On Tuesday, Sister Steele was plagued with the flu, so we spent the day letting her recover! Which gave me lots and lots of study time, so that was great!
Wednesday was my birthday! What better way to spend the day than doing missionary work! We actually got together with a member and her non-member friend, Barbara, to talk about family history and get her more involved in that. She had some cool stories of her family and has a desire to know more about them. The member friend is hoping to move it more into a gospel focused discussion soon, but still a great opportunity!
Also, MAEVE is back in Tustin!! Due to some unforeseen circumstances, she is here for a few weeks. Sister Steele and I had already planned to go to Cafe Rio for dinner and Maeve loves Cafe Rio, so she was able to join us! It was great to catch up with her and hear about life. She's been going through some rough stuff recently, but her faith is stronger than ever. Her mom found out she got baptized and was pretty upset. But she has been softening up and is supporting Maeve in what makes her happy! I was SO glad that it went over okay, compared to the last time they talked about the church! I love Maeve!!
This past week I got to go on an exchange with my "granddaughter," Sister Akers! She is a stellar missionary! We had a miracle Thursday night! We went to try and see a guy the Elders tracted into a few weeks ago. He wasn't home but his girlfriend, Sara, was. She mentioned how she really has no background in religion, but has been wanting to get involved in preparation for her future family. We asked if we could share more and she invited us right in! We taught a few principles of the Restoration, but she doesn't have too much of an understanding about Jesus Christ, so we didn't want to overwhelm her. She is really interested in learning more! We were supposed to have a lesson yesterday but she got engaged Saturday night, so they've been celebrating! We should be getting in contact soon!
SATURDAY FINDS: We had a day full of finding on Saturday, and saw some amazing little miracles! We ran into PETER, who is a homeless guy we met a few weeks ago. We talked to him then and gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. Well, while we were out and about on Saturday, we passed him on the street and he recognized us too! He said he's been reading the Book of Mormon and was drawing similarities between Nephi and his own situation. He said he just felt so much peace from it and was even considering changing religions. He said he would be moving in with his brother this next week, so hopefully once he gets settled, some missionaries can teach him more! The Lord's timing is so perfect! No effort is wasted!
Also, as we were tracting in Santa Ana, we knocked into this guy who wasn't too religious or interested. He then said, "My brother is a leader in your church." His brother is Elder Acosta, the Area Seventy here!! Small world! He knew a lot about our beliefs because of his brother, but we introduced the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet to him and he was eager to read it! Wowzers!
CELEBRATION: Also, in the past 2 weeks, 2 important dates in history! October 14th was Nolan's 1 year baptismal anniversary! I need to give him a call to catch up!
AND on October 21st was the Juarezs' 1 year baptismal anniversary. Such fond memories of both, which I have reflected on recently.
I'm so thankful for this gospel! It's truly such a blessing in my life! I've been reflecting a lot lately on the blessings I've already seen from being on my mission! The people are unforgettable and the memories of seeing the gospel change people's lives is amazing! The scriptures are right, there really is no greater joy!!
There are quite a few "older" women(aka, not of our generation) in this ward that have served missions and I've LOVED getting to talk with them about the blessings they've seen from it! Many say that there's not a day that goes by they don't think about it. And they have seen how it has helped them raise their family!
I'm going to be candid, serving a mission is hard. But worthwhile things are never easy! The blessings and the joy far outweigh the disappointments and frustrations(although at times, those two things seem unmanageable).
I love you all! Thank you for all the birthday love and well-wishes! It meant the world!!! I felt an outpouring of love, from people here and people from all over the country!
Until next time, stay golden.
Sister Burton
2500 N. Bristol St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706
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| Sick day calls for Skip-Bo! |
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| Cute little Sisters made ma a brownie cake! |
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| Cafe Rio with my girl, Maeve! |
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| My family sent me delicious edible arrangement!!! |
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| Maeve! |
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| We even got attacked by sticky notes! |
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| Cool writing in the sky...promoting some club in the area! |
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| No soliciting sign, for religious type people. Strange. |
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| Haircut with Sister Juarez. So good to catch up with her. |
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| Sister Gibson, a member we met to share family history with her friend. |
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| Barbara lives in the hills. Behind us, the ocean and Catalina Island, on a clear day. |
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