MTC Week 2

MY LAST FEW DAYS IN THE MTC! WHAT! Time has flown by! This was a great week! I'm going to keep my emails simple because that last one was all over the place.

Funnies:
- You'll never guess who spoke in our Devotional on Sunday night?! DONNY OSMOND! I knew Mom would love that. We were singing some prelude and in walks Donny and everyone starts whispering and going crazy! He was a funny guy and gave us some encouraging thoughts.

-Oh, and because of the Mission Presidents Training starting soon, they shut down the cafeteria and have a makeshift cafeteria in the new building foyer. It's SO WEIRD! Also, it really has cut down on the options(meaning, I really miss those dang good salad bars), so you really only have 1 or 2 options for a meal. soooo, I guess you could say I'm really excited to leave so that I can eat real food, that I actually enjoy eating.

-I'm getting tan! I don't have a super solid farmers tan line, but I'm definitely getting a little more color. Maybe I'll sorta fit in when I get to California...although I still have a ways to go!

- When we taught our TRC Jess last week, it was a super spiritual moment we were having and she said something hilarious. She was praying and the Spirit was SO there and then after she closed, she said, "Man, I could go for some meatballs right now". Sister Brooks and I just laughed. Jess speaks her mind and we love it. She is a girl from Texas and she is completely relaxed, it's great!


Spiritual Goodies:
- Well, Sister Brooks and I were called as Sister Training Leaders last week! That was a little unexpected. We officially started last Sunday so we'll only been doing it for a week because we leave Tuesday! But, we love it! We got a new district Wednesday and they're adorable.

-TRCS have been amazing this week! Last week, we invited Jess to be baptized. She was our TRC that seemed really disinterested at the beginning of the week and we felt we weren't going anywhere with her. But she really pulled through. At the last lesson, I invited her to be baptized and she said YES! We felt the Spirit so strong as she ended our lesson with her humble, sweet prayer. We also invited our other TRC Sarah to baptism and she said yes! I wish we could have these TRCs for another week because they're great.

- This week, we have a TRC, Katerina Sanders, from MD and she knows Reagan Norcross!! She didn't say how, but that was super cool! Anyways, she is so solid and has great questions for us. We  talked about trials and blessings and we just chatted together. I shared 1 Nephi 17 and how Lehi's family was in the wilderness for a looong time, but they had what they needed: they were healthy and happy. It all depends on how you look at trials, because they truly are all blessings. Kat really grasped that concept last night and came to understand that this is what life is about. We're here to be tested, but when we know it's for a purpose, we can better handle those trials. She had a great analogy for life. Life is like a test. If you know you have a test, you're going to prepare for it. If you don't have a test, then what's the point in preparing for one? SAME THING WITH LIFE. Our minds were blown when Kat told us that. Solid gold right there. We are inviting her to baptism tonight!

-OH and MACK! We've been teaching him a lot this week. We struggled teaching him because he was so depressed and we just kept going in circles with him. This week, we spent a lot of time preparing and thinking about Mack and what he needs, not what we THINK we need to teach. That lesson took a complete 180. We focused on him and what he needs, what is important to him, etc. We could totally feel the spirit as we talked with him and we knew we were teaching by the spirit! Sometimes that's the hardest part of being a missionary and is truly just turning it over to the Spirit.

Testimony
- I learned a lot this week on how repentance is just CHANGING. Changing to come closer to God. It's the small steps and turns towards Heavenly Father that bring us closer to Him. I loved being able to share that with our TRCS this week.

 -Also, fave scripture of the week that I really studied. 2 Nephi 2:5. At the beginning it says, "And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil". It totally hit me that we are ALL born with that strong knowledge of right and wrong. We know what is right and wrong. It's the choices in our lives that can change our views of what we might think is right or wrong. It was just a cool realization this week.

-1 Nephi 1:1. If you look at the footnote for "afflictions" it says "blessings". Just like I talked about earlier, it's all about how we look at it!

 This gospel is so true! My love for the Savior continues to deepen each day as I'm here, studying more about Him. He is everything. Without Him, there would be no hope. We are given a second chance, because He loved us enough to take upon Himself our infirmities. He will always remember us, because of the scars on His hands, side, and feet. Doesn't that make sense that we should always remember Him?

