Ada, Oaklahoma

My dearest mother it is good to write you. I'm glad the week has been a good one. So first things first, I am soooooo excited for Jessica that is fantastic!! You need to tell that woman to write me!! So my mission family is awesome, but I super love sister Taylor, she is amazing!! Kind of reminds me of you, but not as cool! :) So the night we arrived in OK we had training, dinner, received our bikes, emailed home, interviews, and had a quiz on ZL's, couple missionaries in the office, and played Jeopardy. It was a fun night. I've never been so excited to have a bike! Ok onto the juicy stuffs. My trainer is named Elder Anderson from Danville, California. He has been out 10 months and I'm his first son (trainee). He is pretty awesome. He is probably 2 inches taller than me, and buff. He was a cornerback/runningback in High School. He is pretty awesome. He is actually a Spanish missionary. We have had dose lessons so far where I have been inspecting the home we are in because I have no clue what they are saying until I hear Jose Smith and cabesa. That is when E. Anderson is reciting the first vision to the investigators. So I try to be real quiet at that part so the spirit can be there as strongly as possible. Other than that we have had one other lesson with an investigator. It has been rough, since we are shot-gunning an area, meaning we are both new to the area (which is Ada, OK) and we know nothing about the area. There are 2 other missionaries in Ada but they knew we were coming like 3 weeks ago so they basically dropped anyone in the area we would be in because Ada was getting split, so they focused their efforts on the north. So in reality we are basically opening a new area. Our area has a college and Pres. Taylor has given us permission to proselyte on campus, which is very rare for elders, usually only sisters are allowed because of the possibility of distraction. I guess he trusts us. The ward we serve in has about 60 people attend church actively, just in October it was made into a ward, it used to be a branch. Oh so we had a service project on Saturday for these two investigators, and I am scarred!!!!! We were moving this lady from a home, that was condemned by the city. This ladies roommate allowed 15 Chiuauas to live in the home, and did not care if they defecated or urinated where they pleased. It was horrendous. Poop everywhere, the tile floor was slick from who knows what, cockroaches a plenty, and we found brown recluses, and another spider that apparently when bitten its poison eats your skin and leaves giant holes in your arm or legs. I nearly threw-up when entering the house. And being the good boy my daddy taught me to be, I took the lead and grinned and bore it. I have no clue if I will ever be able to recover from that traumatic experience. Lysol was my best friend after that! When we got home, we all took showers!!! We are not sharing an apartment by-the-way. E. Anderson and I actually have a pretty sweet apartment, it has a dishwasher, fridge and freezer, and a washer and dryer. Well I don't know what else to say, besides we have been doing a ton of tracting and have had some success. We have like 7 potential investigators and only one is atheist, but her little sister is religious, so she wants to get into religion. Her name is October. She is pretty awesome, she always has crazy hair-do's because she is a hairstylist. Oh I met my first jerk this week :) He was raking his lawn, which isn't a lawn!!! There is no green here, the biggest thing I miss is how green California is, and sidewalks, and bike lanes. Those are of no existence here. Anyways he was raking his dirt, and we offered help, he declined, then we offered something we call heavenly gifting, meaning we offer to have a prayer with him, it has been found to be less intrusive and aggressive, and allows us to get return appointments easier. Anyway I digress, we offer a prayer and then he blew up, he started yelling and then he asked if a Buddhist came up to us and asked if he could have a prayer with us would we allow it? Us being missionaries and knowing rejection, said yeah we probably would allow a prayer. That caught him off guard, so he told us to go back home and wait for them then. And that we shouldn't be forcing our religion on people. We smiled and told him to have a good day. I don't think he knew what to do with us being happy still. I love this work, and I love these people. They are so friendly and kind, and conversational. Even the students, which surprised me. I am so glad to be here in Ada it has only been a week but it has been fantastic! Our ward mission leader is enthusiastic, and takes his calling seriously so that's great. Our bishop is a cold and blunt man, but he is a good man, and wants the work to go forward, we are happy with that. No I have not received the shirts yet, but I am sure they are in the office. We head back next Wednesday for a trainer checkup so we will be able to check then. I love you so much thank you for the support and prayers, I feel them.

 

            Love,

                Elder Burnham #2