This week!

So first of all I will explain why I was able to email you on Wednesday.  On Tuesday, Elder Bezerra tried to Skype with his family and basically it was terrible. He told me that basically the entire time was spent "Hey, can you hear me?" So he got permission to try again on Wednesday. We went to an internet cafe and he tried from there (and it worked fantastic which he was so happy about and was actually the Christmas Miracle for this year)! But our Zone Leaders were there too and they saw that I was just sitting there and they said that if I needed to do something on the computer I could. So I asked if I  could let you know if I got the package, and they said that was fine! And then I watched conference talks, so it was pretty awesome!

Okay, so about my week after I talked to you guys...

We went to dinner with an awesome family! The first picture is with a family who lives really close to us and this sister is like our mom. Whenever we don't have a lunch or anything she'll cook for us and she invites us over all the time! She's fantastic! After that we stayed out until 11 with the family in the second 2 pictures and ate dinner with them and had a lot of fun!

Christmas was great! For Missionary work, it's terrible because no one wants to talk to you and no one wants to listen to you. BUT it was pretty fantastic! As you know, I got the package first thing in the morning and it was great! And then the Christmas Miracle for us was really special when Elder Bezerra got to talk to his family without problems! He had problems on the Mother's Day earlier this year, and then problems on Tuesday, so for it to work on Wednesday was great!

On Thursday, Elder Bezerra and I got to go to the Temple! That was really cool! He got to see the new video for the first time, which he thought was awesome! But after that, we taught a few lessons and it was great!

Yesterday, President Cook had to come and speak to our ward during 3rd hour and try to explain the rules a little bit more. It's really hard because nobody understands why we have the rules that we have (especially the one about us not being able to go into a house with just a woman) and they all think that it is just that we don't trust them, and we've actually had one or two people that have stopped coming to church... So President tried to come and explain them, but we'll see if it helped. He did a really good job, so we are all hopeful that it will help! After that, we went to a meeting with the bishop's council for the planning of 2014!! We hope this will inspire the ward to help us more!

Skyping with you guys was the highlight of my week! I love you all and I hope everyone is doing great!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Elder Burt

Package!!!

Hey long story why but i was able to send a quick email. I got the package!!!!! Thank you guys so much!! I just got the chance to send you one email to let you know i got it! I’ll tell you more on monday!

Okay!!!

Taken on Christmas Eve via Skype! 

Soooooooo, week what..? 3?! Yeah it's going by pretty fast!

It continues to be a struggle to find people to teach. We are working super hard and it is getting better a little bit at a time, but it is really hard. We still have plenty of days when we just walk and try and find someone to teach. But it is getting better and easier!

This week we had an amazing oportunity to go as a whole mission to the Mission office and have a mission wide Christmas celebration! That was a really awesome opportunity because of how small our mission is! We played sports, ate really good food, watched Remember the Titans (in Spanish of course) and had an amazing devotional!

Saturday we had a really cool experience. Our lunch fell through and we went to buy a lunch to make. On our way back we stopped by a sister's home to ask if we could borrow pot to cook. She decided that wasn't good enough and cooked for us instead. After that we shared a scripture with her, and started to talk with her about miracles. Especially little miracles, and it may not be big, her making us lunch was one of those little miracles!

My favorite scripture of this week is D and C 122!

¡Chau! ¡Nos Vemos!

Week 2 in the field

Week 2 in the field has been very interesting and just as hard, but at the same time just as worth it!

This White Wash is very hard because we have been having a very hard time making appointments with investigators and non active members. Trying to remember everyone's name is also a real struggle for me, but it is getting better! We don't know the member's that well, but we are trying to and it is becoming easier!

It is starting to get a lot easier. Every day we get to know more people and get better lessons so it is improving! We still have days of just walking around without a lesson and trying to find someone to talk with, but we are doing better! Poco a poco as they say here.

The spanish continues to get better! By now I can pretty much say everything I need to, not in the way I necessarily want to, but somehow yeah! I can communicate and understand everything with my comp and other gringos, but native Chilean speakers are much more dificult because they talk really fast and tend to slur their words together, but every day is better!

