Nov 18, 2013

My Dear Family,

Fransisco is officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of LDS! He is so happy! The day of his baptism his wife said, "we are one step closer to going to the temple!" it was so sweet. The baptism kind of put us in a panic because one of the speakers was called into work and a few other random details had to be changed last minute but it worked out and was a special day for him. He was baptized in the chapel. He was a little bummed that it wasn't lake but said it didn't matter that much to him. He just wanted to show his faith. It was really nice to hear his testimony at the end as well. The next day,Sunday, of course he was confirmed. His confirmation was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! President Pecjak did the confirmation and was absolutely inspired in his words. A large part of the blessing talked about how the gospel would bless his wife and his children as he continued to study in Book of Mormon. His family means the world to him. After his interview the district leader told us he was really prepared and really detirmined. Apparently he had been throwing up and having migrains because of quitting coffee but that he refused to give up. He is going to be a great strength for his family and to the branch. There are few young couples and so he will be a great help. The branch has been doing well but we just found out that 3 strong families are moving out. The branch seems to work hard and grow then have to start over. I guess we need to find more! :)

Well, frankie is doing super well. We talked to him saturday night and he said, "what day is it?" so we told him it was the 16th. He just said, "no! i was so supposed to be baptized today!" He is excited to be baptized but we are trying to get him to church in the morning. That is how he is going to grow and progress is going to church in the morning and interacting with the members. He has come a long way. He wants to serve a mission and has another referral for us. We committed him to read a specific chapter in the book of mormon. Right after he just laughed and then said, "will YOU sister burrup and sister veazey read that chapter tonight before you go to bed?" He now leaves us with commitments. This week he is going to pray to know what day he wants to be baptized and let us know. He is working really hard to be better. He says cigarrette smoke makes him feel sick and he doesn't want to smoke at all. He is much happier now than he has ever been. 

Besides them, we are finding. we have a few new people. Marta for example has so much curiousity. She is scared to pray because she is afraid of getting an answer. She prays everytime that we will have patience to help her. She is finally reading in the book of mormon now and so far has enjoyed it. She has felt the spirit and now needs to act but just asking in prayer. We did a few splits and are hoping to do more this week. Family, this is the Lord's work! i love love love it! i honestly don't feel like i'll ever stop being a missionary. This is me, i am sister burrup. i am a missionary. This is my lifestyle and my life. I've just decided that it doesn't have to end. That's what mormon profiles are for! we contacted some people at great clips this morning. So why can't i do it after. Janae, i am so proud of you and your missionary work! keep it up. Us misionaries aren't TOO weird. If we involve the Lord in His own work he will guide us. Sometimes we forget to just pray about it and follow. In Acts 10:34-35, peter had to open his mouth. If god shares it with all than why wouldn't i as his representative having taken his name upon me. And when we do we  may be "accepted with him" with those that we have shared the gospel with. I love you!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love

Hermana Burrup

ps- mom, church Sunday is ok. we are "allowed" to see our parents starting Saturday I love you and am excited for you to meet the wonderful altavista branch! the address is 401 e palo verde in henderson. in front of basic high school off of boulder highway and palo verde. I love you!

Dear President Neider,

Priesthood power is real! When Fransisco was confirmed by President Pecjak tears rolled down his face. The blessing was absolutely inspired! It was a beautiful week and weekend! A little bit stressful getting some difficult details organized with the baptism but everything worked out great! The Lord really does prepare people to receive His gospel. Upon praying he received an answer and ever since has been excited to be baptized. We feel so privileged to have been the ones to share the gospel with him.

Thanks for all you do! Hurrah for Israel!

Love

Hermana Burrup

Nov 11, 2013

My dear dear Family,

Just look at that picture! Frankie came to church with a white shirt and tie! His countenance has changed so so much! No more alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. He really came to church to worship! The speaker was perfect too! They talked about the bible scripture that teaches friends of the World = enemy to god. It was an excellent talk and something Frankie AND sister burrup and sister veazey enjoyed. It was also fun to see Flor from paradise at night church. We had a lesson after church with frankie. He is excited to be baptized. He has come so so far. He is technically still set to be baptized this Saturday. Sister Veazey and I are praying to know if it's right this saturday or another. So far he has never come to church in the morning. We want to help him just a ltttle bit more with that to make sure he doesn't inactivate or have a lot of struggles after his baptism. It's been such a blessing and privilege to know and teach frankie. He loves the Lord so so much! In the picture, Frankie is holding his new preach my gospel but his time in spanish. He loves missionary work and is hoping to serve a mission. He's come a long way! Thank you for your prayers and fasting on his behalf. it means the world to me.

Well, Fransisco and his wife Nayeli really enjoyed he Gladys Knight Fireside. What a neat experience. She and her husband have strong testimonies and have worked hard to share them. I've never heard hymns baptist style but i kind of liked it. She is very talented. She says that when she joined the church all of a sudden she knew why she could sing. Fransisco is very excited for his baptism this Saturday. We are trying to work out 1 detail though. Fransisco REALLY wants to be baptized in a lake. We are trying to work with our leaders to find out what to do. He read about the Waters of Mormon and felt the spirit really strong so now he wants to be baptized outside. So pray for us to know what to do too :) Either way, Fransisco is excited and is trying hard to be prepared. He quit coffee last week and has been having lots of headaches but he said, "well, now i know i was addicted. I never knew." He has a very optimistic attitude towards obedience because he loves the Lord so much. We know the Lord has worked miracles in his life as well.

