Week 7: Sister Burney's Week in Fullerton

Nope, that subject line is not a typo. You remember Roger, right? The interesting man that we passed off to the Elders a few weeks ago? Well, he always remembers Sister Greene's name, but most definitely calls me "Sister Burney"...so I answer to Burney and Burton now. (haha)!
 
  This week was GREAT! We had lots of meetings and things going on, so we didn't get as much
proselyting in as usual, but this week was solid!

Random/Funnies:
- On Wednesday, we went to a neighborhood to see a less active family. As we were walking back to our car, we looked over at an open garage and noticed a man walking around in nothing but a hat and a g-string. Luckily, (I don't know if that's even the right word), we only saw him from the backside. We laughed so hard! Just a man enjoying the perfect California weather, I guess.
-We attended a Korean Cultural Night activity this past Saturday! There is a Korean branch that meets in our building and they opened up their activity to the stake! There was a good turn out! They had such good Korean food, (which reminded me of Michelle!) They also had singing/dancing! I just love Koreans! They are so sweet and adorable! It was such a fantastic activity!
-Janet's baptism! Saturday, we were able to go back over to Anaheim, (where Sis. Green was serving previously) to attend the baptism of Janet, who is one of the first few people Sis. Greene taught! They never thought Janet would be baptized so quickly, but she truly is converted! There were so many people there to support her; it was beautiful!

People/Miracles
-ISMAEL: Yes, yes, yes! Ismael is so, so awesome! We taught him again this week and we did a little Book of Mormon reading. We read 2 Nephi 31-32, with him and he loved it! He had so many great insights and thoughts about a lot of things! The Holy Ghost was incredibly strong there. He said, "I notice that whenever you come and meet with me, the wind is always blowing. Kind of like the Holy Ghost." It was so amazing! He kept telling us how he was feeling the Spirit and how it helps guide him through his life. I was repeatedly prompted during the lesson to ask Ismael about Joseph Smith, because we've been trying to stress the importance of how our church is different from any other church. I asked him if he believed Joseph Smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ and if the proper priesthood authority was on the earth today, in our church? He said, yes. Then I asked him to imagine how much MORE joy and happiness he will feel when he is baptized and confirmed with the priesthood authority of GOD!? Ismael said, he is looking forward to it and has such strong faith and desire to do good! AHH, the lesson was great. Ismael is great. The gospel is great.

-JUAREZ WEDNESDAY: We met Robert and Diana Wednesday night for The Book of Mormon class that is held at another building each week! There were other missionaries from our zone there, as well as a couple of ward members. We went around the circle and read the scriptures and discussed different insights we had. It was so neat! Afterwards, Robert and Diana wanted to take us to Yogurtland. ( I mean, we couldn't oppose). We chatted with them for a long time, but it still wasn't enough time! They said they really enjoyed the class and it helped them to better understand the scriptures. Robert said, "I don't know if you all came up here to the Book of Mormon class for me, but it really helped me to stay focused on the scriptures and learn more from them." Of course we came for him, but we weren't going to say that ;) Our hearts melted! They said they want to make it a weekly thing to come to Book of Mormon class. YAY! So now we call it, "Juarez Wednesday" because we'll get to see them each Wednesday for the class! We're excited to talk to them about a baptismal date and see when they're thinking they would like to do that! WAHOO!

2 DINNERS THURSDAY:
 So, I think I mentioned Jacob and Joey last week. They are 2 investigators who came to church last week and they wanted to have us over for dinner. We got a text earlier this past week and they asked  if we could come over on Thursday night. We already had a dinner apt. scheduled, but we really wanted to have a lesson with Jacob and Joey, so we could get to know them. So we decided, why not have 2 dinners in one night?! Holy cow, it was crazy. Heavenly Father blessed me with a big stomach that night. We went over to the Williams' house first, then hurried over to Jacob and Joey's for another dinner! What a fun time!(haha). We found out that Joey was sort of raised in the church, but was never baptized. Jacob was raised Christian, but has been exploring our church. He said he's really loved it so far! They asked US for a lesson after dinner. We taught them the Restoration and invited them to pray to know for themselves if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if The Book of Mormon is true. They seem SUPER solid...I mean, they were the ones that showed up to church on their own! They're leaving town this week for about 2 weeks, so we'll see where they're at with all of this when they get back!

