Lujan, Bikes, and a Brasilian Compa!!!! (Week 19)

Wow Fam it has been one crazy week for me!! Hey I got my envelope with socks! thanks so much, I have happier feet now :) Something ironic, I got it the day of transfers. You included a picture of a bike in the envelope, and now I am riding a bike!

We got transfers calls last sunday as you all know but we don't find out any of the details till wednesday in transfer meeting, so here are the details...my new companion is Hermana Passos! She is from Brasil! She is pretty cool! We live by ourselves. My new area is Lujan 1C and we ride bikes! I am slowly learning how to ride a bike in a skirt, have a sore bum, and keep up with my compa, and stay out of the way of cars! I usually feel silly riding around trying to keep my skirt down and having a big helmet, but it is one crazy adventure and I learning to love it!

Lujan is about an hour from the offices if you go on the freeway. It is more country and the people are more calm and chill which I like a lot. Our area is the center of Lujan so it is city. It is hard to descibe Lujan cause it is like city in the country, but it is cool. And you can see the stars really well at night which I really like! And the Basilica is in our area. It is a Catholic church and it is a gorgeous building! I will take a pic and send next week. You will have to research Lujan on the internet so you can get more of a feel for where I am cause it is hard to describe, but I like it.

As far as investigators go, I am still meeting and getting to know everyone but here is a bit of what we did this week....

This week we had the opportunity to watch the Joseph Smith movie with some of our investigators and recent converts. It was a spritiual experience to have them all together and to listen to one anothers thoughts and feelings of The Prophet Joseph Smith.

We have two investigators that we are really working hard with to be baptized this month, Axel and Franco. Axel wants to be baptized but needs permission from his mom who is a Jehovas Witness. But she told him that if he passes his language test on tuesday that she will give him permission. So we are praying that he will pass and she will follow through with her commitment. We are also trying to work with his siblings who are coming to church. Also, we want to teach the parents as well, but that will come with time. Franco is the brother of a recent convert Luclia. She is bringing him to seminary and answering his questions about the gospel. He has been talking to different recent converts about baptism. We are planning on inviting him to be baptized in our leccion today!

Any questions or comments you have let me know :) I know the Lord has a plan for each of us. We just need to keep going and learn to accept his time and his will for us. I always find it amazing how the Lord knows exactly what we need to help us and to learn and progress more. Have a fantastic week! Love you all with my entire heart! Good Luck Titans in your baseball tournament this week! I will be cheering from Argentina!

con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

Hermana Burr and new companion Hermana Passos!

Old zone while serving in Padua

?!Que en el mundo...me voy!? (what in the world...I am going (or in other words leaving). (Week 18)

Hola Familia!

Things are crazy here! We got transfer calls last night, and I am going to leave Padua and my dearest compa Hermana Gerber! I love Padua with all my heart! I do not want to leave this area, the members, the investigators (even though they are tough at times), and my companion! Both Hermana Gerber and I were sure we were going to be working together again this transfer, so this news came as a big shock. I know I can't make this change alone and I need to rely on the Lord fully to make this change. But know that He is always there and He has a plan for me and all of you as well. He knows us and loves all personally and individually.

A scripture that my compa shared with me this week that I really really love is found in Doctrine and Covenants 98:1-3. It is about how our Father in Heaven hears every one of our prayers and he has promised to answer them! This is a really powerful scripture and I invite and highly encourage that you read and study it :)

This week we were really excited for Sunday cause we had six people that said they were going to come to church, for sure. We had plans to go and find them and arrive at the church together. Yesterday morning Hermana Gerber and I made the long walk before church to go and find them. We knocked and knocked on their doors but no one answered. At one house we talked with the mother of our investigator and she said she was sleeping and couldn't come cause she had to leave in awhile for something. So we made the long walk to church alone. One of the people that said they were going to come to church is Natalia. She is the daughter of Rosemary, a recent convert. Natalia showed up to church with her mother, Yay!! One of the many people that said they were going to come actually came. Also, at church one of our investigators, Luis, was asked to say the prayer in Sunday school, and he said the prayer and did a wonderful job! This was a neat experience because this is the first time he has every prayed in public (well as far as I know). He has only prayed in front of my companion and I three times. So this was a touching experience.

