January 5, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been a pretty good one! Right now we are in Lower Hutt, closer in to Wellington, at the start of our exchanges. This time, I drove "over the hill" and all is well! Pretty weird that it isn't weird to me anymore driving on the wrong side of the road. 

So New Years on a mission is pretty uneventful. We actually were told to go back to the flat early because it is just too dangerous with all the people doing crazy things. So we got KFC for dinner and went back to the flat at like 7:30. Did some writing in my journal that night and just hang out. Maybe even went to sleep early, I don't really remember. But we did set an alarm for 11:55 but we just slept haha We were tired. On New Years day we were invited to a BBQ by a member family from Auckland who were visiting some family. They made some real good food and of course, I ate too much. There really hasn't been many too exciting things this week. We got permission to go our to Castlepoint again but we are having trouble finding a family who can take all 6 of us missionaries. We have a couple who could take just us but we want it to sorta be a district thing. Transfers are next week and that P-day would be when we would go. So I will let you know next week what is going on with that. I really have no clue what my companion or I will be doing but there isn't much time to worry about it, just gotta work! 

On Saturday we went down to the other elder's area, Martinborough. It is a nice little town, but little for sure. And most of the houses and stuff there are holiday homes so there are a lot of people who don't care to listen because they are on vacation. We just did a lot of finding that day. When you do a lot of finding, you meet a lot of odd people. A lot of cool people too though. I will share a couple experiences. The first is when me and my companion split up with the other Elders. So I was with Elder Uasila'a and we were just door knocking. We asked this lady if she wanted to hear a message and she just said "sure, take a seat." We were pretty surprised but just hopped into sharing the Restoration. When we started talking about prophets she said "hold on a second, I just need to get my daughter." We were really excited and were like "YES BRING MORE!!!!" So we started talking more about prophets and the Restoration. Then we got started talking a bit about the Plan of Salvation. She had heard a lot of different things from other Churches about what happens after death but she was really excited when she heard what we believed. We left her and her daughter with a Book of Mormon and a couple of booklets on the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool to have a doorstep lesson like that! The next neat experience was with me and my companion. We went to the home of an older couple we met the last time we were in Marty. We talked for a bit, she gave us some Christmas cake that wasn't my favorite, and then as we were leaving, she gave us this little wooden dowel things that her husband had made. They were grocery bag holders! So you put the bags on the holder then just carry the holder. Pretty awesome! A couple minutes after we left, we saw an older woman carrying some groceries. So my companion went over to her with Elder Uasila'a and gave her the thing! It was really cool to see the smile on that lady's face. Another time, me and my companion were door knocking and we met this woman who had just moved back to NZ after getting a divorce. She previously lived in Indiana. She wasn't too interested but she referred us to another house who had three German shepherds. So we went to the house. And there was a car parked in the drive: Aston Martin DB7. And this guy got to sit in it! Pretty awesome! They weren't interested though. So while we were there we got a call from one of the members of the Bishopric up in Masterton saying that he bought us ice cream at the dairy. We had seen him and the other counselor of the bishopric and a less active member in the car just a couple minutes ago and they said that they would get us ice cream but it sounded like they said they were kidding then just drove off haha but they were serious so we enjoyed some yummy ice cream! The last experience is a sorta funny and weird one. Me and the other missionary, Elder Jacobsen, were door knocking. We are both in the same intake. So we were on the right side of the street and on the left side of the street was a group of like 6-8 people all drinking and smoking. We got to the last house on the right side of the street and then went over to the other side of the street. We had no intention of really talking to them but we couldn't ignore them so we had to acknowledge them. A couple of the women were particularly drunk. And they started hitting on us saying we were "so gorgeous" and asked us "why we weren't married already." That just made us laugh. So Elder Jacobsen gave them a Word Of Wisdom pamphlet. That was really funny because they could hardly read so we were thinking they would wake up in the morning, be really hungover, and read that and just laugh! But yeah that was an interesting experience. 

