Email June 22, 2015

Email June 22, 2015 – Elder Kenneth Wm. Burton

Bunch of Burtons

Its weird getting a new companion that you already know, it makes it feel like you have already been companions for a lot longer than a week.

Lets see... On Tuesday we had organized a movie night at the church building and had a great turn out. Between us and the Sisters as well as friends people brought there were about 10 non members who came, as well as the 30 or so members. We had a barbecue dinner and then went in and watched "Meet the Mormons". Great documentary, everyone liked it. Not many of the members had seen it yet, because it hast been advertised or anything here in Denmark.

On Thursday and Friday we spent a couple hours each day helping a members neighbor with some yard work. We dug up an area next to her drive way and filled it in with gravel so that she could park her trailer there. She was very grateful, she has recently been having some back problems and cant do much physical labor. 

Our friend Rusland finally got back from his trip to Romania, visiting family. He's been gone for about three or four weeks. Sounds like he had a nice trip. Rusland lived in Salt Lake for about ten years and has moved here to Denmark about a year and a half ago. He's known of the church for a while but hadn't really liked it until he met a couple Sister missionaries here in Denmark about two weeks after he arrived here. Sense then he has met off and on with the missionaries and knows a ton about the church. He always impresses me very much every time we meet. He has changed his life around so much in the last couple of years and he has such a strong desire to come unto Christ. In our last visit I asked him the question kind of who he wanted to be. "If all else was removed, and there you stood alone, who would you be?" He surprised me by answering "Probably the same as I am right now". He then explained how no matter where he is in the future all he wants, and will want, will be to come closer to God. That comment struck me hard. I always consider who I want to be when I do stand alone. Maybe when I'm there meeting Christ, what attributes would I have, what would my character be like, who would I be? I've tried to describe it, who I want to be, but it is so much more a feeling. A feeling I get as I am moving towards Christ. I'm not perfect, and can't be in this life. All I want is to continue to come unto Christ. No matter where I'm at in the future, I expect to be on a path, it will be straight and narrow, and I will be clutching to a rod of iron moving towards my Savior.

In the preparation for a talk I gave yesterday in sacrament meeting I had a thought about that process. Specifically having to do with prayer. Prayer and the sacrament. Each week that we partake of the sacrament and in our baptismal covenant we are showing God "[we] witness [unto him... that [we] are willing to take upon [us]the name of [Gods] Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments." We show we are willing to remember Him! And if we do so we are promised to always have his spirit to be with us. We can fulfill this covenant through prayer each day. We go to the Father in prayer and witness to him that we remember him. Its one thing to remember someone, its another to let them know their on your mind. We do this weekly by taking the sacrament, but then in a smaller way we can do so each day by remembering him in prayer.

Thanks everyone for the emails each week, Its great to hear from you all!

Meget Kærlighed,

Elder Burton