Sacramento - Week 33

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).

“Fanning the Flame”

September 9, 2013

This week's title brought to you by the La Sierra ward council under the direction of Bishop Wiggles, who on Sunday, presented us with battery powered portable fans for when we are riding our bikes. The best humans ever? I think yes!

This week has been full of ups and downs. Ups because it's missionary work and it's the best thing ever, and downs because we pedaled up a lot of hills and therefore we got to go down them too! I love riding up hills. And for this reason, Sister Kagie hates my guts. haha I just love the feeling of conquering something. You see this huge hill and think, no way José. And then you think, I'm gonna show that hill who is boss!

And then when you reach the top, it's the best feeling in the world! There is a phrase in the scriptures that says you can "come off the conqueror". I just love that. Every time I see someone come closer to Christ, I feel that same rush, because together that person and us as missionaries conquered Satan a little bit and it's one step closer to when we conquer him altogether. 

I saw that this week with Tinker Bell. We went to Tinker Bell's house and decided to leave a blessing on her home. In our mission, we have started a program called "The Savior's Peace and Blessing". In the scriptures there are countless examples of the Savior commanding His disciples to leave a blessing of peace on the homes where they are accepted. It's a priesthood blessing, but since we as sisters are called as representatives of Christ, we are able to perform the blessing on the home in virtue of that calling. It's not a dedication, but a blessing that leaves peace and comfort on the home once we are gone.

When we perform the blessing, we always ask the person what things they stand in need of in their lives, things that they are struggling with that we could help bless with peace and help as we are prompted by the spirit. For Tinker Bell, she was so worried about her dog, Buddy. Buddy hadn't eaten in days. He was so depressed because Tinker Bell was so depressed. He also has anxiety and so he chews up everything. She asked us to please bless him that he would eat. So as I gave the blessing I felt prompted not only to bless Buddy that he will eat, but to also bless him that he will be comforted and not have the desire to chew everything up. It sounds silly, but the spirit said that that was what we needed to say. As soon as we said "Amen" we opened our eyes...and Buddy was eating! And he hasn't chewed anything since. And it was a miracle. And it was just the most amazing experience. The spirit was so strong and I knew that God truly was mindful of Tinker Bell and that she was His daughter and that she had a Savior who has experienced everything she is going through and is ready to help her, and so He sent us as missionaries to teach her the gospel. As Moroni said, God has not ceased to be a God of miracles. 

We had dinner with the Von-Trapps and the Wiggles this week and it was so much fun! I asked Bishop about his conversion story and it was just amazing. What it boils down to is, as he said, "One day I couldn't find my wife in Raley's". So here's the story. Bishop and Sister Wiggles were married and had two kids. Sister Wiggles and the kids were all members, but Bishop wasn't. One day they were shopping at Raley's (a grocery store) and Bishop got a phone call. He went outside to take the call and when he came back in, he couldn't find Sister Wiggles and the kids anywhere. It was one of those situations where you just keep circling past each other and don't meet up. After wandering around forever, they finally found each other and Sister Wiggles said, "This is what it will be like if we aren't sealed in the temple. We'll be in the same place, and we'll know that the other one is here somewhere, but we won't be able to find each other no matter what we do. And it will be terrible." And Bishop said, "You're right." And he took the missionary lessons and was baptized and they were sealed on their anniversary a little over a year later. 

Funny story from this week: We were teaching our investigator, Ms. Frizzle, on her front porch and her neighbor came over. He was Russian. When he saw us he said, "I hope Jesus Christ is your personal Savior?"

And I said, "Yes, He is! And I hope He is yours too."

He said, "Yes He is...and (in a thick Russian accent) without Mr. Smith."

I just laughed and told him we would have to talk religion sometime. I find sick joy in people who think they are going to meet with me and set me straight and prove that everything I know to be true is wrong, and that's really awful. It just motivates me to bear my testimony to them because I know they are my brothers and sisters and that they knew it was true once too. And for the record, I know my Savior better because of "Mr. Smith". And for that I am so very grateful. 

Have a wonderful week! Life's meant to be joyous, so don't forget to smile! 

Love y'all! 

Sister Burchett

Sacramento - Week 32

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).

“Friends of God”

September 2, 2013

Hello everyone! 

