You're gonna miss this

Hello hello :)

Please disregard the late hour of night of this email... We helped
with incoming missionaries today, so President said we could do them
now... No worries, I'm obedient :) we are helping tomorrow too with
outgoing missionaries. Elder Braden Lott goes home tomorrow! Crazy.
I'm starting to have good friends leave... It's sad and weird.


Momma, you're too cute. Jacob!!! You look so studly for prom!!! Tell
me all about it :) :) :) can't wait to hear.

I don't think I've ever smiled so big in MY LIFE as I did when I read
that Houston is singing in the school talent show... HOW CUTE IS
THAT!!! Please please please record that for me. You will do so good
bubba :)

Well this week was outstanding as per usual ;)

SISTER BAILEY AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!! Holla :) we couldn't be
happier. Things are going so well and glorious things are on the
horizon for this transfer.

Ethan and his older brother and DAD who is less active ALL CAME TO
CHURCH!!! It was the best day ever. I love that boy. He says he
funniest things... For example he asked me this week some question
about prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells and evolution and the plan of
salvation... Hahaha. This week we were talking about the word of
wisdom and he got all serious and asked "am I breaking God's
commandments if I...... Eat Oreos?" Completely serious. He's too cute.
Wants to be so good!!

Awesome lesson with the a part member family. The wife is a convert
and somewhat less active, but she wants her hubby to take the lessons
so we started teaching this week and yay yay yay it was such a
powerful lesson. She is SO EXCITED about him learning the gospel. It
is the cutest thing <3 do excited about them :)

Kaitlin is back!! I sure hope I've told you about her, I LOVE THIS
GIRL. She is like a cute little personality/look mix of Megan Owen and
Mitra. Cutest girl ever. We hadn't been able to teach her for over a
month, but we met with her this week and she came to church and FHE
with a member fam. I love her!!!

Insight of the week:
This week I read in Luke 10:38-42, and learned such a good lesson.
Christ comes to visit Martha and Mary. Mary sits at his feet and
listens to him while Martha goes round the house trying to straighten
everything up for her Guest. Martha asks, uhh... Shouldn't Mary be
here helping me get these things ready for You? And Christ responds
that she is busy, but Mary is actually the one who chose the good
part.

President has said before "Good opportunities are the adversary to the
best decisions."  Satan knows that he can't distract someone who is
righteous with something incredibly unrighteous. So, he sneakily gets
in by confusing us and making us busy with things that are good, but
not leaving time for the things that might be best.

This week in RS we talked kind of about this, getting caught up in the
everyday things of life and not taking the time to be grateful for the
little things. I thought of that Trace Atkins song "you're gonna miss
this" that dad always sang to me :) moments that we are having RIGHT
now we are one day going to miss. I want to soak up every single day I
live, especially hear on the mission. I don't want to get caught up in
the little details that don't matter, but live and enjoy and be
grateful for all the little moments.

So grateful for a Heavenly Father who gives us so many little moments
to be grateful for :)

Love y'all :)
Take care

Sister Burton

Happy days

Hello hello :)

Mission time is so crazy, I can't believe it was only a week ago we
were on Skype together. Looks like you had tons of fun in
Yellowstone!!! Dad, you're lookin good... Losing weight?! Holla :) I
posted a family pic on my Facebook for Mother's Day, and tons of
people in the ward have come told me how beautiful my family is... I
agree :) sure love you guys.

Can't believe jake is old enough to date... I hope he has tons of fun
at prom... Wish I was there to get him all ready (probs not as fun as
gettin girls ready for prom) and embarrassing him ;) looking forward
to pictures!!

Have fun on your mother-daughter date Ky and mom :) I would love to be
there too mom, but we will be having mom and daughter dates up the
wazoo pretty soon, can't wait :)

Tomorrow I will be out for 15 months!!! Yikes... Dad, it'll be the
"Top of the 8th" :). Love that that's how you count it :) saw someone
inna ranger hat the other day, great conversation starter. love me
some summertime baseball.