  I love my district! I'm sad to have to part ways this week, but its been real! Love these elders and sisters and can't wait to see what they do in their fields of labor.

  I ship out early Tuesday and I can't wait to get to California. In our orientation we talked about how members REALLY help accelerate missionary work. I'm excited to get out there and meet the members and get to work. Next Sunday I'll be in a new ward, with new friends, learning new things. I've loved learning at the MTC and I've been trying to soak it up as best I can! But I'm also stoked to get out there and be with the people!
--
Sister Burton

Sister Brooks during our study time

District 40D

Me and Sister Brooks on our temple walk Sunday

Sister Clark`s last day with us! She has changed my liiiiife!

Cute sisters of the district

Saying bye to Sister Clark!

PHOTOS WEEK 1

Sister Brooks and I after our First Day!

The new bathrooms make for great selfies!

ANAHEIM!

We are known as the B-team

The beautiful mountains!

4 Sisters headed to Anaheim!

L to R: sister Clawson, Vellinga, Nichols. Elder Davis. Our teacher, Sister Clark. Elder Clinger. Sister Brooks. Me. Elders Carter and Short life. DISTRICT 40D

Week 1 MTC

Wow, it feels like its been forever since I've seen you all! The MTC goes by slow and fast...I can't even describe it, haha.

  The first day was great! My companion, Sister Brooks is the best! We met and I instantly knew we would be great friends! The first day was a lot of orientation. But holy cow, what a small world that Sister Clark is my MTC teacher! So there are 6 sisters in our district(Zufelt, Nichols, Vellinga, Clawson, Brooks, and Me) and 4 Elders(Carter, Shurtliff, Clinger, and Davis). The Elders are all going to Jacksonville, FL. Sisters Vellinga and Clawson are going to Anchorage and the rest of us are going to Anaheim. I was so happy that I would be going to the field with other sisters! I am surprised when I walked in the first day and saw her there! Our STLS and Zone leaders came to us later that evening and talked to us and threw A BUNCH of information at us....and the crazy thing was...THEY HAD ONLY BEEN HERE A WEEK! We thought they were so much older and wiser than we were. But the rest of our zone is great! Some of them can be a little exclusive, but it's fine. Janice, there are two Sisters( Taylor and Holladay) that are going to the Chespeake VA mission. Look out for them, they're hilarious!

  The first couple of days I didn't sleep well. I kept waking up super early because I hadn't adjusted to the time zone yet. About Friday of last week I started to catch a cold or get allergies or something. I'm finally starting to get over that now. But it's amazing, the Lord blesses His missionaries! I definitely was sick, but I was still able to have the adequate energy that I needed to get through the long days! Anyways, another thing is the Lord is trying my patience....and I'm actually okay with that. Sister Brooks admitted that she is not good at time management. Here at the MTC you are on a very strict schedule and you're expected to be everywhere on time. And, if you know me, you know that I am a very punctual person, but the Lord has blessed me with patience and just understanding that I'm her companion and we're going to work through it together. We've arrived late to PLENTY of things, which has been a struggle for me, but we've been getting better. I just love Sister Brooks and knowing that she is working through the time management is good enough for me.

 OK BUT SERIOUSLY! My testimony has grown so much stronger and so much deeper this past week. We study and attend classes from 8:30 AM-9 PM. It is exhausting, but it's good work. Anyways, I want to share a few things that I've learned this week that have really stuck out to me:

    During our orientation, we watched this video of 2 elders. One of them was an amazing pianist and the other didn't know anything about pianos. The speaker at the conference they were attending had the experienced pianist teaching the inexperienced elder how to play a simple song. After a few minutes, it was time for them to perform. The inexperienced elder started playing and a few times he made a few mistakes, but the experienced elder was right beside him and giving him encouraging pats on the back. After a minute, the experienced elder joined in and they played together and it was a beautiful song! They paralleled this story with Christ. Christ is the experienced pianist and we are the inexperienced ones that need help. But Christ is always right beside us and helps us along the way. With Christ, we can make beautiful music! He can transform us into something more than we could ever imagine. I truly loved that analogy.  ME + CHRIST= MORE    not  ME+MORE= CHRIST

   We've also talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ(Faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). The gospel is so simple! Since we've been here, we've memorized our missionary purpose, which is to INVITE others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through those 5 aspects of Christ. That's what a missionary does! I was nervous when in class the other day we talked about inviting others to be baptized. I've always thought missionaries are crazy, thinking they can just invite someone to be baptized during the first lesson. I always thought that was a little pushy. As we talked more about it, we talked about as we BEGIN to see an investigator start to show an increase in faith and repentance, a desire to change, etc, we shouldn't hesitate to invite to baptism. They are already beginning to show a desire to follow Christ and your job is so extend that invitation. I hope this is all making sense. Those things just clicked for me as I was studying more about the invitation to baptism and what all that entails. After that lesson, I no longer felt scared to extend that invitation. 

