Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Power of Family

January 26, 2015 (week 22 in Argentina)

Over the years I’ve come to know just a tiny part of our Heavenly Father’s Divine plan for all of us.  It is beyond our comprehension in how grand it really is, but it can be summed up into one word: Family.

So this week we have taught Natividad and Maria and many other families about the Plan of Salvation, the importance of the family, and the temple work that comes with these things.  They are beyond excited to go to the temple and want to go now.  But as you know, they have to wait and remain faithful in following the commandments before they can receive such powerful knowledge and truth from the temple.  They still are beyond excited to go and see the temple and learn more about it.

We did service for the Cantero family again as we smashed rocks and also played with their cute new puppies. (Hey I didn’t say who the service was for in the photo I sent.) Ja ja!  But it was awesome nonetheless!  It was great to see this family strong in the gospel and how united they were as a family!  We were of course tired afterwards because, you know the missionary work-out only involves a good 30 minutes every day doing sit ups and push-ups.  So anything out of the normal workout hurts afterwards.  But we are the masters of walking!  I’m pretty sure I’ve walked over 500 miles here in Argentina.  Wish I could keep track of that. Ja ja!
Service for the Canteros, smashing rocks and bricks
We had a family home evening with the Mercados and the Aguado family and my zone leader who I just absolutely, love Elder Hidalgo de Equador, was there.  The Mercado family taught about the power of the family using THE FAMILY, A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD and all shared their powerful testimonies of this gospel and how it has made their family truly strong and powerfully united!


I testify that truly this divine gospel teaches the family to be the best it can possibly be.  Every family member that I have is now closer to me because I have learned how important each one of them is.  From family members from the Burke side or the Butler side, I have never been so proud to call such remarkable and awe-inspiring, the greatest of titles one can give: Family.  I know that God our Eternal Father lives and gives us the power to bless our family through his teachings and His ways.  Not only has this helped me have better relationships with my direct and extended family, but also to the adopted family members in my family tree which I once called friends.

I say these humble words in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, Elder Burke
Some church members gave us these goblets....they are Awesome!!!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Bautismos!!!

January 19, 2015 (week 21 in Argentina- 6 months on my mission)
Elder Burke, Silvestre, Maria, Natividad and Elder Swingle
HOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLAAAAAA DE ARGENTINA RESISTENCIA!!!

SO THIS WEEK HAS BEEN BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST STRESSFUL AND REWARDING WEEKS OF MY LIFE AS WE WERE WORKING HARD FOR PREPARING FOR THE BAPTISM OF THE NATIVIDAD, MARIA, AND NOW SILVESTRE!!!

None of the keys worked
Getting creative to open the door to the
baptismal font.  (Elder Swingle)
FIRST THINGS FIRST... THE DOOR TO THE BAPTISM FONT WOULDN’T OPEN, SO THAT WAS A LITTLE FRUSTRATING.  WE TRIED EVERY KEY, EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE, BESIDES BREAKING IT OPEN BY FORCE.  WE HAD TO CLEAN IT BUT COULDN’T FIGURE OUT IF THE PUMP WOULD LET THE WATER DRAIN UNTIL A DAY BEFORE.  WE WERE PLANNING TO HAVE THE SERVICES AT CENTRAL, WHERE THERE IS ANOTHER CHURCH, BUT WE WERE TRYING OUR BEST TO GET THE DOORS OPEN IN THE CHURCH THAT THEY LIVED CLOSE TO, SO MORE PEOPLE WOULD KNOW WHERE IT IS AND CAN WALK TO IT.  A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING PLACES SINCE THEY DON’T HAVE CARS OR ENOUGH MONEY TO TAKE THE BUS.  BUT, WE WERE THINKING THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE IT AT CENTRAL, SO WE TOLD HALF OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE KNEW WOULD WANT TO GO AND THEN WE GOT A CALL THAT WE COULD CALL THIS BLACKSMITH.  SO WE CALLED HIM AND WAITED FOR HIM AT THE CHURCH ONLY TO FIND THAT HE DIDN’T COME AT ALL. YEAH THAT IS EXPECTED HERE SOMETIMES, REALLY SUCKS.  SO WE WERE STILL PLANNING ON HAVING IT AT CENTRAL…THIS WAS FRIDAY NIGHT.

