Friday, December 28, 2012
December 17, 2012
Hola Familia!
So I'm just going to answer questions first, and then I will tell stories :)
--My first baptisms are this Saturday.
--It is really cold here! But we are doing fine. Thank goodness my companion is from California, so she likes being warm just as much as I do!
--Our wards here start at 9 and 11, so we go to Sacrament/Sunday School for the first one, and then leave a bit early to go to all three hours of the 11 o'clock one. We pick which ones we go to depending on where our investigators are.
--I don't know what our plans are for Christmas yet, but my mission president sent out a letter saying that he changed his mind about letting us Skype. So, we will just have to talk on the phone I guess. But in case he changes his mind again, you should take one of your laptops with Skype installed on it to Utah with you because I don't think Grandma or Avery have webcams.
--I will try to send pictures soon! I haven't been so good at taking pictures since I've been in Huntington, but I am trying to be better.
Rumors/news spread super fast around here, since it is such a tiny town! We called a lady the other day to confirm our dinner appointment, and when we mentioned that I am gluten free, she said, "Yes, yes, I already heard that at Pilates this morning." So the members have been so good at making me gluten free dinners. Lots of potatoes, but last night we had stir-fry on rice, and they had gotten gluten free soy sauce for it. So I think the hard part is behind me!
Also, the other night a member gave us a gift bag full of candy, a pineapple, and a fruit platter. PLUS, the Mormon Tabernacle choir with David Archuleta CD!! When my companion and I opened the bag that night and saw the CD, we started jumping up and down, we were so excited! We hve been listening to it nonstop in car ever since. I am so glad that my companion and I have things like that in common because I am pretty sure I would drive some other sisters crazy.
We have been trying to utilize Christmastime in our missionary work as much as we can. Usually we only teach non-members, but we have been giving 15-20 minute Christmas messages to less active and active menbers as well, and it has proven really productive-- we have gotten so many referrals out of this! And is just feels nice to work with less activies a bit because they need spiritual upliftment as well. A lot of our referrals have come from less actives, actually!
I just love, love, love Christmas time! I love driving by homes with Christmas lights, having lights and wreaths decorating the lamp posts on Main Street, listening to Christmas music, sharing messages about Christ...everything! And I get to play the piano for District Meetings, which gives me a little time to play Christmas songs on the piano. Even the snow makes me a little happy. I get to have my first White Christmas this year!
It's odd to think that you all will only be about 2.5 hours away from me when you get to Salt Lake for Christmas. Be we will be together in Spirit--I get to call you that day, and I will probably be thinking about you all often throughout the rest of the day as well.
I love you all so much, and hope you are having a Merry Christmas!
Con amor a los cielos,
Hermana Burner
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Hola Familia!
Well, I guess my parents already know, but to everyone else-- my first area is called Huntington, which is up towards the Northeast corner of my mission. It is pretty cold up here! Besides Huntington, we cover some nearby towns called Cleveland and Elmo (yes, Elmo. As in Tickle Me). I think 7 wards in all. I have seen more cows than people here... as well as some pigs and sheep. There are no stop lights in my area, although we do have a few stop signs. There is a grocery store, but we haven't had the opportunity to go there yet. Apparently it's pretty pricey since it's the only store within 45 minutes of us. I'm not sure what the selection will be like, but we are trying to find a ride to Price (45-60 minutes away) today so that we can go to Walmart. I've just been eating the mashed potatoes that Mom and Dad sent me, and a can of refried beans that my companion had. Last night was a huge tender mercy because we ate at a member's house where the wife was gluten free as well, so I got to eat an entire meal! It's wonderful how the Lord can make a simple meal seem so glorious. I had so much more energy this morning than I have had all week.
Sister "S" (the gluten free member) also sent me home with some lasagna for lunch today (we had chicken and rice last night), and some rolls that I ate for breakfast. How sweet!
I got to challenge my first person to baptism on Saturday night! She is a 9 year old whose parents are having her take the lessons because she wants to be baptized, so it was pretty easy but I felt like it was a little milesone nonetheless. This area is so productive right now, with lots of baptims coming up and investigators to teach. I am so blessed to have my first area by so fruitful. Sometimes I feel like I am learning just as much from our investigators as they are from me; they are so humble, kind, and teachable, all of which are qualifities that I can improve on.
Yesterday we spoke in one of the Huntington wards, so I already got the first talk of my mission out of the way! It was on the mission of Christ, so I got to do a lot of research and study some amazing scriptures about Christ in preparation for my talk. I ended up having to leave out half of my talk when I was speaking, though. I felt like the first fifteen minutes were up before I started; I glanced up at the clock for the first time and was shocked that I only had five minutes left! Poor Sister Chase wasn't left as much time as she planned for (it was just the two of us speaking yesterday). But I guess it is better to have too much to say than not enough! Although I guess not having enough to say lets the Spirit speak more. Regardless, I feel like it went well, all things considered. I'll send you a copy of my talk in my next snail mail letter :)
The Mission President asked everyone to have their mail sent to the mission office, and then they forward it to us. Sister Chase said that sometimes she gets her mail in little batches, so sorry if some of my responses are delayed! But I will love, love, love to get letters anyways!
