January 16, 2021 - February 21, 2021 - Enduring to the End
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| Sister Calee Cummard from Mesa, AZ who finished her mission in October, came to Salt Lake to go skiing with one of her beaus so they called and we met them at the City Creek Mall food court. |
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| Our Sisters departing January 20, 2021: Back row (l to r) Sister Kay Lynn Larsen (St George, UT), Sister Sophie Odelle Lyman (Cary, NC), Sister Chalet Taimane Kaʻiulani Tauati (Hilo, HI), Sister Daniela Raymundo Ponce (Mesa, AZ), Sister Rachel Caroline Berger (Richmond, UT), Sister Jessica Whitney Thorne (Franklin, TN), Sister Jennifer Naomi López Rios (Longueuil, Quebec). Front row (l to r) Sister Emily Lynn Christensen (Las Vegas, NV), Sister Naomi Ruth Kroeger (Kansas City, MO), Sister Sin Ying Wong (Hong Kong), Sister Ange-Esthel Michelle Carine Tape (Côte d'Ivoire), Sister Victoria Paige Malmstrom (Des Moines, WA) and President Russell M Larsen (St George, UT). |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Naomi Ruth Kroeger (Kansas City, MO). |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Sophie Odelle Lyman (Cary, NC). Sister Lyman is an outstanding cellist. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Victoria Paige Malmstrom (Des Moines, WA). |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Jennifer Naomi López Rios (Longueuil, Quebec). Sister López Rios is originally from Honduras and she also speaks fluent Spanish and French. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Chalet Taimane Kaʻiulani Tauati (Hilo, HI) |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Daniela Raymundo Ponce (Mesa, AZ) |
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| The Sisters who rode with Elder and Sister Burkinshaw to the Ogden Temple were Sister Jayenne Millicent Sison Quindo (San Antonio, TX), Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China), Sister Rebecca Marie Davik (Stavanger, Norway) and Sister Audrey Rumbidzai Vengesai (Harare, Zimbabwe). |
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| Sister Audrey Rumbidzai Vengesai (Harare, Zimbabwe), Sister Jayenne Millicent Sison Quindo (San Antonio, TX), Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China), Sister Rebecca Marie Davik (Stavanger, Norway), Sister Anna Marie Nolan (Mechanicsburg, PA), Sister Sadie Madelyn Parkin (Long Beach, CA), Sister Elibeth Ramirez (Apple Valley, CA) and Sister Audrey M Dana (Gilbert, AZ). |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw at the Ogden Temple. |
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| Sister Jayenne Millicent Sison Quindo (San Antonio, TX), Sister Audrey Rumbidzai Vengesai (Harare, Zimbabwe) with Sister and Elder Burkinshaw at Brixton's Baked Potatoes. |
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| Sister Elibeth Ramirez (Apple Valley, CA), Sister Rebecca Marie Davik (Stavanger, Norway), Sister Jayenne Millicent Sison Quindo (San Antonio, TX), Sister Kay Lynn Larsen (St Geoge, UT), Sister Audrey Rumbidzai Vengesai (Harare, Zimbabwe), Sister Audrey M Dana (Gilbert, AZ) and Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China) at Brixton's Bake Potatoes. |
District Dinner and Study Activity - Thursday, February 4
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| Our District: 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). |
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| Our office after it had been "heart attacked." |
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| A close-up of Sister Burkinshaw's "heart-attacked" credenza. |
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| A close-up of Elder Burkinshaw's "heart-attacked" credenza. |
District Council Meeting - Monday, February 8, 2021
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Sister Hana Ilean Marks (Beremerton, WA), Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID), Sister Madelyn Williams (Mesa, AZ) and Sister Klehe Ann Bradshaw (Annapolis, MD). |
Elder Burkinshaw's Grover Relatives - Friday, February 12, 2021
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| Sister Brittany Marie Grover (Blanding, UT) and Sister Madison Dawn Palmer (Blanding, UT) are first cousins and also descendants of Elder Burkinshaw's 4th great grandfather, Thomas Grover (1807-1886). |
District Activity at Ruth's Diner - Friday, February 12, 2021
Friday is our district's P-Day (but our P-Day is on Saturday since we have to be in the office Monday through Friday). So we joined the district for a special lunch at Ruth's Diner which is up Emigration Canyon and then we returned to the office, while the Sisters went to the zoo.
