So this week was one full of surprises and new beginnings. I will have to tell it all very short because we are about to leave and go to President´s house to eat dinner with all the old missionaries but pretty much I got a call on Friday from President Avila telling me that he wanted me to be the next assistant in the mission. At first I didn´t believe him, but he then told me I had about an hour to get all my bags ready and start heading to mendoza in the mission car. So pretty much I left a bunch of work in Amppya and headed down to mendoza to start another page of my mission. On saturday we had to do transfers, which was just an adventure, and today we are calling all the zone leaders to let them know. Tomorrow we are going to receive like 18 new missionaries which means we will have training meetings and airport runs and interviews with president and all that good stuff... It is going to be a lot of work, but I am loving it so far. We have an area that we work in that is a gold mine and in just 1 day of work we have found some great people to work on towards baptism. I am so grateful for this new opportunity to serve the Lord in Mendoza and I will do my best to serve Him with all my heart might mind and strength. Hopefully next week I have some more time to write and fill you all in. I love you all and hope you all have a splendid week!! You are all my heroes!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Marc's email 8/8/2011
Hey mom garbage taker downer lady how are you? Just your boy elder Burr checkin in from Guady leanin like a cholo. It sounds like your week last week was a tight one. Did you ever have a headache and want to run away? How are Ben and Olivia and their family doing/ How is cam liking St George? That is a lot of news from the ward and I cant believe that the Hansen triplets finished their mission already. That flew by. Matt will be home tomorrow at this rate and I might be home the next day. It is unreal. It also sounds like the shopping days for you might get a little better with the blessings you and dad are raking in. Dont spend all of those benjamins on stupid stuff. Remember to save some for my lazer hair removal. That is awesome though that we are receiving those blessings. We all know why, when we are out here building the Lords Kingdom, He always helps us build ours. Just remember that pride comes with money so dont let that get out of hand. A little bit about the week we had. Elder Carrasco and I just worked like Mexicans here trying to find people to teach and to baptize. It is hard cause the people are too lazy to come to the door so they just talk to us through their doorbell/camera/microphone thing and tell us no. It is pretty discouraging but I know the Lord is going to help us this week. We are going to baptize Liliana this week but she needs your prayers. She wants to get baptized but her husband is just an alcoholic that is always saying he doesnt believe it and he will never pay tithing and the church is just a business. On top of that she has the TJ's going over there saying that the prophet gets paid. I hate the JW's they are so annoying. They are like the fly that is always landing on and getting in your eyes when you are trying to work. I dont know why the Lord just doesnt destroy all of them in their wickedness so they can stop bugging us! ITs alright though the Spirit of the Lord is always with us and that is all we need. Also this week we have a kid that is going to be with us all day everyday cause he wants to do everything we do for a week. We will see if he doesnt start complaining tomorrow from blisters on his feet. Well everything here is going really well. I know this is the Lords work and He is blessing all of us. I know this church is true and it is the only true church. I love my Savior and everything He did for me. I cant wait for the day that I enter His presence to live with Him and my family forever. I love all of you and hope you can all feel the Saviours love this week. I feel His presence every moment and I love it. Well I am out until next week. I love you all
Elder Burr
Elder Burr
Friday, August 12, 2011
Matt's email 8/8/2011
This week went by incredibly fast! On thursday we had the opportunity to listen to President Avila speak at our zone conference and he blew me away once again with his knowledge of the scriptures. He started out by talking about the life of the savior. We all know the miracles that he performed and the importance of the example that He left for us to follow, but he opened up my eyes to a whole new perspective. The Savior had come to earth, lived a 3 year ministry, performed countless miracles, was persecuted, was hit, was beat, was wrongly accused, was crucified next to two true villains, was resurrected the third day from a sealed tomb, prepared the spirit world for the preaching of the gospel, visited the americas, visited with His apostles for 40 days and what were his last words to the Apostles as he was about to ascend up to the Father. They are found in the last 2 scriptures of the book of Matthew. ¨Por tanto, id, y haced discípulos a todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo; enseñandoles que guarden todas las cosas que os he mandado; y he aquí yo estoy con vosotros todos los días, hasta el fin del mundo. Amen¨ Sorry I only have it in spanish, but the last commandment He leaves them is to go out and teach to baptize! The Savior, upon leaving this world commanded his disciples to baptize and to teach the children of God to obey ALL things. What an incredible commandment, no? What a powerful farewell and what a sensational work. I am so happy to be involved in such a great work, and I know that if I fulfill with my calling, I will have the Savior at my side until the end of the world. We also talked a lot about the importance of believing and doing things the Lord´s way. That is a lesson for another time. I sent it to dad, but it was something that just blew my mind and made me so grateful for President Avila. He is definitely different than President Lindahl, but God made us all different so that we could learn to be united.
