This week was great! The sites are getting so busy and my two favorite moments are from two tours I was able to take.
Tour one: Previously Elder Jarvis
We were able to take this man on tour. He said he had never been to Kirtland before...we believed him. We gave him the best tour, told him of the Ohio Cleveland Mission and the wonderful things we get to do here. All the while, he was being really distant and wouldn't talk or open up at all. It's hard to give a tour when you can't get to know the person you are taking on tour. Anyway, we had been to the Sawmill and the Ashery and were halfway through the store when Sister Merritt asked if he had ever read the Doctrine and Covenants. He said the elders on his mission tried to get him to read it while he was serving, but he never did. We invited him to read and then took the opportunity to ask him where he served hoping that he'd open up if we got him talking about it.
Well, he stopped for a moment....and then slowly said...the Ohio....Cleveland....Mission..
The little stinker was pulling our leg the whole time! Everything we told him about Kirtland and the mission he already knew because he lived it! Goodness. He served two years ago and is coming back to visit those he taught. We had a good laugh about it and then had a great tour. He was completely open after that and shared some amazing experiences from his mission.
My favorite was about a less-active they were trying to work with (most of what we do in Ohio) and they hardly got to meet him. They would knock and knock and there would never be an answer. One day they felt prompted to attempt to knock one more time. They brought a member and that was so key! The man opened the door and finally let them in. The member told the man how much he was needed in the ward. They left and Elder Jarvis got transferred. He didn't hear much about it until a year later when he was transferred back into the same stake and was attending Stake Conference. The man who was once less-active was sustained to be in the high council and was a speaker that day! A year after that when Elder Jarvis returned to visit his mission, he found out that the man who was once less-active was now the Bishop! Miracles!
It just goes to show that "many of the things you can count, do not count. Many of the things you cannot count, really do count." (https://www.lds.org/general-
Tour two: Sister Pugh and her brother
This tour actually was a few months ago, but I was able to see some fruits this week. From my perspective, we were taking a member couple and the Sister's non-member brother and his wife on tour. The brother was such a little punk! (Family, think Matt Tabolt style) He was so funny though and we just had a blast on tour! He really opened up and seemed to love being there. We took some classic pictures and off they went.
Sister Pugh (the member couple) sent some pictures yesterday and a letter to give to Sister Heckert and I. Best moment! It was the pictures we had taken on tour. In the letter Sister Pugh told us a little bit of the back story. Brother and Sister Pugh and her brother (Jerry) and his wife were coming up to Kirtland to go to the Holden Arboretum. Sister Pugh had been praying the entire time that she could get her brother to Kirtland. Well, they finished up at the arboretum early and Jerry said that he knew how important Kirtland was to them, so he'd give in and let them come.
Well, insert awesome tour!
This is what Sister Pugh said in her letter to Sister Heckert and I:
"You left quite an impression on him and his wife. We had a lengthy discussion on the way home and continued answering more questions the next morning during breakfast. They came to visit us this past week and had more questions. I know they are far from becoming interested enough to thoroughly investigate our church but I have hope that if we continue to submit them to more missionaries and other information one day they may surprise me".
Nothing is better than planting seeds! I love seeing people change and feel the Spirit even if they don't know what it is at the beginning. God loves all of His children and He's watching over them. He knows what they need. If we strive continually to follow the promptings of the Spirit, we will be able to help those around us -- even if it's in a little way. Those little things add up to great things.
Sorry I didn't get to write you all back today. It's Sister Merritt's birthday and we're going to the Zoo with Tyler and Morgan to celebrate! But know I love you all!!!
Sister Burns
Serving at the Strawberry Days Festival in Kirtland! So much fun! I'm definitely coming back for it next year. Me, Elder Ramirez, S. Ramirez, S. Hardy, S. Holyoak, S. Merritt
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