July 2, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

My new companion is Sister He...., who is 19 and from Maui, Hawaii.  She is so sweet, and super gorgeous.  She has been so easy to train.  

I love serving in St. George!  The Visitor's Center is amazing.  I love looking out the window and seeing the Temple right next to us!  And hearing the Christus over and over throughout the day.  And having prepared people come right to me, instead of having to hunt them out!  There are so many people who come into the VC and say, "I don't know why I am here.  I just felt like I should come."  Oh! Pick me, pick me! I know why they came!!

I have felt the Spirit so strongly there.  We have a video exhibit thing called "God's Plan for the Family," and I love taking people there (they have it in both english and spanish) because afterwards I get to bear my testimony on the family.  And I get to think about my family :) We also have a room filled with paintings of Jesus Christ, which I love, because I could talk about Him forever!

I feel like I am already rambling, but basically, I just love it!

The area I came into currently has zero investigators, so we are starting from scratch.  Poor Sister He..... isn't a fan of having to spend time in our area, but I wouldn't either if all I associated with it was tracting in 117 degree weather!  No worries Mom, we take lots of water each day.  And I made a rule that I would never say no when a member offers us a bottle of water, so we are drinking enough :) Anyways, we have found a couple of potentials, so I am hoping that things improve with the area soon and that we can begin to teach people.  I'm not too worried--miracles always happen when a companionship is training!

Hope everything is going well for you all--

Much love,

Sister Burner

Waiting for our greenies to be done with a new sisters meeting one morning!

June 24, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

This last weekend was amazing!  A little sad because we will be leaving tomorrow, but everything else was so great!

On Saturday, we went to the Manti temple with Wy.... (our service missionary that helps us a lot) and Ra...... (the one who got baptized/confirmed/received the Priesthood/blessed the Sacrament last week).  It was busy and they said it would be about an hour and a half wait, so we walked down to the family history center which is at the bottom of the hill.  There, we set Ra.... up with an LDS account and showed him how to use Family Tree, and we got his grandfather's name all ready for the temple work.  Then we went back up to the temple and they let us in :)  So we did both baptisms and confirmations for Ra...'s grandfather, as well as a bunch of family names that the Rh....s' gave us (they are the couple that we live with).

Wy.... performed the baptisms and Sister H and I went first, but we stayed there dripping wet with our towels around us so that we could watch Ra.... be baptized.  It was amazing.  We could both feel that there were angels surrounding that font.  Ra..... said that he could feel his grandfather's presence there with him as he did his work.

I love the temple!!

Yesterday, Ra..... was sustained in Sacrament meeting as a member of the branch's YM Presidency.  Have I  mentioned before that he is just amazing?? He went to the Work of Salvation broadcast with us last night, and he is so excited to be able to serve a mission in a year.  I wish he could just go right now!

There are a lot of people in this area that I will miss, but I know that there are people down in St. George who have been waiting for me.  And I can always come back and visit!

Please pray that everything will go smoothly with me learning how to work in the Visitor's Center, and that I will be a good trainer for my new companion.

I love you all so much!

--Hermana Burner

June 17, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

This last weekend was crazy!  Tons of highs and lows, but I would take those lows any day if we could have those kinds of highs to go along with them!

Saturday we had a Spanish Zone Conference down in Beaver (about 1 hr 45 minutes away, ish).  All the Spanish speaking missionaries in the mission were asked to go, along with all of the Daily Dose missionaries (those are the senior missionaries called to teach English to Hispanic people).  They said it would be over after 2, so we scheduled Ra....'s baptism for 5 pm.

The Rh......s' (the couple that we live with, who do daily dose) gave us a ride to the conference, but about an hour out their car overheated and we had to pull over to the side of the road.  Brother Rh......'s did stuff with the engine (I wouldn't be able to say what), involving putting water somewhere and oil somewhere else.  Our district leader drove by and saw that it was us, so they stopped to help.  Eventually it was decided that the Rh.....s' would have to take their car back to Centerfield and miss the conference, so we called and got permission for the Elders' ride to take us the rest of the way (we had to get permission because it was just a man driving them, his wife wasn't there).

