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Men Detractor Tactic #1

I went to the store today. Before heading out, my brother—wanting to join me—asked, "What are you getting at the store?" Really? You really want to know? I thought. With a smile, I responded, "Feminine hygiene products."

Cue silence.

So I headed to the store (sans the brother) and as I was walking past all the aisles searching for the loot, Typical Man Creeper #1 watched me with squinty eyes. Typical Man Creeper #1 (TMC #1) is described as thus: short, mustache with an occasional goatee, and usually slightly raises one eyebrow as you pass (attempting to be debonair and to get a better look). Yep, you've met quite a few of him.

I finally found the aisle and saw TMC #1 hovering at the end of the aisle. Now, having temporarily sworn off men, I currently don't want anything to do with the opposite sex—especially creepy members of that sex. So I devised my plan and purposely parked myself right in front of the tampons. Considering that section takes up about 200 square feet of shelf space in both directions, I knew it would work and it did. If TMC #1 had any guts or nerve, they were now gone. Guys—no matter how macho—just can't handle it. If I had any sexy qualities (in the sweatpants, no makeup and Mulan-style bun I was sporting), they were immediately eradicated. I then grabbed the biggest, most ostentatious box I could find and strolled past him with a smirk.

Problem solved: creeper detained.

I'm HOME!

Ok, I've been home for OVER a week now.

Yep. I avoided the computer at first. Or at least tried to dabble in it for a few minutes at a time, but my interest-level never peaked more than a "mildly-disinterested" level. So...life goes on. I've updated my blog; that's a rather large step, I suppose.

I went to Disneyland with the fam for five (you heard me) five straight days. It was super fun and I love my family. And my niece and nephew. Dland is a whole new world with kids.

...and to top it all off: tonight I went in my finest, frumpiest Mickey Mouse sweats with my best married-friend (well simply, my best friend in general) ALEX to see ECLIPSE! Yes, it was amazing. It was romantic in the cheesiest sort of way. It....

...rekindled my lifelong unrealistic expectations for men.
Welcome to back to reality, Morgan.

Wrapping Up the Loose Ends

Hello from Texas!

Wow, this has been an incredible week! Gosh, I love my companions Sister Farr and Sister Fifita. It has been a joy serving and learning from the both of them. Sister Fifita is just loud and proud and laughs like there's no tomorrow, so it really makes everything lighter. So fun. But she and I were talking and we both know that we have totally gained weight these past two weeks. It's hard to try get skinny around a Poly Girl. :) Also, last night, we all took a photo shoot that was hilarious, but I'll have to show those pictures later. Just wait though, they look good.

Oh and small world. The other day, Fifita was watching a video of she and her Poly friends singing with their ukuleles at the MTC and she suddenly said, "What the heck!? That's you, Burt!" And sure enough, there I was in my week 2 of the MTC, standing next to the Poly kids trying to covertly listen to their amazing songs. Haha, it was so funny. Actually, after a few days of knowing each other her, she said, "Holy cow. I know who you are!" Turns out, that we were introduced in the MTC by her companion who was actually a girl, Sister Hawks, who I swam with. Small world.

Well, this week just flew by. We worked and worked and worked some more. Our trio actually has been more like a quadruple because Sister Martinez is always with us to split the work. We call her our "4th companion." We have so many appointments that we just go on splits and two the "companions" will go to the lesson and the other two will go to the other lesson or go contact while they are teaching. It's really fun. I wish I would have done this a lot earlier int he mission. Oh well, you live and learn, right?

Another reason why the week just flew is because I haven't really been counting down the days. It's funny because before Chelsea went to the MTC, she would write countdowns in her letters saying, "Wow, 74 days till I go to the MTC!" Well, I had to tell her that I don't really understand the whole "days" thing as a missionary because just live day to day, doing the same thing. We are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So counting things by days is pretty pointless. If we do count, it's in weeks because we are stuck on the "eternal 6 week transfer cycle." Anyways, as the weeks starting coming down, I tried to ignore it. But people kept counting down the days for me (such as, "Wow, 9 days till you come home!"), so it sort of hit me. I still couldn't get myself to count down the days, so I think that I subconsciously tried to avoid the whole situation because in my planner all last week, I just wrote down the days of the week, but not the actual DATE. I guess I'm trying to avoid the inevitable.

It was strange because the branch threw a going away party for me. I was so awkward and embarrassed about it because I've never been one to throw parties for myself. I don't know, but it's never been my thing. I guess I've always just assumed that I'm not cool enough and no one will come. So that's why I just satisfy myself with going to other people's parties. Hey, it's less work (more like no work) and I still get the enjoyment from the party. Anyways, they threw this party and all the details were a huge surprise (even though I could kind of tell that something was going down when we'd get random phone calls from Sister Calvo and Sister Farr would sneak out of the room). Well, it was just so fun and amazing. They decorated the whole church with all these paper flowers in honor of me because I ALWAYS wear flowers in my hair. Apparently, it's my trademark. But it was so cute and then at the end, all the members came up and said all these amazing things about me and I was just shocked. I really didn't think that I had made that much of a difference in the lives of the members, but apparently I had and it was another answer to prayer that the Lord was proud of me and the work I have done here on the mission. It's funny, we really don't have any idea what affect we have as missionaries. Sister Farr even went up and starting crying and told me how much of a difference I have been to her. How much I loved her and how that she has grown more these past 6 months that she ever has in her whole entire life. It was sad to be leaving her, but we'll still be friends afterwards. Also, haha, funny story. After a bunch of people had gone up, President Ramos said some stuff and then no one else was going up and he said, "Well, how about your sidekick?" as he pointed to Elder Arens. Elder Arens and I were sitting at two separate tables, but our chairs' backs were facing each other. We both just turned and looked at each other with a "What the heck" face. Haha. Elder Arens and I are GREAT friends and just joke around and all, but seriously, that's IT. Nothing else. Just friends. Solamente amigos. Nada mas. Haha, we just have the same type of humor and it makes the funny things in life, funnier. So yeah, we got a kick out of that later.

We found a neat family this week of 7 people: mom, dad, and 5 kids who are all of baptizable age! Yeah, seriously! They seem to have a lot of potential and the Sisters will teach them tomorrow after I'm gone. I've actually never baptized a couple or a family on my mission. It's sad, but I have learned to accept the Lord's will in all things. I know that my mission, every person I met, every baptism was because they were the precious souls that Heavenly Father prepared for me. They were active in their church in Harlingen, but two years ago, just stopped going. Now they live in Lyford and within the past year, started praying as a family and reading the Bible and, as a result, have seen SO many blessings. We talked to them for a while and helped them see that they can have even more blessings and even answered Sally's question about "after this life, will we recognize each other?" Only the Restored Gospel can answer those deep questions of the soul.

