Semana 2 en Argentina, "Glorious" (Week 8)

Hola hola hola hola!

Well this week was Christmas! Yay. We spent our Christmas day visiting members. We had a lovely lunch and dinner! The people here are so willing to give and sacrifice what they have to serve the Lord by helping his servants. Also, talking to you all on skype was AWESOME! It was just what I needed to make me happy and more motivated. Talking to you gave me more hope and assured me that all is well and I think of home less so that is good. I am now more positively motivated.

This week I decided that the song Glorious by David Archuleta is one of my theme songs. If you listen to it from a missionary standpoint it brings so much faith and hope. It reassures me that even though I may feel down at times that everything is going to be alright. That I will be able to touch people's lives. Everyone go listen to it! You can look it up on youtube if you need to! It is so wonderful! It is inspiring for everyone; members, non members, missionaries, all people! Also this scripture mom sent me was great! Alma 38: 5,9,10,12,15. and this advice from dad: SMILE. you never know how far one simple smile will go. Keep sending uplifting things, they always help, even if I am in a good mood!

My compa has not been feeling well these last few days. Sad. So on Friday I went out with Hermana Hale (who is Hermana Allen's companion). We did two service projects. We painted a gate for a lady. Cool fact, her 14 year old son is the person that built the roof on their house. Being here really makes me appreciate what I have back home. It humbles me. Also, we moved a pile of crushed bricks to a different pile for another lady. The people of Argentina like to use everything they can for as long as they can. They are very creative. Then Saturday I stayed with her. So I got a lot of extra study time, but that is all good. Study time is always uplifting and comforting.

My sd card for my camera doesn't fit in the card reader, so sorry no pics from me this week. I will try and have it figured out by next week. But I did forward some pictures from Hermana Benson. Also I am probably spelling a lot of words wrong. That is because everything on the screen is underlined in red here cause the computer is in Spanish not English. So I don't actually know which words I am spelling wrong and I don't have time to go back and read through this. So I hope it makes sense!

Here is my address in case you want to write"

Hermana Hailey Burr
la Iglesia de Jesuscristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias
Mision Argentina Buenos Aires Oeste
C.C. 92
1706 Cuidadela
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Note: it said to send things "certifited" but I don't really know what that means. You can send things through the USPS, Dear Elder, or the pouch (explained in my call packet).

I love you all soooo much. I love my Savior Jesus Christ with all of my heart. I know I can do anything through him. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God here on the earth to guide us and lead us. Daily reading en el Libro de Mormon y oracion (prayer) is very important and is what keeps us anchored in the truth.

Have a fantastic week and do something kind for someone!
Con mucho amor,

Hermana Burr

Hermana's Burr and Benson

Hermana Burr eating Blood Sausage

Blood Sausage!

Christmas 2014

Christmas in Argentina

Argentina WOW! (Week 7)

Hola Familia!                                                                                                             December 22, 2014

This has been one crazy week! My emotions have been up and down for sure. In the Book of Mormon it tells us if we plant a seed in our hearts and let it grow, if it be good it will grow and we can nourish it. So I have decided to do just this. I am planting in my heart that I will come to love Argentina and it is working slowly.

My first impression of Argentina from the sky was it is green and pretty. Then when we were out and about in Argentina  I was kinda thinking "what is this place?" It is really busy and I will have to get used to all of the people everywhere.

The first day we spent with President and Sister Robertson. We went to the park where missionary work was dedicated to Argentina, ate lunch, had some meetings and interviews, etc.

The next day, Wednesday, we got our companions! My new companion is Hermana Benson. She is super awesome. She is from Springville, Utah. She is a hard worker, dedicated, and smart. She speaks like a native, which reminds me of my missionary setting apart blessing where I was promised if I work diligently I can speak Spanish and sound like a native. This helps me see the blessing Heavenly Father has put in my life to help me. Also she is short, so I tower over her. I also tower over most people here! So it is awesome to feel tall!

I live in Padua. Our area is a mix of living conditions. Part of it is more city and part of it is like city/county. It is definitely humbling to witness and live here. Guess what... Hermana Allen lives in the apartment right next to me so that is super awesome and a blessing for me! The members are nice and friendly and they make us lunch, yay! My favorite Argentina food so far is melenisa de pollo. It is like a giant chicken nugget, but thin.

Miracle...the other day we were walking down the street and saw a woman crying. We stopped to talk to her and comfort her. Well it turns out that she is a referral that we were trying to find and my compa had no idea how we were going to find her! We taught her about the restoration.

