Week 21: Rodeo de la Cruz

Family and friends!!

Happy 5 months to me! haha it's felt like a lifetime and no time at all. Only a fellow missionary can understand :) Just a reminder- I can receive DearElders every month and they are the best thing ever.... soooo yeah pretty please send some! :)

I learned so much about how the spirit can work in us! This morning as I was exercising and getting ready for the day, I realized that I was thinking about our investigators. Questions to ask them and insights about their situation were just popping in to my head. I'm so grateful for the spirit. 

This week we found an awesome guy named Bruno. He has a mental disability that makes it so he can't comprehend things very well, but we are going to keep trying to teach him anyways because he is seriously so cool and he has potential. He is an insanely good drawer, and he owns a towel business. Qué tal ey.....

Recently I've been focusing on the Preach My Gospel manual and realized that there is basically nothing missing from it. It tells us step by step, very descriptively, what we should share as missionaries and what results we should see. Not only that, it explains nearly flawlessly how to work with the ward and members, so you all should read it as well!! 

In Helaman 3:29, we read:

 29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the wordof God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked.

This is actually my favorite scripture. It tells us the first step to overcoming challenges that life gives us-- read the word of God. As I was pondering this and thinking about temptation, I realized that in the heat of the moment of being tempted, it is nearly impossible to discern what is good and what is wrong. The word of God always has a response when we can't tell the difference. It literally allows us to "divide" the cunnings of Satan and recognize his snares. 

I love you all so much :) Have a great week!!

Elder Burns

Week 20: Rodeo de la Cruz

Hey everyone!

This transfer is already halfway over-- that's really weird. I bet I'll be leaving the area, but guessing won't help anything, so I'll just work and wait until then, ha! And for an update on the language-- my English is struggling a lot, it's suuuuper slow. But here's the best part: my Spanish is still pretty bad as well. So I'm kind of like always in a state of "meditation" I'll call it. haha ohhh well!!

Anyways, this week we taught Julia the Word of Wisdom and she accepted it pretty well. She has a problem with smoking, and hasn't been progressing much so we are working on that.

This week, we were able to teach Pablo (I think I accidently said "Paulo" in the last e-mail). The situation is kind of complicated, but that's alright because he has a very open heart and awesome goals that every missionary would want to see. In fact, we set a baptismal date for July 11th! We are going to try to de everything we can for that day to actually happen, because like I said, this situation is complicated.

This morning I was reading in Mormon 9. Verse 10 says: 

 10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

When I read this, I noticed that it says that if God is unchanging, then he is a god of miracles. But why miracles? Why not a god of love, mercy, or power if he is unchanging? So I kept reading:

 12 Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fallof man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.

As I thought about this for a little longer, I realized that 1. God's focus has been single and his purpose has been defined from the beginning of time: to have His children learn the things they need to in order to return and live with Him 2. Jesus Christ and the Atonement is the greatest miracle that has ever taken place.

 The most central part of God's plan is a miracle: the Atonement!!

Hopefully that made sense! It was really eye-opening for me at least :)

I love you all, have a great week!!

Elder Burns

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

Week 16: Rodeo de la Cruz

Hello friends and family!!

This transfer only has one week left, which is super weird! Elder Manrique is finishing his two years, so I will be getting a new companion for sure but I could possibly stay in Rodeo and direct the area. That's a scary thought considering I still only understand about 50% of everything people say, haha but either way, I'll learn a lot.

This week during personal study, I found an excellent scripture in 1 Nephi 15:11 that tells us how to receive revelation (or in other words, the help of God). It lists four exact things that we must do! 

 11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me infaith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

This is perfect to use while thinking of why an investigator isn't receiving a testimony. Does he have a hard heart? Does he have faith? Does he believe he can receive an answer? Is he keeping the commandments? As a companionship, we can pray and try to discern which one we should focus on for each investigator, and it's been very helpful for us.

Yesterday I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting 30 minutes before it started, which actually turned out to be a blessing! I talked about agency and shared a scripture I read that morning in Helaman 14:30 that says...

 30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.

This scripture is perfect. God gives us knowledge and it is for our own good to follow that knowledge. In those few short minutes, I was able to think about how I've used agency in my life. Looking back, I can see that if i need to do something, I should just DO it. If I need to change something, I should just CHANGE it with no second thought. Right is right, and wrong is wrong, basically :)

Not much progress with out investigators right now, even those with baptismal dates :( But, we were able to bring Nahuel (less-active, my age) to church this week which was awesome.

READ YOUR SCRIPTURES, SAY YOUR PRAYERS, AND I'LL BE BACK NEXT WEEK. :) I love you all!

Chaooooo,

Elder Burns

Week 15: Rodeo de la Cruz

HEY EVERYONE!! :)

Actually, not much happened this week! I'll talk about our investigators first.

Guebara family-- We've been trying to get them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon but they keep cancelling appointments so we can't even read WITH them right now. :(

Tovarez family-- Earlier this week during exchanges (I was with Elder Van Orman from Colonia Segovia, he's the district leader) we had a very spiritual lesson on the Restoration, and left them a reading assignment in the Book of Mormon but they didn't complete it. :(

Marinero family-- They are having doubts about the Restoration, so we are trying to get them to read the Book of Mormon (see a pattern?? haha).

I don't mean to sound depressing, haha I had a purpose in saying all that. After looking objectively at everything that's happened this week, I see one thing for sure-- that the Book of Mormon is inexcusably vital in conversion. In the words of President Monson, "If you haven't read the Book of Mormon, read it." :)

Yesterday was the dedication of the Córdoba, Argentina temple!! It was an experience that will only happen once during my mission, and it was so special. Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Christofferson (spelling? ha) were both present. Elder Christofferson speaks Spanish, and I can understand gringo Spanish so I was able to enjoy his words!! Elder Uchtdorf spoke in English then after every sentence, an interpreter followed. So I was able to understand and enjoy pretty much everything! It's such a unique spirit during the dedication of a temple, and I can't wait to attend more often when I get back!! 

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

Elder Burns