The Real Last Melon! February 9, 2016

Well. My heart is so full of joy. I don't even know where to begin. I am so so so grateful for this opportunity I have had to be a missionary for the last 18 months. I have been very weepy today and I am not sure if it is because I am ready to go home or not. We will see.

My friend Charlie the Llama

 

I have learned so much about my Heavenly Father this last week! I think that last major lesson he wanted me to learn this week was that He knows best. He sees the whole picture of our life. I always have a plan of how I want things to go and He has shown me that He knows what will help me the most. I need to remember to include Him in my decision making. I am so grateful for His guidance in our life and our ability to learn of Him and learn of His will for us.

Me and our beautiful truck!

 

We saw so many miracles this week! We have worked hard and tried to be as exactly obedient as we can and we are being blessed for beyond what we deserve! We finally got to meet with someone the Elders were working with before Sister T got here! We had supper with him, W, and his less active fellowshippers, the H's, and it was amazing! The wife wanted to make a cake for us and she asked what we wanted the theme to be so obviously we said Harry Potter. So she made us a Harry Potter cake and we shared a message with quotes from Harry Potter. I had a really cool experience that morning. Every morning I begin my studies with a prayer and I ask my Heavenly Father a question that I want answered as I read the Book of Mormon. And that morning I asked a question about how I could help the H's. And I didn't really receive an answer, which I thought was weird but I continued to think about it throughout the day and as we were teaching them that night I received my answer. I totally relied on the Lord and the Holy Ghost, and through them I was able to speak the words the Heurken's and Will needed to hear. It was such an amazing experience! The Lord always keeps his promise of "ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find" I had to seek for it all day and it was given to me!

 

The Harry Potter Cake!

Another cool experience about seeking and finding happened this week! I lost one of my name tags  two weeks ago and I was so sad because it was my first name tag that I got in the MTC. So I was praying so hard to find it. At first I was frustrated that I wasn't finding it, and I realized that I was not doing anything to find it but pray. So I started to act on the promptings I received to find my name tag. And I am happy to report that the name tag has been found and is back on my coat! Heavenly Father is so patient with me! He has to continue to teach me the same lessons over and over! Good thing He loves me!

Me and the W's!  I love them!

Me and Nana and Papa H!

 

J and D both came to church on Sunday and it was one of the happiest days of my life! That same day W passed the sacrament for the first time, J and D's son was blessed, and I was able to bear my testimony to the Cherry Grove Ward. It was an amazing Sabbath Day! Seriously we have been so blessed!!

J and D son N

J and D and their kids R and N with Sis. T and I

 

Well, I will close with my testimony. I truly know that my Saviour loves me! I know He is there and that He is strengthening me when I am weak. I have felt His redeeming power in my life and I have seen it in the lives of those around me. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I finished it this morning and I received another witness of the truthfulness it contains. Wow. I have so much to say. But no time. So you will all have to hear the remainder of my testimony on Sunday in my talk.

Me and B, W and K!

Rebekah and I making crepes!

 

I love you all! I am so grateful for your support and love!

 

Love, Sister Burton

xoxoxo

The Second to Last Melon February 2 , 2016

Holy moly! I just continue learning more and more every single day! And seeing more miracles every single day! This week was amazing!

1 more week!

On Wednesday we drove out to Loon Lake to teach M and the B's. We had an appointment with M set up but we have been unable to get in contact with the B's. As we were driving into town we called M to get her address. As we were talking to her she asked if we could meet another day. We were not about to let that happen we drove an hour and a half to meet with her. So we just kept talking to her and told her we would pray with her and eventually she gave us her address. I am pretty sure that neither us nor M knew what had just happened, everything was totally led by the Holy Ghost! We had the most amazing lesson with her! The Spirit was so strong! She is so prepared! She is a First Nation, so we testified about the Book of Mormon and told her about her ancestors! She asked us to bring more Book of Mormon's to give to some other people of the Reserve! Yay!! Hopefully we can start teaching all of her friends out there! 

That same day, we finally got in contact with the F family. We have been trying to meet with them in ages! They are a part member family, the husband is a member and the wife is not. So we finally got to meet with them and ask E if she wanted to learn more. She said yes! She said she doesn't feel very comfortable at church because she doesn't know anyone! We told her we can fix that! We will start bringing people to the lessons so she can meet them! I love when people have simple concerns that we can help resolve with the help of the Holy Ghost!

Sis. To took over the reigns of to learn the area!

We were able to meet with so many people this week. The Lord was truly guiding us in where to go and what to do! I wish I had time to tell you about everyone! They are all so amazing!