Well, I guess I'll give one last update on all the investigators you've heard about over the past few months--since this is my last email. Well, Angel (the "good looking" guy) we dropped, but he just kept coming back to church week after week (even though he would sleep and be semi-annoying during the whole thing. One day, he forgot what time the church started and got there at 6:30 am!) Anyways, he's still investigating, but "kicking against the pricks." We're still working on figuring out what his need is because he doesn't believe he needs to be baptized again and doesn't believe the restoration, but he comes still. Teresa actually dropped us last week. She finished the whole Book of Mormon, but he husband came down and didn't want anything to do with it. It was sad because she was learning so much and you could tell she was sad about it, but didn't want to mess things up with she and her husband since they've been split for 18 months. I know that in the future, things will calm down and she'll remember all that she learned and how she felt as she read the Book of Mormon. The "girls" Martha and Jessica, just stopped coming to church and random show up for activities, nothing more. There mom, Belinda, still uses drugs and drinks 34/7. We've even heard that Jessica, who is 11, has started drinking as well.... :(.

Last but not least is JOHN! He's set to be baptized on the 8th of August. I'm sad I won't be there for it, but I am grateful to have helped in the way that I could. He even went up at the ward party and thanked me personally in front of everyone for what I have done and how I have changed his life. He gets really choked up about it and says that he cannot find words to express how grateful he is. Gosh, I could just go on and on about him and his conversion story. He is so different, repentant, understands the scriptures, loves them, and when he came to the church, he described it very interesting. So he used to fight professionally and made a lot of money. Well, he said that before you fight someone, you can sense their "energy and power." You can just feel it. He said that when he came into the church, he felt the energy there. It was just so strong and he felt comfortable there and liked it. Yay. I am grateful that he is going to be baptized. He stopped drinking thanks to the blessing, has lost a lot of friends, but is still going strong because finally he has been able to see the fruit of his faith. It is springing up to the tree of life, which fruit is more desirable that all other fruit. What a blessing. His mom was baptized when he was 7 and he was never able to. Missionaries have come by there home who knows how many times over the past 30 years, and finally, the Lord prepared him to be ready now, when I am here, for me. I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Wow. Not sure what to say. I love the mission. I love my companions. I love this work. I love all the people I've served with. I love who I have become. I know that this is the true church of God. That Jesus is the Christ and that he really did appear--with his Father--to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. Through him, He restored his Gospel in its fullness. We now are partakers of that today.

See you on the other side!

Love,

Hermana Burt

The Three Musketeers

Wow,

So this has just been a crazy week. Well, as I mentioned in the letter that I sent, we got a call last Monday that there was an emergency transfer and a bunch of Sisters got moved around. SO...Sister Fifita is now in our companionship. It's pretty sweet because she is Tongan, but grew up in California. She is the FUNNIEST, most ghetto, black person you have ever met. Like, she talks black and she knows it and doesn't care, and I love it because she's totally her. She's always saying, "Giiiirl!" or "Oh Heck no!" etc, etc. It definitely has made this past week really fun. I get along with her REALLY well (I think she just gets along with everyone, to be honest), but I feel like I am more carefree and fun with her. Definitely more myself. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sister Farr to death and will cherish our friendship forever, but I've noticed with all my companions, I haven't been able to 100% click and by myself with them. It's really been a testimony builder for me. Because like I've had random exchanges with a few other missionaries( like Sister Behrman, Fifita, Amitoelau, etc), where the work is just SO much easier because 1) I can be myself and 2) we just click personality-wise which makes a huge difference in the world. I think Heavenly Father is trying to teach me a lesson that, yes, while I can be happy with everyone, I need to make sure that I settle for THE ONE, the one person who I can be 100% me and comfortable. Because eternity with someone where you're always holding back isn't going to be much fun. Because trust me, all of my mission companions have been good and fun and I've learned the lessons I needed to learn from them, but sometimes I wonder what my mission could have been like if I was put with the people where it just clicked and was easy. But, I think that's the point. If it was easy, I wouldn't appreciate the success and now I can leave and apply that to my life. I don't want to have to work so hard the whole time to just "make it work."

Anyways, sorry for the random tangent, but since Sister Fifita has been here, it's just been on my mind. She's super fun and we joke around all the time. I don't think I've laughed more in a week than I have with her. She's just hilarious and a super awesome missionary. At first she seems a bit rough and tough at first sight because she's not a big, happy smiley person. But she's great. We've click and it's sweet. We've stayed up like 4 nights talking till 2 am because we just keep going and going and going. AND, she loves Bollywood movies (Poly's are into Indian stuff) so we talk about that a lot. Sister Farr doesn't really feel like a 3rd wheel though (we've talked about it), we're all super close, but I think it's the fact that she and I have been together for nearly 6 months--stranded in Raymondville with no other contact from anyone besides the 2 Elders--so someone new is exciting. If I knew that I could be with Sister Fifita still, I would stay a missionary for another 3 months because I know that we would just rock it together.

Anyways, the first day that she got here--actually like an hour before, the AC went out in the house. I was so embarrassed for her because we live in this BIG huge house, and then the AC breaks. So, the first night we tried to sleep through the heat (all we had was a ceiling fan), but it was miserable. The 2nd day, we moved our mattresses into the living room and borrowed two fans from people. IT was better, but still hot. Actually, the AC turned back on in the middle of the night, so we all work up FREEZING because we didn't bring anything other than our sheets. But the AC then broke again, so we slept out there. Finally, yesterday the Branch President came with the AC guy (yeah...we need to reteach the "sabbath day" to him), and it's all fixed now. So, no more slumber parties in the living room. I think it's good because Sister Farr likes her sleep, so Sister Fifita and I just talk all night long till we fall asleep, and so sometimes Sister Farr would get mad at us because she was in the middle of our mattresses. So we moved her mattress to the side, which fixed the problem and she could fall asleep.

I've never been in a 3-some before, but I've heard horror stories. If you can get it to work, they will work so good. If not, then it's just bad (drama, one sister feeling left out, etc). But so far we work really well. We had to get used to each other's different styles of teaching, but it's good. Melissa comes out with us and we go on splits--one set of missionaries and then the other with Melissa. So we're able to get a lot of work done. This is my last week and I want to make it the best, so we're going to push it.