ZONE CONFERENCE:
 Wow, Zone Conference was amazing! We got together with the missionaries in Fullerton and Placentia! The instruction from President and Sister Golden and other missionaries was awesome!! We talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and how important it is in missionary work. I have an even stronger testimony about that now, since I've experienced it in my missionary work! We watched a talk from Elder Holland titled, "The Divine Companionship" and it was straight fire! He said that we should never do anything to offend our 2 companions (meaning the Holy Ghost and our companion). Don't bother doing missionary work if you can't have the Spirit to be with you!  His talk was full of great wisdom! It made me want to continually try harder and harder to always have the Spirit with me and especially during lessons with people! Another thing he said was that we are where we are because we need to bring God's children home. That was a testament to me that I am here, in the Anaheim mission, to help bring God's children home. It helped me to know even more that I am where I need to be, at this specific time, in this specific area, with this specific companion. Ahhh, Zone Conference was just as uplifting as General Conference!

TESTIMONY:
 I was just introduced to a wonderful talk from Elder Holland (can you tell he's one of my favorites?) titled, "Missionary Work and the Atonement", from the March 2001 Ensign. (I seriously recommend you look it up!!). The talk is full of amazing things that missionaries should implement in their teaching, primarily focusing on teaching the Atonement from the scriptures. Another point he addresses is how sometimes missionaries wonder why it is so hard to do missionary work. Elder Holland says, "Salvation is not a cheap experience." BOOM, so powerful! I need to keep that in mind as I work with people who might be progressing slowly or having a hard time changing.  One of the last sections in there truly applies to each of us:

"The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

 I LOVE THIS! It gave me even more courage to talk with everyone. Christ knows EXACTLY how we each feel. When we stand tall and are following our Savior, we have no need to fear. We may get mocked, ridiculed, but those same feelings have been felt before, by Jesus Christ. When we ask questions like, "why me?" or feel that life is "too hard," we can remember that our Lord and Savior may have felt similarly.  Please, please, I encourage you all to go read this talk! Yes, it is directed towards missionaries, but I know that you can find hope and joy as you study those words and apply them in your life.

 I love my Savior, even more than I have before! I know He lives and I know that He understands what we are feeling! As we go through this life, we have no need to fear, as long as we are following Jesus Christ!
Love you all soooo much!
~~Sister Burton

Selfie with Giant Gnome

First Del Taco Experience 5/5!

Korean Cultural Night. The food was DELISH!

Most all the missionaries in the stake during Cultural Night

Janet's Baptism (cute little lady in the floral dress)

At the Mission Office for Training Follow-ups.

3 Trainers and 3 Trainees!

Week 6: "NO. NO. NO. We smoke weed in this house."

This week has been a FANTASTIC one! I finally have quite a few funny stories to share, so you know it's been a successful one ;)

FUNNIES/RANDOM:

-We went into the crazy Commonwealth apartment complex( you know, the one I described that is similar to any apartment complex in Hanover?) and we saw Donna! We were there to see someone else, so we just chatted with her for a few minutes. Out of the blue, a man walks up to me and sticks a  green,leafy thing in my face. He just stood there and I was utterly confused. I asked him what it was and he said, "Smell it!". At first it crossed my mind that it could be weed..so I was hesitant but then realized it was more pine tree looking than anything. I sniffed and had no idea what it was. He said, "You put it on rice." Hmmm, that didn't help me at all. Turns out it was Rosemary! (haha). He then walked away and we assumed full custody of the Rosemary. Afterwards, we went to visit an investigator and I left it with her because we had no use for it. Our investigator used it as a decoration on her TV stand.( haha).

-Each night we go to the church parking lot to "sync" our area book because we don't have wifi in our apartment. One night we were sitting there in our car and the Spanish Elders walk over and ask if we'd like to try a grasshopper? It took us a few seconds to rack up enough courage to try it, but the Elders assured us the grasshoppers were straight from Mexico!  Sis. Greene and I had recently been talking about eating weird things and neither of us had, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity!  The seasoning on it reminded me of Old Bay. It wasn't too bad!

