Sacramento - Week 62

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).

COUNTDOWN: 66 DAYS

“Aliens, Atlantians, and a Bit of Rain

March 31, 2014

Howdy y'all!

Another week has flown by. Sister Johnson and I are so busy that we can't even remember what happens to us. I love it. I did manage to be better at making notes for myself of the things I wanted to share this week so this letter will at least have content. I can't promise more than that. I'd say it should be uplifting and entertaining, but I tend to think I'm way more hilarious than I am, so we'll play it safe. :) 

We were biking down a busy street this week in the rain. It rained a good amount this week, and we tended to be damp wherever we went. It was great fun! As we biked, we saw a man up ahead of us. I love the moment when Sister Johnson and I realize we get to talk to another person. We look at each other, and smile and she (because her bike is normally in front) speeds up and yells, "Hello!" and I grab a Mormon.org card and swing in behind with a "We'd like to give you something!" It's like a beautifully choreographed danced.

So we start talking to this man and we invite him to church. He was SO excited and grateful that we stopped to talk to him. While we were finding out more of his religious background, his son came up and started talking to us too. We invited him to the Young Men's activity that night to play dodge ball. He and his older brother both came and had a great time! We found out that they family has 6 kids, two of which are sets of twins, ages 10 to 17. We are meeting with them this week and hoping to start teaching the whole family. It was another testimony builder for me that we cannot predict and should not judge who will be receptive to the gospel. This man was not the type of guy who you would look at normally and think, "He would make a great Mormon!" He was little rough looking, and a little dirty from walking, and missing a few teeth. His hands were worn and calloused from hard work and his clothes were torn. But the smile on his face when he saw that we had stopped to talk with him, THAT was what reminded me that we can't look at people for who they are, but for who they can become. We must see them the way that our Heavenly Father sees them. Before my mission I would have seen Brother Dracula and thought, "I'll go down a different street just to be safe." Now, I see him as my brother, who needs to know that he is loved by his Father in Heaven, and by me. 

We had another awesome experience this week with a part member family. We were planning the night before and I asked Sister Johnson what the story was with this particular family. She said they weren't particularly interested, but I really felt like we should stop by. We pulled up on our bikes and the family was outside. They were so happy to see us! We started talking and they were asking all kinds of questions about church. Turns out, their twin 4 year old girls have been asking to go to church. Then, out of the blue the mom asks her husband, "Corey, would you want to be baptized?"

Sister Johnson and I nearly fell over. It was so completely out of the blue, and on top of that is our favorite question ever. He said, "Yeah, maybe."

She said, "You'd have to give a lot of stuff up."

He said, "Yeah, I couldn't chew tobacco anymore, right?"

And so we taught the Word of Wisdom. And they're coming to church. And we're going to start teaching them. When people are ready, they are ready. Our job is to make sure that when they are ready, we are there to guide them. 

(Want to know more? --> The Word of Wisdom)

Manteca Stake is exploding! We have about 20 people on date for baptism in the month of April. One of our investigators in our area who is on date wanted to get baptized on Christmas because it was Christ's birthday....so I suggested Easter instead (knowing that was actually closer to Christ's real birthday but we didn't go into that) and he agreed. So he is getting baptized April 20th! Exciting. 

Wasn't the General Women's Meeting just beautiful! So much good stuff! I can't wait for more guidance at General Conference this weekend! What an amazing privilege to hear from prophets, seers, and revelators. Are you ready? 

(Did you miss it? Listen/watch the General Women’s Meeting HERE )

And now, a funny story from this week (well, it's actually quite sad, but I have to laugh at it or else I get depressed for humanity). As a missionary, you meet many people with many different ideas on why we are here and the purpose of life. When left in the darkness without the restored gospel, it is frankly amazing the things that mankind comes up with to reason our existence.

This week we met two people with such out of this world views. One man told us that we were all created with aliens, and that aliens are actually the angels that God has sent to watch over us. They created Jesus, who was a superhuman, and are teaching and watching over us for God, who is the head alien and lives in a mothership where we can all live when we have been taught enough by the aliens.

Another woman told us that we are all the result of an experiment in energy levels being conducted by the Atlantians and other alien beings. People like Jesus Christ are "ascended masters" who have mastered the art of channeling good energy in love and peace. As we too channel or energy and work on our heart chakras, the Atlantians and other aliens can teach us until we reach the ultimate level of good energy, lift the whole planet into a state of world peace, and are absorbed by the ultimate energy source which is God.............yeah. Apparently, Mt' Shasta has very good energy because there is an inner-city of Aliens living underneath it. They all operate on a different dimension though, and that's why we can't see them.

HOW GRATEFUL I AM FOR THE RESTORED GOSPEL AND THE PLAN OF SALVATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, that's my life and my week. I hope all ya’ll’s is lovely and you have an amazing Conference Weekend! The gospel has been restored. There is a plan! We are God's children, and we can live with Him again!

Love, 

Sister Burchett