WEEK 19: Davis County Reunion!

February 9, 2015

Hey everybody!

This week was crazy! So much happened, and I really have no clue what to write about. On Tuesday we had transfers, where I met my new companion, Elder Tyson Smith! Elder Smith is from Farmington Utah, and graduated from Viewmont High! The other two Elders we live with are Elder Skinner from Idaho and Elder Jason Tooley, from Bountiful! We almost have an entire Davis County apartment!

Sonoma is an awesome little city that is about 50% English speaking and 50% Hispanic, which is awesome for us :). So far we haven't had time to really work in our area. On Thursday we planned for the week, then on Friday we had a zone meeting in Napa. Sonoma is technically part of the Napa Zone, but we are pretty isolated from all other missionaries. We are the unofficial Sonoma zone, with 6 missionaries, 2 sisters and 4 Elders.

On Saturday we blitzed a city about an hour away called St. Helena. It was cool getting to know the other missionaries a little bit more. We finished the week off with Stake Conference on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Oakland Temple presidency spoke and so did the Stake Presidency. Vallejo is also a part of the Napa Stake, so I was able to say goodbye to the Ramos Family (My recent converts) and the rest of the members, one last time :)

The only restaurants in Sonoma, besides the 10 billion taco trucks, are McDonald’s and Taco Bell! We've been to Taco Bell 4 times this week! Not a good idea. Also, groceries are outrageously expensive in Sonoma, so every Monday we plan on driving half an hour to Napa to shop and play basketball with the other missionaries!

Next week I'm sure I'll have more experiences to share with you, once we meet the members here :). It's definitely a very big challenge to White Wash into an area that doesn't have much work going on. We now have the challenge of finding people to teach, because we have like no investigators! Should be awesome!

Sorry for the super boring email this week.. Hopefully it'll be better next week! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Butterfield

Here is a picture of Armando and Cecilia Ramos and Me at Stake Conference :)

And another picture of my last companion, Elder King, doing dishes!!! His first time in 7 weeks!!!!!! We were all so happy! :)

WEEK 18: Sonoma, Here I Come!

February 2, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

So first and foremost, tomorrow is transfers! On Friday I received word that I will be leaving Vallejo and headed to Sonoma. Sonoma is pretty much the closest area to Vallejo, so I'm not going far. It's the city just west of Napa. My new companion is Elder Smith, I don't know anything about him, except that he's exactly 1 year older than me in the mission field. We will be white washing in (which means both of us are new to the area). Oh, and also, I will be a District Leader there. I'm sad to be leaving Vallejo, but am excited for the new challenge! Here’s my new address:  19014 Hickory Street, Sonoma CA 95476.

Also, last p-day I sprained my foot pretty badly and have been in a boot all week. This week we have had a ton of opportunities to do service. On Thursday we dug holes and moved around mulch to help create a "Meditation Garden". On Saturday we spent another 3 hours, just moving HUGE pile of mulch. We had 22 people working for 3 hours, and still hadn't moved it all. After the service project on Saturday, during dinner I got a call from a guy we had talked to downtown, like a month ago. He called saying he had talked to a guy named Edgar Butter-something (Elder Butterfield) and he needed help cleaning a house! So an hour later all 8 Elders in my District had changed back into service clothes, ready to clean. When we got the address, it was a super sketchy apartment building that smelled SOO strongly of weed and Alcohol. Turns out it was the guy's neighbor who needed help. She was super nice and VERY grateful for our help. She was being kicked out of the apartment and needed all of the walls, counters, etc., cleaned that night. We worked hard and got it done in no time. They were so thankful for the help, and she gave us her new address so we can come teach her about the Gospel.

Oh and here is how my Friday night went! After dinner, we were driving back from dinner, and as we were entering a very busy 5-way intersection (with freeway on and off ramps), during rush hour, we saw a man trying to push his car while steering it, off the road. We pulled next to them at the stop light and I rolled down the window and asked if he needed help. He said yes, so as cars where moving, I hopped out of the car, told my companion to stay, and pushed the car through the intersection in my boot! Hahaha, it was probably a pretty funny site, but whatever :).

Many times so far on my mission, I have felt discouraged and drained. I want to remind everyone of the last step in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's 'Endure to the End.' As we meet hardships in life, we need to remember to just keep on keepin on, ‘cause the next miracle or blessing from God is just around the corner. :) So just keep on keepin on everyone! Love you all! Have a good week.

Love,

Elder Butterfield

PS: Our streak of 20 contacts a day is still going strong!

PSS: English and Spanish are together in an English ward. There is a
Spanish group that attends, who I will be translating for! There's a
chance I'll be translating for the Stake Conference, but probably not,
because there is an Elder serving here who is native in both
languages. Our stake conference is next week, So I will see all of the
members and missionaries from Vallejo in just 6 days, haha.

PSSS: The only thing that I have in Sonoma is a Safeway and a Taco Bell.

Other information about Sonoma:
It looks like there is just one ward there with about 100 in attendance. The ward boundaries look big.  It is still part of the same stake as Nate was in in Vallejo.  The latest population figures for the city of Sonoma were 10,648!  The entire surrounding area has 32,678.  The population in Kaysville is 28,880 and Layton is 67,311.  Sonoma is the center of the state’s wine industry and it has a famous international film festival every April.