New song..... HOLLER ;)

Sung to my girl Beyonce's "Irreplaceable"

It's my name, it's on that tag
Pull up a seat we'll tell ya more about that

Standing in your front yard tellin ya all bout what we do
Talkin bout how you'll never ever find a church so true

We got ya to say-

You want to know bout us
You want to know God's love
You can find joy beyond belief
And be with your family eternally
(And your bay-bay)
You want to know bout us
You want to know Gods love
We can have another meeting tomorrow
So don't you ever for a second get to thinkin-
That you can get rid of us ;)


THE RAIN!! :) okay, let's be real. There is nothing like Florida rain.
I'm in love with it. Wednesday we decided to walk all day long... And
I mean we got caught in a the DUMPING rain.... We just laughed and
laughed. Pretty sure people think the Mormon missionaries are helpless
psychos thanks to us, but we had fun :)

Friday night we went on a mini exchange and both went to Dade City to
split with the sisters there. That place is beautiful!! It reminds me
of all those "country drives" I used to take back home. Man... Love
it. Kinda reminds me of Shelley... Kenz! This is where we can have our
neighboring houses and combined bbAll court and swimmin pool :)

They have been having trouble finding people to teach. Sister Bailey
and I have been praying for them all week. Sister Ellis and I decided
to go to the library to find... It was closed BUT there were two cute
girls right there who we talked to and set a return appointment with!
Answered prayer :)


This week was so good!!!

Maritza- she is doing so so good!! we saw her almost everyday this
week. She is the best. She came to a baptism on Saturday and church on
Sunday. In our Friday lesson, i felt to promise her that she would
receive her answers this weekend if she prayerfully came to the
baptism and church looking for her answer. We will meet with her
tomorrow and hear how it went :)

Ethan! Boy oh boy I love this kid. He is so stinking cute and just so
good!! He told us this week that he wants to go on a mission when he's
18 :) :) sis b and I told him we'd come back for his farewell :) he
should be getting baptized this next month. He's always asking us the
earliest we can come over, he just loves learnin. Such a good boy.

Saturday was so fun!

Amy got baptized!! One of the people the sisters in our ward are
teaching. Her hubby is a member, they have a 1 year old. It was
seriously the cutest thing when he got all choked up in the font...
Sweet little moment :)

Maritza and Ethan both came to that!


One of the members had us go visit his neighbor, she was the sweetest
lady! She moved to Canada this weekend, so we won't see her, and I
mean she wasn't super into the doctrine we taught, but she said
something that really stood out to me. She said "I don't know about
this Joseph Smith thing, but if being Mormon means being like Trevis,
then I think y'all are onto something good." Then she told us all the
things that Trevis, her member neighbor had done for her and for other
people. People watch us, and if the only thing they know about Mormons
is that we are a serving, giving, kind and loving people, but they
aren't interested in the doctrine yet, I think that's okay. Who knows
the day linda will remember her Mormon neighbor or the Mormon
missionaries who taught her about some prophet named Joseph Smith. I
guess my point is people really are watching, all we have to do is
live the gospel and be good and invite, and let God do the rest. I
can't wait to be a member missionary.

I read a talk from Elder Holland this week and I loved it! "Plan right
now! Plan right now for the stories you will tell your children about
your mission. Live right now in every way to look them in the eye and
put them on your knee and rock them on your lap and tell them as I am
telling you, that you loved every day of your mission. That you worked
your head off! That you’ve never worked so hard in your life. That you
were tired and sweaty and dirty and hungry and you knew how Paul felt
and you knew how Peter felt and you knew how Mormon felt and you knew
how Moroni felt. And I promise you that your children will remember
and never forget it, and they will cherish it and hold it dear for
their mission and so the generations go. So life is lived and this
dispensation is pursued, and the Kingdom comes and Christ does arrive,
whenever that is. Live now for those generations."

I already can't imagine not coming on a mission and missing out on all
the blessings I've received.... And I can only imagine how much more
I'm going to say that in 20 years, in 40 years. When we give The Lord
our will, He blesses us beyond measure... More than we could ever
imagine ourselves... I'm talking the literal opening of the heavenly
windows here. God always keeps His promises. I love hHim and seeing
the blessings He is so ready to give.


