2 Baptism Dates

This week has been pretty good! Last week I think I told you about Nicole and Jose (that man who contacted us outside our apartment and then came to church the next day with his fiancee).  Well we had another couple of appointments with Nicole. They went super well! She is super interested and has been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon. We had to pass her off to English though because she doesn't speak any Spanish. At our pass off lesson the elders set a baptism date with her for June 4th!

Another miracle that happened this week is that for the past 8 months the sisters who have served here have been trying to get the new address of some less active recent converts in our area. So Hermana Parker and I had been knocking around the apartment complex where we know they live searching for them. Finally, on Tuesday we went out to a lesson with the Laurel’s president in our ward and found out that one of the other young women have their address! So we were able to go and visit with Mia this past week, and she even came to church on Sunday with another less active member Hermana Bustamante and her daughter Valeria! It was awesome!

Wednesday was pretty great too, because we had a lesson with Julie and set a baptism date with her for the 11th of June! She is progressing super well! It was funny because I asked her if she would want to be baptized, and she's like of course! That's the whole reason I had you guys come over to begin with!! It was funny!  She had read almost 40 pages of the Book of Mormon by our second visit with her which was pretty awesome! Also her boyfriend set it up so that we would be able to start visiting her more than once a week, which is awesome. She's super sweet and doing so well!

Saturday Hermana Parker and I went on exchanges with the Sahaurita sisters. It was fun. The girl I was with just started her mission about a month ago which was different for me. I had fun though. She's an English sister, so I got to teach her a little Spanish. We also went to a ward party for Mother’s day that day, and all of the members were trying to talk to her in English so that she would be able to understand. Although she had a hard time with the Spanish she's a pretty awesome missionary. We had a few really good lessons that day with people we usually struggle with teaching.

Then Sunday we obviously skyped home! I was so happy to get to see all of you! I wish we could have talked for longer though! That day was also Elder Pernod's birthday so we made him a cake and celebrated at the church while the other elders we skyping! Besides that not much else had happened this week :)

Something that had really stuck out to me this week while studying a worldwide devotional talk called "The Truth Restored" about Joseph Smith and the first vision is how it mentions in many of the accounts how when Christ spoke to him not only did He tell him not to join any of the churches, but I thought was cool that He forgave him of all of his sins. It mentioned also that the reason he was searching for which church was true was because he wanted to receive that forgiveness that only the full Atonement of Jesus Christ can give us. He was seeking freedom from the guilt and pain that comes from sin. I know that when we act in faith like him and ask of God we will be able to find that peace that comes with repentance. I especially love how after he was forgiven he felt so much joy and peace. I too have felt joy and peace in my life as I strive to come unto Christ and change my life. That's why He gives us His gospel. That's why He restored His true church once again to the earth through Joseph Smith, so that through Christ each of us may be saved from our mistakes and return to live with Him, Heavenly Father, and our families forever.

I love you so much and hope you have an amazing week!

Con amor,

Hermana Burgoyne

A Visit from Elder Holland

Hi!

Elder Holland was amazing! It was so cool to get to meet him in person. He has such a funny personality. I really love how he's so amazing at showing his love for everyone, but getting right up into your face and teaching you. He taught us about the Atonement and how the part of the atonement that enables us is the gift of the Holy Ghost and the priesthood. It was really cool too, because he answered a lot of questions that I had and helped me understand things I didn't understand before. He also taught us a lot about being an example to those around you, and how we have one of the heaviest callings in the world, because we are saving souls and there is nothing more important than the worth of a soul. Something that I really liked about the atonement is how he mentioned that the Savior is both our Advocate and our Judge. He taught about how that is what makes everything fair, because he was willing to follow Heavenly Father exactly and demand justice, but through Him we are able to receive mercy and freedom. It explains a little more about that in Mosiah 13:34-35.

Anyways that was super cool! That night we also had two really awesome lessons! Right after the conference we got in our studies, and we headed to the church with the elders to clean so that we could do a church tour with Liz. It ended up going super awesome! We took her around and then ended in the chapel talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really cool, because by the end of it she decided for herself that she wanted to go to church. I also thought it was cool, because we ended up teaching her a lot about the things that we learned during our mission conference with Elder Holland and Elder Robbins. The spirit was super strong!

Then after that we had a lesson with our new investigator Julie! She is awesome and totally ready to learn! Also it helps because her boyfriend is super excited, and loves helping teach her. They had already watched the Restoration video together before we had got there! We are going to set a baptism date with her on Wednesday :)

Oh Tuesday I got to go back to El Rio on exchanges with Hermana Child and Kerr while Hermana Parker was in a meeting. It was cool because we got to go back and visit Diana Cruz who is one of the people Hermana Flake and I helped reactivate while I was there! She is super active now still which is awesome! Also turns out they are starting to teach Juana again (the super solid investigator what Hermana flake and I were teaching) I hope she progresses well. 

