for you? (give details)

We wake up at 630 exercise, shower dress and eat and then start personal study at 8. companion study at 9. leave the apartment around 10, 10.30 and go out either tracting ITLing or go to appointments we set up. We do service every once in a while. we go see recent converts and less actives sometimes. We have an hour lunch where we eat for half and take a short (much needed) nap. we come in at 9 or 9.30 if we have an appointment. but they want us in at 8.30 cuz its starting to get really dark outside early.we usually come in an hour early and take dinner then. Then we plan the next day out and get ready for bed. we usually get to bed between 10 and 10.30 and that's about it
9- Do you travel outside your little town? How far and are the other towns as small as the one you are in?

We live in the main part of antonito but there are a bunch of small communities that we go to like san rafiel, and conejos, lobatos, ortiz, and we take a car there and tract around on foot. Theres a lot of farm fields. most people grow hay but some people have sheep and cows and chickens. its a 5-10 min drive to most places at 65mph
10-Are there any lakes, rivers, mountains, cactus or any other cool things in your town?

antonito is in the san luis valley so theres mountains all around. Theres the worlds largest free standing mountain just south of us call the San antonio mountain. theres like one little river thing called the conejos river but were basically in new mexico so its pretty deserty with sage brush all over the place and its dusty and gravel roads most places