-We have been trying to find a lot of former investigators this past week. We found one in our area book named, "Fran," who was last seen about 3 years ago. The only info. we had was that she had been bitten by a brown recluse spider, lost her leg, and also lost her husband. We knocked on the door and a man answered. We asked for Fran. He said, "Well, this is awkward." and *points across the street* "That is actually Fran's house, but she passed away about a year and a half ago."  Then, savage Sis. Greene says, "Wow, I guess we're a year and a half too late then!" What a comeback. We were dying when we got in the car! Too bad the man wasn't interested, but we finally were able to resolve the "Fran" story.

-BEST.STORY.OF.THE.WEEK.

 Again, we went to find a former investigator. We walked up to this house and stood outside the fence for a second. There were a bunch of yippee dogs standing inside the screen door. Then a man from inside the house walks to the door. (we couldn't really see his face because the screen was there) and he starts saying, "NO. NO. NO. NO" At first I thought he was talking to the dogs, but then Sis. Greene asks, "No?" (haha). He says, "Nah, we smoke weed in this house!!" He then proceeds to light up (I'm assuming a joint)  and starts smoking it right there. We said our goodbyes and walked away laughing. We could hear the house roaring with laughter too. What a grand ole time! I mean, everyone needs the gospel, even people who smoke weed:)

SPIRITUAL GOODIES:

- We had President interviews this week and they were so awesome! I got to chat with Sister Golden before my interview and she is just the sweetest person! I am so excited to get to know them even more over this next year and a half! I can feel the Spirit so strongly when I'm around them and I can feel their love for all of us missionaries. It's amazing! My interview with President was fantastic! We talked about training and he said that I won't always be blessed with such a great companion like Sis. Greene(I knew that ;) ) I really am so blessed to start my mission off in such a great area and with such a superb companion; it's so awesome! At the end of my interview, I asked President Golden for advice on street contacting (because that's something I continue to struggle with). He understood my fears about not wanting to bother people or if someone looks like they're in a hurry, I don't want to say anything. He told me, "I wish there was a secret to it, but JUST DO IT. It will feel awkward and not natural, but continue to do it. That's how you will get better. One day you will wake up and you won't be scared to do it anymore. Just talk with everyone." It was just what I needed to hear. Since then, I've felt even more confident in talking with people on the streets and I'm progressively getting better! Just comes with practice and becoming more confident! I love President Golden!!

-Robert and Diana: Ok ok seriously, the HIGHLIGHT of my week! Diana is a former member and Robert is a non- member. We were told that they had been working through some things so they could be baptized. We decided to go visit them and they were super open to having us over! The Spirit was so strong in that house. We got to know them a little bit and they said, "Getting baptized is something that we want to do together." As soon as Robert said that, I felt like the Spirit in the room got 1000x stronger!! We talked more about baptism and shared a spiritual message about the importance of scripture study. They ate it UP! They said that's something that they want to improve on. And THEN, they told us that just recently they got everything in order and just need to meet with one more person before they can be BAPTIZED!!! Our hearts were so happy! During that visit, I knew right then that this will be a family I will stay in contact with for many years to come.
  Anyway, our hearts were even more happy that they showed up to the ward Pioneer Day Picnic!! And all the ward members were so happy to see them back. They were talking with them and truly fellow-shipping them, like ward members should do! They had plans for Sunday, but we'll be seeing them again this week and they should be at church next Sunday. Hopefully, we can confirm a date for baptism with them.  I love Robert and Diana!

LIVE FISH  (aka people who are ready for the gospel): We were so blessed at church yesterday, because we had 3 investigators there that we weren't expecting! It's hard to know who is a ward member and who is not, because Sis. Greene and I are both new to the area. Each of the investigators said, "Yeah, we're thinking about joining...." umm, WHAT?! The LORD BLESSES! We've been working so hard this past week to find people and this upcoming week we have so many people to follow up with. I'M PUMPED! What a tender mercy from the Lord!

Love you all! Keep on keeping on! Jesus loves you!

~~Sister Burton

Our District.

This is the only form of a cat I can tolerate. One of our investigators invited us in to meet it.

Cute, huh?

Stripey Sunday last week!

