Sister Burbank meets her new companion. Video of Missionary Transfer Meeting in Thailand.

Sister Katie Burbank is at the 6:10 minute mark meeting her new companion. Elder Reid, also from Vancouver WA is in the video too somewhere.

I have been transfered to the southern border of Thailand close to Cambodian. Its called Sisaket.

No time this week. :( 

We went to Ubon today, and have less than an hour to email.

I will have to figure it out next week.

I LOVE THIS NEW AREA...Sisaket!!!

It's Rowland's favorite and I am just in love with the members,

it functions like an american branch but the size of P'lok,

AND ITS ISSAN.,

And my new comp (Sister Adams) is finishing her mission in six weeks.

We are going to bangkok again this week because my comp is a Sister Training Leader.

I won't be sending a group email home.

Sorry.,

Just update the blog to say where I am.

THANK YOU! 

Love you,

Sister Burbank

Rina and me at transfer meeting

Sisaket Missionary District

New District:

-Sister Adams (Kaysville, UT) Finishes her mission April 17,2015

-ME

-Elder Webb (Rexburg, ID) He was in the MTC with me!! :) Lov him.

-Elder Davis (Kaysville, UT) He graduated the same year as me, but is finishing his mission in Aug, He is our DL and he is so good! 

-Elder Johnson (Spanish Forks, UT) He finishes his mission the same time as Rina. He is good. I knew him before we both got called to serve here, and he served with Rina in Khon Kaen.

-Elder Kavin! He is khon Thai and already spoke Thai when he got here, but he is from Orem UT! 

THAT'S ALL OF US! IT'S SO FUN.

 Waterfall with no water

WHO'S GOING TO PLAY PIANO NOW! Being Transferred.

THE CALL CAME! 

So Sister Morgan and I are moving out of พิ'โลก! (P-Lok)

No one saw that coming.

President is crazy..

I honestly just don't know what to feel! 

I love this area!! It is all I know and I feel like it's home. It's going to be interesting moving for the first time since I came into country! 

I have grown to love these people so much. They are my other family! 

WHO'S GOING TO PLAY PIANO NOW! 

I feel so scatter brained, but at peace with it. 

Well I am keeping this email short because I just found out I actually do have to pack! 

I just want to bare my testimony really quick on the Book of Mormon. I just finished reading it for the first time this morning since being on my mission, and I know now more than ever that it is the Word of God. There's no way I can deny it. If Joseph Smith lied and made the whole thing up, there is NO WAY that it would make me feel the way I do about it.

That is a conviction I will take with me to my grave.

I feel like Moroni.

Moroni 1:3 - "And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ;..."

จบ

Christ is the Savior of the world. The Book of Mormon is evidence of that. Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and more people are coming to that knowledge here than ever before.

Have a great week! I'm officially homeless.

รัก,

Sister Burbank

Here's to my last week as a greenie!

สวัสดีคะ...สบายดีไหมคะ

Here's to my last week as a greenie! My training officially ends on Sunday, March 1st.

Where has the time gone??? I honestly just can't believe I have almost been out on my mission for 5 months! 

I love it here. รักพิษณุโลกมากกกกกๆ

Next Thursday (March 5th) is transfers and I have no idea what is going to happen. I could stay; I could leave. Who knows! President's crazy. I do know for sure that I am going though, because I think I have Visa stuff I have to get figured out. Everyone has to go through it at the end of their second transfer. So there's no problem, don't worry.

We had a crazy rainstorm yesterday! The second one since I have been here. Yesterday was even worse though. It just poured. We had thunder and lightening and everything! It was so cool!! 

Glad I got the mud flaps on my bike this last week. 

Anyways! This week was full of miracles. I don't think I will ever get used to how many miracles I have seen since being here! (Quick note: OUR WHOLE ZONE GOT BALANCED THIS WEEK!) 

So the new focus in the mission has been families, and specifically teaching part member families. Ironically, one of the very strong members here, (Sister Amy, who has one of her twin sons out on a mission in Utah right now!!) had her mom move into her house this last week from Chiang Mai! She isn't a member, and has actually been Catholic for the last 2 years. We didn't know if she was going to be interested.  When we went over there, Sister Amy wanted us to come teach her. So we did! She ended up loving it, and says she wants to be baptized! We couldn't believe it! 

