Campfires, Red Doors (Continued) and Miracles!

Hello family!!                                                                            July 16, 2013

Great to hear from you! :) But sad to hear that grandma broke her leg, that can't be fun at all!  And Mom, getting metal rods in my arm (or body) is not the trend I wanted to set, but it does seem to be the one that I did set! But, I'll be sending some prayers, and I know that the Lord truly is watching over all of us! :)

So, this past week,....well, we know now why our previous week (and few days) had been so hellish, and why we were really getting attacked by Satan.  We got three new investigators last week!!!!    We taught Rick on Tuesday night (part member family) and we had dinner outside and then taught the first lesson.  His daughters bore their testimony about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, it was an incredible moment; there was an ocean breeze and a fire in the background.  Reminded me a little of the testimony meetings at girls camp, it was just wonderful! :)

  

We also, on Wednesday taught Kristen! Remember our red door miracle from like, 7 weeks ago when Sister Drinkwater first got here?  Well, we finally were able to teach her on Wednesday. She is the sweetest lady, who has a strong believe in Christ and God, and really wants to grow closer to them.  We are teaching her again tomorrow, and hopefully going to invite her to be baptized! :)   Which will be pretty exciting! :)  It was great to finally be able to teach her!

  

We also started teaching Angie again, but she is moving this Saturday, but we are going to teach her again tomorrow, and then send her in as a referral to the sisters in the Mission Lake area, since we know them! :)  So good things happening there!

So, we have been teaching a lot more, and that is just a miracle!   Can I just say, that I LOVE to teach, yes, it is something I'm not used to, but I am getting better at teaching simply and following the Spirit!  One thing that I really have learned from this experience is that no matter what other areas I end up on my mission, to not listen to what previous missionaries have said about it.   That even if the area is dead, I'll work as hard as I can to show the Lord that I am willing to work.  And if the ward doesn't support us, we'll go out and find in the ways that we can ourselves, because then, when the ward sees that we are working, they trust us, and well, things are going good with the ward in this area now! Miracles can and do happen!! :)

Hmmm what else happened, oh we had our interviews with President Orgill on Friday.  He is such a sweet man, and he really wants to know us personally, not just as a missionary.  And I think, just with that, it reminded me that the Lord called ME to be on a mission.  And that I can be myself, and with the Lord's help, I'll do the work that He has in store for me! :)  What a blessing it is to be on a mission.   As I quickly am approaching six months (ok, so 5 months just passed) But, as it comes closer and closer, it makes me realize how short a year really is, and how fast it is going to go.  So, I am truly doing all that I can to make the most out of the time that I have to devote all of my time and talents to the Lord.  So that I can look back and remember and rejoice because I knew that I did my very best! :)  But I love being on a mission! I love San Clemente. I love that the work is progressing, and that the Lord truly does have a plan, and that we are able to assist in that plan and in His great work!

Oh, another Miracle... Rich. Crazy, energetic Rich.  He came to church on Sunday (we hadn't seen him since Monday)  and brought his oldest daughter!  Then, we went over to his and Jenn's house later Sunday night.   And well, as we were teaching... he told us how he wants to be baptized! :)  I think we about died.  And he just kept saying it!   Which was pretty funny, but we did formally invite him to be baptized (I knew I had to, the Spirit was just telling me that I had too) and so I did I said "Rich, will you be baptized by someone who has the priesthood authority of God?"  He then said, "wow, that was powerful, totally."   So, he is a little eccentric, but he wants to get baptized!  Now all he needs to do is get married...And get back from India, cause he left for India today.  But, I really do feel that Rich will be baptized soon!  And how amazing is that! :)  Love it!  Love the miracles that we get to see as we exercise our faith and turn our trust to the Lord!

So that was my week, and yes mom, I felt like a proud mommy when Kirk blessed the sacrament! :) It was just beautiful! I LOVE THE PRIESTHOOD! :)  

So, I hope that you have a great week! :)  Keep up the good work, keep close to the Lord!  He truly does know us personally!   Oh, and mom, about being done with dance, I wouldn't say that yet...I've thought about dance every now and then, and I may dance when I get home.  But we'll see. Haha.  :)  Love you! :) But that is a ways away!  

Anyway, have a good week!  Read Alma 22, and think about what the King wants to do to know God, and think about what we should be willing to do to more fully know God! :)

   

I love you all so much! :)  

I look forward to hearing from you again soon :)

  

Love,

Sister Taylor Burningham 

Miracles To Come

Hi family!!!                                                                                                  July 9, 2013

I'm glad to hear that this past week was good, and that the Fourth was fun!

