One Year Mark! English.Thai.French.Cambodian.Arabic? October 5th, 2015

Hello! Bonjour! สวัสดี!  

This Thursday marks my year mark as a missionary in the Thailand Bangkok Mission! 

I can't even explain to you how crazy that is. 

I keep randomly saying to Sister Hayes: "I have been doing this for a YEAR?!" 

She just laughs at me. 

But seriously the time really did fly by. 

I feel like it was just yesterday Uncle Bill and Aunt Linda Jones were dropping me off at the MTC, in Provo, UT. But honestly if there is one indication that time really has passed it is looking at the growth I have seen in myself. It's so cliche (meow) but this last week it was as if I had come a complete circle.

Saturday: Started off like any other Saturday morning. Woke up (6:30), grudgingly threw myself on the floor to pray (since I made a pact with myself before my mission that I would get out of bed and kneel ON THE FLOOR every single morning), repented for grudgingly throwing myself on the floor, then got up to do my short little work out routine to try and throw some life into me. Next, showered, ate a yogurt (or 2 or 3), a banana (or 2 or 3), and 3 cucumbers like I do every morning and then sat down for studies. Of course had an amazing personal study about Mosiah 4 and the true meaning of Charity. Then had an equally amazing companionship study with my perfect companion Sister Hayes, (honestly though, I think she is perfect), and then proceeded to prepare to go to our meetings. Met as a district with our ward mission leader (B. Suu) and talked about how we can save these ลูกแกะ, next we made our way to Sabushii for lunch (aka. All you can eat SUSHi) in preparation for Fast Sunday. Following that glorious afternoon, we met with a Recent Convert Sister and helped her overcome her fears of paying tithing. Which actually was a really spiritually led lesson. I feel like every one benefited from that. Anyway after we finished doing all of that, it was still only 6pm. Which means we got to invite for the last 2 hours of the day! So we prayed and then went to the church to grab inviting cards, then hit the streets of Bangkok, talking to literally everyone we saw. It's so entertaining to watch peoples reactions to us when we talk to them. Even now, after a year of inviting, I still get a kick out of it. So after around the two hour mark of just walking up and down the streets, we found our way back to the church. Then, the most ironic thing of my whole mission happened to me. As we are about to walk into the parking lot of the church, a man walks by which we obviously stop and talk to. Except as we are speaking Thai at him we realize he doesn't speak Thai, so we try English. Nope wrong answer. But closer. He manages to stumble out the word "French", which then makes Sister Hayes turn, stare at me and say "Hey you speak french!". I reply "Uh, no...I USED to speak french." which became very apparent when I awkwardly tried to communicate with this man in my broken French. He agrees to come inside the church though, and we show him the Sacrament room. Somehow we communicated him to come to church the next day at 9 am. By saying, "Tomorrow, neuf (9), tomorrow, neuf (9), yeah? okay!" He proceeded to leave, and Sister Hayes and I just stared at each other like "What just happened??" Then we burst out laughing...555+. We then just went home and planned for the rest of the evening and got ready for Fast Sunday. 

Sunday: THE FRENCH MAN SHOWS UP! He actually COMES to the church at 9am. I am not even kidding you. Sister Hayes and I almost died. That isn't even the biggest miracle. We had 4 white visitors at church that day too from Australia. Two were a daughter (Zelda Matthews) and mother (Janet Matthews) from Brisbane area, Australia, and the other two were a husband and wife couple from Perth, Australia who knew Sister Aubrey Allen from Camas, WA! The two groups didn't even know each other, but the man from Perth served his mission in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was born in England. And Zelda Matthews served her mission in Montreal, Canada. Zelda still could speak a little so she helped us communicate with Bassem (the name of the investigator). The coolest thing was that I could understand when they spoke, but I couldn't speak myself. SO CRAZY. But then as she is speaking to him, I realize something. He doesn't even speak French!! He actually is from Tunisia, Africa, and only speaks a little french. His native language is Arabic! But when Zelda asked if he was muslin, he said no, I am christian. That is about all we could figure out, since he really couldn't speak french either. So we ended up just getting his number and making an apt for Tuesday. Now we need to find a Book of Mormon in Arabic. Which they do have bytheway, and actually there is a member here in Srinakharin who lived in Egypt 6 years ago, and speaks Arabic (Which we didn't figure out until 6 hours after Bassem left, but its okay because she's talked to him now). She is also the same member that speaks Cambodian and is helping us with our Cambodian investigators who now have a baptismal date for this month!

