Fighting the Good Fight (With All My Might)

The combination this week of stressful office days and lesson-filled evenings has left me rather shell-shocked. The house renting has progressed significantly, with only a couple major problems that may or may not leave missionaries homeless. Just kidding. But it has been crazy. And it isn't over yet. I was thinking the other day about what it would be like to leave the office at 5:00, head home to a family, and relax until the next day. Holy moly that would be boring. I get to leave, walking at breakneck speeds up and down miles of hills in order to teach lessons, share the gospel, and save souls. My life is awesome.

1) A Fallen Giant- This week we began visiting a less active member that the ward leadership wanted us to help. He left the church about five years ago for an unknown motive. At the time he was a High Priest, a member for many years, and a leader in the ward. Something I have noticed in my visits to less actives is that the greater the person, the greater the fall. Somehow this beloved, once faith-filled man has reached the point where he believes neither in the church nor God, without any faith or hope whatsoever. The scripture I have shared with him and that I truly felt is from Alma 5, "if you have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" I believe that he can. I love to visit him-the conversation is entertaining, he's very intelligent, and there are members of the family that have not been baptized. And he wants them to be. The goal: sealed in the temple.

2) Guided Steps- We had some wonderful experiences this Thursday in which I saw how the Lord blesses us when we are in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things. That day all of our lessons had cancelled on us. We went to try and visit a few less actives, but when they too did not answer, we got to street contacting. Ringing apartment intercoms at 8:00 at night. Talking to everyone on the street. Usually we get a couple of "come back laters" and maybe a solid phone number after wringing it out of them.

And then the miracles started happening.

We didn't even have to leave the street we were on. One man stopped at the building we were knocking--on a bike, exhausted. He hastily accepted a visit, and explained that he felt like he needed something to help him with his family as he raises two small boys. A man racing to an appointment stopped, gave us all of his information, and more, and then continued. Another went out of his way to walk past us, got really excited when we made a contact with him, told us he'd studied about the Mormons online but had never been able to talk to them, and invited us to his house. A woman gave us her address, and said her brother-in-law is a member, her husband has been visiting the church, and they're interested. All within the period of under an hour. I honestly didn't know what had happened. Miracles.

3) Looking Toward Eternity- As I mentioned last week, we had two baptisms on Saturday! Neia and Vitoria are extremely excited, and it is catching with the rest of their family too. The other two are really really close to baptism. Over the course of the week they have come to a very sure decision that they want to be baptized, they just don't quite have the courage to accept a date. I'm still hoping it happens tomorrow. In any case I know it'll be soon.

The course we've taken with them is focusing on the temple. Explaining the meaning and blessings of eternal families, eternal life, firmness in the church and gospel...I mean, the blessings we have to offer just don't get much better. I've come this week to really miss the close proximity of a house of the Lord. And I've decided that I'm going to work as hard as I can and do all that is within my power during this short space of time to progress towards a temple in Belo Horizonte. It should have one. It will.

What a great week. Life is amazing. I am so grateful to be serving as a missionary doing the Lord's work. And this is His work. Of that I have no doubt. I can see His hand in it every day. I encourage you all to be a part of it. In the words of President Uchtdorf, "Come, join with us."

I love you all. Try a little harder to be a little better.

Much Love,

Elder Burt

Family / Fathers / Mothers

Another week flies by at the speed of light, filled with lessons, house renting, stress, joy, and missionary life. This week, on Monday, I was informed about another seven houses I needed to rent, preferably by the end of the week. I was on the phone nonstop talking to rental agencies, landlords, missionaries, and lawyers while running after these fifteen houses. Makes life interesting. Life is certainly never dull as financial secretary. But we still left every day by 6:00pm in order to teach our investigators, at least two of which are being baptized today! We're still praying to have all four of the family members be baptized today, as they're all ready. But I'll get to that.