Right after Natividad's baptism- love the smiles!!
SATURDAY MORING THE OTHER ELDERS WERE ABLE TO GET A GUY TO COME AND BASICALLY BREAK OPEN THE LOCK.  SO WE HAD TO WORK FAST FOR THE SERVICE THAT WOULD START IN A COUPLE OF HOURS!  BUT WE DID IT!  HERMANA NATIVIDAD, MARIA, AND SILVESTRE WERE BAPTIZED.  SILVESTRE’S MOM GAVE A BEAUTIFUL 2 MINUTE TALK ON BAPTISM (SHE WAS VERY NERVOUS BUT DID IT ANYWAY) AND PAULA MERCADO (A FRIEND FOR MARIA) GAVE A TALK ON THE HOLY GHOST.

After baptism party- Me, Paula Mercado, Natividad
THIS EXPIERENCE, TO WATCH THESE THREE BRAVE AND LOVING PEOPLE JOIN THE CHURCH AND BE CLEANED OF SIN AND SHOW THEIR WILLINGNESS TO FOLLOW CHRIST, TOUCHED EVERYONE’S HEARTS.  TRULY THEY WILL REMEMBER THESE DAYS FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
Celebration time- Me, Paula and
 Hermano Mercado and Maria (who was baptized)

I GAVE A TALK SUNDAY ON HOW THE BOOK OF MORMON TESTIFIES OF CHRIST.  ANY MAN, WOMAN OR CHILD CAN KNOW ABOUT CHRIST THROUGH THE BOOK OF MORMON THAT ONLY TESTIFIES OF HIS DIVINITY.  2 NEPHI 33:10 WHICH SAYS THAT TO BELIEVE THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE WORD OF GOD WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN CHRIST, FOR IF WE BELIEVE IN CHRIST WE WILL RECOGNIZE HIS WORDS IN SUCH A WONDERFUL BOOK.

TODAY ELDER ALLRED AND I HAD OUR 6 MONTH MARK PARTY CELEBRATION, WHICH MEANS EATING A GOOD HALF KILO OF ICECREAM!  IT GOES UP BY HALVES EVERY 6 MONTHS AND IT WAS SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!  BUT DEFINITELY A LOT OF ICE CREAM.  I CAN’T IMAGINE EATING MORE THAN THAT FOR THE NEXT THREE TIMES!!!
Happy 6 months!!!  Elder Allred and I each eat 1/2 kilo of ice cream
So Delicious!!!



Loving the ice cream and making faces
LOVE YOU ALL!  SAY YOUR PRAYERS, READ THE SCRIPTURES, GO TO CHURCH, AND BELIEVE YOU CAN DO BETTER EVERY DAY.  GOD IS WITH YOU... WHY ARE YE FEARFUL?

LOVE
ELDER BURKE

Me and Bruno
Funny faces with Cielo Mercado

Investigator Family Aguilar- Walter, Romina, Diago
Batman Justice League cup earned
from kioscos

Me and Bianca

Tiny cupcakes


Elder Allred with Bruno

Monday, January 12, 2015

Come at me Dog!!

January 12, 2015 (week 20 in Argentina)
Service Project moving bricks at the Cantero Family
(Elder Allred, Elder Burke, Elder Ware and Elder Swingle)
  
Hola!

Awesome things are happening here in Argentina!  We are now ready to have the baptism of Maria and Natividad Meza!!!  Not to mention we have another awesome kid named Silvestre who will be baptized as well!  His mom and dad have been going to church together for such a long time but they can’t be baptized because they were married before and have to get a divorce before they can get married. They can’t find their spouses, so it has definitely been hard for them.  But they are working hard on staying true to the church even though they haven’t been baptized yet.  It’s absolutely crazy what Elder Swingle and I have been doing lately and even crazier with the mission rules now!