I promised that my letter this week would actually be organized. So, here we go. 

We had Zone Conference this week and it was, as usual, absolutely phenomenal. Sister Loli, Sister Abbott, and I sang ‘Lead Kindly Light’. We sang verses in English, Spanish, and Samoan and sang an A cappella trio with harmonies. It was so much fun! Also as is missionary tradition we talked about obedience. One thought I had was that if we are obedient because we love God, then we will love being obedient!

I've never been a rule breaker (at least I don't think so) but one thing that I struggle with is being obedient because I love the rules. I realized that there are a lot of rules that I follow 100% but I really hate following, like no holding babies and no baking cookies for Elders, even if it's their birthday. In Preach My Gospel it says that obedience means following the rules even when we don't understand them and doing it with a happy heart. So I found some room for improvement, but golly gee it's hard to be happy about baking restrictions and not holding babies! hahaha 

We have 3 investigators with a baptismal date! It feels like all of our hard work is finally paying off. Here's a little note about each of them and some of the miracles we saw with them this week. 

Tinker Bell - This is one of the craziest things that has happened to me on my mission so far. Tinker Bell is the woman we met because she saw my bike license plate and we ended up praying with her and setting up a return appointment. When we came to the door, she opened it and said, "Sisters, I don't wanna live anymore." She just broke down and cried hysterically and told us that she had been thinking about killing herself before we came over. She just fell into my arms and sobbed and sobbed. She felt entirely alone and abandoned and was so depressed.

I was holding her and thinking, "What in the world do I do?!"

And then I just felt the spirit say, "Do what you always do. Just love her."

So I held her. And after awhile she stopped crying and I was able to testify to her about how much God loves her and that He had sent us to her to tell her that, and that she was our sister and we loved her too. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and promised to come back. When we did, we taught her the Restoration and before we were even finished she said, "Can I be a Mormon? I really want to be." She has a date for Sept 28th and no matter what happens I know that she will be better because of her time with us.

I know the Lord leads us to where we need to be, and most of the time we don't even know He is doing it. We have a Father in Heaven who loves us infinitely, and we ARE brothers and sisters. We have to reach out and help and love each other. Love is something that we as humans desperately need and so many of us don't get that love. The awesome thing about love is that giving it doesn't cause it to decrease, but to increase exponentially. The more love you give, the more love you have to give to someone else. And then, love comes back to us! Love is our universal language and it's the language of heaven. Love is the language of God. 

Rapunzel - Rapunzel has almost been baptized twice. Each time something came up and she backed out. We were able to go and resolve her concerns (like "I thought I had to be married to be baptized!") and extend a new date to her for October 5th. She is so excited and wants to be baptized so badly. When we went over, her 3 year old grandson opened the door and yelled, "Grandma, it's for you!"

She yelled back, "Who is it?"

and he said, "Friends of God!"

Kids are so spot on. It was awesome and humbling all at the same time. I hope that when I get to heaven, the Lord will welcome me in and say, "Let her in! That's my friend."

Ms. Frizzle – Ms. Frizzle is from Jamaica. She was a referral from the Elders who offered to help her carry her bags home and started walking with her only to realize they had crossed the border into our area and had to give her to us. Sad for them but it's all Team Jesus as Hermana Emily Christensen would say. We challenged her to read the Book of Mormon and to be baptized and she said, "Yes, I would love to!"

The only problem is going to be getting her to church because she works practically 24/7 and especially on the weekends. But the Lord will provide a way and her faith will grow. That's the neat thing about faith. It's like a muscle. The more we work it, and push it, and stretch it, the stronger it becomes. 

I'm singing in a musical number on Sunday with our Bishop's daughter. We're singing, "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul", the same version that was sung at my farewell. I LOVE THAT SONG! For some reason, the words just speak right to my heart: 

Savior, Redeemer of My Soul,

Whose Mighty Hand hath made me whole, 

Whose wondrous power hath raised me up, 

And filled with sweet my bitter cup, 

What tongue my Gratitude can tell, 

Oh Gracious God of Israel. 

Never Can I repay thee Lord, 

But I can love thee, thy pure word, 

Hath it not been my one delight, 

My joy by day, my dream by night. 