1) Family- This week I learned a lot about the importance of the family. Our recent success has definitely been due to teaching entire families, accompanied by member families. This gospel is centered around the family unit: its eternal potential along with its importance in this life. The family dynamic makes lessons far more interesting, and the experiences that a family has in learning together are irreplaceable. Seeing an investigator father teach his young daughter how to pray correctly...experiences like that make my mission. The family that will be baptized today received many visits from member families, who joined together to support and welcome these newcomers to the fold of God. Members are marvelous.

2) Father- Continuing on this theme, I learned a little this week about the role of a father. I learned from our investigator, our Heavenly Father, and my own earthly father. Our investigator is a very humble man who strives to provide for his family and teach them to do the right things. He has taught me about the importance of feeling the Spirit, being an example, and doing what's right against all persecution. We had a powerful conversation yesterday while his wife and daughter were being interviewed for baptism. He opened up to me, explaining that his neighbors criticize him for "leaving the Christian church", mock him for being a Jehovah's Witness, and some have even said he's following the devil. He says he wants to lead others to the truth, feels that it is his calling, but that no one wants to listen and he gets frustrated. But despite it all he has a testimony of the truth and is bringing his family to the truth, the most important people he knows. I also learned this week about the grand importance of having a solid, personal relationship with our Father in Heaven. The world teaches such confusing doctrine about His nature, and I have seen within another family of investigators their confusion over their relationship with Him. So we took a lesson with them to address the importance and nature of prayer. How we ought to converse with our Father. He loves us. And that relationship can be the most prized that we possess. How grateful I am to have a relationship with an earthly father that I can use as a guide to how I want to feel towards God. I realize that in today's world this blessing of proximity and love is not always present.

3) Mother- But the week would not be complete without some lessons learned about the divine calling and gift of motherhood. I saw this in the lives of our investigator, a member, and my own dear mother. Our investigator is a determined woman who works hard in a restaurant while simultaneously maintaining her relationship with her daughter. She is unbelievably converted to the gospel. As she told the AP in her interview: "you know when you're so excited for something you feel nervous, and it feels like the day never arrives? I can't believe tomorrow is finally the day." I have never seen someone so fully committed to baptism and giving her heart to the Lord. And she is a strong example for her daughter, who mirrors that enthusiasm for her own baptism.  We visited them with a member family, and the mother of the family is an example to me. She held a party for her nine-year-old daughter in the church, and invited all of the guests to have personal tours of the chapel with her and the missionaries (us). She bore testimony to our investigators, and informed us afterwards that she would fast especially for them during the week, which she did. She reminds me of my own mother, who is one of the best member missionaries I know. Who truly recognizes what we have as members of Christ's church and isn't afraid to share it with those around her. How grateful I am for my own mother, the example and teachings she gave to me, the relationship we have, and the lessons in missionary work that made me who I am today.

The family is a miraculous thing, truly a divine organization. I have the opportunity to learn so much on the mission about how I hope to raise my own family. This week I have felt the hand of the Lord in my life, and cannot believe how much I have been blessed. We had ten investigators in church on Sunday, have baptisms scheduled the next two weeks, and hope to see a similar showing tomorrow. Hard work pays off. Prayer works. The Church is true. I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. And He loves all of you, too.

How could life get any better???

Much Love,

Elder Burt

Opening the Windows of Heaven

Everyone knows that scripture in Malachi, right? The one that says that the Lord "will open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." I realize it's talking about tithing, and on the mission I don't really deal with that, but it still pretty accurately sums up this last week here in my area. Let me explain. Day by day.

Sunday: Standing in front of the church with no investigators, as far as we were aware, likely to come. Just the day before we had virtually nothing as far as progress goes. Our teaching group was non-existent. And then I turned around to make a contact with an approaching family. Then I realized I recognized them. My jaw dropped, as I said "I don't believe it." There was a family of four approaching. We'd found them last Tuesday knocking doors, taught the first lesson, and they hadn't accepted very firm, so we'd left them alone. And here they were. After church we went and marked a baptismal date for the 18th of January. Everyone accepted, on the condition of receiving an answer about the Book of Mormon. Mother, father, daughter, and the mother's sister.

Monday: Lots of work in the office. Crazy day. In the middle of the day Elder Dunford got a call from a random man who lives in our area who wants to learn about family history and promised to come to church on Sunday.

