Week two has been fantastic!

This week has been a bit bittersweet because one of the other districts in our zone left this week, and we all got really close with them. But that's ok I have all of their emails so I can keep in touch!

Apparently the MTC is supposed to be the most stressful place in the world according to a member of my branch presidency. The funny thing is that I have been stressed only minimally. If I get stressed it only lasts for about 30 minutes, and I am fine again. Everyone in my district has had moments of doubt and being extremely stressed, so I feel really blessed right now. I was told that if I can handle it here without being stressed, I can get through anything.

Spanish is coming along great! I am pretty sure I can say about as much in Spanish now as I ever could in French so that's funny! Anyways the gift of tongues is real and I feel like I am learning and catching on so fast! I feel so blessed!

One cool experience this week was when Elder Nash of the 70 came to speak at our devotional last night which was really inspiring, although we were all a bit disappointed because all of the Quorum of the 12 apostles are supposed to be here this week to train the new mission presidents, and so we were hoping one of them would speak. Anyways it was still great! 

Something I learned was:

Gods loves all his children and so you should help bring them to Him through Christ. I want to put my all into my mission, because I don't know if I returned to Him today that I would be satisfied with all the work I have done. I want to give my all to Him, it's only a 1 ½ years of my life, and I chose to be here so why not give my all to Christ who has given me more than I could ever give back.  Especially, the opportunity to be with my family for forever. I want others to know what I know and be able to have the same hope and opportunities I have. Although there may be moments on my mission when I am totally exhausted and feel like I can't go on, it'll all be worth it because of what is in store for me. I was foreordained to be here and do this work so I need to give it my all.

Also a lot of his talk focused on teaching the Plan of Salvation which was perfect because we have been working on teaching that to one of our investigators. Anyways what really hit me was that if we don't teach the Plan of Salvation the people we are trying to teach won't have a reason for wanting to change. I was struggling with teaching our lesson on that earlier in the day and knowing what to say, however this really helped me put it into perspective.

Then finally he quoted from some general authority that I can't remember who it was, but he said that when God asked who would be the Savior of the world and Jesus stepped forward and said "Here am I, send me" that never had such few words had such a grand meaning, and that in that moment Jesus probably knew all that was expected of Him. He did it willingly. This also applies to me as a missionary because in a way I am telling God, "Here am I, Send me." I am consecrating 1 1/2 years of my life to him and I know that in moments it will be hard, but this is what I want to do and I can't imagine myself anywhere else.

Thanks for all the letters and emails. 

I love you all! I hope you are doing well!

Love,

Hermana Burgoyne

First Week in the MTC

Hola!

I am doing fantastic, I absolutely love the MTC! There is no place I'd rather be right now! Anyways last week was good. I love my district and zone so much! Basically we start off the day waking up around 6 or 6:30 and get ready for personal study at 7. We do that for about an hour and go to get breakfast in the cafeteria. Afterwards, we go to the gym and work out for a while. I usually run for about a mile and then go and play volleyball with Hermana Rasmussen. Sometimes we even go out to the field between the MTC and the temple and play volleyball with all of the elders in our zone at the sand pit. Then we go to class for 3 hours, eat lunch, go back to class for another 3 hours, eat dinner, and then back to class until 9:30 when we get ready for bed. We always get together with the sisters from the other district in our zone to sing a hymn in Spanish before bed. We go to sleep by 10:30. Our schedule changes every day but that's generally what it is. 

This morning we got to go to the temple with our zone so that was fun!

Spanish is going great! It's amazing how real the gift of tongues is here. I never go one day without feeling its influence. Knowing French is helping too, because there are lots of similarities between the two, however sometimes knowing French confuses me more. Usually we spend about an hour of our own study time studying the language, and then a full class time where the teacher teaches us a bit and speaks to us in Spanish the whole time.  About 4 hours is spent focused on learning Spanish each day.

The third day here we started teaching a progressing "investigator" named Ullyses. It's really hard teaching the gospel in a language I don't know very well, however it's getting there. I know how to say prayers and share a simple testimony. Also I can pull up some sentences if I think about it a lot and take it slowly. Teaching is fun though! Hermana Rasmussen and I always seem to be on the same page about what topics we feel like we should teach, which I guess is a sign we're doing something right. Sometimes it's been hard to feel the spirit in our lessons though, since I can't communicate all I want to.  However, last lesson with Ullyses went fantastic, and we got him to pray with us! Even though he's not an actual investigator, it was still amazing and we felt the spirit very strong! I even got out a few sentences without relying on my notes!

