Some of Janelle's pictures have not been posted on here previously due to a cantankerous computer. So, while the going is good, we'll try to get them on today. Enjoy!

 

 



 

Snow Angels!
 



Mission Conference in Salina, Utah- Sept. 2013
with Elder & Sister Bednar and Elder and Sister Clayton
(Hna Burner is on the right side, 3rd row)

December 16, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

So I have an interesting story for you! When I was in Bloomington Hills, I was talking to someone about my gluten allergy and they suggested that I should go to this doctor, Dr. Pi......n because his specialty is curing allergies. They gave me a card and everything, but I just disregarded it. Anyways, so when I came to Coral Canyon I noticed that one of our bishops' names was Bishop Pi.....on, so I kinda wondered about that...and then after this transfer started, Sister Ri....a told me about how she had gone to Dr. Pi.....on, who was that bishop, and he had cured her of a meat allergy. So she pushed me into making an appointment with him today. Anyways, so we went this morning and it was one of the neatest experiences I have had in a while!

His whole field of study is so interesting. He studied under some research scientist about electromagnetic fields, which science has known for about 100 years has existed around each being. But he said that Joseph Smith knew before that--the electromagnetic field that science has discovered is evidence of how everything is created spiritually before it is physically. Anyways, so his work is kinda like magnets--he works with allergies in the body to make them like a positive to a negative magnet, instead of being like two positives facing each other, which creates repulsion.  Which is what the body does to reject an allergen. Anyways, so he had me lie down on my back with a vial of a substance in one fist, and then raise the other hand above my head facing away from me. He would push on that hand and I would resist, but if I was allergic to the substance in my other hand, my arm would become weak and I wouldn't be able to resist. Anyways, he did it with a few different substances, telling me what they were afterwards. I was able to resist Calcium, Vitamin C, citrus, and chicken/eggs/feathers, but when he put the gluten one in my hand and pushed my outstretched arm down, it shot down like a rock. I was like, "Wait! I don't know what just happened!" Haha he tried it one more time, and again I couldn't resist at all. It was super trippy! Anyways, he's trying to cure it now so he did something to adjust my electromagnetic field...it's hard to explain, but I had to have the gluten vial touching my fingertips, and then he ran a pulse thing down my spine.

Other neat thing though, he said that when he was researching and studying from the neuroscientist lady, he asked her why it had to be touching the fingertips, and she said that all energy is conducted through the fingertips. Like the Spirit working through the laying on of hands...it is done by touching the fingertips to the person's head. Also, after sending the pulses down the spine, he had to put this vibration thing against certain pressure points in the body: middle arm, between the thumb and pointer finger, between the first two toes, and the ankle. But the scientist explained to him that it doesn't need to be done to children under eight because for some reason their magnetic energy is already in balance...I wonder why it changes at age eight. Anyways, it's hard to explain everything, but it was so fascinating! Basically, all truth comes from our Heavenly Father, so it all connects. Science just more and more proves things that God has already told us. After this life we are probably all going to look back and marvel at how infant our knowledge was in comparison to God's knowledge!

So I have this vial of gluten taped on my shoulder that he said needs to be there for 24 hours, and then next time we will test out gluten. I'm a little scared of that, but he is a bishop so I know I can trust him, plus he has a doctorate in this stuff and has cured all kinds of allergies, not to mention that he is has cured gluten allergies hundreds of times. : )

This weekend is Be.....'s baptism!! I am so excited! I hope that everything goes well with it...we are going to invite our investigators to it as well :) Wahoo!

I am looooving being full-proselyting! My companion is so great, we have full study time each day, we get to go to the wards we cover for church every Sunday, we live in our area, we don't have to worry about appointments clashing with time that we are in the Visitors Center...everything is just so great! I am loving it. And we are working hard to set up lots of appointments so that we keep ourselves busy. Especially since there is still tons of snow outside! I am hoping that that will go away soon.

I can't wait to see/hear you all next week! Ahhh can you believe that Christmas is so close? And that it is my second Christmas on my mission?! Weird, right?

I love you all so much!

--Sister Burner

 

 
 

Who just happens to have an unused toaster in their new apt?! ME!! I can toast my gluten free bread instead of accidentally burning it in the oven! Tender mercy!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 After transfer meeting at the vc.

 

December 9, 2013

Hey everyone!

