So Much to be Thankful For!

November 29, 2020

Good afternoon dear family and friends!  I hope this finds you well and that you had a great Thanksgiving! 

It was definitely different for Elder Burns and me as I'm sure it was different for a lot of you also. It was weird only buying a small turkey and fixing our Thanksgiving feast for two instead of 15 or more. It was a great feast though and I'm thankful for that! Later in the afternoon, many of the Senior Missionaries serving here gathered outside, socially distanced, and shared pie with each other. We had a wonderful time visiting and getting to know each other better.  

Thanksgiving evening, we had a "drive-by goodbye" to Elder and Sister Avey. Elder Avey served in the Historic Site Mission Presidency and, as I stated in my last letter,  he was recently diagnosed with cancer and had to leave the mission early to return home for treatment. They are an amazing couple and I am a better person for knowing them. Our first Sunday here, when we were still allowed to meet in person for church, Sister Avey visited with me for quite awhile after Sacrament Meeting. She is so sweet and made me feel so welcome. Later, we were able to take part in a tour of the new "Nauvoo Temple City" with them as the guides. It was a very spiritual experience.

These past few weeks, I've had Sister Allen working with me in the mechanic shop. She's made it a lot of fun, we've had some great conversations and I'll be sad to see her leave in two weeks. I'm finding the hard part of a mission is all of the good-byes as the other missionaries leave. With Sister Allen's help, we are accomplishing a lot but still have a way to go before it's organized! I told Kendall (my "boss") that I'm going to come back and haunt him if they don't keep it clean after I leave! 😂

We visited a store in Carthage called "Christmas Store" and I was in heaven!  They had over 100 decorated Christmas trees, all themed, and all of the ornaments for sale! Needless to say, I spent more than I should have but the little nutcracker ornaments we bought are so cute! I was hoping they would have a pioneer themed tree but they didn't. We also window shopped some of the stores in Nauvoo. One of the workers was so excited to "have people in the store!" Most of the stores are closed, out-of-business or for sale.

There is so much more to write but I'll end with this. The last few days were hard. I was missing my kids and grandkids - a lot! I wanted to be with them, hug them, hold them and just be there! I was thinking that I'm sacrificing all of that to clean an auto mechanic shop and I wasn't happy. I went to Heavenly Father in prayer and let Him know my feelings. As I was checking my email a few minutes later, I was prompted to open an email that I get weekly but have rarely opened. It was titled "What happens when you're grateful for EVERYTHING". I won't go into the details of the letter but it helped me greatly! I've loved being able to concentrate more on what I'm grateful for this past week with the #givethanks challenge from our Prophet and I truly am grateful for everything - the ups and downs, the highs and lows and even the auto mechanic shop because they all allow me to grow and become who I'm meant to be. I am finding joy in my journey and pray that you are also finding joy in your journey!

Love you!

Sister Burns

P.S. I encourage all of you to go online to  nauvoohistoricsites.org/live/ and book a live video tour and "visit" any of the historic sites here in Nauvoo and Carthage. It's a great opportunity to "be in Nauvoo".  

P.S.S.  Don't forget to #LightTheWorld! For a calendar of activities and other ideas of how you can light the world, visit lighttheworld.org

Our first snowfall - Tuesday, Nov. 24.  It melted pretty quickly.

                Elder Burns at home in his welding shop.     Looking at the temple never gets old.

                                       The front entrance to the FM Admin building.

This is the mess that I'm cleaning right now. 

Little by little we're making progress!

Our Thanksgiving dinner. 

This is by far the smallest table that I've ever had for a 

Thanksgiving dinner but we had a 

lovely day and were able to talk with almost all of our children. 

I'm sure thankful for Marco Polo! 

#GiveThanks

 

Happy Sabbath my dear friends and family!

What a joyful and busy week this has been!  As I mentioned in my previous email, Elder Burns and I were called to be over the Light the World activities for the missionaries here. We had several meetings for that this week and are excited to meet with others in the Nauvoo area and get things moving. One of the activities that we have been doing is making adult-sized bibs for the rest homes in Carthage. We completed that and have 53 bibs to give to them. Having been with my grandmas while they were in rest homes, I know what a blessing these bibs will be.  We look forward to doing food drives and other activities yet to be determined.

