Monday, August 24, 2015

Baptisms and Reunions

August 24, 2015

Ok to explain really fast of what has happened recently this last week.

We had the chance to talk to go to the famous Tucan who does a really awesome job with leather. He has been selling his product for over 27 years to the Elders and Sisters who are in our mission. He is very skilled but sadly he never has gone to the church- Ever.  But he has a huge collection of animal skins from Alligator to Beaver to Iguana!  And even more!  He’s pretty awesome.  Thinking about taking advantage of this time and buying a couple of things for home!  We tried talking to him but sadly he doesn’t really budge.
Baptism of Santiago!

The Hermanas here in our branch had a baptism for their investigator Santiago.  He asked me to baptize him, so I did.  He’s super awesome and used to be a drunk, but changed his entire life around and got baptized!  We all sang “Count your many blessings” for his baptismal service.  It all went good seeing as the baptismal font is just a tarp with metal outlining.  We had to use stairs to get into it.  Pretty sketchy because I thought I was going to fall in!  But everything went well.


Multi-zone Conference in Formosa
Thursday we got to go to Formosa for our multi-zone conference and I got to see Elder Allen, Elder Goycochea, and even Elder Nava!!!  I was super happy to see my favorite Mexican there again.  We obviously had fun catching up on what the other one was doing.  Elder Allen gave his testimony for the end of the conference, along with another elder because they were going home in a week!  I can’t believe it! Elder Allen, my trainer, is going to be gone and I only have 10 months left!  It’s absolutely crazy how fast the time has flown.  I still remember being here the first couple of weeks and not knowing how to do anything and now I’m training someone who is in the same situation I was.  Man was it crazy!  Afterwards we had to do divisions with the zone leaders because now that I am a district leader, I have the responsibilities of interviewing other investigators to see if they are ready to be baptized.  So I went to Ibarreta to see the investigator of Elder Abernathy and Elder Dangelo.  While I was there with Elder Abernathy, it was definitely one of the most greatest spiritual days ever.

Elder Abernathy in "The Colony"
We went to this place called The Colony.  The Colony is a place where live these Indian tribes but they are more advanced than the whole loin cloths and spears type Indian thing.  They have normal Argentine houses, but live way out in nature.  It was crazy because we left with a member who lives there to visit a family, and the cousin of the member calls us over and told us that his cousin is leaving to kill himself.  We look to where he was pointing and saw this gangster-looking Indian walking away down the road with a knife and computer wire.  He turned around and saw us, came to us, and told us that his life was sad and that he wants to change.  He was obviously drunk and switching from sad to crazy drug addict (like I’m used to in the hospital).  So, I told him he was gonna go to bed and sleep.  We walked him back to his house, Elder Abernathy and I with the member, and put him back in his house. He didn’t want to kill himself after that.  I don’t know if he is gonna be ok, but we will have to see what happens afterwards.

When we were teaching out there, it was so quiet, no distractions, no motos, no loud stereos, and it was so spiritual because it was basically the Sacred Grove of Argentina.  All the lessons we had there were very good.  Also I got to hold an alligator and let an owl groom my hair! ja ja

I don’t have a lot of time to write but I love all of you!

cuiedense (take care)! Chao chao!
Elder Burke

Baptism of Santiago (sister's investigator)





Owl grooming my hair!
Fun at Toucan's home










May I be in the right place?

August 18, 2015  (13 months on mission)
  
It’s good to finally talk again, seeing as my mom is having a heart attack when I can’t write her on the usual Mondays; it’s what happens here in Argentina.  We had a holiday yesterday and so everything was closed so we went to proselyte instead so we could have a good regular Argentine P-day.

So being the mission nurse I get a lot of calls, and everyone knows me, not to mention I know them. It’s probably one of the greatest blessings that I can still remain in contact with all of my companions before Elder Stock, but only when they are sick! ja ja.  Still it has surprised me that almost all of my companions have called me within this month!  It’s absolutely awesome.  Also I get to help them out with their medical problems, but it’s good to chat with all of them and also see how old areas are and wards and branches.  I´m really blessed to have so much responsibility, but also it gets stressful sometimes too- since I am training, as a district leader, and also trying to teach all of our awesome investigators.