We also had the opportunity to meet a fantastic investigator named Gian. He is an 18 year old kid that lost his mom, his dad lives in Mendoza, his older brother hates him, and he is alone in the house with his two younger brother and sister. He is confused about religion and doesn´t know what church is going to save him... Sound a little familiar? We taught him a powerful lesson of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and I then went with a kid from the ward to go look for him yesterday morning. There he was dressed all up in white shirt and pants waiting for us. He came to church and loved it. He has been a tender mercy from the Lord and I can see him being out in a little over a year serving a faithful mission. The kid is incredible.
I love you all. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Audrey, Ashley, Cam, Mom, uhhhhhhh Olivia last month, Heather in a few months, Grandma Dewolf in March... I hope I haven´t left too many out. If I did, I am very sorry. I love you all and know that this work is the best work going on in all the world
We also had the opportunity to meet a fantastic investigator named Gian. He is an 18 year old kid that lost his mom, his dad lives in Mendoza, his older brother hates him, and he is alone in the house with his two younger brother and sister. He is confused about religion and doesn´t know what church is going to save him... Sound a little familiar? We taught him a powerful lesson of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration and I then went with a kid from the ward to go look for him yesterday morning. There he was dressed all up in white shirt and pants waiting for us. He came to church and loved it. He has been a tender mercy from the Lord and I can see him being out in a little over a year serving a faithful mission. The kid is incredible.
I love you all. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Audrey, Ashley, Cam, Mom, uhhhhhhh Olivia last month, Heather in a few months, Grandma Dewolf in March... I hope I haven´t left too many out. If I did, I am very sorry. I love you all and know that this work is the best work going on in all the world
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Matt's email 8/1/2011
So this week was one for the record books. We spent last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Mendoza listening to President Avila and the assistants talk to us about how we are going to better the mission. On Monday we all got together as leaders and spent the afternoon playing soccer and then having a spiritual discussion about the mission of Alma and Amulek. I learned so much about how I can better myself as a missionary and this week I have been applying all that I have learned to my daily life. I have started seeing miracles. On Tuesday we heard from President as he also opened up the scriptures to us and showed us the life of Mormon, Moroni and Teancum. Those three men were amazing leaders and there is a ton that can be learned from them. The most important principle is leading by an example. In order to lead, one needs to be humble, serious, loving and virtuous. Anybody could say harsh words and get mad at somebody for not doing a good job, but a leader takes that person under his wing and lets him feel the love. Then on Wednesday we spent the morning working on visa problems so that we could be legal here another year. That was just about one of the biggest headaches I have ever had, but we got it all over with and now I am legal again so life is good. I also got this stuff injected into those scars I have on my back from getting those moles removed. That cream wasn´t doing anything so the mission nurse just hooked my up with some shots. It seems to be working a lot better. They seem to be going down, so all is well.
This weekend was amazing and I was able to see the hand of God as he helped us reach our goals. I know that He lives and helps His servants that dedicate their lives to Him. He will never let one of His faithful sons or daughters fall. We always have to strive to be worthy of His helping hand and we always have to excercise the faith necessary for Him to perform miracles in our lives. I love Him and I love all of you!
