The First Week in the Field

 Hello all! 

This week has been pretty crazy! Pday's for me are on Monday's but I'm emailing on a Tuesday because we had zone conference on Monday this week. Arriving in Córdoba was amazing! I am so excited to be in the field and really begin being a missionary. My trainer is Elder Poulson and we are in the La Paz area which is in Córdoba city! Argentina is very similar to the United States. Elder Poulson and I are in charge of a suburb in the bottom left corner of Córdoba city. 

After I finished my time in the mission home I headed off to my apartment! Elder Poulson and I are living with two other elders. Elder Merlo and Elder Pitts. The apartment has everything we need and it's been awesome!

The food here is absolutely amazing! Everything I have tried so far has been either absolutely amazing or pretty good. My favorite food I have tried would have to be a Lamito! It's like a long burger with a long meat patty, fried egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and some sauce I don't know the name of. 

The first day of missionary work was pretty crazy! It was definitely a change of pace from the MTC but I think I have adjusted pretty well. Our mission schedule is wake up at 7 am leave the apartment around 10:30 or 11:00 ish and either head to a lesson or knock some doors. Then have lunch and companion and language study and then head back. We usually try to get back to the apartment around 9:00 pm and do phone work, calling and texting members and investigators until 10:00 pm and we are in our beds at 11:00 pm. 

The language is coming along very slowly. I have been trying to understand people in lessons but I am very lost in conversations which is to be expected. So it's kind of hard to contribute. I just kind of sit there and listen to my trainer talk. Another crazy thing, is that I am the 5th companion that my trainer has had in this area La Paz. So, all the people and members we talk to always say "Oh! You have a new companion!" Which is pretty funny. 

Adjusting to the missionary life was a little bit hard but I am doing great now! I'm excited to begin a new week of doing the Lord's work! 

I hope everyone is doing well back home!

Love Elder Burbank 

Eating some bread.

The long yellow bench. 

Picture after a lesson

Getting my first haircut.

Elder Poulson and I walking back to the apartment .

Arriving at the airport.

Eating Lamitos with Poulson, Merlo, and Pitts.

Arrived safely and on time in Cordoba Argentina!

Hello!

I have arrived safely and on time in Cordoba Argentina! I left the MTC at 6 am and flew to Buenos Aires which was an 8 hour flight! We landed around 9:00 pm at night and stayed in a hotel. This morning we got up at 4 am and left the hotel around 6 am to pick up other missionaries and drive to a different airport. The flight to Cordoba was about an hour. I haven't received any information about companionships, my area, or Pday. I am at the mission home right now which is literally right next to the temple which is super cool. I hope everything is going well at home! I will keep you updated with information within the coming week. Talk to you later!

Love You!

Elder Burbank

   

 In front of the Cordoba Temple

The Mexico City Temple and the Last week in the MTC!

Hello All! 

Another great week here in the MTC! I can't believe that it is my last Pday in the MTC! Next week Monday morning I will be flying out to Argentina, Córdoba and I couldn't be more excited to head out into the field. I am definitely nervous about the language and being in a different country, but I know I am where I am supposed to be at this time in my life. It is definitely going to be sad leaving my district but I know I'll see them all again in a couple years! 

The flight down to Buenos Aires is 9 hours and 40 minutes long which is WILD and I won't be done traveling since I'll either be taking a bus or flying to Córdoba! It's going to be an adventure for sure, but this time I'll have other missionaries on the plane with me so I won't be the only one. 

Today I was able to go to the Mexico City Temple which is absolutely amazing! It is the biggest temple in all of central and south America and it is like the salt lake city temple based on it's fame, down in south America! The endowment session was in Spanish so I had to wear some heads phones to listen in English which was kind of awesome! It was a very cool experience and I am grateful for the opportunity. The Mexico City Temple was the first temple built in Mexico and at the time back in the 1980's the church didn't own much land that could have a temple built on it, so someone from the Church decided to take the building plans and ask the Government to build a temple and they accepted! However, here's the crazy part, the Mexico City Temple is still owned by the Government to this day! The church and the government made an agreement saying that any Government official could ask to walk through the temple, so the church would have to close the temple down and stop operations and when the official was done looking around they would re-dedicate the temple and open back up. The amazing part from this story is that the Church built a massive visitors center next to the temple with the Christus statue in a room with very large windows facing towards the road, and whenever a Government official visited the temple they took them to the visitors center first and to this day the Mexico City Temple has never been closed down due to a Government inspection. Another  amazing fact is that on the top of the Temple, The Angel Moroni is holding the gold plates which is so cool! The Mexico City Temple is one of five temples around the world where you can see The Angel Moroni holding the gold plates. The other four temples are Los Angeles California, Washington D.C., Seattle Washington, and the Jordan River Utah Temple.

Anyway, It was a short and wonderful week and I can't think of anywhere else I would want to be right now in my life!

Love Elder Burbank

My companion and I In front of the Temple Sign.

The MTC circle of flags at night.

The Angel Moroni holding the Gold plates.

A section of the Visitors center.

Me in front of the Temple.

My name tag with the temple in the background.

A picture of the whole temple.

Our District 5C.

Finishing up my 5th week in the MTC in Mexico

 Hello All!

This week has been great! I have adjusted to missionary life pretty well and all the days have flown by. I can't believe I am almost done with my time here in the MTC. I feel like the closer I get to everyone in my district the harder it will be to leave. But I can't wait to see what its like in Argentina. My Spanish ability has kind of felt pretty stagnate lately but I know that once I am forced to use it everyday and I am hearing it constantly my ability to speak will continue to grow. Although being in Argentina will help with my Spanish, people in Argentina speak so differently, I'll probably have to learn a whole new language. 

This week we received 300 new missionaries and It has definitely gotten a little more crowded around here. The first couple days here were definitely the hardest so I am sure everyone else feels the same. Even though so many more missionaries have arrived this week. We are receiving 320 more missionaries next week! Tuesday evening which is Crazy! The cafeteria is going to be crazy crowded, and this morning it was full so I don't know what is going to happen with everyone's meal times. 

This past week has been amazing for devotionals, Sunday we watched a pre-recorded Devotional from Elder Jeffery R. Holland and he talked about becoming our own convert first. We can only invite others to come unto Christ and convert them to the gospel of Jesus Christ to the level we are at ourselves. So, the deeper our own conversion the deeper the conversion of others! Another devotional we had was on Tuesday evening with the President of the MTC and his wife, President and Sister Kirkham. The devotional was sort of like a large discussion about The Book Of Mormon. One thing that really stuck out to me was something that sister Kirkham said, "The Book of Mormon is a family history book." I thought that was the coolest thing ever! She said the Book of Mormon contains the story's of the ancestors of central and south America and It is our privilege to share that with them. Keeping this in mind just makes me even more exited to share the gospel to all the people of Argentina. 

All in all this week has been amazing and I know I am where the Lord wants me to be!

Love Elder Burbank

Elder Davies (next to me), Elder Johnson and Elder Gover

Beautiful Sunrise in the Morning before going to workout.

Huge Moth we found on Sunday chilling on the window screen about the size of the palm of your hand!

On Monday, the 4th of July the MTC made an all American Lunch. It was delicious!

A picture of one of the many birds that scream all day on the tops of the Palm trees. (Very pretty though.)