Contacting!

Hey everyone! Hope that all is well and that all of your weeks went great! We had a sweet one here!

Man it's been a super fun first week with Elder Lewis! We're doing our best to try to set Bonaire on fire, even though it always feels like it's on fire (it's so hot!). We had a good first week though.We got to go by the Mens family twice which was great as always and we're continuing to prepare Brother Mens to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and preparing that family to go to the temple. They're wonderful! We had a super awesome lesson with Maryline this week as well. Elder Lewis, Elder Galke and I were together for Tuesday while we were waiting for Elder Sheppard to come and we got to go by her. We talked with obedience with her and the blessings of following the Lord and it was so spiritual! She teared up at one point and was just feeling it the whole time. Elder Lewis and Elder Galke are awesome teachers and it was pretty fun to be in that trio for a day. Tuesday in general was pretty insane. We dropped off Elder Dibb at the airport at 6 in the morning, dropped of Elder Rios at 1 in the afternoon and then finally picked up Elder Sheppard at around 11 at night. So we had quite a few airport runs and I got to practice some driving since I drive the car now here! So that day was crazy but also fun and we taught in English, Dutch and Spanish that day! Don't know how many missionaries can say that about one day ;) We also had a cool lesson with the Chirino family on Wednesday night where we read with them again and talked about the Book of Mormon again. Brother and Sister Chirino came to the realization that the reason that we ask so much about if they've read or not is because it's super important to read every day! That was cool that they finally understood that and I hope that they'll start to read every day now. We also had a sweet lesson with Omar, one of the youth, about the first vision. We asked him what he learned about God for sharing the account of the first vision and he paused for a minute and then said, "The thing that I like about this is that God is more powerful than Satan, no matter what." He went on to explain that no matter the temptation or trial that we receive, God is always stronger than Satan and we can always stay strong. It was so awesome that he was able to understand that because if we truly believe that and act on that belief, it is going to be hard for Satan to get us to make the wrong choices! Very cool thing that he said. Boy did we also do a lot of contacting this week! It's tough to find those Dutch families and people, but no one can accuse us of not being diligent! We worked HARD this past week to make good use of every minute of our time and truly did see the miracles. We had some super cool contacts that we're excited to follow up on which will be super sweet. Being a zone leader has been pretty good so far! Everyone calls me and Elder Sheppard (Elder Galke's companion) at night, just to report on if they're alive or not and I get to fill out some stuff every Monday on dropbox which is cool. I like finding out about everyone's weeks though! I get to learn a lot and see what I can do to help them. So that's been super fun so far. We have zone meeting once a transfer after a Mission Leadership Conference with President Egbert and that's in a week so that'll be pretty exciting! We had a good week and we're excited to see the miracles of this upcoming week!

That was our week and I hope that you all had a great one as well! Thanks for teh support and love! Love you all!

--

~Elder Burr

The gorgeous beaches that we can't go to.  How sad!

Elder Who - is is WHERE?!?!

Hey everyone! Fawaka?! Hope that everything is going all right for all of you! Things are crazy here, especially this day today! We got transfer calls this last Saturday and it's pretty awesome!

I'm staying! Surprise surprise! And guess what?! I'm serving with Elder Lewis! This is going to be pretty sweet! And the craziness begins! So he flew in today... and we had no clue because no one told us! But thank goodness that we have a member that works at the airport! So he calls this morning telling us that Elder Lewis is here! And we were like "WHAT?!" No one told us and we had taken in the car this morning to get an oil change which takes most of the day here in Bonaire. So we frantically called some members and luckily one was available to drive Elder Dibb and I to the airport to pick him up. Oh yeah, and the airport misplaced his carry on so we have to figure that out too. Craziness. But that's the mission life I guess! Good stuff. This whole week was pretty insane since Elder Dibb and I were doing exchanges this week, so I headed to Curacao for 3 1/2 days and he headed to Aruba! So I had the opportunity to serve with Elder Walton for a couple days who is pretty awesome! Brand new missionary, but his Spanish is great and he's just a hard worker so it's awesome! Oh yeah, forgot to mention, but they only have Spanish missionaries there, so I got to practice the little Spanish that I know for a couple days. I am now inspired though to learn Spanish when I get back, so that'll be pretty fun! The exchange went great though and it was fun to find those few people that did speak a little Dutch and to get the opportunity to speak with them. Pretty crazy though! The people in Curacao are so friendly and they loved it when I tried to speak Spanish, so it was super fun! That was most of the week there and then we got home late Saturday night and crashed! So our first full day back here in Bonaire was on Sunday! Church was great though as always and Kevin Mens gave his first talk (he's 16) and did awesome! He talked about the scriptures and the importance of them and did super awesome. He also blessed the sacrament for the first time which was also pretty sweet! Our investigator Maryline came to church and she really liked it, so that was sweet, and also President Albus' mom came to church which was super cool! We're planning on teaching her soon and helping her progress to eventually get baptized! She seems like a very sweet lady! As for today, Elder Lewis is here now and it's been a crazy day so far but it's been great as well. Elder Lewis and I are PUMPED to serve together and to go baptize the world! This is going to be a fun transfer for sure. We're crazy excited!