I have been able to help a bit with the lessons, but not like in the MTC cause my Spanish is not good enough yet but I am learning slowly. What I need to do is learn more patience with my learning speed.

Well I love you all! Have a fantastic week and Merry Christmas!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

At the Atlantic Airport flying to Argentina! (Dec. 15. 2014).

Arrival in Argentina with President and Hermana Roberton! Yay! (Dec. 16, 2014).

Rapido Semana! (Week 6)

Hola mi familia!

This week has gone by soooo super fast! I am having a hard time even remembering what happened! I got your package today thanks! Merry Christmas to you all! Remember to "discover the gift, embrace the gift, and share the gift!"

Sunday was fast Sunday! That was a neat experience here at the MTC. We had a big mission conference which was awesome! Also in our sacrament meeting everyone in our zone bore their testimony in Spanish, even the new district! That night Hermana Allen and I went to the Joseph Smith movie, soooo good! It is just what I needed to remind me of and strengthen my testimony of Jose Smith. Y se que Jose Smith is un profeta de Dios. El traducir el Libro de Mormon. Jose es un servicido de Dios. La estoria de Jose y el Libro de Mormon son verdad. (Sorry the Spanish is possibly a bit off, not a super Spanish master yet).

Wednesday our district got to host again! We got done early so we got to go to gym as well! I played sand volleyball with some of the sisters from the other district in our zone. Oh ya, Hermana Allen and I had this leccion con 4 investigators at once and it was soooooo hard cause they were all so different. Well, I hit my breaking point with this leccion. But it was definitely a learning experience. One of the things I rememeber is that I was reminded of how much we must rely on the Lord in his work, because this is His work. It is about what the investigators feel, not what I say.

Oh Tuesday night Elder Zwick of the seventy came and spoke for the devotional. Sooo good! They brought Lexi Walker, a super super bien singer that is thirteen years old. The spirit hit me hardest when Lexi started to sing I am a Child of God. The spirit testified to me that I truly am a Child of God. He loves me individually. He cares about all aspects of my life.

Something cool about the MTC and missionary work is that the spirit is often re-testifying to you the truths you now and not remembering as often as you should. Sometimes I feel like I am the "investigator" learning from the spirit all over again.

Yesterday was infield training. I learned a lot of things. Just a few I would like to share. People can tell if you are not being as obedient as you should be as a missionary. This can affect their trust in you. So I am working harder on my goal of exact obedience. Another thing, when others are brought unto Christ there are many other people affected. Think about all of the people they can do family history and temple work for and all the generations to come. Always open your mouth; you don't want to pass up opportunities to share the gospel.

In my PMG quote it says to pray to recognize the opportunities to share the gospel. Key work: recognize. We are already being presented with opportunities to share the gospel, but we might not recognize them! Pray to recognize and pray to have the confidence and faith to act. So this week I invite you to do so and look for someone you can share your testimony or a part of the gospel with.

Follow up- I have given a few invitations and "commitments" in past letters. I want to know if you have acted upon any. I want to hear the experiences you have had with them :)

les quiero

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

New District

Travel Itineraries!!!!!

What a Week! (Week 5)

Hola mi familia!

Como estan? It sounds like you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! I loved the pictures you sent! I laughed when I saw jack mid action bowling a turkey!

This week has been a week of ups and downs, but that is alright. Porque I was reminded that if you are finding your weaknesses then you are coming closer to Christ.

This past week I was in a trio which was a fun adventure. Although, we were only with Hermana James in the morning and the evenings because she had special temple visitor center training. Tuesday morning we took Hermana James to the Bus Stop and off to Idaho speaking spanish she went. Also Elder Hwang, the elder that was in our district this past week with Hermana James, left on Monday. I miss all of the good times we had with them. Hermana James is the one with long dark hair in the pictures. She sent me a bunch of pictures so I just forwarded them all to you.

Yes if you have a prepaid phone card already then please send it. Also, could you send me a USB please; they are not sold at the bookstore. 

We got a new district of missionaries in our zone this week! yay! Four elders and four hermanas. Now there are two districts in our zone, woot woot! This week my district got to host! It was super fun! Also, I hosted a Hermana that is in our zone. Her name is Hermana Laub and she reminds me of myself a bit! Yay for mini me. :) 

Also, guess who got their travel itinerary and is going to Argentina......Hermana Burr and the rest of district 18-D!!!!! We leave the Provo MTC at 6:00 am on December 15th. We don't have to leave at two in the morning so that is really nice. I will send more travel info later.

