Saying Goodbye to Marc

I never posted these pictures of Marc's Kneaders breakfast.  All the grandkids will grow so much while he's gone!  We love you, Marc.

Matt's email 10/25/2010

Alright to start off I have to apologize for not informing anybody on transfers. I thought they were going to be on Monday, but turns out there were on Friday. It was a long week, but here we are. My new companion is Elder Orduña. It turns out that President was just punking me. He told me I was going to train or get a young latin, and he did neither. Elder Orduña is from Queens, New York. He speaks spanish perfectly and has 15 months on the mission. He loves to teach little kids how to behave themselves and the things they shouldn´t do. It is pretty funny actually to see the way all the moms react to him disciplining their kids. But he is a stud. He used to work at Zales as a jewelry salesman... Yep. And mom, yes he does know what a Hearts on Fire diamond is ha ha. Don´t ask me how I remembered that name, but you raised me well. Since he has been here in Albardón, we have already started to see miracles. On Saturday we went up to teach some investigators that we found a few weeks ago and while we were up in the area we decided to contact a few references. We went to one of the houses that we thought was a reference and started talking to the lady. She was super nice and after a few minutes of talking, she let us in. Inside the house were here 2 daughters and her sister, all of the age to be baptized. We started finding out what they needed in their lives and ended up teaching the message of the Restoration. We watched the video The Restoration and afterwards we put baptismal dates with all 4 of them for the 16 of November and they all accepted. Then after that we went to the family of Franco to start teaching them and met his 19 year old brother and 11 year old sister who also accepted dates for the 16. It was an awesome day for us. We are definitely going to get work done over here. We also say Mayra get confirmed and Franco got the Priesthood on Sunday, so that was just awesome. Missionary work is just way too fun when you have success, but when you don´t, it makes for some long, hard days.
About the interview I had with Elder Aidukaitis. We were just talking about the goals in my life and the things I want to accomplish on the mission. He taught me how I could do a really good plan of action to accomplish all the goals I have and he also taught me the importance of back up plans in case the main plan fails. It is hard to write, because the spirit that was there was what made is so special. But yeah that´s how it went. I was also thinking about the Christmas package. I don´t think I want anything to be honest. I think I might just buy some soccer shoes here at one of the stores and call it good. So if you see a hefty credit just sing a Christmas song or something and wish me a Merry Christmas. How does that sound?
Thanks so much for all the support that everyone has shown to me. I appreciate it so much. I´m sure Cam, Adam, and Ben can all relate. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love
Elder Burr

Marc's email 10/19/2010

So it sounds like your crew was really met. that is too bad i would have
finished that job in probably a day cause when production needs to happen i
produce. but hey at least you are working and not sitting. How is the
campaign going? is he going to win or what? this is my letter to both you
and mom just so you know but i hope all is well.  somehow
everybody in this place is sick besides me.. nobody gets it but i wont
complain. The food is terrible yesterday i ate bowls of cereal cause i
couldnt handle the nasty chicken they tried to make me eat. at least the
food in mexico will be better than here. i dont think i need much. just some
life saver mints perhaps some beef jerky and some gummy treats. other than
that i have my 72 hour kit in my room full of cookies and such. my grow a
head is awesome it is in my classroom and has i think three hairs. it will
be a good addition. im sittin right next to kyle right now and he is doing
good. it is hard and he sees that and he is just taking every day as it
comes. that is how you get by in this place. oh yeah will somebody hook me
up with the scores to football games and the top 25 maybe? that would be
cool. Also i know how it feels now to sleep on the street cause that is how
uncomfortable my bed is. but i love it here stilll and every day is better
than the last. I am reading in the BoM and alma and ammon are easily my
boys. if i can be half of the men they were i would have a successful life.
I cant wait to get down to mexico to teach the people the plan of salvation
and cry repentance unto them. No news on the visa but it definitely is not
looking too good. but ill go where i am called. i love this work and the
promises i am given. i know i am a representative of Jesus Christ and oh man
what an honor that is. I love it. I never thought i really would but i love
it. the spanish is good i try to speak it all day every day and that is
working out pretty good. i can usually go all day with saying 20 words in
english but i know when i leave i will just be stunned. well i am going to
go but i hope you all have a good safe week and i love you all. i pray for
you all and wish the best. you are the best parents and family in the world
i couldnt have asked for better. no temas. its my new saying its tight it
means no fear. its how i live. love you all