This week we had the chance to take an investigator to the Santiago Temple to see the annual Christmas Celebration there which was very cool! I think there should be a youtube video of it, but not sure 100% on that one... But David Archuletta, or I should say Elder Archuletta, sang at it and it was really cool to watch it!

This is really hard work, and it takes a lot to try and be the best I can be. But I know that it is possible, and one of my favorite stories in the BoM is Alma 8, which I highly recommend!

But, here I go! Week 3 starts................ NOW!

Letter from the President

December 13, 2013  


Dear Family of Elder Burt, 


We are happy to send the exciting news that after weeks of preparation in the Santiago MTC, your missionary has arrived safely with his group of fellow missionaries to the Chile Santiago South Mission.  They were transported from the MTC to the Mission Office where and participated in a New Missionary Orientation with President Cook, the Assistants to the President and the Office Staff.  After enjoying lunch with us, they were transported to the Mission Office where they met their trainers. 

Your son has been assigned as a junior companion to Elder Bezerra. 

Elder Bezerra is an exceptional missionary, hand-picked by President Cook to guide your missionary through the critical training period of his mission.  They are assigned to labor together in the Esperanza 2 zone.  

You can expect to hear from your missionary by email every preparation day which is each Monday.  We trust that you will also write to Elder Burt on a weekly basis.  Your positive messages of support and love will be a great source of strength and encouragement while he serves.  To send a letter or a package, please use the following address: 

Elder Braden Christopher Burt 
Chile Santiago South Mission 
Apartado Postal No. 544
San Bernardo, Chile 

We thank you for all that you have done to help prepare Elder Burt to faithfully serve a full time mission. We know that your family will be blessed for his sacrifice and commitment to serve the Lord.  

Thank you for trusting your missionary to the Lord and to us.  We look forward to getting to know him well over the next two years as we labor together.  We want you to know that we will love and watch over him while he is in our care. Please feel free to communicate with us at any time throughout your missionary’s service, with any concerns that you may have.                                                                                   

Most sincerely, 
  
President David L. Cook                 Sister Kathleen Cook 

Well, my first week in the field is over, and I have to say that this has been the hardest week of my life. For sure and without a doubt! But it has also been very worth it and very exciting!

To start, the first day was really exciting! But also difficult! I got out into the field with my companion, Elder Bezerra and it was really hard to communicate at first because my spanish is rusty. I'm not used to speaking all spanish all the time but it's coming slowly but surely! Every day I understand more and more and am able to say a little bit more.

Wednesday was a little bit easier because i got a little bit more used to it. I had an interview with President Cook and we talked about home and what I liked to do and stuff. President Cook is going to be amazing for me! He is the nicest guy I've met since I left home, and it's going to be a great help to have him. However, in the first two days, we never made it into a home to teach a lesson. Only to each lunch (which is different because here members feed the missionaries lunch instead of dinner).

Thursday was the best day by far! I have exciting news! I AM EATING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES! Who can believe it..? Me. We went to a member's home and she fed us a lot of raw tomatoes. And knowing me, I knew that there was no way I would be able to eat raw tomatoes... So I did the only thing that I could think of. I prayed. I asked Heavenly Father to help me eat fruits and vegetables so I could be a better missionary. And ever since then I have been eating all of them.  What an answer to my prayer!

And then, at the last house that we stopped at, we finally got in to teach a lesson. We got in and taught and had a very spiritual experience and it was great! I wasn't able to say much other than my testimony, but I read them Ether 12:27, which says that God will make our weaknesses strong, and since being out here, I've seen that to be true.

Not much happened until Friday night, when we traveled to Elder Bezerra's old ward he was able to baptize one of his old investigators! It was really cool!

This has been really hard, and for the most part we just walk around contacting because we don't have appointments because me and my companion are new to the area. But for the few moments of success, it is totally worth it's weight in gold!

To Mom & Dad

Well, this is tough, and it's been a huge adjustment. This one is your guy's email for the week. It's tough, but worth it.

So I found out why Santiago South is the second smallest mission in the world, it's because it has the most people out of the the Santiago area. Which, as you can guess, makes it the most packed and the poorest section of Santiago.

But Mom, I live in a very safe spot and there has never been trouble for the missionaries in this area before! So no worrying! I have a great ward, and a great companion, and I am in a very safe spot! Everything in Santiago is a gated community, which means ever house is fenced in and has multiple locks to get inside. Which makes contacting hard, but means that we are all safe!