During this past week we have been working with Doris and her progression in the gospel, sadly she didn’t come to church and we haven’t been able to find her yet to know why.  Hopefully we can see her tonight!  But with other investigators we have Natalia. She’s a girlfriend of Alexis Alegre who is a member, and we found her when we were teaching the Alegre family.  She lives there with them and when we talked to her she was so nice and sweet and said that she has seen a difference in a “Mormon family more than others”.  So she came to church and really liked it.  She’s very shy and she’s 20 years old.  We talked to them about seeing if they had plans for marriage (her and Alexis) and they said yes!  The only thing is that it’s for next year.  We talked to them yesterday about the Law of Chasity and man was that a lesson.  We told them of the great blessings that come from being married and that it is a commandment from God.  We are working with them to see if they can marry faster so Natalia can be baptized, but for now, let’s just say they didn’t take it as you hope they would.  It’s really interesting to see how when people really have to change something in their life that they never are happy in the moment when they recognize they are in the wrong, and have to change.  I totally hate that feeling, but it’s a correction that brings better security and protection.  That’s why we change everything to follow Christ.  The changes ARE worth it right?  I had to make big changes and corrections in my life but now I’m better, I’m happier, so who cares if I did feel dumb for doing the wrong thing or embarrassed.  What happened was I changed and now I look at that experience as an opportunity to be humble and show my love for God by obeying his commandments.  A mechanic has to make corrections on a car otherwise it won’t run, or it will be broken after a while.  If he did something wrong, or placed the wrong nut or didn’t tighten a bolt just right, he won’t look at that and say, “Well I don’t want to look stupid”.  By saying I was wrong and having to fix my mistake shows the love for the overall goal of trying to better one´s self.  The mechanic goes back to make those changes so that the car is healthy and problem free, therefore we too must accept the fact that some things in are life aren’t right, and so we must fix them, even if it is a third, fourth, or tenth time trying.

Cutting bamboo with machetes!!
We are teaching a 16 year old kid named Enzo and he is a stud.  He is the nephew of Gabriel Lopez (Convert of Elder Allen) and he’s progressing good.  He reads and understands everything we teach! When we found him it was through Gabriel and honestly Gabriel as a recent convert of 2 months is already a missionary!  He was saying things that missionaries say and we didn’t teach him anything, so we asked him if he wanted to serve a mission and he said yes!  So I was like, alright we are gonna get you there!  So we are working with him on being a missionary.
We cooked pizza for hermana in our branch

We did a service project to help a sister in the branch with her bamboo that she wanted cut.  So taking the opportunity of having machetes in our possession we had a lot of fun cutting bamboo (also we use them as awesome combat kung- fu walking sticks! ja ja Chiste!)  But we cooked pizza for her and she loved that the missionaries would come and help her with such an act of service. Service rocks!!!!

I forgot to mention this in my past emails but basically... there isn’t anyone here that feeds us.  I have been cooking like a Peruvian here in Pirane.  I think God has a good way of helping us men develop the skills necessary for providing for our families.  My last companion could cook like a chef and I learned a lot from him and now I am cooking just like he taught me!  Yep that’s right, I now can cook, and I’m pretty proud of myself.  I haven’t ever really liked cooking (still really don’t) but I feel that if the time comes that I need to cook something, I can do it.  The only thing I suck at is bread.  Oh if I could only cook bread!  I’m still working on that part! ja ja!  But as they say in Peru when you have cooked something really tasty as a young single man: “You are ready to marry”. Ja ja Grinning face with smiling eyesAlso I will be cooking all Argentine foods for my family when I get back home, and possibly for my dates.  QUE TRUNKY!

Keep trying to do the right thing! Even if you feel like you can’t or you have tried so many things before!  Christ and His Atonement doesn’t have a “You only get ten tries” type deal, nor a “you must be this tall to enter” into the kingdom of heaven.  If you are frustrated, be humble, “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.¨ Ether 12:27.