This last week has been pretty crazy! Starting Saturday it snowed like crazy, and now there is tons of it everywhere. Whoever said that it never snows in St. George, or that it is hot all year, is officially fired. But I am grateful that thus far all of the missionaries have been safe!

Saturday night it was pretty scary on the road, so after we went to a Ward Christmas Party at 6:30, we headed home, giving ourselves about an hour leeway because we needed to stop at the gas station to tank up. I drove super slow--about 20 miles per hour tops, and even that was kinda sketchy so I only did that on the most clear roads. And I took the back roads instead of going on the freeway. When we got to the gas station we started to pull in behind another car, but stopped because it was a bit uphill into the gas station and the other car started to spin out. For a couple of minutes there I was seriously afraid that we were going to get hit because it was spinning towards us and the wheels had zero traction. It all seemed to be in slow motion. Sister P..... asked if she should hurry and get out to back me up (mission rules, we cannot back the car unless there is a missionary outside to back us) but I was afraid that if she got out, the car would hit her, so I told her to stay there. The car was heading towards her side of the car, and there was one point where I almost told her to jump into the back behind me. But then the car stopped spinning and was able to come to a stop and pull forward into a parking space. All of that happened within probably 30 seconds. I am completely sure that there were angels there protecting us.

After that, I was scared to pull into the gas station but two YSA guys stopped next to us and pushed our car up, then went on their way. I am SO grateful that God sent those young men to us--I don't know what I would have done! And as our car was filling up with gas, we were able to return the favor and help push someone else out of the gas station. But the drama continued--two people parked in front of us as we were filling up, so the only way to get out was for Sister P..... to back me down the hill that we had gone up. I went as slow as possible, but the car wouldn't move unless I gassed it. Thank goodness when I did that it only moved a little bit at a time. Poor Sister P...... was so afraid that she would slip on the ice and the car would run her over. But again we were protected by those not within our sight :) There haven't been very many times in my life when I have prayed so fervently in gratitude for being alive as I did when we were pulling away from the gas station and heading home.

On a different note, I am so excited for this upcoming transfer! I am going to the other half of the Washington East stake, with Sister Ri..... Sister Po..ter just finished training her there, and guess where Sister Po..ter is headed? Huntington! Anyways, so I already know and love my new companion :) I think that I have unfinished business in Leeds--I felt like that even when they switched us to Coral Canyon, so I am grateful that I get to go back there now! Sister P...... is staying in Washington East 2 and getting Sister Al.... as her companion. And Sister He..... is headed out to Kaibab! That stake covers Colorado City, so she is pretty scared of seeing so many polygamists. But she will do great! And she is going to be in my zone so I will see her at ZTM! Happiness :)

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe week!
I love you so much!

--Sister Burner

 

 

 

November 27, 2013

Hola familia!

 One of my favorite moments this last week happened yesterday. We are allowed to do at least 2 hours of service each week, so yesterday we went to a rest home in Coral Canyon and visited with the residents. Everyone was so friendly and excited to have visitors! And the nonmembers were just as excited to see us as the members. It just felt nice to have people so excited to see us because lately we haven't been meeting very many friendly people! 

I already mentioned this when I sent pictures, but I just love St. George in the fall! Every once in a while wind will stir up and a lot of the leaves will fall off of the trees at once. It looks like it is raining leaves outside. For the first second I'm always sad that the trees are losing their leaves, but then I get caught up in how magical it feels to have leaves all around me in the air! And I just love seeing colorful leaves everywhere. It makes me want to have a leaf fight or make a big pile and jump in it. But then I remember that I am a missionary and probably shouldn't do that! But still, the feeling here is so neat. Especially since we have our Christmas decorations up in the Visitors Center, and Thanksgiving will be here tomorrow!

Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week, all things considered. Enjoy family time for what it is, despite the occasion :)

Send my love to everyone!

--Sister Burner

 

November 20, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

I had some neat experiences this week. One happened a few days ago about 10-15 minutes before we were going to close the Visitors Center. I noticed a man and his young adult son sitting on the chairs right next to the door. They looked like they had stopped in just as an afterthought. I went over and sat next to them, and had a nice conversation getting to know them a bit. I found out that they had just moved here after their family had broken apart in Florida. They used to be members, but had fallen into inactivity. They told me that they believed that Jesus Christ existed as a person, but weren't quite sure about His divine role, or how that even applied to them now. They said that they couldn't imagine how someone who lived 2000 years ago would still be relevant, since they didn't have proof of Him. I had the opportunity to testify to them about modern revelation--although Christ lived thousands of years ago, what makes Him relevant now is that we can continue to come to know Him as our Savior through prayer and receiving answers through the Holy Ghost. They couldn't argue with that :) I hope that left them with something to think about.

