The end of one adventure and the start of the next (Monday, August 8, 2016)

Dear Mom and anyone else who is still around after 18 months,

Thanks for everything! See you on the flip side!

~Hermana Burton

MX [Grinning Smiley Face Graphic] (Monday, August 1, 2016)

Dear Mom and all y'all,

Well, here we are! Let me share something cool that stood out to me on
Sunday in sacrament meeting. The speaker was talking about the temple
and how special it is to her, and she had a very powerful way of
explaining why we don't talk about what happens in the temple outside
of the temple. She talked about how it's sacred, not secret, and how
what happens inside is so beautiful and special and personal that she
wouldn't want to rob you of the experience of feeling it for yourself
by telling you everything that happens. I had never thought of it that
way, but it makes sense.

Reflecting back on my mission, I think the same could be said. Perhaps
some of you are waiting for something profound in this email because
next week is probably just going to say "see you on the flip side" or
something similar, and you might be expecting me to sum up all off the
beautiful experiences and lessons I've learned in these 18 months, but
it too is something very special and personal and I wouldn't want to
rob you of experiencing these feelings on your own! I could tell you
about the joy that comes from sharing the Gospel and living the basics
like keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, studying the scriptures, and
praying, or you could do those things and experience the joy for
yourself! You too can have missionary experiences, this very day if
you wish, and it would mean more to you than reading about mine. Of
course if you want to talk about it in about a week or so I'd be happy
to chat, but in the mean time I hope you all have a wonderful week and
find joy in the simple things. Lots of love!

~Hermana Burton

Bulletin pictures

Bulletin pictures 2

Bulletin stuff

"It seems the more I learn about the Gospel, the more simple my
testimony becomes. It really does all go back to the basics. God is
our Father and Jesus Chris is our Savior. They have a plan for us to
return to live with them and following Their plan is what brings us
the most happiness possible, in this life and the next. The more
people I met and tried to serve as a missionary, the more I realized
how simple our message is: God loves you. He wants you back. Pray
about it."

~Hermana Carol Burton

Inventing the light bulb (Monday, July 25, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone else,

Not too much to report this week, we have been spending a lot of time trying to find new people to teach. Hence the Thomas Edison reference. After many attempts of trying to invent the light bulb, he didn't consider all of his efforts a failure. In essence, he said before he finally found out how it did work, he discovered many ways that it didn't work. Well, we haven't found anyone who is interested yet, but we have met many who are not interested. But you know what, I don't consider our efforts a failure either. Not every door you knock or every person you talk to on the street is ready for the Gospel, and more often than not you have to talk to many of those before you find those who have been prepared. I don't know what it going to happen to this area, but I know that it's in Heavenly Father's hands and His are much more capable than mine.

That's something that really hit home to me this week. Some things quite frankly are not within the grasp of our control, and I think a big part of life is learning to recognize what things you can and cannot change and being able to let go of what you have no control over and doing your best with what you can control. The agency of others to make their own choices, the personalities (including strengths and weaknesses) of those we work with, the weather, sometimes our bodies break down, dealing with the mistakes and triumphs of those around us (such as previous missionaries and leaders), etc. These are things that yes, can be frustrating to deal with, but no, we don't have any control over them. To realize that this week and let it go was like a weight being lifted off my chest and being able to breathe again. Truly the only thing I can control is myself and my attitude and how I react to these situations, and what a gift it is that Heavenly Father has permitted us that freedom! We are agents to act, not objects to be acted upon. With that being said, I'm happy! Even with all of the tough circumstances and struggles, there are still many blessings to be accounted for as well. 

Well, have a great week everyone!

~Hermana Burton

Another email in your inbox (Monday, July 18, 2016)

Dear Mom and all y'all,

Pretty good week! The best part of it was a lesson we had with the daughter of one of the members here that I really admire. She is not a member of the church, but she has talked with missionaries a lot in the past before but wasn't really interested in learning more. We always saw her when we went to do a family night with her family, but that was about as far as our communication really went. Well, my companion and I decided to make the effort a while ago to reach out to her and talk to her more, and we became friends with her. When we asked her if we could start teaching her the missionary lessons, she said yes! She just had a baby and he is adorable and I think something inside of her changed with that pretty significant lifestyle change. She is a really great person and I'm really excited that we got to know her. Her dad is a really great example and she asked him to come pick her up and take her to church on Sunday, so it was a tender moment to see them walk in together. She told us how much she has seen the Gospel bless her parents' lives already, and I know that it is going to bless her life so much as well. 