But the people here are fantastic! Even if we get turned down while contacting, the people will still talk to us for at least a few minutes! And if the members in the ward see us passing by they'll invite us in for a minute and give us water and stuff! They are great!

But it took me a few days to really get my head out of the clouds and realize this is where I'm supposed to be. For the first few days, I kept thinking why am  I here in this place? It's kinda sketchy in places, and for the first few days I was scared. I think scared to actually be out here more than scared of the place.

But the second day when I was having a pretty tough time, I asked my comp for a blessing of comfort, and I haven't had a doubt since. I just needed to get past myself and to the work, and now I am having the time of my life, even though it is still hard work, I love the place and I love the people!

Mom for your questions, We cook breakfast and dinner usually. The members cook us lunch, which is really different, but I don't mind.

We are doing our own laundry, and we have a washing machine but we have to air dry everything. But opening a new area is really hard because neither of us know the members or the investigators, so it's hard to make appointments.

I am in the field!

Here I am! I am in the field! I do not have much time to write, but i got time to write you to let you know that I am in the field, I have my trainer and he is great! He is Brazillian, his name is Elder Bezerra and he speaks a little bit of english which helps and his spanish is great! We are bout to go get to work, but i just wanted to send this short email and let you all know that I am in the field and ready to work!

Wish me luck!

Elder Burt

I don't know what week it is!

Crazy week this week, a lot is happening!

So when it became the end of the 4th week and into the 5th, we began to change teachers because it was time to start learning in all Spanish all the time.  But luckily we got to keep the same teachers and get 2 new ones to teach along side them who only speak Spanish, which is a challenge but great practice! We were all really excited because we love the teachers that we had and we've had them the whole time we've been in the CCM.

But I got a huge change this week and it's pretty crazy! When the last group left a week ago, so did the Zone Leader for the CCM, so it was time to call new ones. Usually they have Latinos be the Zone Leaders because their Spanish is really good. But that changed this week. President of the CCM stopped me and of course I started thinking crap, what did I do..? But he told me that I was changing companions because my comp has been called as a Zone Leader! That was pretty crazy not going to lie.

My new comp, unfortunately for only 2 weeks, is Elder Jaeger. He is a really cool guy and we get along great! We have a bunch in common and our Spanish is about on the same level, so teaching with him is really easy because we both know a lot and it is easy to talk side by side when we have the same level of Spanish, so it was a really good change!

Yesterday my whole district spoke all Spanish all the time and it was rough! By the end of the day my head was spinning crazy! It helped a lot though and we are doing that from now on! My Spanish is coming along great! I can express myself relatively okay, and it's getting better, but also harder. Yesterday we started learning the Subjunctive tense, which is probably one of the hardest subjects I've had to learn, and it will only get harder, but with time it will come. AND I still can't roll my r sounds, but it's all good because everyone is going to know I am a Gringo anyway, so what's another thing? Haha just kidding.

But we only have one week left, we are almost done, and then it's out to the field. This week we are going out and teaching with the missionaries in the field, so that will be interesting.  Also, I'm not sure how my transfer into the field next week will go, so I don't know if I will get a chance to email you all next week, but I will try my best!

¡Chau!

 Braden's District~His companion is on the far left

 All the missionaries living at Alcantara

All the missionaries at the CCM

Bus ride to the CCM
(photo credit to Elder Jaeger)

Week 4

Ola ola!

Today is officially the end of week 4 here at the CCM! It's pretty crazy to think that I have been here that long! The time has started to go by pretty fast! I only have 2 more weeks and then it's out in the field for me!

Not much happened this week, especially since last week we saw Elder Holland, I don't think much can really top that! But the time is going fast! My only real complaint is that we are doing the same schedule every day which makes me forget one day to the next. It's hard to distinguish what happened which day!

Like I said, not much happened this week.  BUT! Tomorrow is where a HUGE change is going to take place! Tomorrow, we go into all Spanish all the time with teachers! We have been speaking more Spanish than English, but tomorrow we get all new teachers and none of them speak a lick of English! So it's going to be pretty rough, but much needed.