We also started teaching a really sweet lady named Maribel who I think we will be teaching most of our time here. For some reason when I went in with Hermana Rasmussen to teach her I totally forgot all of the Spanish that I do know so it was really difficult for me. Luckily Hermana Rasmussen is pretty much fluent in Spanish, so I can rely on her to speak if I can't. Even though I didn't do much teaching yesterday we did manage to sing “I am a child of God” for her and the spirit was very strong there. Then when Hermana Rasmussen asked me to say a closing prayer somehow all of the words that I needed came to my mind! It was really neat! Maribel even complimented me on how well it went after we were done teaching! 

Hermana Rasmussen is amazing! She has such a strong testimony and has helped me so much with my Spanish! She's from somewhere in Wyoming so she's in the same temple district and mission as Grandpa and Grandma Allen. She is also almost exactly a year older than me.  She has some health problems, so we have spent some time at the doctor’s office. It's teaching me a lot about patience though! I sometimes get really frustrated, because I end up missing classes and study time that I really need. I probably know the least amount of Spanish in our district, but I am learning to be patient and not stress about it all. I know as long as I am trying my best that the language will come even if I don't learn all that I need to until I am out in the field. It's surprising to me how relaxed I am. I feel totally happy! ( That doesn't mean I don't miss you all because I do a lot, I guess I am just not letting it bring me down because I know this is what I need to do right now.) Also she knows Eric Barker (the Chipman’s cousin).

I have also gained a testimony of how God puts us in certain places for a reason. I may not know why I was chosen to be Hermana Rasmussen’s companion to help her through this, but I guess that's where God thought I fit best. I also love the other sisters in my zone. They're all so sweet and we've grown so close in just this little amount of time! It's really sad though, because we will have to say goodbye to half of them next week. However we are also getting another district into our zone today! Oh also it's funny because one of my zone leaders is named Elder Whittier, and so I asked him if he was related to Elder Whittier from our ward at home. Turns out he's not, but he grew up in Castle Rock and is friends with Landon Bellum, so we have a lot to talk about.

Anyways one thing I learned this week about the spirit I think is found in D&C 50.  It teaches how when you feel the spirit your investigator will most likely too. This means that when we go into a lesson to teach, we should seek to have the spirit with us beforehand so that it's more likely for them to feel it. We need to have all of the qualities listed in Galatian 5:22-23. If we already have the spirit it will be easier for us to help the investigator feel it and gain a testimony of gospel principles!

Anyways I love you all! I hope you’re doing well!

Love,

Hermana Burgoyne

1st day in the MTC

Hi!! So I get to email you since it's P-day. Anyways my flight was good, I wish I could have slept but for some reason I was struggling with that. I ended up waiting for the plane with Elder Hamilton, and he helped me put my bag up in the compartment just like President Walker told him he should. Then Kels and Em Po (these are her good friends from BYU) were there as soon as I got off and down to baggage claim. It was funny because I went down the escalator and was so busy trying to figure out what baggage claim I was supposed to go to that I didn't notice them standing there laughing at me and jumping up and down all excited about seeing me. Then I finally looked over at them and did a double take. I was super excited to see them!

The MTC is great! I'm actually so excited to be here and it's a lot better than I thought so far. I wasn't all to nervous though. I keep seeing people from my ward at BYU so that's fun. I wasn't even in for 5 minutes and I ran into my friend Elder Sosa. It was really exciting to see him. I also saw my friend Sister Whatcott who I ran with over summer term, my friend Jenna's boyfriend, Elder Combs and a few other people. I also keep running into Elder Hamilton. My companion is Hermana Rasmussen. She's really sweet, I think we're going to get along great! She's from Wyoming and going to serve here in Provo. Today we were basically talked to in all Spanish by out teachers which was rough. But not too bad they're pretty nice about it. I also got to listen to a devotional from the Mtc presidency, then a huge group of us went and took turns teaching "investigators." Anyways I am out of time so I better go! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Burgoyne

sarah.burgoyne@myldsmail.net

Sister Sarah Elizabeth Burgoyne

JUL20 AZ-TUC

2009 N. 900 E. Unit 191

Provo, Utah 84602

About Me

Hi! I'm a 19 year old from Highlands Ranch, Colorado. I attend BYU in Provo, Utah. Currently I'm taking 18 months off of school to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I will be serving in Tucson, Arizona spanish speaking mission. I'm excited to share the joy that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings into my life with the people of Tucson and with those who read my blog! I hope it brings as much joy to you as it brings to me. Only 36 more hours until I leave for the Provo mtc and begin my journey! I'm just slightly freaking out!
In case you would like to write me while I'm on my mission you can email me at: sarah.burgoyne@myldsmail.net
or send me a letter to my mission home address:
Arizona Tucson Mission
939 W Chapala Dr.
Tucson, AZ 85704-4516

My apartment address is currently:
190 W. Valencia Rd. #C231
Tucson, Arizona 85706
I hope to hear from you!
Read more about me at:
http://www.mormon.org/me/H9GD