"Come what may and love it": December 2015

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Weekly Letter -- 12.14.2015

HELLO!!!

This week has been an amazing and humbling one!

First off, I was transferred back to Shaker Heights! What are the odds of that?! I start and end my mission in the same ward. I'm with Sister Beck, an Oregon born New Zealander. No, she doesn't have an accent, but she's amazing! Holy cow, what an example she is! If only I could live the rest of my mission like her. Haha. There are so many added responsibilities to serving in this area...most humbling experience of my mission. But I know the Lord will help me accomplish all of the tasks He needs me to do. I'm so grateful for this time to serve!

I have little time today, but holy cow, this area is on fire! I can't even count how many investigators we have right now! We taught the restoration so many times since Wednesday and found four new investigators! It's ready to harvest literally and I'm so excited to see more and more and more and more miracles! They are coming!!

Connie's reaction to finding out I was in Shaker again....priceless!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I won't be on here for two weeks because of it, but know that I love you all. I know my Savior lives. I know my life without Him would be horrible. There is an indescribable peace that comes from knowing my Savior and feeling the love that He has for me. I know that the Atonement is for every single one of us. We can use it every day and find the happiness and joy that our Savior sacrificed everything for us to have. This is a time of year when we can all feel that love. It's amazing!

#asaviorisborn

I love you all!!!!

P.S.....it's 65 degrees right now. Hahahaha. Merry Christmas!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Eleena Burns

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road

Kirtland, Ohio 44094

Sister Beck and I!

The North Family. I just love them!

Weekly Letter -- 12.8.2015

Hello!!!

This week has had so much crammed into seven days! It feels like three weeks into one.

We had Mission Conference last Tuesday! It was amazing! It started off pretty normal. We went to the visitors' center, watched #asaviorisborn (I'd highly recommend watching them and sharing them!), and looked at the nativity exhibit (which is AMAZING this year, by the way! We have 932 creches!). Afterwards, we went to the Stake Center and had lunch. President was rushing through everything during lunch and we couldn't figure out why because we had like two and a half hours blocked out for lunch. Anyway, we watched a slideshow while we were eating and then all of a sudden The Best Two Years started playing!!! We were all freaking out!!! Nothing is better than watching that moving with 200 missionaries! Haha. It was so good and so funny! I didn't get half of the jokes before my mission. So that was a highlight.

*Commence quoting in the Ohio Cleveland Mission!*

"Please bless that young man that he will call." *ring* "AMEN!" HAHAHA. Oh, it was so good!

But I did learn a lot -- I can't waste my mission away. Miracles are just waiting to happen. When I show God that I am willing to do what He needs me to and ACT, I will be able to see those miracles! Renewed strength to continue to the end...check!

The best part of the day was going to the Kirtland Temple. We had two hours to sing and share our testimonies. There is nothing more powerful than the temple packed with missionaries. The Spirit is so strong in that wonderful building. I love it.

That night was sad though. Sister Fitzgerald has been sick for months, so she was sent home. So sad! Now Sister Sorensen, Holyoak and I are in a triple-up. Juggling two areas is always interesting, but a fun adventure.

On December 3rd, I had exchanges with Sister Bird and we were able to teach Brenda, our seven-year-long investigator. She is the sweetest, but can't quit smoking. We had such a good lesson with her and she's on baptism date for January 2nd!! What a good birthday that will be. I'm getting transferred tomorrow so I wont be here for it, but I'm so excited for her and I know that God will help her quit smoking and make it to that date. I love missions and being able to see the atonement work in the lives of others.

Christina, Deeanna, Tessa and Shania came to church on Sunday. One of my all-time favorite moments as a missionary is when a less-active member or an investigator comes to church. That night we had a lesson with Christina and Tessa. JD even sat in on the entire lesson and told us he wants to go to church next week. Ahh, I am so excited!! Anyway, Tessa, who claimed to be atheist, told us that she had a breakdown at school the other day. She didn't know what to do, so she decided to go into the bathroom and pray. It was so cool listening to her tell about that story and how she felt the need to pray and ask for help. I love seeing her grow and her entire family find greater peace and happiness as they allow God into their lives! I'm going to miss them so much, but I am beyond excited too for the new sister missionary who in coming to Solon and that she gets to meet these amazing people.

