Week 61 – 4th of July Carolers

Howdy all y'all! This week has flown by! You know you've been busy when you don't even have time for daily planning!

Tuesday

Before district meeting, we stopped by to drop off a bible to someone who requested it. They weren't home, but their friend answered the door. When she saw we were missionaries, she started saying, "I'm a good Christian; I believe in God!" I asked her, "If God had revealed more scripture, would you want to read it?" She said "Yes, where is it?" We pulled out a copy of the Book of Mormon and shared it with her. God is truly placing people in our path! 

Our district was split in half. We now have 8 people in our district and a new district leader. Guess our district was getting to big! We went to meet with Heidi, the woman who showed up to church in Sunday, for lunch at her home. She is so solid! She already knows a lot about our beliefs and made the comment during lunch, "Maybe I'll be a member by the time I finish my cook book." She is also an amazing cook! Right after, we went to do service for a returning member. We spent a few hours sanding her kitchen cabinets, and it was amazing how we can see the evidence of her changing just because she has started reading her scriptures and attend church (even if it is another ward). 

Wednesday 

Happy Fourth of July! We went early this morning to help serve at a community breakfast. I took the opportunity to go outside of my comfort zone and talk to a lot of families and people. I ended up talking religion with a guy who asked me, "Do you believe Satan and Jesus are brothers?" It was amazing to see that no matter what crazy questions he asked me, as I spoke and taught by the Spirit, he agreed with everything I said. 

We left straight to go to an appointment with a lady, Yolanda, the elders had referred to us. We were able to teach her the Restoration, and she really felt the Spirit and had a desire to read from the Book of Mormon. The Lord has been blessing us a lot this week!

Right after, we had a lesson with our recent convert, Jon Harris. It truly is amazing how in tune with the Spirit he is. He wants to start a blog for young cynical teens who don't believe in God. It will be interesting to see how the Lord uses him and his gifts to share the gospel. 

Bela called us to come pick up some more tamales and Mexican food!!! Blessings! We then drove to the Meeks family and had a photo shoot with the kids and played games with them. They had a great time! Then we went to the Willmores for dinner for Sister Willmore's birthday! Yum :)

That evening, to celebrate, Sister Stites made us walk around the apartment complex, decked out in glow sticks, singing the national anthem. We were 4th of July carolers...

Thursday

We helped clean the church... and the only thing I have to say about that is the pulpits are now free from raisons, hair, and toe-nail clippings. That afternoon, I wasn't feeling well, and I had the thought to take a short nap while Sister Stites read in the Book of Mormon, because she had run out of time to do so in personal study. It turned out to be good because after my nap, she was SO excited to share with me her insights about 2 Nephi 13 and the Kardashians... haha. Bible Study that night went very well. I have been told many times that I have a gift of teaching and should work as a MTC or institute teacher after the mission. #futuregoals

Friday

We were inside all morning due to studies and weekly planning. And through some miscommunication, we accidentally double-booked ourselves for dinner! We didn't want to cancel on anyone, so we flip-flopped sometimes around and had one dinner at 5pm, and the other at 7pm. We were just praying the entire time that we would be able to eat at both and not offend anyone. Prayers were answered that night! It was really good to talk with those families and bring the Spirit into their homes.

Saturday 

Nothing too exciting happened at the community breakfast (besides the violin going out of tune) or at bingo. We visited a new family that just moved into the ward, and I already love them so much! They are so proactive and ready to jump in and strengthen the ward. They asked us if there were any investigators or less-actives that lived nearby them. We had such a good time talking and laughing.

We stopped to get gas before choir practice, and as I was outside the car, paying for the gas, a man walks past and says something. I wasn't paying much attention, but he went around to his car on the other side of the gas pump and told me, "I just wanted you to know that you're going to Hell." He started bashing me, and I just stared at him thinking, "What is the point of you telling me all of this?" He shouted, "666" got in his car, and drove away, yelling out "All Christians are going to Hell!" So I can check that experience off if my mission bucket-list! But it just reaffirms my testimony that this is the true church, and he recognized us as authorized servants of God. Choir practice was fun--we had a potluck afterwards. They are very serious about choir here!

Sunday

Some less-actives that don't come to church regularly came, which was a huge blessing. Heidi wasn't able to make it because she felt very sick, but some brothers in the church were able to go over and give her a Priesthood Blessing, and it really helped the pain to go away. 

I am so grateful for the lessons I am learning each week on my mission. This week has been such a testament to me about the blessings that come from paying a generous fast offering. We only had one dinner appointment scheduled for the week, and that was on Monday. After shopping, I wondered if I bought enough food for the week. And miraculously, each day this week someone invited us over for a meal (even two dinners in one night, haha). I know it is because I have made a personal goal to pay a more generous fast offering, and since doing so, I have never had to worry about money for food. I encourage each of you to consider what you offer for fast offerings and to really make it a sacrifice so that God can bless you even more!

Much love,

Sister Burnham