January 6, 2014

Hola familia!

 

Sooo, I have some stories to tell about this week! BUT, I also have a semi-lame keyboard, so this will be an experiment to see how much patience I have :) So if my sentences seem abrupt, that is why!

 

There is a less-active lady that we have been visiting lately, named Je..n. Her daughter, Ta...ya, is not baptized--so we were hoping that as we meet with Je..n, eventually her daughter will be home and join us. Anyways, we scheduled to share a Christmas message with her on Christmas Eve, and then this last week we scheduled an appointment to meet with her again. We planned to introduce the Book of Mormon and talk about prayer--our standard first lesson that we have with the people we teach. Her daughter wasn't there, as usual, but oh well. We started talking and she brought up how neither of her kids were baptized, and then she says "In fact, I don't think that I was ever baptized, either." WHAT? We had been counting her as less active lessons, when really they were other lessons! And we had been thinking of involving her with fellowshipping La...y--it's a good thing that we didn't! Haha. Anyways, it became clear during the lesson that, although she loves us, she isn't the biggest fan of Mormonism. She pulled every complaint in the book--"Why do you need another book?" "Why can't everyone go in the temple?" "I think that this is a cult" etc. But she just wouldn't really listen to our answers, so eventually I just bluntly said, "Je...n, I think that your problem with the church is deeper than any of this. Has someone in the church offended you?" And of course, someone had.  So she told us the story (I've grown sooo insensitive to those...honestly!).

 

At the end, she said "I'm sorry, but I just don't believe in your Book of Mormon." I think that my response shocked her a bit--I said, "Well, of course you don't! I wouldn't either, if I had never even opened the cover or prayed about it." Definitely not what she was expecting. Needless to say, we committed her to praying about the Book of Mormon that night, and she said that she would.

 

On Thursday night after planning, we got a text from one of the Bishops in Leeds saying that he had someone that needed to be baptized on Saturday. No big deal. WHAT?! It turned out to be this 11 year old, Ca.......n, who had had missionaries for a long time but his dad wouldn't let him get baptized until the dad was worthy enough to perform the baptism. The kids all go to church with their mom, but getting Dad worthy has been a problem. Anyways, the family was moving Sunday morning to another state, and I guess the dad decided that it was finally time--so he called the Bishop and told him that he was finally ready (the Bishop has been working with him for quite some time). Anyways, we hadn't taught him all the lessons yet--Sister Ri....a had taught the Restoration, but that was it (sisters before us had taught them) We went over on Saturday morning and within 40 minutes taught him the Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Jesus Christ, Word of Wisdom, Chastity, Sabbath Day, and reviewed all of the baptismal interview questions. Good thing they already knew pretty much everything from going to church. After the lesson we all went over to the church and met our District Leader (Elder He.......t) for the interview. He and his brother Ca....on (who is 8 so he didn't need the lessons) were both baptized and confirmed that night. Craziness!

 

Well, I need to get going! Sorry to cut my stories short. Love you all!

--Sister Burner

 

New Years zone activity

 

 

 

 

 

Skyping with family on Christmas!

Christmas program at the St. George tabernacle!

 

 

 

 

Christmas district activity

December 30, 2013

Hola familia!

This week was pretty slow with teaching. In fact, when we did our weekly planning on Friday, we hadn't been able to teach any of the lessons that we had planned. Everyone was out of town for Christmas, or cancelled for some reason or other :( Sad day! But we were able to pic up a new investigator, Larry, and teach him a few times! Yay! And we have seen a couple of our investigators since Friday. We are really praying that this next week will be a lot better and that everyone will be back in town!

Story behind Larry--it was actually a set of elders in our district that found them! Elder Da...y and Elder Le...e came to our Zone Activity on Christmas super excited about a new investigator that they were going to have a lesson with that night at the VC. But, that night we got a call from them and they told us, "Hey, so that new investigator that we got...actually lives in your area. Would it be okay with you if we taught him?" As you can guess, they got a big NO on that one. Poor guys. It went something like this:

Them: "Hey, so that new investigator that we got...actually lives in your area. Would it be okay with you if we taught him?"