She is the sweetest 85 year old lady ever. She is just very sick, and hard of hearing so it's way fun to try and teach her! 

I just have such a love for the people here! I just want to stay forever! :) 

Anyways. Just a quick email this week. We are going to sightseeing with the members!

Love you all! 

Have a great week!

~Sister Burbank

It started raining right after we took the picture with the ta-gah players. This is what we looked like when we got home! 555 LOVE RAIN SO MUCH!

Sister Mut, I love her.

Sis Burbank, Sis Alley, Sis Mut

Ta-gah Players, they are seriously so boss. Sis Alley and I are addicted!!! We have a couple RC's that can play and have been teaching us. We practice all the time now. Obsessed.

Ta-gah is like hacky sack with a small hard plastic ball. Normally you play with a volleyball type net. It's like volleyball with your feet. 

That old man in the white shirt is 84 years old and still plays.

We rode ELEPHANTS!

So this week was just exciting! 

Last P-day we ไปเทียว with the members and rode ELEPHANTS. It was probably one of the coolest experience of my life. It hurt so bad, but not enough that I regret doing it. I'm thinking about investing in one when I get home. As you can tell by the pictures I was just really excited the whole time. 

Then another exciting event from this last week. WE WENT TO CHIANG MAI! So we left Tuesday night after English Class and took a 6 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai to do an exchange. It was so much fun, and I learned a lot. Ironically, Sister Remington was my companion for the day!! She was my MTC companion so the fact that we got to see each other and actually do real missionary work together in the field was SO FUN. I love her so much! Her companion is Sister Ellis (aka. our STL, aka. Sister Alley's bestfriend) So Sister Alley got a chance to be companions for a day with her best friend, and I got a chance to hangout with Sister Remington again! It was such a blessing. And I have always wanted to see Chiang Mai, ever since I got my call to Thailand, so I was just so content. It's those feelings of peace that make this all worth it.

There is also nothing like the feeling of teaching. Teaching strangers while inviting on the streets of P'lok, teaching investigators in our tiny church building, or teaching members in their homes. I love it all! It's not easy work. Sometimes I wonder why this is so hard. But then I remember the wise words of my brother, Brandyn. 

"The Gospel: to bring comfort to the afflicted & afflictions to the comfortable [complacent]."

Every time I face challenges on this mission I just think of that quote, and the higher law behind WHY I am having these "afflictions".  (Strength is only attained through resistance). It's to better understand the Atonement. To better understand the Gospel:

Faith.

Repentance.

Baptism/the Sacrament

The Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Enduring to the End. 

Every challenge you face in life is essentially a decision or crossroad where you are again given the opportunity to respond by applying teachings of Christ or applying the teachings of Satan (aka. Natural Man). As we continually chose to apply the teachings of Christ. Our confidence in the effectiveness and power of His teachings increases. Or in other words...our FAITH. The power of Christ's teachings is reflected in our ability to overcome obstacles. Each time we are brought to these crossroads in life and chose Christ, we increase our faith even to repentance, then as we repent and feel the enabling and cleansing power of the Atonement in our life, our understanding of the Atonement increases. And we FEEL BETTER. That is the key. Faith unto repentance unto feeling better. That's the gospel according to Sister Burbank. A recipe to feeling better in life. Feeling peace. REAL PEACE. 

There is no better feeling in life than right after partaking of the sacrament. Which is exactly how it should be because when we partake of the sacrament we once again enter into that covenant with God, that we made at baptism, to do everything in our power to follow and remember Him, and in return we receive forgiveness for our imperfection and are promised that if we strive to keep His commandments we will ALWAYS have His spirit, or the Gift of the Holy Ghost, to be with us. And since we are imperfect, He mercifully gives us the opportunity to receive forgiveness every single Sunday if we would just go to church, remember the sacrifice of our Savior, and partake of the Sacrament. This is Enduring to the End. 