Tuesday: Visited the family again. They all read in the Book of Mormon, the sister read like half of first Nephi. As we reached the end of the lesson, the mother asked us how baptism worked, because she was getting baptized on the 18th. Without a doubt. The others aren't quite as committed (aside from the daughter), but they all loved the church and are super ready. In the words of the mother before we had even started on the commandments: "we don't drink. We don't smoke. We don't go to parties. We're tithe-payers. I think we're a pretty good family." Good family? Missionary dream come true. They asked us to visit all of their relatives, and the mother and daughter are bringing relatives to church tomorrow.

Wednesday: Another good lesson with the family. We received references from mormon.org for a person who wants to be baptized. I forgot to mention that on Sunday the members passed us the names of five less-actives who they'd like us to visit.

Thursday: We taught the family again, and they're living the law of chastity already as well. Then we went to visit another family who had come to church a couple weeks ago (that family of five that have three sons between the ages of 20 and 24.) The lesson went great, the sons said they know the Book of Mormon is true and that this is God's church. They promised to come to church on Sunday and have baptism marked for the 25th. The member who went with us is a friend of theirs and told us afterwards it went over really well.

Friday: I did a division with our District Leader, and went to his area. I was a little reluctant to leave our now-bursting area, but we had a good time over there and taught some good lessons. Elder Dunford started giving out fliers to an English class we'll start next week, to great success.

Saturday: Returned from the division and went to clean the chapel. Our investigators are so excited that they went as well (we had more investigators cleaning the chapel than members.) Two random people walked in off the street and promised to come to church tomorrow, and they're super excited. The bishop gave us more names of people to visit.

In conclusion: Miracles. Happen. The Lord blesses us. I'm absolutely sure that someone with a lot more faith than me has been praying for us, because everything changed this week. We have so much to do I honestly don't have any way to receive it all. I am overwhelmingly grateful to the Lord for these many acts of mercy, and will do my best to make the most of them.

I love you all. I sincerely, absolutely thank you for your prayers in my behalf. Stay strong, it's all true.

Much Love,

Elder Burt

Happy New Year!

Happy New Years, everybody! It's 2014, which is awesome. I dunno why, but it just seems like a bigger number then 2013. Figuratively speaking. I mean, obviously it's literally bigger. Does that make sense? No? Just think about it a little more.

This week was transfers, which were crazy as usual. Now the stress has passed, but that was pretty much the focus of the entire week. It'll be nice to settle back into the normal, post-holiday routine on Monday.

The Odinist- So this week started off, after church on Sunday, with the coolest contact I have ever made. Easily. Let me explain. We were doing contacts near the church and ran across this guy sitting down on a bench. He had giant tattoos of vikings on his arms. We approached in normal contact form, when he interrupted us by saying (in English, with a cool British accent) "I don't speak Portuguese." We replied that that was fine, because we speak English! We chatted with him a bit, and he quickly let us know that he has great respect for us, but isn't Christian and, in fact, believes in a religion far older. He explained that he was from Sweden and, like his ancestors for thousands of years, is an Odinist. As in he believes in Norse mythology. Explains the tattoos. I'm embarrassed to admit I was now far more interested in his religion then he was in mine. We talked for a while, he explained that he was a priest and had eventually convinced his son to convert to Odinism with the following phrase: "Other gods ask you to kneel down and pray to them. My god tells you to stand up, stand up for yourself." Pure apostasy, but pretty awesome combined with the accent. I felt like I was in Thor. We invited him to church and left.

Resolutions- I wanted to spend what I assume will be the rest of my letter talking about my New Years resolutions in what I consider to be an extremely important year of my life. A slightly "larger" year than 2013. Again, figuratively speaking.

1) Baptize _________ people. My purpose here on the mission is to help other people come unto Christ by being baptized. I will do everything possible to reach this goal throughout the year.

2) Become more like Christ, especially by working to love everyone. I was given a promise in my setting apart as a missionary that I would be able to love everyone I came into contact with and express to them God's love. I hope to be able to successfully do that this year.

