Hey y'all, it's been quite
the week!
Monday:
We met with Ellen this
morning. We were so nervous and decided to sing Nearer, My God, to Thee. She
loved it and it brought the Spirit in. Then we read 1 Nephi 1 with her. She had
a lot of good questions, but she is having a hard time understanding why we need
The Book of Mormon. I asked her how long it would take her to read a 500 page
book. She said, "A day, maybe a week or two." I then challenged her
to read the Book of Mormon and to pray and ask God if it was true. She
accepted. I know that as she starts a serious study of the Book of Mormon, she
will feel the Spirit and come to know it is true.
Tuesday:
When we showed up at
district meeting, there were a bunch of cop cars and a fire truck. A mother had
accidentally locked her baby in the car. We stood out there with the other
sisters and watched them break into the car and get him out. He was covered in
sweat and was screaming when they finally got him out. :(
That evening, the
lesson with Erica fell through, but we met her cousin and gave her a Book of
Mormon. We got her number and will meet with her soon.
Wednesday:
We went to Ellen's
that morning, and as we sat there, we didn't feel like we should bring up the
Book of Mormon. We just listened as she talked about all the pets she used to
have: African bobcats, cougars, monkeys, etc. She absolutely loves animals. She
says God has a polar bear and grizzly bear waiting for her in heaven. We went
and saw Diane, who had surgery yesterday. She is alive and well! We watched
President Nelson's talk on The Book of Mormon with her and Dysane. We love them
so much. Then we had a return appointment with "Kid," the lady who
got out of prison. She dropped us because she said their wasn't a voice inside
of her saying to "shut up and listen" when we spoke to her. But, we
asked the 13 year old girl, Raydha, if she was interested in learning more. We
had seen her flipping through the Book of Mormon and reading it. We set a
return appointment for Friday. Then we went to the Wright's for CJ's
baptismal interview. We are planning his baptism for this Saturday. Our
district leader met us there and had just driven back from Tallahassee, where
he picked up a new missionary to train! The new missionary, Elder Thomas, plays
the violin and fixed up Johnny's violin. We stopped by Erica's that evening.
She wasn't home, but her mom was. She said she was interested in sitting in the
next lesson because she has seen how the book we gave Erica is already changing
her. We gave her a copy too!
Thursday:
Every Thursday,
we have to drive a 6 hour round trip to Bristol for a meeting. I learned a lot
about how the only thing we are in control of is our agency, and that is the
only gift we can truly give to God. As a missionary, we face a lot of stresses,
but we have to remember what we are in control of--knocking on doors, talking
to people--and not worry about what can happen in response: doors being slammed
in our faces or people bashing with us. I have more courage and motivation to
talk with everyone! On our way home, we stopped by a referral. She wasn't
home, but we met her sister, Chasity. She had a baby named Emily, so it was
cool to connect with her and tell her that was my name too! We promised her
that as she read the Book of Mormon, her grades for nursing school would
improve and she would know exactly how to raise her daughter! Then we had
dinner with the Foxes and played Skip-Bo with them. I was sooo close to
winning! On the way there, we stopped by a historical site of a well on
Damascus street (a lot of streets in the south are very biblical!)
Friday:
I felt a bit sick
today, but we had a full day scheduled, so I went out anyways. We also got a
text from our leaders that there was a hurricane headed our way! In the
morning, we had a devotional at the senior center, and I played some songs for
them on the violin.They loved it! Then we had a lesson with Ben. Rhoda took us
to it, and we taught the Restoration. He felt the Spirit and realized the
importance of reading The Book of Mormon. Rhoda loves coming out with us and wants
to serve a mission. She shared such a powerful testimony of The Book of Mormon
and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Then we went back for
our lesson with Raydha, and three other kids were there: Gavin (9), Ashanti
(12), and Janazsia (10). They loved listening to the Restoration and are
excited to read The Book of Mormon. I was able to explain how Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ are separate beings as we taught the First Vision, and
Ashantie said, "That makes sense
because Jesus Christ is the the Son of God." After this lesson, Sister Palmer and I
decided that we needed to focus on the youth of Brewton because they are a lot
more open and sensitive to the truth.
We went to Rhoda and
Johnny's to teach CJ, and they told us that his baptism had been postponed due
to Hurricane Nate... CJ was so sad and disappointed. We had dinner there and I
decided to try the ghost pepper sauce in my chili. Well, since my stomach is
sensitive, it made me really sick. But after a while, I felt good enough to
leave, so we stopped by Erica's. She wasn't home, but a friend name Chris came
out and said he was interested in meeting with us. We set an appointment to
visit him next Friday. Literally every time we stop by
her house, we pick up a new investigator! Then we stopped by a gas station and
I felt prompted to give two people copies of The Book of Mormon. They were very
interested :)
Saturday:
Well, we had to be
inside by 5pm because that night the hurricane was supposed to hit. I
wasn't feeling well, so I mostly slept all day. I had a fever and was burning
up. Well, we felt like we should go to the Wrights that afternoon when I felt a
bit better and watch The Testaments with them. It was so cool
to watch their reactions as they saw how The Book of Mormon worked together
with the Bible, and they were both crying at the end when Christ came to the
Americas. It was exactly what they needed. Also, Sister Palmer cleaned out our
closet in preparation for the hurricane that didn't hit us...
Sunday:
Church was cancelled
due to the hurricane that was supposed to head our way. Other than heavy rain
during the night, nothing happened. No flooding, no destruction. But it was a
blessing for me because I was sooo sick all day. Whenever I wasn't sleeping, I was
watching church videos on our small DVD player. We don't have a large variety,
so I watched the Restoration three times...
I know that The Book
of Mormon is true, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is
God's true, restored church here on earth. Joseph Smith was a prophet called of
God, and we have a living prophet on earth today. A scripture that really spoke
to me this week was in 1 John 3:2-3 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." I know we
are children of God, and we will one day be perfected through the Atonement of
Jesus Christ. We can stand clean before our Heavenly Father and be just like
Him. We can't imagine all God has in store for us, or what it will be like to
be perfected, because we are imperfect. But as we have hope and faith, we will
become pure.
Much love,
Sister Burnham
Funny Sayin's:
1. Rhoda told her
husband: "Your shirt is short and the moon is shining!" when he bent
down to grab something.
2. With hurricanes,
missionaries send a lot of fun hashtags and sayings. For hurricane Irma, the
joke was "Irmapocolypse" and "I don't know about you, but Irma
little disappointed by the hurricane."
With Hurricane Nate,
we received a message with a #nastynate. This cracked Sister Palmer up because
her dad's name is Nate. (And it is funny now how both of her parents' names
have been used for hurricanes, because her mom's name is Katrina).
3. My companion says I
look like the grinch--when he turns good at the end--when I'm super happy and
smile really big. I still don't see it...
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