Mexico MTC - Seeing a miracle on the 3rd day in Mexico City

 Hello all!

These past 9 days have been quite the adventure. Flying down here was a little stressful since I didn't see any other missionaries during both of my flights but it all worked out in the end. I arrived at the MTC late at night and missed dinner and the devotional which kind of sucks but it's all good. My first full day in the MTC consisted of a lot of tours and presentations about how things work around here. I have got to say, the Mexico MTC is AMAZING!! Lots of palm trees, green grass and birds and all kinds of places to play sports and study. I am definitely going to miss this place when I get into the field. Compared to what I've seen and heard about the missionary field the MTC feels like an all inclusive resort. The food here is actually pretty good. I have enjoyed it a lot; I am pretty sure a lot of the food is from Costco so I'm not complaining. The Mexico MTC is around 7,300 feet above sea level which is crazy! Mexico City is also huge. The current metro area population of Mexico City in 2022 is 22,085,000 which is absolute bonkers! Driving through the city on a bus was absolute craziness; people were just cutting each other off and people on motorcycles were driving in between traffic. It felt like controlled chaos. 

Most of the days I am in class either learning how to be a missionary or learning more Spanish. The first few days I felt disorganized but it has gotten much better over time. Everyone I have talked to said that the first week is the worst and I can definitely say that it is true. Meeting my district in person was AWESOME! Everyone is amazing and I am glad to be here. I am having so many spiritual experiences and having so many fun experiences. It has been awesome! 

The first day I arrived my companion, Elder Davies, lost his passport and we all just laughed, but the next few days we were not finding it and we all started praying for him to find it. Thursday morning he went to the airport to see if it ended up there but there was no luck. When he returned we went to reception, were people go to answer questions they have, to finalize anything that we needed to do and we ran into President Carlos. I'm not going to tell the whole story but at the end of President Carlos's story he said to Elder Davies, "Keep having faith and your miracle will come". Right after President Carlos left, and I am not even kidding about this... Literally 2 seconds later a man came into the building and handed Elder Davies his passport. It was a miracle. 

All in all I am loving it here! I can't think of anything better I could be doing with my time at the moment! I cannot wait to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Argentina.

Love Elder Burbank

Our District 5C (Elder Davies is the one with the blue suit next to me)

The many houses on the side of the mountain in Mexico City

A picture from the track looking at the B mountain.

My House

A Mural in one of the buildings in the MTC. It is Moses parting the red sea. ABSOLUTLY AMAZING!

Home MTC - Week 2

Hello All!

I have finished my second week of at home MTC! This past week has flown by! All of the days have felt like one. I have had the same schedule and things have just been cruising along. Not much to report regarding daily classes and such. Saturday, I got to go to the Portland, Oregon temple before I fly out to the CCM (MTC) in Mexico City. The temple was so pretty inside! I have only seen the basement where the baptismal font is and it was awesome to see the rest of the temple! Sunday morning I gave my farewell talk, and i thought it went well. Everyone was saying I did a great job so I'll take their word for it. Sunday afternoon the Mexico MTC had a zoom meeting for all missionaries and parents before our flights. The MTC president and his wife are HILARIOUS! I'm super exited to meet my district in person and I just can't wait to be in Mexico for 4 more weeks of MTC. I got to say goodbye to my friend Austin which was great! That's all! Next time I'll be emailing from Mexico City! 

Temple Pictures 

Siblings took a picture of me watching from home in Utah

   

Austin and I at his house (holding cookies haha)

Home MTC - Week 1

 Hello All!

I have finished my first week at the MTC (At home) or CCM in Mexico City. This past week has been awesome! The first day was a bit rough since I am 2 hours behind the CCM, So I had my first class at 6:00 AM! I met my district and there are 12 of us, 6 Elders and 6 Sisters. I got to meet my companion Elder Davies and he is pretty Awesome! He went to BYU for a year before his mission just like me so we are close to the same age. He loves soccer and loves hanging around his family. Morning times I have 4 hours of class, an hour workshop, 2 and a half hours for lunch and other things, then I have afternoon class for 4 hours. So its been 9 hour days on a computer this past week. I have started to try to learn Spanish and it's been going, ok. Both my teachers are from Mexico and have been learning English which is great! Listening to native speakers helps with hearing how things should sound when talking. I have learned quite a lot these past 5 days! I have already memorized the missionary purpose and Moroni 10:5 in Spanish and I have been trying my best to learn Spanish grammar and vocabulary! My companion and I got to teach our first lesson on Friday and that was a good learning experience. The lesson could have gone a little smoother and I was nervous so that never helps but what else do you expect from your very first time. All in all its been a great week of learning about being a missionary and getting ready to go out into the field. I am so thankful for this opportunity in my life to serve the Lord with all my heart. 

Below are pictures of me and my brother. I have always been wanting to grow taller so let's hope these next two years I grow a foot or two haha. 

Connor and Nate (Pre-Mission) 2022 Height Check

Connor (post-mission) and Nate 2018 Height Check