That's the Gospel or the teachings of Christ, and that is how the gospel brings comfort to the afflicted. The problem is. Once we receive that comfort and feel the peace, we forget (because we are weak imperfect beings) that it is our obedience to the commandments that brought that peace in the first place. We start slacking on our commitment to keep the commandments and we sin or become complacent. That is why Enduring to the End is the hardest part of the Gospel, because it requires patience. Patience with our imperfection. But I know that it is praying and studying the scriptures daily that has strengthened my faith to the point that I know every single day I can repent and feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, or peace, again in my life regardless of my imperfections. Then on Sunday I can receive the forgiveness (sanctification/cleansing by the Holy Ghost) from partaking of the sacrament. This process is essentially why I am still a member of this Church. If I did not have the confidence (faith) that I actually am receiving forgiveness every time I go to church and partake of the sacrament, I would not be an active member of this Church. But I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ this is all made possible. Peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come IS possible, by following what Christ taught us and still teaches us. The ONLY way I learned any of this was from studying (which implies more than just simply reading) the Book of Mormon which contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So naturally, I invite everyone everywhere to study the Book of Mormon, and learn all of this for yourself. And then by the power of the Holy Ghost you will gain your own witness like I have of the truthfulness of this all. (Moroni 10:3-5)

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. 

I know Joseph Smith by the power of God translated the Book of Mormon.

I know Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

I know this is the way of life. 

Have a great week! Love from Thailand.

~Sister Burbank

Riding the Elephants!!!

Elephant Hair ~ Good luck!

Lunch with Sis. Remington in Chiang Mai!

Together again with my MTC companion Sis. Remington

~ visiting CHIANG MAI ~

Closest Subway - 6 hrs away in Chiang Mai

Beautiful Thailand~ We biked an hour to a members house and we were about to bike the hour back but had to stop for this picture! SO BEAUTIFUL!

Sis. Alley got a back seat on her bike.  hahaha

going to ride the elephants

Eating Vietnam food

If you ever wondered how they paint the lines on the road. 

Thailand is where I will BECOME who God needs me to become

Not a lot of time this week, so I will share what I sent to President.

We had a baptism yesterday with these two amazing girls!! They are so awesome. I just feel so blessed to be here! I have so much to be thankful for. This last Friday we had BOM class just as usual but this week was particularly wonderful. We were reading together in Mosiah and got on the topic of the Atonement. A member didn't fully understand the significance of it which led to Elder Call bearing the most powerful testimony I have ever heard on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and on a lot of other things but I honestly cannot remember anything he said. I just remember how the silence felt after he spoke. It felt like everyone was holding their breath. I was so incredibly touched by the Spirit in that moment that I was on the verge of tears.  I don't know how I can accurately explain this event to you in a way that makes sense, but just know that there was not one soul in the room, investigator to the oldest member, that wasn't touched. I really admire that about Elder Call. His sincere testimony and commitment to his mission is such an incredible example to me. He has a special spirit about him and the members and investigators alike notice that. I feel privileged to be working with him here in P'lok. He has been a great leader for this area. I also have just been so amazed with the miracles I have seen here. I will never have time to share all of them, but I am so thankful for everyday I have here. I treasure it so much. I can feel the strengthening of my testimony everyday I have been on my mission. This was a huge leap of faith for me to come out here, but I know as I trust in the Lord I will become an instrument in His hands, and accomplish the things He has sent me to do. 

I will end with a quote our zone leaders shared with us at Zone Training.

"You were not called for what you did. You were called for what you will BECOME."

I know that I was called to Thailand not because of what I did in the past. I was called to Thailand because Thailand is where I will BECOME who God needs me to become.

I love my Savior so much. If the only thing people ever remember about me is that fact right there. I will be content because I do love my Savior. He is the reason I am here.

I'm happy! :)

Have a great week! 

~Sister Burbank

Just chilling by the water fall

Love these two so much, they got baptized yesterday

 

Sis Ally on suspension bridge.

Waterfall

Love this country

 First accident of the mission. Stopped too fast on my bike and flipped off of it. The gears got my leg.

Visited Eve and Elizabeth this last week, Talked alot about Nin and Ron! They are in the branch here in P'lok

I love this Sister so much. She loves America so much she got the American ice cream from Swensen's 555