Saturday, April 26, 2014

Valentine's Day & Fire Alarms


Hello Family! :)                                                                                                      February 18, 2014

This week was a WEIRD one!  But, I blame it on being week six of the transfer, cause week six always seems to be a little off.  And I hope I remember some of the things we did seeing as I have a new planner, so I can't look through last week, cause it is at my apartment.   Anyway, things are going good!  Oh, and before I tell you about my week, I should tell you what is going on!  So, I get to stay in Laguna!!  I'm really excited about that! :)  And I will also be training!  So in just a few hours I'll go pick up my new companion who was in Utah this morning! :) So that should be really exciting, and a brand new adventure! :)  But, I will be sad to see Sister Morgan leave, she has been a great companion!  But, I’ll still get to see Sister Hedrick since we will still be living in the same apartment, but it will be nice to only be over just one ward again! :) Covering 2 has been CRAZY!

This week we went on a lot of splits, so me and Sister Morgan would stay together, and then Sister Hedrick would go with a member in her ward so that we could do things in both areas, we did that Monday, Wednesday and Thursday night!   So that was good and beneficial!   We were also able to see a less active lady this week that we haven't seen since me and Sister Morgan got to Laguna beach, so that was great! 

We also had our usual choir practice on Thursday, which by the way, was just kinda a weird day cause I cannot believe that I have been a missionary for a year!  That is just so crazy to me, it has in many ways gone by so fast, especially this past week, every morning I would wake up and be like, "wow, how is it already Wednesday? Or Friday or Sunday?”  The days are starting to fly!   Which is just crazy, but I am really excited that I'll get to train for the next 2 transfers, because I get to go back to the basics and just continue to become a better missionary!  I am really excited because when I trained before, I felt like I was the best missionary that I have been so far, and I really felt the Spirit a lot more, so those are just bonuses, even though it isn't always easy, there will be so much for me to learn! I am really excited about that! :) 

Let’s see, our Valentines Day was...really weird.  We did our weekly planning, and then I had a meeting, and while we were at the church, the fire alarm went off, which was super weird cause there was no one else in the building except for us, and so we all went outside, and after like 3 minutes the fire alarm stopped, but firemen still came, and asked us how we turned it off, but we hadn't touched it... so that was weird! And I guess we are just really good at setting the fire alarm off on the Holidays ;)   We had dinner with this really nice lady in our ward, and then we were supposed to give a treat to one of the young women in our ward, but couldn't find her house, and there were SO MANY people in Laguna Beach, it was crazy!  But no one wanted to talk to us (well, they were all on dates, so it is understandable, but it was no fun for us!)   So, at the end of the night we went home and well, I think there are just some days when, as a missionary you wish that there weren't holidays, so that people would be more receptive all the time, but that's ok. I'm glad that we still have holidays, and I'm glad that Valentines Day is over.   haha!

Lets see...I honestly really can't remember much of last week, which is sad, but we've just been trying to get Sister Morgan packed and still trying to help my brain be ready for the fact that I'm getting a brand new missionary!   In like 6 hours, so ya, I should keep prepping my brain for that! :) Well, it sounds like this week should be a fun one!  Good luck at the competition Kenna! I am sure you will do great! :)  

Haha, oh Ronnie, Ronnie is great, in fact she is trying to call me right now, but she won’t tell me why...but, we don't have much time at the library today, so will call her back soon, but yea, she is in Utah right now!  But, she is doing good! 

Also, we are still teaching Ethan and Giselle, and they are still super solid!!  Just trying to get permission from their dad, but yesterday we were at their house and Ethan was asking us questions about being a missionary, and talking about where he would like to go, and he is 12!  And not even baptized yet, but they are stellar! :)  I hope that they will be able to be baptized soon!!!

This week should be a good but interesting one for us.  Because over half of our ward is in Utah because they have the week off for "ski week" which is a pretty silly week to have off...plus they still get spring break in a few months, so that is just crazy, but we'll just be talking to lots and lots of people!  Should be really fun! :)  But, Laguna Beach is great!   I get to see the ocean everyday!  But the work here is really moving!   It is one of the highest baptizing areas in our mission!  So that is fun! Our Bishop is just on fire, and he is just so focused on missionary work, so that is great!  The members are really awesome, the youth are stellar!  A lot of our baptisms come from the youth, just because they are such good examples and really friendly with everyone at the high school!  So, the work here is really great, it has been slow the past few weeks for us because we haven't been able to put all of our focus towards it, since we've been covering two wards, so it will be good again when we can just focus on our ward and area! :)  

Miracles are going to happen!  I can just feel it! It will take a lot of hard work, but Good things are coming! :)  So, things are looking bright! :)   And I am really excited for this next transfer!   It will simply be great! :) 

I realized this week, once again, how blessed I am to have this gospel in my life, to have been born into it! :)   It is so great, and the greatest part is that it is Christ's original church!  And that it has been brought back, all because God loves us and wants us to return to Him! It is so great!  It is just such a blessing to have the gospel!   I love it!  It is so great!!!!! :)    So, keep living it, keep doing good things! And have a GREAT week!!!!

I love you!!!

Love,

Sister Taylor Burningham


By the way, this is where Ronnie was when she was trying to call