Yesterday we had Michael come to church with us again. He really enjoys when he comes. This time he said that he "really felt God speaking to me."
We were so excited when he said that. He is really close to being baptized but we are still looking for that one thing that will put him over the edge. We are going to try our very hardest to set a baptismal date this week before one of us leaves (possibly).
Well that is about all that is exciting for me this week. Sounds like some fun things going on back at home. Congratulations to the Chapman brothers on deciding to serve a mission! I think one of my roommates friends is serving down there but I don't think either of those missions. Elder Fowers (my roommate) is serving in the El Dorado Hills Ward!!!! So if you see him around, tell him I say hi! I was really excited to hear that from him! Maybe he will go on exchanges and serve in our ward for a day or something! Congrats to Greg and Aurora on the new car as well. Something a little more practical for the snow and a family huh? haha better get out to the lake before it rains! I would totally try to walk out to Mormon Island! That is crazy!!! Well I love you all and hope you are having a great time!!!!!

Love,
Elder Burnham

December 29, 2013

Hello again family!

Well the rest of this week wasn't too exciting. Not as exciting as Christmas at least. On Friday we had another lesson with Michael. He is our top investigator right now. The lesson on friday was about the plan of salvation. It actually didn't go that well. It didn't really have any flow and the Spirit wasn't really there but then Michael asked a really good question. We had said that he could be with his whole family again. The Bishop shared his testimony of the plan of salvation and how he felt when the missionaries taught him about the plan of salvation. The bishop shared that his grandmother, who had brought him up, had passed away. Michael then asked the bishop how his family could be together if his grandmother had not been baptised. That was a cool experience to talk a little but more about temples and baptisms for the dead. We had another lesson with Michael on Saturday night. This lesson was really good. We had gone up to Mt. Bruce with the Bishop to talk to the recent convert there but he ended up being busy. On the way back we started talking about Michael and I thought we really needed to share about the gift of the Holy Ghost. We decided to stop at his house and to see if he was there. When we knocked on the door, he had the Book of Mormon in his hand, he was reading it! That was really cool. We began the lesson and started talking about the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I had the thought in my mind that we should set a date with him to be baptised but I pushed the thought out of my mind. Then a minute or two later the bishop started talking about it! Then I jumped in with it too! I knew then that the Spirit had prompted me to talk about setting a date. When we were talking about the possibility of Michael getting baptised, he just broke down in tears of joy! He is always expressing how blessed he feels that he has met us. He told us that he would tell us today if he was ready to be baptised. It was really really exciting! The bishop told Michael he thought that he should be baptised this week! So we left that lesson feeling very good. Then he came to church with us the next morning. Us and the sisters spoke and the sisters did a really really good job! And they talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost. Pretty neat. We then had a lesson with him later on Sunday night. Just us this time though. We were really bold with him and asked him what he thought of baptism. He told us that he wasn't ready yet. It was pretty disappointing but mostly just because of how happy and excited we were the previous night. We are hoping that even if one of us leaves in the next transfer, which is in two weeks, he will still be baptised by other missionaries. We just have to be patient. he is just a little reserved about leaving his Catholic faith. Which is understandable because he is 29 and has been going all his life. But yeah that is just about the most exciting stuff that has happened this week. I made tacos today for lunch which is why I am emailing a little later. They were real good! And Elder Christensen loved them too! I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa B so I am thinking I need to write them back as soon as possible. I will send a couple of pictures of Christmas food and stuff., Hope you are all having a great week! Happy New Years!!!!!!!
Love,

Elder Burnham

December 22, 2013

Dear Whanau! (That's family in Maori!)

Merry Christmas!!!! It is weird to me that it is Christmas time because it is HOT here. Not like warm but hot. On Saturday we had a missionary car wash. I decided since we were washing cars that it would be a good idea to wear my flip flops (here they are called "jandals"). The car wash went really well, we had about 20 cars come through. We held it at the Chapel so that we could offer tours and DVDs and such to help out with our missionary efforts. Most people were not too interested, but would take a DVD or something and make a donation to the Church. There was something that was really cool that happened. There was a young woman who was walking down the street and she just started talking to the Sisters. I guess she was pretty interested because she took a Book of Mormon and hung out with the sisters for another hour or so at the car wash. She said she was going to come to church tomorrow but something came up and she wasn't able to come. But still a really solid potential for the sisters, and a miracle for sure! So back to my smart decision  of wearing sandals, just check out the picture I will attach. I guess that is what happens when you spend a couple hours in the sun...it doesn't hurt as bad as it looks though.