Then let my lips proclaim it still, 

And all my life reflect thy will. 

O'rrule my acts to serve thine ends, 

Change frowning foes to smiling friends, 

Chasten my soul till I shall be, 

In perfect harmony with thee, 

Make me more worthy of thy love, 

And fit me for the life above. 

My favorite verse is the last one because it's our plea to the Lord. Please take our actions and help us make them for good. Help us love all the people around us. Change us. Refine us. Guide us and mold us and shape us until we are like thee, Lord. After all that thou hast done for us, help us to be just a little bit better, good enough so that we can return home. That's all we want, isn't it? To return home and to take as many of our brothers and sisters home with us as we can.

No empty chairs at God's table! Let's bring everybody home! Love y'all and have an amazing week! 

Sister Burchett

Sacramento - Week 31

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).

“The Eyes of the Beholder”

Monday August 26, 2013

Hello everyone!

I feel like my email is going to be scattered this week because I don't have much time and so much happened I don't know where to begin or end so here it goes and hang on for the ride!

We taught an amazing lesson to our new investigator Tinker Bell this week. We found her as we were trying to contact another potential investigator. She saw my ‘Jesus Loves Me’ License plate on my bike and said, "Oh! Jesus does love you!"

I said "He loves you too!"

We started talking and she just unloaded all of the things going on in her life and we were able to pray with her right in the parking lot of the complex. She was having trouble starting her car and needed to take her dog to the vet so we prayed that it would work the next day. And guess what? It did! We have a return appointment this week and we are so excited to see her. Miracles happen! What's important to us is important to God. 

There is this joke in the mission about people asking how long you've been out and no matter long you have been here you say, "I'm in the middle of my mission." But I realized the other day that I AM in the middle of my mission. How did that happen?! 

We took our recently re-activated member Sharpay to the temple the other day. She is getting ready to go to the temple for the first time. Why hasn't she been? Because she is black and has a weave and she can't get her hair wet in chlorine! So we called the temple to find out if she could wear a white cap to protect it. The temple President called us back and said they had to call the temple department to find out because they had no idea. 24 hours later we had the ok and now she is pumped to go! We are so excited for her. 

Funny story from this week: I was on exchange with sister Loli and we were teaching this 50 year old gangster named The Rock. Mid lesson he just looks at me and says "You have nice eyes."

"Thanks...." I said and then went back to explaining about Prayer. It was nice to be complimented but we were cracking up. I told him later that my eyes were nice because I had the spirit with me and he could have it too once he was baptized. That's the beautiful thing about the gospel. Everything ties into baptism. 

I love riding my bike because you have time to ponder whatever you want while you ride between appointments. I always end up humming a hymn or singing the words in my head. This week I keep having Be Still My Soul on replay. The Savior promised us peace, not peace like the world gives us, but HIS peace. They say that -  

Grace is God's acceptance of you.

Faith is your acceptance of God's acceptance of you.

Peace is your acceptance of you.

We need all three to be happy. They work together and when we know our Father in Heaven accepts us and we accept ourselves, we can have true joy in our lives and not be worried about what life is throwing at us. 

Sorry this one is so short! Just know that the Lord loves each one of us and miracles are happening all around us. We just have to be looking for them. 

Until next week! 

Sister Burchett

Sacramento - Week 30

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).

“A Bicycle built for one”

Monday August 19, 2013

Hello everyone! 

Well, it's been an interesting week. As transfer weeks usually go, it was long a busy and I am completely and utterly exhausted, but in the best way possible. 

My new companion is Sister Kagie from West Bountiful, Utah. I'm convinced they give me all these Utahans so I can teach them how life works outside of the bubble in the most caring way possible. Just kidding. But seriously, she is great and together we have been learning the art of the bicycle. 

Here are my thoughts and experiences with biking so far: 

• Sweat. So much sweat. 
• Helmet hair is not my style. 
• Sidebag on a bike....whose genius idea was that? 
• Bugs hit my face like it's a car windshield
• I'm grateful for my thickly padded bike seat
• Pedestrians hate drivers. Drivers hate pedestrians. Everybody hates bikers. 
• Thank goodness for Mary Kay's Finishing Spray. My make-up still looks decent at the end of the day even if everything else is in disarray. 
• If you need help fixing your bike, make Elders appear in person. Them explaining directions over the phone goes something like this "You just squeeze the wire together." 
• Where bikes go, area books cannot follow. 