Outside of those two, we have erika preparing to be baptized. She is so sweet and sincere. She is reading in the book of mormon and praying for the first time in her life. She is progressing well. Also, Marta! marta came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it. She is catholic and the restoration was a bit of a shocker. We taught it with the pamphlet and could see that she wasn't understanding it well so we made it a little more visual with "the cup lesson." We were a little nervous because of her reaction to the first lesson we had had. Coming out of the lesson we KNEW that God had guided our words and that the spirit was felt by us and her. She asked her to write a dedicatory note in her Book of Mormon. She is excited to start reading :)

Overall, as you can tell, the Lord has blessed us incredibly. Sister Veazey is an excellent companion, missionary, and represents well our savior. It really has been a HUGE blessing to serve with her. She has really helped me to maximize. During interviews with president this week i asked president how to maximize my time he said, "well, sister burrup, do you know what president eyring would say?" i thought i was going to get a neato insiders advice from president eyring to president neider....nope. president siimply began to point up and said, "Look up." it confirmed to me the power of prayer again. it confirmed to me the blessing of leaders that simply direct me upwards to get my own personal revelation. How blessed we are to have christlike leaders and to practice christlike leadership. This life is short and i have a long way to go but i KNOW the atonement is powerful. Our weaknesses are so minute compared to our true and divine potential. Let us access that power to become like him. May God bless you all for your constant efforts and works to become, and bless, and uplift me and christian, and all those arround you. The Lord is proud of us when we change to become like him. I love you all very very much! Hurrah For israel!

Love,

Hermana Burrup

Dear President Neider,

Thank you! i can't say it enough. i am so blessed to be here. This week was a great one. The work is really progressing here and so are the investigators. Sister Veazey brought miracles with her and the Lord is really helping us a lot. An investigator, Frankie has been able to drop 3 addictions and came to church with a white shirt and tie. He is hopeing to serve a mission. He will do a great job! As for obedience, we are still striving to be obedient and use our time wisely.

Hurrah For Israel!

Love

Hermana Burrup

Nov 4, 2013

M Dear family,

Another good week but so so busy with lots of meetings. We had Mission Leadership Council on Wednesday which was amazing then on thursday we had Halloween meeting so we wouldn't be on the streets then on friday we had zone train meeting on friday andon Sunday we were asked to usher for a Concert just north of the strip. It was a great week but i honestly felt anxious to just go to work! This week will be a little crazy as well. We have interviews and we also have some firesides with Gladys Knight. It's a really neat opportunity for people to hear her testimony through music. We think it will do a lot of good for Fransisco and Frankie to confirm their testimonies. We had a really neat lesson with frankie this week. If you know what the faith rocket is, we did that then read ether12:27, "testimony cometh after the trial of your faith." It was a great lesson. He told us that he knows baptism is the ony thing that can help him overcome his problems. He said he went a whole week without smoking and has been telling all his friends no when they invite him to parties or to drink. We went through the baptismal interview questions and discovered where his concerns are. It's been a little bit of a rougher process for frankie but his progress has been sure and his goodness is evident. He loves the Lord a lot. WE think Fransisco will be a great great strength for frankie and a good role model. Frankie hasn't really seen functional families in his life and fransisco is young (26ish) and has a sweet sweet family. The Lord has really blessed us with ideas and inspiration in how to help them. I know that this is God' work! We planned out the rest of the transfer and because interviews were canceled there was only 1 day we could go to the temple...that was this last tuesday. What a blessing to feel the spirit so strongly. A sweet couple, the ripplingers( brother ripplinger is a general surgeon. reminds me so much of you dad) took us to the temple with them. I have a tradition of reading DyC 4 every every time i go to the temple since the day i was endowed. As i read i felt the spirit and recieved insight. "he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not but bringeth salvation to his soul." what a promise! i got thinking of literally someone harvesting all their crops to put in the store house. Those who have a storage are those who withstand the famines. Those that perish not. Then applying it spiritually the words of my patriarchal blessing entered my mind and i remembered how important the gospel is on a DAILY basis. am i in his work 100% EVERYDAY mentally. physically, of course, but mentally, emocionally and spiritually? I sure want to be and am striving for that. Why because they are those that "bringeth salvation to their souls," and "perisheth not." During Zone training meeting we had a discussion on obedience and the relationship our covenants have to the white handbook. I KNOW that obedience is a reflection of how deeply rooted our covenants are in our hearts. I love the Lord profoundly and am ever grateful for his blessings and guidance. Thank you for praying for frankie and fransisco. I love them both and pray for them several times daily. Thank you for your encouraging words. I feel so blessed to be a burrup and even more blessed to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Discipleship requires discipline. May God bless each of us in our endeavors to follow him with, "one heart, and one mind." In the name of jesus Christ Amen.

Love you all, thanks again, and Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Burrup

Dear President Neider,

Another good week. There were a lot of meeting but we still worked hard to do our best. Sister Veazey has been teaching me a lot and is a great leader in our companionship and mission. I'm trying hard to give my ALL. The Lord has blessed us a lot this week in our finding efforts. We have found some sweet new families to teach. One was a former investigator from the area book thanks to sister Wardle and sister Oyanedel's hard work. I know that these blessings are from God himself and are a result of the hard work of many many sisters. In regards to obedience, sister Veazey and I are trying to be obedient and are working together to remind each other of exact obedience.  Lastly, from MLC you asked about specific concerns or suggestions. I honestly had to think hard to think of something because i feel the mission has improved a lot but i did notice an increasing informality of missionaries around members or in their homes and especially when there is more than 1 companionship there. I think most of it has been unconciousness but the singleness of purpose should be reflected also in our behaviour. Thanks president for all you do and for your humble but powerful leaderhsp. We love you and your wife dearly!

Love

hermana Burrup