July 16, 2012

My Family,

What a week! There were a lot of simple but positive experiences this week. I detailed one in my letter to president. Simple experiences like that happen every day. It has to be the work of God himself for such things to happen and to happen just right. Our mission has a monthly fireside. It is called the "why i believe" fireside. We can only go if we bring an investigator or recent convert. Martin came with us so i went to my first mission fireside. the speakers at the fireside are recent converts. They each share their experiences and the reasons that they believe and the blessings that have come from it. It's pretty neat to see the changes that the gospel makes in people, the humility that they gain, and the peace that they find when they apply the teachings of the Savior and make covenants. Surely, only divinity can make possible the changes that some of those people made. 

... Life is so good! Well family, today is the first day of transfer #2. I'm already old. I'm getting closer to my companion, more focused on the work, and trying to consecrated my will and my thoughts...everything. it's hard sometimes not to think of you or friends or school or hard not to notice that celebrities are coming to vegas. i'm focused and zealous about this work. I let myself think and imagine the missionaries that each of you were back in your day. I think of dad in mexico, mom in chicago (i've learned that jewish people are hard to teach), mike in germany, steve in indonesia, janae in texas, and jon in peru. I think about your obedience and your sacrifices as missionaries. I think about your examples of serving but also your examples after. Member missionary work is key! we rarely get referrals but this week we got 2 from members and 3 from other missionaries. I really wasn't lying about tender mercies this week! Alejandra is the friend of a member, Sister Delgado. Alejandra is very open and honest. She has had spiritual experiences before and knows how the spirit feels. We expect her at church this week! She's really funny and she understand english really well so when i start to get mixed up, i attempt in spanish then say it in english and she understand. one of the perks of going stateside. We also had a new missionary mid training meeting. it was so so great! sister Neider quoted President Joseph Smith, "The things men believe in are the things they do." the connection later game that when we read our spcripture or say our prayers or any other act of obedience, it increases our faith or belief which means our power to do is increased. sounds great, right!? The best part yet is that all of this simply means increased happiness. There is no reason for unhappiness when we are obedient in our actions but also in our hearts and minds. We also talked about counting our blessings. President Neider said,"When we look for the good in our companions and others, we are literally counting our blessings." "Literally counting our blessings!" How i love this gospel and how i love this life. Day by day things get better. This pattern is meant to be a pattern of a lifetime, not a pattern of a missionary or a pattern of a school year or a job. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real. It has 2 parts: the teachings of the Savior and the principle leader being our Savior. There is only one way and one place to grasp the entire gospel of Jesus Christ! 

I love you all! Thank you again for your examples and support!

My love and Prayers,

Sister Burrup

also, Thank you Allison mills and Sister Gomez for the letters! 


Dear President Neider,

Sister Cedillo and I were talking about our week during companionship study on friday and she simply said that the Lord had blessed a lot this week. I am still learning what a normal week is supposed to look like and as i thought about it, the Lord has poured out his blessings on this week. I read in my journal to review the week and looked at my planner and sister cedillo was right, as usual, that the Lord has blessed us. There isn't a huge story to tell but to me, the tender mercies are still huge. Simple things happened. For example, we were looking for people to street contact and every bus stop was empty. There weren't people anywhere. The thought came to mind that we should say a pray and immediately following sister Cedillo spotted a woman. We quickly parked and met her. fortunately, she was hispanic. We walked with her and shared our simple testimonies but she wasn't very interested. Still, it was a tender mercy just to find someone. But when we returned to our a car a family of 7 was outside their home. We talked to them and will meet with them tomorrow.  I believe that the Lord uses other people, even some that have no interest at all, to guide us to other people who are prepared. I have already seen it many times. I love the Lord and i am so grateful for His blessings. I know it is His work and that He loves His children.  For those 2 reasons I know He will continue to move the work forward. Thank you for everything President Neider. I loved the training this last week and I apologize that we were late. Our appointment beforehand started late. Please say thank you to Sister Neider as well. Hurrah for israel!

Sister Burrup

July 9, 2012

Mi familia grandiosa!

Cada dia doy gracias a dios por todos los ejemplos y apoyo que me dan uds. Gracias gracias gracias!  (translation for mom: my great family - it's even better than great in spanish. it doesn't translate right. - each day i thank God for the examples and support you all give me. Thank-you thank-you thank-you! ) Also, Thank you Sister King, Elder Crawford, McKenzi Bullock, and Kirsten for the letters. Sister Cedillo studied personal prayer on wednesday and shared her thoughts and we ready part of Preach my gospel together. Meaningful prayer is powerful but obligatory, repetitious prayers become obedience without blessings. I am not sure if that made sense or not. Jeff Perry gave me a talk called the 4th missionary. it talks about 4 types of missionaries. The 3rd is obedienct but only by obligation and only with his might and strength. not with his heart, the 4th missionary gives his heart. only until we give everything or consecrate ourselves to Him can we be blessed for the work we do! How i love the inspired words of leaders and prophets now and in the scriptures. It is so so important to study study study, ponder ponder ponder, and pray pray pray about them. over and over and over again! We teach that "enduring to the end" is doing the very things that the gospel starts with: building faith through personal prayer, personal scripture study, church attendance, and temple attendance. I always think of mom's seminary lesson on "private religious behaviors." I loved that lesson. Mom, I would tell you my problems and disappointments but there aren't many and when they come they are small and fade because they are of little importance. This week, i was trying not to watch the doors to the chapel the whole sacrament meeting again. It's a good thing we were sitting in the back because i'm sure it would have been distracting :)  

The update on Lupita and Antonio. they canceled their apt last week. We haven't seem them in a while. Living in North is another area so we are still working to get them meeting with the other sisters in north. they canceled because our apt was on the 4th of july. We didn't see many fireworks at all but we celebrated by planning outside. The members are amazing here! how i love you and how i love the gospel! i'm out of time but know that i think the world of you and have a testimony of the gospel! do everything to strengthen your testimonies NOW not later but now! read alma 34! :)

all my love and prayers!