So we get to the Conferenece and it all went well..... and then we realized that we didn't have a ride home.  The conference ended around 2:30 (we were super stressing by this point), and we ended up getting a ride to Richfield with the Ow.....s' (our daily dose couple in our Elsinore branch), and then a ride to Centerfield from there with someone else.

When we were about to get to Richfield, we realized that we had left the keys in the elders' ride's car.  So we had to call them and ask them to meet us in Richfield (we kinda needed those!).  By the time we got to Centerfield, it was about 15 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start, so we had them drive us directly to the Gunnison Stake Center where Ra.....'s baptism was going to be.

When we got there, the only people there were the Gunnison elders, who had filled up the font and set up chairs for us.  After a few minutes, others started trickling in, including Ra..... However, Wy...... was not there, and he was the one who was going to baptize him!  We call Wy...... and he says, "Oh, I thought it was at 6!  I'm in Nephi right now!"  Ohhhh gosh, so we told him we would stall while he sped back down to Gunnison.

We just had prelude playing, but we let everyone know that we were just waiting for a few minutes.  Wy..... got there around 5:20 (yeah, he did some major speeding there), but without a change of clothes, towel, or anything..... but we let him worry about that.  He changed into a baptismal jumpsuit really quick and we took some pictures in front of the font, and the baptismal program began.

The baptism itself was amazing.  Tons of people were there (I would guess like 40), including several nonmembers and some friends of Ra....'s who had come down from Provo and Orem to see the baptism.  Before the baptism started, Ra.... said to me, "I have felt the Spirit so strongly with me today, since the moment I woke up.  It's been almost overwhelming.  Even my mom told me that she could feel it when I was with her."  He was glowing with happiness and excitement to be baptized.  I'm pretty sure anyone within a mile radius of him could feel the Spirit that was emanating from him.

The two talks were fantastic--they were given by friends of Ra.... from Orem, who were both RM's and I'm pretty sure they work at the MTC.  Also, for the special musical number, one of them played the piano while the other sang with a girlfriend of Ra....'s that had come down from Orem as well.  It was amazing.

After Wy..... said the baptismal prayer (in Spanish), Ra.... went down into the water as if he couldn't get there fast enough.  He is so amazing!

After the baptism, everyone stayed and ate food (people had brought tons of food!).  It was so nice to just stay and enjoy the Spirit that was there, and it was a great environment to talk to some of the nonmembers that had come.

The next day, Sunday, Ra.... got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost, and then while he was still up there, President Ga.... (branch president) presented him to the congregation and then ordained him a Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood.  Following that, Ra..... blessed the Sacrament for the first time.  YES, you read that right.  President Ga.... interviewed him to receive the Priesthood, and to get a temple recommend, before church and Ra..... was able to bless the Sacrament the day he was confirmed.  How amazing is this man?!! 

We are planning to go to the Manti temple with him this Saturday to do baptisms for the dead.  He already has the names and info so that he can be baptized for both of his grandfathers.

His mother, who is catholic, attended both the baptism and all three hours of church yesterday.  The work is just beginning in this family!

It was such a great weekend!

Hope you all had a great Father's day :)

Much Love,

Hermana Burner

June 10, 2013

Hola familia y amigos!

I forgot to ever tell you about teaching seminary! So, one of the seminary teachers in Salina was our High Councilman over missionary work (it changed last week. Sad day!), and the other seminary teacher is the Stake President, so they are both rather missionary-oriented.  They invited us to come sit in on one of the their classes sometime because they both have nonmember hispanics in a couple of their classes.  In the Stake President's class, he invited us to come up at the beginning of the class to share our testimonies.  Before our HC's class, he asked us if we could share with his class what led to us serving missions, as well as our testimonies.  He asked us particularly to share how we overcame any doubts or things that would have kept us from serving because that could really help the girls, especially, in the class who were debating serving missions.