3) Sacrifice everything that I have to the work. Everything. I don't want to hold on to anything for myself, just lay it all out in order to serve God and His children.

4) Return home not just with honor, but with full certainty that I did everything I possibly could during these two years. That my work was sanctified and accepted by the Lord.

5) Come home in shape. Pretty confident on this one, since I managed to pass six months in the office up to this point without gaining anything. I'm gifted.

6) Read the New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants in Portuguese and English (after the mission) over the course of the year.

7) Change all of the areas I pass through on the mission. If the ward, the area, the work, isn't better when I left than when I arrived, I'll feel like I did something wrong.

8) Improve my relationship with my Heavenly Father. This has been one of my number one goals throughout my mission. This relationship is more important to me than any other, and I feel like my success, happiness, and life depend on being able to communicate well with Him. I am always thinking about it and always praying for it to improve.

9) Help those who are back on the home front come unto Christ. While not a primary focus, I certainly haven't forgotten all of you, and hope that my letters and prayers help or touch someone out there. Of course, this also applies to the last couple months of the year when I can help you more personally.

10) Never waste a day. Make it worthwhile in someone's spiritual growth. Every single one of these 365 days that makes up 2014. Every one is precious. Don't let any slip by without making the most of it. I'd encourage all of you to have this same goal. Time is swift. I'm seeing that now more than ever before. Don't let the precious moments get away from you. Spend time with family. Do service. Tell someone you love them. I certainly love all of you.

So that's that. 2014. Big year. Looking forward. Living in the present. Saving souls. Life is awesome.

Much Love,

Elder Burt

Christmas Week

Elder Burt with President and Sister Fortunato, and Elder Dunford

Is it New Year's already? There's not much left to 2013, a year that has been one of the most unique and miraculous of my life. Good stuff.

1) A Very Missionary Christmas- So I don't know if everyone is aware, but Christmas was this week. I'm still not sure what happened. I had so many Christmas dinners and lunches I don't know what to do with myself.

The Christmas week began on Sunday with a presentation of the musical we performed for the mission. But this time we performed it for all of the local stakes and visitors, which ended up being a packed house of more than one thousand attendees. There's nothing quite like performing for an audience like that, and the Spirit was overpowering. Innumerable hosts of teary-eyed visitors. It was like a missionary dream come true. I was so grateful to be a part of it.

Before I knew it Christmas Eve had arrived. The tradition here in Brazil is to have Christmas supper (supper? Not sure if that's the right word) at midnight with the whole family. That's when they open gifts and everything else. A member gave us dinner to eat at home, so Elder Dunford and I had Christmas dinner in our apartment at 9:30, talking about Christmas memories and traditions.

The next day was Christmas! I had an enormous, magnificent lunch with our mission president and his extended family. I was ready to explode when I had to run to the office to Skype my beloved family (who I may have accidentally left waiting an extra 15 minutes. They were hysterical when I finally called.) I was extremely happy to get to see and talk to them for the short time that I did. The best family a missionary could ask for.

And that was my Christmas! Now you know.

2) Comfort Those that Stand in Need of Comfort- Okay, not quite. A missionary Christmas isn't quite finished without a little missionary work. We headed out, as usual, at 6:00 to teach. Clearly, not a lot of new investigators would let us in on Christmas, so we went in search of people we already knew who would need or appreciate a Christmas visit. This included Irá, our friend who is under house arrest. He had spent Christmas alone until we got there, as his mother had left the day before. We read a couple scriptures and, hopefully, brightened his day a bit. The next visit was to a less active who hasn't left her house in months because she's afraid to leave her dog alone. This visit was a little sad, as we could see her deteriorating mental health due to her extended solitude. I think we're some of the only people she ever sees. We also shared a Christmas scripture with her and invited her to return to church. She needs it.

So all in all a wonderful Christmas. Focused, primarily, on our Savior and doing what He would do if He were here. Not quite as well, I imagine, but we do our best.