As for the rest of the week, we've been doing a lot of trying to find new people to teach and cleaning up records. The slightly OCD part of me actually enjoys organizing things and even though we don't see a lot of the results right now for the work we are doing, I know it will bless the missionaries who come here in the future. 

And as for me and my companion, we're doing well. We're happy and healthy and doing our best to keep working hard! I hope you're all doing well and having a great week!

~Hermana Burton

9 Pound Diapers (Monday, July 11, 2016)

Dear Mom and anyone else who reads this, 

Well, it's been another week! Quite honestly speaking, it was kind of a "9 pound diaper" week. Here's a quick summary of where the diaper analogy comes from: Someone spoke at one of our meetings last week and shared the story of his grandson who has a stuffed frog that he simply adores. When the little boy throws you his frog, it means he trusts you. This little boy finally started to trust one of the people who had moved into his house, and so he threw him the frog. Then one time after his mother had changed a monumentally smelly diaper (that must have weighed at least 9 pounds according to the storyteller), this little boy instead of carrying it to the garbage can he turned around at chucked it at the person who had gained his trust. After sharing this very humorous story with us, the presenter suddenly got seriously, turned to the audience, and said, "ARE YOU READY FOR WHEN LIFE THROWS A 9 POUND DIAPER AT YOU? ARE YOU GOING TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT AND ADAPT AND GET THE JOB DONE ANYWAY?!" 

Moral of the story, life threw a couple of smelly 9 pound diapers at us this week. Some of them were especially stinky and painful emotionally because they involved people that I dearly love, but we're doing our best to handle it and do what Heavenly Father needs us to do anyway. I know that everything will work out in the end though, and I'm grateful for a few glimpses of sunlight that peeped through during the week. One of them was a really tender lesson in which we were able to testify to the young child of someone we were teaching that the Plan of Salvation is real and that he really will see his loved ones again. I don't think we ever give children enough credit for how much they truly understand and feel. Another ray of sunshine was a family that came to church for the first time in a very long time. Moments like those make the other ones more bearable. Anywho, I'm looking forward to a new week and I have a feeling it's going to be a good one! Hope everyone is doing well!

~Hermana Burton

Feliz 4 de julio!

Dear Mom and ______________,

It was a pretty good week! We were actually able to see quite a few
people, so that was refreshing. We also have a member of our Branch
who is available to accompany us when we go visit people and she came
with us a few times this week and the week before, and it has made
such a difference. We've been able to see people who probably wouldn't
have let us in if they hadn't recognized her, and she has such a great
Spirit about her. Someone we are teaching also came to church again
for the first time in a few weeks, and that made my day! It's
interesting to me how such small and simple things can make a person
so happy. It truly does bring me joy to see people keep their
commitments and progress in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Honestly the
best thing anyone can do for a missionary to make them happy is just
live the Gospel and keep the commandments and do your best! That's all
we need really. Food every once in a while is nice too, but mostly we
just want people to be on the right path and doing what God wants them
to do. Speaking of which, I heard something profound the other day:
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just
sit there!" So true. Even if we're on the right path, we need to be
moving forward on it and progressing.

Another happy note from this week. My companion and I have been
collecting jokes (in English and Spanish) and it has made us so happy!
I think the funniest part is when we tell someone a joke and its the
first time they have heard it, we still laugh harder even though it's
about the fiftieth time we have heard it! Cracks me up. Here's one
from the nine year old son of the person we are teaching:

Have you ever eaten a clock before? Probably not, it's time consuming.

