February 27 - March 19, 2021 - The Final Days
Jackson Vaclaw/Dixie Ruesch Wedding - Saturday, February 27, 2021
A few weeks ago, Jack was in the Salt Lake and we got to meet his then-girlfriend, Dixie Ruesch, when we had dinner together. Since we would miss their wedding reception on March 13 (because we would be training our replacements) we arranged to come for the wedding on February 27. Because of limited numbers /at the sealing due to Covid-19, we didn't expect to be able to attend the sealing but due to schedule issues for some other family members, we were able to attend. Here's some pictures!
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| Jack and Dixie at the Oklahoma City Temple. |
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| Jack and Dixie right after they left the Oklahoma City Temple sealing. |
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| Jack and Dixie with Jack's parents (Aunt Julie and Uncle Ryan) and his grandparents (Mike and Robbie). |
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| Jack and Dixie with Jack's family: Emmett, Coleman, Natalie, Ryan, Dixie, Jack, Aurora, Julie, Austin, Mikah, Sawyer and Allyson (who is expecting a boy at the end of May!). |
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| Dixie's Family: Maternal grandparents Victor and Nancy Pettijohn, Dixie, Jack, Shannon, Daniel and Georgia. |
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| Dixie and Jack with Elder and Sister Burkinshaw (aka Aunt Stacey and Uncle Jeff). |
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| Sisters: Sister Burkinshaw and Aunt Julie. |
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| The Wedding Luncheon held at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse in Oklahoma City |
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| The wonderful carrot cake and chocolate mousse cake! |
President Oaks Speaks at Temple Square Mission Sacrament Meeting - February 28, 2021
On Sunday, February 28, President and Sister Dallin H Oaks attend our sacrament meeting and spoke to the mission. Their visit and a summary of their talks were reported in the Church News.
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| President and Sister Dallin H Oaks spoke to our mission for sacrament meeting on Sunday, February 28 in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building chapel. They addressed several topics including what sets missionaries apart from the world. |
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| The JSMB Chapel following President and Sister Oaks talk. |
Our Sweet Sister Missionaries - Sunday, February 28, 2021
Our interactions with the very kind and sweet Sister Missionaries will be some of our fondest memories of serving at Temple Square.
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with Sister Lesly Gisela Garcia (Kansas City, MO) and Sister Caroline Edgley Neuffer (Glenview, IL) |
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| Sister Madison Dawn Palmer (Blanding, UT) with Sister and Elder Burkinshaw and Sister Brittany Marie Grover (Blanding, UT). These two are first cousins and related to Elder Burkinshaw through the Thomas Grover line. |
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| This is a post card from the Island of Tahiti which is part of French Polynesia, the home of Sister Vicenta Heiraiarii Sou Yine Le Gaulier Varney |
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| A very kind note from Sister Vicenta Heiraiarii Sou Yine Le Gaulier Varney (Tahiti, French Polynesia) |
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| On Sunday evening, February 28, we heard a knock on our door and this is what we found. We had a good laugh with the Peter Rabbit plaque and the kind letters. |
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| Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara (Carazo, Nicaragua) gave us this plaque with photos of us together and with her in native costume. She has been a dedicated missionary and we have become very good friends during the past year. |
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| This is a note from the members of our District during our last transfer here in the Temple Square Mission. Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Sister Hana Ilean Marks (Beremerton, WA), Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID), Sister Madelyn Ann Tannery (Bullard, TX), Sister Alison Ruth Marcum (Hauula, HI), Sister Klehe Ann Bradshaw (Annapolis, MD), Sister Madelyn Williams (Mesa, AZ). |
Departing Missionaries Lunch - Monday, March 1, 2021
The Mission Presidency holds a dinner in the JSMB Empire Room for the Missionaries who are departing two days before they complete their mission. Each missionary shares their testimony and then President and Sister Larsen provide some counsel for them before they return home. It's always a very special lunch and meeting.