This week I learned more about the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The promptings of the Holy Ghost are really quite quiet and simple and sometimes we don't recognize them as promptings until after we act. There were two experiences. The first we were talking to a recent convert, Marco, and he was telling us how before our previous visit he was feeling down. Then we called to see if we could come visit him. Marco said this was the perfect timing and it was an answer to his prayers. The second experience is when we were walking in the street after an appointment and I had the thought to go and visit a reference from a menos activo we had recieved from the other hermanas. This was not in our plans. So I asked my companion if she wanted to go and find this reference and she said yes. So off we went. Her name is Alejandra. It turns out that she has been a member for many years, served a mission, and everything. She went inactive because of a problem with a member in her other ward and then her mother died. She was in a state of anger. She moved and has now been living in Padua for about a year. Last preparation day she saw the other hermanas in the super market and started praying again and then we came to visit her. She said we were an answer to her prayers and that we came at exactly the right moment. If we would have been a bit earlier or later she wouldn't have been able to answer the door (or something like that). We had a really spiritual leccion with her. And she said she wants to come back to church and wants us to help her. These experiences helped me remember how simply the Holy Ghost works and that even the simplest thought in your head to do something is a prompting from the Holy Ghost. Also, what miracles can come from these simple promptings. That we need to act on all of the little thoughts and impressions cause we don't know how big of an effect they are going to have. It is amazing how the Lord works. I know He guides me and my companion everyday. He is always there for us.

Have a fantastic week! Love you all soooo much!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

                                                   We recieved these photos from Cecila.

Hermanas Burr and Gerber in Soccer Jerseys.

Dough faces!

Hermanas and Cecila

On a ledge in Padua

Hola! (Week 17)

Hola Familia!

This week out district had a cosechan (harvest) in our area to help Hermana Gerber and I find buenos nuevos (good new). A cosechan is where everyone in your district comes and works in the same area, in this case, my area. It was a really neat experience for me. I was amazed at the miracles that took place. In just two short hours our district found 6 nuevos (new). This is going to help Hermana Gerber and I a lot because we currently don't have any investigadores progresando (investigators progressing).

We currently have one investigator with a fecha (date). Her name is Veronica. She was living with a member, but as of this week moved back to her house. Her family is the type of family that is usually drunk and has the music blasting in the street. She changes a bit when she is with her family than with the member. So we have been trying to visit her everyday to help her. But since she has been home she has not come to church. So we are going to work really hard to get her to come back to church.

We are working with a lot of recent converts and menos activos (less actives). One of the families we are focusing on is the family of a converso recien llamado (recent convert) Rosemary. She comes to church every week and reads and prays every night. She is strong. But her family is not members. We are visiting them with ward members. The hard parts is that they have crazy schedules and we can only visit them on Saturdays and Sundays. We had a leccion this week with her and one of the daughters and the spirit was muy fuerte (very strong).

We also had a leccion with a menos activo Ana and her maurido (husband) Marcello (non member). She has not been to church in como 1 anos (like 11 years). I have seen a big change in Ana. We had a leccion about the plan of salvation. When we were going to start the leccion her body language told us that she did not want to talk to us about anything dealing with religion. But after we talked about the reino celestial (celestial kingdom) the spirit touched her heart and reminded her of the turths she once knew. The spirit was strong in this leccion. She happily set a return appointment. When we showed up for the return appointment she had a smile on her face and she had interest in our message. Marcello was not there for this visit because he was sick. Because of this experience I have so much more love for this hermana and I have more desire to help her return to church. It made me really happy. It is amazing to see the changes in people.

We had a lot of lecciones where the spirit was present very strongly this week. I can see the hand of the Lord in His work and I know that this is His work and He is blessing us. Have a fantastic week!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

Showing off her tan lines!

The sister missionaries made tacos and smoothies.

This picture was posted on facebook by Cecilia in Argentina. 

Carnival, Rain, and Capilla Abierta! (Week 16)

Como Estan? Thanks for all who wrote about how keeping the commandments has blessed their lives.

This week we ate some watermelon! Yum! Que Rico! When we were eating it I couldn't help but think about how much Ash loves watermelon! It made me smile :)

Also, this week we had a really rainy day. It was literally us and the dogs in the street! We were drenched! I am really glad that I have such a good rain jacket that kept half of me dry! We knocked on a menos activos door and they weren't willing to brave the rain to come unlock the gate and let us in so we kept on walking on to one of our investigators. They kindly let us in and gave us galla titas (cookie/cracker things) and something warm to drink. We then sang them a hymn and shared a scripture. We tried to talk about prophets but the partner of our investigator is catholic and she would not let us get a word in. Let's just say that the people in Argentina are chatter boxes, they will just talk and talk and talk! But they are really sweet and I love them!

