Holly Jolly Christmas

23 December - 29 December 2019

I hope y'all had a happy Christmas! Lucy and I spent a lot of time binge watching Harry Potter and speaking in British accents this week. It's been nice being home because the weather is much warmer than it would be in Utah, I always have delicious food on hand, and I get to rest from school. The only downside is that I caught a cold, so I've been a bit sick this past week. We also watched a lot of movies this week, including the new Star Wars (which Lucy was crying about having to go see but then loved it and is now binge watching all the Star Wars) and Unitards (which mom and Lucy are obsessed with for some strange reason).

Wednesday - Christmas Day
I got woken up by an incoming video call from Aaron at 6:30am! Apparently, I was the only one who had my phone on and could hear him calling in. It was fun to go over and open presents with Aaron able to watch us. It was quite a magical morning. Everyone appreciated the gifts I got for them, and I got way more presents than I bargained for! I thought I was getting one or two, but I ended up with at least six! The real magic trick will be figuring out how to fit it all in my bag when I fly home! Sean and Lucy both received a magic kit box that they have been playing with ever since. We also had the most delicious lunch because my dad cooked a turkey and ham in the family's new smoker. We had the missionaries over. Soon afterwards, we all went over to grandma and grandpa Burnham's home to visit with all of the family there.

On Friday, I was able to babysit the Tilley's grandchildren. There were 11 of them, with the oldest being nine. I only had to change a couple of poopy diapers. They were really good, as always. I love babysitting all of them because they are such loving and cute kids and it helps me realize the kind of family I want to have in the future.

Saturday morning, Symantha showed up to visit. I painted her a cat on a tree as a present from me, and Lucy decided she wanted to paint something as well, so she quickly threw together a desert landscape on a mini canvas in roughly 20 minutes. I went to the temple afterwards, and I got to see Valerie for a split second in the initiatory room.

I went to church with Valerie and felt a recommitment in my study of the Book of Mormon. In Sunday school, we read over President Nelson's talk from Oct 2017 about the Book of Mormon, and what stood out to me was that in the promise he made, he said "daily immerse." That reminded me of how we are baptized by immersion, not by sprinkling water over ourselves. It caused me to reflect over the amount of effort I was making and how deep my studies really were. I want to be fully in. I have felt the difference between reading and studying the Book of Mormon. I have felt pure joy and the presence of the Spirit when my time reading the Book of Mormon is actual studying. There truly is power within the Book of Mormon that will fill us up with righteous desire and power. That evening, we went to support Zeb as he got his eagle. We were the only family on the Burnham side (besides gramps and grams) to show up to support them.

Much love,
Emily Burnham

Finals and Feasting

16 December - 22 December 2019

Hola mi amigos! What an eventful week! Finals ended and I got to fly home on a plane to Arizona. But it was crazy before all that went down!

Monday
This morning I went to Dr. Hershey in Orem to get treated for my egg allergy. I'm really hoping these treatments work (or at least help me feel better). Then I went to lunch with some friends from my Art Education class in the Cannon Center. It was fun to have something exciting to do that day and to get to know them a bit better. Then I left to go study. I was at the library for a couple of hours, studying for my Psychology of Religion final. We basically just have to write three essays within three hours, all from memory. I went home and took a nap because I was so exhausted. Then I studied some more up until that evening when our ward got together for a "finals feast."

Tuesday
I had my second appointment with Dr. Hershey to get rid of my dairy allergy. Then I spent more hours studying for my final. My stomach wasn't feeling well after whatever I ate yesterday, which is a bit frustrating because I'm trying so hard to help my body. Ugh. Anyways, it was my last day working at the MTC, and I brought a camera and took pictures around MTC campus. I'll miss having access to that beautiful building with the murals and numberless missionaries! And I'll miss all of my awesome coworkers and friends I've made there.

Wednesday
I studied in the morning, reviewing all my notes and writing down things on a whiteboard from memory, which really helped. Isaac came over to get some videos to make me a commercial-type video for my channel, The Missionary Approach. I really hope that the channel I started truly will help people! Then... I took my final. Last one! Hooray! I have no clue how I did, but I remembered everything I studied and was able write somewhat coherently. I did my best, so that'll have to be sufficient. I spent time editing videos for my channel. Katie and Kayla got me a cut Christmas present: an extra long spoon that says "My Peanut Butter Spoon."

