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

Sacramento - Week 26

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).

“We're Sister Missionaries...We Can't Have Cats.”

Monday July 22, 2013

Sister Vaughan and I

Another week has flown by here in sunny California. How did that happen? 

Well, it's been an interesting week. Sister Abbott and I went with President Skywalker on Tuesday for his big presentation hosted by the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District. They loved the musical number and President gave an awesome presentation called "The Mormons Next Door". He opened it up for question and answer to the crowd and it was awesome. He handled all questions like a pro and bore testimony that brought the spirit instantly. He's the best. It was just funny to me how people would ask questions that they thought we had never been asked before to stir up trouble like, "What's the deal with polygamy?" or "Why couldn't blacks have the priesthood?" or "Doesn't the book of Revelations say you can't add anything else to the Bible?" The thing is, they obviously don't realize that we are asked those questions every single day. They really aren't that scandalous and we do have answers plus testimonies. Silly troublemakers. Tough questions are missionaries' favorite thing. 

As we have worked our way through our ward list, I have kept thinking about President Monson and how he would always reach out to the widows in his ward. We have so many older single sisters in the ward that don't come to church because of everything from health problems to just not knowing anyone and they love that we come and talk with them and bring them the spirit. We are working on bringing them back to church but I have a challenge for Bridie and the Young Women back home. They should ask Bishop for a list of all the single older sisters in the ward and visit them! Think of the power that these Young women could have for these sisters. I think if you asked Bishop how many less actives we have in the ward back home you would be amazed. We have to take care of the people we've got before the Lord will bless us with more. 

We are being blessed with so many referrals that we don't know what to do with them. I take that back. Of course we know what to do with them. We contact them! Contacting referrals is fun because it is kind of like a game show. I always feel like "What's behind door number 2?" But really it's like "What's behind door 37?" We've gotten a little bit of everything.

"Yes, that's me, but I go by 'Dreamer' now. Do you wanna meet my snakes?"

"Oh yeah he doesn't live here anymore. He moved across the street. Actually wait, maybe he died...."

"How did you know where we lived?

(Us:) The Ward List...

(Them) They have one of those?! Does it have our phone number?!"

 "You're really sweet, but we're not Mormon anymore." To this last one I want to say ONCE A MORMON ALWAYS A MORMON. Don't people realize you can't escape the gospel of Jesus Christ. We gonna find you. 

We had one referral this week that just made me laugh. We knocked on a door and the man opens it wearing an Elmo T-shirt. He then starts to laugh and says, Oh my goodness. I know why you're here! Turns out he referred his girlfriend to the missionaries as a joke. Not funny. But I laughed anyways because in that situation you can either cry or laugh and I can't cry so I laugh. If you can laugh at it, you can live with it. 

We had a mini miracle this week with a woman named Giselle. Giselle is in a rehab facility because her leg was amputated. We felt like we needed to see her and when we came in she told us how happy she was that we came because she was feeling so lonely and wishing that someone would come. We shared the Mormon message "Good things to come" with her and she really enjoyed it. We hope that we can get her to read the Book of Mormon but she is very staunchly Catholic and being stubborn. But hey, they say Catholics make the best Mormons! 

  

(Watch it here -  "Good Things to Come"  )

Sinbad is getting baptized on Saturday and I get to go back to Green Valley for the baptism! I am so happy for him and that this day is finally here! Also, it will be great to be back home in the good old Valley of Green for a little bit. 

And now to explain the title of this email. Last night we got a phone call from a man named Chuck Norris. He told us that his neighbor Blue Fairy was taken to hospice care and that her friend told him that we would take care of her two cats so they were catching them and when could we come pick them up? Turns out Blue Fairy is a woman that Sister Vaughan and Sister Hale had contacted once back in May. Why she left her cats to them we have no idea, but we had to explain to Chuck Norris that we never agreed to take her cats and that we're sister missionaries and we can't have cats. Mark that one off the missionary bucket list "Be willed a cat." 

The moral of this week is that no matter what, God is always with you when you are doing your very best to do what He would have you do. It doesn't mean that hard things don't happen, but it does mean that there is always a light in the darkness and an iron rod to cling to. 

Love y'all! Until Next Week! 

Sister Burchett

Sacramento - Week 25

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).

