Write Me

Elder Burr
California Los Angeles Mission
1591 East Temple Way
Los Angeles, CA 90024


alexander.burr@myldsmail.net

www.californialosangelesmission.blogspot.com

Monday, January 26, 2015

And if ye endure it well.....you will get a Del Taco chocolate shake

So, I got my first food poising on the mission. I am sure all my friends in the Philippines and Mexico are pretty jealous it has only happened once. And it wasn't from crazy Chinese food, just your classic California Del Taco burger.

So this week, was fun. I was planning on doing splits with the Elders at USC and they wanted to do back to back splits, which was a little shady to me. I had never been on exchanges with one of the Elders and he had a reputation of being a little wild and not liking leadership so I was a little scared to do the exchange, especially because I had to go and correct them on some things (no one likes being corrected and I don't like giving it) but it had to be done. TURNS OUT it went really good with both Elders!! The magic solution, as it always is, is following the example of Jesus Christ. Just sincere compliments and having fun doing the Lords works can really soften someone’s heart. I am really grateful for that experience this week because I really need to learn how to have more love towards others. Even now, a year and a half onto my mission, I still find myself being prideful and focused on what I want, not what others need. It is frustrating. I am so grateful for repentance, and especially daily repentance. I think of the time that Joseph Smith, after the first vision, knelt in his bedroom and asked the Lord for forgiveness and then the angel Moroni appeared to him. And then after that he still had to wait 7 years to start the work of restoring the Church. Being humble and patient is the key.

The Chinese District is doing awesome!!! We get 2 new Elders at the end of the Transfers. Elder Yang from Taiwan and Elder Hou from China. I wonder if they will split the District. Right now I have to do 9 exchanges a transfer.

Could I ask your guys help? Could you get me some little accessories from Dessert Book? Like a little necklace with a CTR ring on it or something (but not the iron rod necklace, the tiny hands kind of creep me out) also the iron rod keychain with the writing on it is also super good. Thank you so much!!

I got to ride a bike for the first time on my mission!! It was awesome!!

I love you guys!! Be safe! Congratulations to the girls with the Sterling silver scholar awards and horse riding champ and YoYo Ma status for Melissa!! You guys are way better teenagers than I was!! Keep it up!

Elder Burr
Front & Center - January 20 Mission Leadership Training
October 29 - International Zone Conference

Monday, January 19, 2015

I am super KaiXing

Cool cool week!! Tracy got baptized!! I went on exchanges to Compton. I learned that black people have a love of changing how words are pronounced. But oh man, it kind of made me want to serve in English. Just teaching humble God fearing people is awesome.

Tracy!!! She got baptized, if you didn't know, Tracy is Erics girlfriend and after she saw the change in Eric, she wanted to see if this was true or not. ahhh When someone sets a date to be baptized, it almost is never smooth. Satan always works on them. We had a lot of stressful moments but the Spirit always prevails!! It was a really good baptism, Eric did the ordinance!! But every time you see an investigator dressed in white, it always just hits you so hard!! Every time I just can't even believe that this person ended up here. haha I need to have more faith. 

Have a great week family!!!
Tracy and Eric

Monday, January 12, 2015

deletedeleteIeatmeat

So, my math is very poor, I still have 5 transfers including this one....so don't kick Tina out of my room just yet. I am very envious of the family, that looks like a very very fun vacation!!!

So basically, this week was awesome, we were a little afraid for Tracy because she had an issue that required her to be interviewed with a part of the Mission Presidency (Amanda can explain what that mean, basically question 4 problem) also, she was not very excited to keep the WOW (word of wisdom not world of warcraft) or acknowledge that prophets are called of God. But through prayer and fasting, it all came together. When she came out of her baptismal interview she was just radiating the Spirit, I could feel it so strong. Once again, it testified to me that I am nothing and God guides this work, every success we have is because he helps us. 

D&C 15, the most important thing we can do in our lives is strive for eternal life!!

I love you family, I am so sorry I didn't write more, I just ran out of time. aahhh!!! Pray for Tracy and Wu Si Yuan and Huang Qian!!! 

