(Friday, November 23, 2012)

Hola Familia!

This week has been so great! Thanksgiving yesterday was AMAZING. My companera and I agree that it was probably the best Thanksgiving we have ever had. We started off the morning with a devotional by--guess-- ELDER JEFFREY R. HOLLAND!! If that's not a good way to start off a morning, then I don't know what is! He talked all about missionary work, how what we are doing right now is historic because we are proparing the world for the return of its Savior. He also spoke about how the Lord knows each of us individually, by name, and He knows our hearts. We got seats right in the center on like the 4th or 5th row of bleachers, so we had a direct view of him. It was amazing! Halfway through I glanced away and was like, "Whoa~ There are other people here!" I guess I was just super into what he was saying, so it was as if Elder Holland was the only other person in the room! Haha :)

After that we had our Thanksgiving meal, and they made me some gluten free stuffing and cake to go with my turkey and mashed potatoes.  How sweet of them! They take good care of me.  Then we went for a walk up to the temple with my companera's district, which was super pretty.  And it was just a wonderful day for walking, I even took off my jacket because it was so nice outside.  After that we had a service project, putting together hygeine packets for people in Africa. There wasn't enough room at the table with my district, so I went over to the next table and sat with some random elders. I saw that their nametags were in Spanish, so I just started speaking Spanish to them...apparently they were just learning it though, because they looked at me a little dumbfounded as they tried to figure out how to respond. It was kind of fun though, they were asking me how to say things in Spanish and we managed to have most of our conversation in Spanish.  It was nice to feel good at Spanish for once, since the elders in my district are pretty much all native speakers!

We had dinner in our residence hall, which I enjoyed because my bed is sooo much more comfortable than the chairs we usually sit in! Then we went back to the gym for what had been called a "program" (we were not sure at all what to expect), where they proceded to pass out a bag of popcorn to each missonary, dim the lights, and start the movie 17 miracles on the big screens! It was so awesome!

I thought it would be kind of weird, since I haven't ever spent Thanksgiving away from family, but it was actually really nice. A great time to focus on being grateful for the things that I have, being born in this time where we have so many opportunities, and most importantly, focusing on showing my gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today I am doing what is called "in-field training which focuses more on the practical aspects of missionary work. Sister Bartschi leaves for Ventura, California on Monday morning, and Sister Bradshaw left for San Diego this last Tuesday, so after Monday I will just tag along with some other sisters until Wednesday when we get a new Hermana in our zone. I start my visitors center training on Wednesday, which should be way fun! I get to go to Temple Square first thing in the morning, and then do some classes after lunch.

I got my travel plans for when I head to St. George! I leave the MTC at 4am on Dec. 5th, and my flight leaves Salt Lake at 7:55am. So, are you ready to get up at 6am to talk to your missionary, Mom? My flight is all of 58 minutes long, and there are 6 other missionaries flying down with me. The only one I have met is Sister Pajoul, though.

Speaking of meeting missionaries, I met a couple the other day that are headed to Roseville! We didn't get to talk for too long since we were in the middle of a volleyball game, though.

Well, I gotta run! Love you all!
--Hermana Burner