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| The Mission Presidency and the departing Missionaries. Starting from the back row (l to r) President Blair Morris (2nd Counselor - Centerville, UT), Sister Burkinshaw, Elder Burkinshaw, President Steven Littlefield (1st Counselor - Kaysville, UT), Sister Maycie ShaeLyn Pearl Martinez (Ephrata, WA), Sister Kourtney Annamaria Cox (Greeley, CO), Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara (Carazo, Nicaragua), Sister Amy Ruo Mei Zhang (Missouri City, TX), Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China), Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID), Sister Belicia Leatuao Iosua-Fiu (Craigieburn, Victoria, Australia), Sister Rose Marie Tracy (Griffin, GA), Sister Rachel Elaine Gallo (Clermont, FL), Sister Nina Janda (Toulouse, France), Sister Madelyn Ann Tannery (Bullard, TX), President Russell Larsen (St George, UT), Caroline Morris (Centerville, UT), Sister Riley M Siebers (Canton, CT), Sister Nancy Littlefield (Centerville, UT), Sister Allison Victoria LHeureux (Bensalem, PA), Sister Kaylie Hanna Roenfeldt (Snohomish, WA), Sister Tiffany Nicole Stewart (Roseville, CA), Sister Jessica Curtis (Guyton, GA), Sister Audrey Rumbidzai Vengesai (Harare, Zimbabwe), Sister Kaye Lynn Larsen (St George, UT), Sister Catherine Mace (Mission Nurse - Kaysville, UT). |
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| Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID) |
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| Sister Amy Ruo Mei Zhang (Missouri City, TX) |
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| Sister Riley M Siebers (Canton, CT) |
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| Sister Rose Marie Tracy (Griffin, GA) |
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| Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China) |
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| Sister Audrey Rumbidzai Vengesai (Harare, Zimbabwe) |
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| Sister Rachel Elaine Gallo (Clermont, FL) |
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| Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara (Carazo, Nicaragua) |
Training Our Replacements and Final Transfer - March 1-5, 2021Sister Linda and Elder Ray Seely are our replacements in the Temple Square Mission Office. They arrived on Monday, March 1 and we've been trying to share with them what we do, but it's always a challenge to convey things you've learned over the course of a year in a week!
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| Sister Linda and Elder Ray Seely who will replace us in the Temple Square Mission Office. They have also served office mission's Louisville, KY and Roseville, CA. |
The Seely's will do great but, as always happens, they will bring their own special talents and will perform their labors in a way unique to them and in accordance with what is needed.
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| Elder and Sister Seely, our replacements, diligently working in their new roles in the Mission Office. |
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| Sister Rebekah S Neifert (Bear Lake, MI) is one of the sweetest sisters in our mission. She is always so enthusiastic and kind. We feel blessed to serve with these elect young women! |
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| For this transfer, we received 15 new sisters on Wednesday, March 3 and President Larsen interviews each of them as they arrive. Then he assigns them in companionships to a trainer who will be one of the most influential missionaries during their 18 months. Here he is in the Relief Society Room of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building announcing the new companionships. |
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| The North Visitors Center - As we conclude our mission, we spent a little time on Friday, March 5 in the North Visitors Center. Elder Burkinshaw served as a guide here when he was attending the University of Utah from 1976-1979 every Wednesday evening from 6-9pm. |
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| Elder Burkinshaw in front of the Carl Bloch original "Nativity" (on loan from BYU) in the North Visitor's Center. While serving in the London Temple, Elder and Sister Burkinshaw were able to visit Fredeiksborg Castle where the other original Bloch paintings are on display. Several copies of the Bloch paintings are display in the NVC but the "Nativity" is the only original. |
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| The Thorvaldsen "Christus" is perhaps the most iconic statue in the Church as it is now used in the new Church logo announced in the April 2020 General Conference. This copy of the Christus (the original is in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen, Denmark) was a gift from Stephen L Richards, First Counselor to President David O McKay to the Church in 1959. Four years later, the North Visitors Center was completed with a beautiful rotunda designed to display the Christus in a diorama described as "worlds without number." (Moses 1:32-33) Elder and Sister Burkinshaw pose in this very "sacred space" on Temple Square. |
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| All of the Sisters serving in the Temple Square Mission in the North Visitors Center rotunda with the Christus on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Malia Lacey Bird (Owasso, OK) in the NVC rotunda. |
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| Sister Melissa Briana Flores (West Covina, CA), Sister Cecilie Allen Costley (Preston, ID) and Sister Burkinshaw |
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| Sister Beatriz Adamarys Camacho (Rialto, CA) and Sister Burkinshaw |
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| Sister Kay Lynn Larsen and President Russell M Larsen (St George, UT) |
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| Sister Eden Chatelle Orr (Aberdeen, SD). |
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| Sister Collette Allyce Cribbins (Poway, CA), Sister Kaci Lee Newby (Snohomish, WA). |
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| Sister Trina Charlene Cummings (Leesburg, VA) and Sister Dana Brendaly Carcamo (San Salvador, El Salvador). |
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| Sister Elena Catherine Brown (Flower Mound, TX) and Sister Natally Rachel Mendoza Angeles (Richardson, TX). |
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| Sister Kassidy Alice Cole (Glendale, AZ) |
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| Sister Rachel Anne Marie Smith (Littleton, CO) and Sister Sarah Elyse Merrill (Mesa, AZ) |
