The Butler Bunch

11/7/09

10/19/09

Well, he's there, he's officially been delivered via the church's new drop-n-roll policy. It wasn't too bad really. We survived it. It was sad, and exciting, and wonderful, and horrible all at the same time. We miss him a lot though. It's just not the same around here without Ryan. He keeps us all laughing that's for sure. We got our first letter from him today. He's the senior companion (because he says his name Butler was closer to "A"). He's really bonding well with his district. I posted his letters on his web site at missionsite.net if anyone wants to check it out. And for our now returned missionary, Colten is doing great. A little lost, but adjusting well. He's already spoke in 3 sacrament meetings, gone on a few dates, registered for college, and been hunting for a job. Life truly does move on. We feel very blessed indeed!

9/11/09

Homecoming/Farewell

Our big day isn't too far away now. Colten comes home September 28th. He flies into St. George at 6 pm. We are SO EXCITED!!! I can't even tell you. Colten's homecoming, and Ryan's farewell are on the same Sunday...October 11th. Our church is at 1:00. So, to all the fam who would like to come, please do! We'd love to see you and have you there.

8/15/09

It's getting closer...

What a blessing it is to have a missionary out! And what a great experience it has been for our Colten. He has loved every minute of it. It's hard to believe that time is winding down. We are so excited to see him again, but at the same time, sad for him that it's coming to an end....and excited to see what other great adventures await him in his life.

7/11/09

Am I the only one?

Ahhh...am I the only one that could care less that Michael Jackson died? I'm so sick of hearing about it. One less psycho in the world...oh well. And all the media attention and hype? Puh-LEASE!!

7/5/09

Our annual trip to the Manti Pageant.

Every June, for the past 15 years we have gone to the Manti Pageant. It's definately a tradition of ours, and we love it. We always have a great time. It will be a couple of years until Ryan comes with us again, and next year we'll have Colten back...but we still go, and it's an awesome experience for our family. The production that they put on is beautiful. The temple is beautiful, and no matter how many times we've seen it, no doubt, Barry and I tear up at the very end. In fact, we usually stay for two nights, play at Snow College (raquetball, basketball, swimming, etc) for the day, and then back to the pageant for a second viewing. This year it rained all day the 2nd day we were there, but stopped just in time for the pageant to begin. We had a great time together.

6/22/09

Elder Butler is still a goof!

Colten's last letter begins....
"¿Còmo estan familia mia?
Everything is well here in the offices. But yesterday we ate something funny, and now i`m sick. I`ve been going to the bathroom every half hour. It's really enjoyable. The bad part is that the Hna. Flores gave me Asprin for the disease that i have. Asprin???.. honestly...i`ve lost faith in her medicine abilities."
Every letter we get from our Elder, he sounds really...happy. He's really LOVING his mission. He's still got that zingy personality that we love so much, and that always keeps us laughing. And by the way, Hna. Flores that he's talking about is his mission mom. She's a dentist, and a very sweet lady. Colten adores her.

Colten, Elder Butler's reaction to Ryan's call. Very entertaining.

