Wij Gaan Voorts Steeds Voort!

Hey everyone! Hope that you had a great week and that life is going well. Crazy that the school year is already over again and all of you are heading into summer now. Time goes quick!

We had a good week this past week and had some cool miracles. One of the biggest miracles happened today when we were riding to go email. We felt inspired to go a different way to go to email today and didn't really know why, but we did it anyways and as we were on the street that we turned on, someone drove up next to us and asked if he could have the missionary lessons since he's gotten some in the past and he really wants them. He also happens to live in our area so that was super awesome! We've been trying to find new investigators as well so that was a huge miracle! God is real! We also had the opportunity to visit President Verwey and his wife this past week and we talked about God with them! When we asked them how they came to know that God is there, their answers were so heartfelt and it strengthened my testimony of God as well. President Verwey shared Alma 18:32 about how God knows us and everything about us! The Verweys are great. President Verwey also gave an awesome talk at church on Sunday about prayer and following the first promptings that we receive. It was super cool and one thing that really stuck out to me was that he said that a question that we can ask God during our prayers is: "Wat kan ik voor u doen?" (What can I do for you?) As we ask God that question and follow the first promptings that we receive, then miracles will happen.Super awesome! We're working really hard to find some more investigators and we're seeing cool miracles every day! 

The title of the email is let us all press on! There is a cool quote that says that "It is impossible to fail when you are doing your best on the Lord's errand." I paraphrased it, but it says something along those lines. I know that that is true though and as we do our best to serve God, no matter the result, we know that we are successful. That's been a big help on my mission and I know it to be true. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and know that God loves you all! Lobi!
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~Elder Burr

Kippen Mess!

Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a wonderful week this past week!

We had a really good week this past week! Lots of time trying to find new people to teach and we had some really cool experiences. We were talking to a bunch of houses trying to find people that were interested in learning more about the message that we share and we felt inspired to go by one house. There was a lady there that said that she was too busy at the time but at the end she said that she knew the Ibrahiem family, who are very strong members in the branch here. So we asked if we could come back another time and she said that we could, but we couldn't make an appointment. So Saturday we felt inspired to go by again and we were able to make an appointment for the next day! We went by yesterday and she was there (Margie) and also her daughter and two of her daughter's friends that were all around 22-23 years old. We had a great time with them and we were really able to come to understand their beliefs in God and we found out that they are pretty much looking for something more in life, so it was so inspired and it went very very well! Also there is a member in the branch presidency that is named Broeder Nazir and he's been on fire lately. He's given just such great talks and lessons and it's been really cool to see how strong he is. We're working on trying to get him out teaching with us soon and we both just have a really good feeling about it. We also visited a member named Broder Wehl this last week that just started the Book of Mormon over again and he's on fire and is just loving reading every day. At the end of the appointment, I felt inspired to commit him to give a Book of Mormon to one of his friends and he asked for like 6! So cool to see members that are just so excited to share the gospel! We're excited to see the fruits of his work as well. 

So to translate the title of the email, that basically means chicken poop! Elder Hunt and I were on an exchange this past week and we were doing service for someone in a wheelchair and most of it was weeding his yard and stuff which was fine. But then he asked us to mix this compost with this mysterious brown smelly stuff that we'll just say was fresh. When we asked what we were supposed to mix it with he said our hands! We totally thought he was kidding but nope he wasn't! So we mixed chicken poop with this compost stuff and I'll just say that that was the grossest thing that I've done on my mission so far! But he was very grateful so I guess it was worth it ;) Good times!

My testimony has grown this week on the Joseph Smith story. We were talking and teaching about it with Broeder Eendragt (our branch mission leader) and we asked him what is something that he learned from the Joseph Smith story. He said that he learned about diligence from the story and I asked him why he said that. He explained about how after Joseph Smith had the first vision, is took a while for him to get the plates and to be called as a prophet and amidst so much opposition and persecution, he never doubted his testimony and he never denied the experience that he had. I thought that that was so true and it was really cool to think about. Joseph Smith truly did endure so much and I'm grateful for our living day prophet on the earth today. Cool experience. Great week!

I hope that you all have a wonderful week filled with many spiritual experiences and I hope that you never forget that God loves you more than you could imagine! You all are awesome! Have a great week! Lobi!

- ~Elder Burr

 Our bedroom.

Me!

Vrolijk Moeders Dag!

I hope that all you mothers had a wonderful mothers day, because you all deserve it!
Definitely a huge highlight of the week was Skypeing with my family! I'm so grateful for them and for all that they do for me. I truly couldn't ask for a better family!

We had a really good week this past week and saw a lot of success with the less active members in our area. We really reached out to them and made the effort to get to know them and have spiritual experiences with them to build the trust and it went really well. Lots of them are coming back to church and two families are just doing great. There is the Joeloemsingh family that expressed themselves that they need to come back to church and we had a really spiritual lesson with them about God. Also there is the Dunnan family that is on fire! Especially Brother Dunnan. He's read everything that we've given him to read and he's read more and asked for more to read and is bearing such fervent and sincere testimony about the Book of Mormon and the church. His wife's brother was there in a lesson and he had a concern about the Book of Mormon and before we could say anything, Brother Dunnan just bore such powerful testimony on the Book of Mormon and how it has helped him in his life and how he came to know that it was true. It was awesome. Those were definitely some spiritual highlights for the week and the work is going really well! Love it here and I know this is where I'm supposed to be! 