Wow, what other news do I have. Sister Fifita was just the big news of the week. I feel like we're the three musketeers. Which reminds me, we're teaching this couple named Patti and Oscar and I don't think Oscar is all there in the head. His prayers are insane and a bit irreverent. At the end of his last prayer he said,"...and all for one, and one for all. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Yeah... it was random, but I had to hold myself from laughing. In another prayer, he said, "And now I'm going to close this with a rap." And seriously had the nerve to start beat boxing right there. They may not be investigators much longer....

But I haven't had time to tell you about John, so I will do that now.

John is our baptismal date for August. We found him WAY back in May. He was teaching Martial Arts to someone at the park. We stopped in the middle of the lesson and found out that he lived across the street and his mom was actually a less-active member. He's 40, divorced, and his life is for his little girl, Emme, who he has full custody of. He has leukemia, so he's just really skinny and in a lot of pain. At first we were teaching him, but we weren't really connecting with him. He also was working on Sundays at his job as a call center supervisor. As we started teaching him, he wasn't too fond of changing and the fact that repentance allows us to wash away all of our past mistakes and sins. He liked holding onto his past because--even though he admitted to doing some pretty horrible things in the past--his past is what made him who he was today. He didn't want to let that go.

Well, after teaching him for a few months, he started changing and being more open with us. He said that he wanted to go to church, so he started to look for a different job that didn't work on Sundays. His current job found out about him possibly leaving, so instead countered him with a raise and a better work schedule! Yay, so at the end of June he was FINALLY able to come to church after weeks and weeks of not being able to. But there was just one problem: this particular Sunday, church was in Harlingen for Stake Conference. He said the he promised us that he would come, so he did and had an amazing experience. Even though he was in pain, a recent convert came up and bore his testimony about how horrible of a man he was and that the Gospel changed him and now he's happy and at peace and has left all of that behind him. John really really liked that and just knew that was an answer to his prayer. That and a ton of other things that happened at the conference really touched him. He was committed to being baptized in July at this point, but still had doubts about the church and if the church was true and about Joseph Smith.

We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he said that would be a problem because he drink 8 cups of coffee and day, and drinks 8 beers a night. He was committed to doing it, but after 3 days of going cold turkey, he gave in because the pain was too much. In one of the lessons, his hands and arms were literally shaking from withdrawls. He kept trying to cut his beer and coffee intake down to 1 per day and was able to do it, until he just gave in and binged. It was sad because I think he finally realized that he had a big problem. Before he didn't care, but he finally realized that this wasn't what he wanted and he wasn't able to do it.

He also had a dream with both Sister Farr and I in it and in the dream, God (or someone) told him that he would find his answers in the book of John. So he started reading there to find answers. I was a bit sad because I thought it would take away from his Book of Mormon reading, but he actually was reading in both (a little bit more in John, but that's ok).

Well, after the big emergency evacuation zone conference, we learned a TON of new things to help us in our work. The very first person we tried them on was John and from that point on, it has made ALL the difference. In that lesson, we just first started talking and asking him a ton of questions about how he felt--especially focusing on church and the answers he's been getting. We were able to really get his feelings out and figure out his needs. Later, we asked him about his reading and he immediately started telling us what he learned in his study of John. "First off," he said, "I learned that we have to be baptized by water and by the Spirit. It's funny because I thought that to be forgiven, all you had to do was say your sorry and just be a good guy and God would forgive you. But here, it says that you need to be baptized." Good, good. "Also, I always wondered why Christians and Catholics sprinkled for baptism, but Mormons put you all the way under the water. Well, the reason is because that's how Jesus was baptized. Excellent, I thought, I should make all my investigators read the book of John. It was really cool to see him learn from the scriptures. Later we really focused on listening and PAUSING when speaking to investigators. That was something that they emphasized in the training. Well, it was cool because sometimes pauses are awkward but we asked him about the good feelings and changes he's been having and if he would want those always. He started talking about it and saying yes, but then he paused and I thought he was done speaking, but something was holding me back and saying, "Just wait." And so we waited for 5 seconds and he bent his head down and said, "Yeah, I really want that." To me, it was the most profound, spiritual, introspective point of the lesson for him. We never would have had that if we just plowed though after he was "done." So yeah, lots of other things happened in that lesson and it was turning point. We walked out of there thinking, "Wow, why haven't we done any of this before?!"

So he got a blessing from the Elders for his drinking problem and hasn't drank since. It really has been amazing. He thought the blessing would be a hit on the head saying, "You're healed!" but after the blessing, he just sat there and said he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. The next day he said that he felt strength and liked the blessing because it wasn't "immediate", it still required work on his part. He had a LOT of opposition, from friends stopping by randomly to drink, but he said no every time. One time he even was outside and thought, "Wow, a beer would be so good right now" and a minute later his friend stopped by with a beer for him. But he's been super strong and it's great. He's seeing a TON of blessings from keeping the Word of Wisdom. He has been able to go jogging and have a ton of energy for the first time since he was diagnosed. He went to the Dr. because he's going to start chemo again and the Doctor was SO shocked because he's had an irregular heartbeat and a TON of problems, but the Doctor was so surprised because his white blood cell count had shot through the roof, his heartbeat was regular for the first time ever, and tons of other miracles. It was a huge testimony for him about how the Word of Wisdom is true and comes from God.

He's getting Sundays off in 2 weeks and then he'll be able to be baptized in August. I'm SO excited for him, but sad that I won't be there. But it's going to be great for him.

Well, I gotta go, this is my last week and I'm going to make it the best. I know that this Gospel is true and that if we just show our faith and go out with all diligence, the Lord blesses us. He blessed John. He's blessed so many other investigators and recent converts of mine. He's blessed me. To quote the happy Christian song, "God is an awesome God." It's true. He loves us so much and is always there for us. I love this mission and hate that it's the best at the end. I wish I could stay and just do this till Christmas. I know that Jesus is the Christ and I will follow him wherever he calls me.

Love,

Sister Burt

A Sharp!

Familia!

Yikes, can you believe it's another week? Wow, this has been an interestingly slow week, but fast at the same time. Two weeks left and everyone is keen on bringing it to my attention. Even in church, they are planning a "going away" party for me and when they announced it at church, I was sitting by the piano and the second they said it, "I just shrugged down as far as I could go so that no one could see me behind the piano. Haha, I felt like Simba in the Lion King when Mufasa calls his name to give him a talking to and he is standing next to Nala and just sinks as far down as he can into the grass to hide. Yep, it was exactly like that.

