"My New Son" - Elder Lingwall

Whanau!!!!

What's up everyone!? It was a great week!! I kicked Elder Wangsgard out of the flat finally:) ha.. I loved the kid, but I'm happy it's a new transfer. So let me tell ya what's going down in the hood of NZ!! ;)

Before Elder Wangsgard left, a lady in our ward named Sister Park (Tongan) made us a "good bye meal." Holy cow... best meal i've had so far!! All of the sudden this Taxi pulls up to our flat with nobody in it but the driver and massive plates of food. She sent us two snappers covered in coconut cream, a lamb shank with tons of potatoes and vegetables, and a whole cheesecake!! She makes a Mean as meal!! 

That's about it this week for me and Elder Wangsgard... 

So transfers were this week... as i stood there waiting for the new missionaries to walk in.. i was thinking to myself.. hmm.. will he be from Tonga? Samoa? Fiji? oh.. there he is.. Man oh man... My son is fresh from Herriman, Utah!! ;) not going to lie, I was slightly disappointed at first. But honestly.. as the day went on... I realized that he was the EXACT companion i prayed for the night before. He is obedient as! He's not afraid to talk to people. He keeps the house clean, and he loves to run in the mornings!! (Thank the Heavens) so i'm perfectly happy with my new son Elder Lingwall. 

Funny story. Elder Lingwall signed to long jump at Utah Valley when he gets home. I long jumped against him in a few meets this year. Long story short... he smashed me. 

At transfers i met my buddy Elder Finau. The one i became friends with on Instagram. Turns out.. he's in my zone now.. and i'm sitting right next to him!;) He's way sick. We became tight in like the first minute of talking. 

On Saturday.. The missionaries in our ward did a service project. We volunteered for some cultural thing at the park. It was the best service project i've ever done. It was fun, we got free food, and there was a ton of Maori culture mixed in. The whole time, they spoke in Maori, and there were a lot of Haka's and cultural dances, and i did the Hongi with people (the greeting when you touch noses and inhale.. it has many different significant meanings) 

Poor Elder Lingwall was exposed to the crazy stuff in New Zealand in the first week. It was so fun though. Peter brought over a big bag of fresh Muscles and Oysters that they just caught. So he had us try them. So of course I was down. They were nasty!! The first time.. i couldn't even choke it down. But the second time i swallowed it.. and had to rush to the Toffee Pops to get the taste out of my mouth. The Kina we tried last week was WAY better!! Uncooked seafood... not my fave. 

That's about it for the week though.. It was kinda slow because of transfers. Me and Elder Lingwall are killin it in REWA. I'm loving being a trainer... i've learned a lot faster. But anyways... the gospel is true!! I love you all.. and miss you heaps!! 

Cheers,

Elder Butler

 I was frustrated out of my mind because i couldn't find my tag. Elder Wangsgard Froze it:/

Last day in REWA...

My best buddy Dominick!  I love him to death!!

Our district before transfers. I love this picture because everyone is being so serious. Then there's me and Elder To'a in the back ground doing the Pukana (the warrior face with the tongue and big eyes) :) 

Me, Elder Wangsgard and the Pereira family. (one of the greatest families in our ward) I've grown really close to this family.

I'm about to eat this muscle!! I couldn't handle this one.. It was nasty!! But I ate the raw oyster next.. and i swallowed it.. Sadly. 

The Big Fella (Elder Lingwall) about to smash some raw seafood:) 

"Eeling" Sick...

What's up everyone,

So this week was weird as!! I don't have too much to say.. and i feel like crap, so I won't write too much!!

This week I tried some weird stuff though.. it was way cool. Last Monday we went eeling at the creek near our house and I was the first to catch one. Elder Wangsgard caught another soon after. They are the grossest animals I have ever touched in my life. The slime from off of their skin sticks to your hands and hardens. It's nasty. But we gave them to sister Mcarthy (a lady in our ward) and she cooked them up for us and brought them over. They were pretty decent. I have some pictures of them.. so check them out.  Along with eating eel, i tried something called a Kina. It's a Maori delicacy. It's a Sea Urchin that you cut in half and suck out the creamy inside (while it's still alive). It was freaking nasty. I've liked almost everything I've been fed here so far.. but Kina is terrible. Now... for the good stuff. A Feijoa! It's a fruit that i think is only grown in New Zealand.. but holy cow. It's delicious. That's about it for the weird foods this week. The members feed us a TON!! 