Elder Burr
This weekend was amazing and I was able to see the hand of God as he helped us reach our goals. I know that He lives and helps His servants that dedicate their lives to Him. He will never let one of His faithful sons or daughters fall. We always have to strive to be worthy of His helping hand and we always have to excercise the faith necessary for Him to perform miracles in our lives. I love Him and I love all of you!
Elder Burr
Monday, August 1, 2011
Marc's email 8/1/2011
Hey mom garbage taker downer lady how are you? Just your boy elder Burr checkin in from Guady leanin like a cholo. It sounds like your week last week was a tight one. Did you ever have a headache and want to run away? How are Ben and Olivia and their family doing/ How is cam liking St George? That is a lot of news from the ward and I cant believe that the Hansen triplets finished their mission already. That flew by. Matt will be home tomorrow at this rate and I might be home the next day. It is unreal. It also sounds like the shopping days for you might get a little better with the blessings you and dad are raking in. Dont spend all of those benjamins on stupid stuff. Remember to save some for my lazer hair removal. That is awesome though that we are receiving those blessings. We all know why, when we are out here building the Lords Kingdom, He always helps us build ours. Just remember that pride comes with money so dont let that get out of hand. A little bit about the week we had. Elder Carrasco and I just worked like Mexicans here trying to find people to teach and to baptize. It is hard cause the people are too lazy to come to the door so they just talk to us through their doorbell/camera/microphone thing and tell us no. It is pretty discouraging but I know the Lord is going to help us this week. We are going to baptize Liliana this week but she needs your prayers. She wants to get baptized but her husband is just an alcoholic that is always saying he doesnt believe it and he will never pay tithing and the church is just a business. On top of that she has the TJ's going over there saying that the prophet gets paid. I hate the JW's they are so annoying. They are like the fly that is always landing on and getting in your eyes when you are trying to work. I dont know why the Lord just doesnt destroy all of them in their wickedness so they can stop bugging us! ITs alright though the Spirit of the Lord is always with us and that is all we need. Also this week we have a kid that is going to be with us all day everyday cause he wants to do everything we do for a week. We will see if he doesnt start complaining tomorrow from blisters on his feet. Well everything here is going really well. I know this is the Lords work and He is blessing all of us. I know this church is true and it is the only true church. I love my Savior and everything He did for me. I cant wait for the day that I enter His presence to live with Him and my family forever. I love all of you and hope you can all feel the Saviours love this week. I feel His presence every moment and I love it. Well I am out until next week. I love you all
Elder Burr
Elder Burr
Marc's email 7/25/2011
Hey mom how are you? Just so you know I bought a tight watch from sears cause my other one started smelling like you know what and it was broken and ugly. In best buy I picked up a voice recorder for Elder Black cause he wanted it so he gave me the money after. It was just one of those times where I felt the need to spend some money. You know the feeling that you always feel?? Im sure you understand me. Well a little bit about this week. Tuesday we had interviews and they went really well. President was impressed by the way we taught and he really liked the way we worked together. He apparently saw a strength in me and the Wednesdy we had special changes. He put me with Elder Carrasco who is going home next change and President know I wont let him do stupid stuff his last change. This is the first time Pres has actually placed me with some challenge so it is really nice. I assure you there wont be any problems here with missionaries that dont work their last change. This week the two baptisms that we had fell and one of them rejected us pretty bad. It was way sad cause we had like 4 weeks teaching them but as we walked away I felt a little bit of how the Savior felt when all He wanted to do was help and all the people rejected Him. I guess thats what I get for praying for more patience. But we had 6 new people in the church that loved it so we will see how this week goes with them. I am abut ready to baptize someone again it has been way too long. Yesterday in our meal we ate beef ribs and mashed potatoes that were so good. It has been 10 months since I have tasted something as good as that so that was also nice. Mom just so you know a little bit about the president. He isnt a man of many words. He is really serious but he cares alot about us and wants us all to gain a personal testimony. That is why he is always so hard on us. I have really changed my thoughts on him and he is a great man just a little hard to understand. His name is Pres. Saucedo. Where is Tommy going again and when does Josh Stephan leave? How is Vanessa doing with the married lifestyle and how is Jake doing. How is the family and stuff. Does tommy leave this week. And JJ Burr? Well Mom thats about it for this week. I know this work is real and I know I am working for the Lord. I know that He is my Savior and that we can live with Them again. I love you mom and am so grateful for you and your hard work. I hope you al have a great week. Im out!