So I got an email from "Stephen" and I was so excited because I thought that Steve had written me for the first time on my mission, but then I realized that it was in Spanish and was a bit confuse because it said (in Spanish), "Excuse me for my poor Spanish, but I'll do my best." Then I realized that it wasn't Steve at all, but rather my mission president responding back to my email. Bummer. Hey, I still have two weeks to hope that he writes me! ;)

I have this medallion necklace that Marilyn gave me that has the "Armor of God" on it. I decided to wear it again because I like it a lot, but I just got out of the habit of wearing jewelry. So yeah, I think I may stop wearing it because I've had numerous people (even church members) come up to me and say, "Oh what Saint is that on your necklace?" Oh gosh...I forget at times that I'm in Catholic territory where saints are, well, saints to them. So yeah, maybe to prevent further confusion (especially by people thinking that we actually believe in Saints as well), I may stop wearing it. Oh yeah and that reminds me. A while ago, I got this free sticker at Pizza Hut of this Maria picture (the classic one that you see everywhere) that also came with a prayer sticker to Maria. So, I didn't need it, so what did I do? I put it on the back on the Elders car. It was super hilarious. Don't worry, by the end of the day, they noticed and ripped it off. But they had NO clue who it was who did it. ;)

Wow, this really was the most amazing week. It was the most unique on my mission so far because we--for the first time ever--weren't focused on investigators as our first priority. Instead, we--the Raymondville missionaries--went forth with our plan to just visit ALL the inactives in the branch. As a result, we visited and taught a total of 18 member and less-active lessons. Yikes. But it was really really effective. I've noticed that there are two reasons why people leave the church: 1) they get offended or 2) they just stopped coming one Sunday and that turned to two, and so on and so forth. Reason number 1 is the most common here. It's really sad to see that people let other people come between them and their salvation.

Well, Sister Melissa Martinez has been coming out with us EVERY single day. She's an awesome, eclectic member who has been in Raymondville nearly her whole life. She's pretty amazing because she's an epileptic and has 6 children (5 of whom has disabilities such as deafness, mute, Bi-polar, etc). But she's very devoted to the church. Well, we started talking her out with us to visit other less-actives. In Raymondville, everyone knows everybody and especially more true, Melissa knows EVERYBODY. So it's a lot easier to get into home and less-actives because she's already their friend. Well, literally she would call us in the morning and say, "Sisters. I'm ready whenever you are." And we'd pick her up around 11 am or noon, and then she'd be with us all day until around 4, when we'd take lunch. Then after our little hour/hour fifteen minute break, we'd head straight back to her house to pick her up until 9 pm when we'd go home. She's great. We asked, "Are you sure you want to go out with us this much? You can say 'no' or just tell us to take you home whenever." But she replied, "Oh no! I LOVE IT. It helped me to get away from my kids" (hmm, not necessarily what we wanted...), "because they are so wild that I get so stressed out. But I am SO less stressed since I have been coming with you and my kids notice and they like it." So yeah, she likes getting out of the house because missionary work calms her jangled nerves and she has to take less medicine because of it. Haah, good times. She's great though. I wish I had the camera card so I could attach a picture. Oh well. But she is just a riot because she's crazy (in a cool way). I have so many quote from her, for example, yesterday. She and I were knocking a door while Sister Farr was across the street and this grey parrot was next to us and made his terrible shriek! She immediately said, "Sharp! A sharp!" To which I replied, "You know what note it is?" and she said, "You forget, Sister Burt. I took choir. 7 years of choir." Well, yeah... I'm not going to comment on the Raymondville branch's singing ability, but I just laughed at it. Yep. That's pretty much what our days consist of now.

As I mentioned before, all week, we focused on visiting less-actives and building the branch again. Well, the most exciting, memorable, and successful visit this week was to a member named Sister Mundy.

We've hadn't really heard of her before, but Tuesday night, we had 15 minutes before an appointment. We had been trying to visit less-actives up until this point and weren't having ANY success. I--to be honest--was a bit deflated. People don't' want to talk to us and even people who ARE members of the church don't want to talk to us, I thought. With 15 minutes to go, it would have been convenient to just go to the appointment early. But I then remember a letter I got a few months ago from a RM friend who wrote a random part (prefacing it by saying, "I have no idea why I'm including this random story, but here it is") where she talked about how she gained a testimony of "using every minute" on the mission. She told the story of how they had 15 minutes before a dinner appointment, but decided to use that time instead to work on their goal of meeting everyone (member or less-active) in the ward. By this point she had been in the same area for 10 months, so she already knew all the members and had moved onto less-actives. Anyways, she found this woman who just was wanting to change her life again and come back, to church. Well, this story went through my mind and I decided that 15 minutes was enough to try to find one more person.

We stopped near the home of Bro. Trevino--an elderly man who comes to sacrament meeting, but always leaves right afterwards. The Sunday prior, we tried stopping by his home, and even though his car was there, he didn't answer. So we decided to try again because we never had been formally introduced. Also, apparently--according to the ward list--a "Sister Mundy" (pronounced Mun-dee) lived there. Before leaving the car, I said the prayer and I think I said the most desperate prayer that I have said on the mission. I didn't say my thanks or the "thank you for this day" jazz, I just simply said, "Dear Heavenly Father, please help us to be able to find someone and that they will let us in. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." It really was a plea for help.

We knock the door and this woman answers and says, "Oh come in, come in, get out of the mosquitoes!" (Because since the hurricane, the mosquitoes have invaded south Texas and it is not a pleasant experience to be outside. We sat down and got to know who she was. She was so nice and open and really the friendliest person I have ever met. She just glows and her attitude is just contagious. Well, we started talking about who she was and she revealed that she hadn't been to church in 3 years. She was originally baptized in Raymondville in the 80s, but then moved to Idaho in the early 2000s and stayed there for 7 or so years. Well, I think anyone can decipher that an Idaho WARD is much different than the Raymondville Branch. She shared so many stories of how much she loved it, how she felt like she was "home" the minute she was there, the amazing story of how the women in the church helped her prepare her for her endowments, etc. But then she said the time came where she had to move back to take care of her father (Bro. Trevino) and moved back. She was so gung-ho to come back and change the whole place and help in any way that she could. But, week after week, she would try her hardest, but nothing would happen, the members would be stubborn and unappreciative, etc and finally, she just decided that she wouldn't come anymore. She'd been hurt too much that it just wasn't worth it.

