January 7, 2013

My Family is The best!

Thank you for being so supportive! i am so so blessed to recieve support from not only most of you but all of you. thank you! Well, This has been such a great week! Sunrise is famous for being one of the best areas for member missionary work. Sister Neito and I have the goal to take advantage of it! i feel like my time is ticking. I'm not counting down the hours until i go home. i'm counting the hours with the question, " how much can i get done in x amount of time." it is surprisingly effective. Goals are so powerful! So, Sister Nieto and i are working hard! Back to the members, Every transfer we have breakfast on Saturday morning with the stake presidency. It is really nice because we feel supported by the stake presidency, we adress concerns about missionary work and the wards we are serving in, and we recieve some more motivation with the encouragement we recieve from the stake presidency. We talked about how the sunrise stake includes the temple. This stake has many of the strongest members in Las vegas because the members here are here because they wanted to be close to the temple. It's true. I love it! The members here are a wonderful help! So, mom, about your question of if you can send copies of the Book of Mormon with testimonies, that is really helpful for missionaries but because i'm in spanish it is a little harder because we give them out in spanish. So, write your testimonies in copies of the Book of Mormon for the missionaries in the ward. What is ideal is that every Book of Mormon they give out have the testimony of a member in it. Not a member across the world but maybe a neighbor or friend. Someone that they can meet. It's a motivation to come to church. that's what is best. Honestly, family, the best support you give me are your missionary experiences and efforts. Dinner with missionaries is the perfect chance to invite someone over too! it doesn't have to be awkward or uncomfortable. Every time there is a ward activity, invite someone! help them see the church building and feel welcome there. Most of the time missionary work is hard, it's because we make it hard. Every time we talk to someone it shows our faith. and when we show our faith guess what!? God gives us more! Isn't the gospel so so neat!? I love it so much! Today during companionship study, i was listening to Sister Nieto as she shared her thoughts and about the doctrine of christ. i was just soaking it in. Speaking of baptism, she said, " God doesn't make exceptions, but He IS a loving Heavenly Father." i loved it! we have an appointment with a couple tonight. Very Catholic. Elvia and Wydder. We were talking about how to help them not feel like we are disregarding their baptism but helping them understand why we must be baptized God's way. He doesn't make excesptions to the requirements that he sets but he does love us and through the missionaries is giving more and more people the opportunity to understand those requirements. The gospel is so simple! Sister Nieto has been in the mission 6 months. She's originally from mexico but she came from utah. She is really funny. She seems serious but if you listen to what she says she is HILARIOUS! i'm very excited about this transfer. She has had some neat experiences in North Las Vegas which will be a great strength to Los Feliz ward. We are working hard to visit the inactives here. It takes a while to gain their confidence but sincerity and consistency or diligence makes a big difference. Well, in my letter to President I mentioned Alan. I'll attach a picture of alan. Alan is doing wonderfully! We are in close contact with him to make sure he keeps going strong. We may end up teaching his step dad in asl with alan as the translator but it's not all for sure yet. either way, exciting things are happening in Sunrise and there are many people here prepared and happy to recieve the gospel. I have a strong testimony of the church. I have a testimony that we are god's children and that missionary work is a key to our growth and our success spiritually. Creativity in missionary is effective and fun, especially for the members (they don't have as many rules). Be happy! you ahve every reason to be happy and others will want that happiness! I love you all! Hurrah for Israel

Love

Hermana Burrup

ps- janae. it's Sister Pamela Nieto with hometown: stansbury park, utah or maybe orem.  so you can facebook stalk her :) i knew you'd ask for it if i didn't give it to you haha!

pss- YMLU

psss- pictures: 1892- last picture with sister holland. I already miss her :( 1893- Raquel (the one from warm springs that needs a new job that i love dearly) came to transfer conference so i could actually say bye. 1898- Sister nieto and I! 1909 - The 4 sisters in sunrise. Sister Cheatem and i met in the MTC. I love her! and Sister Garner is a nauvoo missionary. love her too! i'm trying to convince them to transfer to BYU

1882- Alan and his mom and step dad - i never knew my asl would be needed on the mission.

1887 - Maggie and Jovanni Acevedo - we dropped her this week. She has to get married to be baptized. :( but we love them. Pray for them!

1883- Gabriela- i look dumb but we love her. We invited her to be baptized but she doesn't understand why she ahs to be baptized again. We are teaching doctrine of christ this week and will invite her again. She canceled the last 2 weeks for coming to church. we are praying that this week she will come!

1869 - Christmas with sister holland

1869

1883

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1887

-1892

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1898

1909

Dear President Neider,

Miracles are still happening! a very very inactive young man named Alan was able to cold turkey quit crystal meth, a serious of other drugs and law of chastity problems. We don't know the details of it other than the cause of the change of heart was loving parents, missionary efforts, and ward members trying to contact him again. The gospel is a network of "fishers of men." That's what i'm trying to be and i know that i have to keep trying to be for the rest of my life. i might as well do my best to master it now. The sooner i can master it, the more people the Lord can touch! Well, Alan came to church for the first time in about a year and bore his testimony in sacrament meeting, translated sacrament meeting for his deaf parents (which his step-dad is a new investigator- exciting!) then he stayed and testified of God's love for us and need for our dedication during gospel principles. He met with the bishop and is now along the road of repentence and mission preparation. How the Lord blesses His children through the Book of Mormon! Alan's change of heart largely came from the Book of Mormon as well. I am also so blessed to be with Sister Nieto! I loved serving with Sister Holland. I am still praying for her. I believe that the close contact with Sister Neider about health and the morning schedule has made a difference and will continue to help her. Thank you for blessing me with wonderful companions. Sister Nieto has brought the miracles here :) Everyone is glad she is here and I am looking forward to much more service with her. President, thank you for being an example of obedience. I am happy when i am strictly obedient and i am happy when i am working. I can see that in you and Sister Neider's lives! Hurrah for Israel!

Love and Prayers,

Sister Burrup

A clip from President Neider's letter to the mission. He is so great!

The Spirit of the Law. Some missionaries in our mission use this phrase, "The Spirit of the Law", to justify finding an exception to a rule or ignoring the rule altogether. Usually mission rules must be followed unless there is permission first obtained to change the rule, and it is not correct to avoid the rule by saying, I will follow the Spirit of the Law to obtain the objective of another good or bad goal or desire.

Consider the following:

In Matthew 5:20-44, Christ showed that obeying the “letter of the Law” is a matter of physical action, whereas obeying the “spirit of the Law” requires more than just outward actions—it also involves an attitude of the mind—referred to by the Apostle Paul as “circumcision of the heart” (Rom. 2:28-29).

For example, Christ showed that to merely refrain from adultery is obedience to the “letter of the Law,” but to obey both the spirit and letter of the Law, one must also exercise self-control (“temperance”–Gal. 5:23), and not even lust after someone (committing “adultery in his heart”).

Another example (not mentioned by Christ in Matt. 5) is in the keeping of the Sabbath Day. To merely “remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8), “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25), is in obedience to the letter of the Law. But to also rejoice in the Sabbath and call it a “delight” (Isa. 58:13) is keeping the spirit of the Law, as God intends. This principle applies to all of God’s laws.

The spirit of the law is the idea or ideas that the people who made the law wanted to have implemented that are obtained as we abide by the letter of the law. The Spirit of the Law helps us follow the rule more closely when grey areas appear, rather than find exceptions to the rule.

Love and Happy New Year

President Neider