Monday, June 20, 2016
No Habla Espanol
What a funny and interesting week it has been! Some weeks here on our
missions are just filled with random adventures that we hope to never
forget. We were able to see many miracles as well. One of those
miracles has been teaching Begonia. We were able to actually teach her
this week and then the next day, we helped her with some English as
part of service. She is really good in speaking English but she wants
to improve even more. We had a pot luck dinner last weekend in which
both Begonia and a friend of hers was able to go. A lot of the Clapham
ward is from Brazil, Portugual, Ecuador, ect. so Begonia and her
friend seemed to really enjoy getting to talk to everyone around them
in Spanish and in English. All throughout this week, we have been very
blessed. A miracle we saw also was when we were banner contacting. We
set up the banner in Wimbledon in the storm threatening weather but
throughout the entire time we banner contacted, no rain came. Sister
Fromgren and I were holding the banner from blowing back and forth and
as we did so, Sister Fromgren, on the left side of the banner, got
talking to a lady with her child. They continued their conversation
next to the banner discussing the Gospel and as they were doing so, a
lady named Harriet approached me and asked us if we were the Mormons
like Donny Osmond. I smiled, explained who we were, and got talking to
her. At the end of our conversation, Harriet inquired about a Book of
Mormon and I gave her one. After she had left, I turned back to Sister
Fromgren who was getting done talking to the other lady and finishing
writing her number down. We looked at each other and knew that we were
in the midst of the season of miracles. Another miracle that we saw
was at the end of our accounting, our district leader turned to Preach
My Gospel and read from page 166 under the companion study activity
and read: "Identify all the former investigators (and he included
potentials as well) that you have and make plans to contact as many as
possible within the next 24 hours." Taking this challenge upon us but
seeing that we weren't home at the time with our area book, we started
looking through the phone with all the potentials there. Some names
were familiar, others were not. As we started from the top, we called
and some of them didn't answer. We continued with a determined faith
and called guys named Devon, Eddie, and Henry. All three of them
answered their phones, seeming very interested, and we were able to
set up return appointments with them this week. Not only did miracles
happen but many funny things did too. Some things that took place was
that Sister Fromgren and I were on the bus on the way to Nina's, a
member, for a dinner appointment. We got off one bus stop too early to
her home and suddenly found ourselves lost. Just as we started to
search for her house, heavy rain came down threatening to destroy my
IPad which had my map on it, and lightning like we had never seen came
down. I think I've come to discover my phobia for lightning storms
because I was praying so hard that lightning wouldn't hit me or my
companion. After several screams of terror as we saw a flash of blue
and a loud thunder that followed, we finally saw a familiar sight of
Nina's home and her standing outside waving her arms and beckoning us
in. Relieved, we were able to finally step indoors in the dry, warm
building. Another funny thing that happened to us was the day of
Begonia's sister, Celis's, baptism. The Spanish elders had been
teaching Celis for some time and we were then able to attend the
Spanish ward baptism and go with Begonia to see if we could answer any
of her questions as she saw her sister baptized. It was nice to know
that Sister Fromgren and I weren't the only ones who didn't know
Spanish because President Gubler and Sister Gubler were there as well
to show their support. Despite the whole baptism service being in
Spanish and the hymns as well, it was incredible to feel the same
spirit resonate throughout the room. I loved being able to pick up
different tiny words of Spanish throughout the service and was
grateful to have studied Spanish for two years in high school. After
the baptism, Sister Fromgren and I headed to the tube station. We were
heading back for lunch and as we got on the tube that would take us
back to our area where our flat was, the announcer came on, saying,
"Please switch to the other tube across the other side. This one will
not going this direction." Sister Fromgren and I might have been
listening to it but we were talking to each other and it didn't
register to us that we needed to get off. Just as the announcer
finished saying the last words, Sister Fromgren and I suddenly with a
look of shock realized what the announcement was saying. We lunged for
the door of the tube (underground train) but it was too late. A bit
worried, we looked around and realized we were the only ones in that
particular part of the tube. Look over to the next part of the tube,
we saw two people sitting looking at their phones. That was a relief
to know that we weren't the only ones on the tube. We looked both to
the right and to the left of us outside the window but all we could
see was darkness because we were passing through underground to who
knows where. Finally an announcer came on and announced that this tube
would be going back around to the station that we originally at.
Sister Fromgren and I sighed with relief as we saw light and saw the
opening to the station where people were standing at the platform
waiting to take the tube. We got off and got on the right tube and
arrived safely home. It's been a week filled with many things to learn
and to grown from and yet, also fun adventures as well. Something that
really stood out to me was to never let the little things in life pass
by. Always smile, laugh, and remember the times you have felt joy and
happiness and they are they things you will remember most. Sure, there
is opposition in the work, but that opposition makes me realize the
good things in life. I love you all, have a fantastic week!
Love,
Sister Burtis
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