Yesterday we went carolling at a rest home. Our investigator Michael was the one who set it up for us because he works there! We had about 20 members come and we split into two groups and went around singing to the old people there. They really enjoyed it and so did I! It kinda reminded me of singing in Chamber at Oak Ridge. After we were done singing, they had afternoon tea for us in a reception hall sort of thing. That was super awesome. It was good for Michael too because he got to work with the Bishop to get it all organized. It for sure made him feel more welcome in the ward. He came to church with us yesterday, along with 4 other of our investigators, the most we have ever had! I guess that is what Christmas time will do! They all really enjoyed it and so did we. 

The other day we were biking around and we decided to make a quick stop at the secondhand shop so I could look for a suit! I tried a couple on and picked a sweet one out. I will send a picture of it too! It is a dark blue color and has some sweet buttons on it! I also went the other day into the store in town called Farmers and got myself a Christmas gift. They had some dress slacks that were 50% off so I got two nice pairs of slacks for $70! It was a really good deal! I just hope they hold up to the assault of my bike seat! So now I have some clothes to wear! I am still thinking I can fix the two black suit pants with some patches, just haven't found the time to do it yet. That is pretty much my excitement for the week. Nothing too out of the ordinary this week though. We did go on exchanges this week so I spent a day in Carterton again with Elder Jacobsen who was in the same intake as me. It was a good day down there but an even better one for my companion up here. We had a lesson with an investigator, Owen. He seems to be doing really well now. I heard he opened up a lot more to the missionaries and shared more of his past. We are hoping to be able to meet with him again but we are having trouble getting a hold of him. 

Well we are all set for Christmas this week. We have a million places we can go and eat. We are probably going to explode from too much food. We have a set breakfast/brunch at 10 and a lunch at 2. We don't have anyone set for dinner which is good. I don't think we could handle three Christmas meals! 

Well that is about it for the week! I will send a couple more pictures that I took this week! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas! Love you lots!
Love,

Elder Burnham

                                                       Sunburned Feet

                     

                                                                 Suit with sweet buttons

                                 

                                      This is a dinner from Michael our investigator, yum! 

P.S.  From Derek's mom,  Derek wants to thank all who donated a tie.  He loves them and is grateful you gave one to him.  To the rest of you, Derek wanted more ties, so I had a few people donate their ties, not new ones so when he wore it he could say, this is a tie Dad wore or this is a tie Karl wore.  If you would like to have Derek wear your tie on his mission, add a comment and I can let you know where to send it.