So to bring you up to speed, the mission has numbers to keep track of; how we are working in our areas and if we are having success.  This helps new and old missionaries view their progress and help with planning.  The mission here in Argentina isn’t using that anymore.  They just want to know how many came to church and if we baptized anyone that week. It’s definitely different because we now have a lot of freedom in how we run things. They have put a lot of trust in us as missionaries now!  But Elder Swingle and I have been kicking butt anyway, so we will definitely continue to do so. Ja ja

Dinner with the Meza and Mercado Families
(Lto R- Natividad and Maria Meza and the Mercado family)
We had two family home evenings with the Meza family and Natividad Meza cooked us the best tasting empanadas in all of Argentina and the pizza (in Argentina standards) was the best as well! She was laughing as she watched Elder Swingle and I drool and enjoy the food with much “gusto” as we are helping them grow in the gospel and how it can help them in day to day progress.  I’m so excited for their baptism!!!

There are times when as a missionary you’ll be walking and people just run up to you asking for help or wanting to know who you are.  So gladly we love to tell people who we represent and why we walk in 45 degree Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) weather every day.  We found a guy that the Hermanas (Sisters) were teaching in their area (they moved away and we are in charge of it now), who can’t read at all.  He was so happy as we were teaching him how to read letters and how it sounds and testing his knowledge.  He gets super excited when we tell him how good he is doing,

Now for the header, we were walking and out of nowhere these dogs were as usual barking at us, because they suck, but like five out of nowhere started charging at us and you would all think that this would be scary, but we are used to it.  So we just turned and faced them, and waited.  Dogs will bark at you all the time here and try to bite you, but I’ve learned that they won’t do anything if you stare them in the face and make them feel like a small chiwawa.  So yeah, that’s just another day in Argentina.

Overall we are excited for Natividad and Maria to get baptized!!!  So we are preparing them for that every day this week.  Can’t wait to send pictures!!!

Love all of you and if you can, go read 2 Nephi 33:10, whether you’re a member or not, it is one of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon.

Love you all! Chow!!

Elder Burk
Gotta love the sign (translation:  No more violence, A message from God)
Doing interviews at a hotel

Dr. Evil
Service project reward...pizza!!


Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Natividad y Maria Meza!!!

January 5, 2015  (week 19 in Argentina)

Hola de Argentina!
Our Zone- Hermanas Salinas, Hernadez, Elder Swingle, Allred,
Ware and  Burke

So we have had an awesome New Year’s (honestly Christmas was better) by being in early at 7 in the afternoon.  We got to listen to the warzone of fireworks outside our pension.  It was awesome to hear every firework imaginable and illegal in probably all of the States of America explode throughout the night!  Elder Ware and Swingle made some pretty good banana bread and Elder Allred and I talked about community and funny stories.  We have been having lots of fun teaching too!

Ester- (Ramon Junco's sister)
SO… remember the Aguado family?  Well, we have a date now for their baptism on the 24 of January!  Awesome!  Finally!  So we are excited for that.  They came to church and Natividad and Maria Meza came as well.  Even our other investigators, Walter and Romina came!  Church was awesome as we got to hear the testimonies of many members of the ward.  Testimonies are what make this church true.

We got some terrible food poisoning from some bad chicken we ate, elder Swingle and I, and we had to stay in the pension for the rest of the night and the next day!  We went and saw those who we needed to see that day.  Yeah it was the worst.  Elder Swingle was throwing up, I was stuck in the bathroom all day.  It’s just another day in Argentina! Ja ja ja!  We even went and dug a 5 foot hole for the Familia Gomez so they can put their water tank in the ground.  I now understand a little bit what Stanley Yelnats went through in the book “Holes”.  Three hours and it was super-hot!  But, we got to go back to the pension and enjoy the fruits of food poisoning.  I love pepto- bismal.

Natividad and Maria Meza are the best family we have prepared for baptism!  It’s on the 17th and if any of you would like to send a letter of encouragement to them, we can translate it for you or you can use google translate. Natividad is a single mother who lives with her 15 year old daughter Maria.  Both are hilarious and loving. They understand that we need to study the scriptures to gain a knowledge of their power.  We are going to have a FHE with them tonight and there will be pictures next week for sure!  Help route for them!

Over all this week has been pretty good.  Sorry for the briefness but it’s all you get sometimes with only one hour in a week to write!  But I try my best.  Love all of you!!!


Elder Burke
Our Church in Saenz Pena

Puppy on my shoe from Natividad and Maria's home


Zone goof-offs!!