Most of our teaching has been in English, although we have been able to contact a few people in Spanish. At dinner last night, one of Brother "S's" hispanic employees named Benny was there, and Benny said he wants us to come teach him, so I will probably have the opportunity to teach in Spanish soon! Sister Chase's spanish is really good, thank goodness. So it should go fine :)
My companion and I live in a house, which is pretty nice. The basement isn't finished, so we just do laundry down there, but the upstairs is plenty spacious. I'll have to send you some pictures sometime. Sister Chase's mom sent us a box full of decorations (she even sent me a stocking, isn't that sweet?) so our house looks all Christmasy. It makes me happy! Oh, and one of the bishop's wives made us an advent calender, and another gave us a 3ft artificial christmas tree with lights on it. The members are so generous!
I love you all so much!
Con amor a los cielos,
Hermana Burner
I got to challenge my first person to baptism on Saturday night! She is a 9 year old whose parents are having her take the lessons because she wants to be baptized, so it was pretty easy but I felt like it was a little milesone nonetheless. This area is so productive right now, with lots of baptims coming up and investigators to teach. I am so blessed to have my first area by so fruitful. Sometimes I feel like I am learning just as much from our investigators as they are from me; they are so humble, kind, and teachable, all of which are qualifities that I can improve on.
Yesterday we spoke in one of the Huntington wards, so I already got the first talk of my mission out of the way! It was on the mission of Christ, so I got to do a lot of research and study some amazing scriptures about Christ in preparation for my talk. I ended up having to leave out half of my talk when I was speaking, though. I felt like the first fifteen minutes were up before I started; I glanced up at the clock for the first time and was shocked that I only had five minutes left! Poor Sister Chase wasn't left as much time as she planned for (it was just the two of us speaking yesterday). But I guess it is better to have too much to say than not enough! Although I guess not having enough to say lets the Spirit speak more. Regardless, I feel like it went well, all things considered. I'll send you a copy of my talk in my next snail mail letter :)
The Mission President asked everyone to have their mail sent to the mission office, and then they forward it to us. Sister Chase said that sometimes she gets her mail in little batches, so sorry if some of my responses are delayed! But I will love, love, love to get letters anyways!
Most of our teaching has been in English, although we have been able to contact a few people in Spanish. At dinner last night, one of Brother "S's" hispanic employees named Benny was there, and Benny said he wants us to come teach him, so I will probably have the opportunity to teach in Spanish soon! Sister Chase's spanish is really good, thank goodness. So it should go fine :)
My companion and I live in a house, which is pretty nice. The basement isn't finished, so we just do laundry down there, but the upstairs is plenty spacious. I'll have to send you some pictures sometime. Sister Chase's mom sent us a box full of decorations (she even sent me a stocking, isn't that sweet?) so our house looks all Christmasy. It makes me happy! Oh, and one of the bishop's wives made us an advent calender, and another gave us a 3ft artificial christmas tree with lights on it. The members are so generous!
I love you all so much!
Con amor a los cielos,
Hermana Burner
Friday, November 30, 2012
Hola Familia!
Thank you for all of the letters and emails! I love getting them.
I forgot to bring my list of things I wanted to e-mail you about, so sorry if this e-mail isn't as productive!
My companion situation is a little different this week. I was companionless for Monday and Tuesday (I just had elders in my zone or the sisters I live with escort me places), and then when I started Visitors Center training on Wednesday, there was only one other girl in the class with me so they told us that we are now companions. Which is good, because we have been able to stick together more than I have with any of my other companions since we actually have class together! But she lives in another building, opposite of where my residence hall is, so that is a bit of a challenge. In the meantime, the new sister we got in our zone was assigned to be my companion, but the only time I have been able to see her is at night when we go back to our residence hall and during breakfast! Poor girl. But the zone and the other sisters in our room have been good about taking her places. What a hard adjustment to the MTC for her! I have class during all of my Coordinating Sister meetings, so I haven't been able to fulfill my calling very well. My teachers said that they aren't supposed to assign sisters to be Coordinating Sisters when they are doing Visitors Center Training. Sad day. But Sister Scott (the new sister in my zone) seems to be doing fine.
We went to Temple Square on Wednesday morning, just Sister Pajoul, our teacher, and I. It was reallly nice. On our tour, we had a couple of investigators join us, which was really neat! On our way back to the car, we got to go through the tunnels, which made me think of how Grandma would always see General Authorities down there (Didn't she literally bump into Elder Perry one time?), and also made me have some Disney flachbacks from when I would go through those tunnels to get to Magic Kingdom. We get to go to Temple Square again tomorrow night, only this time we will be the ones talking to investigators. Scary! But we get to see all of the Christmas lights on while we are there, so that will be nice.
