Friday, May 12, 2017

Monday, May 8, 2017

I lack the words to describe how grateful I am for the opportunity I had to serve a mission, and for all the friends I've made, people I've met, places I've been, areas I've seen, miracles I've witnessed, and all the growth that has taken place. I truly have been blessed, and I look forward to the future growth at home. I am so thankful for all of you and hope to keep in contact. 

   This past week I was on my final exchange, we blitzed the area (both sets of elders work in one area) We had service throughout the day until dinner (The family who invited us to dinner only invited 4 Elders, and we had 6 all together ) So we decided that Elder Childs and I would continue our exchange, and skip out on dinner. When we arrived at dinner Elder Childs and I went knocking doors in our service clothes offering service to any who might need it. We knocked a large stretch of houses with no luck, when we approached the final house of the stretch the other Elders drove up to pick us up. I almost skipped the last house thinking it would just be the same as every house, after all We have knocked many neighborhoods, houses, even small businesses in our area and had'nt had any luck teaching lessons. NO ONE WOULD LISTEN TO THE MESSAGE THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE IN THE AREA. We had a lot of luck with service but no one would listen to the message we have to share, so why now? I was just going to be stubborn, but Something inside my mind said "WHAT IF ITS DIFFERENT" WHAT IF THERE IS SOMEONE IN THERE THAT WILL LISTEN". Throughout my mission when I knocked doors I hated skipping houses because of that reason, it just didn't feel right to skip houses. I believe the spirit used my OCD of knocking every door to urge me to knock the last house, and reminded me that EVERYONE needs the opportunity to hear the message of the the restoration of Jesus Christ's original Church. When we knocked on the door A man named Steve answered the door, I introduced myself and asked what his name was, he told me and immediately I forgot his name. Though my memory failed me we continued to talk, he recognized that we were missionaries and said "OH Elders! Im a member of your church! He told us about his mission and about his services in the armed forces. He also told us about how the missionaries always seem to find him while looking for service! As e continued talking I asked for his name again, so he told me, and a few minutes later I felt that I forgot his name or I was going to say the wrong name, at this time I looked across the street and saw the other 4 Elders and thought, "one of them is bound to ask for his name" so I motioned them to come over. All 4 of them popped out of the car and came up to the doorstep. (Not a single person asked for his name) Steve noticed that we had packed our car like a clown car. We did due to the circumstances we were faced with. We all joked that we were skinny enough to squeeze. Somewhere during the time of our conversation Steve's daughter poked her head out and said "HEY BOYS!" and went back in and Steve's wife Ashley came out and joined! She is super sweet! A few moments after the other missionaries came Steve invited us in where we met his kids, Acaisha and Ambrose. Acaisha loves anything musical, and loves dancing! Ambrose is a genius :) He loves anything and everything that has to do with Science. 

  After meeting the family we all sat down and continued to speak, we spoke about church and invited them to come and meet the ward!  So this passed Sunday they came to church and enjoyed it! Ashley and Ambrose are working towards baptism on may 27th and eventually everyone of them getting sealed together as a family in the temple. I ask that you pray for each one of them that they may be strengthened and protected. They have been such a blessing to me and my testimony of God's love for all. I know that everything that day happened for a reason and that it was all part of God's plan for us. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve in Indiana and especially the areas I have had the pleasure to serve in. I couldn't of asked for a better area to finish my mission in, and a better family to meet before I go. Behind the last door is a beautiful family with infinite potential. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, I know He lives, I am thankful for Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice that he made for us all. Allowing us to enter back into the Presence of our Heavenly father. I testify that Jesus Christ and God love us no matter what and they are waiting for us to turn to them and to follow. Remember that the First great truth is that God loves us. I Love you all.
Elder Burnett Signing off.

Monday, March 27, 2017

We have been "fish'n for men" all week and havent had any success, but thats ok. I learned some valuable lessons on how to better follow the spirit when difficult situations arise. I know that when we need guidance God will help and provide for us if it be his will.