Pics:

Please excuse me :) I be going picture crazy these days.

Spa day
Ward girls Ava told me Sunday at church "sister Burton, I can't wait
to get baptized" :)
Sis Nakamatsu, one of the sisters in our district, went back to temple
square this week.
Rain before and afters
Kenz.... I seriously can't contain my excitement :)

Megan's Monday missionary message

Can I just start off by saying how happy it is to see my family?!?!
Every Skype call it gets harder and harder to say goodbye, but the
good news is... No more calls :) (100 days now, right dad) That was so
cute that you're counting :) I love you guys so so so much!!! The
Skype time goes by so fast. Can't wait until I can spend forever and
ever talking to you, no time limits :) Jacob, I still can't believe
your driving, going to prom, working.... And your deep voice ;) Holla.
Blake, your hair literally looked dyed. You're such a stud! Houston,
you're as cute as ever... Sad I couldn't hear your piano! I bet you
rock it. Ky, you are getting prettier and prettier you little soccer
star. And mom and dad, I could talk to you FOREVER, I miss ya so much.
My two best friends :) So good to see you!!!!

Thanks for those pictures!! Everyone looks so cute and old :)


Well well well, you already know how good the week was.... (View the
pic below to see how we feel about it ;)) Ethan is planning on getting
baptized on July 14 as long as everything goes good with his dad being
able to do it. He's such a cute kid! Came to church in his little
suit. :) He asks the deepest questions, things I've never even thought
of, smart boy. I am so so so excited for him!!

Then, Jen!!!! She is set to get baptized on June 7. Ask me how PUMPED
I am?!?! I seriously can't even contain my excitement. Yay yay yay!
It's gonna change their little family so much! The thing is... They
just moved. Literally on the other side of the road of our area. We
are talking just one turn off. So, she will be in the Dade City ward.
We still will teach her though, so that's good. We have some
fellowshipping planned for this week with people from that ward,
should be good :) so excited for her!

Maritza (sister Torres's daughter) came to church yesterday!! And she
really liked it :) :) I love her!!!

Things are going so so so good! Transfer calls are Saturday and I get
teary sick just thinking about it... Literally. I want to stay here
with Sister Bailey for the rest of my time.... But it's not about what
I want :) so we will see how it goes! Whatever happens will be just
what we need, always is!

Insights of the week: :)

Okay! So I read a talk from the RS session while I was on exchanges
and I lost it. It's so so so good!
“Oh, how we need each other. Those of us who are old need you who are
young. And, hopefully, you who are young need some of us who are old.
It is a sociological fact that women need women. We need deep and
satisfying and loyal friendships with each other.” Sister Hinckley was
right; oh, how we need each other!'
I know this is so so so true. WE NEED EACH OTHER. I have felt so so so
grateful this week for people that I have needed. I love that our
Heavenly Father uses other people to teach us. In the bible
dictionary, it says that faith is built by hearing the testimony of
others. I know that my faith has been strengthened TONS by the faith
of those around me. I started to make a list, of people from home,
people here, it's a long list :) I am so blessed with family and
friends who have faith so strong that strengthens mine. I need you :)

Love you tons and tons and tons!!
One love :)
Sister B


Pics:

1. This is how we felt about Friday (our lessons with Jen and Ethan)
2. The sisters in our ward :)
3. New fb profile pic #palmtreesfordays #floridaweatherswag

Megan's Monday missionary message

Okay... Ask me where I am. I'm sitting in a salon. Yes that's right,
imma missionary and I just got a manicure, pedicure, and a facial. I
mean.... Mission life is rough ;) our ward mission leaders wife asked
us if she could take us out for pday and this is what happened. They
are literally the SWEETEST FAMILY. This ward is incredible. I am so
blessed to be here. Any ideas of what I can do to thank them?!