Week 5: My Feet are Getting Tan

  This week had its hard times, but it was another MIRACLE WEEK! There were a few days when we didn't have much to show for our efforts ( no return appointments, no new investigators, etc). Those are some of the hardest days. But then I remember that good things always come after the not so awesome days. We definitely saw all of that this week!

Random/Funnies:

- We wouldn't miss 7/11's birthday! We hit up our local 7/11 and got our free slurpees. When we pulled up, they had a DJ outside blasting music and tons of birthday balloons everywhere. It was pretty funny!
- Also on 7/11 was Chick- fil-a, Cow Appreciation Day. We were signed up for dinner with the Hansens that night and they called and said they wanted to take us to Chick- fil- a. We were so pumped! We met them there and they brought us some cow get-ups so we could get our FREE entree! They even dressed up their little baby, Eliza! It was super fun and brought back great memories of working on Cow Day.( haha)!
-We found this Hispanic man outside one day, Francisco. We talked to him in a little bit of Spanish, with help from the Spanish materials we had. At the end of our little lesson, we drew a blank on how to ask, "What is your name?" So Sis. Greene said, "Te Amo." He looked blankly at her, then I realized she just told him she loved him. So we quickly caught ourselves and corrected it. But I still tease her, because it's HILARIOUS!
-We passed off Roger to the Elders this week. It sounds like Roger still is having some struggles with things (he's called us a few times this week, randomly). We continue to stay in contact with the Elders to see how Roger is doing.

People/Miracles:

-Donna (who is black....just setting up the storyline):
  We hadn't heard from Donna in awhile, so we went to her apartment building, and lo and behold, there she was just sitting in the lobby. She invited us in to chat with her and her friend, Lorraine.(the lady from my first week that had the super long nails). Lorraine was sharing her beliefs and at first it was really nice. Then, we taught Donna more about the Restoration. We were just trying to see where she was with things. Multiple times, Lorraine tried to put in her "2 cents." We started to ignore her and just focus on Donna. Then Lorraine said she had something she just had to say. She then began bashing us...in a fairly polite manner. But I felt the Spirit withdraw as soon as she started talking.  She said that we worship Joseph Smith's God and how she saw it all on TV.  When we tried to kindly tell her what we really believe, she would shake her head and say, "No, you believe....blah blah blah." Then she would tell us that she doesn't know everything, BUT...
  I was getting hot. I started to shake my legs and avoided eye contact with her. I left it up to Sis. Greene to talk with her, because I was too HOT to say anything else. I didn't want to bash back, but I had a few direct questions I wanted to ask her. It was past 9pm. and we needed to leave. Donna said she would walk us out to the car. She apologized for Lorraine's behavior and said that we were her friends. She said, "No, that's never gonna happen again. She is abolished. BYE." Just the way she said it in her black accent was awesome! We laughed so hard!! She's fantastic!
  Another funny thing she said that night, boy was it funny! She handed us some Famous Amos cookies and we were asking her "Oh, are you sure?" She said, "I'm already chocolate enough." WE DIED!
  Buuuut, she called us the other night and said she wasn't ready for this. We'll have to see if we can talk with her this week and she where she's at. Hopefully, it's not because of Lorraine....

-Ismael:
  He is a former investigator that the Elders dropped a few months ago because they couldn't get in contact with him. The best part?! He lives in little Mexico!! Little Mexico is this rundown, sketchy neighborhood, right by the 91 highway, but we have found so many cool people in there. Anyway, we walked up to Ismael's house and realized Francisco, (the man Sis. Greene said she she loves) was sitting outside...again. It was the same house and we didn't know it!! (haha).
  Ismael was home and he said he was free at the moment. We taught him the Restoration on his doorstep and he had awesome insights and thoughts. He has always been super religious! Long story short, everything went well and we invited him to baptism...and he said YES! We had him pick his date, so now it's set for Sept 9th! We are so excited! We know there are some things to clarify with him and to teach him, but he is super golden! He even offered a prayer in Spanish, thanking Heavenly Father for sending us to see him. He politely asked if he could hug us....but we can't. We were flattered that he was so appreciative/kind to want to give us hugs!