The Spanish is getting much easier and I think I'm getting much better! I'm going to have a huge shock my first week in the field, but for now it's not too bad. I definitely have help from the Lord though because a lot of what I say in Spanish is not in my own memory!

My testimony has really grown and I am learning so much! This week I have decided to start to tackle El Libro De Mormón in all Spanish, and it's a big challenge but it's proving to be worth it!

I hope everyone is doing well! I love to hear from everybody! I love you all!

Week 3

We are officially through the 3rd week of the CCM! This is crazy but I have to start at the beginning.

Last P Day, we were walking in the streets and saw a protest which was interesting. No big deal really... I'm pretty cool stuff.. Haha na just kidding. We found out it was just a peaceful protest so we were all good. I got some pics which i will try to send.

First of all we are having a pretty normal week! Until we got to my birthday... I honestly thought that my birthday was going to be the hardest day this week! I woke up feeling pretty homesick, but I was able to shake it off pretty well until after personal study. Breakfast came, and all of a sudden the Hermana´s from my district walked in singing happy birthday with a 2 cards, a chocolate bar with balloons on top, and a "cake." This cake was a piece of bread with manjar (manjar is basically what they put on everything. It tasted like caramel but it's more like a jam... So basically it's a caramel jam if that makes sense.) and a candle on the top. I wish I got a picture of it, but I didn't get the chance.. I did of the card and stuff which i will also try to send.

Then the day proceeded as normal. Until we were in class and our teacher came back and said, "Wanna know something cool..? Elder Jeffery R Holland is in the Santiago Temple right now!" And we started going crazy like how cool would that be to see him in person on my birthday?! I didn't though.

However, when we woke up the next morning, we were told to put our suits on because we were going to be spoken to by Jeffery R Holland...! WHAT?! Pretty crazy! So basically I got to see him in person!

Anyway, we got to the CCM and started to do the normal classes and stuff. Until we were in a practice lesson with one of our investigators and it was going really well! With 5 minutes left in the lesson, the door flew open and someone said, "Está el tiempo!" and we knew what that meant! We run out of the room and he's standing right there! It was insane! I didn't get to shake his hand or anything, but he was in the same room as me and it was probable the coolest 2 minutes since I've been here.

An hour or two after that he addressed all the missionaries in the CCM, and it was fantastic! He talked so much about the work and got everyone pumped up and ready to go! And then the next day we got to watch a broadcast where he went to the Santiago West stake center and spoke to over 1,000 missionaries in Santiago! It was a great experience!

I wish I had more time to email everyone back, but again I don't have the time and it stinks! But give my best to everyone please! I love you all!

Week 2

So technically we just finished our second week here at the CCM.  Which is pretty crazy! I can't believe that we have already been here for 2 weeks! It doesn't seem like that long at all! So where to begin....

Well, one thing that I forgot to mention is that the CCM is more like a Church campus! Let me explain.. We have the classroom buildings, and the living quarters for whoever will fit. But right near it we have a church building where we hold Sacrament meeting and stuff. But right near it, the Santiago temple is on the "campus" and we pass by it every day. It is super small, like the size of our ward building at home. BUT it is super cool to be around it every day! We had the chance to go through it this week and it was super spiritual! I did get to use a headset because my spanish isn't quite all there yet.. I'll try and send a picture if i have time.

The teaching is super awesome, and hard sometimes. My districts classroom is in the basement of the teaching facility, which is nice because we are right near the cafeteria, but that also means we have no windows for 8 or 9 hours a day depending on the schedule.  Which is super tough but worth it i guess.  As a companionship, me and Elder Lund teach 3 "investigators." We have a morning, afternoon, and night teacher, and all three of them pick one of their favorite investigators from their own mission and have us practice teaching them! Which is a really cool experience! (So far we have 2 committed to baptism and going to church regularly).

I'm having a blast down here.  The people are amazing! When we went to get my comp's hair cut last week, we met a lady who had been baptized and went inactive because her husband wasn't a member of the church.  My comp and I were able to get her information and pass it off to the missionaries in the field, so hopefully we'll be able to hear from the missionaries that they were able to help her and her family.