And amidst all of this, I actually am starting to really enjoy biking. Especially at night. Which is funny because poor Sister Kagie HATES riding at night. She's convinced that Carmichael is the biggest ghetto on planet earth and that we will be shot and killed or mugged and killed or hit by a car and killed. I think it's lovely. For example: The other night we were pulling up to a traffic stop and a guy drives by in this car and yells something and I just laugh. And then like 10 seconds later all these firecrackers go off across the street and I thought "That was strangely beautiful. Like the 4th of July. Wonder where they came from." And then I crossed the street and started singing, "You can make the pathway bright".

We got home and sister Kagie says, "I never want to bike at night again." I asked why and she looked at me in shock and said, "Didn't you see all of that?!" She then explained that they guy that drove by had previously been standing on the side of the street yelling at his girlfriend and they were fighting and got in the car and where still fighting when they drove past us and the woman was crying and he was yelling and that two punk boys dropped the firecrackers out of the window of their car after they lit it and that when they went off she thought it was gunshots and she was about to have an anxiety attack. "Are you totally oblivious?!" She said.

I just laughed and said, "Apparently." I had a great night. I guess I have been on my mission long enough and gone through enough crazy experiences to know that as long as I am being obedient and as careful as I can be, God won't let anything bad happen to us. The spirit will warn us of real danger and we really don't have anything to fear. So I just sing a song and pedal down the street. Sister Kagie still hates riding at night, but I love it. It's so much cooler than during the day and there is music and laughter and lots of joy. I love Carmichael at night. She will too...eventually :) 

We have been having trouble getting investigators to church in this area. I had been thinking and thinking about how we could get people there when I had this burst of brilliant inspiration. We have an area book full of phone numbers. Why not text them all and invite them all to church. I call it a text blitz. So we did. We texted 99 people and invited them to church. Sunday morning came around and...

Nobody came. Not one. 

But later that day one of the numbers texted back to ask who we were (normal people don't realize that once you give your number to missionaries, they will have your number forever) and we started to talk to them and teach them about the gospel. His name is Jimminy Cricket and we set up a return appointment to teach him this week. Miracle! And in the most ironic way we texted the 99 and then went after the 1.

Beautiful. 

Last night we had 5 minutes before we had to report our numbers for the week and I felt like we should try to contact a few more people with the time we had. We called a less active named Mushu who we had never seen or heard of before. He said he wanted to come to church but he needed a ride and he wanted to have the missionary lessons over again. We said, "Sure, we can do that." Miracle! 

Miss Piggy and Kermit had to reschedule the temple tour for this weekend so we will be going with them and a recent convert from the ward who is preparing for the temple. We are so excited. It will be an amazing experience for them. I'm pumped. 

The pictures are one of Sister Kagie and I after our first day biking. Sweaty with helmet hair. Oh yes. And the other one is the result of biking. I've decided it is easier to clip my badge to the strap of my bag while I am riding my bike. So I take off my bag (over my head) and then clip my badge to my shirt when we reach our destination. The other day we got to dinner and I took of my bag and couldn't find my badge. I was so confused because I had literally just seen it. We looked around for five minutes before I turned around and Sister Kagie started cracking up. It was stuck perfectly in my hair. Fun stuff. 

Love y'all! Have a great week! If you're biking in the dark, sing a hymn. It's refreshing and scares away the bad guys. 

Love, 

Sister Burchett

Sacramento - Week 29

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).

“It’s a girl!”

Tuesday August 13, 2013

Well, it's about that time again. What time? Transfer time. We got our calls last night and Sister Vaughan is leaving me for Elk Grove. I'll be staying here in La Sierra and training a new missionary. The car is also leaving me, as we are being made into an all bike area. Seeing how I haven't ridden a bike my whole mission, my new companion and I will be learning as we go together. What a fun adventure we are about to have! She's been here in California about 4 hours now so I hope she loves it as much as I do. I'll pick her up in the morning so more information to come next week. 

