Sister Burnham: "Language of Love"

Hi Family and Friends!!

What a week! So fast and something happening everyday! We seriously have something going on everyday and traveling from place to place to do exchanges with the sisters. It's super busy, tiring but fun. And it makes time FLY! Which is kinda sad but good too. We just focus on the work and our missionaries in our zone all the time. And sometimes goof off when you find out Elder Wise, my zone leader starts singing "Bubblegum, bubblegum. bubblegum for me..." 'You're a Nacho Libre fan?!" Haha I'm surrounded by them! It's great :) And me and Sister Lacanienta are way too much alike...like we both have boyfriends waiting for us, her parents watch Frazier before going to bed and we went to Hawaii two weeks before our mission to visit friends....many more weird similarities. It's just great :)

So I'm not going to lie, I'm liking the idea of two Christmas'! Thanks fam for holding out for me. I might be kinda weird and missionary like but I'll be me. Haha Thank you for that gift. That's all I really want for Christmas...and a rice cooker :) Haha

So for the title of the email...so many times I was like "Sakit ang puso ko!" Sick to the heart! Because I've never had in so many times people ask me for money. It's been hard to say no, especially to the Gregorio family. Winona does our laundry but she's been asking for the money early so that her family can eat or get medicine for her sick kids or husband. Poor Jonathon...he had some digestion problems and shared the whole story with us...which was really funny! Haha But he doesn't have a job...Winona is the only way to get income for their nine kids! It's just so hard...and it really was making me feel sick this week. How much I took for granted the temporal things I had and have been blessed with. I felt terrible. But after talking a lot about it with my companion, I know that the best thing we can do is love and serve them and give them the best gift, which is the gospel and eternal life. I've been reading Doctrine and Covenants this week and it says many times that the best gift of all of Heavenly Father's gifts is eternal life...which it will be for them and for us. Someday they will all be members and all make it to the temple. Then after this life, money won't matter...but what will is the covenants they made and how will they kept those promises. If I could just be a small part of helping them along that way, then that is good enough for me :)

I know that God is aware of all of us and the thing that He wants for us is to just come home to Him. To obtain that gift of eternal life and all the happiness that is just waiting for us, if we just follow His Son and do what is asked of us. It's that simple and beautiful. I love this work and I love all of you. More than you can know. I hope you all have a great week and go help someone along the way, we can't make this journey on our own. Like Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said,

"Have you ever wondered what language we all spoke when we lived in the presence of God? I have strong suspicions that it was German, though I suppose no one knows for sure. But I do know that in our premortal life we learned firsthand, from the Father of our spirits, a universal language—one that has the power to overcome emotional, physical, and spiritual barriers.

That language is the pure love of Jesus Christ.

It is the most powerful language in the world.

The love of Christ is not a pretend love. It is not a greeting-card love. It is not the kind of love that is praised in popular music and movies.

This love brings about real change of character. It can penetrate hatred and dissolve envy. It can heal resentment and quench the fires of bitterness. It can work miracles.

We received our “first lessons”⁹ in this language of love as spirits in God’s presence, and here on earth we have opportunities to practice it and become fluent. You can know if you are learning this language of love by evaluating what motivates your thoughts and actions.

When your primary thoughts are focused on how things will benefit you, your motivations may be selfish and shallow. That is not the language you want to learn.

But when your primary thoughts and behaviors are focused on serving God and others—when you truly desire to bless and lift up those around you—then the power of the pure love of Christ can work in your heart and life. That is the language you want to learn.

As you become fluent in this language and use it in your interactions with others, they will recognize something in you that may awaken in them a long-hidden feeling to search for the right way on the journey back to their heavenly home. After all, the language of love is their true native language too.

This deep and abiding influence is a language that reaches to the very soul. It is a language of understanding, a language of service, a language of lifting and rejoicing and comforting.

Learn to use the universal language of Christ’s love."

Mahal na mahal ko kayo! Have a great week as you are learning the universal language of Christ's love!

Love, Sister Burnham