Springtime means fresh starts and new life! (Monday, March 28, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone else,

And speaking of fresh starts and new life, everything went well with the baptism on Saturday! It was a very spiritual experience for all involved, including the English ward members who couldn't understand Spanish and what was being said but they could feel the Spirit and recognize what a momentous occasion it was. Truly, it was beautiful. The person being baptized was the father in a family with a wife who was baptized 5 years ago in Mexico and an adorable 6 year-old daughter. The daughter said the most precious opening prayer and thanked Heavenly Father that her dad was getting baptized, and then his wife gave a short talk on baptism and what it has meant to her personally. The baptism went smoothly and I could feel the Spirit as he came up out of the water. Then, a ward member who is a very dear family friend to them gave a short talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost and almost couldn't make it through because she was so emotional and full of joy for him. It made me so happy to see their family united in the gospel and I'm excited for what will follow in the future. I really love the people here and I just feel grateful all the time that I get to be here and get to know them. This is the last week of the transfer and I'm really hoping that it's in God's plan to let me stay at least another 6 weeks, but I know that He knows what's best. 

I also had an interesting experience yesterday morning. I woke up from a horrible dream in which a family member whom I dearly love was dying and I was still heartbroken from the pain of it even when the dream was over and I woke up. And then the thought came to me, "But no matter what happens, it will be okay because that person will be resurrected. Because of Jesus Christ, we will all be resurrected." That was the very first waking thought I had, and it brought me peace. I sat up and said "Happy Easter!" to my companion, and she was still pretty groggy so all I got back was a crackly "What?" but I still remember the peace that thought brought back to me. Life is rough sometimes and things happen that we don't always understand, but Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. He has accounted for everything in His plan, including death, and I know that we will all be resurrected one day. That is a gift from God. Not a free gift, because it was paid for with a high price, including the best life this world has ever seen, but we don't have to pay that cost. We will all be resurrected, regardless of what kind of people we are. But whether or not we will be able to return to live in our Heavenly Father's presence, united eternally with our families, is another story. That one does depend on our actions and who we are. And that can be a daunting thought at times too, but in His providing for everything in the plan, mercy and forgiveness are also accounted for and they correspond with repentance. His plan is perfect and I hope we can all take a step back for a minute and think a little more deeply about His plan and our part in it and what we need to do. I love you all and I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter and took a moment to reflect on the sacrifice of the Savior of the world. Have a wonderful week!

~Hermana Burton

Also, I may or may not have become a ginger this week...

Happy Easter soon! (Monday, March 21, 2016)

Dear Mom and all y'all,

As usual I don't even know where to begin, but things are going well
here in Sonoma! An investigator will be baptized on Saturday and I'm
so excited for his adorable family. Their whole story is really
beautiful. As for working with the members, it's an emotional roller
coaster, but that's fine. Heavenly Father is in charge and He knows
what's up. I'm going to cheat and say once again that "a picture is
worth a thousand words" and I hope it's a great week for everyone!
Lots of love!

~Hermana Burton

1. This is my grandpa who I never got the chance to meet. But because
of the Atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I'll get to know
him someday! Check out the Easter video on FollowHim.mormon.org if you
haven't yet.
2. Where's Hermana Burton?
3. She had never had a top bun before. And ironically, both of our
matching shirts came from different companions we've had in the past.
4. Love sunny days!
5. One of the most amazing people in the whole world. And, she forgot
her green... We didn't pinch her though.

Happy ﬨ Day! (Monday, March 14, 2016)