STUDIES:
I studied something super awesome this week and wanted to share! I looked up "hope" and found a few verses that stuck out to me. I first looked up "hope" in the dictionary and it says, "someone on which expectations are centered". I really liked that definition because CHRIST is the person whom we should focus on. Ether 12:4, talks about how hope comes because of faith. We first need to have that faith in Christ and then we can hope!
  Moroni 7:41, talks about how we have hope through the Atonement. Our expectations should be centered on the Atonement of Christ, BECAUSE of our faith in Him. Hope in Christ is where we can be "anchored," like it says in Ether. We can put our trust and expectations into the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ. He makes everything possible! Hopefully this all makes sense to you...it made sense in my head.( haha)

I love you all! Thanks for everything! I think of my big support system everyday and I could not be more grateful!

LOVE,
~~Sister Burton

Cow Appreciation Day with the Hansens

FREE Slurpees!

Exchanges with Sister Webster

Random CD from the Elders

Week 4: Whatta Day

HELLO!

 Ok. Funny note about the subject line. At the end of the day when Sister Greene and I round the corner of the dog park to our apartment stairs, we always say aloud, "What a day!". It's true! Everyday is a new adventure here and we always have something to laugh about!

Funnies/Random: We were in the 4th of July parade up in Anaheim Hills! It was super hot, but fun to walk as a brigade of missionaries, carrying the American flag! I think I heard that some of you saw the pictures. I know someone was posting it on the mission face book page, but I'm not sure what photos got put up. I'd love to see them if you don't mind ;)

- Another random thing, I didn't realize weed was legal in California. I definitely figured that out this week. We got offered some by this small group of young guys. Later this week, we made the assumption that one of our neighbors must smoke it. When we come home for lunch, we can smell weed in our bedroom and it's nasty! We smell it emanating from people's homes when we go finding. Guess I'll have to get used to that smell for the next 17 months. (haha).

MIRACLES/PEOPLE:

-Beau: Wow, Beau. Super neat! He was an investigator a few weeks ago, but with the transition from Elders to Sisters in this area, we lost track of him. We tried to reach him last week, but no luck. We stopped by and called him and no answer. BUT, we received a call from him. He said that he's trying to overcome some addictions and he doesn't know if we can really help him right now. We testified that the gospel of Jesus Christ CAN help him, especially in these times of need. He sounded hopeful and he really seemed to trust us. He's busy with meetings a lot of the time, but he said he would call us back to set up an appointment. YES! We looked him up in our area book right after he called. He told us he was 31 days sober and we looked and it was exactly 31 days since he last met with the missionaries....that is no coincidence. The gospel can help people, seriously!

-Donna: We met her our first week here as we were street contacting. She lives in this apartment building that has a similar feel to all the apartment buildings in Hanover. You have quite a "variety" there. But there are a few people that live there that we've been meaning to see. As soon as we walked up, DONNA was standing there, just opening the door. We were SO happy to see her. We talked to her for about an hour, trying to figure out what she thought of the Restoration pamphlet. She believes in God so much, but she has some mental blocks in believing in Jesus. She cancelled our appointment Friday, but we'll be seeing her again shortly.

-Roger Whiting: I mentioned him from last week. Wow, I wish I could tell you everything about him because he is such a treat. I guess I'll have to give you the detailed story when I get home...I'll never forget this guy! He was pumped to meet with us. He told us he cleaned some chairs off for us so we could sit outside. Roger is...different. We aren't sure what his mental hang ups are, but he kept talking about how he wanted salvation. We talked about the Plan of Salvation a bit and lots of other things (since he goes off on tangents). We invited him to baptism on July 29th and HE SAID YES! He committed to baptism over a year ago and then cancelled it. We hope that doesn't happen again. We prayed and felt right about that date. We know we have a lot to teach him in that short amount of time, but if this is right, the Lord will provide a way. We later found out he moved, JUST barely outside our area...so we're passing him off this week to the Elders. We think that would be better for Roger to have Elders anyway. He didn't come to church yesterday and in order to get baptized you have to come to church at least 3 times. We pushed his baptismal date back to August 5th. We will be passing him off tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted on what happens!