 

So our recent convert Peter.... man oh man. Some drunk Samoan came up to his house the other day (while me and Wangsgard were there) threatening him because he thought his kids stole his TV.  So he took him in the shed and beat the crap out of him!! I thought it was hilarious... He's the man!;) During our service this week.. Peter also ate 2 snails, a slug, and a worm... and now I owe him a milk and a bread;) I love him;)

It's been a pretty solid week though... We have been trying to find ways to find people and get referrals and all that good stuff.. so me and Elder Wangsgard started singing hymns for/with people. It was a great time!! 

I had my driving test on Thursday with Elder Wark. We ended up getting on the motor way and traveling down the country. It was absolutely Beautiful!! It showed me what New Zealand was really like.. I wish i could have gotten some pictures though.. It was amazing. 

Transfers are this week. Last week President was here.. and he brought me over and said he had a lot of confidence in me. I guess he wasn't kiddin.. I'm going from being trained, to training a new missionary-back to back transfers! :) I'm way excited. But i won't have my boy Elder Wangsgard anymore. Which honestly is a really good thing. Me and Elder Wangsgard's companionship is pretty much just as bad as having Me and Riley together. Knowing that I'm training someone though also means that I'll be in Rewa for another 3 months.. Which sucks in a way, but there's a lot for me to do here. Elder Wangsgard just got transferred to the most beautiful part of the mission though in the East Coast of Gisborne. He's a lucky man! 

That's about it this week fam..sorry it's not much. I have some pictures though. I love you all!! Cheers!!

Oh.. and I don't know if I've told you this yet or not.. but all missionary's say, "The harder you work... the more beautiful your wife will be.. and if you work in the rain.. Her beauty has exponential growth!!" :) Man... I'm glad I got called to New Zealand because it's been POURING on us!! ;) 

Ofa Atu,

Elder Butler 

Eeling

This was my first catch when we went eeling. It definitely wasn't my eel of choice.. but I thought it was pretty funny. Some massive as bra! :) 

My catch:) mmmm!
It felt so gross!

Elder Wangsgard's catch!

Cooked Eel.. Looks nasty aye? But it tastes pretty solid as!! ;) 

This is James. He's the man. Me and Elder Wangsgard named him The Great Hambino. (yes.. I came up with the name) He comes on splits with the missionaries quite often. 

 This is the Kina. It was moving around in my hand with all those spikey things:)  So you can see in the middle that little circle thing?? That's the heart area. That's how you crack it open. You take 2 spoons and smash them into the heart and pry it open.. Nasty.. but I pounded it. 

Sometimes You Just Need a Good Laugh!

Hey there fam,

So i pretty much had a great week!! ;) let me just tell you how it went down!!

Story time... So before my 12th grade year started, my dad had this strong feeling that i needed to continue taking spanish in school because it would be useful on my mission. It was awesome. The spirit was working with him for sure!! Then March rolls around and I opened my call to Hamilton, New Zealand. In the back on my mind (totally kidding around) I said, "oh.. I guess dad received some false revelation!!" Nobody speaks spanish in New Zealand. There's a bunch of islanders.. that's all. But this week i finally realized that my dad really was in tune with the spirit. We went over to a less active's house named Bro. Figueroa. He hasn't been to church in YEARS!! He has a lot of bad feelings towards the members. But... He's from Columbia. When we went to visit him this week. I was able to become good friends with Bro. Figueroa and break the ice with him because i could understand all his language, and even talk a little Spanish with him (which he enjoyed). We got out of his house, and elder Wangsgard said he didn't understand anything!! That's when i thought about dad..  and how grateful i am that he has lived his life in such a way, that the spirit can communicate with him.. so i could touch someone's life on my mission!! 

There's the story for the week. So next.. We went on exchanges this week with Elder Cox (the Elder who's mom you found on Facebook). We absolutely killed it. The highlight of my week though was when we got a referral from our good friend Dominick. We went straight to his house after we received it. I realized how much my testimony has grown of the Book of Mormon. Here's a 175 pound, 6'1 (good looking as!! ;) ) missionary who was in tears while bearing his testimony of the Book of Mormon!! It was so terrible, and amazing at the same time!! :) 

Man.. i guess i do have a few more stories this week. So our area has a neighborhood with ALL Indians.. and we were there a little bit this week. Me and Elder Wangsgard met a man named Jit... Very nice man. But being the naughty elders we are.. we cracked jokes the whole way home. "Holy Jit!!" "oh man.. something stinks in our kitchen.. it smells like Jit!!" Ha.. it was funny. :) I promise i'm mature, but i needed a good laugh!! :) 

This week was a holiday called Guy Fawkes.. similar to our 4th of July. Long story short.. i had a hard time sleeping with fireworks til 2 in the morning. 