I love you all and always remember that you are in my prayers, I do indeed miss you all every day.  You are all what drive me to put my best into these two years, because I know God is blessing and will bless every single one of your lives as He has blessed mine.

Con Amor,

Elder Burke
"Cooking like a Peruvian"- Giso que cocine!! (stew I cooked)
Rice, Sausage/meatballs, onions and some awesome
plants- oregano, perjil, cebolla pequnia, cebolla con albondigos

In Resistencia with Elder Morales and Tippets


Kung-Fu Bamboo





Cleaning the spiderwebs in our pension-
bamboo stick comes in handy, I couldn't
reach these with the broom





MMMMM....Cobweb Cotton Candy!!





Blessings

August 10, 2015

As seeing as this past week has been nothing but hot in winter, you can imagine the happiness I feel to finally to have rain today! YEEEEESSSSS! Here in Formosa we are as you would say, “out of the freezer and into the frying pan!”  Not to mention the amount of dust that we had was pretty crazy.  I felt like I was in Utah again with the amount of wind and dust we had.  Well it was ok because now we won’t be worrying for a while about dust nor sun!  But anyways, here’s the details of what happened in this episode of Elder Burke: Mission Resistencia, Argentina.

Our dueno (owner) lets me play with his typewriter- It's Awesome!!
The more I train the more I feel like a parent, literally.  It has been different to be someone who knows all the ropes, to helping un-tie my son from being tangled in them.  It takes patience and love, which surprisingly I have a lot of. ja ja!  But we are studying a lot and Elder Stock is doing better than last week and that’s the key!  We have been studying about the Book of Mormon and how to use it for everything.  As usual, the scriptures are always true and have answered many questions for our investigators and have also brought these people to be more self-sufficient.  That’s what I love about teaching people the most, its showing them to look for the answers themselves because if you give the answers to them they don’t really learn, so we focus more on how they can read the Book of Mormon to answer questions and better their lives through it.

We have been having a lot of lessons with members and I have seen how much better it is to have a member in the lesson.  We aren’t perfect teachers, or the members but the spirit is, so why not have every tool you can from scriptures to members, to help invite the scriptures!  The sad part though, is some of the people we have been visiting aren’t progressing or basically don’t want anything, even from their friends.  It’s sad to see the look in members’ eyes when their friends do not want the gospel right now.  But they still keep moving forward with faith that they know the church is true.

I want to write about how we have been going to see people more because they are sick and need blessings.  The thing is that they are all asking for one thing: Help.  After all we have done, a priesthood blessing is one of our most sacred and powerful things we can do as priesthood holders.  It is our responsibility to always be prepared to give a blessing and to be there when they need it.  In the church there was a girl named Belen who is three months pregnant and she came back to the church and is attending!  But she wasn’t feeling really well and during the sacrament meeting she had me and Elder Stock and the secretary of the presidency of the branch, give her a blessing.  Her husband hurt her really bad and honestly I wanted to find the guy and have a chat with him, but after giving her a blessing she felt so happy and alive.  It was a change in her that was truly a manifestation of Gods power on the earth!

I´ll continue from where I left off. Now that I have a computer to write at! So as I was saying.  So with the priesthood we helped Belen feel better, and honestly it was a moment to see how blessed we are to have the privilege to do such things here in the world.  It’s not us, but the Spirit.  If you could only see how sad and miserable Belen was and then see her participate in class as though nothing had ever happened within minutes, you would see how wonderful it is to have the priesthood here on the earth.  I don’t think I will ever forget that experience or the feelings I felt as we gave her that blessing.  Priesthood holders must always be ready for when they are called.

We have a progressing investigator now! Yes!  Her name is Doris who is the sister of Gabriel Lopez (A convert of Elder Allen) and she is pretty awesome.  She is a single mother of 19 and her baby is super funny because she gives you all types of sass with her facial expressions. ja ja.  We talked to her about being baptized and she told us that she really wants to, because the last time that she could talk to the missionaries was when she was here about a month ago. She went to Formosa Capital because she has a tumor (don’t worry it was diagnosed benign) in her chest. When I got to know Gabriel he showed us worry for his sister and he made some awesome prayers for her when we were visiting him, and it was wonderful to see her and actually meet her.  So she is now preparing to be baptized on the 29 of August! So we will see what happens.