-Miles: He basically fell off the face of the earth this past week. He didn't show to our appointment, didn't text back, nothing. We were heart broken. We gave him a call Friday and he answered! He didn't seem like he still had that same spark and enthusiasm he had when we met with him. He said some things came up and that he would be busy again this weekend. He is supposed to text us this week to set up a time to meet again. We really hope he is open and honest with us because first and foremost, we are here because we care about him and want what's best for him. Hopefully he pulls through this week.

Another cool story this week. We went to find a potential investigator the other night. We pulled into the neighborhood and hopped out of the car. We noticed a moving truck. As we walked past, two younger gentleman popped their heads out of the truck and said, hi. They were super chill, so we chatted with them for awhile. They told us to tell them what we believe. They're both more into science and less into religion, but they were respectful and heard us out. One of them, Daniel, didn't think it was fair that if we died without being religious, we would go to Hell. We told him it's not like that! We talked about the Atonement and the Spirit World. He was SO intrigued. I could see the Spirit touching him because he told us "That changes the whole game."Anyways, SUPER cool guys, but they're from Ontario, CA, which I think is kinda far away.(Definitely, out of our area). But, he said he wouldn't want to hear the gospel from anyone else and that he would drive down here to learn more. We left our card and he hasn't called. But we hope he gets in contact with someone because he really did seem open to hearing! I love having civil conversations with people where we both have respect for one other's beliefs.

  Anyways, another miracle week is about to happen this week! I hit my 1 month mark this past week. Time flies when you're having fun! Feels like I've been gone for years, but now that I'm in the field, it's going to fly by!

 Love you all! Thanks for all the love and support. You all mean the world to me!


~~ Sister Burton

Sister Greene and I trying to do Confetti Poppers

Q

July 4th Parade in Anaheim Hills

Cooling off with the Sisters at Joe's Italian Ice in Anaheim

Our District

With Sister Leif, our Samoan sister.

Leftovers! Watermelon and Korean BBQ.

Passing by Disneyland!

Week 3: Being a Greenie With Greene

 Wow this week has been a crazy one for sure! So many things happened. I'll try my best to highlight the most important parts. Next week's email will be shorter!

FUNNIES:
  We saw a few general authorities last week at the MTC because they were coming back and forth for the Mission Presidents' Seminar. We were sitting in our classroom one night and Elder Rasband walked right past. I freaked out a little inside. We then took a break later in class and walked out into the hall. We were told to wait in the bathroom because they were conducting a "tour," which means they don't want us to bother the General Authority. (haha). Some of our district got to say hello to him as he walked around our building. Super cool!
   Last Sunday we were trying to get to dinner and were stopped because of another "tour." We planted ourselves outside the door so we could see who it was. None other than ELDER HOLLAND walks out. He looks over at our district and waves......so awesome!
  Then, Sis. Brooks and I were studying on an upper floor on our last day in the MTC and we saw a security guy walk by....so we knew that someone important was following him. It was Elder Ballard!! He looked over at us and asked if we were teaching each other. He then approached us and we were starstruck. Pres Martino, president of the MTC, introduced us, because we obviously didn't know what to do. Elder Ballard shook our hands, asked where we were going, and thanked us for our service. We chatted with him for a minute and then he continued with his tour. It was so amazing though!

- I saw a lot of my friends from the Colony this past week! I was walking around campus on Saturday and saw Julia Blackham! I had been looking for her all week and I was happy to have finally found her! That same day, Sister Brooks and I were running across the street, back to the MTC and I heard someone yelling, "JOCELYN JOCELYN!" It took me longer than normal for THAT to register. I turned around and saw Francisco, Katrina, and Gina, (Colony friends) sitting in a car at the stoplight. I ran back and chatted with them for a second and then the light changed. It felt so good to know I have friends on the outside. (haha.)

