Hey y'all! I survived
the week! I have also forgot what warmth feels like... haha, but it's supposed
to be getting warm again this week! The other highlights of the week include
our car battery dying again, getting sick, and not having hot water for four days.
Let's just say I really need to shower soon...
I'm learning more
about the true character of Christ through each trial. In Christ's most
difficult moments, He always turned outward and served someone else. He never
thought about Himself. When life is going easy and you are healthy, it is easy
to serve and be kind and considerate. When you feel terrible... not so much.
It's harder to control the natural man, and it's harder to desire to serve
others. You find yourself excusing your behavior, "It's okay because I'm
not feeling good. I'll serve and be nicer once I'm healthy again." But
that is not the example Jesus Christ left us. If you can be kind, patient, and
considerate when you are at your lowest (with the help of the Savior, of
course), then you are becoming like Him in every aspect of
your life.
Tuesday:
We left an extra hour
early this morning so we could get our oil changed before district meeting. I
absolutely loved district meeting because I testified boldly and helped answer
some concerns other missionaries had. I could feel the Spirit testifying
through me, and they were so strengthened too. That is one way you know you are
being successful as a missionary. We were also trained on "going about
doing good" by our district leader. That is exactly what Christ did, and
He was always in the right place at the right time. We all need to go out and
serve more, following the Spirit to be in the right places at exactly the right
time. That is much more powerful than robotic-tracting. We then had lunch with
Sister Field, and she went out with us for 5 hours tracting and visiting! She
is so bold. She pulled right up on people's driveway as if she lived there, and
she wasn't scared to open her mouth. She was such a good example to me, and we
were able to teach a few lessons to people we tracted into. We also went to
visit a less-active. Members are so powerful and essential for missionary work!
Wednesday:
I woke up with a
slight sore throat, and no desire to go out in the below-freezing weather. However,
I've been deeply studying about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and I decided to
rely on Him to give me strength to carry on, and to give me strength that
people would let us inside so we didn't freeze. I carried on, and people let us
in! We left at just the right time to see Lenda Lane. She was outside loading
her trunk to get to work. She didn't even question why we randomly showed up on
her street in the freezing weather. She came to talk with us and said she was
glad we came by, because she was going to go grab her Book of Mormon and
bring it to work to read during break. She also gave us two referrals: the only
two neighbors that she knows. She is so prepared and so amazing! Then we
stopped by a former investigator, Jennifer, and when we pulled up to the side
of her house, she was outside looking for something in her car. She invited us
in, but she seemed very frazzled. She informed us that she was looking for her
driver's license and paperwork for food stamps. She said some money would also
be nice! As she searched and searched, I asked if we could pray with her. She
paused and said, "Sure." We all knelt down, and I prayed specifically
for her to find what she was looking for. Things seemed calmer, and minutes
after the prayer, she pulled out her license, paperwork, and a dollar bill from
her bag that she had searched before. It was such an amazing experience to see
God answering our prayer so quickly and exactly--even down to a dollar! She was
much more at peace, and made us some vinyl stickers for our scriptures and
name-tags. I'll have to send pictures next week! Later, we were also able to
give out an "El Libro De Mormon" because we were in exactly the right
place. I only knew how to introduce myself and the church, which I learned from
Sister Monterrosa in Semmes 5 months ago! God's hand is in all things. We were
also able to teach CJ about the Word of Wisdom. He says his mom forces him to
drink Sweet Tea, so we did a role-play of how he can politely decline and bear
his testimony about why he doesn't want to drink it. That boy will make an
amazing missionary one day!
Thursday:
Well, I woke up super
sick this morning! The cold yesterday didn't help at all, but fortunately we
weekly planned inside all morning. Elder Labrum gave me some advice of what to
do to get better, which included resting all day inside. He also thanked me for
always following his directions in the past, even down to calling him back
exactly when he says to. It made me feel really good, and I expressed my
gratitude for his service, keeping all us missionaries healthy and strong to
serve the Lord. Also, poor Sister Jarvis hit her year mark today, but we didn't
do much of anything because I was sick.
Friday:
We had interviews with
our mission president today, so we decided to leave extra early. Our car had
other ideas. The battery died AGAIN. We called Brother Wright to come fix it,
rushed off to interviews (made it just in time), then had to go get our battery
replaced. Afterwards, we had exchanges with the sisters in Gulf Breeze. They
came back to Brewton with us. I was with Sister Sjoblom again, which was very
inspired because I was sick, and she was just overcoming a bad cold, so we were
able to take it easy for the night.
Saturday:
We both felt better,
so we drove out to follow up with some potentials. We got a new investigator,
Yank, and met Philia's mom, Mimi. She invited us back next Saturday because she
didn't have work, but she was just about to leave for work when we knocked.
Another new investigator :). We also got bible-bashed/lectured by this man for
15 minutes. Sister Sjoblom did a great job of testifying to him. I did a good
job of asking inspired questions. Well, overall we both just felt so sick
inside because the doctrine he spewed out was so twisted, and the Spirit was
definitely not there as he spoke. Yet he wouldn't listen to us, and went of on
long tangents about why he didn't need to ask God which church to join. There
was nothing for us to really do, and I felt so sad that he was caught up in the
snares of the devil and didn't realize it. Hopefully we planted a seed, and
gratefully, we left on good terms. That afternoon, we visited Rachel, a youth
less-active whose mother just passed away. We were able to bring her some cheer
and answer questions she had about the Plan of Salvation. We then went and met
a cute old couple who invited us into their home. The wife's memory was really
bad because she asked us where we were from three times throughout the
conversation, and when we responded, she said, "Oh my, you're such a long
ways from home! God bless you!" They were super sweet, but not
interested.
Sunday:
Today is one of those
days where you feel the joy described by Alma in Alma 29:16-17. "My soul
is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so
great is my joy." We had the privilege of hearing Sister Longs give her
first talk in stake conference. She did so wonderful and had everyone laughing
a few times. Brother Wright was sustained to receive the Melchizedek
Priesthood, and then we got to witness him receive it after stake conference.
Sister Wright was in tears, and I just smiled. His eyes seem so much brighter
afterwards. The recent converts here are progressing so wonderfully, and I am
so filled with joy! The Wrights fed us afterwards, and then I had to go home
and into bed because I physically felt TERRIBLE. But wonderfully spiritually
:).
This past week, I have
been reading The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox, and it
is now one of my new favorite books. I would highly recommend it. It has taught
be so much about what perfection and salvation truly mean, and especially about
Jesus Christ's Atonement. Knowing something is pointless unless we act on it.
In order to act, we must feel something. And by acting, we are becoming. Such
is the way of the gospel. We are not obedient just because we are robots trying
to be perfect, but because we are humans becoming better each day. Keeping the
commandments and keeping our covenants helps us to become who we
need to be in order to feel comfortable back in God's presence. Faith is
not enough, but works don't get us into heaven either. It is who we become as
a result of our faith and actions (James 2:17). Don't give up; keep
trying. You are doing more good than you can even realize.
KNOW - FEEL - DO
- BECOME
Much love,
Sister Burnham
Southern Sayin':
Sister Wright calls
shorts "Knee Knockers"
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