-Elder Burr
Frank, the one that got put in prison by Communists and planned to walk to Utah to be baptized
Honda Rebel 2015!!! Don't worry, I didn't ride it. buhefa

reality smegallity

January 5, 2015

So, I am realizing I might have 4 transfers left....I am pretty bad at this whole math thing. It is 7 months, which feels like a long time, but 4 transfers just seem so short. It’s giving me a little anxiety. I have just not completed so many goals that I have set for myself, I have not even completed the goal of learning how to set goals!!!!

But anyway, it is a new transfer and I am recommitting myself....again. So, it all starts with diligence in learning the language and diligence in learning the doctrine. So when it comes to language, it is a mad-dash to learning as many vocab words on these last transfers AND trying my best to learn characters. I have started to memorize the radicals and it is pretty good, I hope by the end of this transfer to be able to read the missionary handbook.

SO, it was really cool, we had an investigator Huang Qian that was really liking what we were teaching her, but she just couldn't give up her church. She just liked it too much. BUT during Winter break, she skipped out for two weeks and instead of going to church she googled our church! She then went to her Pastor and asked, "What’s the great apostasy? Do you have the Priesthood? " And the pastor wouldn't give her a straight answer and just kept saying we were a cult (when will they realize that never works?) and eventually Huang Qian just got super frustrated and left. hahah and then when she was done telling the story she said, "I think my church is false" hah we told her, "That's what we have been saying!!!!" She still feels she is not ready to be baptized though.....

So transfers came and went again. I am staying in the same area again with the same companion again. It pretty cool, I have served in all the areas possible for a Chinese Elder. I really want to go explore Pepperdine University though, see if I can find some Chinesers at that place. Malibu area is the only place we don't ever go, who knows, they could have a whole trove of Chinese people waiting to receive the good word.

Pray for Tracy and Wu Si Yuan, I fear their spiritual train may be slowing down a little bit. ahhh You just get so worried when people don't meet with you. Sometimes I feel like an obsessive girlfriend. Man, if I ever dated an obsessive Jehovah Witness, that would be a crazy time.

So we also taught a family that was brainwashed by the JW'ss!!!! I know it is never good to bash other churches, but for some reason I always find myself wanting to slam JW' doctrine. This is a great opportunity to learn love unfeigned to your fellowman. It really is sad though, so many people believe in the Bible, but they still have so much confusion. Like Elder Holland said “They think they can find common ground with the Bible, but really, it’s a battle ground."  I truly am grateful for the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelation that bring so much clarity. They bring an anchor of faith so we are not tossed to and fro with every piece of new doctrine (I think I am splicing scriptures right now) but really it is such a huge blessing. I take so many revealed doctrines for granted. Take original sin for example. I am so happy that I have the knowledge that I wasn't born into sin. That I am responsible for my own actions and my own path in life. It just makes me feel so much happier knowing it like that.

I hope that Hong Kong was cool! Are you guys back yet? Did you got to Taiwan? Send some pics of China’s biggest island (sorry Amanda, I am being influenced by the mainlanders!!!!) I hope Tori is incubating well.

Oh yeah, I am so so, so very grateful for the chance I had to make 2014 the year of missionary work!!!

Well, that's it. I love you guys, be safe, be diligent, be valiant, and just try your best to be excellent in all you do.

love,
Elder Burr

bao le (I'm full)

December 29, 2014

It’s hard to remember Christmas, because I was basically in a food-coma at the end of the day. So, being in a normal Family Ward is awesome because people will invite you over for dinner, and on Christmas day it was just crazy. So, in the morning, Sister Henry invited us over for breakfast and ever since Dad started taking us out to breakfast places after the Temple, I have always loved breakfast, so I ate a lot. Then, we had a member from Fiji invite us over for Christmas Dinner at like 2pm, so she had all this Fiji food, it was like fish and roots and spinach with coconuts, so I had to eat a lot cause it was so new and so good. THEN Sister Cho, the recently-activated LA wanted to take us out, so we went out to eat with her at like 8pm for our official dinner. We had eggplant chicken and ma-po do-fu. IT was really good, but anyways, I have not eaten that much food in the space of 24 hours in my life and my body is still recovering from it and I don't think I will do it again. Maybe I will at Amanda’s wedding when she serves all you can eat Pizza and Candy!!!