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| Our District Lunch at Ruth's Diner: Sister Hana Ilean Marks (Beremerton, WA), Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID), Sister Madelyn Williams (Mesa, AZ), Sister Klehe Ann Bradshaw (Annapolis, MD) and Sister Burkinshaw. |
City Creek Canyon Hike, Saturday, February 13, 2021
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| This particular Saturday morning, there was a moderate rain so Elder and Sister Burkinshaw donned their rain slickers and had a great walk. |
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| We weren't sure what this green patch was, but it was quite a contrast as we hiked up City Creek Canyon. |
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| The blue blue sky as we hiked up City Creek Canyon on another Saturday, February 20, 2021. |
Here's some pictures from our Valentine's Day.
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| A small Valentine's day bouquet for Sister Burkinshaw from Elder Burkinshaw |
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| On Monday, February 8, we strategically visited several Walmart's to obtain a heart-shaped box of chocolates for all 84 of the Sisters in the Brigham Apartments. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw prepared a bag for each apartment with sufficient heart-shaped chocolate boxes for our Sister Missionaries and early Valentine's Day morning, we placed them on the door knob of their apartments. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw prepared a delicious spaghetti dinner for our district for Valentine's Day. Sister Burkinshaw, Sister Hana Ilean Marks (Beremerton, WA), Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID), Sister Madelyn Williams (Mesa, AZ), Sister Klehe Ann Bradshaw (Annapolis, MD), Sister Madelyn Ann Tannery (Bullard, TX), Sister Alison Ruth Marcum (Hauula, HI). |
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| Sister Burkinshaw also prepared an outstanding black bottom pie with bananas and coconut for desert. Sorry about the half closed eyes, but the pie was worth remembering. |
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| A group photo at the end of our dinner: Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Sister Hana Ilean Marks (Beremerton, WA), Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID), Sister Madelyn Williams (Mesa, AZ), Sister Klehe Ann Bradshaw (Annapolis, MD), Sister Madelyn Ann Tannery (Bullard, TX), Sister Alison Ruth Marcum (Hauula, HI). |
Welfare Square Cannery Assignment - Tuesday, February 16, 2021
The Welfare Square cannery was trying to finish up their run of applesauce and they needed a few extra bodies so Elder and Sister Burkinshaw volunteered. Here's a few pictures.
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| The process begins with 400 lb crates of apples being placed by a forklift into the hydraulic lift on the right and then periodically dumped in a basin of water that floats the apples. |
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| The floating apples are picked up 3-5 at a time by a mechanical conveyor that takes the apples to a high pressure water wash and brushing which sorts out most of the bad apples. |
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| Elder Burkinshaw cleaning up after the final crate of apples was processed. He was flattered that they required him to wear a hair net! ;-) |
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| The brushed and cleaned apples are then put on another conveyor where 6-8 people grab each apple and trim the stem off. This is where Sister Burkinshaw worked. |
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| Two of our Sisters, Sister Allison Victoria LHeureux (Bensalem, PA) and Sister Kendall Audrey Mellow (Gilbert, AZ), pulling plastic bottles out of boxes and putting them on the conveyor to be filled with the freshly cooked applesauce. |
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| After the plastic bottles are filled, they are capped with lids with a self-sealing plastic cover, then washed, labeled and then loaded into boxes to be shipped to Bishop's Storehouses throughout the Church Welfare network. |
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| Lunch at Zupa's with Sister Vicenta Heiraiarii Sou Yine Le Gaulier Varney (Tahiti, French Polynesia) and Sister Rachel Elaine Gallo (Clermont, FL). |
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| Lunch (Pizza Day) with Aunt Robyn Burkinshaw and our good friend Sheryl Martin at the COB (Church Office Building) cafeteria. The "select-your-own-toppings" pizzas on Friday are great! |
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| One of our favorites, Sister Katherine Julia Jordan (Bennett, CO) after sacrament meeting on Sunday, February 21. We had forgotten to take a picture with her during our recent lunch together. |
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| Sister Calais Rose Green (Herriman, UT but originally from China) is such a sweet and dedicated missionary with an amazing family. She and Sister Jordan are companions. |
Farewell Sacrament Meeting Talks - Sunday, February 21, 2021
For some reason the last couple of
months you have started referring to us as your grandparents so today I decided
to speak to you as a grandmother, that is a very young grandmother. As your Grandmother I want you to know how
much we love you and what a great blessing you have been in our lives. Your
youth, your cheerfulness, your expressions of gratitude with notes and treats and
your enthusiasm for life and especially for this glorious work of inviting
others to Come to Christ! As your Grandmother, I would like to share with you my
granddaughters three things that I have developed an increased witness and
testimony of while serving with you this past year.