We weren't in our area much this week, so not a lot happened here, but Curacao was pretty fun and Bonaire is always great. One thing that was cool this week was in talking to Elder Walton about prayer. We talked about the importance of not "ordering a pizza" when we pray and just say a bunch of things and hang up the phone (end the prayer). But it's so important to remember that prayer is a two way communication between us and Heavenly Father. We need to really listen when we pray and take advantage of the opportunity that we have to communicate with our Heavenly Father each day. As we seek to have those sincere prayers, the answers will come and we can truly feel the Spirit and God's love as we pray. That was pretty cool this week!

I hope that you all also have a great week and keep on reading those scriptures and having those spiritual experiences! Love you all and have a wonderful week!

-- 

~Elder Burr

 Curacao

 Some wonderful people!

1 Year???

Hey everyone! Hope that you're all doing great! I almost forgot to send this email, so it'll go pretty quick! But yeah I hit my year mark on Friday! That's insane! Time is flying so fast, I don't know where it has gone! 

We had a good week this past week! President Egbert came teaching with us on Monday night at the Mens family's house and man that was awesome! We talked about sharing the gospel and President Egbert got so excited about that family! Apparently he talked about them to Sister Egbert all night! Then on Tuesday, he was there at district meeting which was sweet and Elder Dibb and I did a role play and taught the Egberts about charity and man was that sweet and the Spirit was super strong! We shared 3 Nephi 18:32 and that had a big impact and truly brought the Spirit which was sweet. I had a sweet interview with President Egbert after that and we talked a lot about the Mens family and what we need to teach them for the next 7 lessons or so. We're going to be preparing Brother Mens for the Melchizedek Priesthood and also preparing him to become group leader soon, so the missionaries don't have to do it anymore! Pretty sweet stuff! We're pumped to help prepare them and Brother Mens is pretty awesome and loves learning more, so it'll be great. Thursday, we had a really good lesson with Maryline on Enduring to the End and we're just patiently waiting for her to decide to get baptized since that's all that she needs! She's ready, but she has to make the decision. We also had a AWESOME lesson with Sulmira, one of our investigators. We taught about prophets and about Christ's ministry and the Spirit was super strong. She also read out of the pamphlet and the Book of Mormon, which is awesome on its own, and she had questions about what she read. #dreamcometrue! She's super interested in life after death and we're about to teach about that! She's awesome and is super receptive so we're pumped about that for sure. Elder Dibb had the opportunity to give a baptismal interview over skype for a person in Aruba that speaks Dutch as her first language and that was also a really cool experience. She was super prepared and so sincere about her desire to get baptized! That night, we talked to Brother Mens about the priesthood in the church at Christ's time and it was super cool to see how the priesthood is the same throughout all eternity. It doesn't change over time! Church was also great on Sunday since Sister Noij (one of the active members who has two little girls) came back from vacation and it was great to meet her for the first time! She's super strong in the church and has an unbreakable testimony! Lilian Mens (the 14 year old) gave her first talk on prayer and did amazing! Things are going well here! That was the highlights of our week!

Love you all and I appreciate all the prayers and love sent my way. You are all amazing and keep on being awesome! Lobi!

-- 

~Elder Burr

 Donkey friend

 Sweet sunset!

1 year! (and a few days since I forgot to take a picture!)

Charity!!

Hey y'all again. Fawaka? Or as they say here in Bonaire, Kom Bai? Papiamento is crazy and I understand about 3 and a half percent... Maybe a little more than that but it's still a little hard to find those Dutch people! I hope that you are all doing great though!

