There is always something to be learned! January 26, 2016

Oh man. So many things happened this week and I learned so much!!!!!!!!! I am so grateful for the many experiences that Heavenly Father continues to give me to humble me and teach me things I need for the rest of my life! I will try to tell as many stories as I can before I run out of time!

On Wednesday we had to drive down to Edmonton for a World Wide Missionary Training and a Zone Training Meeting. The Missionary Training was sooooooo good! They didn't teach us anything new, in fact they talked about the principles that we learn in the first 12 weeks of our mission, but I learned so much! One thing that stuck out to me was the Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion. The Holy Ghost is the teacher not me, I am just his tool. I need to be a worthy vessel so that the Spirit can work through me. I cannot convert people, the Spirit can. So I need to be doing all I can to be worthy and ready to receive the promptings he gives me. Baaa it was sooo good!!

I had the opportunity to share my testimony at Zone Training Meeting because it was my last one, and I felt the Spirit so strong. I stood up there and bore my testimony that I know my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love me! I have never been able to say that with as much conviction as I could that day. My testimony has skyrocketed on my mission, but especially these last few weeks!

As we were driving home from Edmonton I had a really cool experience. We found a super old GPS in our truck and we didn't know exactly how to get back to Cold Lake.. So we plugged our address into the GPS and went. We started going the way that I have driven before so we kept going but then we just kept going east. I kept questioning the GPS but it is a GPS so it knows the area better than me right? No. We were totally going the longest way ever but we didn't know any other way s we just followed it. Sooo long story short. The way the GPS took us definitely the road less traveled. And we came to a stretch of road the was super snowy, dark, and curvy. It was so hard to see the lines on the road. Every time a car drove past I was blinded by their lights and terrified that I would go out of our lane because I could hardly see the lines on the road. I was praying so fervently and trying not to cry because that would make things ten times worse. Then a song came on and it said, "Don't be afraid, I'll keep you safe." I have heard this song a thousand time but it really struck me this time and I knew that it was my Heavenly Father sending me comfort and love. After that I was able to relax and keep driving and we were kept safe. <3

We have had quite a few appointments fall through in the last couple days and sometimes that puts us in a bad mood or we get frustrated. When that happens we just repeat to ourselves, "I'm excited, I'm excited, I'm excited!" If we are not yet excited we say it again until we are! Like my mom always told me as a bratty teenager, "Attitude is Everything, so pick a good one!"

On Saturday we woke up to a good foot of snow and of course when it snows like crazy you can't meet with the missionaries right? Yeah. Everyone cancelled on us on Saturday. As we were driving to stop by some people, J and D called us and invited us over. J is a less active member and he is married to D who is investigating. D has been investigating for 8 years and has never wanted to get baptized. A couple minutes after we walked in she asked us how soon she could get baptized. Hooray! She has decided to get baptized and she is soooo excited! She knows the Church is true and she knows she needs to be baptized but she would never make the commitment. I think speaking at W and K's Baptism really helped! So an Elder who served here a couple of years ago in going to come and baptize her in April! She is really excited and so is J!!!

Speaking of W and K they are doing so great!!! W got the priesthood last Sunday and they are going to be assigned to Home and Visiting Teaching soon! We went to their house yesterday to do FHE with them! It was really good. But it started out really funny. We started by singing "I am a Child of God" and Sister T, K, and I started singing and then W starts to say the words out loud. Not only was he speaking loudly he was waaaaaaaaay ahead of where we were trying to sing. It was throwing all of us off and you know me, I have a hard time controlling my laughter so I may have laughed a bit, well a lot a bit. Then K starts to try and get W to stop and the music keeps going and Sister T and I were laughing. Yeah it was a gong show. We will try again next week.. haha :)

Alright last cool story. So on Sunday no one seemed to be home and all our appointments cancelled, surprise! So we were stopping by some less actives that we haven't ever met and we came to the S's. Sister T had met them a couple of times and they always set up another time to meet but were never home. So we stopped by and we talked to the daughter S on the doorstep for about a half hour. Mind you it is Canada at 8pm...So we were talking getting to know her and about to leave and the parents walk in the door. They let us in and we had a really good lesson with them. The Spirit was so strong and they told us of so many spiritual experiences they have had! It was a really cool faith building experience!

Alright. That was my week! It was a really hard week but I learned a lot! I know that they hand of the Lord is every where we go! This is truly His work and we need His help to accomplish miracles!
"For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith." 2 Nephi 27:23

Love you all!

Love, Sister Burton

xoxo