Dear
Mom and wonderful people,
This week I realized
that most people think about the principle "opposition in all things"
in the sense that because we have good times in life, we also have to have bad
times. However, just as A+B=C and B+A=C, it can go both ways! When we have bad
times, we know that we are going to have good times too because there must be
opposition in ALL things, not just in the good things! There will always be
evil to counteract the good, but there will also always be good to counteract
the evil! I don't know, maybe that only makes sense in my head, but it seems
like a more optimistic way to look at life and it makes me happier so I'm going
to stick with it.
This week was falling
under the category of "bad things," but in the midst of the negative
and difficulties we were able to find good things, even miracles! It was the
first week of the new transfer with a new companion (and Hermana Gudmundson is
wonderful, by the way) and aside from all of the craziness of the new way the
transfers are handled, there was even more added stress because of additional
circumstances and both she and I were feeling a little blue and it was hard for
us to have the motivation to get out and work. When we did though, we were
definitely able to see the hand of God in our lives and we made progress with
the people we have been working with here! We decided to talk to the
less-active Hispanic church members about the Book of Mormon because that is
what we are studying in Sunday School this year, and it opened the
door to allowing us to getting to know them better and seeing what their needs
are.
There is one Hermana
in the ward who has been feeding the missionaries and used to come to church
pretty regularly, but she hasn't been coming in a while and we weren't really
sure what was going on with her. Apparently missionaries only went over to her
house for dinner appointments and shared a quick message then, but no one had
been trying recently to just go and visit her without the expectation of a
dinner so my companion and I decided to just stop by one day and talk to her
about the Book of Mormon. We were planning on just making sure she understood
what it is and why it is so important and we weren't sure if she was even going
to let us in, but she let us right in and jumped up to grab her book and wanted
to start reading right away! Then in the middle of the chapter we were reading,
out of nowhere her husband ran into the room and grabbed a book and started
reading with us too! It's been even longer since he has come to church or
showed interest in doing anything, and he came in on his own and jumped right
in! And it gets even better! They told us to come back and keep reading with
them, and even told us to make sure we came on a certain day because that's the
husband's day off and they both wanted to be there and they are going to keep
reading together until then! She told us that she hadn't left the table after
dinner and she had just been sitting there feeling a little down and almost
waiting for something to happen, and then we showed up on her door. This was
the second time that happened that day, because we had showed up at someone
else's house just in time when they were feeling a little down too. The real
miracle though is that all this happened on a cold and rainy door when both my
companion and I were feeling blue and discouraged, and we were able to help
these wonderful people and cheer ourselves up in the process. Heavenly Father
really is in charge of His work, and He watches out for all of us!
Anyway, sorry that was
so long but just remember that even though there is a lot of darkness and bad
things in the world, there are also many great and wonderful things! As one of
my previous companions would say to anyone having a rough day, "Cheer up,
buttercup. Things aren't as bad as they seem." Love you all! Have a
wonderful and cheery week!
~Hermana Burton
Pictures!
I have never found a
street with my name before! Also the bottom
picture was yesterday... We were out walking and I was thinking to
myself, "Well, isn't this a nice spring day!" Then I remembered that
it was January 10th, the middle of winter... Finally we had a warm
day! It has been cold and rainy, but yesterday the sun came out for a
bit. Winter here is overcast and between the time spent in the car and
in people's homes, that's probably why I don't have much vitamin D.
picture was yesterday... We were out walking and I was thinking to
myself, "Well, isn't this a nice spring day!" Then I remembered that
it was January 10th, the middle of winter... Finally we had a warm
day! It has been cold and rainy, but yesterday the sun came out for a
bit. Winter here is overcast and between the time spent in the car and
in people's homes, that's probably why I don't have much vitamin D.
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