Well, we shared with her and invited her to come back to church (I'm cutting a lot out of course). Sister Farr said, "We want to invite you to choose to come back to church." and she loved that because she loved the principle of agency and that we really do choose for ourselves. Well, we visited her again and I just loved my visit with her because she really is so special and fun. She committed to come to church and then yesterday...she did! And even before we could come up to her, 5 other branch members beat us to her and gave her hugs. The branch presidency has received some vigor recently and is extending a TON of callings and by the end of church, she already had been interviewed and offered a calling. :) It's really just so happy. She bore her testimony later in class that she always had this scripture come to her throughout her life when she thought that she was alone. When she stopped coming to church, she continued to read her scriptures and go watch talks online while everyone else was at church, she was doing everything except coming to church. She said that two weeks ago, she even stopped reading her scriptures and decided that she was alone, but then just a few days later, we came to her doorstep and she knew that God was watching out for her. And even when she came to church, that scripture (that God had always helped her remember in her times of need) was mentioned in one of the talks. She also left us a message this morning on our phone, thanking us for visiting her and helping her come back to church. It was really one of the greatest moments on my mission. I was so happy and I already have such a love for this AMAZING woman of the church, I'm glad she's back because everything about her is needed to help this branch. She helped me. It's funny because I told Elder Arens about her message this morning and he said, "See? It's ok that you didn't find any investigators last week. You brought an endowed member of the church back. That's like 5 baptisms." Haha, it was funny. But we really didn't do anything. We just came by and visited her. It's really not only about baptisms as a missionary. I've learned and gained a testimony this past week that missionary work is a LOT more that just baptisms.

It really was a great week. This has been the most interesting transfer of my life because the missionary work I've been doing has been so different that what I had traditionally doing in the past. We haven't been able to find very many people AT ALL and only have 3 investigators total...It's sad, but the ones that we do have are great. But at times, I feel like throwing my hands in the air with this place and feel like saying, "I give up. I can't do this anymore." But then that reminds me of two things. One, the talk that Sister Dibb gave in the General YW meeting of conference entitled, "Be of Good Courage." Then I also think more importantly of Jesus Christ. "Remember Him" as President Eyring said in his talk entitled, "Act in All Diligence." He said, "When I find myself drawn away from my priesthood duties by other interests and when my body begs for rest, I give to myself this rallying cry: “Remember Him.” The Lord is our perfect example of diligence in priesthood service. He is our captain. He called us. He goes before us. He chose us to follow Him and to bring others with us." Its true. As we remember the Savior and his patience with us, we are more patient with others and their faults. As we are patient and long-suffering, miracles happen. I know that this is the work of the Lord and that I am literally an instrument in his hands as long as I'm willing and worthy. I have been doing everything that I can daily to improve myself. My time is short, but I still have time to be effective and make a difference.

Well, I love you all. Stay true and faithful.

Love,

Sister Burt

Longest Week Ever

Hey Everyone!

Well, since no one mentioned anything about me and the hurricane, don't worry. I'm ok and safe. Haha. Actually, this past week has been the LONGEST week of my mission. Seriously, last Monday felt like weeks ago! But before I go into the events of the past week, let me tell you some IMPORTANT NEWS that I stupidly forgot to mention last week:

Two Saturday's ago, we had a baptism! Yep, an awesome single mom named Clarissa. It was really special and she was very excited and loves the church. IT was great to see her progress as she first started off as a referral from the Elders in Harlingen. They were teaching her, but she emergency moved here and we continued with her and helped her work through her doubts and accept the Gospel. Conversion is really special and great every time it happens, no matter how many times.

Anyways, now I will go into the events of last week.

Monday: well pday wasn't very eventful as usual. And by this point, no one really wanted to talk to us because of Hurricane Alex. It was still projected at this point to hit south Texas, so nobody wanted to set return appointments because "the hurricane is coming."

Tuesday: Even more ineffective. But that morning, Elder Reilly came over and killed Sister Farr, Elder Arens, and me with a crazy plyometric work out that made Elder Arens throw up and made all of us so that we couldn't sit down without wincing for 3 days at least (But due to the hurricane and the events of the week, my workout plan just failed miserably). We drove around trying to find less-actives, recent converts, and members because everyone was boarding up their homes and skipping town. By this point we didn't really know if we were to be evacuated, so we were just sort of waiting. Our landlord called us and told us that she wanted us to get sand bags for the house and put duck tape "X's" on the windows, so we had to postpone working and get all that stuff done. When we went to go get sandbags, the Elders were there and had found a more effective use of their time: 3 hours of sand bagging. Great fun. We would have stayed and helped but we still had to grab all the stuff for our our house. We already had our 72 hour kits ready weeks ago, so we were set with that. Which was a good thing because the lines at Wal-Mart were crazy and no one had water. Well, Tuesday night we get the call that all the missionaries from the Harlingen and Brownsville zones are being evacuated, and have leave their homes the next morning by 7 am. So we hurried and packed a few clothes that night and then drifted off into dreamland.

Wednesday: Well, we got to McAllen to wait for all the other missionaries to arrive. The sky was dark and grey anticipating the hurricane or storms. I brought a lot of card games and such, anticipating a lot of "sitting around" as other missionaries who were here 2 years prior for Hurricane Dolly, warned me. Two days of just sitting around; yeah, sure, it's fun at first, but after a while it gets pretty boring. Well, to be honest, I was hoping that we wouldn't have to be evacuated because I honestly would rather be working and sharing the Gospel, not sitting around doing nothing wasting time. Well, luckily, it didn't turn out that way. On Monday, our new mission president and his wife--President and Sister Trayner--can in and the Miller's flew out Tuesday morning (those lucky ducks, they left right before the chaos happened. "Here President Trayner, you have the keys now. Good luck!"). The 6 sisters who were evacuated were to stay at the Trayner's home, while all the Elders were to stay in different Elders' apartments in the Mission and McAllen zones. Well, we head over to the Trayner's house around 9 am and all the sisters got to be one of the first ones to meet Pres. and Sis. Trayner. They are great people. One of the first things Sister Trayner said to me was, "Oh I've read your blog. I know you." Oh really? Haha, I guess she was talking to her daughter a month or so before she left and her daughter said, "Oh you get to meet the "famous one"" (referring to me and my blog). Famous? Hahahahah, not even close. They must not see me at the lunch table at zone conferences. Clearly not famous, nor popular. Either way, I thought it was funny. Well, instead of sitting around, President Trayner put us all to work and the two zones that had evacuated had a "Surprise" 4 day zone conference. Yep. 4. Days. Long. 10 am to 5 pm (at least). Apparently, the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12 Apostles are implementing a whole new system (sort of) for missionary work). I guess at the new mission president's seminar they rolled it all out and told the president's "Ok, so when you get to the mission, you may want to take a few weeks to implement this so that you can get settled in and familiar with the area, your new home, the mission, missionaries, etc." But thanks to Hurricane Alex, it sort of forced President to roll it ou within the second day that he was here: so I'm pretty confident that the Texas McAllen Mission is the only mission in the world that is already putting these new techniques for teaching into effect (well, at least the Harlingen and Brownsville zones). It's sort of a bummer to be getting all this training now, rather than at the BEGINNING of my mission, but I know that it happened the way that the Lord intended it to be. Apparently, I needed it these last three weeks left.

