HE LIVES

HERRROOOOOOO ERRRYYYBUDY!!!*

Hope you guys had an amaaaazing Christmas! 

Christmas as a missionary is one of the most amazing things ever. 

Nothing like serving Christ in the season OF Christ! 

And skyping home is the greatest thing in the world. 

Families are forever....isn't that the best?

This week was great. It's so different being off campus, but so fun! I got to go tract again so that was cool, throwing things back a bit...and we had some super cool experiences. Since all of our investigators went home for Christmas break, they are all over Indiana! Sooooo we found out that there was going to be a baptismal service in Fishers...so we drove down with one of our investigators and a few of our other investigators met us there too! "A" actually brought a friend too! The baptism was great and it was super cool for them to experience what its like and feel the spirit that is there every time. After it got done, "A" texted us and said how much she loved it and how she can't wait to make a "two way promise with God by the proper authority and to get the Holy Ghost!" :) We love her, she's wonderful! And her friend is now wanting to be taught by missionaries too!!

Wednesday we had the mission-wide Christmas party which was soooooo fun!! We also got to perform a new song called "Mary Holds Him" and that was the coolest thing to be able to perform again. I love seeing all these wonderful missionaries. 

We also got to visit a man who recently had a terrriiibblleee accident. He was hunting and fell out of an 18-foot tree. He came out with many injuries and has to be bed-ridden for 6 months. He was sitting in his chair as we talked with him and he sat back and said, "I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful for my injuries. It could have been so much worse." I was so touched from his positive attitude. What a great example that we have so much to be grateful for, even when things are going tough. "It doesn't have to be going right to be going good" Its all in the attitude and perspective. I'm so grateful for the gospel and for my Savior to help have that positive attitude and eternal perspective. 

Also, cool experience...this week we tried something new. We have an investigator who is struggling with gaining an understanding and testimony of Joseph Smith. So in the middle of our lesson, we set aside about 15 minutes for each of us to go find a quiet place in the building, pray, and open the scriptures to see what Heavenly Father was telling us. He opened to an amazing Scripture that he shared with us. I know that scriptures are the way that Heavenly Father can answer us best. They are such a blessing to have so easily in our lives today. Scriiiiipture powerrrrr!!!

So grateful for this gospel, this work, and for YOU!! {Alma 26:37} 

"Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."

Love you so much! Have a great week! Until next time! 

xoxo

Love, Sister Burgon*

Pix: merryyy Christmas, the performing crew, makin Christmas coooookies, Christmas eve, Christmas morning, THE FAM

Until next time.....*

MARY HOLDS HIM

SEESTER ESKIMOS

HELLO!!!! 

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!*

Sorry, longer letter this week because I left out some preeetttttyyyy sweet stuff last week because we were so short on time:)

Finals week has come and gone and students were busier than ever. When we were working on campus I found myself expecting that this week would be slower with finding and teaching because students are so busy with it being finals week. But of course, the Lords says, "Not even finals week will get in the way of my work." We were able to find the most amazing, miraculous, and prepared people and I was so amazed. Heavenly Father taught me again, "My darling daughter...where is your faith"...or at least that's what I felt at least. I think that's a lesson He will always remind me again and again...TRUST. When he has pulled through so many times, I am grateful that he is so patient to remind me again and again that we are in His hands. And then I came across the most amazing scripture in my studies. Mormon 8:22....Finals and Christmas break got nothin on us :)

"For the eternal purposes of the Lord shall roll on, until all his promises shall be fulfilled."

GUYS..Miracles come from Church Attendance. Last week we ran into our investigator, "D", and her friend, "A'i", while shopping at Walgreen's. We had invited "D" to church the day before, so we asked if she was planning on coming and invited "A'i" to come too! They both agreed and then came together on Sunday. Church went well and we were so happy they came. Then we got a text from "A'i" on Tuesday asking where she could buy a Book of Mormon. She said she wanted it to be her early Christmas gift to herself and to God. She also said that she was inspired from church to strengthen her faith and get her life back on track with God. WHAT??:):):) AHH we were so excited...so we brought her a Book of Mormon and she took notes and marked it up the whole lesson. By the end of our discussion, the spirit was so strong and we were prompted to extend the invitation to them to be baptized. They BOTH accepted a baptismal date for February 12th. There is p o w e r  at church. My testimony has been strengthened by this so much lately....especially becaussseeee...

...remember how I got the opportunity to be interviewed by Elder Dyches last week? I wanted to tell you about the counsel he gave me from the First Presidency...I was short on time last week...but this is worth sharing:) He explained that President Monson is really emphasizing church attendance. How cool is that? I heard it, and then experienced it first hand for myself and saw it in "D" and "A'i" too. I invite you to go to church this week...and if you already do, try your hardest to make it a special testimony-building experience. The sacrament has been the most rewarding thing to me lately because of this. I can testify to what President Monson said is TRUE. Church is aammmaaazing. 