Have you seen the video "He is the Gift"? (It is the Christmas version of Because of Him--which is the best video ever!) He is the Gift is awesome! I invite you all to watch it. To discover the gift, embrace the gift, and share the gift (Christ) this Christmas Season!

If we read in 3 Nefi 5:8 (no I didn't spell Nephi wrong. Nefi is Spanish for Nephi). We learn about recognizing the hand of God in our lives. I want to be one of the "some" that the scripture talks about. (read the scripture for this to make sense). I challange you to start a H.O.G. Journal (Hand of God journal). I, of course, am doing the same. You write down at least one thing every day of how you saw the hand of God in your life or someone else's life.

Now to the "rough patches" of learning experiences from this week that, of course, turn out to be blessings. On monday, Hermana Allen and I were all prepared to share the gospel with our TRC investigator. During the leccion she starts asking defensive questions that we have a hard time answering in English, let alone Spanish. Also, I could hardly understand her Venezuelen Spanish. Lo siento to Hermana Allen about that, cause she had to take over a lot. Then she, the investigator, started to try and, I guess you could say fight/bible bash. Hermana Allen kept trying to testify to bring the spirit, but the investigator kept interupting her. So needless to say we walk away from that leccion not feeling so grand about it. Then the next day in class I was just struggling with my Spanish and with my teaching practices, etc. I was about ready to burst, but luckily I didn't! 

The next day I was studying in my personal study and I found some scriptures that helped me. Doctrine y Convienos 10:47, 52, 55. This helped me remember that as I put my faith in Christ I must continue to work my hardest to make sure I am worthy to receive help and to actually receive the divine help from Jesuchristo. 

On Thursday we taught our TRC investigator again. This time we took one of the Spanish teachers with us to be a member for our leccion. This leccion went a little better. The investigator again tried to bring up some questions she could try and bring contention with but once again we did not fight back, we stayed calm. We started talking about something and her "feisty ness" started to go away. The leccion didn't go as well as we hoped because of this. After the leccion, the teacher that we brought as a member was talking to us and said we handled the situation well. From this experience so far I have learned that even if it didn't feel like a leccion went well, it might have gone better than you think. The investigator sometimes hides what they are feeling. You can't have a leccion that is so so and then expect the next leccion to go super bien and that the investigator will all of the sudden love the gospel. The investigator gradually starts to understand. Things slowly improve. Also, if you are doing the will of the Lord then you will never fail. You don't know the exact will of the Lord, you just have to do as He asks and Trust. These experiences turn out to be blessings and learning experiences. 

Then that night Hermano Pitcher taught a powerful leccion about humility and grace. Hermano Pitcher is my favorite teacher. He is the best teacher I have ever had. He gets so excited about the gospel and brings the spirit very powerfully every time. 

The Lord shows us our weaknesses so we can learn to depend on him and in turn give us divine help. Throughout this week I am glad that I have been able to learn so much and in doing so realize my progress as I am coming closer to Christ. 

Well I hope you all have a most fantastic week! Please take action towards the invitations I have extended. I love you all soooooooooooooooooooooooo much! Serve others and "Enjoy till the End!" Also, I got a package from Jon, Dani, and Will today, Thanks!

Les Quiero

Con Much Amor,

Hermana Hailey Burr

Awkward Companion Pic

Baseball!

Apostles, Thanksgiving, and Baseball! (Week 4)

mi muy bien familia!
Hola! I hope you had a fantastic week! Here is how mine went:

Sunday: great day, pero triste. This was the last day to spend with the other two districts in our zone. We had a wonderful temple walk. I love temple walks, they are super fun! We also had a super stellar testimony meeting. Just a few things I really like from it:
-Heavenly Father wouldn't have sent you here if He knew you weren't strong enough to do it (with His help of course).
-Also someone shared something a convert said, "one day two angels showed up on my door step."
-"ENJOY to the end"

Monday: mi companion and I woke up at 5 am to take two of the sisters to their bus that would take them to the airport then plane to Mexico. Here is the twist. They were in a trio. Their Compa Hermana James is staying an extra week for temple visitors training cause she is in the Pocatello Idaho Mission. So now she is my compa! I am in a trio this week! Hermana James went to BYUI for two years already. Also an elder from Korea in my zone, Elder Hwang, has to stay this week too. He is going to Chile. So he is a "solo" elder. He is super funny! He speaks 4 languages (Korean, Japanese, English, and now learning Spanish). He is a super genius! He went to Cambridge in England before his mission. Our trc investigator got switched. Sad cause our investigator that was really starting to progress we no longer get to teach. So now we start all over with a new trc investigator, which is hard cause she has many questions about the gospel. But kinda shuts down when we start to talk about the gospel. So it is going to be a great learning experience I guess.

