Another week! (Monday, July 27, 2015)

Dear Mom and you,

I don't even know where to begin! I hardly even remember this week happening. We picked up my new companion down in Santa Rosa on Tuesday and it was really hard to say goodbye to Hermana Akre. We worked hard together and laughed a lot together, and I am grateful for at least the six weeks that we did have to be companions. Sister Peterson and I have been working hard too, because Dave is going to get baptized on Friday! I seriously never thought that I would see him again (Dave is our missing Waldo, if I forgot to mention that). He is so excited and the changes I have seen in him are simply remarkable. He has changed so much in such a short period of time.

What else happened last week? Oh, I almost chopped all of my hair off. We found out that Saturday was the Relay for Life event here in Willits, so we went to help out and do anything they needed us to. Afterward, we went over to visit PJ and she was like "Oh good! You still have all of your hair! Last year when the missionaries helped over there, they all donated their hair." I told her that I didn't realize they would do it there for you, so she and I made the spontaneous decision to go back over there and see if anyone wanted to cut our hair to be donated. They didn't have anyone this year who was doing that, but we did find a person there who was licensed to cut hair so we went and asked if she would, and she was taking a really long time deciding if she wanted to (she said she was really tired). By that time, I was getting a little nervous and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I simply said to myself (and Heavenly Father) that I would leave it in her hands- if she was willing to do it, I would donate my hair. If she wasn't, then I wouldn't do it that day. In the end she decided that she didn't feel like it, so I didn't end up cutting it. The next morning I realized that it was probably best that I didn't because it is so easy to take care of right now and it doesn't take much time to do and it looks good, and I can spend that time that I save doing more important things as a missionary. 

I realize that it's really not that important and I probably shouldn't have wasted all of your time by recounting that story, but it helped me realize again something that I already knew: God really is in the details of our lives. I know that in the eternal scheme of things, 10 inches of my hair really doesn't matter. At all. But it mattered to me in that moment, and so it mattered to Heavenly Father. He cares about each of us individually, and that is why He has asked us to always involve Him in everything we do. It made me think of these scriptures in Alma 34: 

"Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks. Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your house-hold, both morning, mid-day, and evening. Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies. Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness." 

Almost in the same breath as telling us to pray to Him for strength against evil, He tells us to pray to him about chickens and wheat. I think the point He is trying to make is that we need to involve Him in all aspects of our lives. My bishop's wife put it really well: we can't expect Him to help us in ALL things if we don't include Him in ALL things. I am grateful to know that I have a Heavenly Father who cared about the little things as well as the big things, and I know that He is in the details of your life too. Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Burton

Here we are again! (Monday, July 20, 2015)

Dear Mom and ________, 

Well, this week my fingers are all better and my keyboard has all of the letters, so we're off to a great start! First the news: it has been six weeks again (has it really?) and transfers aretomorrow, and I will be staying here in Willits. My sweet companion Hermana Akre is off to Healdsburg, and my new companion will be Sister Peterson. I believe they are eventually looking to change Willits to an English area, but instead of simply throwing two new English Sisters into it, they have made it into what they call a "zebra" companionship, where one missionary is Spanish and the other is English. So it will be interesting to see how that works out. And, I will probably be staying here for at least one more transfer after this because Sister Peterson goes home at the end of this one, so that will make it a total of six months for me here in Willits. More news: we're switching cars and I will have to say goodbye to the Jeep (which I dearly love). Who knows why, but we're getting a truck instead. I still can't wait to see our investigators' faces when the two of us show up in this big truck. 

One of the great things about staying here in Willits is that I will most likely be here for the baptisms that we have set! We have four coming up pretty soon and I am so excited that I will get to share these special moments with these very special people. It was really hard to watch my companion say goodbye to the ward members here and the people we are teaching. Just when you think your heart has reached its full capacity, Heavenly Father opens it up even more and shows you that there is still room. 

Love truly is the center of this work- after all, it is the main motivation behind everything that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ever do. No wonder it is considered such a sin to "harden your heart." Not much can happen if we don't allow God into it. Truly, the only thing we can give Him is our heart. Our time, family, friends, money, education, etc, all of it came from Him and is already His. The only thing He doesn't have and has promised to never take away is our heart and our will, so that is truly the only thing that we have to offer Him. And once we do give it to Him, He turns around and gives it back to us in better condition. He changes it and changes us to be more like Him, which is really why we are here in the first place. I am starting to realize this more and more every day, but as usual actually doing it is the hardest part. 

