"Changing Lives"

This week was so great.

We had 7 people committed to come to church and how many went. Zero. ZERO people went! Well, out of the investigators. Hahaha but it was awful. When I can't go to church because of pink eye, all the investigators go. When I don't have pink eye, no one goes. Maybe I should just get sick again..... 

No but the people we are teaching are changing their lives completely. It's really a miracle some of these changes and it just helpes me to see that the Lord does things in His own time. All of my people can and want to be baptized, but there are some very big changes that they are doing in order to be baptized. But the Lord has a plan for every one of them and things will work out. I know it will. 

This week we found some amazing people. First we found Miguel. He is 18 and is from Bolivia. We actually contacted him clear back in July, but finally decided to pass by his house. He only has only been in Chile 4 months and lives with his sister and brother in law. Right before he came to Chile, his mom passed away from Cancer. It was sad when he told us but he said that he feels like his mom is still with him. That is for sure Miguel! I could literally feel her presence when we taught him that day the Plan of Salvation. It is amazing. He is so good and has such a desire to learn the gospel. 

We also found Lily and her boyfriend Sergio. Hermana Anuncicaco contacted them clear back in June and we finally got in with them this week. They have 2 cute kids that come to my English class all the time. And they are SUPER FUNNY! I love teaching them and they really want to join the right church and raise their kids in the gospel. They are great too and want to change for the better. 

 

We really have some awesome people, but people that need to change some things first. And lots of them are doing it! Katherin for example, left her boyfriend of 5 years so that she can join the church. That leaves her in a hard situation but she loves the decision she has made. It really is a miracle. LOVE THIS WORK! Love being a missionary and love planting seeds :) 

 

Hermana Burnham

"Yes! There is a bat just chillin' outside our church in Santa Juana!"

"Lunch with Hermana Jocelyn. She is the branch President's wife."

"Eating nalca with Hermano Jorge! It's like a weird tree thing that you eat with salt. You can't wash it because it takes away the flavor. It's pretty good."

"Hermana Matias! Love this girl!"

"Hermana Jakob from Canada"

"Three zone activity"

"My zone from San Pedro! WOOOO!!!!!"

"Hermana Mendoza"

"Elder Snyder. We are parasite friends!"

 

 

 

"Sacrifices"

Well, long story short. I have conjunctivitis, or in other words, pink eye. Yes! PINK EYE! I sure got super annoyed on Saturday and thought, gosh. Why do I always have to be sick in my mission? I think it's just a way for Satan to stop the work. But he won't get to me!

So we couldn't go to church yesterday because of my pink eye, but we did have Moira who went! She is a new investigator that is awesome! She is 19 and lives alone with her little daughter. Moira is super funny and awesome!  I loved teaching her! I can see that she is going to be a member in the church! :) 

Katherin didn't go to church yesterday and I think it's because we weren't there, so we are going to work with her more on that this week. She is too good, but has given up a lot in her life to join the church. The sacfrices other people make for the gospel still amazes me. 

I sure love being a missionary, even when I am super sick and super tired. I love it! Hahaha and I know that the mission goes by way too fast, so I gotta enjoy it! ) Thanks for all the love and support! 

Hermana Burnham

 

"Hanging out with Julieta" :)

"Where we write on P-day"

"Happy Birthday Hannah....sorry I am late!"

"ICE CREAM!!!!!"

"Doing a disco grill. Super good."

"Coco wanted my food."

"Hermano Jorge as a youngin'!"

"Oh hey....let me just park my oxen out front!!" :)

"CHORILLANA! The best Chileno dish ever!"

"Family Home Evening got crazy with drawing on faces!"

"18 activities....in other words, Meat! Meat! Meat!"

"Dancing the Queca"

"Taking in the beautiful scenery of Santa Juana"

"Walking to the lake with Katherin" :) :) :)

"The reason we all get fat the week of September 18th. ALFAJORES!"

 

Letters!!

Here are Hermana Burnham's last 2 letters.......and an extra letting us know she is ok from the earthquake.


So let me start with the beginning. I HAVE LICE. Yes. That really did just happen. It's awful. Our investigator, Katherin, her kids have it so now I HAVE it. It's awful and I feel like a little monkey when my companion has to dig through my hair to take out these little creatures. So I will be buying a $20 shampoo this week. Yay!