December 15, 2013

Well what an adventure this week has been! I am pretty much over my sickness so that is real good. On Tuesday, we did lots of service, as always. We love to do service though. Most, if not all, of the service we do is yard work and mostly it is mowing lawns. We have 4-5 lawns that we mow on a weekly basis, including our own. It is fun, and we always sleep really well on Tuesday night! Well this week has been pretty normal though, nothing too crazy. Well one crazy thing did happen.....On Friday, we were biking to a teaching appointment with our investigator, Michael. He actually lives only a couple houses down from us. So we were biking from one appointment to the next and I decided I would go up on the footpath to ride my bike. Unfortunately the driveway/curb that I decided to use to get to the footpath was a bit bigger than the other ones. I didn't take it perpendicular enough to the curb and both my front and back tires caught and my momentum carried me off the bike. I flew off the bike and landed on the ground and slid on my hands and knees for a couple feet. I hopped up and assessed the damage. When I got up, I immediately looked at my left hand, grabbed a rock or something that was stuck in it, and ripped it out. It was weird because I didn't even think like "Oh there's a rock" and start freaking out, I just ripped it straight out and dropped it on the ground. So that was cool. But I ripped a nice big hole in my slacks and got a big graze on my knee. Ripped a hole in my shirt on the arm and on the chest from sliding on the ground and got a wound on my elbow. And both hands have some pretty good injuries on them. But other than that, I am ok! No head injuries or broken bones. My left shoulder is a little sore because it took the most of the energy from the impact but still it is pretty much 100%. I made sure to use plenty of Neosporin on all these wounds so they will heal faster and not get infected! I had to buy some more bandaids though, the ones I had weren't big enough. I will show you a picture of my torn up and bloody clothes! But I am all good, so don't worry! That was pretty much the most crazy thing that happened. Something that was really awesome that happened was that we went to give a white shirt, a tie, and a Christmas card to a recent convert and his mother. He mentioned that his shoulder was bothering him still. It had been sore for about a week already and wasn't getting better so we offered to give him a blessing. He said sure and so we went in and gave him a blessing. We shook hands and took off. About 2 hours later he sent us a text message saying that the pain in his shoulder was gone! That was really great! Especially because I wasn't having a great morning but that really made the whole rest of the day great! Well except that was on Friday, the day I crashed. But this new convert, Laurie, passed the Sacrament on Sunday and his mom, an investigator, was there and really proud of him. It is great seeing new converts continue to grow in the Gospel. He also got called as a ward missionary! That was really cool! So he is doing great. We have another investigator that is really dear to us. His name is Michael. He is 29 years old and is from the Philippines. Even when we met him was a miracle because it was like 8:30 at night, right before we were going to go home. Anyway we have been meeting with him and have been having some really good times. He doesn't have too many friends so he really enjoys our company. He is a pretty strong Catholic but has a brother that is a convert and has been sealed in the Temple. He helped his brother make these steps so we are hoping he will follow the example of his brother. We had an awesome lesson with him on friday, after my bike crash, with the Bishop. Bishop really likes him and we can all see him being a wonderful Priesthood holder! He things he may someday want to become a Priest or a Brother. We shared with him that he could become a Priest, with the true restored Priesthood authority, sooner than he really thought. He was pretty interested. He is still somewhat reserved or perhaps scared to leave his faith though. We went with him to a showing of the Christmas Devotional from the First Presidency last night and he really enjoyed it! We hope he just keeps doing the little things and that he will continue to feel the Spirit and work his way toward conversion! Well that is pretty much all of the exciting things that have happened this week. Pretty eventful I guess. I hope all is going well for you guys! 

December 8, 2013

Hello Family!!!
Well this week has not been too great. Monday was good. We had a real good basketball game, 5 on 5. It was cool because we had the other elders in the district come up from their area and play with us. They are about 10 minutes away by bus. It was pretty hot though, so people got tired pretty quick. But it was real fun! On Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat. We did lots of service in the morning and it didn't get any better. Tuesday night we had dinner with this very kind investigator family. I guess they are more of potentials than investigators but the father is really genuinely interested but is pretty hesitant. He read a bit of the Book of Mormon but said it didn't "flow" like the Bible. I didn't really understand what he meant but we gave him some good chapters to read. Hopefully he will feel the Spirit when he reads them! He also had a concern with a couple of the Articles of Faith. I was able to address them somewhat but not entirely. I studied some more and hope to be able to address his concerns better next time. So my sickness continued to get worse. Wednesday was not too bad but by Thursday my nose was so stuffed up that my ears started getting plugged up and I could hardly hear myself talk. I started taking Sudafed and ibuprofen to help out with the sinus congestion but it didn't really do much. Friday it was a bit worse but still manageable. Friday night we had an activity with us, our ward mission leader and any of our Recent Converts, Investigators, or Less Actives. We went to the indoor bowling! It was pretty fun but kinda weird bowling in a shirt and tie! I did ok, got a 77 I think. But it was kinda a small activity. We had several people say they would come but only one person showed up. It was still good for him and for us though. By saturday, I had started coughing a whole bunch. The congestion had kinda moved from my sinus into my chest. Saturday we had to stay home because I was feeling really terrible. I am still taking the medications and it has been helping a lot. Yesterday I was much better and I am continuing to get better every day. I felt bad that we had to stay home though, I really wanted to go out and work!  On top of all that......I have three pairs of pants that have holes worn through them.... I will send a picture of them and where the holes are. They are about an inch or so in diameter and maybe 2-4 inches from the inseam of my pants, near the back pocket sorta. At first I thought it was just the old pair of black pants. Then this week I found the other pair of black pants and the brown pants had a hole in them. I think it is from the bike seat.... So we adjusted my bike seat a bit, hopefully that helps! That was a real....bummer...hehe I guess we will find a way to fix it. I need those pants! Right now I only have three pairs of pants to wear, that's not enough haha But yesterday was a real good day! We had the senior couple up here for the day. They are Elder and Sister Robbins from Orem. They are a wonderful couple. They had a couple of lessons with our investigators and recent converts. They just click with just about anybody they talk to. We had a little Family Home Evening sort of thing last night at the ward mission leaders house. It was real good. And of course, there was food there. We also had lunch at the Bishop's house. He really likes us which is cool because I don't think he liked some of the missionaries in the past. He was very happy to hear we were staying for another transfer. So pretty much I think that because we are staying here though Christmas, I am going to gain another 5 kg by Christmas. That would put me at about 80 kg or 175 lbs. They feed us WAY TOO MUCH! I can't believe it. It will all be good though, I am sure I will lose it all as a starving student at BYU! Well that is about it for the week. Full of unfortunate things but also some good stuff too. Hope things are going well! Love you!
Love,

