Hey y'all! We've been getting some tropical storm weather today! Fun stuff. We haven't been allowed outside until this afternoon. This has been such a wonderful week, full of so many miracles!
MONDAY
So, we were going to do something cool today. Instead, it decided to rain all day. Welcome to hurricane season in Florida!
TUESDAY
We went with the new senior couple, the Lyles, to district meeting. They loved it! They call themselves greenies and are so pumped about the work! We read 1 Peter 2:21, and I realized that if we are to become an example like Christ is, then it will involve some suffering, too. The best examples we look to aren't those who have it easy, but those who have it hard and persevere through it, because that's what Christ did. The Lyles took us to a lesson with Kathy, and we weren't sure what exactly we were going to do, just that we needed to read in the Book of Mormon with her. After we sat down and talked with her, an idea came to mind to have her pick a question of the soul, and we showed her how the Book of Mormon answered her question!
WEDNESDAY
Exchanges today! I was paired up with Sister Fast, whose first area was Brewton! We had fun talking about the branch and experiences we had there! While we were out finding and tracting, we faced a lot of rejection. We drove to a different area, and passed by a guy washing his car. Sister Fast decided we should go over and help him. He was waxing his car and refused help at first, but Sister Fast insisted, and picked up a rag to help. He was so amazed and shocked that we were serious about helping him. He kept saying, "Are you seriously doing this right now?!" He then told us how he wasn't supposed to be up and about because he had two cracked ribs. Just before we got there, he had been in a lot of pain and had been praying because he just wanted to give up. Just us he was about to quit, we showed up and took over for him. He recognized that we were an answer to his prayer and asked more about the church and what we do. I bore witness of how the Book of Mormon has changed my life, and he was really touched and could see the light in my eyes and feel my conviction.
THURSDAY
We finally got to teach our recent convert, Jon! He is so intelligent and basically teaches himself (and you) when you go over. All you have to do is keep it on track. He bought himself a tablet just so he could download Gospel Library. We showed him how to navigate it (you know, old people and technology don't always seem to mix). He was soooo grateful and excited to start studying about the priesthood on it! Jon also told us that in order to be a good teacher, we must "never forget what it's like to not know."
FRIDAY
We visited with the Lyles and I recieved a blessing becaise I wasnt feeling well. Afterwards, I felt more peaceful, and we were able to carry on with our day! We had dinner with the Willmores that evening and got to learn more about what they do as service missionaries on the church ranch.
SATURDAY
The long anticipated day arrived at last! A day I will never forget! We left early this morning to make it to Brother Tom's baptism at 10am. It was about a 2.5 hour drive. So worth it! It felt like a dream, walking into the very familiar church building and seeing so many people that I love again! Rhoda and Johnny were surprisingly there with CJ! Brother Tom was so touched that I was there, and he looked so happy after he was baptized. After his baptism, Bishop Welty invited me up to bear my testimony, and I shared a bit about how we found Brother Tom. I got to hear the story from his point of view afterwards! I learned that the day we knocked on Brother Tom's door, he had been outside walking and praying that morning because he was lonely and wanted to feel like part of a church congregation again. Well, later that day, guess who showed up kncocking at his front door? The Spirit had really led me and my companion there. We had been in a neighborhood that wasn't very welcoming, and we realized we didn't have to be there. We followed (what we didn't realize at the time) a prompting to leave and try the other neighborhood we had planned to go to because an uncontacted referral from 3 years ago had appeared on our phones. We knocked on the door, and Brother Tom answered and was very welcoming. The rest is now history! God truly does answer our prayers, and he truly does lead us by His Spirit in this great work.
We drove straight from the baptism to the stake BBQ that was going on that evening. We were supposed to have been there earlier to help set up. When we arrived, we really needed to use the bathroom. We soon found out that one of the toilets had some issues and flooded all over the floor. We tried plunging it, while one person held the lever to stop the tank from filling and flooding again. Yeah, we got toilet water all over us... we finally resolved the issue enough to go get a paper that said "Do not use" when the other sister missionaries happened upon us and asked what we were doing... we told them, and while we were gone, they tried to fix it and caused it to start flooding on the floor again. We see them running out of the bathroom to get a mop on our way back. So then we had to re-plunge and temporarily fix it. Well, after that disastrous fiasco, we washed up the best we could, and carried on as normal. The BBQ went great, and we even got a new investigator! Our newest ward missionary brought three nonmembers to the stake BBQ that we had, and one of them loved the church tour we gave her. She was captivated by all of the paintings and felt the Spirit.
SUNDAY
Sister Strong played a beautiful musical number in sacrament meeting. She is so gifted! We sang in choir for an hour after church. Also, the old ladies at bingo love to hug and kiss us!
That about sums up this adventurous week in a nutshell. I had a lot of fun, for sure, but I also learned and grew a lot too. This week, I studied a lot about spiritual gifts. Sister Fast shared a footnote from the talk, "I Have a Work for Thee" by Elder John C. Pingree. This footnote listed a lot of less-conspicuous gifts, many that we have never thought of, but that are of great worth: "the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the Holy Ghost."
I invite each of you to study your patriarchal blessing, the scriptures, and Elder Pingree's talk to discover gifts you have been given. I testify that each of you have been given special gifts to bless others and be instruments in God's hands. As you develop them, you will see that God has prepared you, specifically you, to accomplish miracles in hastening His work. He will make more out of you than you ever could alone!
Much love,
Sister Burnham
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