Imma keep rambling about church....SO for the month of December...we have toured local churches and attended a service each Sunday in addition to ours. It has been the coolest thing to see how they worship. There are so many similarities to what we believe and their love for God and Christ is amazing. They are always so kind and welcoming to us as we come and we even got a shout-out from the pulpit yesterday haha. By going to these, my testimony of the restored gospel has just sky-rocketed. I know it is the missing piece...the answers to all the questions out there that go un-answered. You can just feel a difference when you walk into our church. I AM SO GRATEFUL. I just wanted to teach them all....if they love God that much...just imagine how much more is in store for them with the restored gospel...and that's why I'm here. Too. Cool. :)

We got to go on exchanges this week which was so much fun!!! I love doing those....it was also FREEEEZING, so we had fun bundling up haha. We also got creative with our finding this week. There is a piano on campus in the commons so Arlen, a YSA in our ward, came out and played the piano for us while we sang. People gathered around and listened and we talked to them once we were done singing and got their numbers haha HOLLA! 

Merry CHRISTmas!! It truly is the most wonderful, glorious, amazing, awesome time of the year! Sending my love from Indiana! I KNOW that Christ lived, still lives, and is my Savior, Redeemer and best friend. I am grateful for Him beyond words. He is our gift! D&C 76:22-24

 "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."

xoxo

Love, Sister Burgon*

PIX:

Ward Christmas Party...Santa even showed up

NOT gonna be sitting on your lap this year Santa...
hopefully a handshake still works the magic....
however warm coal to burn sounds delightful this year!!!

The District at Christmas

ALL READY FOR CHRISTMAS...
The Stalkings are hung....

The hall's are decked....

The Tree is trimmed...

Can't wait to SKYPE!!!*
See y'all on Christmas Morning!!!!*
Love you!*

A LETTER FROM THE SEVENTY

 

Dear Kammerman and Burgon Families, 

Merry Christmas! 

I was delighted to have had the opportunity to meet with several missionaries during our recent mission tour in the Indiana Indianapolis Mission.  

May I enthusiastically compliment this outstanding companionship as they go forward each day, exercising great faith and diligence in fulfilling their purpose to find, teach and baptize our Heavenly Father’s children.  They won the top recognition of all the Missionary Planners at the Zone Conference! 

I deeply thank you for your personal faith and support of this great work, as you “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men”.

All the very Best of this Christmas Season,

Elder Timothy J. Dyches

Assistant Executive Director, Temple Department

J O H N 14:27

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

HEY!!!!*

Hope it was a great week for ya, we had another great one here. 

Students are busy busy working on finals, so it was a little bit slower, 

but we had some of the coolest opportunities still. 

A highlight of the week was our Zone Conference in Fishers!! We packed up bright and early and drove almost 2 hours back to my old stomping grounds. It's always so fun to visit. We had the coolest opportunity to have Elder Dyches of the Seventy with us. We got to shake his hand and hear trainings from him. I got the coolest opportunity to be chosen to have an interview with him after the conference and I can tell you that I know he is inspired and called of God. It was one of the most amazing moments to sit across from him and feel of the strong spirit that he has about him. At the end of the interview, he asked me if I had any questions for him. I explained how wonderful I thought it was to have chosen disciples of Christ here on the earth receiving revelation for our world, so I asked, "What do you have to tell the world?" He very humbly took out his notes and continued to read to me some counsel that he received in a training from President Monson, President Eyring, and President Uchtdorf. I can hardly explain the strong spirit that I felt in my heart and I KNEW at that moment that it was from God, speaking through His chosen prophet and apostles on the earth today. I am SO grateful that I had that opportunity: something that I will remember forever.

My Cute Little Zone...Pres. & Sis. Carlson...Elder & Sis. Dyches

As we met with "M1" this week, we weren't quite sure what to teach him. He's been taught so much and shown great progress, but he's been hesitant to commit to a baptismal date. We prepared some ideas of what we could teach, but we really just wanted to go by the spirit and teach to his deeper need that we haven't known about. He showed up and actually did have a question for us about the Priesthood. We explained it and had a great conversation about how prophets are called and chosen and it was so cool to be able to resolve some questions/concerns he had by the spirit. 

"M2" is doing amaaaaazing. A while ago, he dropped us because of some anti that he had heard. Well a few weeks ago, we felt prompted to meet again, we cleared up some of the anti that he's heard, and he's been doing awesome ever since. In fact, he's really grasped the concept of the restoration and the Priesthood and has really seen the importance of it. Last week we invited him to pray about a baptismal date and this week we decided on January 28. He was so excited and in the closing prayer, he thanked Heavenly Father for his "date for His blessing". Even anti can't bring this work down...it's the Lord's work, and it will always work out, no matter what adversity comes.

