Weekly Letter -- 3.1.2016

Hello All!

This morning was wonderful!

We were able to have a final District Meeting in the School of the Prophets. We were all able to share our favorite verse about the Savior and bear testimony of Him. There are so many wonderful things that He has done and still does do for us. I am grateful for the time I had to ponder that this morning. 

The verses I chose to share was in John 14

 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I love these verses so very much. They have come to mean so much to me in my life. I have come to know that Jesus Christ truly loves us. He never leaves us without comfort. There have been times on my mission that I felt I could not keep going, but it was at those times that I had to rely on the Savior and I was given strength and comfort. I have been able to feel the peace that comes from the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that He lives. I know that He suffered and bled for me. I know that He loves me. I feel it every day in Ohio. Nothing means more to me than that. 

I hope you all know how much I love you. Thank you for the support and the love that you have all shown me. There is truly nothing better in this life than dedicating your life do Heavenly Father. The scripture is true, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it". I have come to know who I am while serving a mission. I have come to know how important all of God's children are to Him. In the end, I don't feel like I gave up anything. Heavenly Father has blessed me so much while being out here. I am forever grateful for this opportunity!  

I love you all!

Have a blessed day!

Sister Eleena Burns

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road

Kirtland, Ohio 44094

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRYSON AND JEANINE TODAY!!!!!

Tracting in the middle of nowhere on the most windy day of the year!
 But at least it was pretty!

Only the best place ever....​

With the coolest district ever....

Weekly Letter - 2.23.2016

Hello All!

Well, today has been strange. 

You spend your entire mission planning your days out and they normally go as planned....sure, it might be our backup plans, but at least we planned those, too. 

Today is not at all what we planned for. 

Last night we finished planning and all was well. Today we were supposed to be at Mission Leadership Council, but your plans changed drastically last night. 

My all time favorite missionary and her brand new companion were in a car accident lat night. They were life flighted to Cleveland Clinic and that's all we heard. 

The entire mission world paused. 

I cannot explain how lost we felt last night. We couldn't do anything. We didn't know what happened, how they were doing, or if they were even still alive. In times like this we often think of the worst possible outcome. We tried to push those thoughts away. I literally just read an article of the Sister Missionary in PA yesterday -- that wasn't helpful.

We all sat in our apartment in shock and silence for a while. But it was then that we did all that we could do -- we knelt down as sisters together and Sister Saunders offered the sweetest prayer I have ever heard.. She prayed for both sisters, for their families, for the doctors, for President and Sister Brown, for those involved. There is power in prayer and my testimony was strengthened of that last night. I have never felt God's love more for another person than I did at that time. There was an overwhelming Spirit that filled the room and I knew that Heavenly Father was watching over them. He loves His missionaries. There was and is great comfort and peace as we turned to the Lord and gave our will over to Him. 

They are doing okay. It's going to be a long road back to recovery, but the doctors say they should be alright.

This opened my eyes a bit. We are so blessed. You never know when, in a flash, your life is changed. Why do we ever complain? Why did I ever complain? The worst I have is an aching back, toe, leg, etc. Heavenly Father loves us so much. We do have trials, yes, but even through those hard times, we can and are strengthened through the power of the Atonement. The Lord never leaves us alone. He is always helping us along, even if He has to carry us at times. 

I know He loves us and I hope we all remember that. Count your blessings. They are everywhere. 

We're all doing alright. It's times like these that you draw closer to the Lord and rely on Him even more. That's what we're doing.     

 

Please keep them in your prayers. 

As for the rest of the work, it's going great. We had a lesson with Dante and were talking about The Book of Mormon when out of the blue he says, "Can I be baptized?" and continued asking more questions about what he has to do, etc. This is when a missionary pauses and has to think for a minute just to comprehend what he said. "Yes! Of course you can!". He hasn't been baptized and that's what he wants. It really did come out of nowhere, but hey, that's exciting! He's getting baptized next month! 

Well, know that I love you all! And I'm happy even with all of the sad. That's what happens when you keep God and the front of all that you're doing. =)

Have a blessed day!

Sister Eleena Burns

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road

Kirtland, Ohio 44094

P.S. Sorry for all of they typos. 

P.p.p.s.s.s....yesterday was my 2 years through the temple mark...on 2.22....I was thinking of Kendra all day!! 

Morgan took us to the Cleveland Museum of Art last Preparation Day. It was so good!

                                            and all I did was take pictures of furniture.... classic.  

Harry and Ron....do you wanna play chess?

It's a Frank Lloyd Wright window. 

Exchanges with Sister Edwards. She is a powerhouse!

District Meeting/interviews with President and Sister Brown.

Brooke and Jeff! Brooke is a member and we're teaching Jeff. I love them! And that cute little baby is Ella. She is so adorable!!!

Bill! Also, it reached 70 degrees outside. =)

Uma and Patar! I just love this family!!!

Marika  and her kids. They are from the Solon ward, but her parents are in the Shaker ward, so I got to see them on Saturday!! Also.....Kendra (or anyone), do you know of a single man in his 40s who has a job, testimony, and teeth? Marika is looking. Haha.  

Alexis. Only my favorite!

Here she is, fellas! 

Just Kirtland.