Friday we were able to meet with the Bar's, J and D! We talked about happiness and how God didn't design us to be sad. So we need to be doing the things he has asked us to in order to be happy! And they set family goals! Their 6 year old daughter, R, came up with most of the goals with help from her dad. Haha :) They are amazing! 

On Sunday we taught combined Priesthood/Relief Society about our Ward Mission Plan! It was really good! We had a lot of participation and I really felt the Spirit so I hope everyone else did. We watched a Mormon Message called "Reach Out With Love" and it is so good!! You should all watch it! 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages-for-youth/reach-out-with-love

Well that was my week in a very small nutshell. I want you all to know that I KNOW that our Savior loves us! He is there for us every minute of every day. I know that we are never alone! I have gained a huge testimony this week of the reality of our Savior's love for us! He is there! 

The signs you are driving into Cold Lake...

Cold Lake Air Force Base

I love you all! 

Love, Sister Burton

xoxoxo

Beautiful pictures of the Canadian Sky for y'all to enjoy!

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

Extreme Cold Warning Survivors! January 19, 2016

Alright there is so much to say in so little time!! Baaa...

Miracles galore!

On Wednesday we had a lesson scheduled with our investigators out in Loon Lake. It is in Saskatchewan and about an hour and a half away. It is on a First Nation Reservation and it is kind of sketch so the Senior couple from Lloydminster, the R's, came with us. We got out there and the family wasn't home. We knocked like 10 times to make sure. So we went to this run down cafe with the R's and waited for a bit. We called them a couple times and nothing. We also got a media referral for another lady out there but she didn't answer her phone either. After a while we went back to the B's house. This time we knocked even harder and more. Nothing. We called a couple of times. Still nothing. So we hopped in the truck and drove home, disappointed. On the way home Sister T said, "Why didn't the Spirit tell us they were not going to be home so we didn't drive all the way out there for nothing?" I got thinking about that a bit and realized that that is not the Spirit's responsibility. Heavenly Father wanted us to go out there for some reason. Either for us to learn something or the R's. Who knows. But I do know there is a reason we went out there. I have been pondering about that all week..

This was truly a faith building week! Last week we met with so many Less Actives and Investigators and had such a good week, and this week no one wanted to meet with us. But it was just as good! For me at least! I learned a lot about myself and preparing to go home. So many things are preparing me! I am so grateful for that!

We were supposed to have exchanges this week but one of our Sister Training Leaders was really sick. So instead they both drove up here and we had like a Grand Slam ish thing. One of us would stay in the apartment with Sister R and go over our  Area Book and Planner and such while the other one went out and worked with Sister L. I learned a lot! It was such a fun exchange! I sure love and appreciate Sister R and Sister L! They are amazing! Sister R is going home today. I am so sad for her! But she has such a strong testimony and faith that Heavenly Father knows what he is doing! She is amazing! I am so grateful for amazing examples around me! <3

On Saturday we went to the Church to make copies and the programs for Church the next day were sitting on the table. So we were looking at it and Sister T pointed to one of the speakers and it said my name...haha! We were both super confused. We texted Bishop and apparently they forgot to ask me. Haha good thing speaking in front of people doesn't terrify me anymore! So I spoke on Sunday. And it was probably the best talk I have ever given, for the first time I didn't write down exactly what I wanted to say I just wrote down a couple of scriptures and quotes. It was amazing! I was able to speak to the congregation and the Spirit was able to work through me! I LOVE THE SPIRIT!

I am so very grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary! I love it here in Cherry Grove even though it is freezing. Don't worry we survived -40C! Our truck almost didn't start but we were heading to church so the Lord blessed us! I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father who is watching out for me and teaching me so many things!!

I love you all!

Love, Sister Burton

This is my Joy! January 12, 2016

Hello! We had an amazing week out here in the middle of nowhere!

W and K were baptized on Saturday! It was an amazing day! They were so prepared! For some reason so many funny things happened at the Baptism.  K was terrified of going into the water. When she was baptized she didn't bend her knees or plug her nose. So that made it hard for B, who was baptizing her. Her whole body didn't go under so when she got up and tried to get all of the water out of her nose and eyes by spitting and coughing, they told her she had to do it again. She was not impressed..But she did it again and it was all good! W made the same mistake of not bending his knees too.. After the baptism we were talking to the them and K kept saying, "This feels nothing like the shower I took this morning!" They kept talking about how refreshed and good they feel! It was so amazing to witness! And D our other investigator gave the baptism talk at their Baptism and it was soooo good! She really studied and prepared for it!