Monday- Okay! The "zone Olympics" with all the missionaries turned out
to be SO MUCH FUN. I love being with the other missionaries. I feel
like I have met some of my very best friends out here... I love the
sisters I serve with SO MUCH. #sistasrule


Ethan- So I told you about Ethan right?.. The boy who is 12? He is SO
SPECIAL. And so sweet. His parents are both less active, divorced, and
going through some crazy things... This week we had a lesson with him
and his two older sisters. I love this family! The kids are so so so
good. I just hope the ward swallows them up and gives them all the
attention and love they deserve. Goodness, it's so cool that even
though he doesn't have the best fam situation he is just good. But boy
oh boy am I grateful for a good mom and dad :)

Savannah- Savannah is legit. She is 19, cute as heck, dating a less
active member. She is awesome. We went to lunch on Tuesday, told her
our purpose as missionaries and invited her to be baptized... (We were
working on being bold this week, can you tell?:)) she wants us to
teach her! She basically has not a ton of religious background. We
taught her on Thursday, and it was such a powerful lesson about
Heavenly Father, receiving answers to prayers, the atonement, and how
much this is going to bless her life. Her and I are a lot alike....
She can't wait to be a mom ;) I got all teary testifying to her how
much this is going to bless and change her life and her kids. Man. I
love teaching people my age. I mean- imma missionary- I love teaching
everyone! There's something special though about teaching people in
the same stage of life. It's fun.


Exchanges- Wednesday we got to go on exchanges! The sister I went with
is actually from Inglewood Elder Foster! :) she is so sweet. I love
going on exchanges. She has been out about 3 weeks and is feeling a
little homesick, made me think of me when i first came out:) we had a
good tearful talk and then got to work. I love her!


Maritza and Sis T- OKAY... talk about miracle of the week. So FIRST
OFF, we go to teach Sister Torres, a recent convert. She told us how
she knew the Book of Mormon was true the first time she heard about
it. Straight up had a DREAM. She told us the dream, and it was
seriously incredible. It was about the temple! She wasn't even a
member yet... Super cool right? She's awesome.

Then we started talking to her daughter, asked if we could teach her.
Maritza is 21, our age :). She is INSANELY PERFECT. We taught her
twice this week. She read the restoration pamphlet we gave her, took
notes and wrote down questions, prayed about what we taught, and WANTS
TO GET BAPTIZED.... UM HELLO MIRACLE. YES. She drew us a picture of
Christ with Moroni 10:4-5. Its incredible. The coolest thing is, we
didn't even tell her that scripture! I meant to take a pic but I
forgot... I will take one and send it next week!  She is so so so fun
to teach, so sincere. I love her!

Friday- MLC... It was in Sarasota, which is supposed to be 1 hr
away...mended upmtaking us two and a half.... Oops! There was a CRAZY
rain storm, flood warnings, and tornado warnings. We saw a car
submerged in the water. But we were safe, no worries!! Pro driver
right here :)

MLC was so so so good though! I love president so much. He talked
about faith and how that's what our missionaries need. He said, the
first 9 months I was here we have been focusing on obedience, and we
have made significant improvements in that, now he feels like faith
can be our focus. That's just what Sister Burton needed to hear too!


The next day, Saturday we prayed for miracles and boy oh boy did He
let us see them!!

First, we ran in the rain... My fave. I am obsessed with rain. And it
rains all the time here... I could stay here forever <3

We found a family of four!!! We have done service for Debra twice, she
let us "help" put her tile in. We went over on Saturday and her hubby
was asking all sorts of questions and she said we can teach her fam!!!
Mom, you are her and Joe her hubby and dad would be like best friends
I feel like. We were sooo excited!!

Then we had our rocking lesson with Maritza.

Then we had a lesson with the wards and it went so so so so good!
Sister ward opened up a lot and we are all on the same page that the
temple is all our goal for their fam. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THAT DAY.

Sunday was the ft Lauderdale temple dedication. So so neat!!! :) I
miss the temple so much

In the temple dedication, Elder Christofferson explained a great way
to think of the temple. He explained that when Christ came the law was
fulfilled. He explained that when sacrifices were given before the law
was fulfilled, it was supposed to be as close to perfect as possible.
The new sacrifice that is given is ourselves-- a broke heart and
contrite spirit. But in order to be the most perfect sacrifice we can
be, we must attend the temple regularly and use the atonement daily.
Through the atonement and attending the temple we can become better
and a better "sacrifice"- a more broken heart and contrite spirit.I
don't know if I said it perfectly like he said it, but that is what I
got out of it and I really loved that.