The Philipinnes. That's awesome. You are going to eat mangos like crazy. i love mangos. man you are going to love it. We have a book of Mormon in Tagalog here in the offices. I don`t undestand a lick of that book. I`m so excited for you. I`m glad that your excited. I just hope that you`ll come back. With all the bugs, diseases, and tsunamies (Sri Lanka anyone) i`m not too sure that you`ll come back. And its horrible that you`re going to be by the beach all day. All that sand and clear water, and you`ll never be able to get in. think about the heat. you`ll be sweating a lot, and then you`ll come the beach...the cool refreshing water will be calling you, and you wont be able to get in. Thats tough stuff. I was extremely blessed. The Lord sent me to a desert. I`m jealouse though. You`re mission is going to be great. You`re going to baptize a lot there. They are a really humble people. Also it looks like we are going to speak the same Sunday. I`ll be back in H-Town the 28th or 29th. i`m not sure, its a Monday though. The following Sunday will be a fast and testimony meeting. So i`ll have to wait till the next week, and the next week will be the week that Ryan will have his Farewell. So we are going to have our Homecoming and our Farwell the very same day. Thats going to be a great treat. I can`t wait. I`m glad that we are going to be able to see each other and go to the temple. Its going to be awesome. You are going to be big hot all day long. I hope you know that. you are going to have to get used to feeling dirty 24/7. oh i love it. don`t worry though i`ll be sure to take an extra shower for you everyday. Good stuff. Who is your mission president. Is he an american or is he a naitive. i hope that he is a naitive. i don`t know though. Hey, i think that i heard one time that toilet paper doesn`t exist there. Is that true? tough luck. and i promise you that i`ll never send you toilet paper. in order to gain the confidence of the people you have to accept their culture. Every aspect. Sorry hermanito, but its something that you`re just going to have to get use to. Are you excited? i`m excited for you. what else...flip flops. thats horrible. i would give anything to use flip flops in the mission. your feet get hot here walking on the black pavetop. good stuff. I`m jealous what else...think of of all the diseases that you`ll get? poor kid. Don`t worry we`ll pray for you. You`re going to a third world country. Mexico is not a third world country. its a second world country. you are going to see some great things there. i just hope you don`t die. If you have a question about anything on the list ask me. Granted Ryan`s mission is really different, he could die from a tsunami for example, but there are a lot of things that are the same. i hope that you get bit by a monkey. That would make for some great pictures. Hey do you know that you are going to go to Taiwan. To fly to the Philippines you have to fly to Taiwan. I`m so jealous of you. You are going to have an awesome mission. Work hard. I don`t know too much about your language. But if you are only going to be in the MTC for 9 weeks that means that its not too hard. You`ll get your language down in 6 months. Don`t worry about that at all. Just study hard and speak your langauge. I hope that your first comp is a naitive. it will you help you out a bunch. Is there a temple in the Philippines? lets hope so. I`M SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! but i give you a 50/50 chance of returning normal. Something is goin go to happen to you. They are going ot have to cut off your arm or something because a monkey bites you. What a blessing. Rice huh...i think that you like rice. I`m grateful that i`ll get to see you for a week. I really want to go to the temple with you. Hopefully i`ll be going with my black mexican crocodile boots, but i`m working on that. i think that your mission is joke. Just from the name San Pablo mission. Come on. thats so Spanish. But you know what that means...you`ll be facing a bunch of CATHOLICS. gotta luv em. I hope that they don`t worship la virgen there. thats so cool. You might die though...thats the only bad thing. think of all the mesquito bites you are going to have. You all thought that Pig black lung things was bad, ha - thats nothing compared to the diseases that Ryan wil come up against. THATS SO COOL!!! we are going to speak the same day. thats awesome. Mother will cry. You`ve got to work through your members. GOOD NEWS!!! the Asistants just called us and we are going to HONG KONG BUFFET. oh man its going to be good. i love the offices. you do a lot of crazy things happen there. For example last night Elder Espinoza, from Heber, Utah, sang some new gangster song that we don`t know and danced like he knew how. it was soo funny. i really enjoy the offices. everyone was telling me that i was going to hate it, but i really enjoy my work and being with the other Elders. Its just a different atmosphere here. Ryan don`t worry about going to the offices. you`ll be dead in give or take...13 maybe 15 months. I`ll pray for you though. i`m just kidding i love you. I had a great week. i`m so thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve him as a missionary. I love it. i love mexico and the Mexican people. One day i`m going to be a Mexican. I love the mission. We have so many blessings. we`re hungry. i`ll talk to you next week. paz a vosotros, Elder Butler

Havin' Fun

Yesterday we went on a ROAD TRIP. We went three hours northeast of Chihauhau to the border town of Ojinaga. I really liked Ojinaga. I like a lot more the little towns. You don`t baptize as much, but its just got a different feeling. I would have really enjoyed to be in Ojinaga. We did a super family activity. We had a waterballoon fight, shaved balloons, races, and to top it off we watched the Testaments. IT was really good, and we found 5 or 6 really good references. I really enjoyed it. We left at 7:30 in the morning, and got back at 1:30 in the morning. It was fun. I drove the whole way. It was cool. I like Mexico. You guys should come down here. I invite you, and if you do i`ll even throw in a free kilo of tortillas bien calentitas. Yum yum.

Train Station

Talking to Colten on Christmas day was so wonderful. But, it was hard to understand him because he has such a thick Mexican accent now. He is so happy, and doing so good. I must admit that afterwards I had good cry, and then I felt better. Hearing his voice makes me realize how much I love him, and miss him...but also how blessed I am to have a beautiful worthy son who is willing to serve his Heavenly Father for two years. Talking to our missionary was the best Christmas present I could have ever asked for!