One of my favorite parts of the
mission has been our Sunday devotionals. Each Sunday during this precious hour
I have recorded in my journal your stories and the experiences you have had
during your time in the mission field, and I have shed many tears. It has
reminded me of counsel given by President Eyring in a talk titled, “To My
Grandchildren”.
After teaching the doctrine of the
two great commandments from Matt. 22 President Eyring said, “From [these
simple statements] it is not hard to summarize all I have learned about what
choices have led me toward loving the Lord with all my heart and soul and with
all my mind?” For me it has been to choose to put
myself where I felt the joy of forgiveness through the Lord’s Atonement….By
the power of the Atonement….[I have seen] people….go to the Savior for
relief….a relief only He can give. That
is why I urge those I love to accept and to magnify every calling offered them
in the Church. That choice is one of the great keys to….happiness.” (GC October 2013) This past year you have
shared experiences of those who have gone to the Savior for relief.
President Eyring shared this
experience from his mission as a 19 year old, “Years ago I baptized a young
man in Albuquerque, New Mexico, whom my missionary companion and I had taught.
I put the young man down into the water and brought him up. He must have been
nearly as tall as me because he spoke directly into my ear. With water from the
font and tears running down his face and with joy in his voice, he said, “I’m
clean, I’m clean.”
While we served in the mission
office in Brazil an elder having been in the mission field a short time came to
the mission office for an interview with President. As he came out of
President’s office he stood in front of Elder Burkinshaw and I and with tears
and hugs he said, “I will be back in six months”. Six months later he was back
in the mission office, again with hugs and tears. A tender mercy was his
“trainer” had stopped by the office that day at that exact time and it was such
a joy to watch them embrace, our missionary was again “clean” and ready to
serve.
You have had similar experiences of
helping others, but more importantly you have learned how the Atonement of
Jesus Christ works in your life, how you have found relief. I share just a few
of your own words from these Sunday meetings:
S Cribbins: “I have seen His hand in my life.”
S Curtis, “God knows everything and He has a plan for
each of us, Jesus Christ is the center of that plan.”
S A Palmer, “Heavenly Father is aware of each of us and
loves us. He is not a parent that sits anxiously by, He is involved in our
lives.”
S Camacho: “The beauty of the Atonement is He knows
exactly how you feel.”
S Cleveland, “as I prayed I felt like I was falling
short, the spirit reminded me that of course you are going to fall short that
is why you have a Savior.”
S E Cole: I am grateful to be a missionary to not only
help others become converted to Jesus Christ, but to become converted myself.”
And last these words from the
missionary who taught and baptized Sister Ch[J]ang’s family: “your parents were
‘pioneers’ and changed my life even as their lives were changed
through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
President Eyring is right, great
happiness comes by choosing “to put [ourselves] where [we feel] the joy
of forgiveness through the Lord’s Atonement….”(GC
October 2013) and because I am a grandma who has served for many years in God’s
Kingdom, I have seen the truth of his counsel.
Just as a side note: I was given
similar counsel and promised blessings in my patriarchal blessing as an 18 year
old when the patriarch said, after first describing the qualities of the person
I should marry, “Labor together in the kingdom united in so doing, and
you will have a joy that nothing can take away nor replace.”
So, two other things I have
received a strong witness of while serving this mission particularly during
this time both of which have been affected. Elder Bednar described them this
way, “One of the great challenges each of us face every day is to not allow
the concerns of this world to so dominate our time and energy that we neglect
the eternal things that matter most…..The Sabbath day and the temple,
respectively, are a “sacred time” and a “sacred space” specifically
set apart for worshipping God. As
instituted by God, the principal purposes of these two divine sources of help
are exactly the same: to powerfully and repeatedly focus our attention upon
our Heavenly Father, His Only Begotten Son, the Holy Ghost, and the promises
associated with the ordinances and covenants of the Savior’s restored gospel.”
(GC Oct. 2017)
Just a thought about each first a
“Sacred Time”. “The Sabbath is God’s time”, especially significant is the 10 or
15 minutes we take the Sacrament and renew our commitment to “always keep His
commandments”. My 2nd grade teacher and former counselor in the
general Primary Presidency, Sister Cheryl Esplin said, “The more we ponder
the significance of the sacrament, the more sacred and meaningful it becomes to
us. This was what a 96-year-old father expressed when his son asked, “Dad, why
do you go to church? You can’t see, you can’t hear, it’s hard for you to get around.
