Email December 15, 2014

Email December 15, 2014 – Elder Kenneth Wm. Burton

Bunch of Burtons

Its been a great week! We have found a tone of new people who are wanting to learn more about the gospel. Now comes trying to get back into contact with everyone so that we can actually teach them. The first contact always seems to be a miracle in itself because it seems to be the only time that person is ever home. Tuesday morning we set out to stop by an old potential investigator and decided last minute to walk instead of bike so that we would have more opportunities to give out the "He is the Gift" cards. The third person we tried to talk to made eye contact with me and walked right over before I could approach him. He shook my hand and we started talking, I mentioned who we were and what our message was, but then he cut in nodding his head and said it had been a while and he asked when we were going to come by. Confused, we asked his name and realized he is the man we were on the way to visit. If we had decided to bike after all we never would have ran into him. Now we have an appointment set up for next Wednesday.

Quote of the week....

"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito."-Delai Lama

 I laughed when I first read this quote. It reminded me quite a bit of Camp Loll... How can something so small be so annoying? One little bite can cause one to itch for days. A large bump on the arm that even when itched off stays itchy, and soon you have a bloody mess to clean up, even more annoying! The only way to protect your self is long sleeves or a bad smelling, expensive spray that melts your watch, and stains your cloths. If such a small mosquito can bring fourth so many ills than why can't we bring fourth even more joys. "Mind is the master power that molds and makes and man is mind and taking what he wills brings fourth a thousand joys a thousand ills. He thinks in secret and it comes to pass, environment is but his looking glass." We don't want to bite off more than we can chew but when we do bite its much larger than that of a mosquito. And each bite can make a big difference. Look at Monica for example. She was just baptized on Saturday, the other Elders in our branch have been teaching her. The Elders had gotten a call from a member 4 weeks ago saying that they had a friend, Monica, who wanted to be baptized. Because of the example of members in a knitting group Monica got a hold of the Book of Mormon and came to find the truth of the restored gospel. I'm not sure on all the details but someones small bite made a difference.

Sorry this is kind of a short email. Last thought. "Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Rise up. Its difficult to see where you can go and who you can be if your still on the ground after a fall. The church is here on the earth to allow us to rise up and move forward. Christs was born into the earth to give us an opportunity to rise up and never need to look back. A member recently asked us why we stay in the church. A great question. Because I know that the truths of the gospel are the only things that will help me to become what I can be. Our full potential is only possible if we take the standards of the church to be the basis by witch we live our lives, it is reached only by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

I love you all. Have a great week!

Meget Kærlighed!

Elder Burton