Monday, September 24, 2012

Study and Keep the Faith

It was really good to hear some names and experiences from the mission, Mom. In fact there is a Villalobos family here in Mt. Olive that is inactive. I am pretty sure they are from Mexico though. Who knows they could be related. I'll have to ask if they have any family in Chile. For some reason when I picture you as a missionary having those experiences you were talking about I just see and remember the things that Brianne did. In fact I can see it right now, young Sister Brianne Burnham going with the young women to tract. I am very blessed to have so many missionaries in my family. I honestly can say that I wish you had shared more of those real action missionary experiences that you had. Sure it is always super amazing to hear what Dad did in Bolivia and how crazy it got, but now that I'm a southerner and I know how real missionary work is, it would have been good to hear those stories you have.
Also I don't know what got you on to the path of my future wife and stuff like that, but I still have time for that remember. Girls have cooties and I am to keep a good distance from those things. it is fun to hear your real thoughts on things though. It is also kind of strange to see how you talk about things to me as I get older. I have a feeling that near the end of my mission you are going to be super trunky. :) We'll see. I love you. 
Okay so this week has been the roughest week on my mission. Literally every single appointment we set up fell through. We had about 10 lessons lined up this week and sure some weren't as solid as others, but even the ones we were certain were progressing canceled. I can't tell you why. It has been the most frustrating week ever. We did gain quite a bit of member trust through dinner appointments because those were the only appointments that didn't fall through, but that was it. All I know is that my studies and work this next week is going to be doubled because I can't stand investigators that don't keep commitments. Also a happy missionary is a missionary that teaches, and because everything fell through I didn't get to teach, therefore I wasn't happy. I am slowly starting to build faith in the principle of dropping. It was hard at the start of my mission, but I have to realize that if I can have the faith to sacrifice something then the Lord will bless me. So in this case if I can have the faith to drop an investigator that doesn't want to progress than the Lord will guide me to someone who is being prepared. Also I had to learn that sometimes dropping an investigator can help them out for the future. I just have to have more faith I guess is the lesson I learned this week. This may be the last week for me in Mt. Olive, but I am going to go out with a bang if it is. 
Well I love you all very much and I wish I had more to tell you, but it was a rough week so not much happened. I was super thrilled when Aunt Laurie sent a package with goodies in it. That definitely made the week a little easier. Also I hear she has a man. What the...!? Things are changing and it is really fun to see. I love being a missionary. I don't know that I have her email address, but I know you send this to her so I hope she knows I love her and I'll do my best to snail mail her when I can.
Hey this Sunday I saw a baptist church sign with this on it, CH_ _ RH, what is missing? U R. Get it? :) These southerners sure are clever.
Well thanks for everything. Keep the love coming.
Con Amor,
Elder Burnham

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