Also a few days ago, my companion and I got a call during lunch time from an elder who had gotten transferred to SUU in Cedar this last transfer (or was it the transfer before? I don't remember). He told me that he had an investigator coming to the Visitors Center that day, and asked if I would watch for her and give her a tour. I said okay, and didn't think much of it. But after I got to the Visitors Center, I was talking to Elder Cam..... for a minute (he is one of the assistants to the president) and he mentioned Elder L...... (the elder that called me) wanting me to do his tour. So then it finally clicked that Elder L....... must have called the VC to find out who was on shift, and then called all the way up to the Assistants to get permission to call me, and then he called his last companion, Elder Da....s, who called  Sister He.... to get my phone number and then got it back to Elder L.......  ..so basically he must really have wanted me to give his tour! That made me feel really good.  Anyways, when the investigator came, she found me and asked, "Are you Sister Burner? Elder L..... told me to find you." And then when her fellowshipper came in, he said "Short, red hair. You must be Sister Burner. Elder L...... said that you are the best." How nice is that?

Another memorable moment was Monday morning. It was super slow at the Visitors Center, so I was in the big middle room playing the piano. Another sister who was on Pday but there waiting for her companion to come out of a meeting came in and sat down to listen to me play. After a bit, in walks Am....--I don't know if you remember me mentioning her, but she is the lady that Sister P...... and I helped pack up her apartment so that she could move. As soon as she saw that it was me, she burst into tears. She told us everything that she was going through, and that again she felt that God had sent her to me (well, I guess last time it was me to her). The sister who was there with me happened to be going through a couple of the same things, so between the three of us (me, the other sister, and the Spirit) we were able to help Am..... to have a spiritual experience. We showed her Lifting Burdens (a really good Mormon Message) and by the time that she left, she was smiling. God is so good!

Take care! I love you all so much!

--Sister Burner

 

November 13, 2013

Hola!

This last week has been great! Friday night I found out that I was speaking in the adult session of Stake Conference the next day. Yikes. But it was just for a few minutes, so it was fine! No worries. They just had the senior companions of each set in our stake speak. And we also got to go to stake conference the next day, which was a broadcast from Salt Lake with Elders Oaks and Scott, as well as Sister Stephens from the General RS Presidency. It was all amazingly done, the talks where inspired, and much of it focused on missionary work which of course I like :)

The last two days we have had representatives from Salt Lake come to do early morning trainings with the Visitors Center sisters. We got special permission to wake up at 6:00 instead of 6:30 because the meeting started at 7am, but I'm not entirely sure I'm happy that we got permission for that. Just kidding! The trainings were great. It got me thinking more about working harder to help members who come into the Center to have spiritual, converting experiences as well as the nonmembers.

There is this man who often comes into the Visitors Center who is a member and I guess he must live nearby. I don't know exactly what his medical problem is, but he can't walk so he has a scooter that he drives around. He has some movement in each of his limbs, but it looks really hard to move any part of his body. So it is really hard for him to speak. Usually I just say hi and ask him how his day is going, but not much more than that because I could tell that it is hard for him to speak. He is always really happy when I speak to him even just for a minute, though. He always smiles as big as he can, and his eyes light up. I don't know why it took so long to dawn on me, but yesterday I finally realized that he must be pretty lonely because everyone must think the same way that I did about talking to him. Please understand that it wasn't that I didn't want to talk to him, it was just that I knew it was hard for him. Anyways, yesterday I decided that I was just going to spend some time talking to him, so we had a conversation for about 20-30 minutes, up until it was my turn to go in for dinner. We talked about missionary work, the gift of tongues, and how he has been trying for a long time to learn Russian (often he asks sisters to play the Christus in Russian for him). When I had to leave for dinner, he took great effort to tell me "Thank you for being patient with me." It nearly made me cry. I feel so bad that I hadn't just taken time to speak with him before. I guess I learned an important lesson yesterday. It's funny how you can go along thinking that you are being nice, but then if you just think about the situation differently--you pause to really put yourself in their shoes--you gain an entirely different perspective. I'm grateful that God gave me that realization and the opportunity to speak to that man while I am still here.

