Matt's email 10/3/2011

I honestly don´t even know where to begin. I am exhausted from a weeks worth of work and definitely not a week´s worth of sleep, but I am loving it and am somehow finding the energy to get it all done. This past week was full of events. Monday I had the opportunity to go to the going away dinner at President Avila´s house with him, his family, and all the missionaries going home. Among the crowd was Elder Barra, Elder Leal, Elder Harvey and the hermanas that came to the mission when I did. I couldn´t believe it. I am so glad that I am not a sister missionary because the time has gone by way too quick. I am so grateful for the time that I have left on the mission. I am excited to keep changing and seeing miracles. I had the opportunity to listen to Elder Barra´s last testimony on the mission. Let´s just say it didn´t surprise me. I hope he figures it all out. It was amazing to hear Elder Harvey´s dad bear a powerful testimony of the church and hear him repeat the words to the baptismal prayer in spanish. It was something that I will probably never forget. It was hard saying goodbye to some of them, but life here in the mission still keeps going on. On tuesday was the day that I have been looking forward to for the last while which was the arrival of Elder Maughan. It was great being able so see him and talk about some of the good days, but what was even greater was seeing him with a tag on, ready to preach the gospel. Highschool relationships are so much different than mission relationships, and I think that difference really had an impact on me. After that there was a ton of stuff that happened but as of right now I am just more excited to talk about the experiences that I had at conference. First of all I have to say that I loved Elder Callister´s talk on the book of mormon. I remember the talk he gave a while ago about Joseph Smith, which has become one of my all time favorites here on the mission, so I was expecting something big from him, but he ended up blowing my mind spiritually. I felt the spirit so strong in his talk and I felt an undeniable voice reassuring to me that the book of mormon contains the words of God. I know that it was written for us in our day, in order to help us resolve the problems and tribulation that we face in this life. I also LOVED the talk by Sister Dalton. I seriously had desires in that moment to have a daughter some day in my life. It was the first time that I have ever let a talk from a female touch my life, and it changed my whole thought process. It was amazing. I could keep going on for hours about how much I loved conference. Every single talk made an impact on me, but I think one of the most spiritual moments I have ever had in my life was listening to President Monson close the conference and knowing without a doubt in my mind that he really is a Prophet of God and that he talks with Him face to face. He couldn´t have just ¨invented¨ the words that he spoke. He has to have been called from God. I love this church. I love everything about it. I can´t deny the divinity of it. I can´t deny the fact that it was restored by a young boy who had just a simple question. I can´t deny the fact that this mission has changed my life and that it has strenghtened the little testimony I had before the mission and has turned it into the most valuable thing that I possess. Thank you for blessing me so much in this life. I love you all so much.
Elder Burr