Seriously this weekend was CRAZY. So many small world moments. I realized how determined I am now to re-learn French after my mission, and how much I actually LOVE Canada. Going back to my roots this week felt so good. Life is so full of twists and turns but in the end our identity will never change. Going even further back, I know I am a one of God's beloved children, and as I keep my divine nature at the forefront of my mind. I am guaranteed to never lose my way. No matter how hard the winds blow, and the storms rage, Jesus Christ will be my anchor. Which reminds me, Dad, my bishop here wants to go ice fishing with you. 555+

Honestly though! That knowledge is SO comforting to me. That no matter how confused I get in life, I can always have hope that one day, "everything is going to make sense." In the words of Great Aunt Rose (aka. President Uchtdorf). And that hope only comes because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Such a great weekend! Life is so GREAT isn't it?!? 

Hope everyone can keep that perspective this week. Love you all! 

Sister Burbank

Member braided my hair during church. Everyone sang "Let It Go" to me from Frozen the rest of the day. 555

Elder Sukhan coming back to visit srinakharin before he finishes his mission! 

Also the last day Elder Williams was here. He ended moving to train in Sapan Sung! So fun. Love this ward.

Last P-day going shopping somewhere in Bangkok. Forget where.

The work is just exploding. I CAN'T WAIT FOR CONFERENCE!

Ending my 7th transfer as a missionary in Thailand! What can I say.

I feel like we did so much this week, but I can't remember any of it. 555

We had an amazing Zone Conference this last Wednesday and Thursday, and finally got to interview with President. It was a really great experience. I got to really reflect on the last few months of being a missionary, and he just said how he's not worried about me. We both just felt the spirit so strong. For the first few minutes of the interview I could NOT stop smiling and laughing. Then he started laughing and we both just laughed and smiled for no reason for a while. It was so random and funny. He reminds me of Dad so much. What a blessing that is.

Honestly I really don't have much else to say. We had 7 investigators at church yesterday. The work is just exploding. We are SO excited. Transfer calls come today and who knows what will happen! 

I am hoping to stay here with Sister Hayes another transfer. 

Highlight: Sister Faa (a member in the ward) got her mission call! She is serving here in Thailand! In our mission!!! That's going to be so awesome. 

I love you all! I love my Savior. This is His work, and this is His glory. 

Have a great week! I CAN'T WAIT FOR CONFERENCE! 

Sister Burbank

Me and Sister Johnson our mission presidents wife at Zone Conference this last week

Sister ฟ้า!! She just opened her mission call. She is reporting to the Philippines MTC on Nov. 20th and is serving here in Thailand!! I want to be her companion so bad!!!! 

Sunsets on our porch! So amazing.

Cambodian's and สะพานสูง

So this week we met a Cambodian family!! It's kind of a miracle story actually. Sister Hayes and I were just eating lunch at the Food Center in Seacon (Giant mall by our house) and I decided to get soup from this one stand. Turns out the women working at that stand was a LA member from Cambodia! She got baptized over 2 years ago, and then moved to Thailand and hasn't been to church since she moved here. She recognized our tags and kept showing pictures of her baptism and missionaries from Cambodia. She speaks Thai a little, but she is like us. She told us how much she wants to go to church, but since she moved she didn't know where to go. She also has a super strict job that makes her work everyday. She only gets 2 days off every month. And usually they are never allowed to be Sundays because of how busy they are on Sundays. But she really wanted to meet with us because she misses church. So this last week we finally made an apt with her and she ended up bringing her whole family who aren't members. She wants them to learn so bad. It was the most interesting lesson I have ever had on my mission. Brother ซู, who is a member in our ward, speaks Cambodian and tried to help us. He can't read Cambodian and he doesn't know the gospel in Cambodian so it honestly was just so interesting! We gave them Book of Mormon's and pamphlets of the Restoration and Gospel in Cambodian. So at least they can study on their own. I just can't stop thinking about the FEELING that was in that lesson. The spirit was so strong. I couldn't understand anything, but Cambodian was such a beautiful language. I honestly just realized how much I had to relay on the spirit to show these people that I really did love them. I couldn't really tell them so I had to work on showing it. It was just a really special moment for me. Knowing Brandyn's whole mission was in this language, blows my mind. 555 CAMBODIAN IS HARD! 555 I showed them pictures of Brandyn and told him how he speaks. I showed them his tag from his mission because I have a picture printed off that I carry around with me for some reason. 555 And they loved it! They read it in Cambodian so I could hear it and it just made me so impressed. I hope that we can figure out how to help them get to church. Just pray for them please! 

