Happy Late Valentine's! I hope all of you felt loved and if you
didn't, just know that I love you and miss you. Transfers happened and
I'll be staying with Sister Nguyen another transfer as STLs in Clapham
which is wonderful and I'm excited to continue to work here. More than
likely, I'll be staying in Clapham till May or June but that's ok
because I really love this area. Some interesting news that I found
out is that they are taking sisters out of Redruth (my first area) and
putting in Elders. That'll be really interesting but good as well to
mix it up a bit. :) The week has been indeed a splendid one and there
are many stories and things to share. The beginning of last week, we
got to celebrate something called "Shrove Tuesday" or also known as
Pancake Day. It is a legitimate holiday celebrated here in England. On
this day, people eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if they
desire to. It was fun because I have never heard of this holiday but
we celebrated it during that day around breakfast time. Sister Meyer
and Sister Couper (the two other sisters in our flat) and Sister
Nguyen and I all together made pancakes and ate them. It was really
fun! Sister Nguyen have been able to do a lot of finding recently but
it's been good and we have been able to see many miracles. The weather
for us hasn't been too nice however. The weather here is England is
bitter cold. The air is just so chilly. The sun is out and there are
blue skies but I feel to call it the Satan Weather because it lies and
is deceptive. You wake up, look out the window, and say, "Yay! It's
look so warm outside!" You happily put on your light coat, thin scarf,
and outfit, ect., walk outside, look to your companion with squinted
eyes as the air nips at your nose and eyes, and then go back inside to
change into heavy winter gear. :) We are hoping it warms up soon. I
think March will bring some better weather. Despite weather and all,
we were able to meet some good people and have some good teaches as
well. Sister Nguyen and I were able to stop by our investigator
Lucia's home to teach her English and I love being able to go and help
her. Lucia is from Brazil and is just so sincere. As we got to her
home to teach her English, she looked a bit down than usual. Giselle,
her daughter, explained to us in English that her mom's sister had
cancer and didn't have too much time to live. We felt so sad for Lucia
and her family and wasn't quite sure what to do to help. As Lucia
tried to say out loud the Alphabet in English, tears would run down
her cheeks because of this trial in her life at this time. We felt
impressed to take the time to explain to her the Plan of Salvation in
English and then Giselle would translate it in Portuguese for her mom.
It was an amazing time to be able to see how much hope this plan that
God has created for us has. Lucia was able to be OK after that and we
were able to help her learn so more English. At the end of the lesson,
we had Lucia pray which she did and she did it in Portuguese. Despite
the language barrier, we were able to feel the spirit and sincerity of
the prayer that Lucia said as she prayed to her Heavenly Father. It's
amazing how many different languages and how many different people are
out there in the world. No matter what though, Heavenly Father is
listening to all of his children. I loved being able to receive a
witness of this during this past week. Something that I've really
learned as well is to never judge. While going to a potential's house,
we said hello to a guy on his bike. This guy started talking to us and
stated, "Give me ten reasons to why I would need to Join your church."
As we went to state a reason, he would question everything about it.
He told us that he needed to go but that we should meet him the next
day around the same time for us to tell him the 9 remaining reasons.
We mentioned to him that we weren't there to convince him but rather
invite. His response to that was, "You guys stopped me and are using
my time. So I'll be waiting tomorrow to see what those 9 reasons are."
Then he rode off on his bike. Sister Nguyen and I looked to each other
and both felt a bit annoyed. We didn't want to merely meet him to just
tell him 9 reasons to why he would need to join the church if he
wasn't going to take the time to listen. I silently said a prayer in
my heart and remembered that this guy was still a child of God and
that I shouldn't be too quick to judge. The next day came and we met
with Ben. As we would go to share with Ben another reason to why our
church is true, he would give us a variety of reasons to why it might
be not right. Sitting at the park bench in the chilly weather stopped
us from teaching him too long and in the end, we had to stop at "God
works through this prophets to guide us." Ben mentioned to us that he
might come to church just to see what it was like and then said
goodbye. Sister Nguyen and I came to a conclusion that while this guy
was interested in our faith and religion, he wasn't interested in
changing. So we left it at that and continued our week. We were able
to work and got to meet many potentials which we are excited to follow
up with this new week. As this past Sunday approached, Sister Nguyen
and I were sitting in Gospel Principles and listening to the Ward
mission leader teach about the creation of the world. Some of the
other elders from the other ward in the same chapel as us suddenly
opened the door to the classroom and behind them was...Ben! The one we
met earlier this week. We were surprised but also very happy. Ben
ended up only staying for gospel principles but we got talking to him
afterwards and he said that he really enjoyed it. Miracle! It truly
taught me to never take the first contact you have with someone and
determine what their future will be. The Lord works in mysterious ways
and it is truly the season of miracles. Hearts are being soften,
people are starting to come to us to ask more about the church, and
there is a great and marvellous work happening here at this time. We
never know someone until we truly come to recognize who they are to
our Heavenly Father. I've definitely learned a better understanding of
Christ-Like Love and I'm grateful that I can continue to learn even
more as my mission continues :)
Love,
Sister Burtis
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