Being a disciple of Christ

Hello everyone! I hope all is well for you guys! What a fantastic
week! Much has happened and I wish I could write everything down but
that would mean that you'd be reading a novel. So I'll give you the
highlights. To start out with, I've come to realize that I am so
blessed. I have met lots of youth and adults here in England who have
nothing. They might have a home, people around them, but they don't
have plans and goals for themselves. They just take it day by day. As
we come to share the message with them, they will explain to us that
they don't need God to be happy and they once believed in Him but they
don't believe anymore because of the wickedness in the world or
because they didn't feel like it helped them. It's sad when we come
across people like that. They shut everything out and just believe
that when life ends, it ends. As I have been out here on my mission,
my love for the Gospel has grown immensely. I would be nothing without
it. My testimony grows and grows as I continue to share it with others
and I'm grateful for the knowledge that my Heavenly Father loves us
and that He is always there for us. Something that stood out to me
this past week while my companion and I were visiting a member is that
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I represent him. The member,
Shane, had a grandma who had a stroke in March and is being taken care
of by Shane and his mom. We visited with her and her name was Joyce.
She is, I think, 89 years old. Her entire left side is
paralysed-meaning she can't feel or move any of that side.  Joyce can
listen to you and hear you and reply but sometimes it's hard to
understand her. We thought of what we could share with her and Sister
Schmidt and I decided that we'd share a small poem about kindness by
Thomas S. Monson with her. We finished and Joyce, with tears in her
eyes, thanked us. Shane said that rarely did his gran ever cry, even
when they told her that she had a stroke. We were getting ready to
leave and as I shook hands with Joyce, she firmly yet gently held my
hand and with some tears said, "You are God's servants. I am honored
to have met you." The spirit testified to me at that moment that what
she said was true. It gave me a great reminder that I am truly one of
God's servants who represents him. I was grateful to have met Joyce
and to have learned that lesson. I imagine how Christ would act and
teach if he were here and that helps me to love and serve those around
me even more. I can come to say that I do have a love for the people
of England. I am saddened when they reject the message that we have
for them. I would do anything for them to come to know of the joy that
they can have and the knowledge of what Christ has done for them so
that they can have the opportunity of living with our Father in Heaven
once again.
As for finding and with the missionary work, we are progressing a lot.
We have started out with teaching only 1 or 2 people but now we have
more teaching appointments as the weeks continue. Sister Schmidt and I
had something funny/disappointing happen to us. We met a young lad (in
his 20s) who was really interested in the message we had. We had
briefly shared with him about the restoration and he wanted to know
more. Well we had a teaching appointment with him and he gave us his
number so we could confirm with him the night before. As we called the
regular number, it turned out to be a police station's number. That
was disappointing. We didn't lose faith though. We went to the place
where we were to meet him at and he never ended up showing so we did
have to drop him. A police station number....I get a feeling we will
be getting a lot more people giving us a fake number while I'm out on
my mission. Sister Schmidt and I aren't losing hope though. :) We know
that there are others waiting to hear about the message that we have
for them. One of our investigators, Geoffry, is progressing! He
started out with having lots of doubts and using a lot of "ifs" and
"buts" but now, he doesn't. We taught him a lesson this past week
about the atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went so
good! He's coming out to church and his faith seems to be growing
stronger and stronger. We are really happy about that! :) Oh! So for
our pday last week, we got to go to the Portreath beach. If you have
the chance, look it up or come visit there. It is absolutely stunning!
Sister Schmidt and I walked around on the sand, the sun was shining,
everything around us was so green and pretty, children played in the
sand, people surfing, etc. It felt like a dream. We got to write
letters while sitting on the cliff side rocks overlooking the beach.
It was a great pday. Another fun thing we got to do is eat Sharon
fruit. I have never had Sharon fruit until I came out here to England.
It looks like an orange tomato but it's like a orangey fruit. It's
probably one of my favourite fruits now. If you ever have the chance
of finding one, you should eat one. They are funny looking but taste
really good! Well I hope all is well for you! I love you all! The
church is true and I have no doubt about that. :)
Love,
Sister Burtis