The church released a new "season" of "The District"--a reality show about missionaries doing their job and recording them teaching and working with their investigators (I saw the older one in the MTC). Also, with the new thing, the dress code for Sister Missionaries have been modified. No longer do skirts need to go to "mid calf" or longer, but rather, they need to be just below the knee and cover your knees when you sit down. A LOT more modern, in my opinion (because seriously, it was SO hard to find those darn skirts. So yeah, when I get off the plane, don't be shocked if I'm wearing a skirt that seems "shorter" that what traditional sisters have worn int he past).

Well, Wednesday night we stayed at the Trayner's home and Thursday had training till 5. By this point, the hurricane had passed and didn't do too much damage in Texas (it hit in Mexico), so all the missionaries were okayed to go back to their apartments, BUT the training would continue Friday and Saturday since we already started it. Oh yeah, the church is also getting away with the traditional "6 week transfer" cycle. Apparently, the missionaries are too "transfer" oriented, so they are getting rid of it so that the missionaries can better focus on their monthly baptismal goals.

So that's pretty much what happened this week. It was pretty much the most ineffective week of my mission. ZERO new investigators...no one at church. But we did have an AWESOME lesson with John, one of our investigators, immediately after one of the trainings, putting into place the things that we learned. It was one of the best lessons I've had on my mission. I would write about it, but my time is low. :( Maybe next week, eh?

Well, my time is up. It was really a rough week, but I learned SO much and am so excited to go out and apply it all. I sort of questioned myself at the beginning of these trainings thinking, "So the first presidency is saying that they way we were teaching and doing missionary work before was, essentially, wrong and not the best. But I've been doing that my whole mission, does that mean my mission was a total failure?" Well, of course not. That was just Satan trying to get me down. Was the old "discussion" way of preaching from the 80s and 90s (and maybe even before) wrong? No, the church learned and improved itself and provided a better way. That doesn't mean that what I did this whole time was wrong, I was fulfilling my purpose, "inviting others to come unto Christ" and it was the way the LORD wanted for ME. That's why I went on a mission a year and a half ago, and not now. If anything, I needed to learn this stuff, to make the last 3 weeks of my mission, the best possible. And even more, to apply them into my life when I get home. I know that however this work is done, as long as it's done the LORD's way, it is his work. I've definitely learned that if you try to do it your own way, then you can't do it at all. I'm grateful that even the church is learning, growing, improving and progressing. What an example for us in our daily lives. If I'm the same as I was a month ago, doing the same things, not progressing, then I need to repent and get better. In church, school, my scripture study, my visiting teaching, my missionary work, my calling...whatever it may be.

I love you all and can't wait to see you. Just help me endure to the end please. I don't want to get trunkie because I'm still not really and I just want to make these last three weeks the best!

With Love,

Sister Burt

P.S. Ok, yesterday the zone leaders and another set of Elders came up and we all played golf. It was a grand old time. We decided to split up into teams (we had 6 playing total) and play best ball. I was on Elder Petersen's team from San Benito (who is an AWESOME missionary, person, golf player, etc) and we won. It was grand fun even though my golf game has gone down the drain these past years. But he has the nicest shot of the tee ever--long and straight-- and then we'd usually play my ball off my irons because my iron game and chipping skills are my forte. Yay for teamwork.

Sending Pics Took Up All My Time

Hey!

Ok, so I am sending a TON of pictures, so my email may be shorter as a result. Gotta love trade-offs. First thing, I took that melatonin like once. I didn't need it after that, which is good because I really don't like the idea of "sleep aids" but I was desperate.

Ok, so my 1st ever little mini, missionary crush on Elder Reilly ended after about 3 days--as do nearly all of my crushes. Yep, I got over it, which is good. He's still super awesome and we all have a game plan to help the branch get on it's feet. Also, he's also volunteered himself to become my trainer. My favorite was when a man yesterday told me, "Do you eat a lot?" "No." "Oh, it's ok because you're big girl. A beautiful one at that." Seriously?!!? I'm not even fat, just... Yeah, so apparently I need to get skinny or fit. So Elder Reilly developed this diet/meal plan for me which I'm starting today, and then he even decided to come over every morning with his companion and be our trainer to help us work out outside. Haha, so yeah, I'm not complaining about a free trainer.

Anyways, Zone Conference was this past week and it was sad because it was the last one with Pres. and Sister Miller. It was also the one where I gave my departing missionary testimony. It was interesting because it doesn't feel like the end. If just feels like another transfer. So weird, I thought the last transfer would just be a big whirlwind, but really..it's not. Just another day.

Well, I'm not going to waste time, so I'll just start talking about Theresa because that's really all the time I have. So Theresa is SO cool. We came over for our appointment and she read all the way from 2 Nephi 28 to Alma! She just fell in love with it and couldn't stop reading. She's accepting everything we teach her, except that she believes that her baptism was a baptism of faither and, therefore, valid in the eyes of God. As a result, she believes that she has the Holy Ghost. So, it's just a matter of prayer for her. We started a lesson with her and that's actually what she brought up, after a few lessons of us not talking about it. We actually had planned a lesson SOLELY on the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was amazing how since we were in tune with the Spirit, we were able to teach her what her need and doubt was. She's really doing quite well, but we can't really set a baptismal date with her yet. We helped her paint her house that she's building so that was nice. She loves us and everything that we teach her. She's receiving so many witnesses about what we're sharing to be true. So, she's progressing, but her daughter is going to Tennessee to spend July and August with her dad. So I hope that BJ being gone, won't but a wrench in things. But we'll see.

Love Sister Burt

Enjoy the Pics~

Pictures

Sister Farr doesn't play golf. So she rented a cart and wrote letters the whole time.

Elder Arens...forgot his tennis shoes

Elder Reilly

Stuff

Love this sign

Golfing. No tee, so what do you use? An an hill. That's the Texas way.

