Well it really isn't that cold for me but other people down here are cold.
This week has had some interesting things happen. Just after we got
home from emailing last week, Elder Lxxxx
pretty much the rest of the day. He got the flu! So for me, Monday was
spent cleaning and studying all day long. Then Tuesday morning came
and he still didn't feel too well. So by the end of Tuesday, I was
feeling a bit restless. Wednesday morning, we had a district meeting.
That was pretty good. All the missionaries get along pretty well.
We helped out the Salvation Army again after the district meeting.
They told us that if we came back next week, they would get us some
food! But even cooler than that was what they told us when we got
there. We could see that they were really busy and had a lot of big
stuff they just couldn't handle very easily. I don't know if they were
mostly joking but they were saying that they were praying that we
would show up. Even if it was more that they were just hoping, it is
cool to see that we can help others out and how much they appreciate
it in a time of need, even people of other faiths.
Saturday was probably one of the most tiring days in my life. We did a
bit of tracting in the morning but from about 12-7PM we did service.
So first we helped a less active member to chop wood for his sister.
And there was only one dull axe so I had to put in a little more
effort. Then after that we helped an older couple in the branch to
move and chop some wood. While we were there, we got a call from the
Elders Quorum President asking if we could help with that service
project. So we went to a farm about 15 minutes south of Timaru where a
farmer allowed us to cut up some logs on his farm to take. So we
loaded up his van and a trailer with probably about 1500 lbs of wood.
Thankfully, he fed us dinner after. So by that time, I was really
tempted to just relax in the flat but we changed and went back out to
work at 7:30 for the rest of the night. It was a good day and I
certainly slept well that night. I think in the end, I am grateful
that we have central heating at home and don't have to worry about
fire wood.
Sunday was a pretty good day. We had church in the morning and then a
Branch Council meeting after church. Unfortunately, a lot of talk goes
on in those meetings and not a lot comes out. But that is ok. We
struggle with having enough people with enough time to do things in
this branch. We got a new branch clerk (which New Zealanders pronounce
"clark") so hopefully he can help sort out our membership records.
After church we visited someone the Branch President asked us to
visit. His name is John. The senior couple that used to be here worked
a lot with him and he enjoys our visits. He gave us a 900g tin of
Milo. Milo is a chocolate/barley drink that most people have hot.
There isn't really anything like it that I know about in the States.
Maybe I will send a pack home. It pretty much just tastes like hot
chocolate. But that was cool. We had a great dinner that night too. A
sister in the ward really loves to feed the missionaries but because
her husband passed away, she can't have us over. But she came up with
a plan. Invite another family over and feed them too and then the
Elders can come too! So we had a good time on Sunday night getting to
know the members of the Branch better. Our branch mission leader, who
just got called, suggested we work with the members the gain their
trust. So I think we are going to be doing some of that this week.
Well I hope things are going well with all of you! Try not to get too
hot! Just remember me and the frost we have on the ground every
morning!
Love,
Elder Burnham
No comments:
Post a Comment