FIRST WEEK IN THE FIELD:
  We got up good and early Tuesday morning and loaded up our things to go to Salt Lake.  It was bittersweet to say good-bye to our district. They're all going to be great in Anchorage and Florida!
  I was blessed to be able to chat with Mom for awhile before we boarded the plane!
 When we landed in Orange County, there were tons of Elders on their way home from their missions! We chatted with them for a bit and then headed to baggage claim. President and Sister Taggart were waiting for us!
 We went to the Mission home for a few hours to do some training and interviews. I definitely felt like a deer in headlights. I felt so quiet and overwhelmed because I was finally here! It was sad to say good-bye to my MTC friends, but I'll see them at other events.
  Lemme tell you about my trainer, Sister Greene. (Isn't her name fitting). She is a redhead from Manti, Utah and has been out for nearly 5 months. I was so happy President put the 2 redheads together!  She is super fantastic! She is so kind, patient, and super helpful as I'm trying to navigate mission field life!
   Our first area is the Acacia(uh-kay-shuh) Park ward( in Fullerton). By the way, the Fullerton zone has the ASL missionaries so they sign EVERYTHING! I already have a sign for my name! I'm STOKED to learn ASL here and there.
    Fun fact: Sister Greene and I are "pink washing," which means we're both new to the area and this area used to have only Elders. It's definitely a learning opportunity for us both! But we know this field is white and ready to harvest, so

we're PUMPED! The ward members we've met so far said they're excited they finally have sisters in the ward.

  A few highlights:

-Riding in a Tesla!
  Friday night we had dinner with the Dickens. They wanted to take us out to dinner so we met them at the church building for a ride. When we got into the parking lot, we saw an older couple(late 60s-early 70s) with sunglasses on, sitting in this nice Tesla. We slowly started to freak out. A TESLA!?!? We hopped in, and man does this car have gadgets and gizmos a plenty! Basically, it has its own Google maps, a rear camera that is on all the time, a reverse camera that helps you park, etc. BUT the best part, was when we got back to the church building after dinner. We shared a spiritual  thought and had a prayer. Brother Dickens then

said he still had one more thing about the car he wanted to show us. I saw his wife reach for her seat belt, so I asked if we should do the same. He said "eh." We put on our seat belts and he floored it towards a brick wall! It FELT like a rollercoaster. He then told us he wanted to take it on the road. We were in a 25 mph residential area, but that didn't stop him!  Who is this guy!? He floored it and it felt like a facelift. He said, "Oh, we didn't quite get to 70 mph. This is an older Tesla, so it only goes from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds. The new ones get there in 2.2 seconds". He is so cool! He told us he'd give us a ride anytime. We might have to take him up on that offer!

 -Street Contacting:
 Wow, the first day in Fullerton was a crazy one! We were given a list of less active members to contact. I felt really strongly about Kristi Budge. There happened to be quite a few other LA on that road. We carefully planned out who we wanted to see. As soon as we got out of the car, there were a few people placed in our path so we talked to them and shared a message. There is one thing I wish the MTC could've prepared me for a little better, street contacting. I just observed Sis. Greene because I wasn't sure how to best strike up conversations with people. We talked to a few people and then walked down the road to Kristi's house. A skateboarder passed and we said hello! He turned around and asked if we were Mormon. We told him we were. He hopped off his board and said that he was a Mormon too! He was baptized 2 years ago. He has hit a couple rough patches in recent months and he's trying to get his life back in order, We chatted with him about his story and everything. It was so neat! His name is Lewis. He just had so many motivational things to say, we were in awe.
  We started walking again and came to a crosswalk. We saw a young man with a pun shirt that said, "how to pick up chicks" and it had a stick man picking up a baby chick. We told him we liked his shirt and he told us his Mom gave it to him. We got to the other side of the street and started talking with him. We asked him about religion and he didn't know much about Christ. His name is Miles and he said  he was waiting for the bus and that it would be there in 20 mins. So, we taught him about the Restoration on the street corner. He was soaking it up and had great, clarifying questions. Towards the end of the lesson, we gave him the pamphlet and invited him to read it. In his words, he said he was "HYPED." We set an appointment with him for Friday evening. HE IS GOLDEN! It was so fantastic!!
  We continued walking toward Kristi's house and saw some people standing outside. We chatted with them and they seemed very religious. We talked with a woman named Donna for awhile about God and she said she gets so confused with everything going on in the world. We invited her to pray to God and He would tell her what is true. Anyway, it turns out Donna lives near Kristi in the same apartment complex. Donna told us to wait in the lobby and she would get Kristi. We sat down and a woman named, Lorraine, came over and talked with us about God. She has the LONGEST fingernails ever. Pretty sure she could've been in Ripley's believe it or not. Then Donna brought Kristi down. We started talking with her and she said her name is Kristine and she has been attending the Baptist church for 10 years now. We looked at each other, so confused, because "Kristi" was supposedly a less active. We only had 10 minutes to talk to her because it was almost 9 pm. She said she was going in for surgery the following day, so we told her we would pray for her and come to visit her next week. We don't know if Donna got the wrong "Kristi" or what happened exactly. BUT,  if we hadn't gone looking for Kristi, we wouldn't have run into alllll those wonderful people on the streets. The Lord definitely knows what He's doing, even if we have no idea what is happening.(haha)