Being a district leader has brought some new things to mind as I am trying my best to be in charge of them along with the training with Elder Stock.  Me personally I have a hard time telling people exactly what they should do because I want them to make the decision for themselves and not do what I tell them to do.  So it has been a fun week helping people become more auto-sufficient in what they can do to fix their problems, but also maintain order.  Elder Stock (Like I also experienced) is enjoying the last final weeks, were I am basically letting him run things, helping him think more for himself so  he can be ready to be more proactive in his desires to share the gospel.  I feel like a parent sometimes, honestly, and I kind of understand how my dad must have felt trying to teach me something that at the moment I felt was hard, but did it anyway because my dad made me and now I’m thanking him for kicking my sorry little butt so that I can be ready for the world. The hardest things for us to do in this world are normally the most rewarding and important things you need to learn in life, and you learn it by doing it yourself.  So if you are a parent trying to help your kids learn something that they need to know in life, find a way to let them know that you love them and that they´ll be alright, even if it’s somewhat hard at first.  Don’t give up on teaching them the things they need, even if they don’t want to learn.  There is more than one way to teach.  Also kids with parents that are telling them how things are, Exodus 20:12 ¨Honour thy father and thy mother¨.  Your Parents have experience, so listen to what they know and add what they know to help you live a better life.  If your parents haven’t taught you anything, use their example to make you a parent who wants to help your kids have the best life in this world, which comes from careful guidance, warnings, and occasionally saying “I love you”.   Be good parents, and be good children and your family will be great.

Love

Elder Burke


P.S. We found Mater! Also a pretty gnarly fire, I was thinking of Herriman of course.

I'm a Plumber- oh yeah!

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

I got to know more about Pirane!

August 3, 2015

Welcome to Pirane
Hey guys from stinky fish (Pirane literal translation from Guatani) ja ja and it’s been good as ever! We are going hard, Elder Stock and I, and I have never been so busy in my life as a missionary.  I feel like I forgot to give a couple details in my last letter so I will say what’s going on.  So I’m a District Leader, meaning I am in charge of some areas and the Elders and Hermanas (sisters) that are in my district.  I call them every night to make sure they are alright and also hear how their day went.  I am in charge of making sure that they are doing their best, but also as their mission nurse I also make sure that they are feeling their best! ja ja!

Funny story was that yesterday night we were super far away from an appointment (17 blocks worth!) and we had to be their 5 minutes ago, so we ran all 17 blocks.  It was Elder Stocks first time to go running as a missionary to be on time (3rd world problems right?), and his first run in with dogs trying to eat you on the way.  He told me he almost wet himself when a huge German shepherd tried eating my backpack.  I told him that was my 4th or 5th time now almost dying by dog.  His eyes were pretty wide when I said that.  Welcome to Argentina son! ha ha

Also the thing is that I am finishing the training of Elder Stock, yup I have another step son, like elder Swingle!  So it’s really crazy because he is trying to adjust to everything and of course his Spanish is about a 30 percent of understandability.  Also he is trying to show me the area but also we get lost sometimes and even try to find his investigators.  Man have I never been so busy trying to doing a lot of things all at once.  More calls as people get sick, trying to help two elders and two hermanas with their areas, training and translating for my companion, reporting to Zone Leaders what’s going on.  Yeah... it’s a bit tiring, but as usual the Lord helps me complete all the tasks that I need to do to bring about better success in everything I do.

This week has been “the get to know everyone week” and meet all of those who Elder stock and his older companion (his real father) have been teaching.  A lot of them have sadly fallen through and there are others that are progressing.  We found someone new too!  Her name is Virginia and I’m really excited to see how she progresses.   She learned a lot about of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ through the pamphlet we gave her and she read all of it and had a huge understanding of how it works.  She feels it’s true but wants to do everything we invite her to do with her husband, whom we haven’t met yet.  So we will be trying hard to teach her all she needs to make a good decision.  But we will see how he reads the Book of Mormon.

