Phagwa and the History of the Church!

Hey everyone again! Happy Easter and Second Easter as they celebrate here in Suriname! We had a super cool and crazy week this past week!

We're actually moving apartments this Friday which is pretty crazy but it'll be an upgrade since we had the worst apartment in Suriname! Excited for that but sad at the same time. I absolutely love sharing the gospel every day and there is nothing better! Just finding those people that will listen and keep commitments is so fun! Teaching is just the best as well! We found some sweet people and one family that is just so cool! Their names are Oethra, Tiffany and two others that I forgot but they are the coolest ever! Tiffany is a stud and knows 4 languages (French, Spanish, English and of course Dutch). Insane! They are super sincere though and we were able to do service for them yesterday which was pretty fun and we're building up the relationship with them! Very excited! We also had 8 investigators in church which was awesome! Sadly, Astrid and Eevert pretty much dropped us which hurts my heart but everything happens for a reason. It was a super fun week with Ivaldo here and he did a great job and has a powerful testimony! He's grown a ton and it's been a pleasure to serve with him. Just a great kid overall! Going to miss Ivaldo at the end of this week! Just a stud!

Other than that, we did lots of finding and found a lot of new people! Oh yeah and we had the assistant church historian come and give a message on church history, Joseph Smith and on how you may not think you're doing much, but just look at Abinadi. He has no baptisms, but without Abinadi, the rest of the Book of Mormon would not have happened! It was pretty cool and pretty inspiring. We also had interviews with President Egbert and those were great and he's helping me a lot so that I can change and become more Christlike and more consecrated. I always can improve and I need to improve every day! That's the joy of the gospel! You can improve every day! I love the Lord and I love being  a missionary here and continually become a new creature in Christ! I love Suriname and am looking forward to a great week! 

We also had Phagwa this week which is apparent in the pictures and it was a huge color party! Pretty insane but definitely a good time!

One thing that I really learned this week was the power of the Atonement and the ability to change. Reading Mosiah 27 helped me learn how important repentance really is and I am gaining a testimony of it for sure. Every little thing that we do that is wrong in the slightest we need to repent of and change so that we can become new creatures in Christ. Such a gift to be able to change and to always become better each and every day. We need to follow the example of Christ in all that we do and to truly stop and think, "What would Christ do in this situation?" Then we'll be able to make better decisions each and every day. What a blessing the Atonement is and for how much we can change. Love the gospel and the chance that I have to teach it here in Suriname! 

Ik houd van jullie en hoop dat jullie dichter bij onze hemelse vader elke dag kennen komen. Dat is de weg waarmee wij onzelf kunnen veranderen en altijd beter worden.

Ya'll are the best and I hope you have a wonderful week and draw a little bit closer to Christ! You all inspire me! Lobi!

~Elder Burr

 Ivaldo and Elder Van Den Herik

 All the pictures I took this week! Phagwa was crazy!

(Mom note - I asked him if it came out of his clothes .. He said it all came out!)

What Can You Do?

Hey everyone! Hope you all yet again had an amazing week because you all deserve it!

Probably the best thing this week was Ivaldo! He's on a mini mission with us right now where he's serving a mission with us for a week and a half or so! So so excited for that and he's going to bless his family for sure! Ivaldo is just the best and I love that kid to death!

We had a super fun service activity this past Saturday where we helped Edmund demolish a house and then begin to build a new one. Very excited to see the final result and I hope that his daughter can live with him soon. Prayers going their way for sure. Such a wonderful family. The only bad part of it, even though I put sunscreen on was that I got burnt! So easy to get burnt here it's crazy!

One sad thing that happened this week was that Astrid and Eevert, who were supposed to get baptized this upcoming Saturday dropped us basically and said that they don't really want to get baptized anymore. Devastating.... That was super hard and super sad because so many fasts, prayers and love have gone into them. Just so sad and I hope that they'll change soon because we were super bummed. But I know that everything happens for a reason and if it is meant to be, then they'll get baptized. WE'll see soon I guess. They're still in our prayers as well for sure. But we found some more cool people this week and are excited for them so hopefully all goes well! Still pushing forwards for sure! What else can you do?

We found Ivaldo's cousin and aunt this past week and they are just the best! Very excited for them and excited to see them grow a ton! They are such a humble family and seem very prepared to receive the Gospel! We gave them a baptismal invitation and they accepted it which was super cool! Hopefully things go well with them!

My testimony grew a lot this past week on becoming more like the Savior. I've really tried to focus on other more than I focus on myself and just to become more like Christ in general and it's tough! But so so worth it when you do it. Staying humble, patient and relying on the Lord in all that you do is so important! Very cool to see the miracles!