I went first and just started at the beginning--how growing up I had always wanted to serve a mission because I had seen the examples set for me by my mother and aunt (and my grandmother a bit later!).  I went on to explain a little how I got distracted from this goal when I went to BYU-Idaho and found someone that I wanted to marry. Then I shared the experience with prayer that I had, read Proverbs 3:5-6, and told how that scripture helped me to rely on the Lord and have faith in His timing, trusting that He had a plan for me that was greater than my own.  This led to when I began to pray about whether or not I should begin my mission papers, and how eventually I was led to Mosiah 14:3-5 (which I read with the class).  I bore testimony that I know that my Savior has done so much for me.  He suffered and gave up His life for me.  If He can do that for me, I can certainly give up a year and a half of mine to serve Him, to help others accept the amazing gift that is the Atonement into their lives as well.

It was a lot more detailed than that...but you get the gist!  The Spirit was there super strong.  It was really neat :)  Sister H took her turn after me, and the bell sounded before she even finished...oops!  We apologized to our HC afterwards, but he just said, "What the Spirit wants to teach this class is far more important than what I want to."  He is so humble.

Ra... is doing so great, and we are all so excited for his baptism this Saturday!! Our lesson on Monday didn't work out until Wednesday, but I think that was inspired because Wy.... called and told us that he could come with us that night.  We taught Ra.... about the Law of Chastity, and it was way good--and then we asked Wy.... how living the Law of Chastity has helped him in his life, and oh, gosh,  I wish I had recorded what he said so that I could listen to it every day!  It was so powerful!  He talked about how it has led him to have a greater respect for girls and women, and how he will never treat a woman in a way that he wouldn't want his mother, sister, or future daughters to be treated.  He went on to say other things that I believe came directly from the Spirit, and I think that Ra.... was touched in a way that Sister H and I couldn't have done by ourselves.  It was amazing having a testimony like that come from someone his own age and gender.

We also had a lesson with Ra...... about the Word of Wisdom, tithing, and fasting.  When we got to tithing, I asked Ra...... if he had heard of it before.  He replied, "I think so...isn't that where you donate 10% of our income to the Lord through the church?  But I have a question.  Do you pay tithing on grants and scholarships?" Oooooh gosh! Then when we got to fasting and we asked him what he knew about that he said, "Oh yeah, That's where you go without eating two meals.  I would do that with my dance group whenever we had a performance coming up that we were worried about."  Why isn't this man already a member?!! He is beyond prepared!

Oh, and then last night when we went to visit a woman named Lu...., Wy..... was just leaving in his car (he teaches English to Hispanic people as part of his service mission).  He pulled over to us and I thought it was Vi...... (his service mission companion) with him in the car, but as they got closer I realized that it was Ra....!  He isn't even baptized, and he is already going out with the service mssionaries! How does this even happen??

Oh goodness.  Miracles like crazy! I can't wait for this Saturday! I get so excited for each lesson that we have with Ra..... He is just so amazing.

On a more temporal note, we got a new car! Elder W....... (senior missionary over mission vehicles) called us Tuesday morning and asked us to meet him in Salina to exchange vehicles.  This thing is brand new. It had 18 miles on it when we got it (Elder W....... brought it hitched to the back of his van).  Awesome!  I was kinda nervous driving it at first though!

Thanks for all of your love, support, and prayers!

Have a great week!  I love you all!

--Hermana Burner

June 3, 2013-- Progress in Axtell!

June 3, 2013

 

Hola familia y amigos!

 

This last week was good! Especially Sunday. We saw three of our investigators in our Axtell Branch (we didn't go to Elsinore this week.  We decided to trade off weeks).  One of them, M......, just came to talk to the Branch President for a minute because he had to go to work.  We didn't get more than a minute to chat with him, but afterwards we talked with  President G..... and he said, "He is definitely on for June 29th."  Awesome.  Apparently President gave him a blessing while he was in his office, and the Spirit was there pretty strong.