Tuesday: service day, yay yay yay! Our job this week was to sweep all the stairs in our residence hall building. But as usual we found a super fun way to make it super fun! We found this little magnet. The dust pans we had were metal. So I had this grand idea to start a mini baseball game! I got a home run every time i hit! :) also I was a super bien catcher! Guess who came for the Tuesday night devotional... Elder Dallin H. Oaks! soo good! Also went to a training meeting about the Thanksgiving Day service project. Since we don't have zone leaders Hermana Allen and I were asked to help in place of the zone leaders for the service project.

Wednesday: had another training meeting. Only upsetting part was that we missed Hermano Pitcher's gospel leccion sobre el Libro de Mormon y verdad. He is my favorite teacher!!! He is so, so, so amazing at teaching the gospel! I got the most wonderful thanksgiving package from the most wonderful family ever! I was so stoked that there was pie! I loved reading all of your letters. Hermana Allen also loved the letters for her!

Dia de Gracias: Bestest day of the week! Such as wonderful Thanksgiving! I already hand wrote a letter all about this day to you (I am putting it in the mail today) so I will just be brief here. General Authority Devotional, guess who came...Elder David A. Bednar. It was so good. We did a question and answer session. They passed out cell phones and we texted our questions to his iPad. Also missionaries from the MTC's around the world could email questions to his iPad. We had a fine turkey lunch, the food was good, but not like a meal at grandma and grandpas! Then we had the service project. We dry packed lentil casserole. We broke the record for most meals packed! Also, guess who I shook hands with during the project... Elder David A. Bednar! Yes that is correct I shook hands with Elder Bednar! Tender mercy of the Lord, he knew that was my desire. Elder Bednar had such a happy, kind, caring spirit about him! I just love his voice, isn't it awesome! Later we got to watch Meet the Mormons!

Today: We went to the temple this morning. We did sealings. This was my first time doing sealings. I loved the happy spirit that was there! It was so strong. Also my trio had a little picnic outside for lunch at the picnic tables.

I am going to buy a preapaid phone card here cause they are only $5 at the bookstore. Oh also because I am zone sister training leader I get a cell phone! But I am supposed to always have it with me and I don't have pockets. Also, I can't really do anything on it excpet call the front desk and 911. Entonces it is pointless and it is actually more of a burden cause I have to carry it everywhere. pues yo amor ustedes mucho!

con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

Bathroom Climbing

Map Picture- Hermanas Burr, Allen, Risser, and Long

District Before Elders Left (minus 2 sisters)

Because of Him (Week 3)

Hola Mi Famlia!

What a week it has been! I'll start out with a bunch of different things that happened this week. Service was cleaning the showers, a bit gross and not as fun as sparquating, pero still an adventure. I was asked to say the closing prayer for sacrament meeting. Of course I said yes, but I was nervous all meeting cause you have to do it in espanol! but i did it and all went well! Oh my, you are never going to guess who I saw this week....Dekker Smith! (friend from when we lived in Oregon). I saw him in the cafeteria! He teaches English as a second language classes. Oh this week I was made Sister Training Leader (STL) over the Zone. My compa is STL for our district so we are just a companionship full of STLness. So guess what is crazy...the other two districts in our zone leave for the Mexico this upcoming Monday so we will be the only district in our zone, weird huh! Also, we aren't getting any new missionaries for two or three weeks, sad. So our district is our zone.

To answer your questions: I haven't heard anything about my visa yet. We got our second teacher, so now we only have 3-4 hours of time each day to work without a teacher. We have had Rosmary M. Wixon, Linda K. Burton, Spencer J. Condie, President Davies (I think), and Brother Heaton from the MTC do devotionals so far. It is rumored that David A. Bednar will be here on Thanksgiving, Yayyyy!

My new favorite video is "Because of Him" or en espanol "Gracias a El." We watch it everyday and it touches me every time. It is sooooo amazing. I invite anyone reading this to watch it! Also I have a challenge for you. Look up the talk "The Enabling Power of the Atonement" I can't remember who it's by right now but it is so goooood! Read it and then you can talk about it as a family! Something I learned from reading it is that if I am lacking confidence in myself, I am really lacking confidence in my Savior, because it is Christ that enables us to do all things.