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| Sister Jayenne Millicent Sison Quindo (San Antonio, TX) |
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| Sister Kenia Samani Verduzco (Indio, CA) and Sister Maren Marie Hammarstrom (Yuba, City, CA) |
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| Sister Sarah Suzanne Bartlett (Jamesport, MO) and Sister Madison Katelyn Mortensen (Humble, TX). |
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| Sister Paige Nicole Johnson (Monument, CO) |
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| Sister Alice Lynn Smith (Tolleson, AZ) and Sister Lesly Gisela Garcia (Kansas City, KS) |
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| Sister Rebecca Marie Davik (Stavanger, Norway) and Sister Madison Cole Godsey (Seabeck, WA) |
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| Sister Sadie Madelyn Parkin (Long Beach, CA) and Sister Sister Anna Marie Nolan (Mechanicsburg, PA) |
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| Sister Stella Christine Oaks (Fayetteville, GA) and Sister Emma Kell McClellan (Allen, TX) |
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| Sister Claire Elizabeth Bean (Austin, TX) and Sister Allison Taylor Christensen (Huntersville, NC) |
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| Sister Arden Zuzana Dubiel (Niles, IL) and Sister Danielle E Lawrence (Puyallup, WA) |
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| Sister Kaylen Kalena Rie Nitahara (Honolulu, HI) |
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| Sister Amy Lin Yanfen Colton (Santa Clara, CA) |
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| Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China) |
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| Sister Jennifer Yuen Kwan Lock (Hong Kong, China) |
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| Sister Alaina Denney (Duchesne, UT) and Sister Onbee Kim (Calgary, AB) |
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Sister Colby Louise Sinclair (Zionsville, IN)
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| President Russell M Larsen and Sister Kay Lynn Larsen (St George, UT) |
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| On our last day in the office, Thursday, March 11, we put up a sign and invited all the Sisters and couples to come to the office for a Ruby Snap cookie! During each of the 110 two and a half hour driving tests Elder Burkinshaw did with the Sisters, he always pointed our the Ruby Snap cookie store on 3rd West and about 8th South in Salt Lake City! |
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Here are some of the 14 dozen Ruby Snap cookies for the Sister and couple Missionaries. There were the cinnamon roll cookies, the lemon blueberry cookies, the peanut butter chocolate cookies and the cranberry white chocolate and almond cookies!
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| The cookies were very popular but we also provided fresh fruit cups from ChickFilA for the Sisters with Celiac and gluten intolerance. |
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| Sister Hayley Marin Rush (Franklin, TN) and Sister Malia Lacey Bird (Owasso, OK) at Zupas with Sister and Elder Burkinshaw. This was our final lunch with Sisters. |
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Sister Cecelie Allen Costley and Elder Wynn Sanford Costley (Preston, ID) treated us to lupper at the Cheesecake Factory and then we played Karma and Five Crowns back at our apartment, where we finished our cheesecake! We loved playing cards with the Costleys but COVID-19 limited the times we could get together.
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Arizona Trip to Visit Family and Family History Sites - March 13-16, 2021
Before driving back to Oklahoma, we took advantage of our proximity to Arizona to fly to Phoenix and visit a family history site (the Mesa Cemetery) and family members.
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| The Mesa City Cemetery where two of Elder Burkinshaw's forebears are buried. |
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| We spent Saturday and Sunday with Uncle Tony and Aunt Rebeca in Willcox, AZ. Sister Burkinshaw and Aunt Rebeca in front of their home. On Sunday, we attended the Spanish Branch where Uncle Tony is the First Counselor and Aunt Rebeca is the chorister. Sister Burkinshaw played the organ for the meetings and played the piano for Uncle Tony who sang a special musical number, "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go." |
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| A Selfie with Aunt Rebeca in front of their home. Uncle Tony had already gone to work so we missed him. |
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| We decided to drive back from Willcox to Phoenix the long way, via Safford, Thatcher, Globe, etc. and we stopped to see the new Gila Valley Temple. |
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| We met (former Sister) Calee Cummard in Mesa for dinner at Moreno's Mexican Grill and to catch up with what is going on in her life. Calee is working in the YSA and was selected to lead the committee supporting the VIP visitors to the Mesa Temple Dedication. They are waiting to find out when that will be and if it will be in-person or virtual. She is also working at a dental lab and is still dating Quentin, who we met in Salt Lake a few weeks ago. |
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| Moreno's Mexican Grill was just a couple of blocks from the Mesa Temple so we stopped there to take a photo. Rededication of the Temple is expected to be announced this Spring. |
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| We visited Aunt Kay and Uncle Harry Kit in Dewey, AZ (near Prescott, AZ) and had lunch and a fun conversation about family and current events. They are avid Grand Canyon explorers and Uncle Harry suggested that on our next trip, he will take us down to the Colorado River near the end of the Grand Canyon! We love them!! ;-) |
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| When I first met Uncle Harry back in the mid-1970's, he was building a model railroad. This occupies the third garage in their home. It is a fantastic work and he does amazing detail! |
Packing Up and Returning to Oklahoma with Family History Stop - March 17-19We flew back from Arizona on Wednesday morning, March 17 and took the Trax to our apartment. We loaded up all our stuff and our Highlander looked like something out of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath! But there was enough room for us to sit in the front seat.