Also, this week was carnival. But luckily carnival is different here than in Brazil. I'm not really sure what they do though. There wasn't much going on in these parts for their festivities. The ward did do an activity though. We attended the ward carnival activity for a little while this past week. We had a recent convert, Rosemary, that came and brought her three children that are not members. Two of them, Natalia and Celina, are old enough to be baptized. When we go and visit their house the two girls usually want nothing to do with us and do not listen to our message even though the effort is made to invite them. At the activity Hermana Gerber and I were able to play futbol with them and gain their confidence. The other day when we went to visit they listened to us! They didn't have a lot of desire to participate, but they did a little bit. I am very happy cause we are slowly making progress with them. Their dad, Alfredo, is also one of our investigators. The last two times we have visited he has left when we showed up and we couldn't find him to come to the leccion. Rosemary said that he likes it when we bring Hmo. Navorro and that will help him the most rather than bringing other members. So we are going to work with that.

It is a bit rough cause we have good investigators, but they are not really progressing. So this week we are going to focus specifically on a few and get them to progress.

This week we had the opportunity to help with the Capilla Abierta (open chapel, like an open house) in Moreno. We were in charge of taking the groups of people around to little displays and giving a brief explanation and testimony at each station. It was really good for me to be able to take part in this. It helped me gain confidence in myself and my abilities. It helped me understand that as we simply explain the gospel truths people can really feel the spirit and have the desire to be baptized. It was amazing, every person that attended, that is not a member of the church, left with a baptismal date! Wow! I think the number was about nine people!

This week I have had a bit of a cold, so that has not been too fun. This week during my studies I studied a talk about perfectionism and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This really helped me out a lot. I would like to continue to study more in this to help me to become a better missionary. I love to read the words of the living Prophet and his Apostles. I know they are inspired men of God and that they are called to lead the people here on the earth. As we live by their words we will find true happiness, peace, and guidance in our lives.

Oh mom, could you find the talk "For times of trouble" by Jeffery R. Holland and copy and paste it in an email for me. We listened to it this week, it was really good and I want to read it. Thanks!

I love you all! Hope all is well! Don't hesitate to write, have a fantastic week! :)

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

This Week in Argentina (Week 15)

FAMILIA!

Hola loved ones! How was your Valentines Day? I hope it was wonderful. I send my love! I just want to let you know how much I really do love and appreciate each one of you and all of your support. I really do have the BEST of the best family in the entire world!

I don't know if I told you this about my compa yet. Hermana Gerber is from West Jordan, Utah. She has 13 months in the mission. She went to one semester at USU before she left on her mission. She studied mechanical engineering! Let me know if there is something else you want to know.

This week my companion was sick for a day so we were not able to leave the pension and work on Friday. On Tuesday we had divisions. Hermana Zamora came to Padua to work with me. I enjoyed this experience. It was good for me to live with a Latina for a day. It helpd me to know I am doing alright with my progress in the language, but still am progressing. I also enjoyed learning about different ways to teach, explain, and invite. I think lately I have been having a problem with always keeping a positive attitude throughout the day. But yesterday during my studies I had a little aw-ha moment that so far has helped me to have a more positive attitude and work better with my companion. It is also going to help me understand the people of Argentina and be able to serve them with more love and devotion.

This week I had an experience that helped me understand the importance of always inviting people. We were on the colectivo. Hermana Gerber was on my right and a man was on my left. I knew that I needed to say something to this man. I was trying to think of what to say, Hna. Gerber leaned over and encouraged me to talk with him and helped me know how to start up the conversation. As we were talking we brought up the church, of course, and invited him. He said that he had been interested in coming, but had never been invited so he has never come. (I think this is what happend. I'm still having a hard time understanding everything people are saying.) This helped me understand how important it is to extend simple invitations.

Also, yesterday a man just showed up to church. He said that he stopped by the church during the week and someone that was having a meeting had told him when our church services were. So he showed up yesterday. That is really awesome to me that he is searching for the truth. The catch is that he wouldn't give us his address because of his parents. They are really Catholic or something like that. He doesn't have a cell phone so we can't call him, this is no good. We tried to set up an appointment with him to meet him at the church, but that didn't work. So he took our number to call us. So I am praying that he will call us and that all will work out.