Elder Burnham

December 1, 2013

Hello Family!!!

Well transfers are this week but as of now, I have no clue what is going on! We haven't received an email yet with the transfer sheet! So I am anxiously awaiting that email. But for now I will just describe the week!

This week has been a pretty good one! Tuesday was my comp's birthday! It was a pretty good day. We didn't get to do service like we had planned because the weather wasn't too great. But we did have some great times that day. We had fish and chips for lunch and a member bought us Subway for dinner! Then we went to the little video store next to Subway where they sell real American candy and soda! So I bought my comp an authentic Dr. Pepper and I got an A&W Root Beer! Woohoo! Thursday we had Zone Conference which is basically like a big District meeting. With lunch! We had some real good Samoan food from the members! It was really good but I tried not to eat too much. I am trying not to over eat and feel sick after I eat! But that was really good. It was really rainy and windy the whole day. When it was time to go home, we carpooled back to where our cars were and we saw that the mountain pass back to my area was closed! We were stuck in the Zone Leader's area! So we went on little exchanges and had two threesomes. We anxiously awaited the update of the sign, which said it would be updated at 6 PM. When we checked it at 6, it said the road was back open and all was well. I guess what had happened was there was a fairly large mud/rock slide and they had to close the road for a bit to clean it up. Pretty crazy! So it ended up being about 8 or 830 before we got back. That was an adventure! Friday we spent most of the day doing service. We went to the Bishop's house and trimmed hedges, moved lawns, cleaned up trees, and all sorts of stuff. I spent a little bit of time on the roof of their shed in the backyard. I was walking along it and cutting up all these branches and vines and stuff that were on the roof. I couldn't really see where I was stepping so it was kinda sketchy. Also the roof was made of shingles so I was afraid of breaking them. One step I took, I either broke a shingle or step on an already broken shingle. It created a little whole in the roof and my foot and ankle fell through. I got a little scrape on my ankle and had my heart racing real fast! I thought I was gonna fall off or through the roof, but it is all good! We then had dinner and Bishop's house last night as a kinda thanks for the service we did and that we know that the transfers are here so the sisters were invited too. He had a big old BBQ for us. Really good. What the bishop didn't know was that we had another dinner appointment that night too! We spent a little too much time at the Bishop's so we were late to the second dinner appointment and they had already eaten most of it so we were lucky we didn't have to eat too much! But I was still stuffed beyond all belief! And it was all after fasting too! Crazy! But yeah we have had a pretty good week this week, nothing too exciting because I still don't know what is going on with transfers. I will let you know what is going on as soon as I can! I hope you are all having a great week! Love you lots!!!


Derek ended up staying in the same area with the same companion.  He was very happy about that.