I love you all and hope that you all have a wonderful week filled with many blessings and the love of God. You all deserve it! Love you all!

-

~Elder Burr

 A little bit of our apartment.

The best part is definitely the basketball hoop!

 

Back to the Rain!

Hey everyone! I'm back in Suriname now! It's awesome here and I've experienced this mysterious liquid called rain! It's been raining like crazy here and I've been soaked to the bone almost every day so far! But I love it so it's fine :)

We had a good week here in Kasabaholo (which is right next to Paramaribo and technically still part of the city Paramaribo) and also in Bonaire for the last few days. It was pretty hard saying goodbye to all the members there since I've gotten super close to all of them, but I know that the Lord needs me back in Suriname so I'm excited to be back here. We had a really spiritual last lesson with the Mens family and they said some really nice things so it was great to see them one last time and I hope that I see them again in the future! Here in Kasabaholo, it's been great so far! We have some awesome members in the area and we worked with a lot of less actives this week and quite a few of them came to church this week! I think a highlight of the week was when we went and visited someone who is named Broeder Wekker. He hasn't been to church for a while and we had the opportunity to visit him and he has a prosthetic leg and it's a little too short, so it causes him a lot of pain when he walks. We taught him about the Book of Mormon and he promised to read every day and he asked me to say the closing prayer. I asked him if there was anything specific that he wanted me to pray for and he asked me to pray that his leg would feel better. As I was praying the words that came out were really guided by the Spirit and I can't even remember what I said, but he was almost in tears at the end of it and told me that it was a powerful prayer. I know that God listens to prayers and does answer them and it is so important to pray with the Spirit. A spiritual experience for me this past week was at church listening to the testimonies and having the opportunity to bear my testimony myself. The testimonies borne by the members talked a lot about forgiveness, repentance and missionary work and I felt the Spirit so strongly the entire time. Way cool experience and I'm super excited to work with the members here! Elder Ruegger is pretty cool and we've worked together well so far. His father is a big Dodgers fan so that's a plus as well ;)

Also, I heard this week that the Ivaldo Holwijn, the mini missionary that I served with twice for a total of about 6 weeks, passed away this past week. That was super hard to hear since I literally served with him and was with him for such a long time. He got super sick and passed away in the hospital. He was a wonderful person, planning on serving a mission and a true friend of mine. I will miss him a lot, but I know that we will see each other again some day. No one is ever truly gone and I know that he's not hurting anymore. Love him a lot and I will miss him but I know he's in a better place.

But thank you all for everything that you do for me. I really appreciate all of you and your support. You all help me to become stronger. Love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week and that all the mothers have a wonderful Mother's day! You all deserve it!

-- 

~Elder Burr

 My new hat that President DePalm gave me!

 Elder Rios, Elder Burr, Elder Sarmiento

Me,  Elder Geigenmiller, Rios & Sarmiento 

The Mens Family

Curacao Craziness!

Hey everyone! Happy May! Hope that you all are having a great time and make the most of every day because time is sure flying by!

So my transfer call is that I am leaving Bonaire and going back to Suriname to serve in Kasabaholo with Elder Ruegger! But who knows, I could get a call in a few minutes telling me something else ;) You never know but I will be going back to Suriname to serve there. I'm excited to go back to Suriname, but also really sad to be leaving Bonaire. Bonaire has become my home here on my mission and I will miss all of the wonderful members here and all of the incredible spiritual experiences. I know it's the Lord's will though and I'm excited to see a new area!

Our week was insane this week and we just weren't ever really in our area. On Tuesday, we left to go to Curacao for zone conference and because of lack of flights, we weren't able to come back until Saturday! But we had a great time in Curacao and were able to do a long exchange with the missionaries there and truly see how the work is going there and find things that we could do to help the missionaries out. Elder Munoz and Elder Tanner are awesome and we had a great time with them! Zone conference was also great and we talked a lot about the Gathering of Israel and about Jacob 5 which talks about it a lot. It was so cool to see our role in the gathering and to learn more about what it actually means. It truly strengthened my testimony on the importance of this work and the importance of working in all diligence until the very end. Great zone conference and super spiritual. The time working with Elder Munoz and Elder Tanner was also great. They were champs. They had 4 extra missionaries with them so we were in two trios in the same area, but they kept both groups busy and it went super well. Two highlights were talking to this Dutch lady that was on some hard drugs and literally insane (she was crazy and walked like a zombie!) and this super cool contact that we had. We felt inspired to stop at this person's house and talk to them and it was a man that had been living in the Netherlands for years and had talked to the missionaries a bunch there and had just come back to Curacao and was wondering if there were missionaries here. I started talking to him in Dutch and he talked about how he has been searching for the true church and we were able to bear testimony that this is the truth and it touched him a lot. Exciting things! The Spanish Elders on Bonaire also had a baptism on Saturday which was awesome. Went super well and it was fun to be on the beach again!

One of the main scriptures that we talked about at zone conference was Jeremiah 16:16: 16 ¶ Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send  for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes  of the rocks.

We are finding those people every day as we continue to talk to everyone that we can. There are people that are prepared and as we open our mouths as member missionaries and share our testimonies with people, they will be able to feel of the Spirit and have a chance to accept the truth! Love you all! Have a wonderful week!

--
~Elder Burr

 The baptism in Curacao!

 Cool tag picture