Sister Burton

Sister Burton

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Christmas!

This week was amazing! It was super slow as far as teaching goes but it was amazing in every other aspect! Because Christmas was on Thursday we had District Meeting on Tuesday! We gave each of the Elders a St. Albert Pin. But we didn't just give them a pin, we gave them a pin stuck in jello. :) It was the funniest thing I have ever seen! They loved it!

 

Elder Allen and Elder Albertsen getting ready to eat their jello


The members were so amazing this week! We went Christmas lights looking on Tuesday night with the V's after supper with their non-member friend K, we went to the F's on Tuesday to drop off a Christmas card and their 3 kids put on the Nativity play for us! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen! J, 7, was the Narrator, angel, and the donkey, O, 5, was Joseph and the angel, and A,3, was Mary.  They have a brand new baby sister, L, who was going to be baby Jesus but she was sleeping so they made a baby Jesus out of paper. It was the greatest Nativity I have ever seen! 

In Canada they have little poppers that you pull
and get a crown and little toy.
On Christmas Eve we had supper at the LD's and played games with them after! It was so much fun! We played a game called Dutch Blizt and me and Sister G killed it! We won! It was so much fun! On Christmas we went over to the V's to skype and then they fed us Breakfast we got to watch their family open their presents. I got to take pictures! It was so fun!! We went to the S's for supper and had Chinese takeout! It was the best! We played way fun games with them as well! One was called Hilarium. Look it up and play it. It was so much fun! I lost my voice :) 

Opening presents on Christmas morning
On Saturday we moved a lady into our ward and she asked so many questions about what we do and wants to come to church next week when she gets back from her trip! I am so excited for her to come! She moved in next to two members! That doesn't happen very often! So she will have good fellowship!

Silverwolf hat

The cute Blanket momma made for me

I saw so many miracles this week! Especially as I focused on Christ! My studies this last week were solely on Christ's life and teaching. It was amazing! I finished reading the Gospel's and now I am reading Jesus the Christ. Which is an amazing book!!! Christ centered Christmas is the very best. It was a very different Christmas than I have ever had but it was amazing and one I will never forget. 


Skyping the family on Christmas Day!

I love you all! Happy New Year!
Love, Sister Burton xoxo

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Miraculous Week!

This week was such a good week!!! B came home! She was so happy to see us and tell us all about her trip! We got 3 new investigators this week!!! 

The first 2  are a family that was taught last year! They are in the Bahai faith so they believe all religions have truth in them. So they are a little bit tricky but the son, who is 21, is a little bit more open to learning the truth. 

Bus Stop Bench or Couch???  You decide!

The last one is C. He is black! He is one of our less actives friend and he is very interested! He wants to read the Book of Mormon and come to church! We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he had such great questions! I am very excited to teach him again! We are teaching him on Tuesday. The less active asked if we could talk about the Law of Chastity so that should be super exciting! Haha not. 

We went Caroling on Tuesday with the Ward and it was super fun! Sister G is such a good singer so I am learning from her :) When I get home I will be a Professional Singer. Since all of my companions have been amazing singers! haha :) 

This is how missionaries park so they don't have to back up!

One of the less actives we are working with, G, came to Church yesterday!!! She hasn't been to church since the 80's and she doesn't remember much about the church! So we are kind of teaching her like an investigator. She said she wants to come back next week! I am so excited for her! 

On Friday we had Christmas Conference with half of the mission! It was so good! There were a lot of musical numbers and guess what???? WE WATCHED MEET THE MORMONS! The first ones to watch it in Edmonton! It hasn't come to theatres here so no one has seen it! I loved it! President Manion said that now we can say that we have seen a movie on our mission! haha :)
This is "Small Pine" our little Christmas Tree!
The Campbell's let us borrow a tree and decorations.

We bought a Christmas present for a Recent Convert and his wife, Y and Y. They are planning on gettting sealed in the Edmonton Temple in January! So we bought them a picture of the Temple!! They were so excited!!!! They loved it! It was the best thing to see them open it! And they are expecting a baby in July!! 

I am so excited for Christmas! We are planning on spending our time with some people that we know will be lonely on Christmas Eve and Christmas! I am very excited! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and that you remember the first gift that was given to us by our loving Father in Heaven! 


Love you!! 

Love, Sister Burton xoxo

Monday, December 15, 2014

Transfer Calls Once More...


 
The Edmonton North West Zone
 
I cannot believe it was another day of Transfer Calls...and that I am starting my 4th Transfer.  But I am staying in Sturgeon with Sister G!!!  Probably my last Transfer in Sturgeon which is super sad!  I am so glad that I am staying here for Christmas!  A lot of members have invited us over so I am super excited!
 
