Wednesday Aug 25

(I had just sent pictures to Jess of our Mt. St. Helens climb)

wow i cant even beleive how jealous i am of this wish i was there every day. that looks like so much fun and it looks like you had a pretty good group too. oh it looks so beautiful up there in the promise land. i think im just getting tired of our area and its city-ness
however last night we went on splits with some ward members and we went to the far reaches of our area to track this one guy down and we have some pretty un-city-ness parts of our area to its pretty cool so im hoping to go trackting out there and see the wilderness well almost.

so just recently we have started the new training for missionaries and we have like 3 extra hours of train ing a week its pretty cool and i very greatful for the training because i feel like i could use it. well september 5th we have a baptism coming up its pretty exciting ecspecialy because she is so excited its awesome.

the heat is hot lately its been in the 115's its been pretty crazy but our apt has aircondishoning so that is cool in every sense of the word. so why is ducati not in any of thes mt st helens pictures dont tell me you forgot the team mascot oh dear things have deteriated back at home that much with out me eh. tell the dearest dog i said hi and that i miss her much. one of the families we teach just got a yellow lab puppy and it looks almost just like cati except she has a black nose but its gives me great joy every time we go over there and the little thing is so happy to see me.

our mission president just gave us a chalenge to read the book of mormon again but this time marking evry reference to the savior, his words, his attributes, and any doctrines and princibles in the bom. its a challenge out of the preach my godpel manuel on pg 114 i think but it is really intense so far. but its alot of fun and it will be cool to have when im done.

so we have been playing sports lately well trying to and i just5 really suck at the normal required american sports except for when we play phrisbee or vollyball the rest is just a crap match but its fun.

oh and i tried to get on my bank account and the passwords or somthing is wrong i dont knwo what happened but i cant long on to check the funds. another thing we should talk about is the funds being depleted a little bit. its been a struggle the last couple transfers. to only use the mission provided money because last transfer my companion spent all his money on cds and poptarts so we had to live off my money for the tarnsfer that acctually has happend every transfer with this guy but he is going home soon so its almost over also im the only one who buys cleaning supplies and stuff so i have been using my own money to try and make a livible space for four elders this isnt gonna work anymore so im gonna have to just get what i can for myself and let them fend for them selves like the ten virgins right. but just so you dont think im spending all my money on suviners and stuff im trying to figure this whole thig out so bear with me. well ive got to get out of here i love you guys and miss you tons

Elder burbidge.

P.S. tell the ward i said hi and i love them and am greatful for them and that someday i will write a letter to them.

Most resent letter......

well its been in the triple digits here for a little while. thanks for the package it arrived safely and dont worry about the ear buds they are illegal on the mish so i bought a nice pair of speakers that work very well to spread cheer around our apartment. i feel almost 100% better having the right kind of music to listen to. well we haave been studying hard on the new curriculem for the gospel. We have two district meetings a week that are two hours long its great. I love how it is taught to us that we need to teach people not lessons ive always beleived that. and we have been seeing it help us in the lessons we teach to our investigators and our members. we have a baptism coming up for a girl that we started teaching in my second transfer. my companion is going home in 35 days so he is freaking out but that means i will be in this area for about 2 more transfers i think unless our area gets white washed. time is flying by and im defenatly in the hang of things. today at about 3 o clock we have our interveiws with the mission president and i always like that because interveiws always make me feel good. well i must be off i am gonna send some pictures home in a little bit i almost have one memory card full. well i love you guys and breath some air for me there isnt to much down here love ya

elder burbidge

Written on Aug. 11th 2010

well im glad to hear the festivities are going well thanks for the pictures looks like fun. sorry for not sending a letter this last week things were a little crazy. my companion and i survived transfer calls and we are remaining in the same area. which probably means i will be there for at least 2 more transfers. it will be fun no one here seems a fan of the jesse burbidge way they all would rather sit on the couch for two years and just wait for the mission to get over but i try to rev em up, they don't appreciate that but, i have found that when that happens i just let it roll off my back and sing a song or hymn and just read the good book. im not trying to complain i just like the burbidge idea of working instead of whatever else they have in their heads. im not trying to be an over acheiver or a brown noser i just want to do what i came out here to do. dont get me wrong we are doing good out here and we are gonna have another baptism real soon. i just know that if we are doing this good now if we applied the real effort we would be doin way better. well enough of that i just got my hair cut again and i just had it all chopped off i look kinda goofy i dont think the lady understood what i wanted but it is cooler tempurature wise.
this morning we had an early morning service project and we helped a member gut his little rent out apartment he has on his house. it was real sad. the people that were renting the apartment left it in a total mess. so we had to clean out the rest of the gross furniture and then tear out all the carpet just caked with mold and then we are gonna have to take some of the sheet rock down. its just not a pretty site. but they dont even have a phone number or any idea of a location for the long gone tenants.
dont worry to much about me i find mor and more the reasons i want to stay and work here. its just easy to get weighed down sometimes.
well some good news the girl i told you about last week continues to write me she is alot of fun to write she will probably be married when i get home so dont worry im not falling in love or anything.i have been gettting letters i need to write a few more its just hard to keep up with it all.
so what do you think about my joining the army helicopter pilot idea then go to school to be a photographer? just another jesse wayne job idea. well i best be off time is running short.

love elder burbidge