Insight of the week: quote from President Eyrings talk The Priesthood Man

"We all pray, but the (person) you want to be prays often and with
real intent. In the evening you will get on your knees and thank God
for the blessings of the day. You will thank Him for parents, for
teachers, and for great examples to follow. You will describe in your
prayers specifically who has blessed your life and how, during that
day. That will take more than a few minutes and more than a little
thought. It will surprise you and change you.
As you pray for forgiveness, you will find yourself forgiving others.
As you thank God for His kindness, you will think of others, by name,
who need your kindness. Again, that experience will surprise you every
day, and over time it will change you."

This week I made it a point to have more sincere prayers. I know his
words are true, prayer really does change us. I'm so grateful for a
Father who answers the prayers of his crazy, forgetful, full of
weakness little girl. I love Him.


I LOVE YOU ALL TONS AND CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU ON SUNDAY :) :) :)

Puppy lovin... Seriously the cutest dog I've ever seen.
Claire and I on our way to church <3
Zone Olympics!! #allidoiswin #bronzemedal
We are bein all healthy and stuff... A gallon a day. #watergirls
#carryinthejugerrywherewego
Silly faces with Ava :)
Plan of salvation fun!!!

Lovin life‏

The weeks are going faster and faster, I feel like I was just typing a
letter! Haha :)

Sorry the letter is late! We and the zone leaders were in charge of a
zone activity day today, and we were setting up all day, so we didn't
have time... So you probs won't get this until tomorrow morn when I
have wifi.

First things first:

We made a new song :)

"Listen to the Spirit"
Sung to Listen to your Heart

Listen to the Spirit
When it's prompting you
Listen to the Spirit
There's nothing else you should do
You might not know where you're going
And you might not know why
But listen to the Spirit
So you can be like Nephi


Haha we have some fun that's for sure. We sang our Tswift remix for
President this week. He wants us to post it... So watch out for
Missionary Magical coming soon... Probs go viral :) hahaha


Anyways, good solid week. Numbers wise, not so hot, but it was still stellar.

Let's see:

I finished the Book of Mormon this week!! Sups exciting, right? It's
so true :) I love it so very much.

We had some neat experiences this week, where we would get in the car
and say"Well, that's exactly where we were supposed to be." I love
that feeling :) One of my favorites.

I am so grateful for my trials. I know that trials help us grow
stronger and knit us closer to God if we let them. Carlos's parents
are recent converts, and I love them to death! They are changing SO
much! They have been going through some hard things lately, and it is
so neat to see them relying on God. We had the sweetest lesson with
them yesterday. There are too sweet. They are planning on being sealed
this year!! I will be there, Count me in! :)

A part member family we have been working with lost their grandma this
week. It was the dad, who isn't a members mom, and we spent some time
over there. It was so neat. First off, their girls are so cute!
Secondly, the whole fam was bearing testimony about the plan of
salvation. The dad is much more open to the gospel then before, we are
teaching FHE next week, so excited!

Oh my goodness! Church was so so so stellar yesterday. Everyone was
bearing their testimonies  and taking about the Ft Lauderdale open
house to the temple. Can we talk about how temple hungry I am?! I miss
it so much. That's totes gonna be one of the first things I do when I
get back. I will never forget how I felt the day I went through for
the first time. Can't wait to go back.

Obvs, it was all about families too, which obviously made me miss
y'all! Goodness. Mom and dad, I think of you so often, and how many
things I learn from you. I'm so thankful to know that families can be
eternal. I also think about my future fam and how grateful I am I came
out here. I can't imagine raising my kids and having a family w/o the
things I've learned here. Mom- so you remember when I was deciding
whether or not I wanted to serve a mission and you said "Meg's, think
of your kids." Well, as always you were right :) man. I love family. I
miss y'all can't wait to see you in two weeks on Skype!!! :) :)

Insight of the week: This week I read Morini 7 (a personal fave) I was
thinking about charity, and in there it says charity never fails
right? And so I was thinking why doesn't charity ever fail? And this
is what I came up with: Well, charity is the pure love of Christ ya?
Well Christ's pure love didn't fail, never. that's why charity will
never fail. Charity never fails because Christ didn't fail.