I've also been thinking a lot about self-discipline and self-control lately, especially because we just had an amazing lesson with one investigator about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, and I was thinking about how President Packer was absolutely right when he said that "One who can control his thoughts has conquered himself" and that learning to be completely in charge of our minds and our bodies is another main reason we are here. Our bishop's wife shared something with us that a General Authority challenged her entire mission to do and I would recommend to all of you as well: Pick two things each day that you really want to do, and don't do them. Pick two things each day that you really don't want to do, and do them. It's not easy and sometimes as a missionary there are some things that really do not seem appealing, but one thing I have always admired about Dad is how reliable he is and that he always does what needs to be done, whether he wants to or not. I wish I had learned that lesson sooner, and I'm still working on it now, but better late than never. As Sister Alba (our former mission president's wife) always said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." It's never too late to make a change! 

I hope everything is going well, and have a great week everyone!

Hermana Burton

Sometimes, I honestly have no idea what's going on... But that's okay (:

White deer (literally)

These are the white deer that were given to the Ridgewood Ranch (where
Seabiscuit lived) as a gift from a foreign country because of
Seabiscuit and they are only found here in the States. I had a feeling
that you'd like to see them Modge (:

Is this not one of the most precious things you've ever seen?

Waldo's back! (Monday, July 13, 2015)

Dear Mom and people,

Just so y'all know, my keyboard is missing the letter that comes next to "e" in the alphabet, so some words might not make sense. Just a heads up. Anyway, our missing investigator is back! It's a long story and a miracle in itsel, but the most important thing is that he is alive and well and he is back in Willits. And he still wants to be baptized! That was one o the irst things he said when he saw us again. Heavenly ather deinitely has His own timing, but I am so glad that He is in charge o His work. Luckily He knows what He is doing, because sometimes we sure don't! He's great, though. Seriously. This was a great week. It was kind o crazy, as usual. And then I burned every single one o my ingers on my let hand on Saturday while making cookies or a lesson, which wasn't very exciting. I thought they would be ine ater about 30 minutes, but then about 4 hours later they were still burning. We called the mission nurse and she said they were most likely second-degree burns. So, that was great! They're almost all better now though and everything is ine. And la vida is good (I tried to write the English word, but "lie is good" didn't quite look right). Anyway, I hope everything is going well with everyone! Lots o love!

Hermana Burton

Happy Monday! (Monday, July 06, 2015)

Dear Mom and everyone else,

Well, I don't have a lot of time to write today because I was having technology problems and wasn't able to access my email, but everything is going well here in Willits! The miracles keep coming and we met President Wright and his sweet wife, and I can already tell that I am going to love serving with them. So I found this really funny "epistle" and thought I'd copy and share it this week because I don't have a lot of time to write. It's not intended as a hint or suggestion, but I'll include my address here in Willits for those who feel so-inclined (:

The Epistle of the Missionaries to Letter-Writers

Chapter 1

1. In the beginning was the mailbox, and the mailbox was void of letters.
2. And the missionaries said, "Let the box be filled," and the box was
    not filled.

Chapter 2

1. And we give unto you the parable of the two letter-writers.
2. At the hour of noon, a certain scribe sat down to write a letter.
3. And the scribe did think of many things to write, but lo, he spent
    so much time thinking that he did not write.
4. Nevertheless, he felt good because of his intentions.
5. At the same hour, a publican sat down and wrote a few words as he ate.
6. Yet, he felt guilty at not writing more.
7. And lo, two years did pass and the missionary returned home, and
    passed by the scribe's house.
8. Yea, he went even unto the house of the publican and did visit the publican.

Chapter 3

1. And if you should spend but five minutes writing one letter to a
    missionary, how great shall be your joy.
2. And if your joy be great with one letter, how great shall be your
    joy with many letters in the mailbox of a missionary.
3. Else why did they build post offices if letters are written not at
    all; why then do they build post offices?

Chapter 4

1. But some will say, "A letter! A letter! We have already written a
    letter. What need have we to write any more letters?"
2. Know he not that there are more days than one? And more events in a
    day? Why think ye that those events need not be reported?

Chapter 5

1. And we give unto you the parable of the self-addressed-stamped envelopes.

2. When a missionary departed unto a far-off land, he gave a certain number of self-addressed-         stamped envelopes to his friends. 

3. Unto one he gave five, and unto another he gave two, and unto another he gave one.

4. And while he was gone, he that was given five envelopes wrote five letters and then in zeal             wrote five more.

