Christmas Eve Miracle

Christmas was really good! For lunch we had tamales and a lot of really spicy beans and chicken. We spent the rest of the day visiting families in our ward.   This week is Hermana Dominguez last week so we are going to work really hard.   Then hopefully Friday, I am going to know if I'm staying here or if they are shutting down our area.

I'm kind of happy to be done with all the holiday stuff from last week.  It was getting a little crazy and busy. We had a lot of lessons though, so that was fun! I also got to help Hermana Dominguez dye and highlight a lady in our wards hair for service.  She also cut her hair, but I just did dishes while she did that. All the members here are super sweet, and I kept getting random presents from people I barely even know.

I think my favorite part of last week was the time I got to spend thinking about our Savior and his birth. Something that really hit me is that He truly did suffer for everything we have and will go through, and the amazing thing is He went through a lot of things just so that we would be able to learn and grow. I just think it's amazing that He came to the world knowing that He would have to suffer for all of the trials that we have to go through in order to help us become more like Him. I'm just so grateful for that.

This past week we had a really cool experience. The night before Christmas Eve Hermana Dominguez and I decided we needed to visit a less active girl in our ward.  Usually we don't leave the house until 12 because of studies and lunch, but for some reason Hermana Dominguez really felt like we needed to be there at 11.  We planned to visit her and then do the rest of our studies after, then that morning we got up and started studies, and I just had a really strong impression that sometime throughout the day we would find a young man that we needed to teach. We left to go visit the less active member at 11 and when we got there her older brother answered the door and turns out the girls was just about to go to work at 12, but she had enough time for a lesson.  We were able to share a lesson on the Sabbath day with her and her brother who turns out isn't a member, but wants to learn more about the gospel! It was really amazing because God guided us to exactly where we needed to be right when we needed to!

On Sunday we had a fireside that all the missionaries put on for our ward, so of course it was on missionary work. It was a little awkward because we were trying to teach them how it's our responsibility to teach the gospel and theirs to help with the social conversion, because it's really easy to smudge that line, but it ended up being really spiritual, then we ended it with Hna. Dominguez, me and another Hermana in the ward singing the efy version of I Know that My Redeemer Lives. We had barely practiced, and I was just kinda making up an alto part to it, and it actually turned out ok! So that's a miracle!

I hope you all have a really great week! Thanks for all you do and for all the gifts! I really loved all of them.  I love you!

Love,

Hermana Burgoyne 

Merry Merry Christmas!

Hi!

I'm good! This week has been good. We've been able to find lots of new people to teach and have been dropping a lot of investigators. The problem is that we have people to teach, but none of them progress, or they stop answering so that's always fun! But it's all good! Saul is still progressing! He is really excited about learning more and just has a strong desire to know for himself if the church is true! 

This week we also had exchanges again, so I got to go visit people with Hermana Parker who is Hermana Child's comp. She's really awesome and taught me a lot about testifying right when we begin a contact. They just dropped or gave the elders all of their investigators this past week so we ended up doing some finding and found a few potentials.

On Friday we had a ward party! It was really really cool because I think there were more people at it then show up to our ward parties at home, which is amazing! The best part about it was probably that they had the primary children act out the nativity, and they had an actual sheep on stage with them! It was really funny because they had members singing these really beautiful solos during it, and all you could hear was a little black sheep bleating haha.

Saturday we did some more tracting. We actually ended up walking into a less active member from one of the English wards around here, and she let us share the Christmas message with her. It was really beautiful because after she said maybe this is a sign I need to start going back to church. 

It was also great because there aren't very many service opportunities here because most people just stay inside or work, but Hermana Domignuez prayed specifically for service opportunities, and God answered by placing about 7 different opportunities in our path. It just shows that when we pray for something good in order to help others God will provide. Then on Sunday, I decided to pray for us to find someone who was ready to be taught that would be a referral from a member. Later that night some sisters in another area texted us to tell us a member in their branch had a referral for us! Anyways God has definitely been blessing us with work here.

Yesterday, we found out how difficult it is to plan a fireside for your ward with 8 other missionaries, not very productive, luckily though in 2 weeks they will probably take out 2 sets. I'm just really grateful I only have to work things out with one companion usually rather than 9! Yesterday we also took some members out caroling with us to less actives in our ward. I think it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had! There were about 10 of us, and it was so fun! We ended up getting in contact with a less active we had never even met. It was funny because she opened up the door and she was in a bath robe and had a towel in her hair, but by the end of it her and her little boy were smiling so big! It was so beautiful to see the joy that just simple acts like bringing members with us to go caroling can bring such joy into other people's lives. Also our members helped us find a potential investigator, and they wanted to keep going all night! It's seriously too bad we have a curfew. Anyways, we ended the night by going to visit a family who was supposed to come with, but never showed up, so we just rang their door and sang and then we went into their house and made hot chocolate and ate some Mexican pastries that our mission leader had brought! It was super fun!

This week I finished the little packet our mission president gave us to study about the Savior. I think my favorite thing that I learned from it is that what God promises will be fulfilled will be. During the Savior's ministry he taught the people how he was there to fulfill the prophecies of the prophets and scriptures. I especially love how that applies to us in little ways like when we feel peace that something is going to work out or we are promised something in a blessing we receive. We need to have faith that all things will be fulfilled. I really like how it talks about that in 3rd Nephi 1 when it talks about the Nephites waiting for the signs of the Savior's birth. Sometimes it takes time, but all that God promises us will be fulfilled as long as we do our part, I'm so grateful for the Gospel and the knowledge I have that Christ did live and still does live and that He provided the way for us to come to earth, learn, grow, and to become clean from all the mistakes we've made. I know he lives and loves us! I love you! And I hope you have a very merry Christmas!

Love,

Hermana Burgoyne