Good good week! Sure love you :) thanks for all the things you do for
me, they don't go unnoticed :) I'm blessed with the best fam and
friends.

I LOVE YOU
Sis Burton

Dragon fruit w/ sis Hernandez :)
Gi drew a pic of me ;) haha
My girl <3 she reminds me of little miss Lilly.

Pictures

Forgot the pics again... So sorry

Megan Mission Top Hits‏

Hahaha Sister Bailey and I made a little list of so songs we've made,
we probably have too much fun. Love you :)



Mega Mission Top Hits

(A list of songs written in the Florida Tampa Mission)

I mean... Sometimes (all the time) we like to write songs... We are
becoming pro Mormon-izers. Enjoy ;)



#1 Gospel Rock

(A Sis Millard and Sis B collaboration)
(To the tune of LMFAO Party Rock)

Sister missionaries in the house tonight
Everybody is gettin an invite (passing out cards like nobodies business)
And we're gonna help ya have eternal life
We just wanna see ya (boom, boom, boom)
Get baptized


#2 We like to Bike
(Written and performed by Sister Millard and Sister Burton... When we
were full bike )

We like to bike and we cannot lie
You other sistas can't deny
When we walk in
Just lookin so thin
It beats yo four wheel drive


#3 Missionary Magical

(Written by the Sister B and Sis B)
(To the tune of Tswift 22)

It feels like a perfect day
To dress up as sisters
And preach the gospel (uh oh, uh oh)

It feels like a perfect day
To show Christ's wa-ay
To a bunch of strangers (uh oh, uh oh)

Yeaaah-aaaaah
We're happy, single, and spiritual at the same time
It's MISSIONARY MAGICAL
Oh Yeaaah-aaaaah
Today's the day that we forget about the world
It's fine

Uh-oh
I don't know about you,
But I'm feelin the spirit too
Everything will be alright if
You keep it close to you

You don't even know us
But we'll teach ya about Jesus
Everything will be alright if
You just keep prayin then you'll
Know it's true-oo-oo



#4 Pen Pal
(Written to the tune of my boy Justin Bieber's song Boyfriend)
(Written by sister Bailey and Burton)

Baby take a chance or you'll never ever know
I've got letters in my hand that I'd really like to show

Send, send, send-to you.
Cantcha feel the fire while we're talkin' bout truth
I don't know about me
But I know about you
So say hello to the temple in 3,2 swag

I'd like to be
Sealed for eternity
Hey boy... Will you write me?

If I was your pen pal
I'd never let ya go
We could seal the deal
When I get home
You could be my husband
And I could be your wife
Then with our family
We'd have eternal life


#5

Toes
(Sister Bailey and Burton)
(Sung to the tune Toes... (We think) by Zach Brown Band)

Got my toes in my closed shoes
My arms in the sun
Not a worry in the world
Preachin' the gospel is fun
Life was good today
Life was good today



Sent from my iPad

Special Sundays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Sure love you :) :) I hope you have a super good
day, hope the Rangers win, you get your favorite Lasagna, and all that
good stuff. Got your letter today, thanks so much. Sure miss you. I
love you dad!

Mom, your letters never cease to CRACK ME UP. I can't wait to hang out
and laugh with you again :)

Marisa Dietz is a married woman!! My goodness, what a beautiful little
bride she is :) Those pictures from Tabes and the letter from you mom,
I was waterworks this morning. What a happy day :) sure love my best
friends!! So happy for you and colt ris!!



This week was so stellar!!!

We had SEVEN TIMES the number of lessons this week then were here the
week before we got here, and we didn't even do missionary work Monday
or Tuesday cause we were helping president. We are being so very
blessed with miracles!!

Where to begin?! I usually bring my journal so I can remember. what to
write about... Yikes I forgot it, hope I can do this week justice :)
mo

First off, PLEASE tell me you have seen the Because of Him video?! If
not, quit reading this email and watch it. I promise it's better :).
Ha, but seriously, that video has been the best teaching and finding
tool. It is so so so good. And so powerful. Everyone has been posting
it all over FB. It is so good!!

mormon.org/BecauseofHim



Well most of the magic happened Sunday we will start there.

