This week truly passed by in such a blur. We've been hard at work and completely exhausted! One of the most exhausting things you can do is to heed (pay particular notice) to the Holy Ghost all day. No zoning out or being distracted by other sources, but giving God our everything.
Monday
On our way to see the capital building, we accidentally got into a car accident... so that was pretty much the end of that adventure. We're all okay! We will be swapping out our car for another mission car (a Corolla) in a few days. One lady who helped us was super nice and worked at the capital building. She offered us a free, exclusive tour when our car was fixed up! The day ended good though with a yummy dinner appointment :).
We showed up to district council and guess who made a special appearance? President Smith! It's weird now to be in Tallahassee where he is so close and can join us on a whim. We had a really great time, though, and President Smith was able to talk with my companion and bring her a lot of comfort after the car crash. We went to a car place to receive an estimate on how much it would cost to get fixed, and while there, we explained to the man working the front desk about what we did and about our beliefs. On our way out, I felt prompted to give him a copy of the Book of Mormon and testify of it. He was surprised and touched that we gave it to him. Maybe there was a purpose behind this car crash... ;). That evening before our dinner appointment, we only had a short amount of time to go out contacting before our ride arrived, so we walked across the street from our apartment complex and knocked on a door. We met the coolest young adult, Nykie. She is in her early 20s and expresses how she was actually looking for a church, one that didn't interpret scripture differently than her. She was so accepting of everything we taught, and we set up a time to teach her more!
Wednesday
After studies this morning, we went to pick up our replacement car... the Corolla. I call it a granny car, haha. We dropped it off for the other sisters to have and spent the rest of the day on bikes! We had a lot of cool contacts as a result. We biked past a man who was carrying heavy pieces of wood inside and we offered to help. He was genuinely touched by our offer and was super accepting of the Book of Mormon. He invited us to share our favorite passages with him and he marked them! We faced a lot of closed doors and "no thank yous," but we met a select few who were open and receptive. That evening we had dinner with a member, Carly, and her non-member friend! She is an amazing member missionary, and we had a very Spiritual conversation on the way home!
Thursday
We went to help decorate the church gym for the trunk or treat tonight, and Sister Bell had the cutest decorations! I also had the best persobal study ever! I read the conference talk from this last general conference called, "Taking Upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ." I am learning lessons this last transfer before I go home that will prepare me for the rest of my life. In my eyes, I am working around missionaries who I don't always think take their calling as a representative of Jesus Christ seriously enough. But it doesn't matter what I think. I am not to understand people as I am, but I am to "understand them as they are." To not judge, but to bear with them.
The trunk or treat was fun! The other sister missionaries in the ward dressed up as Laman and Lemuel. Since it was raining outside (#floridaweather), we moved everything inside and decorated a room instead of a trunk. I had a fun time handing out copies of the Book of Mormon and other pamphlets into the buckets of non-member's kids... and sometimes when a kid asked, "Trick or treat!" I would give them a Restoration pamphlet as a "trick" and tell them to give it to a friend.
Friday
Without the car, we went contacting all morning and our day started off... pretty interesting. Okay, story time, y'all! We were walking down the street and saw this guy working in his yard. He was moved that we offered to help him in our dresses, but as we got to talking about religion... he started spouting off scripture after scripture, and his face kept twitching. His 2 buddies showed up and were backing him up and they were legitimately mocking, laughing, and scorning us. I was bold, but not too bold because then I noticed a tattooed tear-drop on his face. My comp and I felt mighty uncomfortable, and they started whispering things, so I grabbed my companion's arm and off we went with them shouting at us from behind. But, we had some cool contacts with people, and then the GREATEST lesson with Nykie that afternoon! She really connected to a verse we read her from Joseph Smith History about the confusion over different interpretations of the Bible, and she was very excited to start reading the Book of Mormon and to come to church. I feel so much love and hope for her!
We had dinner with an old lady in the ward who lives in a nursing home. We biked there :) 
♀️ I could only eat some fruit, but we really made her day, and I felt so much of Heavenly Father's love for her.
Saturday
We woke up early to be at the church at 6:30am to hitch a ride with the Price's in their RV to go to Perry, FL for the Forrest Festival. We handed out family history fliers all day. ALL day. I was amazed at how quickly the day actually went by as I forgot about myself and went to work! I had so many cool contacts and felt the Spirit directing me. I know God was with me all day, sustaining and supporting me because I could not have done that on my own. But by the end of the day, boy oh boy, I was exhausted!
Sunday
After church, we were recruited to go back to Perry to help at the potluck/presentation we had spent the previous day inviting everyone to come to. The turnout was smaller than I was hoping, only 4 non-members, but that is still amazing, and the branch was super happy! One tender moment today was that I wasn't feeling very well after church, and out walks President Smith from another ward's sacrament meeting, and he noticed and said to call him later. It helped a bunch just knowing that he really does care about each of us missionaries and is here for us. Plus, he really does pop up everywhere!
Insight of the week:
As some of y'all might know, I'm not the biggest on physical exercise. But I've been doing it for these past 17.5 months because it is a commandment. I have wished I was self-motivated and more disciplined because I know it's good for the body, but this week I learned something that has strengthened my resolve to work out more vigorously. For those of you who know me, would I ever miss a day of praying? No! Of reading my scriptures, no matter how tired I was? No! I know how important those things are because I receive strength and support from Heavenly Father that I need if I'm going to make it through the day or week. Choosing to do what is right is a trial of faith daily, and we have to exercise it. So it is with exercise. It's going to be hard and exhausting everyday, but it is a commandment and it also brings needed strength and support. So no matter how tired or lazy I am feeling, I can't skip out on it, just as I wouldn't skip out on praying or reading scriptures. For not at any time has God given us a law that is just temporal.
Much love,
Sister Burnham
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