This week has been amazing!!! We had an awesome lesson with Miss Piggy and Kermit yesterday and they are so prepared for the gospel. They are reading the Book of Mormon and have so many questions. I love them so much! The only snaffoo is that they are planning a wedding at the moment so at least Miss Piggy doesn't feel ready to totally dive in until September, but they are still progressing and are very interested. They are coming on a temple tour with us on Saturday. I'm praying that they feel the spirit and have a true desire to change and become a part of Christ's church. The gospel has already blessed their lives, and as all things in the gospel do, they are blessing our lives in return. 

We also had another awesome lesson with our investigator Mulan. Mulan is a former we picked up and are teaching again. One thing I've noticed with Mulan and Miss Piggy and Kermit is that they all are very focused on their personal relationships with God, which is awesome for us as missionaries because that is what we want to help them develop. Sometimes they feel like, "Why does it matter what religion you are or what church you go to? Isn't your relationship what's important?"

Answer: Yes, your relationship with God is the most important thing. However, God has given us a sure fire plan and guidelines to help us develop that relationship. That's where the church comes into play. Isn't it amazing that God loves us enough to give us the church to help us and guide us?! He just loves us so much. 

On that note, a tender moment from this week and a reminder that outside appearances can be deceiving. We were at a funeral for a ward member and a man walked in. He was a big guy with long hair a cut off t-shirt, leather vest, and tattoos. His hat said "Wolfman" on it, and all in all most people would see him and be grateful they weren't in a dark alley alone. But I watched as this man walked over to the grieving widow, who was just about 4'10 and the tiniest thing you nave ever seen and said, "I'm sorry baby doll. But he's with God now." And then he held her in his arms while she cried. It was an amazing experience to see the pure love of Christ that this man had for this woman. Most people would see him and assume he was anything but religious, but in his own way he bore her a sweet testimony of our Father's plan for all of us, that we don't cease to be, but we continue to live on with Him and with our loved ones forever. 

New planner!

In our bedroom at the apartment, some missionaries from who knows when put those plastic glow in the dark stars all over the ceiling. I love it because I miss seeing the stars. There is this awesome ensign article this month called "World's without end" all about our amazing solar system and galaxy and the incomprehensible creations of God. There is a quote in that article that I love so much it became my new planner cover.

It's from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and it says, "This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible promise of exaltation - world without end - within our grasp. And it is God's great desire to help us reach it." 

"You Matter to Him" - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

and

"Worlds without Number" - Ensign: August, 2013

I testify that we ARE everything to God. It is His work and His glory to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. We are His children, and He loves us! He wants us all to return to him. He looks on our hearts, not our outward appearances. He sees us for who we can become if we will follow Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. Our work and glory is to do everything we can be like Him and make it home, and to bring as many of our brothers and sisters with us as we can. How great is our calling! 

I strung up my fish in a line over my bed :)

No empty seats at the dining table in heaven! 

Love, 

Sister Burchett

Sacramento - Week 28

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).

“Tree and Bush”

Monday August 5, 2013

No, folks. This week we aren't talking about tree and bush couples in which one half of the couple is significantly taller/shorter than the other half. Nope we are talking about spiritual growth. Do you remember that talk by Elder Christofferson in General Conference a few years ago where he quotes Hugh B. Brown's story about the currant bush? 

Elder D. Todd Christofferson - "As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten" 

It goes a little like this: 

Basically there is this currant bush that has grown into a tree and is crossing over a fence. The gardener comes and cuts it down to size. The currant bush is upset because it was growing so well and was a great big tree, but the gardener says, "I'm the gardener here. I don't want you to be a tree. I want you to be a currant bush." 

This week I feel like the Lord has been sending me the same message. At the beginning of the week I was trying so hard to fight it. I kept feeling like, "Lord, I'm such a tall tree. Why in the world would you cut me down? I was growing so fast and so tall and I was going to cross that fence and spread even more."

 But the Lord said, "I'm the gardener here. I don't want you to be a tree. I want you to be a bush."

To which I initially replied, "Well, I'm the human being here and I don't want to be a bush."

To which the Lord said, "But I am your Savior and Redeemer. This is MY work. Not yours. I want you to be a bush, because you are no use to me as a tree. I NEED you to be a bush. So just be a bush already, please."