Oh! Funny story. So last week, Sister Bartschi and I were in the bathroom, and this girl comes in and starts speaking to us in Spanish. We just go along talking in Spanish, telling each other about where we are from, where we are serving our missions, how long we have been here-- basic stuff. But then I was telling her that I was going to start Visitors Center Training soon, and I realized that I didn't know how to say that in Spanish, so I just said "Voy a empezar Visitors Center Training esta Miercoles." But then the sister says, "Lo siento, no hablo ingles!" (Sorry, I don't speak English!) Now, this is a white girl and she wasn't super fluent in Spanish so I was like uhhh....rude! So I just corrected myself by saying "Empecere preparando para el Centro de los visitantes" (I'm still not sure if that is correct), and she got it. After she left, I was still a little annoyed, but then Sister Bartschi told me that the girl was French, so she legitimately doesn't speak English. Oooops! I had not idea!
The other day I was talking to some practice investigators, and it turns out that she is the daughter-in-law of Zoe Bradley! Small world! So I got to meet Sister Bradley's 8 month old grandson, Christopher. He is adorable~ Well, I need to take off... Sister Pajoul finished her laundry like 15 minutes ago and is waiting for me.
Much love!!
---Hermana Burner
Thank you for all of the letters and emails! I love getting them.
I forgot to bring my list of things I wanted to e-mail you about, so sorry if this e-mail isn't as productive!
My companion situation is a little different this week. I was companionless for Monday and Tuesday (I just had elders in my zone or the sisters I live with escort me places), and then when I started Visitors Center training on Wednesday, there was only one other girl in the class with me so they told us that we are now companions. Which is good, because we have been able to stick together more than I have with any of my other companions since we actually have class together! But she lives in another building, opposite of where my residence hall is, so that is a bit of a challenge. In the meantime, the new sister we got in our zone was assigned to be my companion, but the only time I have been able to see her is at night when we go back to our residence hall and during breakfast! Poor girl. But the zone and the other sisters in our room have been good about taking her places. What a hard adjustment to the MTC for her! I have class during all of my Coordinating Sister meetings, so I haven't been able to fulfill my calling very well. My teachers said that they aren't supposed to assign sisters to be Coordinating Sisters when they are doing Visitors Center Training. Sad day. But Sister Scott (the new sister in my zone) seems to be doing fine.
We went to Temple Square on Wednesday morning, just Sister Pajoul, our teacher, and I. It was reallly nice. On our tour, we had a couple of investigators join us, which was really neat! On our way back to the car, we got to go through the tunnels, which made me think of how Grandma would always see General Authorities down there (Didn't she literally bump into Elder Perry one time?), and also made me have some Disney flachbacks from when I would go through those tunnels to get to Magic Kingdom. We get to go to Temple Square again tomorrow night, only this time we will be the ones talking to investigators. Scary! But we get to see all of the Christmas lights on while we are there, so that will be nice.
Oh! Funny story. So last week, Sister Bartschi and I were in the bathroom, and this girl comes in and starts speaking to us in Spanish. We just go along talking in Spanish, telling each other about where we are from, where we are serving our missions, how long we have been here-- basic stuff. But then I was telling her that I was going to start Visitors Center Training soon, and I realized that I didn't know how to say that in Spanish, so I just said "Voy a empezar Visitors Center Training esta Miercoles." But then the sister says, "Lo siento, no hablo ingles!" (Sorry, I don't speak English!) Now, this is a white girl and she wasn't super fluent in Spanish so I was like uhhh....rude! So I just corrected myself by saying "Empecere preparando para el Centro de los visitantes" (I'm still not sure if that is correct), and she got it. After she left, I was still a little annoyed, but then Sister Bartschi told me that the girl was French, so she legitimately doesn't speak English. Oooops! I had not idea!
The other day I was talking to some practice investigators, and it turns out that she is the daughter-in-law of Zoe Bradley! Small world! So I got to meet Sister Bradley's 8 month old grandson, Christopher. He is adorable~ Well, I need to take off... Sister Pajoul finished her laundry like 15 minutes ago and is waiting for me.
Much love!!
---Hermana Burner
(excerpts from letters that arrived in the mailbox-- written November 24, 2012)
..... So, since my companion leaves on Monday, I will be the last sister left in my zone. So, by default, my branch president asked me to be the coordinating sister. Some of the elders in my zone were congratulating me, and I said "Yeah, because it is so hard to coordinate myself!" To which Elder Sheeder responded, "Well you do do a good job of it." Haha :) Some of these elders are just so awesome!
The other day I overheard a random elder complaining about the prices at the bookstore, and he said, "And stamps are like 41 cents each! What the heck?" To which someone awkwardly informed him was kind of standard... LOL! Oh, elders. Bless their mothers.
Love you!
---Hna Burner
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
(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
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