This morning we had an adventure. We got to go to seminary at 5:50am! I don't know how the students do it. They are amazing! Anyway, they are studying Judges right now, so we got to come and judge their scripture chase. It was so funny. We had pins at the end of gavels and got to pop a balloon from the losing teams side. The seminary teacher is the funniest guy I have ever met. We all had a blast.

Well, hopefully I didn't bore you out of your mind as you read this, but just know how much I love this gospel. I have had so many wonderful moments this week where I have been able to share my testimony with those around me. I know that God loves us. I know He lives. I know He is the author of happiness. I know it. I've seen it.

I love you all!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Eleena Burns

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road

Kirtland, Ohio 44094

SOOOOOOO MANY PICTURES!!!

Mission Conference

Shyanne. The cutest little girl ever with her new game that she was so excited about!

JD, Christina, Esias, Ezekiel, Tessa and me!

Dee, Shania, Christina, Tessa. I love them all!

Brenda!

Brother Vine!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

A Christmas Miracle

A reminder to help Sister Burns with her Christmas Miracle!

Hello Everyone!

I have a small favor to ask...and if you could ask others to help, too, (Facebook, Wards, and whatnot) that would be great!

There is a member of our ward who is in a rehabilitation center. His family is in California, so he is completely alone and will be alone for Christmas. Anyway, he is the best person! He has a Facebook group where people who don't have family or things like that will request a card for the holidays. Last Christmas this Brother sent over 100 personalized cards out to those in need. Well, this year we thought we could give him something back!

Here's how you can help -- just send a letter or a card to me at the address below and address the card to Brother Vine. Also, there are two more seniors in our ward that will be in the rest home alone for Christmas, too. Could you send cards for them, too? Sister Wolf and Brother Billingsly.

Thanks for making this happen! You are the best!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Eleena Burns

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road

Kirtland, Ohio 44094

Weekly Letter -- 11.30.2015

Hello Family!!

Sorry that I didn't get a letter out last week, but I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I sure did! We were able to eat dinner with all of the seniors at the Visitors' Center. It was so yummy!!! Picture fifteen grandmothers coming together to create a completely blissful meal! It was wonderful! Best part: Sister Markers homemade rolls or cream pie or another sisters dressing (as they call stuffing here) that had apples and cranberries instead of celery and onions. It was so yummy! Not to mention we're still eating left overs. I was well taken care of, Mom. =)

We had some great moments over the past few weeks! I don't have time to give a ton of details, but I'll try to give each story some justice.

So I told you about Fabian, right? The deaf man we contacted on the street. So we lost contact for a while, but then he sent us a text right after Thanksgiving! He ran into Elders in New York and now has such a desire to learn more. He is so excited! I just love seeing God's hand in all of this! How in the world did he meet Elders during Thanksgiving in New York? There are so many people there at that time, but he "just happened" to run into Elders? Nah, that was a God thing. D&C 93:1. My most favorite scripture! It's so true! Sure, we might not see His face right now, but I'm for sure seeing His hand! The only sad thing is we found out he's just right outside of our area, but the Shaker Ward should be very happy they got him! But I'm okay with that, I'm just excited for Fabian to learn how much God loves him!

Second miracle...Tessa prayed during our lesson! And it was so perfect! She prayed to know if God was real and to help her come to know for herself. It was so sincere. JD came in during the lesson and talked about how he can't see God, so He can't believe He's there. Sister Sorensen pulled an Elder Bennett and asked JD how he knew Africa was real. He had no answer. He had never though of God in that way. We don't have to see Him to know He is there. It's amazing to see that as we listen to those we teach and as we listen to the Spirit, it will be given to us what we should say in order to help them the most. JD and Tessa are coming along. =)

We had the cutest lesson with Brother Billingsley last night! We read about Abinadi and how he died for what he knew to be true. We asked him what that meant to him and he proceeded to share the sweetest testimony on how it doesn't matter what happens as long as we keep strong and how beautiful it will be to see Jesus again. He isn't afraid to die because he knows it will be such a wonderful moment when he sees his Savior. There is nothing better than hearing the testimony of the Savior from someone you love so much!

Also, Sister Sorensen got the call last night! She's going to be training next transfer! Which means I'm being kicked out of Solon (pretty sure, at least). I'm excited for her though!

Next weeks Prep Day is on Tuesday next week. Just FYI.

I love you all!!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Eleena Burns

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road

Kirtland, Ohio 44094