Sacramento - Week 24

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).

“So we all agree that the inactive should be active, right?”

Monday July 8, 2013

In answer to that question, yes, we do. I will explain. 

Me and Sister Vaughan!

First off, my new area is great! I adore Sister Vaughan and we get along so well. The lady we with live with is a little bit crazy so we may be moving, but at this point I have gotten used to just about every type of person known to mankind. I have also learned to bite my tongue. The other day she told me I unplugged the toaster wrong (what in the world? How is that even possible?!) But I just smiled and said, "Sorry! I'll do it right next time! Thanks Sister Zoro!" She really is very sweet, but holy canoli she is hard to live with. 

All ready to go! 3 bags, one tub, 1 box of bedding, mattress
pad, and one bag of food. She did a great job packing!

Ok so let's back up and start at the beginning, and all will be revealed. Tuesday I just said goodbye to everyone and packed. Christopher Robin didn't believe that I could get all of my stuff to fit into 3 suitcases and a Rubbermaid tub. So I took this as a challenge. And I made it all fit. Congratulashayla to me. If he would have let me distribute it a little bit more, my suitcases wouldn't have been so heavy, but he had to be stubborn. So I made him carry my suitcases up the hill haha jk he volunteered. But regardless, Sister Doolittle and I just laughed and laughed. It's a Burchett gene. We can't pack light. I guess it is an equally Fisher gene because we would rather ‘have it and not need it than need it and not have it’. 

Saying goodbye to the Doolittle’s and leaving Green Valley was one of the hardest things I have ever done! It was like leaving home again. I was so sad to leave, but so happy to be serving the Lord wherever he needed me. And so we came to Carmichael. I think I was in culture shock for a few days because it is SO different from El Dorado. There are so many people, cars, places to eat, places to shop. I have to relearn how to live in the city. So, I channeled my inner chameleon and adapted. And now I love it. SO MUCH! The ward is definitely struggling and they need a lot of help. We have zero investigators and over 400 less actives. But the active members are wonderful.

The Carmichael version of the Doolittle’s is the Von-Trapps. Brother Von-Trapp is from Ghana and was one of the first church leaders there. Sister Von-Trapp is from California and is a return missionary. They are awesome! It was Brother Von-Trapp who said, "So, we all agree the inactive should be active, right?" It sounds 5,000 times better in his accent and is actually quite a profound statement when you think about it. We are way too accepting of people being less active. How are we supposed to expect the Lord to give us more people, when we can't take care of the people we've got? And so, Sister Vaughan and I have divided up the ward list, and we are visiting every single person on it. We are going to find the people that need to be brought back and we are going to help them come back. Then, I know that the Lord will bless our efforts and new people will come, but we MUST take care of these people. When the Lord went out into the wilderness to search for the one, he first made sure that the 99 were safe and sound. There's no point in going after the one when the 99 are left to also wander away into the wilderness. That way, you end up with one sheep. And that's great, but doesn't make much sense in the whole salvation of souls standpoint. 

We spent the 4th of July having breakfast at Denny's with the Von-Trapps and then finishing moving in. We had a Zone activity that night, which really just meant we played sports because it was dangerous to be out. Sister Vaughan has a hurt ankle so we just sat on the stage and cheered and heckled. It was lots of fun. We watched fireworks from the driveway of our house. It was nice to have a holiday, but I was so ready to get back to work. It took the poor assistant, Elder Dahl, about 48 hours before he said, "Sister Burchett, when I asked you to come down here and bring some fire, I didn't know what I was getting into..."

No you didn't, Elder. But it's too late now. Let's get fired up! They found out that I wrote a song for the El Dorado Zone, and so they have all requested that I write a Carmichael Zone song as well. I had an epiphany the other night, and now Sister Vaughan and I can't stop singing it. Let us all thank the Lord for the weird but awesome talents he has given us. 

Sister Vaughan and I have decided that missionaries are really just stalkers for Jesus. We are creepy with a cause. We were out contacting members of the ward and two boys walked past us. They were signing. We knew we needed to find out where they lived so that we could give the referral to the ASL sisters. So, what did we do? We got in our car and sneakily followed them to where they lived. Some people may question this tactic, but we both felt the spirit, so I think it was fine. And we got the referral. Stalkers for Jesus! Creepy with a cause! 

And now the Sister Burchett embarrassing moment for the week: I remembered everything in El Dorado except the most important thing I own (debatable, but actually pretty true because everything else is replaceable) my retainer! So I had to get permission from the APs to call and have it brought down here. The conversation went a little something like this:

"Hi Elders it's Sister Burchett."

"Hi Sister Burchett. This is Elder Richwine."

"Hi, Elder. I haven't met you yet. Nice to meet you. Can I ask a favor please?" 

"Sure."

"Can I call my old companion and tell her I forgot my retainer?"

"........you forgot what?"

"My retainer......"

"ummmm......haha....ok. Sure."

"Don't laugh, Elder. Like you've never forgotten your retainer before!"

Yep, I'm a nerd. 

I could jump in a Texas River right now
 It's so hot....

I would like this car when I come please and thank you ;)

In other news, today I got my ears pierced. Yes, after 20 years I finally got enough courage to do it. So now I have diamond studs in my ears. I could turn this into a gospel analogy but I am running out of time. So just know that the church is true and that God has a plan for us. I know I was sent here to La Sierra for a reason, if nothing else to work hard and show the Lord that I have faith that he can make miracles happen here. I love y'all!

Sister Burchett