Service in a skirt

Me and Sister Farr in the farmland

South Texas: miles and miles of farmland.

Easter tradition here: crack eggs full of confetti on your head. Great fun.

Riding Bikes

The old Raymondville district from when I first got here. Elder Given (the first one) reminds me a LOT of Marshall. It's great.

Lucy's baptism

We found a turtle while digging holes for service on day.

Gotta Love Tex Mex :)

The Boot Co.

Me walking

The Harlingen Zone Picture

Sister Satterwhite is pretty much the coolest member ever. Seriously, just look at her. :)

Linda's Lounge pretty much sums up Raymondville.

Our dog...Tink. Because she s"tink"s and "tink"les all over the place.

The Sr. couple--The Swayne's--fixing our fire alarm at apt. checks.

Martha and Jessica who were preparing to be baptized. That's been put on hold for a while...

Posing for the camera at our local lunch spot--Boot Co!

Laura Barrera at her $100,000 (not really) quicenera

The Tie Bale We Bought for father's day gifts.

Big Changes in Raymondville...Ok, actually, just one.

Hey family!

Ok, to answer a few questions. The new mission president will come in on July 1st but we will already have had our zone conference the week before (our last one with President and Sister Miller). I will probably get to meet him once for interviews and then when I leave. So yeah, I'm not going to have much contact with him which is a bummer. My departing interview will be with a new mission president and it'll probably go something like this, "So Sister, I can really tell how much you have changed and grown over this past....month. You are a completely different person then when I first met you such a long time ago." Yep. It's going to be awesome.

What else happened? Oh yeah, the neighbors called the dog catcher on our "puppy" because she wouldn't always run in their yard and lie in their grass. Haha, it's ok, I would have done the same, but for some reason I couldn't find the number, so they did it for us. And...let's be honest, I was getting bored of her by like the 3rd day. Haha, pets aren't my thing apparently.

Well, like I said, transfers were last week and I'm staying in Raymondville. This is great news! Haha, well sort of. Elder Guillen (our old district leader) got transferred and we got a new district leader: Elder Reilly. If you don't remember, he was my AMAZING zone leader in my short stay in Brownsville (the one who is going to play football for Colorado State). Everything he said or did, was just...inspiring. I think he's every one's favorite person in the mission; seriously, he's Mr. Popular. Anyways, with that, he's also the only missionary that I've ever had a mini-missionary crush on (haha, you knew that was coming). So yeah, this will be an interesting transfer. But it's alright, I've already gotten over it (except that I was so embarrassed/nervous to talk to him at the beginning of the week, hahaha. I'm such a nerd, but I got over that). Anyways, he's really an asset to Raymondville because Raymondville is just very... interesting and tries to do things their own way. Also, our old district leader didn't really want to be a district leader (or in any leadership position), so he purposely didn't plan things for district meeting and such because he wanted to get taken out. But it's alright, I learned what I had to learn. But Elder Reilly is really intense and all about "finding solutions." He's involved with our investigators progress just as much as his own and really fires Sister Farr and up to step it up and be WAY better than we are. So yeah, I (and the rest of the district, because again, everyone loves this guy) are REALLY excited for this next transfer. Oh random fact about him: he's obsessed with working out and staying in shape, and so he lugged 600 POUNDS of weights with him up here, including a number of different weight machines he's accumulated over his mission. Pretty crazy.

But things have been going pretty good here in Raymondville. We didn't have the girls baptized this past week. I knew I shouldn't have wrote about it last week. I never write about baptisms until AFTER they happen because I'm always afraid I'll jinx it. Well, they had a great time at girls' camp, but then it came out that they felt like they were being pushed into being baptized. So after a ton of drama of some other mission leaders trying to convince us to go with it, we decided that they had their agency and clearly, if they don't feel ready or that they have repented of everything, then they're not ready! But a miracle happened after that: their mom, Belinda, finally approached us again, saying that she had quit drugs and really is interested in learning and changing again. Wow, there is a NIGHT and DAY difference with Belinda now compared to when she is on drugs. She's very smiley and pleasant now, before she had constant blood-shot eyes and was despicable. It's a big difference with the girls teaching them alongside their mom.

Well, Theresa came back to church after 2 crazy weeks where Satan got in her way and she couldn't go. She still is very interested and reading the Book of Mormon. She's in 2nd Nephi and loving it. She always gives us giant kisses on our cheeks (a cultural thing that they do here. Seriously, I was kissed more in my first MONTH alone of my mission that I ever had in my whole entire life! And it was all by WOMEN!). But she's still searching and trying to figure it all out. She keeps saying, "Well, I need to make sure this is right because it's my SALVATION. It's true. But I came across a good verse of scripture this morning that I want to share with her because she's focused on her salvation, the spirit and truth, Jacob 4:13: Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.

It's true. She's very concerned with her salvation, so we need to help her connect with the Spirit and how it will ALWAYS lead us in the path of true. I'm excited for her progress during these next few weeks. We still haven't been able to set a date for baptism with her yet.

Well, other than that, I can't think of anything else to write because my time is us (I'm trying to be better about not going over the 45 minutes of email time. Most days we use up to an hour or even an hour and fifteen minutes). It's funny but here I am in my last transfer and I don't feel like it's my last at all! I feel like it's just another transfer. And the saddest part is that this past week, I have felt like I have become the best missionary that I ever have been: the lessons are so much more powerful, the investigators are getting it, I'm asking the right questions that I've never asked before. It's sad actually. I mean, I heard from many returned missionaries that that will happen: you'll become the best and feel like you finally got it and then...poof! It's over. So, I'm trying not to think about the "over" part because that's really sad and I have a ton more improving to do so that our investigators can receive the blesses of the Gospel.

My love goes to all out there, including dad for father's day. This gospel is true and I love it because the more you get into it, the happier you are. Isn't that the purpose of life? "Men are that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). If you want more happiness, live the gospel better. There's always things we can do to improve and the increase of happiness, prosperity and blessings (Mosiah 2:22-24,41) will ALWAYS come.

Love,

Sister Burt

The Dog Ate My Planner

Hey,

This week has been a good week. Today we find out about transfers and I'm about 50/50 split about whether Sister Farr will stay or not. But this I do know, it's my LAST transfer ever. 6 more weeks to be a full-time missionary and serve the Lord. Yikes, it's a sad thought which impels me to want to work even harder than ever. We have a LOT of good people we are teaching right now, and the people we are teaching right now are the ones who will be ready for baptism in July so it's imperative that I continue working hard and don't slack off.