Why do you go to church?” The father replied, ‘It’s the sacrament. I go to
partake of the sacrament.” (GC Oct. 2014)
I love the words of this hymn by Lee
Tom Perry, son of Elder L. Tom Perry which shares a profound perspective on this
“Sacred Time”:
As now we
take the sacrament,
Our thoughts
are turned to thee,
Thou Son of
God, who lived for us,
Then died on
Calvary.
We
contemplate thy lasting grace,
Thy boundless
charity;
To us the
gift of life was giv’n
For all
eternity.
2.As now our
minds review the past,
We know we
must repent;
The way to
thee is righteousness—
The way thy
life was spent.
Forgiveness
is a gift from thee
We seek with
pure intent.
With hands
now pledged to do thy work,
We take the
sacrament.
3.As now we
praise thy name with song,
The blessings
of this day
Will linger
in our thankful hearts,
And silently
we pray
For courage
to accept thy will,
To listen and
obey.
We love thee,
Lord; our hearts are full.
We’ll walk
thy chosen way.
And a couple of thoughts on a “Sacred
Space” - Elder Bednar said, “A Temple literally is the house of the Lord, a
sacred space specifically set apart for worshipping God….a principal purpose of
the temple is to elevate our vision from the things of the world to the
blessings of eternity. Removed for a short time from the worldly settings
with which we are familiar, we can “look to God and live”….” (GC
Oct. 2017) I love the temple! I have missed the temple! While serving in the
London Temple and spending 7 to 10 hours in the temple five days a week a young
missionary we worked with in our assigned ward asked me, Don’t you get tired of
the same thing over and over? I admit I never did. The experience of
shutting out the world and being in this “Sacred Space” never got old.
As your grandmother, my greatest
desire is that you will always:
VALUE every opportunity you have to serve in the church and
diligently magnify that opportunity looking for the Lord’s hand in the work and
blessings of Christ’s Atonement.
MAKE your Sabbath day the Lord’s day and plan
so you can partake of the sacrament weekly and
HAVE a current temple recommend “To hold a temple
recommend is a priceless privilege and a tangible sign of obedience to God and
His prophets.” Russell M Nelson (GC April 2001) and plan so you
can use it “as often as circumstances allow”.
Sister we love you, we have been so blessed to serve with
you.
You have taken good care of your “grandparents”.
We have a loving Heavenly Father who sent His son “that the world through Him might be saved.”
His Gospel was restored to the earth by Joseph Smith and President Russell M Nelson is the Lord’s prophet today.
The Book of Mormon is “another witness of Jesus Christ”.
Jesus is the Christ, our Savior, and we have the blessing and the purpose to help others receive the Atonement.
It is a lifelong adventure!! I bear testimony of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Looking back on my 65 years on earth, including a
tithe in full-time missionary service, I would like to share some personal stories
of how missionary work blesses both convert and missionary. And thus we will see “things as they really
are, and … as they really will be.” (Jacob 4:13)
This is what I call “the vision of eternity.”
During the
April 1867 General Conference, held in the newly completed Tabernacle, 20
year-old Willard Brigham Richards heard his name read as
one of 27 missionaries called to serve in Europe. His father, Willard Richards, a counselor in
the First Presidency, had also crossed the Atlantic 30 years earlier with
apostolic companions Heber C Kimball and Orson Hyde. They would baptize
thousands of converts beginning a harvest that would literally save the
Church. Young Willard B must have anticipated he would have similar success. But we see in his story a familiar theme
shared by all our departing Sisters: Missionary work is hard!
Willard B and 26 others set out, without purse
or script, under the direction of Karl G Maeser, who had been called to
preside over the Swiss mission. The
intercontinental railroad had not yet been completed so they began by walking
over a thousand miles from Utah to Omaha.
On the trek, Indians separated one of their
company from the group, shooting arrows into him on both sides, pinning
his arms to his body so they could scalp him alive. They buried him near present-day Evanston, WY.
Their ship accommodations were “wretched” which takes
on new meaning as he described their seasickness as “throwing up their
heels.”
During his first year in London, the only crowds
he attracted were the fleas that infested his bed and body mercilessly.
Then at Dr Maeser’s request, he went to Switzerland.