November 24, 2013

Dearest Family,

So last week was kinda embarrassing when I thought it was Thanksgiving! I guess I thought it was the third Thursday in November not the fourth. Oh well! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a nice turkey dinner and think of me! We are having Zone Conference on Thursday. I don't really know what goes on at Zone Conferences or how long they are or anything like that but I am excited! I hear there will be food there so I should be eating well on Thanksgiving! Also, tomorrow (tuesday) is Elder Christensen's birthday! I am trying to get something together for a member or somebody to have a big feed for him. We are going to be doing service in the morning, I am not too sure how excited he is about that. We had district meeting on Wednesday and had a nice big fish and chips lunch as a district and some cake for pudding after! That was pretty cool. We had it at this nice park by a little late where lots of ducks hang out. They could smell our food and all started running toward us. I left a chip on the ground for them to eat but if any ducks came close I would scare them away. Pretty childish but it was really funny haha. 

We went on exchanges this week. So because my comp is the District leader he goes on exchanges, and therefore I do to, with each of the Elders in the District. So it ended up that on Tuesday me and the other Elder who came in on the same transfer as me were together. We are both still being trained so it was kinda funny. I think the trainers were a little worried about us! But nothing went wrong, we behaved ourselves! 

It has been really super hot this week. We have been dying the last couple days. Yesterday we had to wear our suits to church. We also biked to church because the sisters, who usually pick us up in the morning, went to the other branch in the District instead of our ward. So that was really hot. The sun comes up probably before 6 and doesn't go down until like 8:30 so it gets real hot during the days, even in the morning and at night. I really need to find me some short sleeve shirts. I never liked them but they are a necessity for weather this hot. And it isn't really even that hot yet, they are saying it is around 27 or 28 C. Feels more like 40 C. 

On Friday we went to the other Elder's area down to a town called Martinborough. It is like the vacation spot for the Wellington area. The elders from Utah (which is all except me) call it the "Park City of New Zealand." Lots of vacation homes and stuff there. Its for sure a weekend getaway kinda place. Very nice area though. I took a couple pictures so I will attach one of them! We just went to help them out down there because they don't get to go down there often, its too far. We took the bus down there which was pretty exciting. Kinda reminded me of a band trip because there were a couple of really annoying college (high school) girls sitting behind us being loud. But then they got off and I started to fall asleep haha but it was real nice down there for sure a place to visit. 

So when time for haircuts come around, I cut my companions hair (very poorly) and he cuts mine. he does a great job but I guess it isn't too hard when I just have him use the clippers. The dried kiwifruit chocolate is awesome. Dried kiwi tastes a lot like fresh kiwi and it is unusually good with chocolate. Also we had these frozen coke with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce things at Burger King. That was an unusual but tasty combination as well. We cook probably two thirds of our lunches and dinners. Maybe a little less. Some weeks it is more and some less. We usually just do easy stuff like instant noodles and grilled cheese and frozen pies and chips. I did make tacos once but international food is expensive. For breakfast I usually have cereal. We buy this cereal called Wheet-Bix. I am pretty sure it is a NZ/AUS only thing. It is like these little flaky biscuit things that are the size of a granola bar. I crush them up and put cornflakes and tropical muesli on top. The muesli is like oats and some bran things and...believe it or not...dried fruit! And I enjoy it! Crazy huh! But that is my usual breakfast. 

So transfers are next week. I am hoping that Elder Christensen and I stay together but I have no clue! I hear that people don't usually spend a long time here in Masterton. Also I think that after our training is done we usually move. I do love the people here and don't want to leave so I am sure hoping that happens! We will know on Monday if we are transferred and then leave on Wednesday or Thursday morning. So just about a week left of this transfer!
Well that is about it for this week, nothing too exciting from me! Sounds like things are going great for you guys! Hope all goes well with Thanksgiving! Greg, I saw a Toyota GT-86 here in Masterton. It was an interesting rust orange colour but looked pretty cool! First one I have seen here! And I hope that all goes well with Kathryn and the new little girl! I am very excited! Love you lots!!!
Love,

Elder Burnham