Sister Burton Takes on Anaheim!: Week 9: Guess who's baaaack?!

ROGER. The man, the myth, the legend. We'll get to that in a minute though.

Hello friends! I hope you all had a lovely week! I know school is about to start up for a lot of you, so best of luck! My week was pretty good! Here are a few highlights:

People

Juarez Wednesday: YES. Back at it again in Book of Mormon class! This time, they brought a box fan since that small little room is hot as hades. They're so funny! Again, they offered so many amazing insights to the class and they even brought HIGHLIGHTERS and were going ham as we read through 2 Nephi 4-5! They are just so solid. Diana mentioned to us that she fasted on Monday for her son. We had just talked about fasting at church on Sunday and she had a few questions about it. But the fact that she went ahead and did it herself was amazing! We love them soooo much! They're getting things in order this upcoming week to be baptized and we're super pumped!

Time for ROGER: Roger came back into our lives this week. Since the elders that were working with him left, we took him back under our wings. He lives in La Habra boundaries, so we needed to pass him off to the sisters there. We had a lesson Wednesday before Book of Mormon class. We sat down and he mostly talked about his website that he has and other things that he's been up to lately. We asked him about his praying and explained that will help him to feel more of God's presence in his life. The other sisters tried to set up another time they could teach him more, because he had another appointment somewhere. The funniest thing was he went around the circle, saying our names as we were leaving. He said Sister Greene(without hesitation) and then looked at me for a minute....I told him it was Sister Burton. His reply? "Oh, Sister Burton. Yes, I think we've bumped into each other a few times." This was our 3rd lesson with him....not to mention numerous phone calls on top of that. I was DYING! Good ole Roger.
He's called us a few times this week and our phone calls usually last about 30 minutes, because he tells us about his website and how his air conditioner is working and the fan is oscillating. We always try to bring things back to the gospel and invite him to pray and read the Book of Mormon. He still calls me Sister Burney, but that's okay;)

Tender Mercies

Korean class: Okay, maybe this isn't totally a tender mercy, but I'm SO pumped because we get to help out with the English class for the Koreans! We get to go once a week and help them! They are beyond adorable and it's so fun to hear them speak, surprisingly good English! I'm even picking up on a few Korean words!

Church Attendance: My heart was so full yesterday at church. When we walked in we saw Ramona, (one of our investigators that we haven't been able to see very often). She has been trying to find our church for weeks now and has trouble with directions. But, SHE MADE IT! She darted afterwards, but it seems like she enjoyed it. We hope to see her this week and get her thoughts on church. Robert and Diana were there which is always a good time! I don't think I've mentioned our other investigator, Nolan. His wife was a member, but passed away a few months ago. He has been coming to church ever since. His less active daughter, from the Euclid ward, has been bringing him. We got to meet them earlier last week and they were both so awesome! They both want to take the lessons. Anyways, we were able to set up a time this Friday to go over and teach them! We're so pumped! They've finally been opening up to us more and it's been a tender mercy!

The Man in the Van: Okay, this most definitely has been the most unexpected, spiritually uplifting experience I have had on my mission so far. Last night, we were thinking about who we should go see and nothing was feeling right. We thought about Tony, (who is a potential investigator). We recently called him and really had no reason to go over there last night, but we felt that we should. He lives really close to the Institute building, so we park there and walk down. We pulled up and the "Man in the Van" was there! Back story: there is a less active member, Doug, who lives in this bright blue van in the Institute parking lot. We've been trying to get a hold of him for weeks, but haven't had any luck. He came to our ward the first Sunday we were here, but we didn't get to talk to him very much. He was standing in the parking lot, welding something, so we decided that we would check on Tony first. We chatted with Tony briefly, since he was in the middle of dinner, and then we left. As we walked back to the Institute building, Doug was done welding and was just sitting there. We asked if he was Doug and (of course) he was. We started talking with him about what he's been up to and then Sis. Greene asked about how he joined the church. THEN, that's when the Spirit hit. He completely opened up to us and shared such a powerful testimony. He joined the church 4 years ago after his dad died. He was looking for peace in his life and when he was introduced to the church, he wanted to be baptized. With tears in his eyes, he said he knew this church was true. He said in the past 6 months, he has only missed 1 or 2 days of praying. He says it's been God that has been protecting him and watching over him. He said his van should've been broken down a long time ago. He talked about how he feels the Spirit so strongly in his life. He said he hasn't been in the best situations recently, but the Spirit has been a protection and a warning voice for him. He never wants to lose the Spirit. I wish I could share every detail of that interaction because it was such a sweet, tender experience. Who would've thought that this tall, tatted man who lives in a van, could have such a strong testimony? He kept saying how he doesn't want to feel guilt. He wants to be better and wants to make God even more proud. He trusts in God so much and that was completely eye opening to me.
During church yesterday, I was pondering the question, "What Lack I Yet?", in regards to being a missionary. I received the prompting that I needed to be more trusting in Heavenly Father. I don't always have enough faith and trust that He can mold me into the kind of person He needs me to be. Last night, I admitted some of that to Doug and told him that his testimony was strengthening ME! He replied with a question I will never forget, "God trusts you to be His missionary. Shouldn't you trust Him?" I literally was speechless. His testimony was so strong and it pushed me to be a better person. I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear. I knew that was Heavenly Father answering my prayer through Doug. Doug was sorry that we weren't able to see Tony. We told Doug that we didn't know why we were coming to see Tony at first, but we knew then that it was the Spirit leading us there to see Doug. Doug wants to come to Book of Mormon class this week and hopefully we see him at church on Sunday! I'm grateful for that humble, beautiful testimony that was shared last night. I love being a missionary! Getting to have these experiences with people is priceless and I love seeing how the gospel helps everyone!! Last night is a night I will never forget.
In those experiences, I KNOW that Heavenly Father is aware of each of His children. The Spirit truly does lead us where we need to go, even though we may have no idea why. I'm grateful we heeded that prompting because that experience changed my life. The gospel is amazing!! I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who cares for each of us. Even though we might feel like we're in the darkest abyss, as long as we keep ourselves turned towards God, we have no need to fear. Trust in Him, ALWAYS!

What a fantastic week! I'm pumped for another week here in Acacia Park! The Lord is working miracles here!

LOVE,

~~Sister Burton