Other than that we went to do some service for a friend and built a pig pen for her. She had two pigs that we had to move. One of them was ptretty large and the other smaller. The small one I named Mjolnir, and the large one "Biscuit" ( I dont remember what I named the larger one.) Anyways I moved "Biscuit" and She screamed like I was about to lob her to her imminent demise. When We moved Mjolnir he was silent.  Mjolnir was clearly sick in my eyes, he was breathing heavy, ears drooped forward, head hanging low and breathing heavily, I wasn't sure if I wanted to move him since it could shock him to much moving him and putting him in a new area, but I wasnt sure if taking away his buddy would also stress him out. So after we moved them both we had the owner go and get some antibiotics for Mjolnir. Later Elder Crosland and I chopped a tree down and caught a squirrel! Then the neighbors shed caught on fire so Elder Hayes (A fire fighter) and Elder Reece went to go see if they could do anything to help while Elder Crosland and I finished off the tree with an ax. (SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF RANDOM STUFF TO THROW IN HUH?)  I almost forgot. Mjolnir died, we tried to help, Im not a pig doctor. RIP PIGGY MJOLNIR 

Thats about it friends hope you had a good week! love you guys
Whats up everyone! This week a couple of things happened this week. In preparation for a baptism that is coming up we went hunting for a guitar we could borrow for a special musical number that Elder Reece and I will be playing. The "HUNT" was unsuccessful and we found ourselves stuck in the other Elders area due to the timing of dinner. So for what ever time we had left we decided to go tracting in near by apartments. As we tracted the first few doors we did'nt get anything, however when we knocked the doors up a flight of stairs we met a man named James. We asked him if he had ever spoken with missionaries before, he said that he had! After Talking to him for a little while about his Job he invited us in and we had a great gospel conversation. James had explained to us that he was going to be moving soon, so I asked, "Where to?" He had told us that he would be moving to McCordsville in the Gateway apartments! (Which is where my companion and I just moved to.) We let him know that we would be happy to help him move when the time comes. He expressed his interest in coming to church and checking it out. So hopefully we can keep in contact with him. 
  Later on in the week we did a service project with a man named Jacob Scott. He is a really kind guy and invited us to help him clear the trees and logs in his neighbors yard while they were at work. We cranked it out in about 3 hours! Thus I sent a picture of us and the pile of wood, and the 400-500 lb log under our feet. It was a great time! By the way Jacob Scott is getting baptized may 25th! Please keep him and his family in your prayers! 

Other than that We have weird spiders hangin around waiting to strike and destroy any sense of security that we may have previously felt in our home. Then there is Elder Crosland waiting to attack anyone who tries to get to close to him after waking up from his slumber.  

I love you guys take care this week!!!

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Letter for 8Mar17:

I've been trying to keep busy. This week we ate with our investigator Juniper and met her family and husband. We ate chili and played cards with there Oldest (ALEX age 6) and spoke with her about life in general and talked about church. Juniper Fed all 4 of us and will be coming to church this week.

As far as anything else goes, we have been knocking doors, went to check out our new area, and looked at what our new apartment is going to look like. We will be out in nowheresville. All it is out there is farm land. If you drive out towards meridian Idaho where there is just open fields and farm. its pretty much what it looks like. Its 15 miles or more of nothing in any direction. There are two small towns we will be working out of mainly. Mccordsville and Fortville. Its almost the equivalent of driving west on ustick till the farm lands.

I also called up Victoria our recent converts in white river and spoke with her for a bit! Ill send ya some pictures. Love you guys

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Some bullet points since I haven't updated Davis' blog much since November:

  • He has been a district leader for a few months and seems to really enjoy it.
  • He was sick for a long time with a cold, but eventually got over it.
  • They woke up to a massive leak coming through the kitchen light.  The pipe in the apartment above them broke.  The fire department came to turn off the water main.
  •  He gets to do a ride along with the fire department every three weeks because his companion is a fireman and needs to keep his hours up for certification.
  • Davis will come home May 9th!
    This video of Davis messing with his companion made us laugh:


Other pictures:

Chopping wood


The plane


"Potato face"


Hottest wings