Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful week this past week. I know that I did! This past week, we were able to have an exchange with the Newton Abbot sisters. Sister Deloumeaux came over here to Redruth with me and Sister Hamann went to Newton Abbot with Sister Holley. Sister Deloumeaux is on fire. She is an amazing missionary! She will consistently talk to everyone along the way and share her testimony and it really taught me a lot. She truly has the light of Christ with her. So funny thing happened this past week. Just about several days ago, Sister Hamann and I were about to call some of our potential investigators but for some reason, our phone had no reception. We'd stand on chairs, by the window, and walk around the flat but no matter what, we couldn't get reception. We eventually left the flat and had to call our zone leaders and tell them that we wouldn't be able to listen in on the leadership conference call that evening that we were to be a part of. One of our zone leaders- Elder Mayes- told us to try getting metal objects and place them near a window and seeing if we get somehow get signal that way. He told us that he and his companion had previously put their phone near a metal windowsill and were able to get reception that way. Sister Hamann and I decided to put it to a test. Sadly we didn't have a lot of metal but I looked in the kitchen and all we could see was a metal toaster and kitchen knives, spoons, etc. We decided we'd give it a go and so we placed those items near a window hoping it would work but we got nothing. I think the moment was funny as we just see ourselves trying so desperately to get reception for the call that evening that we were getting to the point of unplugging our toaster and placing it near the window. :) We never ended up getting reception and there is still a problem with it but we are hoping to get it fixed soon. Anyways, What an eventful week! Our teaching pool in the Redruth area is growing bigger and bigger. This past week, we had our planner filled with appointments and it was exciting. Sister Hamann and I were able to also implement finding around those times and we saw some amazing miracles. Something I've come to learn is that when we strive to talk to everyone, we see more miracles. There are times where we will talk to 4 or 5 people in a row and it ends up being the 6th person that is interested. It's quite interesting to see that pattern but it's helped me to see how we can be successful missionaries. We were able to meet some great potentials this past week and I'm filled with joy knowing that we were able to share our testimonies with those we met and that we get an opportunity to teach them the restoration. One amazing miracle that happened was just recently. A week or so back, we were riding on the bus and a mother (Her name was Charlene) came up to us and asked us if we had any literature or pamphlets we could give to her. She told us that she wasn't religious but her daughter (who is only about 3) keeps asking about God and Jesus Christ. We happily gave her a restoration pamphlet and asked if we could come around sometime to share our message with her. She accepted and gave us her address. Well we called her later some time and she didn't answer. We decided to see where she lived and stop by but her street didn't show on the map. We were a bit disappointed by then. We thought perhaps she just gave us a fake address. That was a lack of faith on our part. We tried calling her several days later and we were considering to drop her but she answered her phone :) She explained that it was a hard street to find and she gave us directions to her home. We set up an appointment and we headed over to her home the next day. As we got to her house, an older looking lady (Vicki) answered the door. She explained to us that Charlene went out for work but she had mentioned something about missionaries coming over. We were sad Charlene wasn't in but Vicki said for us to come back next week. We were about to leave but then we decided to asked Vicki, "Do you have a faith in Jesus Christ yourself, ma'am?" She at first didn't look interested but as she explained her story of her faith, it seemed that she had actually ran into missionaries before. Vicki was part of the Church of England but when her father passed away, she knew there had to be something more. A week after her father's passing, Jehovah witnesses knocked on her door. She had bible studies with them and she was happy to hear that there was more to life. Vicki never ended up joining the Jehovah Witnesses but she always kept that faith in Jesus Christ and the knowledge of after life. After she explained her story, we explained to her our purpose and our message about the Book of Mormon and the plan of Salvation. As Sister Hamann and I continued talking, we were amazed at how prepared she was to receive the message. She would say things that she believed in and everything she said seemed exactly what we as a church believed. When we asked her if she would be willing to prayfully read the Book of Mormon, she enthusiastically said yes and even said, "do you guys charge a fee or have a donations box or something?" Joy filled our hearts at this question because we really understood her desire to come to find out for herself if what we said was true. We told her that she could have the Book of Mormon and asked if we could meet with her and Charlene as well next week and she accepted. What a miracle! God truly does prepare his children to receive the gospel. They are out there. I know that and I was given a witness of that as we met Vicki. I'm so grateful for the gospel! I was extremely happy that we got to watch General Conference. The talks were all just so amazing. We missionaries joked about it being a spiritual punch to the face ;) I could just feel the spirit so strong as I listened to the speakers. I came in with questions in mind and got many more answers than I expected. My heart dropped a bit and I was saddened when I saw President Thomas S. Monson struggling during his talk. I wanted to call out and help him but I know that I couldn't. I love being able to declare that God speaks to us through his living prophets on the earth today and I have a great love for the prophet today. I'm praying for him and his health and I hope he gets better. I'm just overall speechless about this week. It has been such an incredible week and it just seems to get better and better. Something that really stood out to me in General Conference was, what is said in the scripture, Isaiah 64:8---"But now, O Lord, thou art our father, we are the clay and thou art the potter; and we all are the work of thy hand." I truly believe this to be true. I have felt how Heavenly Father has changed me for the better as I have been out here on my mission. I'm grateful for the plan He has for me. Im grateful to be out on my mission. I'm grateful for my companion. And I'm grateful for all of you and your support!
Love,
Sister Burtis
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