-MILES:
  Ok, ok. Sis. Greene and I were so pumped for our lesson with Miles. We kept talking about it all day! We had the lesson at the church, outside, since we didn't have any members that could come with us. Miles showed up looking all clean cut and ready to go. He was wearing a shirt with a picture of  Batman riding some waves. Miles said it was another shirt his Mom had given him. (haha). His Mother has good taste in shirts.
  Anyway, we started off with the questions he had. Miles said he was wondering about Hell and what happens after this life. PERFECT, because we planned on teaching him about the Plan of Salvation! We taught Miles the entire lesson, answering his questions as we went.  Miles' questions were so soul searching and SUPER awesome! We talked a lot about Christ and asked Miles what he thought of Jesus Christ  now. Miles said He sounds like a Hero and a good example. YES, MILES!
  Miles said it's been freaky ever since he met us the other day...a good freaky! As we were talking and testifying, he said he would have questions in his head that he wanted to ask, but we answered them before he could even ask them. He kept calling it "FREAKY"(haha). The Spirit definitely led us in that lesson. I could feel it so strongly.
  Miles said he wanted to be a good man and to help lead his future family, so they don't go to Hell. We invited him to be baptized on July 29th and he was a little nervous, because he didn't want to make "the holy waters dirty if he didn't know for sure if this is right". Miles said he really wants to keep learning more and seems so hungry for it. We taught him about the Holy Ghost and prayer and Miles said he would read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true. He said he would get baptized if he knows that God wants him to!
  After the lesson, Sis. Greene and I went in the church and just jumped around for joy! MILES, MILES, MILES! He's so great! We kept asking, "where did this 18 year old boy come from?!" He's so ready. He has been feeling the Holy Ghost as we've talked with him. We're excited to see where this goes! Prayers for Miles that he will be able to know for himself that this is true! While we were teaching him, I truly felt the joy of missionary work. And that's why I'm here!
 Side note: Miles didn't come to church because he had a family thing come up. Hopefully, next week.

-Whiting Ave Miracle

OK. Lemme tell you about a miracle that happened Sunday night. We tried to visit a ton of less active members and none of them where home. We got in the car and looked at our list and decided to call Roger Whiting,  (since we didn't have an address). We called and at first Roger was confused, because the last time missionaries called him was a looong time ago and they were Elders. Roger said, "You called at just the right time. I need help. My girlfriend and I just had a falling out and I was about ready to give up. I want salvation. I'm 69 years old. Is there still time?" Our jaws DROPPED to the floor. It was funny because neither us of had any special prompting to call, but he was on our list for the day. We told Roger we could help and we'd love to come by and teach him. He told us he believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, not a doubt in his mind now. He said all the stars aligned for him in that moment we called. IT WAS CRAZY! He told us he would call us the next day  to set up an appointment. As soon as we hung up, we started jumping around in the car. We then looked up at the street sign where we were parked and it was "Whiting Ave". We were totally in AWE! (See picture). We have seen so many crazy miracles this week! And all in my first week!! Sister Greene asked, "Who ARE you??!"( haha). It most definitely will be a great time here in Acacia Park!

 This week has certainly been an adjustment. I'm still trying to get used to everything. Hopefully as the weeks progress, I can comfortably settle into mission field life. I'm so grateful to have this knowledge of the gospel. What a light it truly is in my life.

 LOVE YOU ALL! Until next Monday!

 -- Sister Burton

Elder Rasband behind the tree.

Elder Holland, waving.

My zone of Sisters from the MTC.

Meeting Sister Greene for the first time.

California dusk. Can't get over the Palm trees.

Loving these Palm trees!

Whiting Ave. Miracle