So I learned a lot about humbling myself before the Lord and accepting His will. Many times in our lives we will be called upon to be bushes. Sometimes that's because we have made ourselves into trees and forgotten who really gave us the growth, but most times I think it's just because our Heavenly Father and our Savior love us enough to keep cutting us and trimming us and shaping us. Lots of times we are a bush, but we're a little too fluffy or a little too scrawny or our branches are tangled. Sometimes, we need to be cut back so that other bushes can grow too. That's more of what I experienced. It was great that I was a tree, but the Lord wants us all to grow. If there a just a few big trees amongst a lot of bushes, the bushes won't get any sunlight. We all need the light to grow. I'm grateful that no matter the case, the Lord loves us enough to chasten us. He's not just cutting us down; He's trimming us back so we can grow into something better. 

Amidst all this botany, I got a letter from Mary Poppins. She is doing so well. Her letter was just what I needed. She told me that she got to go to the temple and walk around. She said, "I didn't get to go inside yet, but the sheer power of that place is amazing. It's great to know it's the one place the devil can't go." I know that's true. The temple is heaven on earth and how blessed we are to have it. 

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses!

Thanks everyone for the awesome family reunion package! I loved it! Sister Vaughan and I love the crowns from Medieval Times and I adore the earrings Steph sent. I'm trying to find a cool way to display the fish. I think I've come up with something....I'll send a picture if it works out. 

I got to experience a miracles this week with our investigator Rapunzel. She had a baptism date and interview scheduled before I got here, but then she backed out last minute. We hadn't been able to see her the whole transfer, but we had showed up at the apartment complex where we were going to contact some potentials right as what appeared to be a drug sell was going on right out front. We decided to pray and see what we should do, if we should still try to contact these people or if we should just move on to the next complex. When we finished praying, we both looked at each other and said, "Rapunzel." So off we went.

We showed up right as she was pulling into the driveway. We found out her father-in-law had just passed away and she was in a tizzy trying to get things ready for the funeral. We asked if we could help her and she put us to work making flower arrangements for the tables. We talked with her and she just opened completely up about how depressed she had been feeling and how when she saw our car she knew everything was going to be all right because her friends the Mormon girls were here and they would be able to comfort her. We were able to testify to her about the comfort she can receive through the atonement, and it was all so fresh from when I had the same experience a few days before. Heavenly Father knows each of us so well, and when we listen to the Spirit and rely on our Savior's atonement we can be instruments for bringing about such great good in the lives of our brothers and sisters. How awesome is that! 

The Von-Trapp’s just got back from visiting their son in Oregon and the Alaskan Cruise for their 20th wedding anniversary. (P.S. Mom and Dad we should do this sometime before the immediate family grows more and it gets expensive.) They brought Sister Vaughan and I back jewelry made from these stones they call "Northern Lights". The stone is dark and shimmery and kind of takes on the shade of whatever color you are wearing. We were driving home and wearing our necklaces and I saw the most beautiful sunset. It just made me grateful for all of Heavenly Father's creations. He gave us so much to experience, so much to bring us awe and inspire us from the Northern lights to a sunset. He truly loves us and wants us to be happy! 

And that's why it's ok to be bushes. Because if He wants us to be bushes, you can bet it's because it will make us happy, so then we can want to be bushes too and press forward with faith. 

I know the atonement of Jesus Christ is real and available to all of us. I know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and wants us to access that atonement so we can live with Him again. 

Love, 

Sister Burchett - A Happy Bush

We had Doctor's appointments in Roseville
this week because we were sick so we got
to leave the mission.

I had to do a breathing treatment for my cough,
but I'm all good now!

Sacramento - Week 27

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).

“I cried for like 5 seconds…”

Monday July 29, 2013

It's true! I did! It's a miracle! I DO have a soul and I am a girl. I was starting to wonder. It had been a while since I cried. What brought it on? Well, stay tuned and find out. They were happy tears, so don't fret! 

This week has been amazing! Where do I begin? Well, as Maria says in the Sound of Music, let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. 