 

Our investigator, K......, got to go to Youth Conference this last week!  It was sooo great.  He lives with his aunt and uncle here in Ce................, and his cousins V........ and F....... we use as fellowshippers all the time.  F...... served a mission in Idaho (he was a seminary convert), and V...... is W......'s companion as a service missionary (F.......'s parents converted while he was on his mission, and then he baptized V........ when he got home).  Anyways, F........ is the YM Pres. in the branch, so both he and V..... went with K..... and it was an amazing experience for everyone.  All the youth in the ward adopted K..... Then, yesterday, K..... fasted and bore his testimony in Sacrament Meeting!! It was so great! And it was his birthday yesterday, so the Branch President's wife made cake which the whole branch stayed after the meetings to eat.  It was just so great! Everything is so much easier and smoother when the ward/branch fellowships investigators!

 

Ra....... is amazing.  I think he has been a member all his life, he just didn't know it and wasn't baptized yet.  Every time we teach him, I feel like he is actually teaching us.  He participates in Sunday classes as if he had been in those classes his whole life! Ahhh! He is just so great!  We are teaching him the Law of Chastity tonight.  I have never been so excited to teach someone about chastity!! We were planning out the lesson in Comp Study this morning, and it should be so great.

 

President called the other morning to talk to us.  Apparently, Monroe Stake (that is where our Elsinore branch is) requested to have a full-time set of Spanish missionaries in the area, so President wanted to know what we thought about it.  I told him that I definitely think that there is enough work in the area, but that there wouldn't be enough work here in Axtell.  So he is thinking to make Gunnison Stake bilingual, and have them cover the Spanish work in Salina as well, and then have Spanish missionaries just for the Elsinore Stake.  He also hinted that he might need one or both of us to train soon so.... This next transfer call should be really exciting! There will probably be lots of changes! I am soooo excited!

 

Have a great week!!

 

--Hermana Burner

May 28, 2013

 

Hola familia y amigos :)

 

This last week was amazing!  Full of miracles and tender mercies from the Lord.

 

Wednesday night, we taught Ma...... about tithing and fasting, and then we had his baptism interview (wow, I am struggling to remember my gospel vocab in English).  The District Leader couldn't make it, so the Zone Leaders came out to do it.  Thank goodness they both speak Spanish!  They didn't come until 8:20 though, so we left as soon as they got there. Good thing, because it takes 45 minutes to get home, and they didn't finish the interview until 9:20! Elder Ho...... called to tell me how it went and he said, "Don't worry, we have permisison from the Zone Leaders to get home late." Haha :)

 

Ma.........'s baptism was on Saturday, and it all went well! There were more than twenty people there, and every role on the program was done by someone different.  There is so much branch support there! You could tell that Ma........ knew that what he was doing was something very sacred and important.  He truly is committed to the Lord.  Apparently on Friday, he got bucked off of his horse for the first time, and landed face first.  But he told us, "I knew that it was just Satan trying to get me to not be baptized today.  I wouldn't let him get to me."  How amazing is he?  I cannot express how humbled and blessed I feel to be one of the missionaries to teach this man. 

 

Another miracle:

 

Tuesday we went to contact Wi......., a boy (like 17ish) who hasn't ever shown up for the appointments that we set with him.  Sister H has felt pretty tired of going over there, but for some reason I have kept wanting to go.  So we finally go on Tuesday, and his older brother answers the door (we hadn't met him before).  We ask him if Wi...... is there, and he said, "Yeah, but he is downstairs playing a game.  But I would like to talk to you."  At this point I was like "Ooooh no.  He is going to yell at us and tell us never to come back again", because he was kind of a tough looking guy! But then he said, "Yeah, my mom and sister are home, so can you come in?" *jaw drop*

 