Thursday
I finished Miranda's painting! I'm happy with how it turned out, even though it is not perfect (can you tell what is missing?). She really loved it. Miranda gave me an awesome present in return, some lotion and pillow spray! I made up a yummy lunch and then my neighbor Mira drove me to the Provo airport. The flight was awful on my poor ear. It has trouble popping, I guess, so it builds up pressure with the elevation change and hurts really bad. It was good to see all of my fam again! And to have a mom-cooked meal :) :) :)!!! I ate at least four yummy tacos and my stomach almost died (from happiness and overindulgence). Grandpa Jim was kind enough to let me stay over there in his extra guest room, so I don't have to share with Lucy in the loft.

Friday
My ear was still hurting me and I had a headache all night long. My stomach was also hurting me. Ugh. It is the worst to be sickly on break, but I guess that is what breaks are made for... Hey, but I was actually able to ride on the motorized unicycle! Lucy has really enjoyed having me home, I believe. We have a lot of the same interests and hobbies (such as art) so it's fun for her.

Saturday
We had the most delicious dinner! The sister missionaries came over for dinner. Right after, we left to go to the temple because Kayla was going through to get her endowments! It was so nice getting to sit next to my mom in the session.

Sunday
We only had one hour of church today, and I walked there with Valerie and Lucy. I took a fat nap after lunch (leftovers from last night). By the time dinner rolled around, I wasn't hungry because I ate way too much for lunch. Basically, I'm just fat and lazy over here on break... though I have been teaching mom and Lucy some good exercises to do, so I'm not completely wasting away! That evening, we were a bit late meeting up to go on a ward missionary Christmas-caroling hayride, so we drove around for 20 minutes trying to find them! But we did, so we joined the ride. It was fun, but then went on so lonnngggg....

Something that I learned from my studies this week is how much I truly appreciate my Savior and God. I have their promise and reassurance that as I turn to Them, I can be uplifted and given strength beyond my own to bear the trials and hardships of life. However, Cain did not follow the covenant path, and after killing his brother and receiving the consequence, he said "my punishment is greater than I can bear" (Moses 5:38). When we don't accept Jesus Christ and His Atonement, life is greater than we can bear. The next life will be too much to bear. I've been blessed to not have to feel that for an extended amount of time because I always have the Savior there to hastily lift the crushing weight of my burden when I humble myself and turn to him. Turning to Him is repenting. And that's why I love repentance and change and humility--because I can't do this life thing alone. I need my Savior.
I hope y'all have a merry Christmas!

Much love,
Emily Burnham

Trip to St. George

9 December - 15 December 2019

It's that time of the year! ...when you finish your last week of classes and have impending finals looming over your head. I'm actually very blessed this semester because I only have two finals, and one of them is an open-notes, take-home final. The other one? I actually need to study a ton for...

Anyways, on to my week! I performed my song on Monday in front of my music class. Because I had just gotten over being sick, I wasn't as confident in hitting the high notes. But I did well. Also, I had missed my first class that morning because I had a research paper worth 21% of my grade that I needed to finish up before class. As luck would have it, I finished it with only 15 minutes to spare, and my printer ran out of ink when I tried to print it, and I couldn't submit it online. Then I had to rush off to class (without having time to eat lunch) and present on my paper (that I didn't have). But I wasn't too stressed about it because my teacher is pretty understanding, and it all worked out.

Work on Tuesday was awesome! My shift was participating in "Christmas Bootcamp" and so we had a fun training to attend in between our scheduled lessons. I had an amazing elder teach me. The Spirit was with him so powerfully and he was so humble and caring. The Spirit that companionship brought into the room made me want to meet with them again (even though I'm already a member).

Wednesday was good but also weird. I only had two classes in the morning, and in between them, I was able to go to the Wilk to an activity where you can write "thank you" notes to your teachers. Afterwards, I headed to the library to work on videos for my YouTube channel. As I walked out of the library, I ran into Kjetil, a friend from last semester. But it was so awkward because he looked so confused and startled to see me... but then I found out why. He had been writing me an email and was just about to send it when I walked up and said "hi." I would've been freaked out too. The email gave me a lot of closure because I felt bad about being his friend but then not wanting anything more and breaking things off. It made me feel like I'd used him, because I did learn a lot, but then I learned that he learned a lot from me too that helped him a lot this past semester. It made me realize how good God is because He places people in your life to learn from and grow so that you can overcome trials and challenges and be the person you need to be for future relationships.