My Fourth was good, our ward had a pancake breakfast, and we went to that.  Which was fun, it was outside, but it reminded me a little of the breakfast that we go to every year ;) which I missed, but I am so glad that you had a good time!   We then headed up to Irvine, and had our mission conference!  Fun to see that picture (I hadn't seen it yet!)  But that was pretty awesome!   So, we got to know the missionaries from the Anaheim part of the mission, and they got to know us.  It is pretty funny though, cause Carlsbad mission is super strict, super uptight, and they are just chill.  And just have the white handbook for rules (we had an extra little book).  So we are all looking at each other, and we are thinking that they are so hmmm what would be a good word, lazy? And they think we are all uptight. But, we are blending, and we are just going to make our own rules, and it is pretty awesome!  :)    So it will be different, but a good different.  Like this morning, we walked.  And we didn’t feel guilty about it because we don't have to run everyday anymore.   But, we will still probably run every few days, because it is good exercise.   

So, then we got to meet our mission president.  President Orgill.  He is such a loving man, and has such an eternal perspective! He wants us not only to have good missions, but to have good lives!  Which is pretty cool, I think that I am going to learn a lot from him!

We then had a dinner/bbq with members in our ward, which was fun.   It wasn't quite the same, but it was fun to sit in someone's backyard and eat food that I'm used to eating every Fourth!  :)   We then went and saw Jennifer, a less active!  :)   Which was also fun.  We got invited to go and watch the fireworks show. But it started at nine, and we have to be in at nine, so we were obedient, and didn’t watch the fireworks.  So, it didn't really super much feel like the Fourth of July for me, which made me a little bit homesick, but, I prayed, and I'm good :)

So, this week has been...hmmm what would be a good word for it, ummm maybe crazy!  Ha.  But, really just a little more than the usual for a missionary.  Sister Drinkwater, as a sister Trainer leader, has some sisters that were about to kill each other (ok, so maybe not quite) but long story short is that we went to Mission Viejo on Saturday to talk to the sisters. Then there was a meeting with the sisters, their district leader, their zone leaders and Sister Drinkwater.   It was long, and I just studied outside the room.   Then,  as we are leaving (it was nearly 9:30) Sister Drinkwater says, "we are going to do an exchange right now."  So, I stayed in Mission Viejo with sister Moss, and the other companion went to San Clemente, just so they could be separate.  I got picked up the next morning, then had meetings and church, and it was just a crazy adventure.    Sister Drinkwater offered me up as her "Isaac" she said later, when President Orgill was asking who could be emergency transferred into their area.  But, thankfully, the Lord needed me here in San Clemente still, and I am very glad!

So, that was part of our week, and then yesterday was just rough.  Simple as that.   The adversary is working hard against us, because we have 3 possible new investigators this week, and well, Satan is very real, and he knows when good things are coming, so, all I can say is, Miracles are coming! :)   And that makes me excited! :)   Good things are happening here, and the work is moving forward! :)   

So, today, as pday was much needed, and we are grateful!  I wrote more about my week in my letter home, so you will get that hopefully soon! They do the mail the same here as in Carlsbad, which I am used to, so nothing new.  But yes, I did get the mail that you sent to our mission office, which is in the stake center that the picture is in front of. :)  

Ok, so our teaching, last week wasn't super high, simply because not many people like the missionaries the week of the Fourth of July, and we were out of our area in Irvine and in Mission Viejo for half of the week.  But this week, we have a lot of appointments, and we hope to pick up a few new investigators that we are planning meeting with this week, and we are excited!  We have an appointment with a part member family tonight, and the dad is interested in taking the lessons, so we are excited to see what happens there! 

I am so grateful for the priesthood, last night we got priesthood blessings from our ward mission leader, because we were just feeling weighed down because of the adversary.  But, I feel so much at peace. And I know that the Lord knows me personally, and that He has a perfect plan for me, and that all of the things that I am experiencing right now, are preparing me for things to come.  I know that everything happens for a reason, and I know that God is in the details of our lives.  :)

So, this week was a little rough, mostly just cause there were some loops and speed bumps in the road that we didn't expect, but life is often full of those.   I am just so grateful that we have the gospel, and that we are able to know the things that the Lord would have us do, that we are able to use the atonement, so that our Savior can lift us, because I know that He can, and I know that He does!  And that even when we have those hard times, the Lord loves us, and He wants us to become like he is, and I know that he has a plan for each and every one of us, and I am so grateful! :)

So, miracles are coming!  The Lord is real! And I love Him! :)  Have a good week!  I can’t wait to hear from you again! :)  I hope that you have a great week, and that you stay close to the Lord, because he is our greatest source of strength!! :)  Have a good week! Say hello to everyone for me!  And, tell Jared and Karen congrats and good luck! :)  Have a great week!  Keep Smiling!  And reading my journal ;) I'm glad you got my package! :)

I love you!!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Taylor Burningham

Hello Again,

We didn't finish our email time this morning, cause we had an appointment, and I just wanted to say that I am back to my happy self!  I was kind of in a really weird mood this morning, but I got a nap, and I just feel so much better!  I am so grateful for prayer and for this opportunity that I have to be on a mission!  I love you guys so much!  And I hope that you have a great week!  I love you!!!