We go inside and sit down with him, and he tells us that he is just moving back in for the summer, and he has been going to school in Orem.  Apparently he went to church several times growing up, and was involved in boy scouts.  Up at school, he has been in this ROC group, which is a cultural singing and dancing group up in Provo.  They perform at a lot of firesides, and when they went down to LA, they stopped by the Visitors Center at the temple.  He said that through these experiences, he has gained a testimony, and he wants us to teach him the lessons so that he can get baptized. WHAAAAT???? He also said that he is interested in getting his temple recommend after he is baptized, so that he can do baptisms for the dead.  In addition to that, he asked us, "I know that my parents aren't very interested in the Gospel, but is there a way that I can still be sealed to them?"..........WHAAAAT????? Oooh gosh! So we taught him the entire first lesson right there, (testifying, inspired questions, how to begin teaching points, visuals, everything) and put him on date for June 15th.

 

He got work off so that he could go to church on Sunday, and he stayed for all three hours. And he said the closing prayer in Priesthood.  And he asked Wyatt if he could baptize him.  We taught him the third time yesterday, so now we are finished with the Restoration, Plan of Salvation, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Miracles happen! I love finding people who are SO prepared!

 

Have an amazing week! Keep the prayers coming-- they really work!

 

Love,

Hermana Burner

May 20, 2013

 

Buenos dias, familia y amigos!

 

This last weekend was so great!  I had my first spanish baptism, Ch..... L.....  It was so great!  Everything just worked out perfectly.  We made it there with plenty of time, a counselor in the bishopric and the ward mission leader were already there and had everything set up- (font filled!), we had the programs ready.  Ch..... got there early to get dressed, tons of his family and friends came, everything! It was so great!  Sister H and I gave the talks (I did about 1/3 of mine in English because most of the people there couldn't speak Spanish, but all of Sis. H's and the rest of mine was in Spanish), and I played the piano.

 

Ch...... couldn't stop smiling throughout the whole thing.  He is so excited to be one step closer to going to the temple with his wife.  They are going to be such an adorable eternal family! She is having a baby in a few weeks.  So cute!

 

Yesterday, I went to the Elsinore branch while Sister H went to Ch......'s confirmation (my comp was Sister Bl..... from Elsinore and Sister H was with Da....).  It was good to be with Ma........ at church--he was super excited to see me when I went to sit down next to him!  The talks were on the Plan of Salvation, which was perfect to give him a little review of the second lesson.  Then in Sunday School, it was just Brother N.... (ward mission leader), The Bl......s' (they are ward missionaries), Ma......... and me.  We went over the Articles of Faith, which was also perfect because it allowed us to review the entire Gospel of Jesus Christ (lesson 3) through the 4th Article of Faith.

 

Ma........ likes to talk a lot, but it was good that he talked a lot during Sunday School because I feel like I got to know him a little better.  He is divorced and has two sons.  He has been drug/alcohol/cigarette free for something like 16 years, but he is still striving to become a better person so that he feels worthy to talk to his sons again. That is what motivated him to open the Book of Mormon, and then to call us to tell us that he wanted to be baptized.  He loves the Spirit that he can feel at church, and it seems like he is almost addicted to it--he can't get enough of it!  He also said that when we first told him that there was a Spanish Branch, he didn't believe us because he didn't think there were enough Hispanics here, and then when he came to the Branch for the first time and saw that it was true, he was overwhelmed with gratitude--especially because of the amount of gringos that attend the branch and are able to speak Spanish (there are a lot of families who come where the parents both served Spanish speaking missions).

 

Aty one point he got a little emotional and said that he was so grateful for the examples that my companion and I set for him, being so young yet so faithful and willing to serve.  He reallly humbles me a lot-- here he is a grown man, probably in his 50's, and he is so willing to listen to, learn from, and even emulate the examples of two little girls.  He is so amazing.

 

The Branch President announced Ma.........'s baptixm during Sacrament Meeting, and it sounds like there should be plenty of people there.  They are even planning on having a waffle party after the baptism.  And there are plenty of people willing to participate in the program.  I am just so excited for this next weekend!

 

I love you all! And I hope you each have a wonderful week.

Love,

Hermana Burner