La Sierra, as I have said before, has struggled for a while. It was a little neglected by past missionaries and many of those missionaries burned bridges with the ward members, making them not super trusting of the missionaries and not very willing as a whole to make a lot of effort in the work of salvation. So, enter Sisters Burchett and Vaughan with a smile and joke or two and lots of love ready to be given. We have been slaving away and loving it. Whatever the ward asks, we do it and we go above and beyond. You want us to visit less actives? Ok, we'll see every one on the ward list. You want us to contact a few referrals for you? We'll report back with a detailed explanation of everyone's situations and needs and a plan for how we can help you to help them. Even sickness won't stop us! 

Sister Vaughan and I inhaling steam with
essential oils so we could breathe.
We felt so silly.

We've had colds the past two weeks and so finally after being so sick we got blessings. We called a member of our bishopric, Brother Blues Clues and he came and gave us blessings and he and his wife brought us groceries and soup and it was just the nicest thing people had done for us in a while and it made us feel so loved and appreciated. Then on Sunday, Bishop Wiggles got up and told the ward what a great job we were doing and how grateful he was for us. Then he said, "Even though they've been sick, they have been out spreading their germs...I mean the gospel." (He's a doctor and Brother Blues Clues is a heart surgeon hence they are big on health and have been watching our symptoms and feeding us endless supplies of Gatorade.) He then challenged everyone in the ward to, when they have us over for dinner, set up a time to go out and work with us. It just filled me with joy because it showed that he trusts us and that he wants the rest of the ward to trust us too. It's a miracle. When we give all of our efforts to the Lord, He will bless them and sanctify them and help us succeed. And loving people is powerful. Everybody needs love. 

We accidentally broke one of the mirrors in
our apartment. Bad luck? Not for missionaries!

On Wednesday our Zone Leaders called us and challenged everyone in the zone to find a new investigator that day and call it in as a miracle. We took the challenge and after much prayer and a lot of faith exercised we added 3 new investigators! We found the Muppet family. Kermit, the husband, was raised Catholic, and his wife, Miss Piggy, was raised 7th day Adventist but neither of them practice now. Their daughter passed away in the last year in a car accident and they have two other girls living at home, one of which is getting married in a few months. We talked with them about the Plan of Salvation and challenged them to read the Book of Mormon. They accepted and we are going back this week. We also added another new investigator on Friday when we were visiting his mom who is a less active member in the ward. When we take care of the people we have, God will give us more. 

Fun story: We met a less active sister this week who raises piranhas for a living. Yep. Piranhas. The flesh eating fish. She has like 200. It was awesome. 

Faith building story: We met another less active sister who is from Fiji. She is here being a caretaker for an Elderly Lady and so she doesn't get to come to church. Wednesdays are her only day off. But we showed up at her door and she said, "Sisters! I am so glad you are here. Can you tell the Bishop I have 3 months of my tithing saved up and I have been waiting for someone to come by and get it?" She can't come to church and many people would use that as an excuse to fall out of faith and become complacent, but she saves her tithing every week for as long as it takes for it to be picked up. We are going to arrange for the sacrament to be brought to her because she wants to take it so badly. 

Sinbad's Baptism!

And now, for the reason I cried for 5 seconds. On Saturday, Sinbad got baptized and I got to go back for the baptism! It was amazing to see him so happy and to see all the people there supporting him, and to see his family so happy and so filled with the spirit. When he saw me, he hugged me so tight! And I didn't even care. Is that apostate? I think not, because Jesus would have hugged him back too. :) When he came out of the water, there were tears in his eyes and in his wife's eyes and my heart was filled with pure happiness. The missionaries in the area now asked me to come up and bear my testimony and as I stood there and looked at that family that I adore with all my heart, I cried for 5 seconds as I said, "The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about families, and I love this family." Then I got a grip and bore my testimony and it was the sweetest experience. There are a lot of hard days, but no effort is wasted. Soon, Sinbad will receive the priesthood and they will have a priesthood holder in their home. We referred Sinbad's mom to the missionaries in San Jose and she is taking the lessons. Ripple effect. It's real. Also, I found out that Mary Poppin's husband’s son got baptized later that night as well. Ripple effect! Love comes back to us. 

That's it for this week. Miracles happen and the gospel is true. I hit 7 months on Friday. How did that happen?! It's going too fast. 

Love y'all! 

Sister Burchett