I still have no idea what to write in the subject line. (Monday, August 17, 2015)

Dear Mom and ________,

Well, it's been another week! It seemed like it went by especially fast this time because we had a Zone Conference and we saw our mission president and his sweet wife, and then we went to the temple on Saturday with someone my companion had taught in a previous area who was baptized. It was really cool to see that someone was taking that next step and continuing to progress, because many people get stuck between baptism and going to the temple. We drove down there with one of the members of our ward, and she is the sweetest thing! Zone Conference was really enlightening too and I am so grateful for the leadership of a wonderful mission president who truly was called by God to be here. 

Other than that, Willits is still Willits and life goes on. We are teaching the most wonderful family and I always feel much better about life after visiting with them and talking about the Gospel in their home. They are a young couple with two young children (who I have already adopted as my honorary nephews, I think I'm up to about 20+ neices/nephews by this point), and it is so wonderful to see them embrace the Gospel and truly desire to have it in their homes. Working in this ward can sometimes be very challenging because there are about 500 members on the record, but only about 30-40 who are actually active, and even many of those are only active on the outside because their hearts aren't really in it. Even though that is a serious struggle, I am grateful for our little family we are teaching and to see the difference that it makes in their lives and to see how much they love it and actually want it.  

"Cultural" sidenote of the week: I was just informed last week that I am living in the region known as the "Emerald Triangle," known for having the best and strongest marijuana in the United States. It is literally everywhere, and so are its horrendous effects. My companion and I went to visit a church member (one of the 500 who nobody knows about) and his house had a huge, wooden fence all around it so you couldn't see into the yard. It had a latch though, so we just lifted it up and went in. The pathway to the house was bordered on one side by a wire fence, and the other side had these gigantic bushes that overflowed onto the path so you wouldn't be able to walk on it. Not to be deterred, my companion and I squeezed through the bushes and made it up to the front door, to the surprise of the owners who promptly asked us how we got there. When we explained that we came through the bushes, they asked if we were from Utah because we couldn't tell what kind of bushes they were. Turns out, we had just waded through thousands of dollars worth of straight up marijuana. They weren't interested in anything we had to say, so we left and went promptly home to change our clothes because we reeked of weed, and so did the truck after we got in it. Thankfully it had aired out before the car inspections at Zone Conference, or that might have been another interesting story. Good times. Welcome to Willits! 

Well, thanks for everything and I hope you are all having a good week! Lots of love!

Hermana Burton 

Another exchange with Sister Fiji!

I found this great picture of your Dad. I can't wait to meet him someday!

(:

Thoughts (Monday, August 10, 2015)

Dear mom and y'all, 

My companion shared something this week that really made me think, so I wanted to share it with the rest of you: 

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons.
In his opening address he said,
"We can't keep Christians from going to church."
"We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth."
"We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with
their saviour."
"Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken."
"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish
dinners, BUT steal their time, so they don't have time to develop a
relationship with Jesus Christ.."
"This is what I want you to do," said the devil:
"Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that
vital connection throughout their day!"
"How shall we do this?" his demons shouted.
"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable
schemes to occupy their minds," he answered.
"Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow."
"Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to
work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their
empty lifestyles."
"Keep them from spending time with their children."
"As their families fragment, soon, their homes will offer no escape
from the pressures of work!"
"Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."
"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they
drive." To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in
their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world
plays non-biblical music constantly."
"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."
"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers."
"Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day."
"Invade their driving moments with billboards."
"Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs,
sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering
free products, services and false hopes.."
"Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines and TV so their
husbands will believe that outward beauty is what's important, and
they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. "
"Keep the wives too tired to love their husbands at night."
"Give them headaches too! "
"If they don't give their husbands the love they need, they will begin
to look elsewhere."
"That will fragment their families quickly!"
"Give them Santa Claus to distract them from teaching their children
the real meaning of Christmas."
"Give them an Easter bunny so they won't talk about his resurrection
and power over sin and death."
"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive."
"Have them return from their recreation exhausted."
"Keep them too busy to go out in nature and reflect on God's creation.
Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, plays, concerts, and
movies instead."
"Keep them busy, busy, busy!"
"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip
and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences."
"Crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek
power from Jesus."
"Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their
health and family for the good of the cause."
"It will work!"
"It will work!"
It was quite a plan!
The demons went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians
everywhere to get busier and more rushed, going here and there.
Having little time for their God or their families and friends.
Having no time to tell others about the power of Jesus to change lives.
I guess the question is, has the devil been successful in his schemes?
You be the judge!!!!!
Does "BUSY" mean: B-eing U-nder S-atan's Y-oke?

Now to balance that with something that President Uchtdorf said:

 "Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life. Is it? I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished. I can’t see it. Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time."

I hope you are all having a good week! Lots of love!

Love Hermana Burton

A picture is (still) worth a thousand words! (Monday, August 3, 2015)

Dear Mom and _________,

Sorry for not writing much again this week, but here are some pictures
of what has been happening!

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