Anyways! So besides that amazing experience. I went on a switch off with Sister Ong my STL this week in Sapan Sung! Which was SOOOO good. I love her so much. Met so many amazing members there and just had the time of my life. Life is so good for real! How did I get so lucky??????

My spiritual thought for the week comes from my personal study.

This quote from Elder Wilford Anderson made my day.

"Dissonance in the home is like darkness in a room. It does little good to scold the darkness. We must DISPLACE the darkness by introducing light." 

Isn't that just the truest thing you have EVER HEARD!!!?? 

You can't get rid of darkness by trying to combat it with more darkness. You HAVE to introduce light. The Savior is our perfect example of light. As we try to be like Jesus like the primary song teaches us, we can eliminate that dissonance, and unhappiness from our families, and experience the peace and light that brings true happiness. So good. This talk was from last April 2015 conference. It's called "The Music of the Gospel". Which was probably one everyone remembers because it was so good. I can't wait for conference! I can't believe it has already been 6 months again. This is going WAY too fast!!! SLOW DOWN! 

Have a great week! Love you <3 

Sister Burbank

Twins

Cambodian Family!

Switch off with Ong! 

Church in Sapan Sung

Saying goodbye to Sister Nong!! She is moving to Provo with her daughter. This ward is really going to miss her.

This is how we call buses to stop for us....in case you were wondering. There really isn't bus stops they will just stop and take you from pretty much anywhere. 555 

"Chores of the Kingdom"

Visited our investigator, Sister Jinny, at her apartment complex this last week. She lives on the top floor, right next to the roof. AMAZING VIEW OF BANGKOK. Is this REAL LIFE? Am I literally a missionary in Bangkok Thailand?!?! Does that feeling of unrealness ever go away?!?! 

Anyways, Sister Jinny is doing SO good. She is 37 years old and right now is a Nannie for the cute random blonde boy, Noah, in the picture I sent. She knows she wants to be baptized but she is struggling with setting a date. She has some things she has to work out before she can be baptized so right now we are just going to continue teaching and helping her, until she can decide on a date. I love teaching her though. She is the CUTEST thing ever. 

This week honestly was just so great. It rained a little and it was COLD but now it's back to being hot and all is well.

I can't HANDLE being cold anymore, it kills me. 555

Sister นิด is progressing very well! She is on date to get baptized this Sat, and she is so excited! I can't wait. We are so excited for her. Everything is just going so well. The sun in shining. The food is great. Our spirits are high, and Bangkok Thailand is becoming more beautiful every single day.

I love being a missionary!! :) 

Spiritual Thought: How to have "personal, reinforcing spiritual experiences..."?

I feel like I have asked myself this question so much on my mission. But more so directed towards, how can I help others have a personal spiritual experience? I have growing experiences SO much on my mission so when I see others that seem complacent in their discipleship with their Savior, I wonder what I can do to help kick start their conversion again. I read such a good talk this morning from Elder Maxwell. I suggest EVERYONE read the whole talk because it is so good, but one part that I read today really stood out to me. The title of his talk is "The Christ Centered Life". 

Near the beginning of his talk he explains what he describes as the "chores of the Kingdom", which include: partaking of the sacrament, attending meeting and the temple, praying, fasting, studying the scriptures, service, attending to all family duties, being involved in missionary work and reactivation, doing family history work, paying tithing and offerings, and being temporally prepared. 

