Email October 26, 2015

Email October 26, 2015 – Elder Kenneth William Burton

Bunch of Burtons

Some weeks I sit down at the keyboard excited to report on the great week that we had and my mind goes blank. Ahh well, I'll just start typing and see what comes.

The scripture I'm ponderizing this week is Moroni 7:45&47, "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever;and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him".

Its my hope that I might be able to recognize opportunities this week that I can act to be blessed with the gift of charity. That I might be kind, long suffering, be pure in heart and mind. That I may develop through the gift of Christ the attributes that he himself so perfectly applies.

There was a verse in Ether 12:36 that reads, "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity."

Only through Gods gift and grace do we receive charity. 

My goal is to always have the Holy Ghost as a companion and guide, and to act upon the promptings he gives me. I feel that that will come in a greater abundance as I act charitably. As I think more about and am aware of those around me. It takes a higher level of thinking than I'm use to, but its and ability I want to master. The Holy Ghost speaks more when we are seeking. When we are exerting effort to feel his guidance. Or I guess he is always speaking we just need to be paying closer attention. Its hard, but "hard can be good".

Gods blessed me with many recent opportunities to give priesthood blessings for the guidance and strength of others. These opportunities have helped me to become closer to the Spirit and recognize the way he communicates. I've seen others receive blessings and guidance that could only come from God, because I've been blessed to follow the promptings given by the Holy Ghost.

God is here, and he loves his children so much. He gives the smallest almost unnoticeable promptings and impressions to guide his children home. Sometimes these come through others, sometimes its our circumstances. God knows us each perfectly and is patient enough to help us move on the path back to him. We just need to remain humble enough to follow and recognize him.

Mitch came to church yesterday! We saw him on Saturday and were able to give him an anointing and blessing. Before we left he expressed his desire to start coming back to church and investigating more. Although he said he very much doubted he'd be able to make it the next day because of the way his sleeping scheduled has been thrown off. Then he had the best night sleep he's had in weeks, and was able to make it to church on his own! He showed up in the middle of sacrament meeting, and everyone was surprised and happy to see him.

Ruslan is back from his on and off vacation the last few months. He called us this last week to tell us that he had a friend named Victor who is wanting to meet with us and come to church. Victor was once Orthodox but hasn't practiced it in a while and is wanting to find religion again. So I guess he talked with Ruslan and is wanting to see what we have to offer.

This last week has been amazing! We've found multiple new friends to teach, all of whom are pretty positive and are searching for something. We're excited to see where things go.

We found our new favorite kebab shop in Horsens. A kebab is like a tortilla with lamb meat, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and maybe some chili. Way good. We stopped by this shop because I had met the owner a few times before. So we stopped in and ordered, then sat with the owner for half and hour talking about what we believe. He's Muslim in belief, and has a lot of great questions. When we went to pay, calling us his religious buddies gave us a pretty nice discount on the meal. Way nice guy.

I hope you all are doing well!

Love, Elder Burton