It was so awesome to see you guys!!! I really can’t believe how grown up everybody looks and it was just so cool seeing Amanda, I have not seen her in such a long time, that was a huge tender mercy from the Lord. Thank you family for talking with me!!

Probably one of the best things that happened this week was we got to teach our recent-convert sister how to pray. She will be going back to China this Thursday, and was pretty hesitant about learning about Christianity (because most of the Christian churches in central China are cult-ish) but while we were sitting down teaching Tracy, Eric’s girlfriend, she sat in on the lesson and at the end we asked her if she wanted to saying the closing prayer and she said yes! So we taught her, and it was just such a wonderful and sincere prayer of gratitude. And it may be a small thing, but it is so cool that now, when she goes back to China, she knows how to communicate with God. What a powerful and enabling gift to possess. Just like it says in Alma 26 "God is mindful of his people in whatever land they may be in, he numbereth them, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth." We are all God’s children, and everyone on the Earth is just in different stages of coming to that statement is true for themselves. I know I still have so much more room to progress and come to truly understand what that statement means.

I have come to learn, that doing God’s work makes me the most happy. I am so grateful to be out here.

Love you guys!!
the future?

500 lamp posts

Hollywood

Christmas in the field

December 22, 2014

Well, this week was super good!!! Miracles always happen on exchanges. Our investigator Wu Si Yuan accepted a date to be baptized on!! I taught the lesson with my old comp Elder Cooper. Oh man, it is so much easier to teach with an American. BUT living with Elder Zhang has been awesome, he teaches me a lot about Chinese, especially Beijing, culture. Like to show affection you kick somebody in the butt.  It’s totally fine to ask questions about money, like how much was your house, car, how much do you make. It’s mostly a lot of smacking on the arm and back and stuff. It’s pretty fun, he is preparing me to be a factory master in mainland China one day.

So we also had the Christmas devotional this past week. It was cool because President said, "We are not going to try to simulate a Christmas at home, because that's just stupid, you are out in the field and your are here to work." It was super cool because he talked a lot about how the point of a devotional was to become more devoted, more devoted to following Christ. A more devoted disciple!!

It’s crazy, last Christmas didn't seem that long ago, but so much has happened in-between. The people I have met and this work have has the craziest effect on me!! I feel so different.

ALSO, so in my first area, Palos Verdes, the Stake President was President Lam. He was a really awesome guy and we ended up becoming alright friends. SO, he was released from the Stake President two months ago and he has now gotten a mission call to be the Mission President of the China Hong Kong mission! So that's pretty cool because now we have an inside! He knew Mom was from Hong Kong and he knew they all weren't members so he's pretty excited to send missionaries their way. He is one of the boldest members I have ever seen. I remember at his daughters mission farewell talk, he got up and spoke and said, "I invited many friends and colleges here today and I would like to tell you all that you need to receive this gospel, you know who you are." Then he started to point at people. It was doing lovingly so it wasn't weird. BUT anyways, I think this a huge blessing from the Lord, it is not coincidence that I was called to the LA mission and my first area was PV and now I know the Hong Kong Mission President, I know it is the Lord telling me that I have a duty and a responsibility to help my family receive this gospel. It’s like the most clear sign I have ever noticed in my life. I don't know what I will do, but I just need to not be afraid, only believing. This Christmas season I have received a strong testimony that Christ is our Master. That he really is the King of Kings, that Isaiah’s prophesies come to pass, fully.

Well, I am super excited to talk to you guys. I will be calling Christmas Eve.  Anyways, this letter got really long, if you are still reading it, I wish you a Merry Christmas, and know that I love you so much, and I am so grateful for the role all of you guys have played in my life.

Love,
Elder Burr
Christmas with President and Sister Weidman
New Hong Kong China Mission President & Sister Maurice M. Lam
Elder Zhang and me with a Picasso
My Big Boy from Beijing