He later explains the following, "These enumerated duties, of course, are not particularly glamorous. Yet they are practical and specific expressions of keeping the first two great commandments-love of God and love of neighbor....Indeed, when we have personal, reinforcing spiritual experiences, they will almost always occur in the course of our carrying out the duties just named."

After reading that I realized how TRUE that last statement was. Every single one of my life changing spiritual moments, have come during a time I was participating in the "chores of the Kingdom" listed above. That is why it is so important that we are trying to be as consistent as possible in doing everything our Heavenly Father has asked of us. Because it is in those moments that the heavens are opened, and our hearts will be touched. I have experienced moments like that on my mission. Sweet tender mercies that have changed my view of this world forever. My appreciation for the Savior and His sacrifice has grown so much too and now I can never go back to how things used to be. I can't UN-experience the life changing moments that I have had on my mission. Nor would I want too. It's about becoming, and changing to be more like our Savior. Which is only possible if we do our chores. I guess my mom was right all along. 

Hope everyone has fun doing their chores this week! Love you all.

Sister Burbank

Crazy Hair day

On the rooftop

Bangkok from the rooftop

SO EMBRACE IT

So to sum up my week, here is my email to President...

"What an INCREDIBLE week.

I love being a missionary. I don't know what else to say.

President!! These people are incredible. The amount of passion I see in the members here for the salvation of souls makes me so excited!! It's seriously contagious. We have a miracle story with our investigator Sister นิด. She accepted a baptismal date yesterday, and we are so excited for her! First dater of the transfer. It was crazy because she was on the verge of being dropped, because she wasn't progressing, but we still decided to try to invite her to Book of Mormon class this last Friday. She had stood up our last 4 appointments so we were figuring it was near the end. But this last ditch effort to invite her to come to BOM class worked!! She showed up and proceeded to sit through the most spiritually led BOM class we have ever had. At the end of the class, she told us that she has NEVER had a desire to read a book in her life, but that during this class she felt this type of urgency to read the BOM to the end. And that if she read it, her life would get so much better. These are her words not mine. I was so impressed. I felt the spirit so strong testify to me again of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It made me so excited. Then she finally came to church for the first time this last Sunday! Normally she would say she would goto church and not make it because she would sleep in. But this time she GOT UP and came! Stayed all 3 hours, and learned with us after. What I can't believe is that this small change in this beautiful daughter of God's life has given me more happiness than making the game winning shot in a basketball game could ever make me. SERIOUSLY. I didn't know you could feel like kind of happiness. I love this Sister so much PRESIDENT! :) How is that even possible. I barely met her and I can't even speak her language. 555 She's still pretty timid and scared, but I am so ready to be there for her in EVERY aspect of her conversion. I love her.

Thank you for your example, and for your diligence!! 

Sister Burbank"

Love is a powerful emotion. So much more powerful than fear. Which my mission has been full of. But I think now, I can truly understand the meaning of Moroni 8:16. Perfect love (the love of Jesus Christ) literally casteth out all fear. I feel unstoppable. Everyday is just bliss. Sister Ong is my STL and yesterday she asked each companionship to share one thing that they are afraid of as a missionary, and I honestly couldn't think of a single thing. I am not afraid of the future. I am not insecure. I am not wallowing in my mistakes. I simply get back up and try again every time I fall short of perfection. And THAT is the beauty of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I still make mistakes. I still have weaknesses, but I am not afraid of them. I am GRATEFUL for them. Just like Ether 12:27. I have weaknesses to keep me humble. Which is a BLESSING. Being humbled is such a blessing to me. It's not an insecure feeling, it is a "grateful" feeling. It reminds me again of how dependent I really am on the Grace of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

SO EMBRACE IT. Embrace the Awkward. Embrace the Ridicule. Embrace the exhaustion and the pain and the disappointments. Because every single time you fall, CHRIST is there to lift you. Literally EVERY SINGLE TIME. I love my Savior. I have so much faith in this plan of redemption its pretty much impossible to fathom. How lucky are we that we have been brought to the knowledge of our Savior? Life is good. I don't know what else to say. I feel like my future is bright, and no matter how much pain and struggles I have on this mission, that will always be true. Because the future is bright for EVERYONE who trusts in their Heavenly Fathers plan for them. Just OBEY.