Those are the highlights from this week and we've got Phagwa this week which is a giant hindu color party thing which will be crazy! Super excited though!

I hope you all have a great week and I appreciate all the kind words of support! It means a lot! Love you all! Tot ziens!

--

~Elder Burr

 Elder Lewis and I (awesome Elder)

 Before picture of Edmund's house

Edmund's pet monkey!

The Days Go By!

Hey everyone yet again! Back here in Suriname! Loving it here! Such a good place!

Working now with Elder Van Den Herik and it's been going well so far. Working together in unity and he's from the Netherlands so my Dutch is getting better for sure! Excited to continue to be obedient, diligent and have the Spirit to be with us!

We had a pretty solid week this last week and found a ton of cool new people! Astrid and Eevert are progressing great towards baptism and are getting baptized on the 26th! Very excited for them and they are keeping every commitment and coming to church every week! Very cool to see with them. Probably the best part of the week was Ivaldo though. He's Edmund's son and came out teaching with us pretty much every day and is giving us a ton of referrals! He's also going to go on a mini mission with us next week probably where he's going to serve with us for a week while they are on vacation! Super cool and super excited to see ivaldo grow some more. Just a great kid and he wants to be a missionary so bad! He's just the best!

Also, Edmund is getting called as a branch missionary and also the Portuguese translator in the branch which he's super pumped about and we are as well. He's so willing to serve and bring people to the church! Just glowing right now and he's just killing it. Got the Spirit working in him and we're working to try to get his daughter to live with him again. She wants to but her grandmother doesn't but we're teaching the grandmother now so hopefully all goes well and everything will work out. Excited to see! We had a solid week though and I'm excited to continue working hard and relying on the Lord with everything that I do.

We had a HUGE miracle this week too! Lilian, one of our investigators has been working on Sundays so she hasn't been able to come to Church but her boss told her this past week that she doesn't have to work on Sundays anymore! What?!?!?! Miracle alert! So she can now come to church and will get baptized just now! So so excited! So cool to hear!

That was our week and I hope you all are doing great! Getting a strong testimony of the importance of humility! Learning a lot about it and seeing truly how humble Christ was. So cool to study and apply in my missionary work. Loving the mission and the time is passing so fast! Too fast!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! You all are the best! I really appreciate all the prayers! Love you!

~Elder Burr

 The Vrooms

 The Fiedtkous

 Sleeping on the floor in the kitchen.

(Not sure why)

The last week with the Paramaribo district.

Elder Hardy, Elder Lewis, Elder Hood, Elder Burr, Sister Jorgensen, Sister Parker, Sister ?, & Sister Walsh

Transfer Calls!

Hey everyone! Fawaka? Hope it's all good in the Hood! ;) Haha since my companion is Elder Hood... Terrible joke oh well!

Elder Hood is getting transferred to Wanika Central and he's opening that area up with a new Elder coming in who has been serving in Guyana. He's going to kill it out there for sure I know it. Such an amazing missionary! I'm staying in Paramaribo South with Elder Van Den Herik from the Netherlands. A little nervous but I'm sure that I'll grow a lot and my Dutch will improve like crazy! Should be a good experience.

We had a good week and such good lessons with Astrid and Eevert. Talked about the Sabbath day and they are totally willing to do all that they can to follow it. So cool to see! They're progressing great and came to church again and are getting ready for their date on March 26th! Very excited for them. Lilian is also looking for other work and we find out this week. Lots of prayers for her. If she can find other work then she can come to church every week which would be so great! Very excited to see their progression. Sad that Elder Hood is leaving but I know that it's happening for a reason and that transfer calls are inspired. Excited to get to know Elder Van Den Herik!

On Friday we were going to Ivaldo and Remario showed up and told us that something told him that he had to come over to Ivaldo's and man was that a miracle! We had a lesson next with a Less active from Santo Domingo and she speaks only Spanish and Sranen and the person who was going to come with us canceled... So Remario saved us since he can speak Sranen! He stayed with us for the rest of the night and bore such powerful testimonies! He's such a great guy and is planning on going on a mission soon! He's 17!

I went on a fun exchange with Elder Hardy on Wednesday and we did a LOT of contacting for here in Suriname. 5 hours in the hot Suriname sun! So yep I got sunburned but we taught some cool people and helped them out!

I'm going to miss Elder Hood a lot and he's taught me so much! He's an amazing missionary and is going to kill it in Wanika Central!

That was our week and I hope that you all had great weeks as well! Love you all!

~Elder Burr

 Elder Lewis hanging my Dodger's pillowcase.  (He's not a fan!)

 Valentine's package from my family.

Remario!  He came teaching with us and is a boss!