Listen to the prompting that you are given.

Hello everyone! I hope the summer months are treating you well and the sun is shining wherever you are! :) This week has been a busy one and full of crazy and exciting adventures. Earlier this week, we had many teaching appointments scheduled but a lot of them fell through. Sister Schmidt and I were pretty disappointed about that. We had a family that is less active and we had been trying to do family home evening at their house for weeks but whenever we made an appointment for a certain day of the week, they would always cancel on us. One of the days this week, It had been the 4th or so time that this family on canceled on us and we just felt frustrated with that. Sister Schmidt and I were on the bus on the way to their house at that time too. We had a back up plan to go finding and street contacting so we got off the bus and were ready to talk to people. We started walking on the streets and as we tried to talk or stop people, they gave us weird looks and rushed off. It seemed like no one wanted to listen. We even came up to a lady who was sitting at the bus stop. Before we could even introduce ourselves, she grabbed her purse and stormed off thinking we were going to sell her something. We tried to explain that were weren't selling her something but she didn't listen. That was hard. Sister Schmidt and I were sad by the all of these rejections. One thing I learned though is to not give up. Satan worked pretty hard on us that day to make us feel bad and poorly so we wouldn't continue talking to people. We strived and pushed on with all the energy and determination that we had and continued street contacting. By the end of that time that we were finding, we were able to teach 4 lessons on the street and one of those people is someone we have a return teaching appointment with. In the Restoration movie, Joseph Smith declares one of my favourite quotes, "Sometimes the Lord brings us low before He can lift us higher." I know that missionary work isn't easy but I do have to say that I'm grateful for the moments of frustrations, discouragements, etc. For without those moments, we wouldn't be able to experience or feel that immense joy that we feel as missionaries when we find someone who will talk to us, listen to us, and allow us to come back to teach them. The work is hastening on. I've seen it here in England and I'm happy know it's happening all around the world as well. For this week, a crazy story happened for me and my companion which helped me to recognize the importance of listening to the Holy Ghost. There was a day where Sister Schmidt and I were finding. During this time as we went door knocking, we came across a house and a gate. We wanted to open the gate so we could get to the door and knock but there was a sign that said, "Warning-dogs running around free." No sooner had we read the sign but we heard the dogs barking and coming up to the gate. They sounded ferocious. Sister Schmidt and I stood there, looked at each other, and weren't sure of what to do. I thought I had heard someone from the house yell at them to stop but I couldn't be quite sure. The dogs continued to bark loudly and so we decided we should just place a pass-along card with a website and our number on it in the post box. We started walking away and I got a prompting to go back. It was so clear, so distinct. I thought for a second that was just my thoughts however and so I continued to walk. Go back, I was told again. I was surprised at how clear that came to me. By this time however, we were already knocking at the next house over. The people living there weren't intererested. We left and as we were coming out of the people's garden area, I knew we needed to go back to the house with the gate and dogs. I told that to Sister Schmit and she looked at me and replied with hesitation that there were dogs and they could get out. We both headed towards the house however and reached the gate. By this time, the dogs were quiet but as soon as I tried opening the gate door, they started barking. I was able to turn the handle and enter in through the gate as Sister Schmidt slowly followed behind me. A medium sized dog slipped out of the dog door and started barking at us and another large dog was seen barking loudly through the dog door but it wasn't able to fit through luckily. We rang the doorbell with much haste and about a minute or so later as we were silently praying that we wouldn't get eaten, someone yelled for the dogs to quiet down. Though the opened kitchen window, we were able to introduce ourselves to a lady who was in hers 20s or 30s. We gave her a brief outline of the restoration and talked about the Book of Mormon. In the end, she wasn't too interested but we were happy to have been able to share the message with her about our church and to let her have that opportunity to hear what we wanted to say. We also got to leave a pamphlet with her about the Restoration. At the end of this whole situation, Sister Schmidt was shocked how that all turned out. She was happy I listened to the prompting even though she thought at first that I was crazy and suicidal. :) The spirit is truly there to guide and prompt us if we take the time to listen and to also act on what we get prompted to do. After that adventure had happened, Sister Schmidt and I got to attend the Redruth Ward BBQ. It seemed that there were more people investigating and less actives that came than those that were members. It was a good turnout! This week had been rainy and wet but the day of the BBQ was hot and sunny, what a blessing. Geoffry, our investigator, and his two sons came out and that was great to see that. They all had fun and really enjoyed it. Sister Schmidt and I played games with the kids and adults and it was an evening of laughter, running around, and visiting with people. This week, overall, has been great! We got to extend a baptismal date invitation to our investigator, Geoffry. In about a month's time, he will be getting baptized and we are excited for that. It'll be a week or so before Sister Schmidt leaves to go home too. Geoffry's faith is building and his testimony grows stronger and stronger each day. As is mine. I love the opportunity to teach others and being able to learn for myself as well. I'm grateful for this mission. I hope all is well for you! Love, Sister Burtis