As district leader, I have to do some things to help benefit the team of missionaries we have here.  I have to basically teach them how to do better or understand better a part of the gospel, so that they can be better missionaries.  I had to do it Tuesday, and man it was different to teach it than to listen to it like before.  But it opened my understanding to how learn in a new way.  I’m putting my studies more towards them, so I can help them, and in turn I am learning more.  Maybe it’s a new perspective that helps us learn something new.  I think that’s why we have callings for short periods of time.  We end up changing our perspectives from being student to teacher or from follower to leader and it makes us better people.  There is always a perspective and different view to see one thing and for me it helps me have more patience and love for others. We all get frustrated when we don’t understand right?  When there is a misunderstanding, or perhaps we dont understand completely what is going on, so we make assumptions.  Heavenly Father wants us to learn everything, so he gives us experiences so that we can further our understanding.  Because if we know what it’s like to be in the other persons’ situation, we won’t judge them or be impatient with their “mistakes”, but we will understand.

That was Christ’s perspective, He knew what was going on in the lives of these so called sinners and evil-doers, but he forgave them.  There are so many stories of great forgiveness from Him and it’s because He knows their stories, our stories, the why we do things.  So it makes sense that if we want to have a better understanding of people we have to be in their shoes or have different points of views that we have to see.  So don’t judge so quickly, try to see why they did what they did first or why they are like the way they are.

I love this gospel and it brings a huge understanding of how I can be a better person full of love, patience and compassion, Love you all and hope you have a great week!


Elder Burke


Why do I have to go?

July 28, 2015

Reunion - Elder Allen and I
So of all the crazy things that has happened this past week, I can’t feel a little sad that I won’t be around to see what happens in my little area of Clorinda.  Yup that’s right I got transferred to a new area, but it’s still in Formosa- called Pirane!  There is even more juicer details as now I am in the area of my trainer (Elder Allen) where he started! Ja ja!  Loco no?  Yeah it’s pretty crazy that I’m here in his old area and I got to see him when I was coming here in the bus terminal.  He’s awesome right now, but he’s close to ending his mission or “dying” as we say.  So as the mission nurse I was pretending to be all worried because he only has five weeks to live. ja ja!
  
Pirane is awesome and I am once again training, well finishing the training of Elder Stock- one more step son for me!  ja ja!  He’s pretty goofy, but has basically no fear to talk to people. It’s nicer here in Formosa than in the other parts of the mission as in terms of hospitality.  He is from the states. Literally from the states as in more than one because his family always moves to different places and it’s not for work.  He was last living in Missouri but also lived in Lehi.  It’s gonna be a fun 6 weeks!  And also I miss my old companion, Elder Goycochea.  That guy taught me a lot of things on how to be a better missionary.  I was kind of going through the motions, but he taught me how to make the motions and have a ton of fun while doing it! ja ja. 
Ward Activity was a hit!
Ribs- Thanks for the recipe mom!
This week we had a ward activity where we cooked food from different countries, well our countries!  Elder Remund and I cooked an American BBQ with them mashed potatoes!  I made really delicious BBQ ribs with an awesome spice that is close to being like the outback steak seasoning (thanks mom for sending me the info on that!).  A lot of people loved it and wanted more!  Elder Goycochea did a combination of Mexican and Peruvian Tacos that were really good! Hilary and Giovani made Pandebonos which is a really delicious cheese bread!  They took us to the activity in their moto cart which was beyond awesome!  And the night was so much fun.  We had a lot of members and investigators there enjoying the food and also sharing with one another.  They were really happy. I was happy to serve them something from the states that they liked!  The last time I wrote I talked about Flor and how she is back on track to following Christ.  She went to the activity and basically looked like a member because she wore a Sunday skirt to the activity.  She couldn’t come to the church though Sunday because she has now another obstacle, which is her family. They don’t really support her and she couldn’t go.  But she was awesome and gave me an awesome picture frame she made!