"This is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." Alma 29:9      #shoutouttoAleeceforshowingmethisscripture

Missionary work is my joy! I love it! I love that I can be an instrument in His hands!

This week we were able to go out Bonnyville, a town 40 minutes away, to meet with Less Actives. Everyone who moves into Bonnyville goes Less Active. The ward calls it the Bonnyville Curse. Hmmm.. something should change right? Well that is my goal. I am going to do all I can to help the Less Actives in Bonnyville! We met an amazing family on Sunday! They moved to Bonnyville a year ago from the Greenfield Ward in Edmonton. And now they are physically less active, but not spiritually. They have really strong testimonies. And they have the cutest baby EVER! I told them I would come back up here to baby sit her. I love her! ;)

We are teaching an older couple, the S, and they have a bison farm so we got to go see the bison up close. We were in a truck luckily. It was super cool! Sometimes I forget we are in the county...well I don't forget for too long because it is very apparent!

I must've been in a prayin mood this week because Sunday night I woke up on the floor on my knees with my arms folded on my bed. I thought I must have fallen asleep praying. So I finished my prayer and got up to go exercise, only to look at the clock and realize it was 2am. So I got into bed and fell asleep. Hah it was the weirdest thing ever. So apparently I pray in my sleep...

I have gained such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon this week! On January 1st I was filled with a strong desire to finish it before I came home. I was in Omni then. So it was a little far fetched, but I decided to read 10 pages a day and give it a shot. I have continued reading 10 pages a day and I am now in Alma 24. I have gotten so many things out of reading it this time! I love the Book of Mormon!! I know that it is true and I know that it is the way that we draw nearer to our Heavenly Father and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

I love you all! Have a good week!

Love, Sister Burton

xoxoxo

Gratitude January 5, 2016

Hello! This week was amazing! I really do sound like a broken record. But honestly being on a mission is the greatest thing ever and every week just keeps getting better and better!

This week was one of the best of my whole mission! Cherry Grove is sooo wonderful!

I am sooo grateful for so many things! So I am going to tell you about my week through gratitude. We will see how that goes.

Beautiful Sinset!  And us jumping on a frozen lake! 

Good thing Canada is so cold or we would be IN that

freezing lake! :)

1. I am sooo grateful to be here in Cherry Grove with Sister To (pronunced Toe). She is amazing! She has been out 3 months and is from Layton, Utah! Cherry Grove is also amazing! It is a big ward for being in the middle of nowhere! Everyone here is related. There is like 5 last names on the ward list. haha not really but pretty close.
2. I am grateful for the warm apartment we live in and the truck we have to drive. Yes, a truck. I did have a baby freak out when I was told I had to drive a truck! But it is good! We haven't died yet! I am extremely grateful for that and we are able to drive all over! We drive a lot up here! Everything is so spread out! We drive a lot on dirt roads too! So a little car just wouldn't do it. I am so grateful for the Lord's resources that we are able to use!

3. I am grateful that I am not as much of a picky eat as I used to be! My very first day here I had homemade deer jerky..It was really good! But the thought of it being a deer freaked me out! But I ate it and I liked it and more and more people are going to feed us deer and elk...yay..?!!

4. I am so grateful for the humility among the people in Cherry Grove! We are teaching quite a few people! K and her son W are getting baptized on Saturday! They are amazing! They have completely embraced the gospel and are soooo excited to be baptized! K is about 60 and W is in his 30's. I had the opportunity to teach them yesterday and it was so great!! They are hilarious! I love them!!! :) We are also teaching D! She is a mother of 2 young kids and married to a less active member. We spent New Years Eve with them and I love them soooo much!!! :)

5. I am so grateful for a supportive family and friends at home and the love they have for me and the gospel!

6. I am grateful for a New Year! And I am extremely grateful for 2015! I learned so much here in the great white north! I love Canada!!

7. I am soooooo grateful to be here in Cherry Grove because I got to see the NORTHERN LIGHTS! #dreamcometrue They were so beautiful and so amazing! I have never seen something so amazing!!!!!!!!!

8. And I am SO grateful for the gospel and the opportunity I have to share it with others! We have had so many tender mercies this week from Heavenly Father! We have been trying so hard to be exactly obedient and working hard and we have been blessed beyond belief!

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

xoxoxo

Sis. To and Sis. Burton

We helped at the Primary Party on Saturday!  They did a Stripling

Warriors Training.  We played a game to help them understand

the story of the Stripling Warriors!

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!