Cutest thing- on the way into church I see Jeremy Catmull, one of my
buds from the Odessa ward. He yells " ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It's sister
Burton!!" He comes and says, don't tell my mom, I'm not supposed hug
missionaries anymore since I'm 12 now, but I'm gonna give you a huge
hug anyways ;) too cute!! Love that boy and that family.

I spoke on Sunday. Yikes- still not my favorite thing to do but that's
okay. It was neat to be able to speak on Easter though, helped me
focus more on the real meaning and share that with others. Anyways....

I don't know if I've told you about Jen. She's a little older than me,
married, has a super cute little boy who is 1. Hubby was baptized at
8, doesn't sound like he was ever super active. She came to church for
the first time on Sunday. She told Sis Bailey that her and her husband
had been talking and they both said they want to raise their little
one in the Mormon church!!! AH!!!! I almost died out of happiness. I
love her so much.

Then Ethan. Ethan is 12. We have been teaching him for a while now. He
lives with his dad who is less active. Ethan is the sweetest boy I've
ever met in my life. He ,always asks us when the soonest time is that
we can come back and teach him. He is so eager to learn. Too cute :)
he came to church all dressed up in a new suit :) our last lesson we
talked about the priesthood, he lit up like a Christmas tree when we
told him he would be able to receive the priesthood and pass the
sacrament now that he's 12. Our WML said that Ethan was watching the
deacons like a hawk yesterday... Made me cry. He's such a sweet boy.

The WHOLE family came to church. The ward's!!! Dad, mom and all three
of the girls. I LOST IT up on the stand. I was so so so stinking
happy. They were waving like crazy, so happy to be at church. Man I
love those girls. Cant wait for that fam to be sealed.

I saw Chico Hunt from Odessa too. He is the man. I almost cried when
he was talking to me about their fam, they are doing SO good. The
girls are memorizing the articles of faith he told me:) I've gotta
find out when they're going to the temple... I would die to come back
for that. Love em.

We are sister training leaders now, so lots of exchanges to come :)
which I'm very excited about. I love getting to know other sisters and
learning from them. It will be fun!

Grandma Jocko: thanks so much for the Easter card! I loved it!! :) do
you remember a few Fourth of July's ago when we had the "Burton
Olympics?!" Well we are in charge of a zone pday, and we want to have
missionary Olympics.. Haha could you (or anyone else reading this too
who has fun game ideas) send me those  games we played soon... Really
soon :)?? All I can remember is the Cheeto and shaving cream one.
Thank you TONS!!

Jacob and Blake/ anyone interested :) I am re-going through and
studying Preach My Gospel... And I would love it if you wanted to
study with/ tell me the things you learn from it. I wish I would've
been into it more before I came out, and it would help you two prepare
to be even more awesome missionaries now and in a couple years :)
love you two!!


Some things I LOVED this week from studies:


Ether 12:27
Just the other day I was talking to sister b about how the longer I'm
on my mission, the more I see how many things I need to work on and
how imperfect I am. After I read that, I think it's a good thing :)
ha. As we come closer to Christ, we realize how imperfect we are and
how much we need His help. I am definitely learning that. Yay for
daily repentance :)

Sis B shared this quote with me from CS Lewis that I love now that
kinda goes along:
" No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.
A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation
means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation
know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the
German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the
strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A
man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know
what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in
one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered
life by always giving in."



This quote I used in my talk, I can't get through it w/o choking up:

In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder
that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem
unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that
resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are
eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless13
and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our
destiny. (Grateful in Any Circumstances) Uchdorf


I am obsessed. We are not made for endings. In the Because of Him
video it says there is no such thing as the end because of Him. I know
that that is true. That because of our Savior's love for us, death is
not the end, and sin isn't the end either. We are never too far gone
for our Savior's eternal and infinite Atonement to reach us and clean
us. I know that He lives.


I love you all so so so so so much :)
Have a good week
Love,
Sister Burton :)