Awkward Family Photo...We are all in the dumb poses we always
have to do during family pictures.  Notice the "Thumbs out" on the Elders
This week was pretty good.  We were not able to meet with any of our investigators again but we have an appointment set up for tonight with a family!  Hopefully they will start investigating!  I am super excited! I have seen the Hand of the Lord
in Sturgeon and it is amazing!
This is our District Photo for the Transfer. 
In this mission there is a rule called the "Donut Rule".  It means that every time you fall you owe the District donuts.  So, of course, who fell this week?  ME, Sis. G and Elder A.  So at District Meeting we have soooo many donuts! 
Funny sign.  In Canada we have crazy ice conditions.  You never
know when you are going to fall.
I am pretty sure that Canada is just a giant Ice Skating Rink because
EVERYTHING IS ICE!
 
Last night we met with a less active member and her boyfriend!  They fed us Filipino food and we taught him!  She wants him to be baptized so bad but she doesn't come to church...Hopefully by teaching him they will both start coming to Church together!
 
I am still learning how to take pictures with my camera.  I thought I
set the 10 second timer...haha.  I am not good at technology.  But here is
the District (minus Elder Allen) and my hair.
We went on Splits with the Relief Society President and Sis. V on Thursday and it was such a good night!  I went with Sis. J and Sis. Gunnell was with Sis. V.  I love getting the ward involved in missionary work, especially in meeting with the less active members!  We have so many less active members and the ward has been such a great help finding them and teaching them with us!
 
The cutest little girls in our ward make snow animals!

Saturday we went over to an active family's house to help them make 12 Days of Christmas gifts for families in the Ward.  They do it every year and you can just see the joy in their eyes!  I want to start that Tradition of doing a 12 Days of Christmas to families in need every year.  They do this every year and they have never had it done to them so we decided to do it to them!  I am so excited!!  We go the Elders in on it and we have been doing it the past 2 nights.  I haven't heard anything yet but I think the kids will be so excited!  I love serving others!  It makes Christmas time so much more meaningful!
 
We have been doing a lot of service lately helping families in need.  We help at the Food Bank every week and this week we helped a less active who is the President of some club that makes hampers for families in St. Albert that are in need of it.  It was such a great experience!  Each family will be getting 5 boxes of food minimum, more if they have bigger families, and toys for each of the kids.  It is amazing what a community can do!  They are helping 167 families in St. Albert!
 
Primrose (Everdeen) Place
From Hunger Games

Well, not much is new, except Christmas Conference with the mission is on Friday!  Hooray!!  And Christmas next week!
 
I love you all and I hope you have a great week!
Love, Sis. Burton xoxo

 


A Week of Pictures

This week I am telling you about my week with pictures...
 
This week the Relief Society Night was a Latino Fiesta!  We learned about their traditions and ate Tamales and other Spanish food!
 
This week we did a lot of service.  We made Cabbage Rolls with a Less Active Member.  I do not like Cabbage Rolls, Nor do I like my hands smelling like Cabbage for days after.
 
My Companion, Sis. G, is Merida from Disney's Brave.
 



Making a Gingerbread House at District Meeting

 
Elder A was moving the Gingerbread House and I was afraid it was going to fall.  Hence the screaming face  :)
 


The finished product!
 


I went on Exchanges with Sister W.  I sure love her!  (Sis. W shows her true colors)
 

Pictures at the Ward Christmas Party. 
(A member painted the backdrop scene and set up the photo booth)
 

Sis. G running to Elsa's castle and I'm chillin' with the Polar Bears.
 






The Missionaries with Santa...we've been VERY good this year!
Spruce Grove Sisters, Sis. G and Sis. Burton, Sturgeon 2 Elders and Mission Hill Elders
 

The final picture...The Elders think they are Men In Black!


Have you seen the video, "He is the Gift"?  If not, you should! 
We are sharing it with everyone! 
You should share it too!!
#sharethegift

 
Love you all!
Love, Sis. Burton xoxo
 


Monday, December 1, 2014

There Are Angels Among Us! (post by McKenzee's mom)

Wednesday evening I (Sis. Burton's mom) received a wonderful text and this beautiful picture of Kenzee and Sis. G.  The text said, "Your lovely daughter, Sis. Burton, is over for dinner right now and my family just wants you to know how much we adore and appreciate having her in our home.  She is such a fun girl and we are so lucky to have her with us.  Thanks for sharing her!"  



Then on Friday night, the night before her 20th birthday, I received another text and pictures from another family in Canada.  This text read, "Sis. Burton had a Birthday dinner...including cake...Not to worry, she is doing great!  She sends her love to you all...What a precious daughter you have...But you knew that already...We so enjoy having her in our home.  Thank you!"