Dear Mom and everyone,

Okay so I know that that symbol isn't pi (it's actually some kind of Hebrew character), but it's the closest thing I could find while searching for about 5+ minutes through the character map. With my luck the real symbol for pi was probably one of the first ones I scrolled through and I didn't see it, but oh well. Use your imagination. Happy Pi Day! I think 3.1415926538 or something like that are the first few digits, and that's embarrassing that I actually know that. I guess having a semi-decent memory comes in handy sometimes, and that used to be on a wall in one of my teachers' classrooms. I wish my memory would help me remember everything that happened this week though! As usual, I'm drawing a blank. I'll start off with the biggest news. Someone who has been meeting with missionaries for over a year will be getting baptized on March 26th! The whole experience was quite remarkable actually and a privilege to be able to be there and be an instrument in the Lord's hands, but I'll simply say that Heavenly Father is willing to help us when we don't know what to do, especially when we are trying to help His children, and He will inspire us through the Holy Spirit to know what to say and what to do. Direction from Him is not always so specific and so direct, but He with His infinite knowledge and wisdom knows what is best for us and what kind of help to offer in each individual situation. Regardless of how He chooses to intervene and respond though, His love and awareness of each one of us is constant. Don't forget that! 

Other than that cool miracle last Monday, the rest of the week was pretty normal as far as missionary work goes. It rained for a week straight and that wasn't super fun, but it sure helped me appreciate the sunlight and made me almost giddy this morning when I woke up and realized that it had finally stopped! I hope you are all having a great week and don't forget to smile! Or you can try this experiment. Try saying something negative in that high-pitched, obnoxiously cheerful and squeaky voice (like the one that Barbie uses or those recordings that come on the phone while you're on hold). It doesn't work very well (but it's pretty funny for the people around you if you're in public). Well, with that, I hope you all have a great week! Stay on the sunny side! 

~Hermana Burton 

Mi abuelita! (Monday, March 7, 2016)

Dear Mom and _________,

I'm going to be honest and admit that I don't remember much of what happened this week. It's all a blur! The days and weeks and months all mesh together and then every Monday pops up and I can never remember what happened this week, or if it was last week, or the week before, or... you get the point. I realized yesterday that it's now March and I got to Sonoma at the end of November. And it feels like I've only been here for a few weeks! Crazy life. 

Well, some highlights of the week are that we have been continuing to meet with a family we have been teaching and they are moving forward in the Gospel! It has been such a pleasure to know them and see the hand of God in their lives. There is a mom and her son, and a grandma who has been visiting from Mexico. The mom and son seemed pretty open and willing to listen, but the grandma was pretty distant at first and I wasn't sure how she felt about us coming over and the message we were sharing. In my mind, I was thinking that the son and daughter will probably listen and want to change but that she wouldn't because she is probably just set in her ways and not willing to open her mind and heart. The first time we went over, she wouldn't come into the living room to sit and talk with us and she was sitting way back in the kitchen at a chair (she could still see us because the rooms are open and connected) but she didn't want to come closer to the couch, even though her daughter invited her to. Gradually throughout the lesson though, she moved closer bit by bit and she finally came into the living room area and sat in a chair in the corner, and then she came to the couch and sat by her daughter and participated in the lesson. She was still really funny though and kept asking us questions as if to make sure that we weren't teaching crazy stuff and going against the Bible, and at the end of the lesson I still just thought that she probably wouldn't want to change and that she was just set in her own religion but that she probably would be mad at her daughter if she decided to accept it. 

Well as it turns out, the next time we went over and asked if they had been reading the Book of Mormon and praying, the mom said that she hadn't had the time but then the grandma had been reading it every single night! Plot twist. We also stopped by another time to drop something off for them and the grandma was the only one home, but she told us to come in and she said she is going back to Mexico soon but that she will look for missionaries and our church there. When we told her we could send them to her if we knew her address, she went and immediately wrote down her address for us. She even came to church on Sunday with her grandson (the mom wasn't feeling well) and she said she enjoyed it and that even though she is a little bit older, it's never too late. In Sunday school she expressed that she wished her whole family could be there at the church and again that she is going to look for the church when she goes home and that she'll come to church here in Sonoma every time she comes to visit. I really love this woman. The more I get to know her, the more I see her like my own abuelita and I am so happy I had the chance to meet her. It's an evidence to me that only God knows the hearts of His children and who will or will not accept His Gospel, and we cannot make assumptions. And it's never too late! The Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses everyone, regardless of age, gender, status, or anything else. It's true folks! 

And other than this great family, I can't remember much of what happened. It has been really rainy and wet so that always puts a damper on things, but we can still have sunshine in our souls! I hope you all have a great week and keep on smiling!

Hermana Burton