*We got to participate in the 4th of July parade in Anaheim Hills! It was so fun to see everyone come together to celebrate this wonderful country we live in and the freedoms we enjoy!
The best part of the parade, was seeing the JUAREZS! I saw them at the very beginning and my heart was so full! Better yet, we were able to meet up after the parade and chat for a bit! I love them so much and it just made my day that I got to see them!
*The next day I went to Anaheim, to go on exchanges with Sister Hoschouer! She has been out about 8 months, and wow, she is such a powerful testifier! As we went about our day talking to people, she just kept sharing a sincere, heartfelt testimony, that quickly brought the Spirit in! I learned so much from her! We even got to teach the Plan of Salvation to a stranger at the park! We weren't entirely sure if he was high or not, but we felt the Spirit, so we know we were supposed to be there!
*One rock-star member, Haylie, invited us over for dinner on Friday to meet her non-member friend, Alyssa. Haylie has been trying to share the gospel with her best friend for years and so she told Alyssa that she's preparing for her mission and asked if we could come over and "practice" on Alyssa. Alyssa was so excited and even helped make a delicious steak dinner for us! After dinner, we taught the Restoration. Alyssa comes from a strong religious background, but was still asking questions and really seemed to grasp the need for the Restoration. She kept saying how she knows we're doing the Lord's work and that we're so passionate about this message! The Spirit was so, so strong during that lesson. Alyssa excitedly accepted the invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it! AND, we have a lesson with her, this upcoming week as well! Her intent seems pure and real, but we'll be able to figure that out a little bit more this week! WOO HOO for member missionary work!
*Our dear friend Maeve, is doing so well! She spent this entire week in Provo (touring BYU, visiting the Provo City Center temple, Temple Square, etc). She sent pictures and was keeping us updated on her trip! She has been eating up the scriptures and feeling EVEN MORE that all of this is true. We had a little Skype lesson with her last night. We discussed her reading in Alma 42, and talked about the need for the Atonement and the importance of mercy and justice. She said that every time she reads the Book of Mormon, she ALWAYS gets something out of it! Today she flies out to Alabama for her next adventure and to her religious FREEDOM! She apparently talks about "her missionaries," all the time to her boyfriend! She was reminded of us as she met the Sister missionaries at Temple Square. And in her cute prayer last night, she thanked Heavenly Father for her "two beacons of light that came at the time she needed them most." I love her SO MUCH! She means the absolute world to me. She is one of the reasons that I've been in this area!
*Another super, amazing miracle this week was Cassity! Like I mentioned last week, she's been praying about a date to be baptized and the number 29 kept coming to mind. Earlier this week, she said NO WAY would it be July 29th, maybe September, or somewhere else down the road.
Well, we had an amazing lesson this past Saturday with a member from our ward, Brad. We really just started following up on how her prayers have been going, since that is something she's been struggling with. She had some beautiful experiences this past week where she literally poured her heart out to Heavenly Father and felt so much peace. These little details of doctrine that have been holding her up, aren't anymore! We were just following up on all of that and she said, "I wanna get baptized..this month....July 29th!" WOW! WOW CASSITY! When we told her that we've been praying for her and over the past few weeks, July 29th has been coming to our minds too, she just started bawling. She felt the Spirit so strongly in that lesson and didn't have her usual freaked out feelings after committing to baptism.
At church yesterday, she was excitedly telling everyone she's getting baptized and inviting them all to come! She is so ready to make this leap and to be "all in" to the gospel. I LOVE CASSITY! I would take a year and a half of rejection for Cassity and/or Maeve! I'm so blessed to have met them and to now be eternal friends! I realized that as I'm out here to serve others, Heavenly Father in the meantime, blesses me with people like them! I am so spoiled!
*TRANSFER NEWS: These next few transfers are about to get interesting....Sister Brooks and I were both called to train! Plot twist, we will now be solo Sister Training leaders, (so almost like female district leaders). I'm sticking around here in OHYSA and Sister Brooks will be training up in the Fullerton Stake! We've been letting our minds wrap around this idea for the past few days, since learning about it. We're excited for the adventures that lie ahead and that we get to "bear children in the wilderness." I'll definitely miss Sister Brooks, soooo much! Its been so fun to serve, learn and grow together! We worked really hard these past 2 transfers and we see the work progressing. So amazing! Onward to more adventures!!!
*My spiritual thought for today comes from an MTC talk from Elder Holland in the early 2000's entitled, "The Miracle of a Mission." I've been pondering this thought a lot the past few weeks and thought I'd share it with you:
"You cannot have a mission and you will not succeed on this mission and you won't be happy and you won't be acclimatized to the culture until you give your life over to God and say, 'This is Thy work and I'm only the instrument. I'm on the pencil, but you've got to do the writing'. That is the most important thing for a missionary to learn, ever!"
I've learned that I'm happiest when I'm not worrying about myself or my will. Missionary work is demanding, but oh so worth it! Missionary work really comes down to the basic principle that all we have to do is be the instrument. The Lord's work moves forward no matter what, but we've been called to be instruments and that's what we've gotta do!
Love you all! Thanks for your continued support! I'll be picking up my new companion tomorrow evening and then we'll have a crazy full week of meetings, lessons, and miracles! I'm so excited to meet her!
Sister Burton
2500 N. Bristol St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706
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| Farewell dinner for Sister Greene last Monday with THE DAYS! |
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| Adorable Cassity with Damon photobombing! |
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| Hermana Vera goes home too:( |
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| Yo, let your voice be heard! |
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| The Orange Zone. |
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| 4th of July fun! (not sure why we're gasping). |
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| THE JUAREZS |
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| Cassity! |
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| Of course, the B-Team had to tract B Street! |
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| Farewell picture with a portion of our Relief Society. |
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| MY MOM. (She goes home tomorrow and I'm devastated)! |
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| With Maeve and Grayson last night! |
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