On the work front - the tool chests are clean and organized! Labels are being made for them now and I'm waiting for the carpentry shop to make me a storage area for the Dewalt tools. We hung some pegboard to make a dedicated space for specific tools needed and little by little (ever so little by little ) I am making progress. Elder Burns has been fixing trailers and making signs for some of the new homes that have been restored and are now a part of the tours. He is also being trained in other areas to take over for some of the other missionaries that are leaving soon. 

Wednesday we were blessed to be able to pick up 5 new YSM that are just arriving on their missions. We drove to St. Louis and had a very enjoyable ride back, listening to the excitement and stories of the YSM. There were 8 new YSMs that joined us that day. Of the five we picked up, one was from my hometown of Pocatello and one was close by in Blackfoot. The others were from Utah. It was such a joy to hear them tell of their "why" for serving a mission. Several of them commented that it was after receiving their Patriarchal Blessing  that they received the desire and knew that they would serve their missions. There is power in these blessings. If you have yours, please take the time to read it often. If you don't have one yet, please do what you need to do to receive yours. For my friends and family who have no idea what I'm talking about, please read this short article that explains more about them.  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/patriarchal-blessings?lang=eng

I #GiveThanks for my Patriarchal Blessing and the peace that I feel when I read it. It has given me direction in time of trial, it has given me peace and I am blessed to have it. 

Thursday we had several training meetings and they always leave me feeling spiritually fed. These next few meetings will be on Faith and developing the Christlike attribute of Faith. I have a favorite saying that says, "Faith is not knowing what the future holds. Faith is knowing who holds the future."  One of my favorite songs also talks about faith. Here are the words: 

Faith is knowing the sun will rise, lighting each new day.
Faith is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray.
Faith is like a little seed:
If planted, it will grow.
Faith is a swelling within my heart.
When I do right, I know.

Faith is knowing I lived with God before my mortal birth.
Faith is knowing I can return when my life ends on earth.
Faith is trust in God above;
In Christ, who showed the way.
Faith is strengthened; I feel it grow
Whenever I obey.

Friday President Nelson gave a short but powerful message to all who will listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlcILxGmVrI  At the end, he asked us to flood social media with things we are grateful for and use the hashtag #givethanks. It has brought me so much joy as I've read so many positive messages of gratitude. What do you #givethanks for?

We did receive some heartbreaking news this week. A beloved counselor in our site mission presidency was diagnosed with cancer and will be leaving the mission this week. Our love and prayers go with him and his sweet wife.

I am thankful this holiday season that I was raised by parents who were full of faith and good works. They knew and know, as do I, that Jesus is our Savior and that he hears and answers our prayers. They might not always be answered how I think they should be, but I've learned through the years that He answers them in a way that is best for me. He sees the whole picture and I only see a puzzle piece of it. I'm thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for the many, many blessings that that brings into my life. I'm grateful to be serving Him as a missionary for His church, in beautiful Nauvoo. I can guarantee you that if I didn't have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, I would not have left my children and grandchildren to serve Him for 18 months. I know He lives! I know that because He lives, I will be able to be with my family forever! That knowledge makes any sacrifice worth it! I love my Savior, I love His church, I love my family, I love all my friends - we are all one large family!

Happy Thanksgiving and remember to find things to be thankful for!

Sister Burns

Faith is like a little seed. If planted it will grow. Flower bed in front of the Visitor Center.

Working on the bibs for the rest homes.

Sockets, Mice and #Light the World

 

November 15, 2020

View of the Mississippi. I never tire of these views! 

Nauvoo has so much beauty that surrounds it!

Hello dear family and friends!

This week flew by and here it is, Sunday evening again. Again, I spent most of my working time organizing tool chests. I spent two+ days separating and organizing just the sockets! As I was working, a mouse ran by!   For those who know me well, I HATE mice! Needless to say, the mice are moving inside as it gets colder outside and I don't like it! I marched right over to the warehouse and picked up traps! I made Doug set them down because, well, I didn't want to risk a mouse running out to me. Haha  This week has also been nice since one of the other Sister Missionaries, Sister Allen, has been helping me sort and organize. It's been nice having some company in the mechanic shop.

This week we had interviews with President Rizley and his sweet wife. It was nice to be able to spend a few minutes with them. I'm grateful for them.