As we drove back, we stopped in Rock Springs, WY at the Municipal Cemetery there to take photos and capture GPS Coordinates for Sister Burkinshaw's Great Great Grandparents Griffith J Abraham and Maria Morgan Abraham.
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| Sister Burkinshaw with the grave marker for her second great grandparents Griffith J Abraham and Maria Morgan Abraham in the Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery. These second great grandparents came from Monmouthshire, Wales which is near Merthyr Tyfdfil which we visited when we served in the London Temple. |
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| A view of the Rock Springs Municipal Cemetery with the mountains in the distance. |
After visiting the cemetery in Rock Springs, we drove straight through to Bartlesville arriving at about 2:20am on Friday morning, March 19. This was quite interesting because 40 years earlier on Friday, March 20, 1981, Elder Burkinshaw arrived in Bartlesville about 2:00am and began working at 8:00am for Phillips Petroleum Company. Later that day, he picked up Sister Burkinshaw and 10-day-old Jessica at the Tulsa Airport that same day.
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at sunrise walking at the Jo Allyn Lowe Duck Pond Park. "There's a bright golden haze on the meadow." |
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| The Duck Pond. |
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| Sunrise at the Bartlesville Duck Pond. |
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| The fan section for soccer games on Saturday, March 20, 2021. We watched Owen's game and Isaac and Will's game where Uncle Bryce is the coach. We had a great day. Aunt Jenny was visiting from New York. |
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| Rosie, Isaac and Will enjoying lunch between the games. |
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| Noah and Owen enjoying an apple between the games. |
Sunday, March 21, 2021 - Release from the Third Mission, A New Beginning
We met with President Matthew L Bell on Sunday, March 21, 2021. We love President Bell as he has interviewed us, set us apart and then released us for each of our missions over the past six years (since 2015). It has always been a very special experience and this final meeting was no different.
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| President Matthew L Bell released Elder and Sister Burkinshaw as full-time missionaries on Sunday, March 21, 2021 at about 9:45am. We appreciated his kindness and concern for us as we have served over the past six years. |
Sunday, March 21, 2021 marks the end of a period of missions as shown below:
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| The announcement of our 18-month mission at the London Temple beginning April 2018 |
President Russell M Nelson has said:
"The truth is, no senior missionary finds it convenient to leave home. Neither did Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, or Wilford Woodruff. They had children and grandchildren too, and they loved their families just as we do. But they also loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him. Someday we may meet these stalwarts who helped to establish this dispensation. When we do, we will rejoice that we did not seek the shadows when we should have served." (Russell M Nelson, "Senior Missionary Moments", Ensign, April 2016)
Some 45 years ago, Elder Burkinshaw, on his 20th birthday while serving in Brazil, wrote the following poem that perhaps has even more meaning today.
I took a look into the past,
And all I saw were shadows cast,
On me and all the fallen ways
That I recall of yesterdays.
But I see a light in front of me,
And future things as they may be.
With these two visions I’ve learned to know
I’ll only reap the things I sow
I’ll only reap the things I sow
I’m part of everything I see
Everyone I’ve met and everything I know
Is slowly, surely shaping me.
Slowly, surely shaping met
As the rolling, twisting, turning sea.
And the love I feel and the love I show
Determine how fast and strong I grow.
With sorrow, with joy, we learn and grow.
The more sorrow I feel, the more joy I’ll know.
As I open myself, more pain I sense,
But there’s greater joy as its recompense.
Now I take a look into the past
And see more than just shadows cast
I see a kind hand’s guided me
And as He is I may someday be.
For there’s greater joy as the recompense
For the love I feel and the love I show.
I’m part of everything I see.
I’ll only reap the things I sow.
We are perhaps more humble and more willing to be taught and more confident in the promises given in the scriptures and through living prophets.
We have learned an eternal truth while serving as full-time missionaries. It is not possible to give the Lord more than we receive. Perhaps the greatest thing we have come to understand is that life is short, our own vision is limited and that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer because he saves us from making decisions that would otherwise keep us from eternal happiness. The commandments and covenants protect us from our otherwise myopic view of life. The gathering of scattered Israel (both literally and symbolically) offers that blessing to all.
"Our missionaries are going forth to different nations ... the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."
Elder and Sister Burkinshaw
