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| Loving the autumn weather! Thankfully it hasn't rained too much this week :) |
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| Sister Manage, Sister Chand, and I making curry for an investigator. The rest of the pictures consist of lots of Birthday celebrations, food, and cake for Sister Manage and her birthday :) Two members each did a meal for us on her birthday and it was lots of fun. Her chocolate rose cake was crazy cool! |
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| Got asked to prepare food for 28 missionaries for specialised Zone Training so we rallied up our team, got the ingredients, and we (sisters) made Chicken Curry for the Zone Training. It turned out really good! |
The autumn time seems to be getting closer and closer to an end but
the red, orange, and yellow leaves continue to remain so hopefully
it'll last just a while longer. Here in Staines, members are so
involved in the missionary work, there are lots of service
opportunities that arise, and lots of miracles are taking place! I am
so grateful to be a part of this great work. Last week, after our
preparation day, Sister Manage, Sister Chand, and I walked over to the
chapel and had ward correlation with the zone leaders and our ward
mission leader. After that, we were able to meet some members who
showed up for English class and it was fun to get to know them. The
following day, we got to see a returning friend who had been
struggling with some health problems so we were able to go and visit
her. Something I love about being a missionary is being able to reach
out to those in need. There were countless opportunities that we were
able to serve some people this past week and it was amazing. We got to
help a member for a big party she was having and got to cut lots of
vegetables and fruits. Sister Manage then got asked to cook Chicken
Curry for 28 missionaries and we (Sister Chand and I) helped her
prepare it. It was a bit stressful at first having to chop a lot of
onions and garlic and try to blend all the ingredients together but
then we got it all mixed together and cooked. I love learning how to
use raw vegetables and different ingredients to make dishes I've never
made before. Not that I didn't know how to cook before ;) .....but I'm
excited to experiment with more ingredients and try out more dishes.
That same day that we made curry was actually Sister Manage's birthday
and she's not a big fan of birthday parties. Well....she got lots of
celebrations that day. Anyone that knows me knows that I love to throw
parties, celebrate, and have fun. That morning of her birthday, Sister
Chand and I got to scream with love, "Happy Birthday!". Then we did
our studies and got to go with the Zone Leaders-Elder Baum and Elder
Thomas- to pick up lots of ingredients at the store for the chicken
curry. Sister Manage got another "Happy Birthday" sung to by the
elders and then after dropping the ingredients at the chapel, the
three of us sisters headed to an investigator's home. Laura is a lady
we are teaching at the moment and she is amazing. Her and a
enthusiastic member named Dee put together a birthday party for Sister
Manage. That evening, Sister Chand, Sister Manage, and I cooked curry
at the chapel and then a family from the Philippines showed up with
take away and more birthday cake for Sister Manage. Despite all the
celebrations, I think she really enjoyed it. :) We got to teach a guy
named Brother Contrarez this past week. All of his family are members
except him and he seems to have a great desire to learn. He has some
concerns but when we taught him part of the restoration, we could feel
the spirit strongly and he did as well. He says he feels good when
having the missionaries over to teach him and we invited to keep
inviting the spirit into his home by reading the Book of Mormon and
praying to know if it's true. He's so close! He'd be a great member
and we have faith that the Lord will help us see great miracles! We
had Stake Conference this past weekend and it was so good! All talks,
given from various members of the Staines Stake, brought words that
were exactly what I needed. Much of it was talked about becoming
spiritually and temporally self-reliant but also the important of
sacrifice and overcoming trials and challenges. It's amazing how the
Lord seems to be speaking only directly to you at times but then you
realize your brothers and sisters are all around you as well receiving
the revelation that they need. Just recently too, we had specialised
Zone Training with President and Sister Gubler and the assistants. We
got the curry ready and the elders got the rice all ready for lunch
and it turned out really great! Gosh, I just feel so blessed to have
President Gubler as my mission president. I nearly cried when he was
bearing testimony of the divinity of Christ and his love for God's
plan. For many months, I have found myself just sitting and staring at
this great and powerful mission president bringing in the spirit so
strongly and speaking the words that we needed to hear and it made me
sad to know this would be some of my last moments of hearing him speak
to us. Something I loved that President Gubler mentioned was about our
divine potential. He had us turn to 1 Corinthians 2:9 which says: "But
as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
them that love him." President Gubler then asked us to think of the
greatest things we had seen, greatest things we had heard in our
lives, and to think of the greatest moments of our lives. Some
missionaries said, "Seeing the ocean when I scuba dived. Seeing the
starry sky in a dark night. Hearing the sound of a baseball against
the bat. Hearing melodic music. Opening my mission call." He then had
us closed our eyes and then asked us to picture what the celestial
kingdom would be like. After a few moments, He asked us, "What did it
look like to you? What did it have there?" We all listed off some
things that came to our mind as we imagined the celestial kingdom and
then President Gubler said, "All the majestic sounds, scenes, and
moments you've had in your life can't even compare to what the
Celestial Kingdom will look like. EYE hath not seen, nor EAR
heard....Can you imagine what it would be like to live with no pain?
No Allergies, no hay fevers, no colds, nothing. Can you imagine what
it will be like to live with those who you love forever and ever? If
you die in faith, your test is done. As long as your willing to give
up everything here to have something even greater. THERE IS NOTHING
that can replace greater than the celestial kingdom. This is what we
can have and this is what God asks us to offer to people today-right
now!" It was all so mind blowing yet so true! President Gubler opened
all of our eyes to the wonderful potential we all have and how
important it was to share it with others! I love this work and I know
that we all have the greatest potential to reach our Heavenly Home.
Let us know give up at any moment despite trials, pains, challenges,
or opposition that we face because there is so much greater things
coming our way if we endure strong and remember that the Saviour is
always with us! I love you! Have a great week everyone!
Love,
Sister Burtis
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