Me: "Have you seen him more than one time?"

Them: "Well, no, but he really opened up to us!"

Me: "Well, seeing as you have only met with him once he most likely has no critical emotional attachment to you. So I see no need for you to teach him. I strongly believe that we have been placed in this area for a reason, and we are the ones who are supposed to teach those who live within our area. But we will let you know if we have a problem that necessitates your teaching. What was his address?"

Haha those poor elders! Sister Ri...a was trying to practice saying what I had said after we hung up the phone. I have no idea where all of this boldness comes from. I'm definitely not as passive as I was before my mission!

We contacted La...y the next day, and set up an appointment for the following day, which went great! And we had a member that lives nearby give him a ride to church on Sunday. Next appointment is for tonight! I am excited to see this man progress and change his life as he strives to center himself on Jesus Christ.

I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic New Years!

Love,
Sister Burner

 

December 23, 2013

Hola familia y amigos! Feliz navidad a todos, espero que tengan felicidad y amor por todo esta semana :)

This has been an amazing week! B..n's baptism was yesterday and it was incredible. By far the most spiritual baptism I have been to. This kid is...amazing. He has so much potential! Tons of people from his "school" came, as well as people from the ward. You probably remember the situation--Bishop Ah.....n owns this facility for troubled youth, and he noticed a spark in B...n. B..n would always talk to the returned missionaries that were on the staff about the Gospel. So then we started teaching him, and he fell in love with the Book of Mormon. I'm pretty sure he finished the whole thing in a matter of 8 weeks or less. Each week he would tell us in animated detail about where he was in his reading.

The baptism was performed by Bishop Ah....n. As the two of them stood there in the water and Bishop Ah....n got ready to say the prayer, he paused for a second because he couldn't speak. Tears were coming down both of their faces, and I'm sure many faces of those watching. After a minute, he baptized B..n. As they were getting ready to come back out, we sung "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and "I Believe in Christ" to keep the Spirit there. Afterwards, B..n got up and bore his testimony. He is such an incredible young man; I know that he will do great things! He is planning on leaving on a mission as soon as he can.

The other day as I was getting ready for bed I was thinking about Christmas coming up, and I had this realization that I am slightly embarrassed hasn't occurred to me before. I was thinking about how, yeah, the birth of Christ is great, but the Atonement is what is most important. But then I realized that what we celebrate at Christmas has slightly more to do with our Heavenly Father than it does with Jesus Christ; "For God so loved the world, that He gave is only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him be saved." (John 3:16-17). God knew perfectly well what He was sending His Son to do here on Earth; He knew everything that He would suffer, and the sacrifice that He would make. I guess we could liken it to a mother sending her son off to war--the hardest part is the good-bye. At Christmas time, celebrating the Savior's Birth, we are celebrating the sacrifice that God made in sending His Son to the world. Or at least, that's what I would like to think :)

And just as I said last Christmas, I feel blessed that as I celebrate God's greatest gift to us this year, I can be giving others the second greatest gift that I have power to give.

On a lighter note, last night we had our Missionary Christmas Program! I was super excited to be in St. George area this year so that I could participate. All the missionaries in Washington County met at the Tabernacle and sang. The Tabernacle was pretty much full! It was really neat. I took pictures, which I will send to you :)

After the Christmas program, I was out in the audience saying goodbye to a couple of the other sisters before heading out, and this little 9 or 10 year old girl ran up and gave me a huge hug and said, "I found you!" I was slightly confused how I knew this girl, but it was really cute! Her mom was a little confused as well, so she asked her, "How do you know her?" And she replied, "The primary activity!" I guess that she was one of the 1000 primary kids that came through the Visitors Center a few weeks ago, and she was in one of the groups that I did--amazing that she remembers me! How sweet is that?

 Know that I love you all so much, and I am excited to get to speak to some of you in two days!

Love,
Sister Burner

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