3) Payoff- I mentioned last week that Elder Dunford and I were working like crazy with what little we had--with all of our investigators on holiday and no one to visit. Well, as is prone to happen, the Lord blessed us more than we could have expected. We were going into church on Sunday with nothing. One week after I had sworn that the secretaries would never again deal with no investigators at church, we had nothing. Not a single possible person that we knew of. I was feeling a little downcast Saturday night, but did not completely give up hope.

And on Sunday (as always) a miracle happened. We got to church and found that a member had brought a family (FAMILY) to church with him. What was more, it happened to also be a contact that we had made in the street two months ago. And they live in an apartment next to the chapel. And they enjoyed the church. And did I mention that it was a member that referred them to us? And that they're a family of five?

We visited them once during the week (it wasn't easy due to the holidays), but they received us very well and understood the lesson. The son seems particularly excited, and we'll continue working with them a lot to help them progress.

I love the Lord. I did nothing to find this family, and it just goes to show me that it's not me that has the power to do this work. The Lord does everything. I just have to try my hardest to follow Him and prove my desire. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am. Words fail me.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. I hope everyone took a little time to do service and help out someone else. It's the best thing to do this time of year. And if you haven't yet...it's certainly not too late.

I love you all. You're amazing. Work hard, share the gospel, don't be afraid.

Much Love,

Elder Burt

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Hard to believe that it's already arrived. I think this was the fastest December I can remember. It's wonderful to feel the Christmas spirit, sing carols, and do the Lord's work. I love this time of year, no matter the place or the temperature!

1) Hit the Streets- This week saw a lot of contacting. Elder Dunford and I didn't have a lot lessons marked due to investigators going on Christmas vacations, but we didn't let that prevent us from working hard and trying to find new people. We are talking to everyone we see, inviting them to hear about Christ. Everyone. I'm a missionary, that's what I'm called to do, so I'm going to talk to everyone I see in the streets, houses, wherever. Elder Dunford and I have a contest going for what we call the "best and worst contacts of the day." The worst rejections and the best acceptances. It makes things a bit more entertaining, and we always feel good coming away from contacts fist-bumping and claiming best contact. There are some great, prepared people out there.

The mission has begun to try to focus even more on working with families. Lots of missionaries tend to just baptize one family member, the children, etc. So anytime we see a couple or family on the street we run (figuratively, sometimes literally) after them. This message is for families! We also sang carols as a zone in the park, and got a lot of attention that way. I love singing, and it's a good way to help people feel the Spirit.

2) Conference- This week we also had the mission Christmas conference, which was an amazing experience. It started with the musical program, which I participated in. It has been a long time since I felt the Spirit touch me as strongly as it did during the songs. For me the best part was getting to testify by singing "This is the Christ" and seeing it touch the listeners, including a few tears running down the face of our mission president. What a spiritual giant he is.

It was my turn to cry a bit when we sang the classic EFY medley as an entire mission. I echo the words of the song: "I have been born as Nephi of old, to goodly parents who love the Lord...we are as the army of Helaman, I have been taught in my youth. And I will be the Lord's missionary to teach the world his truth." I am so grateful for my loving parents who did teach me the truth and raised me in a gospel-centered home. That has been such a blessing in my life, and helped me become the missionary I am today. (I hope Mom is crying right now :)

Afterwards I got to talk to all of my good friends that I have made while on the mission. That's a cool part about being financial secretary: I know all the missionaries and can call a majority of them my friends. Lots of picture taking, lots of food and chocolate, and lots of singing of Christmas carols as an entire mission, ending (of course) with a rousing rendition of "Called to Serve" that nearly brought the chapel down around us. Missionaries have got power!

3) Remembering- And in the midst of all this, there has been a lot of remembering. Of course, remembering of Christmases past (cabins with friends and family, sledding, snow-shoeing, caroling, Christmas mornings and dinners), but that hasn't been what most dominates my thoughts or memories. Of course I miss it, but I'm making Christmas memories now that I will also never forget.  What I actually ended up remembering most was my motives and feelings at the beginning of the mission. I know I already had a "looking back" segment a couple weeks ago, but this was a little different for me. I remembered the excitement I had, the desire to serve, to be the best missionary ever. I felt, during the conference, a spirit that I remember telling myself over a year ago: "Don't ever forget this feeling. Don't get caught up in the mechanics, the numbers of missionary work. You are going to help others experience this for themselves. How? I don't know yet. But don't you forget it." I hope that I have remembered it. Because now I've learned the "how". But it's worth nothing without the "why." I'm now reinvigorated to bring these feeling of joy, peace, and certainty to the hearts of the people I teach.

