Elder Taylor James Burke: It’s mildly warm….

February 23, 2015 (week 26 in Argentina)

Hola de Argentina!

And now, for the good parts of the week...

Corrientes, Argentina

Well we have been working hard with our investigators, Hernesto and Elsa (not the princess) who are this lovely sweet old couple. Hernesto has some partial paralysis on his left side and can’t move much. We got to take him to church this week! It was awesome, but also a nightmare. As being a healthcare worker I have this tendency to get frustrated when the equipment I use doesn’t seem to agree with me or just falls apart. Elder Nava and I pushed Hernesto to the church (a good 8 blocks) while the leg rests on his wheelchair kept falling off. Not to mention it was close to 9 o clock on a lovely summer morning with 40 degrees C (104 degrees F) and 50 percent humidity. None of the sidewalks are in good condition for his wheelchair, so we used the road, dodging motos, cars, and trucks. Did I mention I was drenched in sweat from the heat? But nonetheless we got Hernesto and Elsa to the church and where there is air condition! They loved it and are having a wonderful time learning little by little about the gospel.

Before church in the last week, a few awesome events happened. The first part was that we had splits and I was with Elder Ortega and Elder Nava was with Elder Fiabane. I was over in Elder Ortega’s area and we got to talk to this lovely active family about what we need to have in our lives to help give us positive thoughts and feelings, and then one of the sisters asked us how we can help ourselves from thinking badly of others or in other words how can we stop judging others. It’s a very good question and we both shared many ways how we can avoid judging others, but the one thing that hit me was when the father of the home said to judge someone is to condemn them. That really made me think differently about how we are all progressing with our difficulties and imperfections, and how they can affect those around us. It helped me realize that I need to have more patience with others and never condemn them. To condemn someone is to judge them and that that judgment is final, that they cannot change. This is what Satan wants for us to think of one another, that we may feel that we can’t become better because of the things we’ve done in the past or the habits we have now that are hard to break. It helped me to be more supportive to others who need help and to also stand my ground with the Lord’s standards. One shouldn’t judge another, but they should make a judgment on whether being around such will support them or destroy them.

Multi-Zone Conference

Also we had a multi-zone conference! We had to stay in the pension at 5 because of some protest that was going on before the conference and we had 8 elders in one house. It was so much fun! Then we woke up to go to the multi-zone conference! In the conference we focused a lot on baptisms and we all studied and discussed on what needs to be done to help people come unto Christ and be baptized. It helped us a lot to see that the doctrine of Christ to be baptized. Both the Bible and the Book of Mormon teach that the doctrine of Christ is to be baptized. That we should follow the example of Christ by faith in Him, then repent of our sins, be baptized by immersion, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and endure to the end. We then got to prepare 72 hour kits for every elder so that if there is an emergency there will be enough to survive. Also we watched “Meet the Mormons” and it made me super trunky (homesick) when it talked about the coach. I missed watching football with my dad and also routing for the good ol’ military of America! After the meetings I met with President Franco and we talked about how I’m going to be the new nurse for the elders and how I’ll be taking all the calls for the sick elders. I have a huge packet that I have to study which is all medical info (AWESOME!) and a personal phone. I’m super excited to start working here in the next couple of weeks as the new nurse for the Resistencia Argentina mission.

Also the fun part of the week... well you guys will laugh. So it is a habit of Argentina that they sometimes have to cut the power to certain parts of the country, for us they cut the water.... for two days. Now I want all of you to imagine the one day you went super hard in the gym, it’s humid, and you are wearing a sweater, you exercise, you sweat so much that you are certain you are going to take a bath, but imagine that feeling of waiting to take a bath for over 38 hours... also you have to wear a white shirt and tie with slacks, and there is no air conditioning. Let’s just say I love showers and that not one of my friends or Ally was around to see my gross self. Bleh. Never going to forget that memory ever!

I love all of you and hope that you are all enjoying every day of your lives. Truly every day is a gift from Heavenly Father, help someone today.

Con Amor, Elder Burke