Since the first two weeks are now over, a group has just left, and all of our Latino friends are in the mission by now.  It was rough saying goodbye, but they are all going to be fantastic missionaries.  A new group is coming in today, but they aren't as big so hopefully we'll be able to have more room.

I wish I had more time, but I don't.  Give my best to everyone! I am glad that they are all doing so well, even though it's a hard adjustment on both ends! We are the first to write today, and we got here late, so I don't have much time.  I wish everyone is well, and i loved hearing from everyone!

Much Love!

Elder Burt

This is crazy and this place is amazing! This is country is so beautiful! I fell in love with the people from the first minute I got here!

 

The plane ride was mucho largo! It took FOREVER to get here I did not sleep very much! (The keyboard is very weird here so sorry if this reads a little bit weird!) But when the sun came up we all got to look out of the plane window and see the sun rising over the Andes! I will send pictures next week because i forgot my chord at Alcantara! But you don't know where that is yet.

 

Anyway we got on a bus to El CCM, which is the spanish version of the MTC. And a few of us had to put our stuff into a different bus... Weird, right? NO not weird! My district, which is 3 sets of Elders and 2 Hermanas, got to the MTC in a different bus and started to unpack our stuff. Then one of the Hermanos, (they are the teachers at the CCM) told us to stop! He said you guys will be living in Alcantara. We all looked at each other like, what? Anyway, we rode in one of the Hermanos cars for a few minutes and got to a beautiful house! I mean, like gorgeous house, a classic looking Latino house.  And we unload from the bus and see a missionary couple who start to tell us why we are staying here instead of on the CCM ground. Apparently, once North Americans started to come to the CCM, the living quarters got so full that they had to start having other Elders and Hermanas stay in the couple missionaries house.  And it is so pretty, seriously.  i love it, it takes extra time but it is so cool to live in a place like that. Anyway, we unpacked and got on the bus back to the CCM.  Once we got there everyone went into the chapel and had an introduction.  The CCM President then gave us our companions and districts. 

 

My companion's name in Elder Lund. He is from California and has only been a member for a year and a half! He is a great guy and we get along very well!  But we are the power duo in our district, at least in my opinion.  He is our district leader and just super spiritual! His spanish is very good, and he is really helping me in the language! Everyone else in our district is great too! They all want to be here for the right reasons, and you can just sense the spirit that we all bring to the table.

 

My spanish is coming along very well actually.  I'm very surprised by how much I'm remembering and how well i can communicate with the Latins! They are all so friendly too! They love talking to us just as much as we love talking to them.  They are very helpful and I'm learning so much from everyone.  I can carry on conversations pretty well now, and whenever I lose myself in the language and don't know what they are talking about, they help me right out! And everyone LOVES soccer! I'll be able to kick Brandon's butt in soccer by the time I leave the MTC!  HAHA but they are all great! I love everyone and there aren't too many weird people here... Just kidding everyone is fantastic! They all love the North Americans and the are all so friendly!

 

The days are really hard, but they are so worth it.  The first two days we all were only running on about 7ish hours of sleep, but we learned so much! Haha but i have this one teacher named Hermano Ruitor who is probably one of the coolest guys i have ever met! He is from Santiago and teaches whenever he does not have to go to college classes.  He is the man! The computer won't let me space any more so I guess i get to finish in this paragraph... Mom, I am very safe! I am having a blast! I wish I had time to email everyone back, but no tengo tiempo.  This place is wonderful and there is such a spirit here that i have never felt anywhere else! It is amazing and I am having the time of my life here!  I hope everyone is doing well! Mom, if you want to send this out to other people, go right ahead.  You may want to edit my notes and stuff, but go right ahead! This is such an awesome opportunity to be here in the CCM in Chile because i am learning so much about the language and the spirit and the gospel! I hope to hear from you soon! P Days vary from either Monday and Tuesday at different times of the day, so i am not sure when the next time i will be able to email, but for sure either Monday or Tuesday! I love you all, and I am having an amazing time! I LOVE YOU GUYS! And i miss you all too! I will write you again ASAP! CHOW!

Braden and Elder Lund

I am here!

So I do not have long, and I did not have time to read your emails.  But I am here, the mission is great! I have an awesome companion! I will email you more about it when I have time on Monday! Adios mi familia!