Hello everyone! I hope all of you are doing well. I can't believe it's
already November! Where has all that time gone? Anyways, this past
week was very spooktacular. See what I did there? ;) Happy late
Halloween! What a week it has been! Sister Hamann and I having been
running to and fro to different places in our area and we were able to
teach many of our investigators. This past week started out with our
pday and we got to go with our district to Truro and explore the shops
and the Truro Cathedral. It's pretty big! I had already been there
once before with Sister Schmidt but Sister Hamann and a couple of the
elders hadn't been yet so we went and explored around there. After our
pday, Sister Hamann and I got to do FHE with some members and their
family and that was a lot of fun. We, the sister missionaries, got to
teach a little lesson to the family, sang songs, did an activity, and
then had pizza. I never realised how important family home evening was
until I got out on my mission. It really does strengthen the family
and protects them from the worldly distractions that Satan uses to
destroy families. The rest of the week consisted of traveling
different parts of our areas and getting to teach our investigators
and potentials. We were able to talk to some people on the busses and
although not many were interested, we did find someone who wanted to
come to know more about the Book of Mormon. Her name is Diane and she
was really nice and listened to the message we had. The people we are
currently teaching are either progressing or continually listening to
our lessons. One thing I really learned from the last week was the
importance of a testimony. Sister Hamann and I had an investigator who
we taught last week and the lesson went beyond what we had imagined.
We sat down and planned to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ but kept
getting our faith questioned and we kept getting asked why we would
need to pray, or read a book that tells us answers when we can just
know for ourselves already, etc. It was no easy lesson and it seemed
that everything we tried to teach her was argued against. I won't lie,
I felt a bit frustrated. After the lesson, I didn't really felt like
talking too much. My companion turned to me and asked me, trying to
cheer me up, "What do you think went good about that lesson?" I
wondered and wondered....what good did come out of that lesson? It
took me a time to ponder about it but I came to a conclusion in the
end. Towards the end of that lesson, I remember saying, boldly but
with love, my testimony. I told this lady that I know that my Savior
lives. I know that there is a way for us to return and live with him
and our Heavenly Father once more. I know that I can pray to Him and
that He will listen to me. How do I know that? Because of that divine
witness that I received when I first read the Book of Mormon and
continue to receive as I keep reading now. I realized that my
testimony is precious and something that no one could take away from
me. I know I needed to experience that last week because it helped me
to realize something very important. I often kept asking myself last
week why the lesson had to go the way it did. I know though that
Heavenly Father places things that may be at times frustrating and
hard so He can help us learn. A few fun things that took place was
that we had our district meeting with the elders of our area and the
zone leaders as well. Sister Hamann and I did a fun presentation about
how we should be willing to go the extra mile for the Savior. We had
all of the elders go outside of the chapel as well as ourselves and we
pulled out two chocolate bars. Two of the elders weren't able to run
because of an injury but the other elders eagerly and excitedly
started jumping up and down when they saw what we had for them. Elders
and food.....that's all I got to say. :) Sister Hamann and I just
simply asked if they'd be willing to run once around the chapel for
the treats. They agreed with no hesitation and when we yelled, "go!",
they took off as if something was chasing them, playfully pushing at
each other and trying to win. As they ran around the chapel, we
quickly handed the two candy bars to the remaining elders who weren't
able to run. We told them that they could eat the candy bars in front
of the other elders which they started doing. Soon enough, the other
elders came around the corner of the chapel, out of breath, and
excited to receive their reward. They all seemed to go into a state of
shock when they saw the other two elders eating the chocolate. One of
them exclaimed, "I knew it!" And another exclaimed, "What!?" Their
reactions were priceless. Sister Hamann and I tried holding in our
laughter as we simply told them..."Oops. Their is no more chocolate."
We proceeded to ask them however if they would be willing to running
around one more time even if we didn't have a treat for them. They
thought to themselves, shook their heads and said no. We hesitated and
asked one more question. "Would you be willing to do it......if the
Savior asked you to?" The Elders without hesitation realized what we
were trying to ask them and they said yes. I handed them a picture of
Christ and they held it and looked at it as they ran around. So what
was the purpose of the activity? To see if these elders will do
anything for food? No, the purpose and the thing we explained to the
elders was that, often times we need to go the extra mile for the
Savior, not for the lesser important things. What is our motivation
behind our actions? This could apply to missionary work but it could
apply to anything else as well. The callings we receive in the church,
the things we are asked to sacrifice, etc. As we focus on the Savior,
the things that tend to be hard become easier when we know that he is
with us every step of the way. Sister Hamann and I were able to
accomplish many things this week and we are grateful for the tender
mercies of the Lord that we saw. Something funny that happened to us
was that as we went finding in the evening of Halloween, people asked
us if we trick-or-treaters. Fair enough....I could see why they'd ask
us that. In all fairness....we do have a treat for them. The gospel.
:) I love you all and I hope everything is going good! Until next
week!
Love,
Sister Burtis
P.S. My ponderized scripture for the week is Psalms 18:2-3
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the
Lord,
who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
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