And fleas. I broke out in FLEAS again this week. Tons of them! All over my legs, arms, hands, chest, back. Me and Hermana Anunciaco. We are flea infested human beings. Hahahahaha! 

Anddddd I HAD MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE. I may or may not have freaked out a little. It was a 4 and happened at 11am on Thursday. I was with Hermana Arce in an intercambio when the house just startd shaking. It was perfect timing. We were talking about some deep doctrine, then I said, "Okay there's a part here in the Bible that is super deep and it says...." Then, the earthquake passed. I stared at Hermana Arce and she stared at me and said, "temblor". Which is earthquake. She is from Costa Rica and has her bachelors in Archeaology, so she literally studies earthquakes. Hahaha! I jumped up and ran to underneath the door and she looked at me like I was crazy. It only lasted about 10 seconds. Maybe less. But ya! That was super fun! 

Yesterday I got super upset. We had no investigators in the church! None. We are working super hard, challenging people to be baptized every lesson, teaching, having a little bit more members to be with us in the day, and other things. Why is it so hard to get people to church? Then after weekly planning, which was basically us being upset and sad, we got in with the most amazing family ever. Natalia and her sweet 4 kids. She is Katherin's neighbor and actually, Katherin told her that she should listen to us too. That we have a great message to share. We taught her and her 4 kids. Natalia and her 2 oldest accepted to be baptized on October 2nd! 

The mission truly is awesome :) I love it even when it gets rough. But I know its the work of the Lord! 

Con amor,

Hermana Burnham

 

So if there is something that I have learned this week, is to be a GOOD member in church when there are non members there! It's not necessary to talk about deep gospel, but the basics. Because if you talk about deep gospel, the investigator will get scared and be super confused. So be simple people! 

Another thing I have learned, is the importance of paying your tithing. Yesterday in Gospel Principles, we had a lesson on tithing and fasting. These 2 things are so important. 

WHY WE PAY TITHING

Did you know that tithing was a law in the old testament? YES! It's in Malaquias 8:10 (sorry I forgot how to write these names in English!). So it's nothing new. For tithing, we pay 10% of our income. Actually, in Spanish the word for tithing is diezmo and the word for ten is diez. So... diezmo. Hahaha cool huh? But, we need to pay 10% of everything that we make. It doesn't matter if we make very little, what matters is that we pay. God isn't going to look at our tithing and say, "You sure didn't pay that much.". No. He is going to see if we were honest and paid the 10%. Imagine if everyone stopped paying tithing right now. We wouldn't have light or water in our buildings. We wouldn't have houses for missionaries. We wouldn't have books. We wouldn't be able to build more temples. Every persons tithing is important! Everyones.  I hope you all pay an honest tithing. It's hard, and I know it's not ever going to be super easy, but it's worth it. 

Sorry for the short letter today, but I hope it helped someone in some way :) Thanks for the love and support!!

Hermana Burnham

 

Hey familia! Okay so I am not a rebel, but we were asked to write home to our families today to let them know that we are okay.

Yesterday an earthquake passed for a big part of Chile, Bolivia, and Uruguay. We for sure felt the earthquake at about 8pm but it wasn't that strong and we were in the house where we have church. Then another little earthquake passed right after. But it was super calm! Then in the night at about 10:30 our district leader called and told us to go to our church for emergencies, which is in Concepcion! That's about an hour away. It was quite a scary phone call to say the least because this elder was breathing so hard because he is in an area right on the coast and there were tsunami warnings. So it was a bit scary to say the least. So me and Hermana Anunciacao jumped up and put together super fast an emergency kit with food and clothes ready to leave to Concepcion. Then we called Hermana Bluth to just make sure and she told us not to leave because the drive to Concepcion from Santa Juana is SUPER dangerous in an earthquake. So we just went to bed. Honestly, we didn't sleep at all but all it's okay!!! I am fine and actually it made me realize just how much the Church is true. Yesterday we had zone conference and Hermana and Presidente Bluth felt very inspired to teach us what we need to do in emergencies. Especially earthquakes and tsunamis. So all yesterday we talked about what we need to do in emergencies, and then in the night, one happened. 

Honestly, my mind is traveling a thousand miles an hour right now, but I know that this church is true. That Hermana and Presidente Bluth followed that little prompting that helped other missionaries be safe. Some slept in the church last night. And that the Lord always has us build the church's that are safe during natural disasters. All is well, and I know that all will continue to be well.

So dont worry, all is well with me :) 

Hermana Burnham