I about died when he told us that. They both came to church yesterday
and they were both singing the hymns! The dad speaks Spanish and the
son doesn't but they both came to church yesterday, and it was so cute
to hear the son trying to sing the hymns in Spanish and participate.
He did quite well in the meeting considering that he didn't understand
what was going on. This is also the little kid who knows that God
exists because we have trees and fresh air. I love children and their
innocence and purity. There's a reason why the scriptures teach us to
become as little children. On that note, check out the new Children's
narration bible videos! They are on lds.org and the Gospel Library app
in the videos section. They are great.

Well, happy Fourth and I hope you all have a great week! Love y'all!

~Hermana Burton

PS- We're still collecting, so send in your favorite jokes! Here's
another sampler for ya:
Por qué no se murió Lehi de hambre en el desierto? Porque vivía en una tienda!

Adventures of Hermana Burton and Hermana Broyles in Woodland - Part 2!

Dear Mom and family and friends and anyone else who reads this,

Well as you can see, Hermana Broyles and I will be staying together
for another transfer here in Woodland! I'm really excited. I'm getting
such great vibes. Seriously it's going to be the best transfer yet.
Bonus, my little hermanita Sister Julander is also staying in the same
zone! I don't even know how what else to say. I just feel happy today,
not because of anything in particular, but I just feel happy. Even as
I write this I'm humming "Tengo Gozo en Mi Alma Hoy."

Cool story. The other day my companion and I went out to Knight's
Landing (or in other words the middle of nowhere) to visit someone who
the other English missionaries found and couldn't communicate with
because she was Hispanic and due to some bad directions and a faulty
address, we got lost for quite some time and we may or may not have
left the boundaries of the mission (unknowingly of course). It was
extremely hot and we didn't even know what was going on, so finally I
just pulled the car over so we could get out and walk to try to find
the address. We walked into this trailer park and were walking towards
the other end to try to find the address when from behind we heard
someone say "Are you sister missionaries? I can tell by the way you
walk." There was a man who happened to glance out his window right as
we walked by and without even seeing our name tags he could tell who
we were. He and his girlfriend has just moved into the trailer we
walked by and he is familiar with missionaries and wants to meet. He
said he knew that we were there to talk to him in that moment.
Afterwards, we finally found the address we had been originally
looking for (2 hours after we started out) and she straight up wasn't
interested. I know that Heavenly Father had other plans for us being
there. We gave their information to the English missionaries and I
don't know what's going to happen with them, but it really doesn't
matter because I know that they needed us in that moment and that's
enough for me.

Also, we've made some progress in the past few days with the members
and establishing a relationship with them that will enable us to work
more closely together, and I'm super stoked for that. Missionary work
is not very effective if the missionaries are the only ones doing it.
We try and we have good intentions, but we simply can't do it on our
own.

Something else happened this week which was good, but I can't remember
it right now so well just leave it at things are going well and I'm
happy and excited about next transfer. Hope everyone is doing well!
Lots of love!

~Hermana Burton

Pictures!

Sweet companion. Twice. Mi hermanita Sister Julander! I also may or
may not have cut her hair today. And yes, that's the first time I've
ever cut anyone's hair. But you know me, I'm always down for an
adventure!

(imagine clever subject line here) (Monday, June 20, 2016)

Dear Mom and you too!

Once upon a time... just kidding. Let's talk about real life. This week was pretty good! It's funny because during the week it seemed like things were going pretty slow and we had all of these set lessons but everything kept falling through, and it felt like we weren't getting much done. But then at the end of the week looking back in retrospect, we actually did a lot more than we thought! Lesson learned I guess. You don't have to be having miraculous moments and huge successes in every second in order to have an over-all successful week. As far some of the good things that happened, we were able to set a baptismal date with someone we have been teaching! We also accompanied a member to visit some of the other sisters that she visits in the area and it was a very positive experience! It's always refreshing to work with members and to feel that we are not alone in the work and that others are fighting for the same cause. 

Another lesson learned this week. Prayer really works. I think sometimes we take it for granted and talk so much about it that we start to lose sight of the beautiful gift it is to be able to speak with God. The other day I was having a rough day and I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated and I couldn't figure out what was going on. But I knew that we had important things to do that day and that I needed to be able to focus on others and help them instead of dwelling on myself. So I went into the bathroom, knelt on the floor, and told Heavenly Father that I was having a rough day but that I needed to get over it quickly so I could go out and help His children. And guess what? I got over it. I stood up and walked out with a smile on my face and I didn't feel any of those emotions again all day and I don't even remember what was stressing me out so much. I know that answers aren't always that immediate, but I am so grateful that in that case I was able to feel relief from a burden that was weighing me down. I don't know what else to say other than God listens to and answers prayers, and He loves us. I know that's true. 