This week we were visiting some menos activos. The mom, Milagros (13), Martina are members. They have a girl named Veronica (14) living with them. Well we taught Veronica about the restuaracion. A day later we had lunch with them, all four of us hermanas serving in Padua. Well this was the day that my compa was sick. So the other two hermanas went. They talked more about the restauracion and set up a date of baptism with Veronica. Yesterday she came to church with Milagros and they stayed for the baptism after church so that was really good. (the other Hermanas had a baptism). Then they both came to choir practice last night! (my compa was asked to play the piano for choir, that's why we were there). This is a great thing cause it is helping to reactivate the family and bring a soul to Christ. I am excited to keep teaching Veronica and see her progress. I have already seen a lot of progress in her. I am also excited to witness the reactivation of this family through a new investigator. I love the Lord's work.

So I need help with something. I really need each of you to do this for me. Write me and tell me how you have been blessed by obeying a specific commandment. You can pick any commandment it doesn't have to be one of the ten. Thanks!

Have a fantastic week! I love you all sooooo much!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

Cecilias Birthday

At church with an investigator and member sorta ma

Divisions with Hermana Zamora from Mexico

My twin Betsy (her family are members and dad is an investigator)

Twinning is Winning!

The Week! (Week 14)

Hola Familia!

I want to start off with a birthday shout out to Grandma burr (aka g-ma pants!) I hope you have a wonderful day!

Oh I got some Christmas cards and letters about two weeks ago and I want to thank everyone that sent me a card or letter! I loved getting them. It is so exciting when they are handing out the mail and they call your name. Especially when they call your name more than once!

Funny story, so our toilet broke right. And I, being the bright young girl that I am, checked out the situation and determined I could fix it! So I was feeling really good once I was done fixing it. I felt like dad would be proud of me in that moment. Well I tried flushing it and well, it didn't quite work all the way. So I made some adjustments and tried again. But it still wasn't fixed. After a few tries of making adjustments I just couldn't get the tank to fill back up with water once it was flushed. So I came to the conclusion that we should just call the offices. I quickly hurried and made it look like I hadn't done anything to the toilet. Then I was all bummed cause I couldn't fix the simple problem and dad couldn't be proud of me for fixing it.

This week we had a zone conference and guess what we did at zone conference (it was a special one)...we watched the movie Meet the Mormons in Spanish!! It was awesome! I have now seen this movie five times (I think) and when I left for my mission I had only seen it once. I love this movie cause it simply testifies of the truths we believe! We can learn a lot from it. Also at the end the song glorious was in Spanish, so that was cool cause all the other music was still in English. We also learned about extending commitments and doing contacts.

President came and spoke at our ward yesterday for sacrament meeting. So that was awesome! Also this week there was a broadcast from Paraguay I think. I didn't get to watch the entire thing, but the part I saw was Sister Linda K. Burton! She spoke in English and there was a translator, so that was cool. I love listening to our leaders. They are inspired of God and I know that as we listen and ACT upon the words they speak we will be blessed.

This week was a good week overall. We had some very spiritual lecciones. One in particular that I enjoyed was with a menos activo. Actually, I am pretty sure that she is excommunicated. The thing is, that she still believes and lives many principles of the gospel and teaches the gospel to her children. We talked about the reason for going to church and the importance of partaking of the sacrament each week. We committed her to coming to church on Sunday with her children. On Sunday they were in church for the entire block. yay!

This week we had a lot of people that told us they were going to come to church. With some of them we had members lined up to help them get to church. Unfortunately, not all of them were able to make it. Three in particular that make me the most sad when they didn't show up were Javier, Julieta, and Franco y Fiorella. So this week when we visit we will have to see what happened cause they didn't answer any of the times we tried to call them.

We had a leccion with Alfredo, the esposo of a recent convert, Rosemary. Alfredo really likes to play soccer and drink with his friends when he is not working. I am pretty sure he was a bit drunk during the leccion. I think he has sincere desires deep down to change. He wants to be a better father and husband. After persistence we finally got him to agree to coming to church with his wife. Well Sunday rolled around and guess who showed up for sacrament meeting, Alfredo! Yesterday I was sitting with Rosemary, Alfredo, and their son during sacrament meeting. After the block we were talking to them and Alfredo said that he is going to come back to church next week. He also said that we fit well with him and invited us to come to lunch after church the following week. My heart jsut melts when I think about the potential he has and I can't wait to see them as an eternal family. I have much faith that he is going to change.  Also, we are going to work with Rosemary to help her with her family history.  We have an appointment to take her to the family history center in the church on martes.