So here we go. A very merry Christmas to all of you. I hope it is wonderful. I hope you make new memories. But I also hope you never forget the true meaning of Christmas. Which is Christ. Our Savior. My Redeemer. How I love him. What a wonderful time of year. What a wonderful life.

Much Love,

Elder Burt

Dedicated, Prepared, and Touched

My oh my, how the weeks fly by,

Check out those sweet rhyming skills.

This week has been excellent. It's awesome being companions with Elder Dunford. We're working hard, talking to people, finding people, teaching people, and moving the work along here in Belo Horizonte.

1) Dedicated- So the name of the game has been dedication in order to find more success. As a mission, each missionary needs to make at least ten contacts per day with new people, inviting them to hear our message. As secretaries, with a third of the normal amount of proselyting time, this has always been a struggle. But it's also very doable if you just step out of the comfort zone and talk with literally everyone. So that's what we've been doing. And sure, there's a large amount of people that turn you down. But you also find the people who are being prepared by our Heavenly Father to receive our visit. And at the very least we show Him that we're willing to do our part. And as we do that, I've come to see that He makes up the difference.

2) Prepared- This was especially evident in a visit we made on Thursday. We received a reference from another missionary contact for a person named Mariana who lives in our area. We went to visit her in the pouring rain on Thursday night. I, as usual, had forgotten my umbrella. We were standing outside her apartment and no one was answering. It was like 8:00 and we were wondering what else to do, when a guy came outside. We asked if he knew Mariana, and he said he'd go get her. A few seconds later, the door was buzzed open. We stood there, a little confused, when a younger woman appeared at the door and ushered us in. She seemed to have been expecting us, which left us even more confused. It was about then she realized we weren't there to check out the apartment for rent, but to teach her about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She was very hospitable and talked about her cousin who is going on a mission in January. She seemed interested in the church, has never been before, and is passing through a rough spot in her life. We had to run as it was already late, but returned on Friday.

We sat on the floor as she doesn't have a couch, and taught her the first lesson and paid attention to her problems and desires. It's so important to listen to your investigators and teach directly to them. She explained how she felt lost, that her life was extremely difficult, that she'd already yelled, cried, but nothing seemed to get better. She was beginning to be convinced that God was chastening her. I explained to her that God doesn't necessarily put these difficulties on us, but he always provides us with a cure. In like manner, when the world was lost, he provided the "cure" by means of Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel. And I explained that this was also the "cure" for her problems and difficulties. The gospel applies so specifically to her. I could see that God has been preparing her, helping her be humble enough to accept His help. What a marvelous thing.

3) Touched- When we reached the end of the lesson we invited her to be baptized on the 22nd. She asked if it couldn't be this Sunday. Kind of stunned, we said we would have to teach some other things first but would see if the date couldn't be pushed back a bit.

She explained that while we spoke she felt a kind of warmth that pushed back the despair she was feeling. We explained that it was the Spirit confirming to her the truth of these things--and that she could feel this constantly by reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church.

And so life is good. Actually, I'd go so far as to say it's great. The Lord is helping us and I am so happy to be a missionary. The field is white, already to harvest. We just have to get down to work. I'd encourage all of you to do your best, and try to invite someone to church, to hear the truth, this Christmas season. What a wonderful gift you could give to Christ.

For those of you who aren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (I imagine there are a few readers in this category): talk to the missionaries. Or if that seems like a lot, shoot me an e-mail or letter. Feel free to learn a little more. Because it will change your life. I know that, because I've seen it change people here in Brazil. And because it has already changed mine.

I love you all. Work hard. Smile a little more. Remember it's true.

Much Love,

Elder Burt