Sacramento - Week 64

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: 52 DAYS

“Hillbilly BBQ and a Baptism”

April 14, 2014

Hello one and all! 

Another week has come and gone and seriously just flown by. I don't know where it went! Sister Johnson and I have been so busy, and it is such a blessing. 

We have a baptism coming up this weekend! Mushu is getting baptized on Sunday night. I am so happy for him! His life story is completely ravaged with trials and crazy things any one of which I would think should be enough refiner's fire for one lifetime. He has such a strong testimony of the gospel and is one of the sweetest gentlest people I have ever met. Yesterday, he brought roses from his garden for our whole gospel principles class. I was looking at them on our table this morning and I just could not stop smiling. I love flowers. They always make me think of the scripture about considering the lilies of the field and how the Lord takes care of each one of us. 

We had dinner this week with a less active couple we found, the Dalmations. They asked us where we wanted to go for dinner, and I suggested this little hole in the wall BBQ joint I had seen while we were biking. It was called, "Billie Hill's Hillbilly BBQ". It was a blast! Throughout the course of an evening that was highlighted by ribs and fried snickers pie, we found out that Pongo and Perdita had joined the church in Hawaii. While there, they held Stake callings, were in bishoprics, and he was the high priest group leader. They moved here to California, and decided to just "take a break".

Insert the sound of Sister Burchett's heart breaking!!!!!!!!!!! It is my burning and solemn testimony that we can NEVER take a break from being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Keeping our covenants includes attending and being a full participator in church. I have seen the sad truth that if we are not moving towards the Lord, we are moving away from Him. There is no standing still, no sitting on the fence, and there are no breaks. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it is a sacrifice. But IT IS WORTH IT. We can never be complacent in our discipleship. Doing so allows the weeds of doubt and discouragement to grow in our garden of testimony. It causes our seedlings of faith and revelation to wilt so slowly and imperceptibly that one day we will wake up and find ourselves in a drought, and not know how we got there. Satan is way too good at his job for us to ever be satisfied. 

On a lighter note, we finally met Inspector Gadget from behind the big, black door!!!!!! We met him and his family for the first time in person last night and will be returning to teach them this week. Inspector Gadget still insists that he does not and will not believe in God, but he has a good spirit about him and I know the spirit can touch his heart and the heart of his family. 

This week we were asked to participate in a Relief Society Activity and teach a 20 minute presentation on springing into action spiritually. Sister Johnson and I talked about one of my favorite acronyms: CPR.

CPR stands for Church, Prayer, and Reading. These are the things that give our spirit life. It was a neat experience to hear the different testimonies of the sisters on how they are trying to improve themselves in each of these areas. It made me think so much of General Conference. How many speakers testified that these three basic things make all the difference? I know that they do! If we are attending our church meetings, praying, and reading our scriptures, we are building a wall of protection from the adversary and a firm foundation on the Savior. It doesn't mean life will be easy, trial free, and a lovely spring jaunt through meadows of clover, but it does mean that we will know where to turn when we need help. It means we will have a better understanding of how to access the Savior's atonement. 

I know the Savior lives! What a blessing we have to celebrate his glorious resurrection this Easter Sunday. May we never forget his atoning sacrifice for each and every one of us. I pray we will all better use this gift that was bought with the highest price for each of us. Happy Easter, have a wonderful week!

Love, 

Sister Burchett