Sacramento - Week 56

Due to the new security measures requested by the Mission leaders, the names of all investigators and people that Sarah comes into contact with will be replaced with the name of a well-known character from a children’s movie. This will keep the identities of people safe as well as make it easier to keep everyone straight. The name given is in NO WAY intended to reflect the personality, looks, or circumstances of the individual(s).

“Sometimes Courage Is…”

February 17, 2014

Hello lovely family! 

Thanks so much for the Valentine's goodies from several of you! They made my day. 

We had an awesome Valentine's Day at Zone Conference. The theme of the conference was "Go Baptize!" Somewhere one of you is thinking, "How original." In the words of Elder Russel M. Nelson, we "Do what missionaries have always done"! 

At conference our zone sang Abide With Me Tis Eventide.

I love this hymn because of the scriptures it is based upon. It tells the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. After hearing the news that Christ's body was no longer in the tomb and that He had risen, two disciples began the journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a distance of about 5 miles. As they spoke about Jesus, a man appeared and began to walk with them, asking them what they were talking about. The disciples told the man of Jesus, His teachings, miracle, death, and rumored resurrection. Little did they know, the disciples were speaking to Christ himself. The Savior concealed His identity from them as they walked. When they reached their homes, Christ acted like He would continue walking. The disciples, noting the late hour of the day, asked Him to stay the night and eat with them. He entered the home, and there Christ broke bread for the disciples. It was at that moment that the disciples, more than likely remembering the way He broke bread for them at the last supper, realized who it was that they were with. Here the living Christ sat with them, breaking bread for them as He had before. 

Then the Savior vanished. The two disciples sat astonished and began to try to reconcile what had happened with themselves. One said to the other, "Did not our hearts within us burn as He talked with us by the way?" It wasn't even the manifestation of the Savior himself that touched them, but it was the way their hearts burned within them. It wasn't seeing the Savior in the flesh that sealed their testimony that He had risen. It was the feelings they received from the Holy Ghost. 

It's that same way for us today! Our witness from the Spirit that something is true and good is just as powerful as having a perfect knowledge. The witness from the Spirit is more than enough. We don't need to see our Savior to know that He lives and the He loves us. We only need to feel the Holy Ghost speak to our hearts. We didn't walk with Him while He was here on the earth, but our testimony of Him can be just as strong as the people He taught and healed, because we are all the people He died for. Because He truly is our Savior, each of us has the right and the privilege to feel the Holy Ghost cause our hearts to burn within us. Isn't that just beautiful!

The title of this email is from one of my favorite Thomas S. Monson quotes, "Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'" We were asked to bring something that motivated us to Zone Conference and I took that quote. President Lewis loved it too. I love it because it gives me hope every day. Even the hardest days where I start to feel discouraged or think I am utterly failing at everything I have wanted to accomplish, I can remember that tomorrow is a new day. I have a Savior that loves me and will forgive me for my shortcomings. I can trust Him perfectly, and so I CAN have the courage to wake up in the morning and try again. 

This week we had a lot of ups and downs. Brother and Sister Frankenstein are struggling feeling confident in themselves and their ability to stay active. They are so afraid that they will fail and become less active again. I just want them to realize that they area doing SO well. They just need to take courage! Discouragement means "lack of courage" and it is the tool of the devil to keep us from doing what we need to do. We MUST have courage and try again every single tomorrow. So we keep praying for them and loving them, and I have faith they are going to be just fine. 

Awesome little miracle story to close. Our new investigator Queen Elsa spends every other weekend with her dad so we couldn't meet this weekend. She convinced him to bring her to church though! She could only stay for sacrament meeting, but it was so important for her to be there and it was all she wanted! We had a great follow up lesson with her about prayer. The last time we met, we taught her to pray and committed her to pray this week. We asked how it was going and she said she has been praying everyday and she loves it! She said she woke up late and said a quick prayer that she could make it to school on time, and she made it 30 seconds before the bell. She said, "It was a miracle! Prayer really works!" It was so fun to see her testimony growing. Small and simple things. That's what it's all about. We're hoping to put her on date this week! 

Hope everyone has a great week! Have courage! 

Love, 

Sister Burchett