The people here are so great! Especially the Scanlins (kopo). Islanders love a good laugh.. that's just how their culture is!! So i was pretty proud of myself when the Scanlins told the sisters that Elder Butler is the funniest person to walk the earth!! It's always good to have a little fun while smashing people with the gospel!! :) 

Oh man.. So we had Elder Cox, Elder Wangsgard, and Elder Prasad in our flat the other day.. and I started singing, "ohhhh, oh, oh oh" and they all followed singing "for the longest time!!" I died.. I was so glad they knew that song. It brought me right back to basketball season. :)

That's it for the most part!! It was an awesome week! I have a few pictures also.. so just wait!! :) 

Elda Butla 

Me and Elder Cox.. posing with our beloved bikes!! Just about ready to take off
and "thresh the Nations!!" (D&C 35) 

The other side of our area.. We don't come here much because there's like 10 houses... and 1 million sheep. But the gospel needs to be preached to all creatures. So me and Elder Cox took a trip. 

Good Morning REWA!!! :)

Sister Scanlin had the book "Rare Air" at her house. So i saw the "wings" picture of Michael Jordan.. and had to make a copy. This picture is entitled.... "Air Elder" :)  and this lava lava is the one Elder Wark gave me.. solid as aye?!!! 

I love this picture because it's legit. Elder Wangsgard didn't know the picture was being taken. So this is mission life at it's finest!! 

Me.. Walking.. down a long as driveway. 

If i don't get an email from someone (mom) about how proud they are of me for this picture... then i have failed as a missionary/son. 

11/2/14

Kia Ora everyone!!

It's been a pretty solid week. It started out way rough though. Freaking got a migraine on Monday, sat out the whole night!! Man i forgot a bunch of stuff in my email last week. Like the most important thing.. Someone came in the chapel during our baptism on Thursday and crapped on Elder Wangsgard's suit and put it in the toilet!! ;) I'll never forget that moment when he called me into the bathroom to show me:) So that was a bummer for him.. but president even busted up laughing when he heard about it. :)

So this week went by pretty fast.. On Monday we walked into the gym and found like 50 Samoans playing "Volley" with a bunch of courts set up. It was pretty much a dream come true. They invited me to play the second i walked in the gym. It was so much fun. They are solid as!!

We went on two exchanges this week. I went with Elder Puckridge (Zone Leader from Australia) for the first one. And Elder Gilmore (England) for the second. It was a good time. Jaycee would have died over their accents. I don't have much of an accent at all because i'm in Manurewa where all the islanders are. So I've picked up on the islander slang.. but that's about it. 

So last Monday i was reading my Patriarchal blessing. It has a huge part where it talks about my mission. It says how i'll interact with many new cultures and a lot of other things along those lines. So i went to the store and bought a little globe. I started marking all of our investigators that live in different countries. So far I've had investigators from a little over 30 different countries. from crazy ones too.. Bangladesh, Iraq, Morocco, Zimbabwe, and many others. So pretty much.. Manurewa might not be the most beautiful place in New Zealand, But i've learned that this is where the biggest variety of cultures is in all of NZ. So it showed me that this really is where i am meant to be. The Lord knew where i was supposed to be, and he sent me here.. So i thought that was cool.

Just some random info... Elder Wark gave me the sickest Lava Lava ever!! It's purple and light blue!! It's so sick!!

When me and Elder Gilmore were on exchanges.. we found this lady named Vicki. She seemed keen as when it came to the gospel, and told us to come back later. When we came back we walked up to her door to find a card that said "to Elder Butler and Wangsgard." (because Elder Gilmore put our names on the back of a pamphlet) So we opened it up and there was all of our stuff we gave her, and she wrote us a note that said, "i wish to not learn any more about the mormon faith.. don't come back please." I thought it was hilarious. She had a lot of questions about the word of wisdom, and i think that stopped her from being interested:) it was way funny though!! 

I finished the Doctrine and Covenants this week.. now starting the Pearl of Great Price!! Well i'm almost done with that too.. so i'll be starting the Book of Mormon again:) 

That's about it this week!! Hopefully i didn't forget too much. Thank you to all i've received letters from!! I really do love them. I have ALL of them in a binder that i will keep forever!! :) I love you all!! The gospel is true!!

Ka Kite,

Elder Butler

My Little Globe:)

So this picture is me.. posing with bananas.. But they're not just "bananas." They are bananas from my dear buddy Rajj (from India) He lets us pick from his food truck before he gives the rest to the pigs!! :) and this river is the one where we're going eeling soon (fishing for eels!!)   :)