Thank you all for the amazing examples you are to me! I love you.

--Sister Burner

 

November 6, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

Okay, I took notes this last week so that I would remember everything that I need to tell you about!

First, Halloween. Our mission had the same rule as the elders in Chico had; we all had to be in our apartments at 6pm. BUT, I was on shift at the Visitors Center that night, so we got to stay there and watch Ephraim's Rescue!! It was so fun! I didn't cry as much as I did with 17 Miracles, but it was still way good.

Funny moment of the week: Daylight Savings Time. Saturday night we got a text from the STL's saying something like, "Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tonight! Remember before you go to bed to reset your clocks!" Sister P..... read that and apparently they don't have Daylight Savings in Gu......, so she was a little confused. I tried to explain simply that the time goes back an hour, but we didn't need to change the cell phone because it automatically changes. We just needed to change the clocks. Anyways, the next morning I woke up to the door bell ringing and pounding on the door, which turned out to be Sister Du..... needing to get the keys since it was her turn to have the car. I looked at the clock and it was 7:07. So of course I had a mini spasm getting out of bed and running to start getting ready. I was super confused why our alarm hadn't gone off though, so I checked the alarm on our phone and it had changed to 7:30 instead of 6:30. Still confused, I tried to think through it out loud to Sister P....., saying that maybe the phone had changed time but the alarms hadn't changed with the time or something...which didn't make any sense. Finally Sister P...... says, "I changed the alarm last night. The STL's said that we got an extra hour to sleep last night". Oh goodness...!

Miracle for the week: This last weekend, I had TWO baptisms!! Neither one for our current area, but Hay... from Leeds got baptized, as well as ANN....... from Bloomington Hills!! AHHHH! It was the greatest thing ever! We got permission to go to both of them, and we just went from one straight to the other. Ann......'s was first. I loved seeing her in white!! And we were a bit surprised when President Center, his wife, and the assistants showed up for the baptism. Especially me because I was supposed to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, and I was planning on kinda winging it (since we weren't for sure that the baptism was going to happen until the night before). But it turned out really nice :) Hay....'s baptism was great too. I played the piano for that one. She is so cute!

Our district leader told us that we need to get some baptisms for our area soon...but hey! I'm trying, but they keep switching me before the baptisms happen! I'm grateful that at least I still get to go to them :)

Tomorrow is my year mark! Crazy, right? One year ago today I was getting ready to go to the MTC! It really doesn't feel like it has been that long. A lot of things have happened since then but at the same time calling it a year seems funny.

Well, I hope that everything is going well for all of you! I love you all so much!

Love,
Sister Burner

 

 

October 22, 2013

Hola Familia,

Funny moments this week...I got out of the shower one night and Sister P...... told me that the STL's texted to tell us our study topic for the next week and that they love us, so she texted back that we love them too. I thought it was a little weird that the STL's would tell us what to study, so I checked the phone and saw that it was a mass text from the zone leaders, not the STL's. Easily confused, since we have a zone leader named Elder Larson and an STL named Sister Larson. Nonetheless, I realized that Sister P..... had just sent a message to the zone leaders telling them that she loves them! Oh gosh!! I started laughing, but then I realized that they could have thought that that was from either one of us...which made it not quite as funny, but still funny.

The other day when we were on shift at the Visitors Center, I went by the annex looking for another sister and right as I was about to head back I noticed that there were a couple of middle aged Hispanic women looking at the pictures and reading the Spanish descriptions. I went to talk to them, and we ended up having an amazing tour. I took them around to look at the pictures from inside the temple, and the Spirit was just amazing. We were all tearing up, and she asked me if there was somewhere where she could get a Book of Mormon in Spanish. Of course I said that I could just give her one :) Anyways, so I take them to the front to see the Christus, and they just about fainted. I've never seen the Spirit hit anyone like that. They were just overwhelmed, especially when they sat in front of the Christus and I shared my testimony about the Savior. They both took BoMs and gave me their information so that I can keep in touch with them. It is amazing how the Spirit works with people who are prepared!

We find out our transfers this Saturday! For sure they need two new STL's and two more VCT's, as well as 5 trainers. So things will be changed up a bit! Not necessarily for us because we are training, but it should be dramatic nonetheless. We will see!

I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week! Love,
Sister Burner