จบ

Love you all! 

Sister Burbank

P.S. I feel like my new motto for my mission now is "Just Embrace It"

Pictures:

New Fridge!! Seriously had to keep all our food at the Elders apt. the last few days. So nice to finally have a fridge. Unfortunately the only color they had was orange. So how our Blue and Orange apt looks like a Popsicle stand. But at least it brightens up my day everytime I walk in. 555

Brother Soo and Sister แนน I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They acted like companions that day and taught us the POS, got to love RC'S. 

 I LOVE THE NELSONS. Little piece of home. Sorry I didn't get pictures with the Almonds. I ate them all too fast. Literally...Im not even joking.

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Clothes hanging to dry.

Bangkok apartment

Elders balcony below

View from our Bangkok apartment

This week was so incredible. I love this new area!!

This week was so incredible. I love this new area!! 

Who would've thought that I would actually love serving in Bangkok.

There are so many people to talk to, and as much as I love biking. Walking has been a really nice change of pace.

Sister Hayes and I moved into our house finally this week too! No more hotel. I will have to send pictures of our little apartment next week. It's so adorable.

This week was full of just getting to know more members. I feel like we finally know enough people that we can really start working! Which is the best feeling. An equally good feeling is EATING, gosh I love eating. One of the highlights of this week was eating Issan from this amazing place by the church, and pigging out at a Sushi buffet with Hayes. We both are obsessed with Sushi, which is going to make this transfer 100 times better. Last Monday for Pday we went to a crocodile zoo with the Elders. First district picture we took there. Elder Williams is our DL, from Idaho Falls, and we finish our missions the same day. Then Elder Purser, from Utah, is my Phii from the MTC. Meaning he is one transfer ahead of me in the mission. So I met him in the MTC. They are hard workers and we just have a lot of fun together. 

One of the spiritual highlights of the week was this last Sunday. Because we had so many appointments after church, Sister Hayes and I went on splits. I went with Sister Faa to a recent converts house, and Sister Hayes went with another member to visit a RC's sick non member father. It was so nice to get to know Sister Faa better, and honestly it made me think back to the time I went on splits with the missionaries before my mission. It's SO weird being on the other end of things now, but so interesting to see how much I have grown since then. Sister Faa is preparing for a mission right now, and honestly she is going to be an incredible missionary. She just gets it, she has so much faith, and we just get a long so well. It was perfect to have her go with me to teach Sister Tanaphon because this last week Sister Tanaphon has been really struggling with the stresses of being a new member of the church. She got baptized just this last month, and is having doubts if she made the right decision. As Sister Faa and I testified to her that she did make the right decision, and testified of the Restoration and Joseph Smith, I felt my own testimony become strengthened. It made me realize how important baring our testimony is. Sister Tanaphon then expressed how grateful she was that we came over and how it helped her feel at peace again about her decision. Satan is so real, but no one can deny that tender confirmation from that spirit that "YES" this is all true.  

Sister Hayes and I then had a discussion this morning about our lives, and how we came to receive the testimony that we now have. We realized that for both of us, it came when we started baring it more and more often. That is why we grow so much as missionaries because we are literally called to bare testimony every single day! No wonder missionaries come home so spiritually strengthened. The biggest miracle is that you don't have to go on a mission to receive the spiritual confirmations that missionaries receive. It helps a TON, but honestly the simple recipe for gaining a testimony is what we missionaries teach everyday. However, in reality it's not something you can teach at all. As missionaries, we are just people who introduce to other people HOW to gain a witness for yourself. That's all. We can't force anyone to believe what we say, but we can bare testimony of how we came to believe. And it's in that baring of your own testimony that you strengthen it. You feel the spirit testify to you again that what you believe is true, and it feels SO GOOD. We are all on the same path! Missionaries try to teach others to bare their testimony by baring their own testimony and then we are all edified and lifted and happy together in Christ. Isn't this gospel AWESOME?! Being a missionary is the coolest thing in the world.