This was a bit of a crazy week. I lost my planner. I realized that it was missing after we had been working a street, then visiting a lot of businesses to fill up pass-a-long car stands. I noticed it when we were eating at our friendly neighborhood "Boot Co. Restaurant"--a local restaurant that feeds the missionaries for free. So we go once a week and enjoy the burgers, and..well burgers mostly because they're just so good! I noticed it and we started backtracking my steps. I couldn't find it. The next day we decided to go back to one of the streets we had been working the day before. We parked in the same place where the car was parked a day earlier and we saw all my pass-a-long cards strewn across a few yards. We tried to follow the trail, but it didn't lead anywhere. I retrieved probably nearly all the cards, but not the planner. I was bummed. So I had to procure another one (which is hard to do because they really don't let you have extras) from another missionary who had an extra. When we picked up all the cards, a few were all demolished with dents. At first I thought that a dog had eaten the planner and carried it away, but I realized later that it must have just been on the road and the cars kept driving over it and the bumps weren't dog bits, but rather the imprints of the little rocks and gravel on the road.

We had another dog encounter this week. We were planning in the living room one night at 9:30, and we heard this shriek. I thought it was a bat, while Sister Farr thought it was a mouse. Then we heard this scratching at the door and we both hopped up and peeked on the door while opening it. To our surprise, it was a little brown puppy! She was scared from the thunder outside. We gave her some water because she was so thirsty (she drank 2 bowls) and then just pet her for a while (while not letting her come inside). The whole time this was happening, the line from the white handbook kept flashing thought my mind, "Do not have pets of any kind." She has a collar, so she must belong to somebody. So, here it is a week later and she still is hanging out outside of our house. We gave her a bath too. But she's not our pet! Haha. We put up "found dog" signs, but I don't think people do that here in Raymondville. Too many strays to worry about it. So..we may have to call the pound soon. She keeps bringing ALL sort of junk into the yard and chewing it up. Even some poor girls flip flips are scattered in pieces around the lawn....

Oh, since I'm on a dog story kick, I must inform everyone that a few weeks ago, I hit a dog in the car while driving on the Business 77. It was walking with her owner and suddenly just jetted out into the street for no reason. I couldn't really do anything to avoid hitting old "Goldie." Her owner ran up and gave me the biggest stink eye, but it wasn't my fault she wasn't on a leash! She seemed like she was going to die. We said a prayer for her, but I don't think the woman had confidence in us. We happened to have hit it right in front of her pastor's home, so he came out and said a prayer and then the dog just hopped up and was fine. So either way, the power of prayer worked and the dog was able to walk home.

Ok, enough dog stories (seriously though, if you were in Raymondville, you would understand why the majority of the time, dogs are involved). We are having a baptism this week--Jessica and Martha. Their mom was Belinda who was at one point super interested, but then got back into her drug and drinking habit and now just yells and screams all the time with blood shot eyes. It's sad, but she's supportive of the girls. Although, certain members of the ward are not supportive and keep telling us that they're "not ready" and such, so it's hard when we've already gotten that confirmation from the Lord. But they're going to girl's camp this week, so they'll be on a spiritual high by the weekend when they're baptized. Yay girl's camp. It's just amazing and does wonders.

We were teaching machines this week. By Wednesday, we had 17 investigator lessons taught--and the Standard of Excellence for the mission is to teach 20 a week. So it was good. We were focusing on all the people who had attended church, but by the end of the week, Satan really got in the way and it was hard to teach them at the end. One of our investigators (Eva) is a lesbian (kind of, I don't think she really is, this is just her first homosexual relationship after MANY failed ones with men), so we decided to teach the law of chastity up front so that she would know it was a requirement for her baptism. Well, she seemed to understand and then that night came to our Movie Night with her girlfriend and kids. According to Elder Guillen, they were holding hands. Hm... I'm not quire sure she committed to live it. Then she didn't show up for church and we dropped by yesterday to see how she was and Sister Farr said that the front door was open and she could see all the way in the back of the house and saw Eva lying on her bed next to her girlfriend and then when she knocked, the door just closed. So yeah. Another one was just plain hard to catch and another one split up with his girlfriend after we taught them Law of Chastity. Yikes, missionary work is so stressful. Sometimes I just get so tired with everyone and want to just give up on them. But seconds later, I realize that Heavenly Father loves these people and that he would never give up on them. I just need to be more patient, loving and understanding. Usually after thinking that, I am able to keep going to help them. As Utchdorf said in his priesthood session talk, "Continue in Patience": "

As the Lord is patient with us, let us be patient with those we serve. Understand that they, like us, are imperfect. They, like us, make mistakes. They, like us, want others to give them the benefit of the doubt. Never give up on anyone. And that includes not giving up on yourself.

Recently, a recent covert for only 6 months--named Aurelio (or "Junior" to us missionaries)--was called to be the first counsellor in the branch presidency. Quite a shock at first, but I felt the Spirit confirm that he was the one for the job and had been prepared for this calling. He was preparing to be a Methodist minister at one point. But anyway, we teach him his recent convert lessons about every 2 weeks or so. He's great and will read anything you assign him. He said that the other missionaries never stopped by after he was baptized (which is NOT what they're supposed to do). So we taught him the lessons again, but definitely more in detail that you would anyone else (Teaching the Plan of Salvation took two parts and was SO much fun going into it). Anyways, yesterday after the lesson, he gave us both cards that he had made. He was thanking us for everything we had done for him. In mine, he mentioned, "I know that you have charity. I can feel it when you talk to others...one day I hope to have charity like you." I was touched. Sister Farr later brought to my attention, "How interesting that he mentioned charity because that's the thing that you have been working on your whole mission." In that moment, I felt like crying. I've been working so hard to learn charity and love others. Many many times, I've just been so frustrated with myself and wonder if I've really change at all! Or if I'm still the old, selfish, mean, bratty self that I used to be. It's hard to see the changes in yourself, especially when you tend to only focus on the negative things that need fixing). It's hard to step back and observe the beauty of the whole edifice, when your hunched over fretting about the chipped molding on the corner. But I was grateful for Junior for writing that. It really made me realize that I have grown and changed and improved over the course of this mission. I'm not the same person I was when I entered the MTC and I'm certainly glad that I won't be that same person walking off the plane. I still have a long way to go, but I'm grateful for the effect this mission has had in changing my heart.

I love you all. Have a great week everyone. Here's hoping that I stay in Raymondville for my last transfer!

Love,

Sister Burt