At least a transfer more for Christmas :)

Hello everyone! So you might have guessed it....I am staying at least one more transfer in Redruth, Cornwall. I'm really happy to be able to stay with my companion and in this area for the upcoming Christmas holidays! It's still my first area but I love it more and more as I continue to be here....maybe they can keep me here my whole mission ;) Sister Hamann and I are still sister training leaders as well so that'll be fun to be able to go to the mission leadership conferences. One thing that I'm really excited for is the temple trip that we have in about two weeks. As part of Christmas, all of us get to go to the London temple, have a Christmas devotional with our mission president, and also a Christmas dinner. One fun thing too is that since I'm still in the western zone which is the farthest away from the temple, we will be able to stay at the London Temple accommodations for a night. All of us missionaries are really excited about that! Well, the winter chill has been starting to pick up here in England and I can tell that it isn't the summer anymore. We are currently finding and teaching and the work is continually hastening. We have been able to teach Kathy, one of our friends, and she came out to church this past Sunday. She is a great lady and very nice. She'll always have us come over to have lunch and dinner if we go over to teach her a lesson. She is progressing and she is doing well! Our other friends are doing great as well. We were able to see more people come to our gospel principles class (a class that we missionaries teach on Sunday) and that was really exciting. Missionary work is not easy but it's so rewarding. There is just such a joy that is felt when I see others being able to experience for themselves the blessings of the gospel. It's like Lehi as he is partaking of the fruit from the tree of life and his soul was filled with exceedingly great joy. He then began to be desirous that his family should partake of it. Our happiness is great when we ourselves are able to receive the blessings of the gospel but our happiness can become even greater as we share the gospel with others. To see them receive that additional joy that they never knew that they could have is the greatest treasure of all. I love the work and this week as I was reading in the December 2015 ensign, I was reminded of the privilege and opportunity I have to be able to be out on my mission. Often times, days can be hard. It's not easy but I've learned to really trust in God and treasure those small moments on my mission and throughout life because time can go by so fast!  One really cool miracle that happened was last Monday. We spent our preparation day cleaning the flat, emailing, and shopping. We then ended preparation day right at 6pm like it says in our missionary handbook. With determination, we started going to work. We had set some finding plans for the evening but hadn't planned on the strong winds and rain that came pouring down. Despite the bitter winds, rain, and dark evening, we kept pushing through. We could have made an excuse that we were too wet or too cold to continue to find but we pressed forward. Knocking on some doors, we ended up meeting a lady named Lynsey who was quite interested in our message so we set up a return appointment with her. After taking some time to find, 8:28pm rolls around and we both had agreed earlier, we wouldn't end until 8:30pm. We looked at each other both knowing it would be so easy to start walking to the bus stop, but we didn't. We decided to knock two more doors these last minutes and something miraculous came out of it. We knocked at the two doors. The people behind the first door weren't interested. However, the second door opened up and a lady named Tanya looked at the state we were in...cold, wet, etc. and ushered us in. We didn't plan on her saying that, so you can probably imagine that shock that we experienced when she said that. We came in with our shoes trailing in puddles behind them and sat down at her dinner table. We then explained our message and asked if we could set a return appointment. Just as we were doing so, one of her best friends walked in. We were quite surprised to see that it was Lynsey, the lady we had just met previously and had set up a return appointment with. We looked at each other and back at them and after sharing what our message was about, we not only prayed with Tanya, but we got to pray with the both of them. After leaving the house, we  rushed to our bus and made it home. That evening and throughout this week, we've been able to find people who were interested and it just testified to us that with God, all things are possible. We know that this is the time for the season of miracles. Often times, the Lord wants to see how consecrated we are willing to be and as long as we are doing what he asks us to do, we can see miracles. Happy thanksgiving this week! Eat lots of pie and turkey. And not to worry, our bishop and his family are making us a small thanksgiving dinner so I'll be a part of the American tradition this week too :)  I love you all! I hope all of you are doing so great! 

With love,

Sister Burtis 

P.S. My ponderized scripture is Enos 1:27. Please look this one up. It has become one of my favorites! :)