We also have an investigator from London, England named Brian. He is very interesting to me. I think he has expressed his dislike for tithing and temples. He says it is because Jesus gave and didn't ask for things. He is highly intelligent and when we go to lecciones, we have had two, he wants to talk about Jesuchristo. But he also tells us that we need to have an open mind and listen to the advice and things he gives us. I will be honest, when we are talking to him I have a bit of fear about what is going to happen. I am a little confused about what to do in this situation. What I have been thinking is that we should continue to visit because it sometimes takes a lot of time to soften people's hearts and we shouldn't give him a bad image of the church because of something we do.

My invitation for the week is to find a Mormon message video that you can share with someone and then share it1 It doesn't matter if they are members or not. Have a fantastic week!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr

My cumplimes (the day I turned three months in the mission, I don't know how to spell the word) . My compa made me this delicious breakfast! and guess what is on the pancakes...peanut butter! Also the pancakes were like the ones in the US, fluffy! Here pancakes are flat and more like crepes. 

Us and Cecilia! She is awesome. She has been baptized for about a year. Once she finishes school she is planning on going on a mission! 

First day with Hermana Gerber! (2nd Argentina Companion)

New Compa and Week of Miracles (Week 13)

Hola familia!

First off I want to send a Birthday shout out to the greatest sister in the whole entire world Ashley "Bug" Burr!!! I hope you have a wonderful day cause you deserve it!

My new compa is...Hermana Gerber! I love her, she is super wonderful! She has about a year in the mission. She is from West Jordan Utah. She is really sweet. I would send a pic, but I don't have the capabilities this week. I think that Hermana Gerber and I are going to have miracles this transfer. We have had a lot of success this past week. I am really starting to feel like a missionary with her. This is good cause that is what I have been needing.

Hermana Gerber and I have decided that the only time we are going to speak English is at night. In the past four days I have seen progress in myself because of this. (Although sometimes I just don't understand something so we have to speak some English during the day). I have already learned a lot more about my area this week that I didn't know before. I feel like I am learning right alongside my compa. I know things are going to be hard with all of the progress I still need to make in all areas of the work, but I am ready to buckle down, learn, and grow.

This week we started to work with two menos actives (less actives), Gonzalo and Hermana "Fanny". With Hna Fanny we are going to work on getting her to read the Book of Mormon daily. She told us that she is praying daily. Something Elder David A. Bednar said is that if you are reading the Book of Mormom and praying daily then you won't fall away. So I believe that this will reactivate her. Gonzalo told us that he wants to stop doing drugs and is looking for a church right now. So we are working with him to remind him that he is already a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, the only true and living church on the earth, the true gospel of Jesucristo.

We are also working with a Franco and Fiorella. They have two small children. They are a reference from a member. Hermana Benson and I had tried to talk with them before, but weren't able to. So it was a miracle when Hermana Gerber and I were able to have a leccion with them. Fiorella is quite intelligent and helps explain things to Franco. I think she has an interest in our message. Oh and I think they have had some of the missionary discussions in the past. They are on the path of searching for a Church. As of about a week ago they joined the universal church. I believe that our Father in Heaven put us in their lives at this time to help them come to the true gospel of Jesucristo.

We also got a new investigator named Javier. He had long hair (it is awesome) and has some troubles with the word of wisdom. I believe he has real potential to change though. Yesterday at church someone told us that a eprson showed up and was looking for us, but then left cause he didn't feel comfortable the way he was dressed. Well it was Javier. Too bad no one told us he was there when he was actually there. Que triste (sad) that he didn't actually end up coming since he came. So we will work with him this week and pray that he will come next week. He has already shown faith in trying to come yesterday. I think he has a real desire to change his life for the better and come unto Christ.

Sorry I don't have time to write everyone every week. I print off your letters and read all of them. It is just I am a slow typer and by the time I write president, my family letter, and send pics if possible there isn't much time. I really try to write to everyone, I promise!

Well love you all soooo much! I hope you are all enjoying your cold weather! Have a fantastic week!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Burr