There were a few rough days this week where I almost hit a breaking point. But because I continued to work and communicated with my Father in Heaven through prayer, I was able to make it through! Yesterday was one of those days. I had been struggling with the Spanish and my ability to teach. But last night we had a powerful lesson with our TRC investigator. We started the leccion con the video "Gracias a El". Which really brought the spirit into the room. At one point in the leccon we asked him to read the definition of the Atonement from our pamphlet. When he was done reading he asked if he could keep the pamphlet. Of course I said yes! Then he got out a highlighter and started marking it up! Missionary beaming con happiness at this point. Then at the end of the leccion he said he felt different. I made sure to let him know that what he was feeling was the spirit. Yay he realized he was feeling the spirit. We have a lot more to work on in our teaching, but I am happy things went well. So that just made my day. I am amazed at how he can put you in situations and enable you through the power of the Atonement to bless the lives of His children.

Also, here is something cool. All of us here on earth have chosen to follow Christ once. How do we know this, we came to earth. So the question is why wouldn't we choose to follow Him again. Christ is preparing all sorts of people. We need to make sure to take the opportunity to find them and help them come unto Him. Also, we are all on the same conversion path. Some people are just farther along than others.

Well I love you all soooooo much! Have a fantastic week and do something kind for someone each day! :)

con mucho amor
Hermana Hailey Burr

"I Love My Name Tag!"

Sparquating? (Week 2)

This has been the longest yet shortest/fastest week of my life! Crazy to think I have already been here a week and I am not the one walking around with an orange dot on my name tag! I love my name tag! It is one of the many, many things that makes being a missionary so wonderful! My Spanish is slowly improving. My compa and I taught six lessons this past week! Juan is an "investigator" that we taught four times. He is actually going to be our second teacher and his name is Hermano Tuff I believe or something like that. He is our TRC (teaching resource center I think, that is the building where we teach him). He could be a real investigator or a less active or even a member pretending, not really sure but I think he works at the MTC.

What is sparquating you might ask? Well sparquating= spraying down and wiping out trash cans with the chemical named sparquat! That was our service this week. Most of the service projects here are cleaning the living quarters, etc. We do a service project once a week!

Each day we have a similar routine. We do class (approx. 3 hours) with our teacher, Hermano Pitcher. Right now we have two other blocks of class time where we don't have a teacher, so it's up to us as to how we are going to use our time and how productive we are going to be, kinda hard when your by your selves all day. But I am glad my compa is focused and diligent in the work just as I. At times we have to leave the classroom so we can make sure we are focusing and getting our work done! These class periods are approx. 5 hours and the other one approx. 3 hours. Soon we will get our second teacher (Juan) and then we won't have as much time without a teacher. I think that will enable us to learn more, so I am excited for that! We also have gym time everyday! The activities I have participated in so far include: volleyball, basketball, spike ball (MTC game, but we had to make up our own version because we didn't know how to play), walking/running. Gym is the most fun part of the day. It's fantastic! Yes I am pretty much with my district all day long. We have class together, and we live together! We have a district of 6 Hermanas since our two elders left. We are with our zone at meal times and at gym, we have a totally different schedule on Sundays. I should just send you a copy or pic of my weekly schedule because it's hard to explain. My favorite part of Sunday is temple walk! Honestly so fun!

Today we went to the temple this morning and did an endowment session. The Provo Temple is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l on the inside! Oh and yes I tell a joke of the day to my district! So if you think of any funny ones let me know so I don't run out of jokes por favor! Thanks for making me a blog, I bet it's great, I can't wait to see it in 18 months. I am not allowed to look at it here I don't think anyways. Also you are not supposed to chew gum as missionaries and I am running out of mints so if you could please send some that would be wonderful!

I am excited to hear about how the Christmas party goes down, I laughed when I read that you were in charge! Oh also cool cosa: Grandma and grandpa Page have an Elder Wiberg from their ward and he is in my zone, well he was. He left for Mexico on Monday.

The other day I learned more about how important my purpose as a missionary is. Here it is: why is it so important to do missionary work on earth if people can be taught in heaven...well the ordinance work has to be done on earth. So we need to help people on their path of conversion now so that they can get their work done and work done for those who have already passed on.

Oh also it snowed yesterday! Now I have to wear a coat around cause it's cold! 

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Hailey Burr

Hermana Burr and Hermana Allen

Hermana Burr and her good friend Sister Brown