  A quote that I've been hearing a lot around the MTC is "You must be your first convert before you can convert anyone else". That's SO TRUE! And I'm still converting myself, that process never finishes. I need to know that this is true before I can begin teaching it to other people. And Elder Oaks also says that you need to baptize converts. CONVERTS. You should baptize those that are converting themselves to Christ. Ah, the MTC is so clear and simple.

Anyways, I need to think of some funny stories. The second day, Sister Brooks and I got lost for about 30 mins. The MTC is starting to transfer over to the new beautiful buildings and so there has been some miscommunication going on. We didn't see anyone from our district,no one was in our classroom, etc. We found some nice ladies that helped us find our class over in the new building. PHEW. That was close! haha

 Ok, but those new buildings?! THEY ARE BASICALLY TEMPLES! They have the most beautiful murals and paintings everywhere. They have these ponder rooms where they play church music quietly in the background as you study. It is amazing! I know I saw a video going around Facebook about it a few weeks ago. Check it out! It's so awesome! We were some of the first people to have our classroom in that building. The spirit is incredibly strong in those buildings, it's amazing.

  Another thing our STLS told us the first day was to make it to Sunday. And boy, were they right. I was getting so burned out the ended of last week, running on little sleep and being sick on top of that. Sunday was AMAZING! It was the most exhausting Sunday I have ever experienced. But it was filled with so many great things! We arrived to Sacrament 30 mins early so that we could prepare for it properly. I came to Sacrament meeting looking for peace because I was just feeling a little overwhelmed with all of the new changes that go along with being a missionary. I read a few scriptures that really helped comfort me and to feel of God's peace. I wish I could find them right now to share with you, but I am so scatterbrained because there is SO much to tell you and my fingers can't type fast enough. Anyways, and an Elder performed a solo and it was "Redeemer, Savior of my Soul" by Rob Gardner. HOLY MOLEY, that spirit was so strong there! Church was fantastic as usual! We also sang hymns together as a one so that we could feel of the Spirit and just speak our testimonies through song. I participated in the MTC choir later that night and we sang a beautiful arrangement of Be Still My Soul, which helped comfort me as well. The choir director told us, "You're all missionaries and the Lord loves His missionaries. Just tell your soul to be STILL!" True true true Mr. Choir Director! 

   Also on Sunday, I SAW PRES UCHTDORF. Well, kinda. Sis Brooks and I lost our district and we saw a bunch of people running around the new buildings, but we just thought ok, they went to dinner. Um, no, apparently they were all meeting Pres Uchtdorf, which we didn't realize! Everyone came into the cafeteria talking about it and we were so distraught. But as we were leaving the cafeteria, we saw everyone congregating and waving. We actually had to walk down the hallway Pres Uchtdorf just went down. We turned and saw him admiring the art on the walls. So yeah, I pretty much saw Pres Uchtdorf.

  This week we began our TRCs, which are basically investigators that we get paired with for the week. We don't know whether or not they're members, but 99% of the time, they are. We were a little nervous to begin teaching, but it was okay. We've been striving to teach with the Spirit. I have never felt happier in the MTC than when we are teaching our TRCs. We taught this girl, Jess, and she was a super chill girl from Texas and she goes to BYU. Anyways, I don't think she is a member. But we talked with her an shared more about God and prayer. I testified to her about the Atonement and how Christ would take on her sins and would do that if she was the only one on earth. He does it for you and for me individually. I felt the Spirit so strongly and that was definitely a highlight of my week.