5. The same with him that had been given two envelopes; he wrote two letters and then two more.

6. But, he that was given one self-addressed-stamped envelope became slothful and careless,         and lost the envelope, even that which he was given.

7. And when the missionary came home, he went unto his friends.

8. And he that had written ten letters was warmly greeted; the same with he that had written four.

9. But, he that had written none at all was given nothing more than a fish-like handshake. 

Hope you enjoyed the laugh as much as I did! Lots of love and have a great week!

Hermana Carol Burton

160 S. Lenore Ave. #28

Willits, CA 95490

More miracles!

Dear Mom and remarkable people,

Well, it's been another week! It was kind of crazy because we had an All-Mission Conference on Wednesday down in Santa Rosa so we could say goodbye to President and Sister Alba one last time, and they will be on their way home today. President and Sister Wright are already here in the mission, and we will get to meet them on Saturday. I learned so much from President and Sister Alba, and I know that I am going to learn so much from the Wrights as well. 

I hope you all enjoyed hearing about all the miracles last week, because I have another one in particular that I want to share! We had a lesson on Saturday with our investigator who will be baptized next year, and he is one of the coolest people in the entire world. A little bit of background before I go on: we showed up for a lesson with him once and he came out with a bottle of coke for each of us (I don't normally drink a lot of pop, but we generally accept whatever people offer us, except for drugs of course). Since that time, he always has some kind of drink or little treat for us when we come over. On Saturday, we were running a bit late because we had to turn around and go back home to pick up the Conference talk that we wanted him to read, so we decided to take him some cookies I made that day and a bottle of cold water to make up for us being late. When we got there, he said "Oh is that water for me? I have some water for you too!" And sure enough, he had bought an entire case of water for us. We got closer to the trailer and something smelled really good, and we discovered that he was also grilling hamburgers and Italian sausage for us in a little dutch oven on the ground (he knows I lived in Italy for a year and he said that I probably like Italian sausage because they eat so much of it over there). Then he goes in the trailer and comes out with ice cream bars and tells us to pick one. It was so funny because he said that while he was getting everything at the store, he really wanted cookies but he decided not to go down that aisle. Then when he got home, he was really hot and thirsty and wanted something cold. Then we showed up with the cookies and cold water! We had an amazing lesson with him about the story of Enos and the power of prayer, and he told us that he always feels so light when he meets with us and that all of his prayers are being answered. After the lesson, he went in the trailer and came out with a bag of bananas and peaches and yogurt for us to make smoothies with because says he remembers us saying how much we love smoothies once. Even if I just stopped right there, the story is pretty remarkable but what's makes it truly miraculous is that I only have $5.08 in my bank account for this month (I'm still catching up from that one time my companion and I got scammed into $40 haircuts, but that's a different story). Each week my companion and I buy a case of water (because the water isn't clean that comes out of the tap) and I would only have had enough money to buy the water this week because it's my turn and I figured I would just eat oatmeal for a week. And then we discover that our investigator bought it for us and even got us smoothie-fixin's to top it off. Tender mercies, my friends! It was an answer to a prayer that I didn't even say, yet Heavenly Father is still watching out for us.  I know He is watching out for you too. 

Happy Fourth of July to everyone this Saturday! I hope everyone is happy and doing well!

Hermana Burton

PS- So this same investigator just barely texted us (we are going to have a lesson with him tonight) and he said "for after study I bought Kentucky Fried Chicken family dinner if y'all hungry" so we texted back and said "You have got to stop spoiling us! We're getting fat!" and his reply was "Thats ok God has someone for y'all who dont mind" Haha always trying to lift our spirits! On a more serious note, it is really amazing to hear him when he prays while we are there. He is so sincere and honest with Heavenly Father, and I remember one time when he thanked Him for sending us over there and said that we really are making a difference in people's lives. And of course this happened on a day when I was a little discouraged and wondered if my being here was even helping any body at all. Heavenly Father does answer our prayers, even through the prayer of other people.

Coincidence? I think not! (Monday, June 22, 2015)

Dear Mom and many other marvelous people,

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?" Moroni 7:27. The answer is a resounding NO! Miracles have not ceased! 