Covid is spreading like crazy here and the schools are now online and the rumors are that we'll be going into a lockdown soon. We can't have Thanksgiving dinner with the other missionaries as we had planned. That makes me sad. Doug and I decided to get the things to have our own Thanksgiving dinner, by ourselves. We bought the smallest  turkey that I think I have ever bought. It sure will be different this year.  The senior missionaries will be providing Thanksgiving dinner to the young Sister Missionaries. We are allowed to prepare and drop off the food  but we can't stay and visit. We are really restricted in what we can do with the YSM, because of Covid. My daughter did remind me that even with all that is going on, we are still very blessed and have it much easier than those who lived in the early days of the church. I am very thankful at this time of year for the sacrifices that my ancestors made  so that I can have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life today. 

The Sr. Missionaries are doing a service project for a local nursing home. We are making adult bibs. We met Saturday and had fun cutting, pinning, and sewing bibs. It'll take us a few more times getting together to finish them.

This morning, we were called in to meet with President Ballard, the 1st counselor in the site mission.  He asked if Elder Burns and I would chair the #Light the World this year for the mission. We'll be meeting with others in Nauvoo and  Carthage and doing what service we can to help. More details to come! To see what you can do to #lighttheworld, check out https://www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world-2020

Zoom tours are still being given of the historic sites here in Nauvoo and at the Carthage Jail. Visit nauvootours.as.me to schedule your tours. We've had people from all over the world participate in the tours. It's amazing how many are able to see the sites.

I am thankful, even with the restrictions, to be serving here in Nauvoo and look forward to this time of year. 

Love you all!

Sister Burns

Before  ☝ and in progress 👇

One of the socket drawers. 

We have no trees at our place, but every time the wind blows, 

we end up with a lot! This day was mild compared to most days! 

My dress for "Sunset by the Mississippi", a variety show that is 

presented in Nauvoo during the summer. I love this dress and even more, 

I love the sweet Sisters who made it for me!

We are all praying that Covid calms way down by next summer 

so we can proceed with the pageants, Sunset 

and the other summer activities in Nauvoo!

Sunrise from the FM parking lot. 

One of the bonuses of starting work at 7:00 a.m. 

I have to find bonuses because I am not a morning person! ;-)

How Firm a Foundation

 November 8, 2020

I can't believe that we have already been here in Nauvoo for a month. Time has flown by! My daughter, Eleena, summed it up pretty good when she said, "on a mission you have the longest days and the shortest weeks."  This is so true! I lose track of the days here.  I have continued cleaning the auto mechanic shop and I am making progress - a step at a time or should I say, a small section at a time. I thought that I had taken a "before" picture but I guess that I didn't. I need to do that. I cleaned a machine the other day that was coated in grease and someone came in and said they were surprised to see the machine was actually red and not black.   I've also been organizing the tool chests. Elder Burns continues working on the welding shop and enjoying it.

This week in Nauvoo was beautiful! The temperatures were perfect and the trees are still vibrant as the leaves continue to fall. The FM grounds missionaries are keeping busy! I miss meeting in person for our Sacrament Meeting and weekly training meetings. I'm thankful for the technology that allows us to meet together through Zoom.  I'm thankful for lunch time when the FM Missionaries all gather to eat together. It's a fun time to relax and visit with each other and get to know each other better.

As I've been cleaning, I've had a lot of time to think and also listen to books. My earbuds have become my friends! I don't know what I would do without them! :-)  One of the books that I was listening to was talking about what our foundations are made of. Are they set in the sand or the rock? It made me start thinking about what my foundation is really set on and how firm is it?  My rock foundation is Jesus Christ. He is my Savior, my Redeemer, my friend. He has carried my burdens when they were too heavy for me to carry alone. I know he suffered for my sins, my shortcomings and the pains that I would feel in this life. 

Saturday, we were able to go to Adam-Ondi-Ahman and one of the comments that was made there was also about foundations. He said that many saints lived in Adam-Ondi-Ahman for many months before they were driven out. Most of the homes that were built were made without foundations so there are no remnants left of those homes. The homes that were built with rock foundations still have remnants of the foundations there. So, my question for all of us is - what is your foundation made of? How strong is it? Will it hold on through the storms of life? 

This is a conference talk that I really like that is worth reading-  it talks more about this more eloquently than I can and gives us ways to continually strengthen our foundations. 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2006/10/how-firm-a-foundation?lang=eng

I love this mission and am grateful to be serving here in beautiful Nauvoo. I miss my kids and grandkids like crazy and long for their hugs! I'm glad that they are close together and support each other and that they know we love them! I love our bi-weekly zoom calls when we are all on together!