  Yesterday, we hit a bit of a rough patch. We taught our teacher, Brother Potter, who acted as an investigator and we really struggled. He was a hard investigator to get to know. We definitely chucked the cake in that lesson( which means we just threw information at him instead of really focusing on him and his needs). I felt so discouraged after that. Sis Brooks usually does most of the talking in the lessons because she just knows how to say things so well. Seriously, I have been learning so much for her. I've been trying to be more confident in sharing and asking questions, but I think Sis Brooks just really likes to talk. But it's okay, because we're teaching together. But yeah, I get discouraged because sometimes I think I don't have anything good to contribute to the lessons sometimes. I struggle. But that's what I'm here to do is to practice, fail, and learn from it. We were so tired yesterday and I was just ready to throw in the towel for the day. We still had one more TRC to teach and we decided that we were going to put it all on the Lord. We prepared to teach her about the Restoration, but we were really trying to practice trusting in the Spirit to guide our teachings. Lemme, just say, the Spirit listens and guides! The lesson went so well and we were so happy! We really got to know Sarah and her needs and went from there. We left her with Moroni's promise and we'll meet with her again tonight and follow up with how it went. I was just so happy that the Lord heard our prayers and that we were able to put that trust in Him as we taught.

 Wow, there are so many little details that I wish I could share with you all. I've shared the most important parts I think. OH, another funny is that we aren't allowed to say "you guys" and that is SUCH a struggle for us all. We always catch each other saying it and reprimand each other. But Sister Taylor said if we can go the hold day without saying it, that she will get us something from the vending machine. Today is the day. I'm not going to say the "g" word.

I check my email a few times everyday so write me whenever! I can read them anytime, I just can't respond until P-day!

The church is true. God loves you. You are great!

Love you all, 

Sister Burton

"This is it, don't get scared now"

  If you don't know what movie that quote is from, I'm not sure we can be friends....JUST KIDDING!

  I can't believe the day is here. I get set apart tonight as an official missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Tomorrow morning I fly out to Utah and Wednesday I report to the Provo MTC. Those 89 days sure have gone by quickly!
  As I reflect upon this whole experience of preparing for a mission, I am continually amazed at the love that our Heavenly Father shows us. He is so so aware of us. Our desires. Our heartaches. Our challenges and our happiness. It's easy to sometimes ask, "Why would He care about me? I am one of 7 billion people on this earth!". Well, none of us can even fathom the capacity of love our Heavenly Father has for everyone. I'm grateful to know this simple truth, although sometimes I don't always remember it.
 I'm grateful for a loving family that has supported and strengthened me my entire life! I'm grateful for wonderful sisters and their families who care for me and are such Christlike examples to everyone around them. Even though we're spread out across the country, we still remain close and I thank them for that. I love my sisters! I'm incredibly grateful for my parents and their willingness and devotion to raise me in this gospel. I'm thankful for the sacrifices they have made in their lives so that they could teach us the gospel and through their examples, I was able to realize the importance of the gospel and how much it means to them. I love love my family and I'm grateful we can be together forever.
 I'm grateful for friends who have been so good to me all these years. I'm thankful for wonderful examples I had while I've been at school! As I've talked with them, their testimonies and examples have meant the world to me. I can't believe that I have such amazing friends that actually put up with me ;)
 I'm thankful that I'm ABLE to serve a mission. I'm humbled that the Lord would call me to serve a mission. I never thought that I would be in this position to serve. The past couple days have been hard emotionally as I'm making the sacrifices of leaving my life behind for the next 18 months. It's not easy. Missionary work is WORK. I'm going to feel inadequate( I already do) and there will be hard days. But I know that as I pray, I can be comforted and helped through the hard times. This is the Lord's work and I'm just an instrument in His hands. I'm grateful for this opportunity to serve. These next 18 months will be life changing.
 I love my Savior! I'm grateful for His ultimate sacrifice and His love for all of us! He is my best friend! He knows me and knows what I go through. I know that we can each find solace in our Savior. I'm thankful for His atoning sacrifice and how that makes it possible for us to return back to our Heavenly Father, even though we are so imperfect. What a wonderful blessing it is to have such a righteous elder brother, Jesus Christ.
  Thank you for all of the love and support these past few months and all these years! I'm grateful to know each of you! Please write me! I would love to hear from you! Mom will be updating this blog each week with my letters! I'll see you all in 18 months!
  My favorite scripture:
 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." Helaman 5:12

xoxo,
   Sister Burton