Matt's email 10/18/2010

So this week was perhaps the hardest, most  confusing, most rewarding week on the mission. I know those are 3 contradictory statements but that pretty much sums it all up. On Tuesday I went down to Mendoza and we had a leadership meeting with Elder Aidukaitis. Everyone was getting pretty worried about it because he likes to drop a lot of cain on the missionaries, but it all went pretty well. He started out by asking us if we wanted to be a mission that stays where it is at or if we want to be a mission that is always moving forward. We chose the obvious answer and he then went on to explain a lot about the process of setting goals. He told us that if we had the necessary amount of faith each missionary will be able to baptize once a week. That was pretty humbling to hear, but I am going to put the promise to the test. He taught us a lot about how to make a plan to be able to reach a goal. Then on Wednesday I had to do an interview over in another area and on Thursday we had the zone leaders over to do interviews for us. On Friday we went down as a zone to Mendoza for the zone conference and it was based a lot about the same stuff we talked about. I have come to realize the importance of goals in my life and it has been a huge blessing. The coolest part of the week happened right after Elder Aidukaitis finished and President asked me to go have an interview with him and Elder Aidukaitis. To sum things up it was me, Elder Aidukaitis, and President Lindahl in a room having a private interview in spanish. It was incredible being in the same room as someone from the first quorum of the Seventy. He is an amazing man and taught me a lot. Then on Friday night we got back to San Juan and I had to do some more interviews for the zone leaders. We ended up sleeping on their floor because we got back super late. One of the interviews was just ridiculous. I don´t even want to write about it it was so bad. This lady was just crazy. But then on Saturday we had a couple baptisms which went really well. Sunday shows up, one of the investigators that got baptized didn´t show up until Sacrament Meeting and then we find out she drank a little alcohol after her baptism. She didn´t end up getting confirmed, although President Lindahl says she should have and things just went down. We are hoping and praying to get her confirmed on Sunday. That´s one of the incredible blessings of the Atonement is that it is infinite and available to everyone. But yeah that is pretty much the week in a nut shell. As a zone we won a competition and will each be receiving a belt with our names on them and an asado provided by president. That should be super legit. It´s been a week of miracles. Thank you all so much for the emails. It is awesome to hear from the real world. Things are going great here. I am loving it. I love you all and hope you have a great week.
Love
Elder Burr

Marc's email 10/12/2010

Hey mom how are you? i hope your week was good and you got everything done that you had to. My week here was really good just still doing the same thing every day. laundry right now is not fun just because the washing machines blow and the dryers dont really dry but oh well. This week i have been studying in mosiah and i love what king benjamin said. It relates to that question you put in your email and we will always be eternally indebted to our Lord. just when we try to pay him back he blesses us more. Im pretty sure that is the scripture but i wrote you and dad a letter that has the scriptures. In the scriptures the way to get back is to have faith, repent, baptism, and receive the holy ghost and endure to the end. that is how you get in that is why we get it. If we have faith that we are always doing what is right the lord will be pleased with our efforts and ours will be the kingdon of God. As long as we strive to be like our brother Jesus Christ we will be worthy in the eyes of God. Serving others like Jesus did is what i am doing now. One thing i know for sure is that i represent my Savior Jesus Christ and His name is always on my heart. I will not do anything to defile his name. I got matts email and it sounds like he is doing really well. I hope he is cause he deserves it. Missionary work is hard and i know how hard we works. He deserves the best for his work. Heather wrote me and it sounds like her family is doing good. Lucy seems to be a genius already i could count the words she actually said to me on one hand though. i will come home and she will realize how cool i am. how is the rest of the family? lilfe here is good i have learned to love my comp and district. They are all really cool and they make this place so much better. my teachers are awesome and just altogether it is amazing. I have been getting random packages from random people but that is cool.  but i dont really realize it id rather just serve the lord for my remaining time and not worry about having a girl to write or anything. best decision i have ever made. But i love you mom thank you for everything. keep praying for me and matt. I know it is tough and I can feel your prayers. I hope you have a good week

Matt's email 10/11/2010

So I have to tell you all that this week was just awesome. It was by far the most tiring week that I have had thus far on the mission, but it was amazing. I think the motivation that I received from conference really helped. I can tell you, after seeing 2 full sessions of conference on the mission, that there is not a greater time in the life of a missionary than the 2 days of conference. I didn´t want them to end, but sadly enough they did. But about this week... On Tuesday we had interviews with President Lindahl. I can´t get over how legit that man is. He connects so well with his missionaries and he honestly is like a dad out here on the mission. The only thing he wants for us is to be happy and work. He is always willing to help with anything and he is just an amazing person. In the interview he asked me if I would rather have a really young latin companion or if I would rather train a brand new gringo. I told him that it would be awesome to train, but that it would be great to improve my spanish. I know he will make the better choice and I wouldn´t be surprised to receive a phone call on sunday telling me that I will be training. Then on Thursday I went out to do some more baptismal interviews and met a lot of investigators in other areas in the district. I love interviews. The Spirit that is felt is just incredible during them and it is an awesome time getting to know someone and such a spiritual level. The only downer of the week is that Vazquez has started counting down the days and is talking about home a lot. I think he is way excited to leave this country and he makes me think of home a lot, but we are still working and finding people so it´s all great. We will find out transfers again this next monday so I am sure I will have some news. We will also be baptizing a few people this Saturday so I am super stoked. As for Viviana and her family... Well we called to set up an appointment to go and teach them again and she told us that she needed us to come pick up the Book of Mormon because her husband wouldn´t let her switch religions... It was hard trying to swallow that one, but we told her to continue reading and praying and when the Lord softens up the heart of her husband to let us know. She seemed pretty upset, but I have trust in the Lord and I know He can do anything. I have seen miracles on the mission and I don´t doubt the power that He has. This week is going to be crazy. Tomorrow in the morning I have to go to Mendoza to a leadership meeting with Elder Aidukaitis, then on Wednesday and Thursday I will be doing divisions and doing interviews again, then on Friday we are going to Mendoza as a zone to have zone meeting, then on Saturday we will be baptizing. It is a pretty packed week, but it will be awesome.
I hope all is going well back home. I have been trying to imagine what you are all doing without Marc and I and I just can´t do it. I hope you all have a great week. Keep the prayers coming. Thanks for all the support and love. Thanks for the packages mom. I´m sure they will be here soon. At least I hope so. I love you all. The Gospel is true. The church is perfect. The Prophet really does talk with God. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I love Him. The Book of Mormon is the most true book that we have. It can change lives faster than anything else. God loves us. I love you all
Love
Elder Burr

A photo of Matt

Matt is on the right end of the second row.