 
There are truly angels that have been put in Sis. Burton's path to love her like we love her.  I am so grateful for the tender mercies of our loving Heavenly Father.  I will forever cherish these wonderful texts and very special families in Canada!
Love, Shauna

Holy Crow, Look at All the SNOW!

Holy Crow is a Canadian Phrase that I find Hilarious! :)  It makes my day!  We got so much snow on Thursday!



We only got stuck 4 times! :) Luckily, there are very nice people in this world that help push you out!  Most of the times we got stuck we got out pretty quickly but once, we were stuck for 40 minutes.  It was crazy!  haha!  But we made it.  We were on our way to get new tires.  Since we got new tires we have only gotten stuck once!



We weren't able to meet with patty this week but we did talk to her quite a bit.  She got a gob so she is super busy now.  Hopefully she will find time for us this week!


We met with Heidi without Joy this week and it was really good!  We straightened out some of her concerns and helped her realize that she doesn't know as much as she thought she did about the church.  Hopefully we can continue to teach Joy and help Heidi learn in the process.


We took Autumn to the Primary Party this week! She was super nervous when we first got there but we introduced her to some girls and said "goodbye, have fun!" I felt so bad leaving her but we had to go to supper. We talked to the Primary President after and she said that Autumn had so much fun!! Now we just need to get her to church! A less active in our ward is a live in nanny for Autumn so that is how we met her!


This week was my birthday! It was a super different birthday than I have ever had but I guess that happens when you are focused on others not yourself. It was mostly just a regular day, I opened my presents right when I woke up, (I didn't have to wait for dad to get home from work!), then we went on with our day. We went out to lunch as a district which was super fun! And then we had the Mission Hill Christmas Party that night. Patty and Heidi said they were coming but they didn't so we just helped serve. Our ward was in charge of serving the food. After everyone had eaten, our ward ate and they sang "Happy Birthday" to me! I was slightly embarassed but happy :) It was a great day! Sister Budge left streamers in her desk so Sister Gunnell hung them up while I was in the shower and she put balloons on my desk and painted me a painting, and made me breakfast! It was really good! :) 



A lot happened this week! We were busy! And this next week is going to be even busier! Man, the weeks are flying by! I cannot believe that I have been out 4 months.




I love you all!! Have a great week!
Love, Sister Burton xoxo

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Miracles!

This week was great! (Just like every other week, haha). But really. It was fabulous! We met with Patty and had amazing discussions about the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost! We took a member with us and they are like BFF's and she came to church and LOVED it. We are meeting with her again this week possibly twice. Patty loves the Book of Mormon and the feeling she gets when she is reading it. I am so excited to help her progress in the Gospel!
 

We met with Heidi and Joy again and made Christmas Sugar Cookies! We taught Joy about the Restoration. Heidi has been a member most of her life but she question the Gospel so she researched it in the wrong places. So she has some skewed ideas of things. So as we taught Joy, Heidi told her her opinions. It was good to have Joy know what her mom believes and we were able to help her resolve some concerns, but it is going to take a little while to help Heidi. I love them so much! They invited us over for Christmas! Next time we drive up to Morinville we are going to show them the Restoration DVD! I will take pictures next time we are there! 



The drive out to Morinville, where Heidi and Joy live, is like 30-40 minutes away!  It feels like we are in an outlying area!  It is such a small town.  It reminds me of Ephraim!  So cute!



 
We were having a lesson at the church and as we were walking into the church this drove up.  It was Blaine Van Bruggen.  He was the member coming to our lesson.  He honked the horn and scared me so bad!  I thought it was hilarious.  Only in Canada do members come to investigator lessons in this.


It is super snowy here in Canada.  I love it!  Which is surprising.  I thought I would hate the snow.  It hasn't been super cold yet so that is probably why I don't mind it.



Happy Thanksgiving! We are not having Thanksgiving this week it was back in October. I was hoping that a member would offer to make us Thanksgiving but no one did so we will just have regular supper that day. :)
 
Me and my Donair last week.  I love Donairs!  Utah needs to get them!  (Donairs are kind of like a gyro only made with ground beef and seasonings, sliced thin and served on a warm pita with tomatoes, cucumbers and a creamy garlic sauce.)


Guess what I have a new best friend!! Ronald! He is so cute! 
 
 
He is the small heart shaped one!  Heidi gave them to us and I am so excited!!  I will have to show you the growth of Ronald throughout my mission!
 
I hope you all have a great week!!!  Love you!
 
Love, Sister Burton xoxo