Week 12: Sparkly Hot-Pink Photo Album

Hey y'all! Hope you are having a great week! For those of you who are wondering, I now say "y'all" without thinking twice because it's used so commonly here.

So, Monday night we had another lesson with Brady and the Norris and Hearn families. I mentioned that I really wanted an alligator keychain for my bag, and Brother Hearn started looking up online how much they would cost. He thought I meant I wanted a real alligator on a keychain! He was like, "Oh, I could get you an alligator head for $10 or an alligator foot keychain for only $3!" He then looked up alligator toe and foot necklaces and showed us pictures--they looked absolutely disgusting! But it would be kind of cool to have a real alligator keychain, even though I just wanted a figurine one. I don't know if he will actually get me one, but it would be awesome if he did!

On Tuesday I invited our investigator Wendy to be baptized, and she was so excited! We were reading 2 Nephi 31 with her, and she had a giant notebook out and was taking notes to share later with her daughters (they are 28, but have learning disabilities and learn slower). When we got to the part about Christ being baptized as an example to us, I asked her if she would follow His example and be baptized on September 16. Afterwards, she wrote down on her notebook in big letters, "September 16 Baptism!" and circled it. She told us how much meeting with us has blessed her life and how she knows the power of the Book of Mormon and loves reading it with us. We were then able to meet her fiancé at the end of the lesson when he got home (we still have to teach her the Law of Chastity lesson...).

All day Wednesday was spent all day in Fairhope with our Sister Training Leaders. Most of our day was spent serving a random lady they found in a parking lot who said she needed help moving. Well, when we got there, she hadn't even started packing, so we went to her garage and cleaned and organized everything for over 3 hours in the humid heat. It was fun except for the spiders (I saw at least 30), and I got to sweep up a ton of cigarette buds (Sister Wall found her lighter and threw it away when she wasn't looking).

We started a new service project on Friday! We volunteer outside at a horse therapy program for disabled children. It was so fun to see all the horses and meet the kids. They have a special spirit about them and were so happy and cheerful to get to ride the horses. We got to watch an 11 year old boy who said the funniest things and then two twin five-year-olds who couldn't talk, but knew a bit of sign language!

On Saturday, we helped Brady start his family history using Family Search. We had a less active member come to help him, but apparently we neglected to tell him the gender of the kid he would be helping out, because he brought a bright-pink, sparkly photo album for Brady to put pictures of his ancestors in. Brady thought it was hilarious and loved it despite its girly-ness. We also went to the McCulloughs for dinner and got sent home with a rack of ribs to cook up for later :).

We received a call from the relief society president, who informed us that a member in the ward wanted to anonymously gift us with a pedicure and manicure. We were like, "Sweet!" At church she gave us the gift cards, and they were $38 for each of us! We truly are being taken good care of down here by the ward members and by God. We had a new investigator come to church. She is friends with a young woman in the ward and has decided to dedicate two months of her life to searching for God and building a relationship with him. The Lord truly is placing the prepared right in our path!

I am so blessed for the people I get to meet here, and the friends I get to make! I've met so many people and have felt instant love for them. I know the Lord has put me here in Alabama for a reason. I get to be part of so many people's stories, but more importantly, they get to be part of mine! As the missionary commission statement from Bruce R. McConkie says, the Lord sent these people to me, even though it appears at first like I was sent here to Alabama for them. Our loving Heavenly Father and Savior know exactly who I need to meet, and what experiences I need to have, to help me grow and progress in the gospel. I am so grateful to be a missionary, a representative of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Much love,

Sister Burnham

Sayings:

1. A friend is someone who knows you and still likes you (said in talk during sacrament meeting)

2. When I'm older I want a baby but don't want to keep the mom (an 11 year old boy with disabilities)

Our front porch was taken over by goats and sheep!

 A goat trying to invade our car! They were trying to get in the car, in the house, and even tried jumping on top of our car! Perks of living on a farm!

Exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders in Fairhope!