Thursday. Yikes. Ugh. So after class, I went home and did some filming for my channel. Then I ate lunch and ran some quick errands before heading on the road to St. George for a doctor's appointment to get my food allergies cured! There was an extremely strong wind blowing against my car that made my car unable to accelerate on the freeway, which scared me (at the moment, I didn't know what was causing my car to not accelerate, and last time that happened, I blew my engine). So I pulled off at the next exit on to the side of the road. A friendly man came to help and gave me his number, saying to call if I get stranded and offering to take me to a mechanic shop. What a Christlike man. As I was getting back on the freeway, I was almost hit by a long truck/trailer that turned too narrowly, and I had to emergency back up my car! Then I was running behind schedule and had to speed most of the way there... it was a miserable 4 hours. I made it to the appointment, though, and it was super weird but cool. The treatment method is NAET. I am still a bit skeptical, but I'm giving it a try. After getting treated, the doctor taped a vial of gluten/grains to my arm that I had to keep there for 24 hours. After the appointment, I drove over to the Lyles home. It was so good to see them again! They took me out to dinner at a Thai place, Benja's. Then we went back to their home and visited, looking through pictures of their mission. I then drove over to my dad's cousin's family's house (the Greers) to stay the night. It was fun to meet their two youngest kids, Brinley and Porter. They were super friendly and welcoming of me.

Friday was both good and bad. Good: I checked out the St. George temple. Though it was closed for construction, I was able to go inside the visitor's center and study scriptures and look around. Bad: I didn't have any food to eat, so I went shopping around 10:30am and ate while I started the long drive back to Utah. I was super exhausted, didn't eat well, and when I got home, we still had cleaning checks that night, and I felt nauseous and sick, but I went to the library for 4 hours, working on editing videos for my channel and then forgot to eat until 9:30pm (by which time my stomach was so tight with hunger).

Saturday. I got to sleep in, and then I worked on my take-home final. Work at the MTC was fun. We had a Christmas party, so everyone brought food. I had my last scheduled lessons ever. Bittersweet. After work, I finished up on my final (almost, just a couple of questions I don't know the answer to) and then that night I spent time with Whitney. We had some good conversations.

I taught Sunday school today, and though I wasn't feeling the Spirit or super guided and directed on what to do, I did my best, prayed hard, and went with it. I received many compliments. But wow, did I feel so down in the dumps today! I think Satan is working hard to attack me because of the good I'm trying to do. I felt bad about my lesson, about my YouTube channel, about myself. Ugh. But my mom gave me a good pep talk and reminded me to serve others when I feel that way, so I wrote 10 Christmas cards to people on my mission. I did feel better after that! Then I went to a stake Christmas fireside and listened to a lot of musical numbers. God is constantly needing to remind us of things through other people. That we are good enough and He is pleased with us. If every good thing is from God, then that someone who feels inspired to tell you "good job" on your talk is like God telling you "good job."

Love,
Emily Burnham

Near-death Experience

2 December - 8 December 2019

Hey fam! Before you worry because of my title, I'm alive and well! I've had a great week, even though it was hard to fly in Monday morning from AZ and then jump right back into school, homework, and projects. Monday evening, I was able to attend a work devotional for my job at the MTC, where a couple spoke to us and then they fed us dinner! Plus, we got paid for it, so that was pretty awesome! Tuesday and Wednesday were spent with me just trying to get back into the groove of school and work. Nothing too exciting happened!

Thursday
Class and work, nothing too exciting. That evening I knew I was sick. My throat was sore and my head hurt, so I didn't accomplish much.

Friday
I had a lot of fun plans today, but they fell by the wayside because I felt super sick. Even my essay had to wait because while I did all the research, my brain would not cooperate to write it. I did attend my class today and presented my semester-long project (a book full of pictures of hands that tell a story of someone's life), which everyone loved. My teacher cried at the end of the presentations and said she felt the Spirit as we shared. We learned an eternal truth in the process of brainstorming, planning, and creating, just like God. I also gave my roommate her Christmas present, which she absolutely LOVED!

