The Last Melon...December 29, 2015

The Last Melon...Well not the very last. But Close!

Baaaa...My last transfer. My last area. My last companion. Crazy!  Luckily not my last email. I still got lots more!  Well folks it is transfer week and I have been transferred to......drum roll please.......Cherry Grove!
Where is that you ask? Good question. It is in the middle of nowhere 200 miles east of Edmonton, on the border of Saskatchewan. I have zero idea what it is like but I'll find out soon! It has literally been my whole mission dream to serve in Cherry Grove I have no idea why but it has! President called yesterday and told me that i was going to Cherry Grove and I had a little dance party and he said that because it is my last transfer he is going to send me where I wanted to go! Someone told him a couple of days ago that it was my dream. I can't figure out who. I think it was Elder B. :)

I am so super sad to leave Lakewood! It is so amazing here! I love the Ward and all the people I
have gotten close with. Six months in an area is so wonderful but SOO hard to leave.

District Pictures!

This week was so great! I got to see some people from Rainbow Valley!  On Monday we had lunch with A E and on Wednesday we got to see K C! I love both of them so much!! I hate goodbyes. They are gonna come visit me in Utah though!

Lunch with K from Rainbow Valley!

Sister H and I had a brilliant idea to make cookies and brownies for all of our investigators and less actives. It was a super good idea! But never trust the cookie recipes on the back of the chocolate
chips. Or just never let me make cookies. Or don't let the cookies freeze and refreeze in the freezing Canadian tundra. All unpredictable. All ruined our cookies and turned them into rocks. We
walked around holding these bags of cookies in a Walmart bag for three days and we only handed out like 4. Not having a car really adds so much time. Frustrating. But it was probably for the better that we didn't hand very many out because they were rock solid. Sister H and I got hungry and decided to eat a cookie and good thing we did.  Hahaha what a gong show.

But the rest of Christmas week was great! On Christmas Eve we went Caroling to an old folks home with 15 other missionaries and it was super fun. It was a gong show because we were all trying to sing the Christmas Carols a little different; Michael Buble style, David Archuleta style, Josh Groban style, and so on. Everyone knows the Christmas Songs they all just put their own little spins on
everything. Haha I got some really good laughs out of it! So did the old people. :)

We were invited over to M's house for Christmas Eve snack foods and good company. Most of her family was out of town so it was nice to spend a little while with her! Christmas Day was amazing! I have never felt the spirit of Christmas so much! We had breakfast at our Relief Society Presidents house with her family and skypeds from there! It was so GREAT to see my family!
After that we had the opportunity to spend some time at the old folks home we do service at every week! We got to eat lunch with a couple of ladies who weren't going to see there families. Then we had a little social gathering after lunch that no one came to so we got to talk to all of the workers instead. We had some really great gospel conversations! Then for the rest of the day we walked and bussed around; had two suppers, one at our Bishop's house, and one at the K; then we went to the S's house and guess who happened to be there?! R and M S from Sturgeon! R's parents are in Lakewood so they invited us over! It was such a great Christmas and we got to share the gospel as we walked around and brighten everyone's day!

The S's from Sturgeon!  I love them!

Fun fact: December 26 is Boxing Day in Canada! I don't really know what it is or what they do but everyone has work off! I do know that it is kind of like Black Friday just toned back a couple notches. They don't get as crazy here about sales as we do in the States ;) ooh ooh something super cool happened on Boxing Day. We got on a bus and had just sat down when the bus driver started talking to us. We had a really good conversation, got to know him, and talked about what we
believe. We talked to him all the way back to the Millwoods Transit Centre and talked as he waited at the Transit Centre. We made him late but he really enjoyed it. We gave him our card, and he texted us right then so we could have his number! He said that his dad might be interested and his wife and their 6 kids. It was a Christmas Miracle!!!

Pray for cool missionary opportunities and God will give them to you if you are ready

and look for them!
Well I hope y'all had a good week! And a very good Christmas!
Love you!!

Love, Sister Burton
xoxoxo



Some pictures from Christmas morning!