Also a while ago Pablo wasn’t really progressing because he told us he wanted time to think about making a decision and basically disappeared, but I called him the night I was leaving and he was super happy to hear from us and wanted to talk.  So we talked in the terminal and he has been thinking a lot in how he wants to start doing what he needs to do to be a missionary, which is be baptized first.  Yeah it’s pretty crazy how everyone is making big comebacks, but I sadly won’t be around to see them get baptized.  I’m definitely gonna miss them.

There has been a wonderful understanding of how important it is to have unity in everything.  If you look at how one person on a team can do many things, imagine a team of people who can do their part. Everything has a part to play.  When we are part of a team it is useless for the quarterback to be jealous of the lineman or running back because his part is different than the others.  We all need to understand that there is diversity in our lives and what makes this work so marvelous is that it works even in diversity.  God has many situations and problems that he fixes in our lives, but there are specific tools for specific problems.  Everyone has a part to play and so even though I was in Clorinda for 6 weeks, I feel like I played my part in the preparation of people to accept the gospel.  I find people who have great talents, but are frustrated because they can’t do what others can.  Be of good cheer, because your part is important, even if it is small.  A man can hear the difference in a symphony if the cello doesn’t play his part.  Have unity in everything and that’s when you can do anything; in your matrimony, in your family, or in your friendships.  Play your part and you will contribute to something much bigger than yourselves.  I will miss Clorinda, but I know that I am part of something bigger than me, and that God does place people in the right places.  I know that our Heavenly Father never makes mistakes in calling people to do the things they need to do.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Mud destroyed my nice boots!!

Elders Remund, me, Dana (basically Alex) and Heaton
Love,  Elder Burke
Great companions- Elder Goyocochea



Pablo 
Flor







Working With Members

Time to do Laundry!!
July 20, 2105  (One year on mission)
  
Hola mis queridos amistades y parientes! Me extrañan? Si por supuesto! ja ja!

So this will probably be a long awaited letter that my family and friends were hoping for. Well here it comes.... just wait.... a little bit more........

ONE YEAR DOWN!!!!!!!!!
Ok I got it out of my system.  It’s weird to think that a year has passed and only little less than a year until I am back in ‘MERICA!!! ja ja!  My mom is probably thinking that it’s all downhill from now, and the truth is that it’s true.  I feel like a rock rolling down the side of a mountain and every second that passes by, the faster I am going.  Everyday becomes a blur and I am somewhat shocked how fast it came to me!  But the thing that kills me the most is that just five days ago it would be exactly a year from when I left the sandy beaches and hot canyons of Lake Powell.  They are there now and seeing pictures have made me the most trunky than ever, I have to agree with my cousin Michael, that of all the traditions that we have as our big family, Lake Powell is the best.  But the good thing is that we both will be back in time to be cooked alive as we try to diminish our whiteness from wearing a white shirt and tie every day!  We will probably burn!  But hopefully my family is safe and that they all our missing my presence and that of my cousin Michael, for we are the best- in our own way ja ja!

Doing Laundry like Pros!
Anyways to start off, it has still been raining! Oh my gosh, I have never had time to wash any of my clothes because we do it outside and also we have to hang dry them.  When I think of the beautiful sound of a dryer I think I will cry.  But, on the other hand this mission only makes me think more and more of how I will tell my future spoiled kids “when I was in Argentina we didn’t have instant self-drying clothes, nor flying cars... we waited for our clothes to dry and we walked!  Boy, will I have fun with soooo many people who complain about first world problems.  But you should have seen our faces when Friday the sun came out and we used all of our study time to wash our clothes!!! Man it was sooo funny!