Life is great, life is hard, life is crazy but it's so worth it!

Love you! 

Sister Burns

This is called Preacher Rock. It is thought that Joseph Smith might have preached from here. 

If you look really close, you can see a large hole in the tree. 

They call it the Keebler tree - where the Keebler elves live. 😉

Bloom Where You're Planted

Nov. 1, 2020

Hello dear friends and family!

A few weeks ago in Sacrament Meeting, the speaker told of the FM (Facility Management) sisters digging up the tulip bulbs after the spring blooms were finished. For those who don't know about tulip bulbs, they are round on one end and pointed on the other. To plant a bulb, you go down about 6 inches and plant it pointed end up. This sister told of a bulb that she dug up that  was buried a lot deeper than the 6 inches and was also planted sideways. She said that the tulip stem had wrapped around the bulb and back to the point before it started its journey upward. She then compared that to us and how, often, in our search for light, we need to keep trying and trying until we make it to where we can find the sunshine again. That we need to keep enduring! Sometimes, we just need to bloom where we are planted, no matter how different that looks from what we imagined!

That was my week! I really had to figure out how to "bloom where I was planted". When we received our mission call, I was excited to be serving in Nauvoo and had ideas of what I would be doing - working with other FM Sisters in gardening, sewing, conservation, etc. Instead, Monday morning, Elder Burns and I were given our assignments and we were placed in ... the Auto Mechanic and Welding Department. I was pretty sure that Elder Burns would be placed there but that's one of the last places that I wanted to be! Well, the thought of "bloom where you're planted" came pretty quickly to my mind and I decided to do just that!

While Elder Burns has been doing welding and loving it, I've been collecting odometer readings on all the FM vehicles which wasn't bad except that it was cold and my hands were freezing by the time I located the keys on the huge keychain, opened the cars, recorded the reading and moved on to the next one. There were several that I had to drive around to find. If you know me well, you know I hate driving large trucks and avoid driving our own truck - a dodge 3500 dually. Well, we were assigned a truck to drive and as I was looking for one of those trucks, I saw them driving down the road so I started following them. Little did I know that I would end up going up a narrow winding road with very few places to turn around. I ended up having one of the Elder FM workers turn it around for me. Then, I was assigned to take the trucks to Carthage for inspections. I'm getting more comfortable in the trucks as I go. I also cleaned up a big oil spill (not of my doing!),  crushed oil filters, etc. Not what I thought I'd be doing but I'm finding joy in the journey! 

Due to the increase in the Covid outbreak, we can no longer gather for church and restaurants are closed to indoor seating again. I'm thankful for Zoom technology that still allows us to gather for meetings and thankful for a husband who can administer the Sacrament in our home.

Saturday we were able to join with a few other FM couples to drive the Martyrdom Trail, the trail that Joseph and Hyrum took from Nauvoo to Carthage. As we drove it, I thought of them, as they rode on horseback to Carthage, Joseph knowing that he would not return home alive. I wondered what they talked about and how they felt. After we made it to Carthage, we were privileged to have a tour of the jail that Joseph and Hyrum were martyred in. I've been there several times and I'm always humbled to stand in the room where Joseph spent his last hours. I know that Joseph was a prophet of God and that, through him, the true gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to this earth. I am so grateful for the sacrifices that he made, so that I can be a member of this church today. I'm grateful for my ancestors who also sacrificed much so I can have this gospel in my life. I'm excited to learn more about them as I serve here in Nauvoo. 

There is so much more that I would like to share, but I fear I've already written a novel. 

I'm thankful to be here serving in this sacred area and on these sacred grounds.

Love to all,

Sister Burns 

If you'd like to participate in a virtual tour, please visit nauvootours.as.me

The start of the Martyrdom Trail. 

The half-way stop on the Martyrdom Trail

The back of Carthage Jail. Joseph landed by the well after being shot in the upper bedroom of the jail and then falling from the above window.

A beautiful eagle that I saw on my trip down the narrow winding road. 

The large oil spill that I had to clean up. This was after part of it was already cleaned up. Sawdust is my new friend. 

This is a sneak peak of my pioneer dresses. One will be used for doing site tours and the other one will be for performing in "Sunset by the Mississippi". We're praying things open again so we can do "Sunset" this summer.