Week 28 - Spiritual First Responder

Hey y'all! This week has been hard, but full of miracles and tender mercies every day. I didn't know it would be so hard to say goodbye to Sister Palmer, and I definitely miss her, but Sister Jarvis is very sweet. Change is hard, but also good. It helps us to keep growing and gaining experiences to bring us closer to Jesus Christ. I feel that so many miracles are just around the corner, and I'm so excited to see what this transfer has in store for me! I am also learning to follow the Spirit throughout the day to know what to do. Now that I am leading out this area, I pay close attention to every thought that comes to mind and every feeling I have. 

Monday:

After receiving transfer news, we stopped by Diane's and the Wrights to have a lesson and for Sister Palmer to say goodbye. And of course, we got some photos!

Tuesday:

We had district meeting all morning, and later that evening stopped by Tasha and Darren's for a lesson. They only had a few minutes, but we could tell they are very interested. I am excited to continue to teach them. We also went by the Wrights that evening to teach CJ a lesson. He is so cute!

Wednesday:

Exercise time this morning was fun! Sister Palmer acted as my personal trainer to help me perfect my form for running. I am in much better shape and can run much faster now! Then we drove to transfer spots, where I met my new companion, Sister Jarvis! She has been out for 10 months and is from New Mexico. She has five younger siblings. She loves to laugh, so we are going to have a lot of fun together! But... she doesn't have her driver's licence yet, so my driving skills are about to improve drastically ;).

We taught Tasha and some little girls she was watching the Plan of Salvation. One of her neighbors was over, and she had lost her brother a year ago. She is 16 and really enjoyed the lesson. We gave her a Book of Mormon and scheduled a return appointment.

Thursday:

Happy Birthday Russell! So... I thought I would hug the closest thing to my dad! In celebration of my dad's birthday, we... weekly planned for three or more hours! It will take some time for Sister Jarvis to get familiar with the area, especially since our area is a bit more than half the size of the entire stake. And we are the only branch in the stake.

Friday:

We scheduled with Sister Wright to go and see one of our male investigators. He wasn't home, and neither was the male investigator who we had planned as a back-up. As we walked away from his door, I was thinking, "I guess now Rhoda will go back home and we'll have to figure something else out." Then I remembered praying that morning that when we didn't know what to do throughout the day, we would pray. I felt like there was something else we should do, so we went back to the car and prayed. Afterwards, Sister Wright asked us if we had seen Courtney lately. We hadn't, so we acted on the thought, and she drove us to Courtney's house. When we pulled up, Courtney poked her head out the front door and saw us. She said she'd love to have a bible study, so we drove back to the Wrights and taught her the Plan of Salvation. She loved it! It answered so many questions she had, and she felt the Spirit so strong. After, she told us she and her husband would be moving to Colorado, and I am so happy for her. It doesn't matter if she is baptized here or in Colorado, I'm just so full of love and joy that she is finding peace in this gospel. And it was such a good experience for Rhoda to act on that prompting she had and see the good that came of it. She is definitely a spiritual first-responder! That evening, our Branch Mission Leader took us out to dinner where Rhoda's sister worked, and we were able to leave Ida our number to schedule a time to meet. It was a day full of miracles.

Saturday:

We tried contacting a ton of referrals, but not many were home. Someone let us in, and we taught her the Plan of Salvation up until the Spirit World, because then she said she didn't believe in the pre-mortal life or Spirit world, and wanted to bible-bash with us. As it so happened, I had conveniently left my scriptures in the car, so I didn't engage, and we left after we bore our testimony to her. But we planted a lot of seeds!

Sunday:

During sacrament meeting, I gave CJ a mint, and he bit it instead of sucking on it. It got super spicy, and he starting waving his hand in front of his mouth like a fan and whispering, "Hot, hot, hot!" Fortunately, Sister Jarvis had some chocolate with her, so we gave him one to calm down his taste-buds. He looked back at me with accusing eyes and said, "You tricked me. You sly dog!" I sat there for the next five minutes trying so hard not to laugh. Lesson learned: Don't give little kids breath mints. We also stopped by Diane's granddaughter's house and saw her and her mom for a bit. Hopefully we will get to start teaching them later this week!

I have a testimony that we go through hard times in our life so that we can learn to appreciate the good days that much more. I am grateful for every single day I've had on my mission, because whether it was a good or hard day, I've learned so much. I've grown so much. I am learning how to be grateful for challenges and trials, or at least to appreciate what I learn from them. As you go throughout this Thanksgiving week, be grateful for everything you have gone through, because no matter how hard it was, it has made you who you are today. 

Much love,

Sister Burnham