This week we have been working hard with members to share their testimonies and be friends.  The thing is that members have a super power, they can talk and even do things that the missionaries can’t to help people receive the gospel.  We went to three families, with one recount convert named Silvana, and we had so much success!  Remember Flor?  Well I wasn’t planning on writing about what happened because I really don’t like writing about how people reject the gospel, but when we were working with her she wasn’t progressing and didn’t want to go to the church.  We thought about maybe seeing her for the last time with a member and yesterday we went with Silvana to see her and it changed everything!  Now she wants to go to church and feels so much more comfortable because she has an actual friend that will uplift her and tell her what she needs not what she wants.  So that was one miracle. Before that we visited a recent convert single mom of age 17 (That’s actually old for the normal, sadly) named Soña and they both just talked and got to know about one another and the spirit was super strong in making them both be edified in doing the right thing.  She needed a friend and Silvana was there to be it.  It was miraculous!

Ok now for the story number three because it is funny.  There is a partial family here that I love and they are also the family where the boys constantly fight and make funny pranks.  They are literally a mom’s worst nightmare because they break things, but they are so funny that they get away with a lot of things.  I need to get a picture with them so I can show you all.  The smallest is named Jose and he is 4 and bites like a mother!  He has bitten me more than I can count and is always throwing punches.  We were trying to teach and he was being the punk that he is, so we made noises that made it seem that some monster was coming to get him, he cried!  But after he started up again and was making faces at elder Goycochea and so he took off his belt and started snapping it like he was going to beat him and it was soooooo funny to see this little trouble maker run screaming.  We were all laughing and when he finally calmed down we shared the gospel. It was great.

Always try to share the gospel.  If you are having a hard time with sharing the gospel, read 2 Nephi 25 and 26. It talks a lot about Christ and our purpose for all of us to share his gospel.

I love you all and hope all is well.  Keep writing me!  I only have one more year till I’m normal and you can talk to me whatever day of the week, so take advantage of it!  Because once I return.... I’m gonna facebook stalk all of you to see what I missed for the two years I’ve been gone!  And there will be embarrassing comments!!! MWah hahahahahahah! LOVE YOU ALL!

Elder Burke

Interviews

Elder Goyocochea, President Franco, Elder Burke
July 14, 2015  (week 46 in Argentina)
  
Gooood Morning Everyone who read this! Or afternoon...

So this week has been filled with a lot of things... but it isn’t as much as the freaking mud that is found everywhere here in Clorinda.  We don’t have any normal paved streets, just a whole lot of mud, mud, and more mud.  I have only used my regular shoes for two out of the seven days in the week!  Also it’s a hassle to hang clothes out and dry them when it’s raining or so cold and humid.  If there is one thing, just one thing I could change about the world it would be that everywhere would be just dry enough that your clothes can dry within one day.  That’s all I’ll ever ask!  Ja ja… but enough with the growing and moaning and gnashing of teeth.  The fun stuff!

So we found this wonderful couple named Grisela and Juan Carlos.  They both are so freaking awesome.  They couldn’t at all come to the church this week but they will come the next week!  When we first them it was great because Grisela was with her friends and she asked a lot of questions and we told her how she could better strengthen her relationship with God.  The second time we talked she told us that there was such a good spirit in their house after we left that they both started doing things together and talking like a regular couple should.  Man they told us they just feel good when we teach them.  We will see what happens when we ask them to get married!

Interviews!!
We taught a lesson with a bunch of inactive members and there was a funny story from one of them.  We were talking to them and they had their cute little nena (little girl) who was being super cute.  We made the joke if she could say the prayer in bebenese and right after my companion said that the baby started babbling loud and really fast.  Super funny!

We had interviews in Formosa yesterday so we couldn’t write so we are having our P day now.  The interviews were good; we talked a lot about how we all can improve ourselves by being obedient and following the commandments and mission rules.  It was good and I loved the road trip we had to do for two hours there and back.  It flew by as we were singing and getting to know one another as a zone.  It was super fun!

Great Companions!!
I can’t wait to tell all of you these stories in person because I feel like these letters are never enough, but I am writing every day in my journal to remind me! ja ja

Love you all!
Elder Dana (he looks and acts just like Alex)


Elder Burke




Game Night!!


Doctor Elder Burke
My companion tries a hammock for the first time



Elder Renud, me and Hermanas Lanfranco and Puima

Formosa

Dragon Ball -Z