The Effort in Trying Helps Us to Grow

Hello Everyone! The month of May seems to speed up even quicker now
than ever before. It's been a pretty long week but a good one as well.
Many things occurred and trying to remember them all is a bit
challenging but looking back, we got a lot done. Most of this week, if
not all of this week, consisted of knocking and finding. Often times,
Sister Fromgren and I are sitting and pondering during planning in the
evening times and discussing where to go next to find the prepared.
This previous week was moves week and during this week, there no
meetings or trainings or anything so it seemed to be longer than
usual. The only crazy part about our week was when we went to Brixton.
We were helping a lady who is not a member but knows a lot of the
members from the ward and providing service for her. On the way back,
we saw all these people with signs saying, "We are all sinners!",
"Jesus is the only way!", "Be saved by grace!", ect. These people
holding these signs were dancing along to pop music in the middle of
the sidewalk and it was interesting. I've learned here on my mission
that there are many different types of missionary work throughout the
different religions. Apart from that, throughout this week, Sister
Fromgren and I have been taking time to really plan effectively and
counsel with the Lord where we needed to be or what we needed to do to
find those who are prepared. We did indeed see many miracles from this
and we trust in God and His timing. We know that as long as we are
doing our part, He will do His. The both of us have felt ourselves
growing and learning a lot from these finding experiences. Our desire
to find someone to teach is large and we are willing to do all it
takes to find them who are prepared. I often feel like a little kid
looking up at the counter and there on the counter is a big delicious
slice of chocolate cake. The only problem for this little kid is she
can't reach the counter because she's too short. That doesn't stop her
though. She stands on her tippy toes and reaches but it doesn't work.
She grabs a few pillows and tries to stand on them but they topple
over. A bit defeated and letting out a long exaggerated sigh, she
shrugs her shoulders, and looks around her. She will do everything in
her power to try with all her might to reach up to get this cake and
she knows that her efforts will be well worth it. She suddenly
remembers a small chair that she plays with and runs to go and grab
it. With a few attempts to carefully climb it, she finally steps onto
the chair, and her two little hands, grabs the long awaited chocolate
cake. She knows that her trying made this cake even more delicious
than even before if she would have been able to get it on the first
try. It's exactly how my companion and I feel with finding new
investigators. Heavenly Father could give us an exact location or
address to where people are prepared and ready for baptism but I do
reflect and recall that without our trying or putting in effort, we
wouldn't learn. Sister Fromgren and I have seen great miracles this
past week though. We were blessed to meet a lady named Jessica as we
were finding. We had been going to contact a potential and heard a
lady talking to her baby son right outside her door. We approached her
and with a  smile, introduced ourselves and who we were. Jessica was
amazing and very nice as we introduced to her the Book of Mormon. We
were able to leave her with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and give her
our pass along card. The very next day, we followed up to see if she
read the pamphlet and ended up talking to her for a good amount of
time. I am so grateful for the work. It is truly a blessing. Something
else that we got to do is work a lot with the members. We have
something here in England, called the Europe Area Plan. This plan
enables members to set goals to 1. Bring a friend 2. Become
spiritually and temporally self-reliant & 3. Find an Ancestor. It's a
plan so simple yet gives the members the opportunity to set good
goals. As missionaries, we are helping the members to set goals for
how they can do missionary work and then we follow up with the members
on how they are doing with those goals. It's has been really effective
and the members' excitement for the work has increased. If there are
missionaries where you live now, I invite you to have them over, and
to ask them what they need help with. Whether it's having FHE or a
lesson for an investigator at your home, going finding with them,
seeking for referrals for missionaries, ect. Members are key to
missionary work. Together with missionaries, the work can truly
hasten. :) This week has been truly great! I love you all! Have a
beautiful week!
Love,
Sister Burtis