Hope you are all doing great. Love from Thailand! 

Sister Burbank

Sushi Buffet

Crocodile Park

RS activity

Greatest Sunday School teacher

Elder Holland came and MOVING to Bangkok

Elder Holland was absolutely incredible. Shaking his hand was even cooler. 555

One of the highlights of my entire mission. 

This mission means everything to me and it has in no where been picture perfect. I understand what it means now to struggle. Missions aren't supposed to go smoothly. They are supposed to be hard, because it's only through the trials that we will truly become converted. 

"This is NOT a cunningly devised fable."

I loved when he said that because so many people try to just easily shake this whole thing off as just wishful thinking and just false. But what Elder Holland emphasized is that the sacrifices made by many for this gospel are TOO great for it to just be a devised fable. THIS IS GOD'S TRUTH. Not just some make belief bed time story. He also emphasized that "He HAS been our age, and we haven't been his" so trust him. He also paid a really great tribute to the 2 Apostles that recently passed. Saying that "don't go telling them that this was all a cunningly devised fable" because this meant EVERYTHING to their whole lives. And Holland reiterated that it means everything to his as well. I can't explain in full detail just how I feel, but just know that I believe the declaration made by Mormon in 3 Nephi 5:13 - "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." Also, I am never going to be the same. I can't be the same. I am changed for the better and I am never going back.

Ever upward.

I know this is true. 

Just a few thoughts from Holland before I get started on this week. Feels like one of the longest weeks of my life, but so perfect and necessary. 

SO I FINALLY MOVED!!! 

I am now serving in Srinakharin! Which is in Bangkok. Yes. And my companion is Sister Hayes!!!!! She is from Rexburg, Idaho and her parents are currently serving as mission presidents in Costa Rica! She has 9 siblings in her family and I seriously LOVE HER! I can't even explain how great the last 3 days have been. She is from Sister Anderson's MTC group! :) 

We have been living in a hotel because Sisters haven't served in this area for over a year and a half so Sister Hayes and I are opening it! So we still don't have a house but that's fine because we are never home anyways. Our first day we met one of the sweetest ladies EVER. Her name is แม่ Nong. She was the on RS Pres, but now she is just a counselor in the RS presidency but she is so involved in the church it's insane. She was excited to get Sisters serving here. They have been wanting Sisters back for a while. 

Saturday was so great. We had a Stake Sports day, which was a lot of fun. So many members went! It was awesome. Got to meet a bunch of members from all the other areas in the Stake and it was just cool to see how many people were there! 

Sunday was amazing too. Church was so great, and we also got to go visit S. แนน (19 yr. old strong member) and her dad who isn't a member. Apparently, the Elders have been trying to meet him for a while because he is never home, but today we just randomly stopped by her house to meet her LA mom and her dad was there!! He said he normally isn't there but today he randomly had a day off. It was so cool, so we got to pray and read with them. Then we just walked with Sister นก a really cool RC, with an awesome story, and invited people on our way to our dinner apt. I felt happy. Just like I was floating. Honestly, these last 3 days I have just felt like I am floating. Sister Hayes and I just have so much fun, and laugh and are crazy. We are literally the same person. We both just have so much love for the work and people. It's so stereotypical to say, but I honestly haven't felt this good, this consistently for a while. Its just pure bliss right now.

Sister Hayes just gets it. She is an INCREDIBLE missionary, and her testimony is solid. She is also AMAZING at the language. Only 4 months in country and she already speaks better than I do. 555 And you can just tell and see how much she really loves the people. It's contagious. 

I am so blessed to be here right now. I feel like I have already learned and grown so much. I have made a goal to try and fully consecrate myself till the end of my mission, no more worrying about things I can't control, no more worrying about the future, no more dwelling in the past. It's all about the eternal perspective, and what I can do RIGHT NOW to become who Christ needs me to become. I have never been so happy. I love getting lost in the work. Sister Hayes and I are just glowing with happiness! 555 I just feel so happy! <3 

Sister Burbank

In Bankok

New Comp- Sister Hayes from Rexburg

Stake Sports day

Our permanent hotel room for now 

Saying good bye to Sisaket people