July 13, 2014

Well it has been a pretty great week! Well there have been two experiences that make this week great. The first one is a potential investigator that we found. Her name is Leonie. We were just walking in town and talking to people on the streets when we met her. She was with her two daughters. We just talked to her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically how families can be together forever. We asked if we could come to her house and share more of our message with her. She said we could come back the next day! But then we found out that her partner lives in Christchurch. So we aren't allowed to teach her. So we told her the sister missionaries would come around and share the exact same message. Well the sisters went around the next day and said that the appointment went very well and that she wanted to learn more. Now she is a new investigator for the sister missionaries and seems to have a lot of potential!

The next is a woman named Jacquie. We met her by accident on Wednesday night. So we had a missionary trade-offs night every Wednesday. We didn't have any appointments, so we just asked the Branch President who he would like us to visit of the less active members. He gave us the name and address of one family. So we went with one of the members that came to visit this house. We get to the house and it is dark, looks like nobody was home. So we starting walking back to the car. We got in the car and before we turned the car on, someone pulled up in front of the house, a woman got out of the car, then went inside. We then sat for a minute trying to decide what to do. We determined we should just do our job! So we went to the house, walked up to the door and just called out hello. She came to the door and invited us right in! I thought it was the member but it turns out that they had moved and this woman lived here with two of her kids. We got talking to her and she had some great questions about what we believe and the standards that we live by. We invited her to church and she said she would be happy to come to check it out. She doesn't have a car so we said we would organize a ride for her. We left her with a Book of Mormon, and a prayer. We went back on friday to introduce the Branch President to her, who would give her a ride. Then yesterday, she came to church! She enjoyed herself and really got along with the members. She even said that she was going to come back to church again next week! But again, she is a single mother, so we had to give her to the Sisters. But that is all good because it doesn't matter who does the teaching, it is another soul who is getting nourished and blessed by the Gospel! The member that came with us on that Wednesday night was assigned a talk yesterday. He shared this experience with the branch. It seemed to make people even more excited to have Jacquie at church. So I would certainly deem that experience a MIRACLE!!!!!

We also had Zone Conference this week. We were able to meet the mission president and his wife. President and Sister Hudson are great! We could feel their love for us and for the Savior immediately. We had a two hour meeting, then lunch, then interviews with President and his wife. They were just a little bit of a get to know you interview, so it was really fun. We met in Christchurch with the whole Zone, about 50-60 missionaries. It was a really great time. I think that President Hudson is going to be great for this mission!

Well that is about all this week. Hope things are going well for you all back home! Love you lots!

Love,

Elder Burnham