Yesterday was a day overflowing with miracles. To name a few: we met a young man standing by the door of the church yesterday, and it turns out that he is a member of the church but has not come in five years. No one even knew about him because his records were never transferred here. And guess what! He is Hispanic! Let me fill you in on the background. To show our faith in our calling as Spanish missionaries and that there is a reason that we are here in Willits, Hermana Akre and I set a goal to speak to each other only in Spanish this week. We set this goal last Friday, but planned on starting it today. And yesterday, before we even started our goal, we found someone to teach in Spanish! And he has Hispanic friends he wants us to visit! I am amazed. After only setting the goal, Heavenly Father is already opening the windows of heaven for us. I can't wait to see what more comes of it this week from actually following our goal.

Another miracle: our lesson in Relief Society was an answer to my prayers and questions. For those of you who don't know, the lessons are assigned even up to a month in advance.

Another miracle: We found a way to get in touch with our missing investigator's boss, who will see him this week. We left him our phone number and received the assurance that he will pass it on to "Waldo." We know he is still alive and well and that he will have a way to get in contact with us soon.

Another miracle: We set a date with another investigator who cannot be baptized until November of 2016 due to parole. He agreed to prepare to be baptized the week after his parole is up. When we invited him to pray and tell Heavenly Father about his plans to be baptized and to be accountable to Heavenly Father for it, he said the closing prayer and said on the spot: "Heavenly Father, I am going to be baptized on November 5, 2016. I know it will be a fresh start." 

Another miracle: One of the less-active members of the church here that we have been visiting sent us a text message yesterday and asked when we could come over this week. He has never really cared about us coming over and seems to "put up" with our visits, but he has been ignoring messages and phone calls and acting very apathetic towards everything and the church. And out of the blue (we didn't even see him last week), he texts us and says he wants to meet with us. 

Miracles have not ceased among the children of men! As a wise and very persecuted prophet once said, "God Almighty is my shield; and what can man do if God is my friend?" 

He is your friend. He is your Father. Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful fathers in the world! I personally have been beyond blessed to have the father that I do. Thank you for everything, Dad! 

Lots of love,

Hermanita Burton

Where's Waldo? (Monday, June 15, 2015)

Dear Mom, etc,

I don't even know where to start! Actually I don't even think I remember anything that has happened in the past week, it was such a blur! My new companion is Hermana Akre and she is originally from Canada but her family moved around a lot so she has lived in six other states as well. She was in Canada the longest though, so that's what she claims as home. I love her so much! We have worked so hard and laughed so much in the past week. Every night we come home and it feels like the events of the morning happened a month ago and not a few hours ago. One blessing I have been given is to work with companions who are "old" (according to the other 19 year-old missionaries) and they teach me so much. Hermana Hamblin was almost 24 and Hermana Akre is 22, and I love their wisdom and maturity. I know that the age requirement was changed for a reason and that it is all in Heavenly Father's plan, but I must say that working with the two of them is helping me become a better 19 year-old missionary. 

So, on a fun side note, our investigator disappeared...  (sorry, but his name isn't Waldo) He was going to be baptized on June 27th and I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen (we know have no clue where he is), but oddly enough I'm not worried about it. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever met and he motivates me to be a better person. Examples: he walks miles to get to the church in the unbearable heat carrying a large print copy of a triple combination (if you've never seen one, they're gigantic) and even stays to sing with the ward choir. All the years growing up when I complained about church lasting for three hours, and now he has only been coming for a few weeks and he is always happy and cheerful and stays for four hours! Not even the ward members here are willing to do that. And he always arranges his schedule to make sure he can meet with us. When one of his friends starting sitting in on the discussions, he bore his testimony about the Book of Mormon and how things are changing in his life once he started making an effort to recognize God in his life, and even his friend started talking about the changes he has seen in him already since he started meeting with us. We went over to the trailer park where he lives to see if he had come back yet, and we met with some of his friends and neighbors who we started teaching and they told us about how he keeps telling them about us and the church and how he is committed to joining and making changes in his life. And such humility! He is a single man in his 50s with no connections really with his family, and he is turning everything around. He taught himself how to read in his 20s and has been devouring literature ever since. He is now going back to college and devoting himself to church and activity attendance. So yes, we have no idea where he is at this moment, but no, I'm not worried about him. We will see him again, and I can't wait! He truly helps me improve and realize how much I have been given. 

We also had the opportunity to do a lot of service this week, which was so fun! We went to the Senior Center and painted nails for the elderly women there, and I couldn't believe how happy they were and grateful for such a simple service. They have taught me a lot too.

Well, that's all for now! I hope everything is going well with everyone!

Hermana Burton