Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."
Monday:
After cleaning, we were just about to head out when we hear a knock on our door. Guess who it was? Yup, the JWs. We stood there and listened to them preach to us. While they were friendly, it felt mostly like a sales-pitch, and the Spirit definitely wasn't there. It was very enlightening to be the one at the door. I wished they would have asked me about my faith or testimony instead of just sharing their beliefs and website to "find all the answers." Me being me, I told her that I loved having modern day prophets and The Book of Mormon to answer my questions.
Tuesday:
After District Meeting, we sang and played for the seniors in Jay. If you ever want your day to be made, then perform for the elderly in nursing homes because they just shower you with praise. They told us that we'd better come back soon. We also visited the Wrights that evening to teach CJ about the Law of Chastity. It's always an awkward lesson regardless of who you are teaching, but especially for a nine-year-old boy! I put more emphasis on why this was a commandment, and I felt the Spirit strongly as I testified to CJ that it is because we love him, and that God loves him and wants him to be safe. He actually paid attention as I testified to him, which goes to show how important it is to focus on the "why" behind commandments and rules, not just the "what."
Wednesday:
We met the most wonderful potentials today as we tried to contact some less-actives. We met a young mother who lost her husband a year ago, but she is so full of fire and energy. I told her that her attitude was amazing, and she said, "How can it be otherwise? I have an amazing five-year-old boy to take care of." She was very friendly, and I felt so much love for her. Then we met an old lady taking care of three of her great-granddaughters. We helped them do their homework and invited them to church. Well, as I was backing out of the driveway, a car had just pulled in, so I looked over to see who it was, when THUMP! I hit something. Rather, someone. Yep, I ran into my companion, who also got distracted as she was backing me and forgot to move backwards. She wasn't hurt at all, so that is good at least...
Thursday:
It rained all day and was FREEZING cold. On the bright side, we had three hours of weekly planning to do inside. Afterwards, we went around and visited a lot of less-actives in Brewton, sharing gifts and singing to them. This really seems to be softening them up. Well, the awkward moment of the day was when we knocked on the neighbor of a less-active, and they totally thought we were Jehovah Witnesses: When she opened the door, she was shocked we were out in the cold. I said we were waiting for someone to take pity on us and let us in. She said if works got us to heaven, then Jehovah Witnesses were all going to heaven. We just chuckled and said some had knocked on our door Monday morning. She asked if we had let them inside. We said, no. She replied, "then I'm not letting you inside." I don't know what expression I had on my face after that, but she started laughing uncomfortably and said she was just joking. I told her they didn't want to come inside because we are Mormon, and that's when she finally realized we weren't Jehovah Witness. So, I learned to be more clear about what denomination we are!
That night we had dinner with Sister Fox and Sister Adams. Afterwards, we played Uno and I won the last round!
Friday:
We worked our whole day around interviews with our mission president in Fox Run. He asked me how I was getting along with my companion and told me that he knew this companionship was truly inspired, that I was the companion she needs right now. Afterwards, we were able to visit some less-actives we had never seen before. We've been using the excuse "We're in the neighborhood doing some Christmas caroling" to get people to open up to us. One of the families let us in and were touched that we sang some Christmas songs for them.
Saturday:
IT SNOWED! I woke up, and after I prayed, Sister Jarvis told me it snowed. I didn't believe her until I looked out the back window and saw the lawn covered in snow! Like a little kid on Christmas, I said to hurry up and get ready so we could go out and play in the snow! We made a tiny snowman. We had the Bag Lady service project that afternoon, and it was awesome! No non-members came, but a ton of the Relief Society sisters came, more than usual, and they stayed for 3.5 hours because they were all having so much fun. The branch is becoming more and more tight-knit, and it truly does feel like one big family. That evening, there was a parade in Brewton, and people lined up both sides of the streets. Well, we are supposed to be where the people are, right? So we got a ton of Light the World pass-along cards and handed out over 20 of them to people.
Sunday:
I love Sundays. We had the primary program during Sacrament Meeting, and I got to sit up front and be the official page flipper of the song lyrics for the children. Then during third hour, I went to Primary to help the kids decorate gingerbread houses as a party for doing so well in the program! After church was the linger-longer with lots of food, and then we left to teach Jimmy a lesson. He is progressing so well towards his baptism date, but he told us he will be moving very soon. Some lucky sister missionaries in Pensacola will get to finish teaching him! That evening, we had dinner with the Millers and Sumralls. We had a few minutes before we were supposed to be there, so we decided to knock on a door and do some caroling. The lady who answered said they had just got home and asked us if we knew what time it was. She told us we could try her neighbors, but they might all be asleep (even though it was 6:15pm). Dejectedly, we walked to one of her neighbors and knocked lightly on the door. No one answered. We trudged back the way we had come, and suddenly the lady who had turned us away called to us and said we could sing for her and her little boy. We chatted and shared Light the World, and she said she'd call her neighbors and tell them to answer the door when we knocked. So we went to the next house and sang for her other neighbors, who loved it, and shared about Christ. By that time, we were running a bit late for dinner... After dinner, Sister Miller took us back to their food storage closet and started piling us up with food and supplies to take home. The members are so amazing.
As I've been studying this week, I contemplated over how I live my life now to before my mission. I have such a stronger vision of how important service and church callings and activities are. Before, I might have grumbled a bit over something I had to do, or didn't listen as closely as I should have to general conference. But now I can see how every aspect of the gospel is so important, and I don't want school, work, and homework to distract me from what matters most: this gospel. Nothing is more important than church callings and activities, watching conference, and studying the scriptures everyday. Even after my mission, I want to put the Lord first in every small detail of my life. As I do so, I know the Lord will bless me more fully in all other aspects of my life.
Love,
Sister Burnham
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| Our cute little snowwoman P.S. My email address is: emily.burnham@myldsmail.net |
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