Last night we went Christmas Caroling at the hospital with Elder Wright and Elder Holle and it was one of the most touching things to be apart of. One sweet lady just had her leg amputated unexpectedly and got teary eyed telling us about it. You could tell that she had a lot on her plate and a lot weighing on her. The spirit was very strong as we sang Silent Night to her and she was so grateful. The spirit works in many ways :) Such a fun night.

Love you guys!! Hope you have a great week! xoxo

Love, Sister Burgon*

Dinner at the Foster's 

So much to say...so little time today!!!!
Catch y'all next week!!!

LIGHTtheWORLD — Follow the example of Jesus Christ. Share His light and serve as He served

B E M E R R Y & B R I G H T . . . aka L A U G H

Hello ery'one!*

THIS WEEK....oh man...too good! I wish I could explain how truly wonderful this week was...but the email would be a novel (and we all know that no one reads those haha) SO I will try my best....but just know, t'was a great one. 5 Stars. The Lord provides. Please read on....

Sometimes appointments fall through for a reason, and Tuesday was definitely one of those days. BUT I'm sure that it was all apart of Heavenly Father's plan....because we saw SO many people that we needed to see! There was one guy that just came up to us and asked to be taught right then and there, and we saw a bunch that we needed a return appointment with, etc. It was amazing. I'm always praying to be in the right place at the right time, and it's cool how Heavenly Father allows that to all work out. 

Last week, when students were on Thanksgiving break, we spent some time contacting former investigators and potentials that we had met a while back on campus and a few of them actually agreed to meet up again. There was one in particular, his name is "A". We called him and he said that he had read some stuff about our church and wasn't interested in learning more because of what he had read. That's why he didn't keep his original return appointment a few months ago. We explained that not everything that you read on the internet is true...ha...and he agreed to meet up to clarify some concerns and ask some questions. So we met up and he actually brought his friend, "R". We taught the Restoration and helped ease some....internet stories...and by the end, they BOTH wanted to come to church and wanted to know for themselves if it was true. It was just amazing to me how perfect the Restoration is and how much it makes sense. I looovveeeee being able to help people see that the "way" is clear and simple. Christ established a church....and it's back on the earth for you, TODAY. Remember what I said about not making this a novel....I'm sorry. It already is. haha

We also had this one lesson with a guy who was very frustrated about Christians who say, "put your faith and trust in God" and then they live double standards and don't ACT on their faith. We have been trying to figure out his need for awhile now, and the spirit helped us to see it during this lesson. We talked about the importance of acting on our faith and seeing a change in us if we choose Christ. I have gained a huge testimony of the Church's "Light the World" initiative...for the very reason that it is an ACTION of our faith in Christ during this Christmas season. Acting on our faith leads us to be more like Christ. What a great gift to give this season. We asked him if he would commit to act by doing the 25 day challenge and by coming to church...WHICH HE DID! Lights, camera...ACTION.

UPDATE ON "J"!! Holy cow, miracles are real. "J" came to her lesson this week and said that she shared a Book of Mormon verse with her friend who was struggling. (Alma 26:27)

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

WHAT! YOU GO GIRL. AND she said she turned down party invitations, and a job shift to come to church with us!!!! AND SHE CAME....AND BORE HER TESTIMONY ON THE BOOK OF MORMON...and brought another friend with her. (who put her hands on bishops knee that just had surgery and commanded him to get up and walk after she prayed over him...but that's a different story hahaha) Seriously, that was probably the greatest church experience ever. 

Also...Side note: This week, Sister Kammerman and I had so many moments where we just died laughing, and I've decided that is the key to life. Life-hack: laughing gives you abs. Your welcome :)

"A1" is amazing as usual. He shared his conversion story for Sister Kammerman in our lesson this week and it was pooowweeerrrfuuullll. At one point, he looked us in the eyes and said "I will never fall away. I will never leave." He also shared his story in sacrament meeting. Not a dry eye. Touching lives that kid is. It made my heart happy and I feel so proud of him. I can only imagine how proud Heavenly Father is of him. Helaman 5:12

 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty stormshall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I gave a "spiritual nugget" (name in honor of Bro Petes...our ward mission leader) at district meeting this week which came to my mind during my studies. Please read Mormon 9:18-25.

 "And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles. And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth. For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who should tarry, yea, and also to all his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature; And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned; And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth."

I learned that something as simple as doubt can get in the way of miracles happening. I know that miracles will happen in your life IF you put your trust in God and do not doubt. May we always "doubt our doubt, before we doubt our faith."

I will stop there. If you have made it to this point...I thank you for listening to this novel. This may be a record long email for me...haha there is just truly nothing greater than being in the work of the Lord. Thank you so much for all your love and support! Happy Christmas season! xoxo

Love, Sister Burgon*

Pix: 

enjoy a pic from our struggling district

da district #2

we were in a parade this week...wooot!

woot...wooottt!!!!

made a gingerbread home

we can't hold them...but we can still play with them

always laughing...#abs

happy birthday sista kamm 

'til next week...
enjoy all the goodies of this season...
or share them with others
#Light the World