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).
“ No Subject ”
September 16, 2013
Hello one and all!
This week has been one of those crazy busy weeks where
I feel like we did so much and yet I can't remember a single thing because my
brain is going to explode. It's on overload haha. But that just means I'm doing
my job (or so they tell me)
This transfer is almost over! We get our transfer calls
in a week and my trainer is going home. How did this time go by so fast?! It's
scaring me thinking how fast the next 9.5 months will go.
One of the greatest things that has possibly ever
happened to me was that this week I got my official ASL name sign. In Deaf
culture, everyone has a sign that is their name sign so you don't have to
fingerspell their name all the time. Only a Deaf person can give you a name sign
and each name sign has a meaning
behind it. The ASL sisters gave me mine this week. My name is sign is the same
sign that means (as close to English as it translates) "cherish".
Why? They said it's because I love openly and everything I love I hold close to
my heart and love deeply. That's why I'm so happy all the time! And so they
decided on "cherish". I'm just tickled pink to have a name sign!
Check that one off the mission bucket list.
I'm gonna work the week in reverse because it's all I
can do to think back 24 hours to Sunday so here we go.
Sunday we had dinner with our ward mission leader and
prepared for our open house this upcoming Saturday. I'm really excited and I
think it is going to be awesome. We are inviting everyone we can and we are
hoping for a great turn out and for new investigators and some reactivation
among our sprawling population of less actives.
Saturday Sister Abbott (my roommate and an ASL sister)
needed an emergency pianist. They were performing in their ward talent show and
their accompanist fell through. As they say "Burchey to the rescue!"
So I got to go and to play for her and to sign with all the Deaf in the ward
and that was really fun.
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| My awesome tan line |
I got to spend a lot of quality time on my bike this
week. My tan line from my shoes is phenomenal. I will have to send a picture. I
finally got a bike rack for the back of my bike and I bungee cord my bag to it.
It is a blessing from heaven! No more carrying things on my back. YAY!
This week was hard because we had two people on track
for baptism at the end of this month, and then they both got deathly ill and
missed church on Sunday so we had to move their dates to October. They have to
attend church 3 times before they can be baptized and there aren't enough
Sundays left in September. It's hard not being able to reach the goal we had
set, but I know that God has a plan for these people and we are doing
everything we can. So He will bless us. He always does.
We received a referral from Headquarters this week and
when we went to contact it, they weren't home, so we decided to go and visit
some less actives who lived in the apartment across from them. The less actives
let us in and were SO appalled that we were contacting those people. They went
off about how they were drug dealers and if we went in we would never come back
out. It took all I could do not to burst out laughing. Not that it's really
funny, I mean it could legitimately be dangerous, but I just kept thinking: "Well then who in the world referred
them to us?!" hahahhaha Also,
I just deal with everything by laughing so any sort of feeling of fear that I
had (or should have had) resulted in laughter.
Sister Kagie kept looking at me like, "Why in the world are you smiling! We could
have been killed!"
And I just kept thinking "Where in the world did that referral come from?" It's
the weirdest experience, but we left them an open house invite. Maybe they'll
come ;)
We had new missionary meeting this week (where the
trainers and the missionaries that came in that transfer get together and have
training and talk about how everything is going and how those missionaries are
adjusting) and it was awesome to see so many of my mission buddies. It was all
my old El Dorado
We were talking about planning and the Assistants (who
are in my zone) asked "What sort of things do you plan outside of the
mission?"
{People started saying things like "Family,
Dates, School, Career..."
I raised my hand and said "Dinner!"
Everybody busted up laughing and President gave me his
usual "If it were anyone else but you I would be concerned" look and
it was great.
So then, the assistants asked "What things do you
plan on the mission?"
Before I could say it myself an Elder in front of me
raised his hand and said "Dinner!"
I knew my work there was done. haha
Southern moment for the week:
My Zone Leaders were talking about an Elder and I said
"Bless his cotton pickin' lil heart" and they just about died.
"Sister BURCHETT!" they said,
"YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! That's so racist. People will get offended."
I just laughed and said, "Elders, there is
nothing racist about it. I'll be fine."
And then, Elder Morley, possibly one of my most
favorite missionaries said, "Sister Burchett, if you ever get sent to the
ghetto, and I hope you never do, you'll get knifed! And that's not ok."
It was so sweet I took pity on their souls and said
I'd try no to say it, but informed them that in the south it is perfectly
acceptable.
They said, "But this is the West
Coast. "
and I said, "I know. Crazy liberals!" and we
all laughed.
Today during zone sports, Elder Richwine (one of the
assistants) tried to threaten me so I wouldn't get him out.
He said, "Don't do it Sister Burchett or I'll
send you to Stockton
I said, "Please do! I would love to go to Stockton
He said, "Too bad there aren't English sisters in
Stockton
I said, "I think it's about that time!"
He said, "Nah, I'll just send you back to the
hills."
To which I replied, "Go ahead! I love it
there!"
He laughed and said, "I know you do." And
then I got him out :) Missionaries, we are so weird.
If you haven't read this month's Ensign, READ IT! It's
amazing. I was studying an article from it this week by Brad Wilcox all about
the Savior's grace. He gives the best analogy describing grace and works. It's
all about piano lessons, something I am very familiar with. He said that the
atonement and thereby the Savior's grace is like when your parents pay for
piano lessons. The lessons are already paid for, but it's up to you what you do
with it. You can do nothing and become nothing or you can fulfill your
potential and practice and become better. The Savior already paid the price for
us, but we aren't automatically perfect. We still have to work at it every day
and it's up to us to become what we decide. We control whether or not we
fulfill our potential. But the beautiful thing about the Savior's grace is that
it helps us all along our journey as we become the best we can be. I know the
atonement is real and I am so grateful for its power in my life.
(Read it here -His Grace is Sufficient by Brad Wilcox)
Love y'all! Hope you have a great week and nobody
"knifes you" for blessing their heart to the utmost possible.
Sister Burchett
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The ridiculous house plant that Sister Kagie and Sister Abbott bought. I told them we are missionaries and we don't have time for plants, but they said it would make our air nicer and so they bought it. Everyday I call it some different silly name and talk to it and they hate it hahaahahaha.
For Example:
"What up french fry. What's crack-a-lackin?"
"Why are you calling the plant a french fry?"
"Because I wish we'd bought french fries instead."
We all have a good laugh :)
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