Sister burrup

Dear President Neider,

The work in the Desert Bloom ward is going well. We have been looking for opportunities to serve the members and branch president to gain their trust and confidence. I feel like it is slowly working. I am still getting to know the ward but i already have come to love and respect the members here. When i'm forced not to be a full-time missionary anymore i want to be like the members here involved and engaged in this marvelous work. I love that the scriptures call it a marvelous work because the blessings, miracles, and simply the way the Lord moves the work forward is incredible. I love seeing it happen right in front of me. 

We met with Gladys this week after a lot of fasting and prayer. We weren't sure if we could teach her or not based on her ability to understand.  We brought two members with us and our branch president will come with us again this week to offer any insight. We all went away from the lesson with the understanding that we shouldn't continue to teach her or include her in our numbers. It was an interesting experience because of the feeling that came. About half way through the lesson, i understood that we couldn't keep teaching her. I immediately felt really sad and disappointed. Not because we wouldn't get to teach her or count her in our numbers or have another investigator but because she couldn't understand the many blessings available and in store for her.  I know that even though she mentally is not able to grasp it now that eventually she will be able to claim those blessings for herself. She loves coming to church so i think we will continue to see her and share scriptures with her but will not continue teaching lessons with her. 

I love the gospel and i am coming to love the people here. I am praying for charity and praying for consecration. I am the Lord's servant and nobody else's. Not even mine own. Thank you President and Sister Neider! Sister Cedillo and i love you both!

Love

Sister Burrup

July 2

I'm trying to catch up, sorry it's been so long since I posted her letters.

Family family family!

Thank you for being the best! I can not tell you how much i love hearing about each of you. Sister Cedillo and i share a great love for our families. Without getting trunky we have fun telling each other stories from our childhood and fun things from the emails we recieve. Her brother was called to the Las Vegas West mission. He comes this summer. Pretty funny though!  She is the best! we had a bit of a rough morning yesterday. During our companionship study, we shared some thoughts that got us ready and remotivated. The day actually turned out to be really good. No specific success but we were happy, optimistic, and enjoying being together doing the work of God! It was great. I wish there was a way to explain how wonderful it is to be a missionary but it isn't that i'm enjoying anything specific. There is so much joy to be found in the basics....walking in the sun, talking to everyone, laughing at lame missionary jokes and weird rejections/excuses. The simple work is hard but so enjoyable! Thank you for supporting me though prayers and fasting. We talk about family prayer a lot. we have a new contact method we've been asked to use called the blessing contact. We explain that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, ask them what they would ask the savior for if he were there, then ask if we may offer a blessing or simply a prayer in their home for their needs. We ask how they feel afterwards, refer them to mormon.org then set an apt. It works well for street contacts. Honestly, the majority of street contacts are referrals. We are in a wealthier area and there aren't as many hispanics. It is a great way for missionaries to get started with new referrals. It is also great because with a simply prayer, we can teach simple principles of the gospel, they can feel our sincerity and love for them as well as feel the spirit. I am not sure if it is just our mission that does it or if it is widespread but either way, it was inspired and it is effective. The people that let us in are the ones that let us return. The ones that don't hopefully will keep their commitment to look at mormon.org and have interest soon. Lupita - Guadalupe- paid tithing yesterday. it was great to see her apply things she learned in church. We haven't taught her about about tithing yet but last week in sacrament meeting there were two talks. It was so neat to see her exercise faith in such a simple way. I love her and Antonio a lot. She said this week that when she is baptized she wants us to be there. Her date is july 14th but we are certain we will need to move it back. She works for a member of the branch so we started teaching her here. Her husband said he would like to learn but only from the missionaries that teach his wife. We have special permission from President Neider to go to the north las vegas to teach them. It's tricky but we are working with the other missionaries as well. 

...Also, thank you elder shroedter, elder tingey, janae, and robin daily/ sister daily for your letters! I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Burrup

Dear President Neider,

I think every week gets better and better! When i was preparing to come to the mission a lot of people asked what i was most afraid of and what i was most excited for. My response is mostly the same. I am still afraid of the refining process. I know that i have weaknesses that will improve little by little. I know that i will discover more as the time goes by but i am also know that the Lord will help me because i am his daughter and he loves me but also because i am on his special errand. The refining process can be rough. I'm a little nervous but i have faith! My response to what i was most exited for was to get close to people. I'm excited to get closer to my leaders - you, sister Neider, bishops and ward leaders, Sister Cedillo, and the many more to come. Besides my leaders, i know that i will get close to my companions and the people we teach together. This week i finally felt the progress of 6+ weeks as a missionary. Sister Cedillo and I had some great companionship studies where i felt the spirit strongly. I also had the opportunity to express gratitude to one of our investigators, Lupita. She's the one we visit at work here and in her home in North. At church yesterday she paid her tithing. We explained that she didn't have to pay tithing until she is baptised but she insisted. she is a clear example of faith. When we taught her and her husband, we were a little bold inviting her husband, Antonio, to be baptised. He still declined, unfortunately, but i believe that Lupita's example will help him. Afterwards, i felt prompted to simply express our purpose as missionaries and our love for them. I loved feeling a genuine love for them and being able to express it! 

Besides Lupita and Antonio, everyone is going well. I love being a missionary and i Love the Las Vegas mission. Thank you for all that you do, President! Hurrah for Israel!