Elder Burr
Elder Burr
Matt's email 7/25/2011
Well it´s good to hear that everyone has at least been keeping busy. I´m glad that you are all finding joy in working and hope that the work never takes priority over God. That was the huge lesson that I learned this week. It is impossible for somebody to be truly happy if they put their work over their belief in God. It is sad how many people do it and how many blessing they are losing, but for that reason God calls missionaries.
This week was a pretty good one. We have found many new families and the best part is that there is a dad. They are steadily progressing but they will take a little longer to make it to baptism. One of them is the Ceballos family. They are a married couple with their 6 children, all but one of baptism age. The dad really likes the lessons and has a lot of interest in the church. His wife is one of those wifes that doesn´t really know what is going on. It is obviously that she became a mom way too early and missed out on some of the most important lessons of childhood, but she also likes the church and really wants her kids to be happy. We also found another woman who started out listening to the JW´s, but then we came in and she has now been rejecting them. She was in the hospital all weekend with her kid and unfortunately we couldn´t go see her. She is always asking her mom about us and is also really interested in the church. Then we have good ol Wilson. This kid is just a miracle. He is super excited to get married at the end of September and to make things even better, Elder Huntington and I are the best friends of their 2 year old daughter Briana. She is always asking wilson and mariela when we are going to come over so that she can say a pray. She never lets a meal go by where they don´t offer a prayer. She is the cutest little girl and is evidence of the purity that is found in little kids. She loves Elder Hutnington and I, which makes it just that much better.
The mission is going great. The people here in Argentina are awesome and are such great tools for growth. I have learned something from all of them, even the ones that slam the door in the face. It is a huge blessing being here on the mission and my testimony has grown so much. I know that Joseph Smith really did see what he said he saw. His life is testimony of the great work that he started. I know that the Book of Mormon is the key of our religion and it is an inspired book written by God through the hands of His prophets. Thomas S Monson is infact the prophet of our day. I love my Heavenly Father and know that He loves me. I love all of you and am so proud to call you family. I hope you all have a fantastic week!!
Elder Burr
This week was a pretty good one. We have found many new families and the best part is that there is a dad. They are steadily progressing but they will take a little longer to make it to baptism. One of them is the Ceballos family. They are a married couple with their 6 children, all but one of baptism age. The dad really likes the lessons and has a lot of interest in the church. His wife is one of those wifes that doesn´t really know what is going on. It is obviously that she became a mom way too early and missed out on some of the most important lessons of childhood, but she also likes the church and really wants her kids to be happy. We also found another woman who started out listening to the JW´s, but then we came in and she has now been rejecting them. She was in the hospital all weekend with her kid and unfortunately we couldn´t go see her. She is always asking her mom about us and is also really interested in the church. Then we have good ol Wilson. This kid is just a miracle. He is super excited to get married at the end of September and to make things even better, Elder Huntington and I are the best friends of their 2 year old daughter Briana. She is always asking wilson and mariela when we are going to come over so that she can say a pray. She never lets a meal go by where they don´t offer a prayer. She is the cutest little girl and is evidence of the purity that is found in little kids. She loves Elder Hutnington and I, which makes it just that much better.
The mission is going great. The people here in Argentina are awesome and are such great tools for growth. I have learned something from all of them, even the ones that slam the door in the face. It is a huge blessing being here on the mission and my testimony has grown so much. I know that Joseph Smith really did see what he said he saw. His life is testimony of the great work that he started. I know that the Book of Mormon is the key of our religion and it is an inspired book written by God through the hands of His prophets. Thomas S Monson is infact the prophet of our day. I love my Heavenly Father and know that He loves me. I love all of you and am so proud to call you family. I hope you all have a fantastic week!!
Elder Burr
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