And, just wanted to say hi again before I emailed my mission president ;) 

Love,

Sister Taylor Burningham

Week 6

Dear Family!!                                                                            July 2, 2013

Hello!  How are ya doing?  

I'm doing good this fine p-day.   We are emailing a little later today, cause we were teaching a less active during our usual time (even on p-day, we get reminded that we are on a mission, so that it is all the Lord's time) But the lesson went well, and that was good!

Ok, so this past week.  Crazy I tell you!  But good.  But crazy.   So it was week 6 of a transfer, which for some reason always ends up being a little bit weird!   So on Tuesday we had our mission conference, and we said goodbye to everybody.   Which was kinda depressing, cause my whole MTC district is in Carlsbad, and I'm up here in Irvine.  But that's ok!  I'm happy, and just feel so at peace with where I am at!  So at the conference, we took pictures and were able to talk to everyone, then we had  a mini transfer meeting, and then said goodbye to the Cooks, and headed home.   (We got there at 1 and we were there until 7) took us an hour to get home, then we were starving (thank goodness for peacheos and pringles from your package!!)   haha!  :)  Anyway, it was a good day, and a weird one.

  

So, I'm now in the Irvine Mission.  Which means you'll need to change my info on my blog about my address.  Which is correct.  The mail goes to the mission office, which is at the Stake Center.   So, it is correct!  And I'm not sure how mail will work yet, but for now, just send it there... and hopefully I'll get it! I'll let you know next week though!   But, I should be getting mail...either tomorrow or Thursday.

Tomorrow Sis. Drinkwater will meet our new Mission President cause she is a Sister Training Leader, and then on Thursday (for the 4th) we are having a mission conference so that we can meet the new president, and just...I'm not sure, guess we will see!  And then we'll be having a bbq with a member family, who are super fun!  :) So that will be good, though, it will be weird, cause it is my first 4th away from home.   My guess is that it won't feel too much like the holiday, but I guess we will see!! :)  I can't wait to hear all about what you guys do!! :)

Ok, so like I said this week has been kind of a weird one.    We taught Allen, who is a Greek man, at a pizza place.   And the owner (who we were referred too) she is really nice, but her husband kept interrupting our lesson, and it was just really interesting, but we were able to share the first vision, and Allen seemed to like the message we shared, so I'll keep you posted on him!   We also have been teaching Rich a lot.  He still isn't quite progressing, but he has had some pretty Spiritual experiences in the past little bit, and he loves the way that Sister Drinkwater and I teach together, so we are getting close with him.  HE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY!!! And not only that, but he invited his daughter to come, and this lady that used to work for him, and his daughter came as well!!  It was a miracle!  Also, we actually had an interesting Sunday, cause in Sacrament only converts spoke, about their conversion, and then during Priesthood/RS we helped teach a little bit and introduce the "missionary ladder" (which will be in your package that I am sending home today) so that you can see what that is all about.  But, that was fun....and good!  And the ward really is beginning to trust us as missionaries, and to be honest, I don’t think that this ward has in a long time.  But, things are progressing, and that is a miracle!   Also, Brenda came to church and she said that she felt love.  Which was just great!! :)   

So, we have been starting to teach the youth in our ward, and we have had some powerful experiences so far, and it has been truly wonderful!  I love the youth, and I am glad that we are working with them, helping them gain their own testimonies so that they can be stronger in the gospel!

So, we had a few miracles this week, and also a few moments where we wonder what the heck is going on (yeah, we were marriage counselors this week, that is something I've never done before) But, well, when we have the Spirit, we teach with God's power, and truly, the gospel is the thing that is going to help people the most.  So, that is what we shared :)

So, I hope that this week is good!!!  I love you all, and I miss you like crazy, but things are going good! And I am just loving San Clemente! :)    

Happy Birthday Kenna (for next week) since you will be at camp when I email, but I'm sending you some things! :)  

   

And I hope that all things are going good, and I can't wait to hear from you again!! :)

I love you!!!

Love, 

Sister Taylor Burningham