Sister Burton Takes on Anaheim!: 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