Week 19: Rodeo de la Cruz

Another week has flown by!

Well hello everyone :) I hope this letter finds you all comfortable in your homes in the United States.

A couple weeks ago I saw an elder named Elder Gorge. I asked him where he was from because I know a Gorge family from Indiana. He said Indiana! His mom was my seminary teacher in high school! Wait, it gets weirder. My companion Elder Piedra, used to be companions with him!! That is just crazy to me. Two Indiana boys end up with exactly the same companion in Mendoza, Argentina!

This week we were able to teach Julia and a new investigator named Paulo! But the lesson that stuck out to me was the one we had with Agustín Olmos, a less active. We have been working with him lots recently! We talked about how Satan exists, and God exists. If we aren't constantly trying to improve our relationship with God and keep the commandments, we will lose control to the adversary. He accepted it really well and now we just wait for him to act, and offer our support. It's hard seeing so much potential happiness in someone's life, but then losing interest in doing the things to get that happiness. 

That's all for now. Take care, everyone!! 

Mucho Amor,

Elder Burns

Week 18: Rodeo de la Cruz

Hello again!

This week was really busy but that's alright because every week, no matter how long it feels, ends :) I was in Colonia Segovia/Corralitos for a couple of days while I was waiting for my new companion. He definitely has the "sh" accent, and it is dang hard to understand! haha. From one of the first letters I sent from the field I said "there's a Chilean in my district and I can't understand anything he says." Well, NOW, I can understand HIM almost perfectly, but it is extremely difficult to understand my new companion. haha oh well. It's all part of the mission.

We had an absolutely amazing lesson with Sandra Guebara!! We haven't been able to visit in about two weeks, but this lesson totally made up for that. Brother Barraza, a man in the ward, was able to come with us and it was easily the most spiritual lesson I've had in my mission so far. We aren't perfect teachers, so we always need to take note of WHY things went well. And vice-versa when a lesson DOESN'T go well.

The Marinero family is having struggles with faith. In order to live the law of chastity, they need to be married, and right now they're not. But, they will receive less money from the government each month if they do that. It's tough to know how to help them out and help them realize that everything will be okay, and they will be HAPPY if they take that step. They are such great people, and it's tough to see them struggle.

I know God lives, and He is aware of what's going on in your life. Sometimes He puts tough situations in front of us just to see us make the right choice. In the words of President Monson, "let us learn to do the right thing, because it's right." (more or less :) )

I love you all so much!

Elder Burns :)

Week 17: Rodeo de la Cruz

Hello all!

Soooo, I have news about transfers. I am staying in Rodeo and receiving Elder Piedra from Uruguay!! I'm super excited. Those from Uruguay, Paraguay, and Buenos Aires are referred to as "Porteños". There, the Y sound is more of a "SH" instead of a soft J sound here. I hope that makes sense... haha. For example, "ayudeme" here would be "aw-joo-de-me" (more or less) and there it would be "aw-shoo-de-me". The accent doesn't matter too much, but I think it's interesting.

This morning I said goodbye to Elder Manrique. Sad but happy times.... During all this week, we were inviting investigators to come to church to listen to him sing (he sings RRREEE bien, very well). We got 5 investigators to come!! The trick is to show them what the church is like, and however we can do that, it would be for the better. Elder Manrique is officially gone, but we have lots of potential baptisms and I'm excited for this next transfer.

I'll explain the people in the pictures! The picture of the family in the house is the Marinero family. The picture of the mother and daughter with her friend is Julia, Belén, and Lucas, I'm not sure what their last names are! And the last picture is Elder Manrique and I on a train track that we found. Such an amazing view when the mountains aren't covered by clouds!

That's all for now. I love you all!!! :)

Elder Burns