Saturday

It was my FHE groups turn to clean the church, and so I went down over at 8am and cleaned all the bathrooms (my mom trained me well). I then worked on my giant essay that I have due on Monday... which is all about near-death experiences! It's been super interesting to learn about, but not fun to put together into an essay. Work at the MTC was pretty awesome today because I was able to film some videos of my co-workers and my supervisor for my YouTube channel! I have some AWESOME videos coming your way! After work, my friend Kathrine drove me to a friend from the ward, Elizabeth's, wedding reception. Afterwards, I went with my friends to see Much Ado About Nothing on Saturday evening. While I'm not the biggest fan of Shakespearean language, the actors were so expressive and did a phenomenal job! One guy was so expressive and hilarious!

Sunday
Wow, I had an amazing and Spirit-filled day. I drove over to Payson, Utah (which was almost a near-death experience because of the rain and snow) to attend Sierra Stites' homecoming. She was the missionary I was blessed to train on my mission. She did such a fantastic job and shared such a touching poem she wrote about her mission. Afterwards, we went to her house for the homecoming party, and she hugged me and told me how grateful she was that I was her trainer because she needed me and my knowledge to help her become the missionary she needed to be for the rest of her mission. It made me so happy and full of gratitude and love. What a special moment. Haha, then Tanner (formally Elder Argyle) broke us up because he wanted a picture with us since he was our district leader. I also really enjoyed watching the Christmas Devotional, and one cool thing that really hit me hard is that it is our FOCUS that brings us joy. Miranda had invited relief society girls over to watch with us, and while it was a kind thing to do, the girls would frequently talk or make comments that made it hard for me to focus on the speakers and feel the Spirit. I began to feel annoyed and wanted to watch it alone in my room or somewhere else until I realized that I just needed to focus in on the speakers and not let my external circumstance distract or distress me from being able to feel the Spirit. I had to work hard to tune in and listen to the speaker, and I think it made it all the more worth it and spiritual. I need to focus in that diligently to Jesus Christ and the Spirit every single day.

Much love,
Emily Burnham

Giving Thanks

25 November - 1 December 2019

Wow, just a year ago I was a missionary, about to head home. Last year I ate with a bunch of members in Tallahassee, and this year I got to be home with my family in Arizona. The pies I made in Tallahassee with the Holdaways sure tasted a lot better than the ones I tried to make this Thanksgiving! I have so much to be grateful for this past year since being home from serving the Lord. I am grateful that I feel the Spirit every day. I am grateful for the education I am obtaining at BYU. I am grateful that I am brave enough to follow the Lord's promptings--like starting a YouTube channel, which has given me purpose and direction. I am grateful for the things I've accomplished--I stuck it out with my job as an early-morning custodial, even though I swore I'd never do it again. Ever.

Monday and Tuesday were mostly spent doing as much homework as humanely possible so I could fully enjoy my break with my family. I had booked days of classes and chunked out time to work on projects back to back to back. It was so nice having a full week off of work as well! Now I only have two more weeks more! (and I need to find a new job...).

Being back at home was fun, even though it sometimes felt like I was camping. Because, you see, some days we didn't have running water, and we didn't have a working shower or microwave. So yeah, I had to run across the yard in my robe one morning so I could go shower at my gramps' place. The new kitchen in the house is absolutely gorgeous, just like it came straight out of a designer magazine. I'm excited for what the rest of the house will look like! My mom made sure to spoil me with food, fattening up in preparation for the sure starvation I will face once returning back to Provo.



Thanksgiving day was good. We had Symantha over, and it was good seeing her after such a long time! Also, I worked on a book project for school that took me many hours and caused me many pricked fingers.

On Friday, Lucy went with me to a book signing by Sarah M. Eden, and it was cool to meet her and get free bookmarks and stuff. She is so cute and fun! They had goodies they'd baked and prizes they'd made... future goals for me as an author one day!

Ben Hughes hugged me at least six times at church. He has grown so much! I sure love that family! After church on Sunday, and after dinner, we went down and took family photos. It was funny because we taped mom's phone to a tripod and had it on selfie mode! We make such a cute family, thought, don't you agree? ;) We are just missing our brother Aaron.

All in all, it was a relaxing week and a time for me to love my family and try to help them any way I could--with mindful meditation, massages, or hugs.

Much love,
Emily Burnham