“He’s on house arrest, but he’s never home…”

Monday July 15, 2013

Hello one and all! 

First, a small Mormon world moment: Today a friend emailed me to tell me that a huge chunk of his extended family live in Carmichael. Turns out they are in my ward. And I'm having dinner with them tonight. No big. How cool is that?! God definitely has a sense of humor. 

In other news, we moved into the Carmichael apartment this week. Our housing situation with our member was just not working out and so we moved into the apartment with the ASL sisters. It's fun because I get to brush up on my sign language and living in a missionary apartment is a new experience. I've always lived with members and there are definitely benefits to both. 

I can say that I truly do love the La Sierra ward. I was less than thrilled to leave the hills because I loved it there so much and I had spent a third of my mission there, but I definitely see God's hand in me being brought here. There is a lot of work to do, and I certainly love doing it. 

We had interviews with President this week and it was nice to get to talk with him one on one. I always feel like my interviews are boring for him because he asks if I have any problems and I'm always fine. He asks if I have any questions, and I never do. I'm just happily moving forward with faith and that's a good thing, but I feel bad because we don't have that much to discuss haha. He did make me feel really good though when he told me how much he appreciated my positive attitude. He told me that my companion said, "She wakes up with a smile and she's just like sunshine!" That helped motivate me to continue to be happy no matter what.

At the beginning of my mission I decided that every morning I would thank God for being a missionary and then put a smile on my face. And some mornings it is really hard because there's a lot of things not to smile about. But I've found that with all the things that are wrong, there is always something that is right, and even if that is just that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and a Savior who died for us, that's plenty to smile about. President also challenged Sister Vaughan and I to get La Sierra up and running again. They haven't baptized in a long time and so much of the ward is inactive. We accepted his challenge, and so off to work we went. 

This week we have visited about a 5th of the ward list. We have met so many people it makes my head spin! We've been trying to figure out why people stopped coming to church and how we can bring them back. We've seen many little miracles and have identified several people that we think we can bring back into activity this transfer. One of the hardest things for me was asking people, "When was the last time someone from the ward stopped by?" and having them answer, "I don't think anyone has ever stopped by." or "Nobody has been by for years."

Soap box moment: DO YOUR HOME AND VISITING TEACHING.

This is for me as much as it is for everyone else. It's really not that hard, but we have such trouble doing it most of the time. Why? Is it really that much of a sacrifice? A few minutes each month to stop by and say hello, to share our Savior's love with these people. So many people here have all but been forgotten by the ward and I can't help but think that this is why we have home and visiting teaching in the first place. It's missionary work for members. It is the only way to make sure no one is forgotten. We have to do it. I don't know about you, but I don't want to report on my stewardship to the Lord and have to say, "Well I was too busy and I'm sorry they stopped coming to church, but I went!" That's not good enough. The Lord doesn't ever forget us, so we can't forget our brothers and sisters. 

Tomorrow I get to experience something really neat! Northern California is having an international interfaith conference for all the religions here. President Skywalker is representing the church and for part of his presentation he wanted to have a musical number. He asked me to play the piano for the sister who is singing and I'm super excited for the chance to help represent the church and all the missionaries serving here. Hopefully, we can help everyone there to feel the spirit and have a positive impression of what we do and believe. 

Our biggest miracle this week has been getting referrals! Everywhere we go we ask everyone we see if there is anyone who we should visit. We have a list of 35 names from this week to go and contact! That's more referrals than I'm used to getting in like 2 months! The Lord is really blessing us for working hard and loving this area. One of those families is a Polynesian part member family. She is Samoan and he is Tongan. He was almost baptized last year but it didn't happen, so guess who is headed over there with a ukulele and a baptismal invite? That's right. Sisters Vaughan and Burchett. Two very white girls with very brown souls. Our trainers were both islanders. What can we say? In Tongan they say "fakatomala peya papatiso" which means "repent and be baptized". Or in Samoan "Salamo" "repent!" 

And now just for fun, the story of our former investigator named Mr. Rogerts. Mr. Rogers is on house arrest, but he is never home. How does that work? We have no idea. Maybe someone out there has an explanation, but we're at a loss. 

Well, that's the gist of the work here in La Sierra. Stay strong and carry on! Look for the miracles in everything, because there is no such thing as coincidence. 

Love, 

Sister Burchett

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