The whole weekend was pretty busy! We had a primary activity that we got to help out with one day and the next was the Relief Society anniversary party ( just imagine a bunch of grown women running around and screaming in Spanish in dresses while we did a mini Olympics haha) we felt a little out of place, but it was fun! It was also cool because right when we were leaving for the party this man named Jose came up to us and asked us about our church. He really wants to turn around his life, so we invited him to church and set an appointment with him thinking nothing of it.  Then the next day at church at the end of sacrament meeting he walked in and sat down with his fiancée! It was super cool because most people don't actually come when they say they will! Sunday was also a miracle because one less active who we haven't been able to get in contact with who was almost reactivated a month ago finally came back to church, then Hermana Bustamante ( this really sweet lady in our ward) came to church with her cute 3 yet old daughter Abril, and like always Ana and her boyfriend came! So it was a good Sunday!

I hope you are having a good week! I love you a lot! Let me know if I can do anything for you!

Love,  Hermana Burgoyne

I Love to See the Temple

This week was fun! Tuesday was awesome, because we got to go to the temple! Usually when we go up the elders all ride in the transfer van which fits 12 people in it and then there is a car or two of sisters.  This time the zone leaders decided to mix it up so that we would be with people that we were less likely to talk to, so we could feel the spirit. It was good. Hermana Parker and I ended up taking a car up with 3 of the elders in our zone. We had a good time. One of them is a professional cellist and put out a cello album that he used to pay for most his mission. We listened to it on the way up. The temple was awesome as always. Since we were separated from everyone else we ended up waiting until after the session to go get lunch, so instead we got to go do initiatories. Later that night we went back and had a lesson with a less active member who just moved into our ward who wants to be reactivated!

Wednesday we had district meeting and all went out to lunch together. There's this restaurant in our area that is owned by a member who gives us all half off every time we go. Then we had a lesson with Ana. We talked to her about temples and family history. She was so excited about it! This week we are going to go to the family history center to help her work on hers!

Then Thursday was really fun! I got to go on exchanges with another Hermana down in Nogales. It was cool finally getting out of Tucson for a day! I like it down there a lot. It's actually green and it's super hilly. Also it's right on the border, so you can see the wall and everything. Hermana Lund and I visited a few people, and she introduced me to this lady named Grandma Duke. She's super sweet and has an English accent. It was cool finally meeting her, because she's talked about a lot by other missionaries. She was super sweet and gave us ice cream, soda, and then paid for us to go get lunch! Then we tried to visit a few other people, but ended up going to a member’s house and cleaning for them. They gave us homemade bread and honey.  It was super good! It was a really fun exchange :)

Then on Friday I ended up getting a bit of a cold, so we ended up staying at home for most the day, but I was fine by Saturday! 

Saturday, Hermana Parker and I decided that right before the Elder’s baptism we were going to go out and knock and invite someone to the baptism. So about an hour before it we chose a street and just started inviting people. I don't know why, but for some reason I was super nervous, but it ended up being a really cool experience! We found 3 potential investigators in 30 min and one actually wanted to go, but couldn't because she couldn't drive herself. Then we tried pretty much everyone that we knew, but no one was home, so that was a little rough.  We even knocked for a while and no one answered! But we kept on trying, and finally we decided to go home and reevaluate everything. So we changed our plan and right when we were leaving to go try two less actives I waved at this man, and he pretty much contacted me! Turns out he had gone to church before in Nogales and really liked it. He asked for some information, and then we got his address so we can try him his week!

Then Sunday we had a huge miracle! So there's this family in the ward who has 3 sons. One of the sons is already a member and has a girlfriend named Julie that comes to church with him every week.  One of the sons was the one who got baptized on Saturday, and then the other is still learning about the gospel. Anyways I didn't really know them too well before this week, although I've been here for almost 4 months now. Anyways the first Sunday I got to this ward the elders came up to me and told me that I should go ask Julie if she would be interested in taking the lessons with us, so I tried to talk to her, but she didn't seem super friendly so I kind of gave up. Then at church yesterday one of their family friends who was visiting came up to me in the middle of sacrament meeting and told us that we should try teaching Julie, because she's never taken the lessons before, but she is always at church. She also told me that Julie is super shy which explains why she was scared talking to us. So I told Hermana Parker, and we decided we were going to talk to her. Anyways we got to know her boyfriend and his family a bit during gospel principles and at the end we asked her boyfriend if he thought she would be interested in learning more. He got so excited about it and told us he would ask her and let us know. Anyways he asked her, and she said yes! We ended up setting up an appointment for next Wednesday! We are super excited, because she seems super solid and ready to learn! Also I've been praying for a miracle like this for weeks and here it is!

Anyways something that I noticed this week is how important the temples are. It was kind of crazy, because I felt like every single thing we taught related back to the temples and how we can be with our families forever. I feel like my mission has really taught me how sacred temples are. They are truly a place of peace. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful family, and that because we have temples I can be sealed to those I love forever. I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father's love and for the Atonement of Jesus Christ that makes it all possible. I know as we strive to become like them we will be blessed and worthy to receive all the blessings that have waiting for us. I hope you have a good week! I love you lots!

Love,

Hermana Burgoyne