We had an awesome week that was just so great! Monday we put the Mens family on the 21 Challenge, which is going to be awesome and is going to give us a ton of referrals we're hoping. One of the people that is on their list was at that lesson as well and he has come to church the last two weeks which is pretty awesome! His name is Sohraymar I'm pretty sure and don't even ask how to pronounce that, because I'm still working on that myself! He's super cool though and seems very prepared and I know that the prayers going his way are going to help him so that he gets even more prepared. Thursday we had a pretty awesome day because only one thing fell through the entire day which is pretty rare! We had a super cool lesson with Omar (a 15 year old here that is a stud! The brother of Genesis) on Heavenly Father and the Spirit was super strong in it. He was testifying on how Heavenly Father really is our Father and it was so cool that he had a strong testimony of that. He's a stud and also a huge Stephen Curry/Warriors fan (Just like Tyler). We also had a super spiritual lesson with our investigator Maryline on baptism and confirmation and she's getting closer and closer to making that decision to be baptized and I hope it comes soon! We'll see though. We finally that same day saw a contact that we had that was just super awesome named Sulmira. And she was so cool! We talked a little about the Restoration and spent a lot of time talking about God. She told us how she wants to get a better relationship with God and we told her how we can do that through prayer. The Spirit was definitely there and we are PUMPED to keep on meeting with her. Hopefully all goes well! Friday was definitely the highlight though! We had zone conference in Curacao with President Egbert on Charity and working with members and it was just a spiritual feast! Learning about how to be more charitable and to not use our mouths in the wrong way was just awesome to learn. President is the best though and I learned so many things that I can do better as a missionary! Church on Sunday was also great and brother Mens gave his first lesson in the second hour and it was wonderful. He can teach better than most of us I feel like! It was sweet though and church is always a joy. We had a great week though and Elder Dibb and I are pumped to have another great one!

One cool scripture in zone conference was this one in James 3:11

11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

A water source is not going to have a good part on one side and a bad part on the other. IT is always the same. We need to be that good spring though that always put's forth good water. We need to have that true charity and love those around us. Pretty cool.

Hope that you all continue to have a good week and I do appreciate all of you a lot and especially your prayers. They are felt and greatly appreciated. Love you all! Lobi!

-- 

~Elder Burr

 Shadow that looks like a person!

 Look what I found?  WHEAT THINS!!!! You can buy them here in Bonaire! #blessed

 Crab Friend

Bonaire sunset

Goat Burgers and Million Dollar Houses!

Hey everyone! Hope that you all are doing great! You all are amazing and such great people. Bonaire is pretty sweet and pretty dang hot! Lots of wonderful people here and they should call this place "rustig island" because of how chill it is here. Pretty insane!

Crazy week again this past week! Lots of opportunities for service and we had some cool experiences and miracles. Tuesday we had a super good lesson with Genesis on service and she's just so humble and moldable that the lessons are just always awesome! That night we had a super good lesson with the Mens family (the recent convert family) on the Atonement and specifically on justice and mercy. It was super cool to talk about how Jesus Christ is our mediator and will help us through anything in this life. I was thinking of it like jumping out of an airplane. The law of justice says that you fall because of gravity and if you hit the ground you're going to die. But if you have a parachute, the law of justice still takes effect (you still fall), but you have the opportunity to use mercy and pull the rip cord that will save you from death. It's the same way in life. By sinning, we jump out of that airplane and start falling to our spiritual death but Jesus Christ is our parachute. He is there to save us, but it is still our choice to choose him or not. As we choose Christ and His Atonement, the law of mercy takes place and we're able to become saved. Pretty cool lesson and a pretty cool experience with them. They're awesome! Wednesday, we helped the other Elders do service for one of their investigators named Gigi and we cleaned up her yard which was pretty intense! Lots of fun though with them. Then we had a really good lesson with our investigators Maraline on Faith and Repentance and she shared with us how much joy the gospel brings her and how much better her life is now. Just waiting for her to decide on a date, but she's very prepared and super awesome! We had another lesson with Sister Carti (a less active) and it was super cool. She's awesome and the only thing that is holding her back is working on Sunday which she's going to change in the next few months or so. We talked about the Joseph Smith story with her and what we can learn about our Heavenly Father with it. Super sweet! Thursday we did service for President Albus and it was a ton of heavy lifting, lifting tons of heavy tile and blocks and moving them all over the place. Super fun though and we were definitely feeling the burn! They are such an awesome family though and super strong in the gospel! Later that day we had a good lesson with an investigator named Mangali who is the most straightforward person that I've ever met! She wants her answer and wants it now. You can be super bold with her though which is pretty cool. We also had a lesson with the Branch President and his wife (the Depalms) and they are just such wonderful people and so kind. We talked about the tree of life and about the things that bring us joy in the gospel! Friday we did service again and helped a friend of President Albus to move and she moved into a 1.5 million dollar house and man was that incredible! Wish I had my camera because it was gorgeous! Again was a good time and good to help them out. Saturday we helped the branch sell different forms of burgers (beef, chicken, goat, iguana and fish). I ate a goat burger and it was super tasty! That was a fun time as well though and we built up so more unity in the branch. And Sunday is always awesome because it is Sunday and we were with the members! They are wonderful and translating in the Dutch group is super fun. Great week!

That was the highlights from my week and I hope that your week was as cool as mine! Keep on loving life and staying strong and rely on the Lord and everything will be alright. The Lord is great and the gospel is true! Love you all! Lobi!

-- 

~Elder Burr

 Cacti Fence

 More pictures of Bonaire!