Well, that's it for now folks. Have a happy week!

~Hermana Burton

These are for you, Mom.

Why did the turkey cross the road? Who knows, but I'm sure if you had been there you would have pulled over and looked at them so I did it for you. Love you Modge!

Good times. (Monday, June 13, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone else,

Pretty good week! Some of the highlights were interviews with the mission president and an activity for Father's Day. I always love meeting with the mission president and seeing him and his wife. They are the kind of people that you just love to be around because you feel good about life when you are with them. The activity was also really fun. The food was delicious and they blindfolded the fathers and had them swinging a pole at a pinata, and one of my favorite members here is a really short man and I think the pole was taller than he was. Good times. 

I apologize for the lack of depth and detail in this email, I have tried to write it about 7 times and I keep erasing it and writing something else and erasing it and writing something else, and finally I just left it at that. In any case, I'm doing well and my companion is doing well and things are fine. I guess here's where the phrase "no news is good news" could come into play. I don't have too much to report, but that's because things are pretty normal and we're doing well. Love you bunches! Have a great week!

Hermana Burton

Happy Father's Day!

Also, I might have dyed my hair brown. Don't worry though, this time
was the last time for real (: We need to stop going to Walmart when I
feel bored and impulsive...

My sweet compañera!

Some pics from last week. This is the sweet Sis Julander who wrote to you one week.

Rapunzel

I'm alive! (Monday, June 6, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone else,

I don't have any time to write today, but I just wanted you to know
that I'm alive and doing well! I hope you have a great week!

Hermana Burton

It's Monday again (Monday, May 30, 2016)

Dear Mom and you too,

I'm not even sure where to start! This week wasn't quite as stellar as last week, but that's okay. If things ran smoothly all the time we'd probably never learn anything. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before but you know what they say, if the heart monitor isn't showing ups and downs and it's a smooth line, then that's a really bad sign! In any case though, I still learned a lot this week, and there were some good things that happened too. 

Remember the guy who approached us last week and asked if we had any pamphlets? Well, he came to church on Sunday! When I asked him how he was feeling, he said it was like that feeling you get when you take a deep breath and let it out slowly and you feel refreshed. I love that description. The Gospel truly is a breath of fresh air, especially if all a person has been breathing in for a while is the pollution that the world generates (literally and metaphorically speaking). 

We also had a neat experience with a member who hasn't come to church in while. We began teaching her English this week and she wants to work on her reading and pronunciation so we downloaded the Gospel Library App for her because it has the option of reading out loud to you as you follow along. So now she is listening to the scriptures and General Conference talks, and she is allowing my companion to share short, simple Gospel messages with her so she can practice her Spanish because she is a new missionary. And then she came to church on Sunday! She also has a family member visiting who came along to one of the English lessons and we downloaded the Gospel Library App for him as well and told him he can use it to work on his English and listening and pronunciation. So now he has the word of God on his phone and access to materials of the Restored Gospel! Only Heavenly Father knows what will happen with him, but God works in mysterious ways and anything could happen. It's cool to see how technology plays a role in how the Lord is hastening His work. 

Well, that's a wrap for now folks. Love you bunches! Until next week!

~Hermana Burton

Never been so busy and never been so happy! (Monday, May 23, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone else, 

I feel like the subject line sums up my entire week, but I know that many of you wouldn't be happy campers if I just left it at that so I'll elaborate. 

