Adventures in Milan: Another Week....

Hello Everyone!
Welp another week has come and gone and holy cow this was a fast one! It think that the weeks are flying by because we are just so busy, which makes it really nice! We were full of appointments and just running from one place to another that the days just end so quickly! We were able to see all of our investigators this week, including all 5 of the new ones that we found last week and that was a great accomplishment and a huge blessing. We are keeping really busy and happy and things are going great! We are helping T. prepare for her baptism that is coming up on the 3rd of February. She is very excited and we still have a few more things to teach her but I think that she will be ready! She had an interview this week and we got some things cleared up and so everything is going well. I have never had an investigator so excited to get baptized! She is wonderful and has a real desire to change. We are so excited! She came to a baptism this week of a little boy in the ward and the whole time she was asking us questions about her own program and who is going to do what and what she will wear...ha she is just so excited! We were also able to set two new baptismal dates with two of our investigators this week! One with L., we had to move her date back, but she feels that she will be able to be ready for this new date. She is wonderful and really making progress! We were able to have a wonderful lesson with her yesterday about courage because she hasn't even told her parents of
her meeting with us and her desire to be baptized. But after we talked about Esther and the courage she showed in talking to the King, she committed that she would do it! She is just full of faith. The other baptismal date that we set this week is with our new investigator named J. She is a referral from some of our other investigators and she is just great! She is reading the Book of Mormon and has come to church three weeks in a row! She accepted her baptismal date without any problems and we are very excited to continue to help her progress.

One cool miracle we saw this week happened the other night pretty late, it was about time to go inside but we had a few minutes, so we decided to do a little walk around where we live. There weren't many people out but I knew we would find someone. We walked over to a certain side of the street where I felt guided to and the first people I stopped were a couple that had just come out of a door. We stopped them and started talking with them and we ended up having a really wonderful conversation with them. they were very amazed by us and the fact that we leave everything to serve the Lord and to help others. At one point the man asked, why do you do it? What is it that motivates you to come out here just to get rejected all the time?? It was a neat question that we were able to answer, bearing testimony of the Savior and what He means for us. They were very touched by what we said and you could just tell that they could feel something different in us. The prayer touched them especially and they said that they had never tried to pray in that way before. They had interest in meeting with us again and we got both of their phone numbers. It was just a really neat encounter and I know we were supposed to meet them. It has happened time and time again, but I know that the Lord places people in our paths, as long as we are obedient, follow promptings, and give Him our very best.

This week I really saw the importance of effective planning and I definitely have a testimony of it! We had a few days where the appointments that we had scheduled were very close together and with travel time in between, it seemed that we would be cutting it very close to get to all the places in time. But we planned everything out, and prayed a lot, and the Lord literally made everything work out perfectly! For example, yesterday...we had three appointments back to back but in different areas of the city. We had exactly how much time we could spend at each appointment planned out and how long it would take us to get to the next thing. At one point we were walking swiftly/ running to try and catch a bus to get to our next appointment and we had to cross the street, and the bus that we had to catch waited and let us cross, making it possible for us to catch the bus! I am sure that that sentence didn't make any sense but just know that the Lord made it happen and He was leading us and guiding us! He is in the small details and my testimony was strengthened in that yesterday. If it is important to us, it is important to the Lord and He can make it happen according to His will. He is so good to us and literally showers His blessings and peace upon us as we strive to follow Him in all we do and be diligent to the things that He has asked us.

We had many good experiences this week in teaching and finding and just helping and serving. Each day I feel exhausted knowing that I gave my all to the Lord. It is the best feeling in the world, knowing that you are doing exactly what the Lord asks. We are not perfect but we are trying and the Lord makes us so much greater then we could ever be on our own. I know that this experience is going to serve me for the rest of my life and I know that the Lord has great things in store for me. He is a God of love and He will do anything to help us to be happy. I have received a lot of comfort through prayer these past few days and I know that He is aware of me and all my mixed emotions and
feelings. He is giving me the strength to push forward and I couldn't be more grateful for how my mission experience is ending. I am still very happy to be here and for each moment that the Lord gives me to try and lift someone else that stands in need. My little part that I give each day is enough in His eyes and I know that He is aware of me.

I love you all and I hope you have another splendid week!
love,
Sorella Burt