A flood of Miracles

Hello! I'm not sure where to begin or how to even start, but I just want to say how incredible this week has been. Sister Hamann and I set ourselves a goal on how many lessons we'd be doing/teaching this week and we reached it. I've come to understand that it's really not about the numbers but as we work hard and strive to be diligent, then we can see the success based on our acts. We saw a flood of miracles this week. One consisted of us knocking on some doors on a particular street. No one was really interested. We knocked on one of the last doors and a lady answered and told us that she was a Quaker and she also had to run to a doctor's appointment. We were a bit disappointed but we further continued asking her if we could come by later and share with her the message that we had. She told us she'd be home later that afternoon and told us to come by later. We continued going about and finding in several different areas and then  came back to her house later that day. We knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments, the same lady answered and said to us something that surprised the both of us, "Come in." Sister Hamann and I looked at each other and then back at her and then stepped into her house. Quite the miracle right there but it doesn't end just there. This lady's name was Lesley. Lesley told us that we had caught her at the right time because she is usually so busy and never has time to talk and chat but today she just happened to have some time. Coincidence? I think not. :) Lesley was preparing dinner and as she did so, we got to answer her questions and teach her the entire message of the restoration. It was incredible and the spirit was felt so strong. We gave her a Book of Mormon and really look forward to seeing her again in the coming weeks. Another miracle we saw was about a young mother and her young son. We had met this young mother while knocking several weeks ago. She was interested and we set a return appointment with her. The day came for us to came back for the appointment and so we did. However, her friend answered the door and said that Natasha wasn't home. We decided to try again some time later. Well this past week, we came back and knocked on Natasha's door on a Saturday morning. She answered and ushered us in with excitement. She remembered us and she was interested in what we had to say. Her young boy was asleep so we got to teach the entire message of the Restoration to her and we really felt the spirit. We gave her a Book of Mormon and that was super exciting. More and more people are coming to hear our unique message. I know that God plays a big role in this work. The Redruth area has so much potential. I'm so grateful I can be out here in Cornwall and I wouldn't mind being a part of this work in this specific a couple more transfers. I love it too much! I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for the people here and for us as well. I've learned so much! There was a funny thing that happened to Sister Hamman and I. It may not sound funny but I was quite surprised at the reaction that we both had to the experience. As we were knocking down a certain street, we came across a white door. On the door-there was a sign saying, "No Cold Callers." I can never really understand what that actually means and always thought it meant no salespeople or something like that. Well Sister Hamann and I knocked on it anyways and this one guy comes answering the door. He was holding the phone in his hand, looking like he had just been/was on the phone. I simply introduced my companion and I by saying, "Hello! We're sister missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." He replied on a sarcastic manner, "Well yes, I can see that." He then surprised the both of us by asking in a rather demanding voice, "I have a question for you- can you read!?" He asks us this as he points to his door sign that said no cold callers. We apologized and told him we didn't know what it meant. He just stated back, "Well now you do. Get off my property." With this statement, he slammed the door. Some people are quite interesting. For myself and Sister Hamann, we didn't even get offended or hurt by it. We simply just had to smile and move on because we were looking for those who God has prepared and it seemed that he wasn't one of them....yet. :) This week has been absolutely great! I'm amazed at how much is taking place here in Redruth. We are meeting more and more people and are teaching more as well. I'm so happy to be out here in England and I love being a missionary. I often ponder and think about how I even came to be here. It's amazing how Heavenly Father works and the plans He has for all of us. Something cool that I've started doing is something that was mentioned in General Conference. I read a talk given by Devin G. Durrant titled, "My heart pondereth them continually." He talks about how he and his wife will take a verse of scripture, write it down, and place it where they can see it. They then ponderize about the scripture. 20% memorizing and 80% pondering. He's done it for 3 years now and He challenged all to do it and so I thought it would be a fun idea to try. I found a scripture last week- John 14:21 and put it on a sticky note and taped it on my water glass so I could see it and think about it as I go to take a drink. What's amazing is, I was not only able to think about the scripture as I looked at it but I reflected upon it throughout the day and the week. It really works. Finding a verse of scripture has really helped me with my personal conversion and with better knowing the words of Christ :) My scripture for this week is Alma 5:26.  I told my companion about this activity and she has started doing it. We ask each other, "what's your verse?" and it's fun to learn from each other. If anyone wants to do it, you should send me your verse each week and I can look it up :) Love you all! Thanks for all the support and love that you've shown me! Until next week! Adieu! 

With love,
Sister Burtis