To start off, let's just say that my new companion Hermana Broyles is the best! I can't even begin to describe how blessed I feel to be her companion. Working with a brand new missionary is definitely a new experience and so much has happened in the past few days and I have learned so much. We have been SO busy this week but we have seen so many miracles! I won't go into all of them because there's not enough time, so here's a few examples:

Wednesday right before we were about to head to dinner, we said hello to a man walking by and he stopped and asked if we had any pamphlets. The only English one I had in my purse at the moment was the Plan of Salvation, so we pulled it out and began talking to him. As it turns out, he has been studying about God and Jesus Christ and he has questions and he wants to learn more about them and change his life. He has a young boy and another child on the way and he wants his family to have religion in their life and he wants to surround himself with better influences. He told us which apartment was his and said we could stop by another time to talk. We stopped by on Friday and he wasn't there, but we left him a pass-a-long card and our number. When Sunday came, we decided to stop by his apartment on our way to church just to invite him, but there was no answer again. Then, during church we received a text from him apologizing for not answering the door because he just woke up and that he said "he'll be ready to join the church next Sunday." We set up an appointment to meet with him Tuesday and it's going to be great. He does speak Spanish too we found out and it sounds like he wants to attend the Spanish branch. Milagros! It's not always that people approach you instead of you approaching them and asking if they want to learn more. 

 Another neat experience happened on Sunday too, which was one of the busiest and craziest days yet but one of the best. At we were walking up to the man's apartment to invite him, we got a call from the first counselor in the branch presidency saying that there was a mistake on the program and they needed speakers and they wanted me to fill in one of the spaces. Keep in mind this is right before church starts. Luckily sacrament meeting was last so I had a minute to think, but Sunday School and Relief Society were so busy and so fast that all of the sudden it was time. Then we walked into the chapel and we had to find some people to ask some questions and everyone was running late (or simply running on normal hispanic time) and we needed to hurry to get up there to take our seats (my companion was replacing me and the branch chorister) and as we were walking up to the front we walked past a member talking to someone I hadn't seen before but I didn't think too much about it until suddenly I had the thought to tell them both good morning and my body immediately turned around without even thinking, even though I needed to be walking forward and not backward. As we talked to them, it turns out the visitor is a member who just barely moved here from Mexico and was baptized within the last month or so. He looked up the address and came to find out the time and didn't end up staying for the meeting, but we got his phone number. When we texted him after church and invited him to the activities this week too, he said he would love to come and thanked us many times for being so kind to him today. And to think that we almost walked right by him without stopping! It was one of those moments where I knew afterward that the Spirit was guiding me and my companion. 

Another spirit-guiding moment: my companion and I were trying to do a few minutes of language study before church so we were reading out loud together from the Book of Mormon when I remembered that my first week in the branch they asked me to give a spiritual thought in Relief Society and I realized they might do the same to my companion and it might make her nervous because it's her first week. So I stopped reading and asked if she wanted to prepare a thought just in case, so she did and practiced sharing it with me. Then first thing that happened when we arrived at the church is that they approached her and asked her to give the thought. And she was prepared and didn't have to stress too much about it! The Spirit is so merciful. I had also found something in my studies that morning that really caused me to think about the Savior and how He ministered and taught one by one and I was able to share that in my talk, which seemed to touch some people's hearts.

I guess the moral of the story is that we have been so busy and so blessed this week and have definitely seen God's hand guiding us and providing for us. I think it's because Hermana Broyles and I have such similar desires and we just want to work hard and do what the Lord needs us to. We're not perfect and Hna Broyles is much closer than me, but bit by bit we're making progress. Well, I hope you all have wonderful weeks too! Lots of love!

~Hermana Burton

Staying in Woodland (Monday, May 16, 2016)

Hello Burtons!

This is Sister Julander :) Sister Burton told me Elder Julander wrote
you last time. He's pretty cool. We found out we are actually third
cousins or something like that.

So your daughter is basically the best and I love her a lot. I was so
so relieved to find that we were going to be in the same zone for
another transfer! We decided to stay together until she goes home in
two transfers. I think President will be okay with that :) She is
training this transfer! The new missionary is sooo lucky! She is so
blessed working with Sister Burton and she is going to learn a lot.
Even though Sister Burton isn't my STL, she still takes good care of
me and has been such a blessing in my life! She is a ray of sunshine
every week at zone meeting.

Anyway, I hope you have a great week! Love you!