Elder Richards spoke no German and his companion spoke
no English. President Maeser sent them to follow-up on Johannes Kunz, a dairy
farmer who had been baptized 6 years earlier. However, his son, Johannes Kunz
II, was determined to run them out of town as he had previous missionaries. He “hated
Mormonism … and wanted to kill all the Mormons off.” But after repeated
visits, the son, began to ask questions and eventually agreed to baptism but
with the stipulation that he would not be asked to emigrate.
Returning home Elder Richards disappointedly reported that this difficult Swiss dairy farmer was “…the only one I converted…” Compared to his father’s mission, he surely felt he was a failure. (from History of Willard Brigham Richards 1847-1942)
Sixty years later, a son of Johannes Kunz II found Willard B Richards, now age 82, and shared his gratitude for his bringing the Gospel to his family. Unbeknownst to Elder Richards, Johannes Kunz II had emigrated, founding the Bear River town of Bern where they prospered and had a great posterity. Johannes Kunz II was my third great grandfather on my mother’s side. In the mid-1980’s, I obtained a book documenting over 20,000 descendants from that difficult Swiss dairy farmer convert. Today there are more than 50,000. (If you doubt that number, as I did initially, consider that 7 generations with an average of 5 descendants each is calculated as the summation of 5 to the nth power where n = 1 to 7 or 97,651). “…the only one I converted…”?
The Lord taught the Saints in Jackson County the
following principle:
“Ye cannot behold with
your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter … For after much tribulation come the
blessings.” (D&C 58:3-4) So don’t
judge the success of your mission on short-term numbers.
So when I was endowed in the Salt Lake Temple, I was
the first Burkinshaw in 3 generations to do so and my parents opposed my
serving a mission, concerned that it would interrupt my education. But the one thing you don’t do is tell an 18-year-old
what he can and can’t do. So I had a
wonderful mission in Brazil, although I also discovered that fleas, throwing up
your heels and other hard things were common missionary experiences. We taught
and baptized many special people, and today, we observe via Facebook and letters
as now the third generation serve missions, marry in the
temple and raise faithful families.
Elder Richard G Scott taught, “Missionary service is
not something we do for ourselves, yet great growth and preparation for the
future is gained from a mission. All
that I treasure most in life began to mature in the mission field.”
(Elder Richard G. Scott, “First Things First,” Ensign, May 2001, 6)
But for many years, I carried a concern for the eternal
welfare of my parents and other family members. It was hard and some of you
know what I mean.
I tried to encourage, I plead, I reasoned but nothing seemed to motivate
them. I learned firsthand that agency is
real.
President Henry B Eyring has shared, “A prophet of God
once offered me counsel that gives me peace. I was worried that the choices of
others might make it impossible for our family to be together forever. He said,
“You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the
celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you
can imagine.” (“The Hope of Eternal Family Love,” Ensign, August 2016)
So we strove to keep the sacred covenants we made in
the temple, we served in the church and community and we worked hard to provide
for our family and thus we learned what it means to “…live after the manner of
happiness.” (2 Nephi 5:27).
A few weeks later, they were missing Utah and wanted
to go home so I agreed to drive them back.
On the drive, my father rather tentatively asked, “Do you think we could
go to the Temple?” I responded “Who are
you and what have you done with my parents?”
But after some discussion, it became clear that they were sincere. Not wanting to give them time to change their
minds, I pulled over to the side of the road and called the Bishop of their
home ward and arranged for them to be interviewed as soon as we reached Utah. We all knew this Bishop well. He had been a real heck-raiser as a youth so
it made it a little easier, especially for my Dad to see that people could
change for the better.
When we returned from our mission in Brazil, we met my younger sister, who had struggled with a variety of challenges for 20 years but had now traveled her own Road to Damascus, finding her answers in the Gospel. On these sacred grounds, Sister Burkinshaw and I acted as proxies as she was sealed to my parents.
Elder Bruce R McConkie wrote: “Throughout the
revelations, the Lord takes frequent occasion to mention great blessings that
will attend missionary work – almost always the blessings are promised to the
missionary, not the convert. It is
assumed that the convert will gain blessings, because the reception of the gospel
always brings such. But the one
especially and particularly blessed will always be the one sent to carry the
message.” (Joseph Fielding McConkie, “The Bruce R. McConkie Story –
Reflections of a Son”, Deseret Book 2004, pg 259)
This is the vision of eternity!
In the name of
Him that redeems us, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