Sister Julander

Dear Mom and everyone else,
As you can see, dear Sister Julander offered to write my letter this
week. She is the sweetest thing ever! Also, she's too generous with
her kindness so don't believe everything she says :)

Sister Julander again. While I'm wearing this name tag, I cannot lie
:) carry on

I'm back again. Sister Julander really is too sweet for words. Anyway,
she did tell the truth when she said I'll be getting a brand new
missionary for my next companion. I'll miss Hermana Garcia but I'm
excited for the new adventure! I know I'm going to learn a lot. There
are a lot of people here who need help and I'm excited to just work
hard and keep on keeping on. This week flew by and I can't believe
it's already time for a new transfer! Here's to fresh starts and new
adventures and I hope you all have a great week!

~Hermana Burton

Things will work out (Monday, May 9, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone else,

Sorry for not writing last week, I was really sick on our preparation day and couldn't get out of the apartment. No worries though, I'm fine now. I can't even remember what has happened since the last time I wrote, so I'll just tell y'all about how everything is going here in Woodland. 

There are a lot of wonderful people here and my heart is overflowing with a desire to serve them and help them. There are many struggles with this area and the things that people are going through, but I can't help but see the opportunity for progress and growth! On a side note, I wonder if that's how Heavenly Father sees us? You know what they say, the greater the adversity, the greater the triumph. It wouldn't mean much to climb Mount Everest if it were just a puny little stump on the ground.

One of the people we are teaching is going through some intensely stressful situations in her life that make it hard for her to think about the Gospel when in reality she doesn't even want to think at all. It's heartbreaking because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is literally the thing that she needs the most and would help her get through this hard time, but people have a way of putting on blinders in their hard times that makes them focus only on the negative and what they can see right in front of them. Nothing that a little good old-fashioned faith (you know, believing in things you can't see) couldn't help, but it has to be a choice that the person makes and I can't give this woman my faith. She has to develop it on her own, and it's so hard to have the answer and want to do so much but have to patiently wait as she finds out for herself. That's okay though, because I know that things will work out. <----- I think that statement is probably one of the things I have truly come to believe and know throughout various experiences I've had in my life. As dark and dreary as some days seem, things will eventually work out. Yesterday I was able to share with this woman something I have realized as I've reflected on hard times I passed through in my life: the one thing every one of them has in common is that they eventually ended are are over. In the past. Finished. And even though in the moment I may have thought it would never end, it did. And then things got better, and then worse, and then better again, and then worse, etc, and the roller-coaster we call "experience" goes on. The Book of Mormon prophet Lehi had a better way of explaining that (see 2 Nephi 2 for more details). 

I just had a brilliant idea. Someone should design a roller coaster and name it "Opposition." Do I get royalties for coming up with a great name?

On that distracted train of thought (or should I say roller-coaster of thought?) I don't remember what else I was going to mention. Well, have a happy week!

Hermana Burton

I'm alive! (Monday, May 5, 2016)

Hello Mother!

As you know, we had our temple trip yesterday but I had the stomach
flu so I wasn't able to get out of the apartment to send an email.
Things are better today though, even though I'm not fully recovered
yet. President Wright gave me permission to email you today, so mostly
I just wanted to send a quick note so you know that I'm still alive
and also to see what time I should skype on Sunday? Please respond
soon (:

[Sister Perez called on Wednesday to say Hermana Burton was ill and was not able to send an email, but she didn't want us to worry. She said she had taken her over some Pepto-Bismol and some allergy medicine. She also said she was from the Spanish Branch that Hermana Burton is assigned to, and that Hermana Burton's Spanish is very good.]

This was before getting sick (:

My sweet companion

The one of the far left is a member who was baptized a few years ago and is putting in his mission papers soon and the one right next to my companion was baptized in February and did baptisms for the first time yesterday. The two elders are my co-district leaders.

Exchanges with my favorite Spaniard

One of my favorite families from Winters came to Woodland to take me and my companion out to lunch

Sunday Schedule

Hermana Burton will be calling at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (4:00 Pacific Time) on Sunday. She will only have 40 minutes to talk to us. Dinner should be around 6:00. For scheduling further out, she thinks she will probably be coming home on August 9th, perhaps sometime in the early afternoon because the flight is not very long, but she does not know anything for sure.