09-29-2010

Well its been a pretty awesome week. you remember Albert the kid i told you about that we were working with we we set a baptismal date with him on oct 24. Before we set the date we had asked if he would pray with us for a resonable date for his baptism and we asked him to keep praying until we met again so. there we were in our weekly planning session and we felt impressed to pray for albert so we could know when he should and could be baptised. while i was asking i stopped and felt impressed by the the date oct 24 and so i asked if this was to be i then ended the prayer and my companion elder wood looked at me and asked why i chose oct24 i said i just felt impressed to do so. he said that durring the prayer in a moment of silence he felt impressed by oct 24 and when he said that we knew that we had our answer so we got back down on our knees and thanked god for our answer. The next meeting we had with albert we told him this story and he thought we were crazy I bore my testimony about the way the gospel has given me the oppertunity to not just help my self but to help others i told him about some sacrifices that looking back are easy to make if we show faith and just do it. after that we watched Joeseph Smith Prophet of the restoration. thats the one they show at the visitors center that you cant get ahold of. a couple of weeks ago this girl gave me a copy of it and i dont really know how she got it but when we watched it with albert it was such an awesome spiritual event. and then after the movie which we watched at the church for increased spiritual influence steve the member we brought with us who has had major addictions in his life with meth and other things bore a sweet testimony to albert and told him that he shouldnt worry about being baptised he said " when you are feeling like this cant be done or its impossible or even that you need to wait that that little voice is satan working against what you already know and have felt". how cool is that so then i asked albert how he felt about be baptised on oct 24. He knoded his head and said lets do it. we then promised him that we wouldnt baptise hime if he wasnt ready and that he will always have support in this huge commitment he is making. so that was awesome. And just before we had our meeting with him we had a meeting with a brand new investigator named melissa who is living at a shelter but just decided to come to church one day in our lesson with her we set a date for her to be baptised. and she said yes it pretty awesome.

well my new companion is pretty great. and he seems to like me the only thing i have a little trouble with is how he wears his emotions on his sleeves its all just a little to dramatic for me but im doing my best to communicate every thing i feel to him so we are on the same page its an adventure for sure.

Im glad to hear ducati is still waiting for me i miss her a ton tell her i love her. I was glad to receive your package thank you for the cookies they are wonderful and also the toothbrushes and toothpaste they were needed.oh and for the helmet. so the other day i was at our zone leaders apartment sleeping over because we were bug bombing our apartment. and i noticed there was this bike in the courner in sad contition in definate need of some TLC i asked if it work every one said know i asked whos it was they told me i called him up found out the prblem and asked if i could have it he said yes but it wasnt worth the trouble. COME ON i thought to myself im Jesse Flippin Wayne so i took it home took it apart on our apartment floor found the problem and it just so happened that we had a Bin of spare bike parts that i had put together while cleaning the apartment and i found the parts i needed that fit everything works out and bam bike for free. its a Trek 3700 a very nice piece of equiptment. All it needs now is some tire liners and some WD-40 Im pretty excited.

so nicole and brydon are making the move to oklahoma wow who would have thought. well anything is better than roosevelt I personally beleive. well i love and misss you guys i feel your prayers everyday.
love ELder Burbidge

9-22-2010

Well guess who went senior companion this transfer. yep yours truly. wow i cant barely handle it but it will be fun my companions name is elder wood andhe seems pretty cool. so this morning I had a pretty cool experience a real miracle. I got a phone call from a less active member and he was pretty angery at me/us mostly me since im the guy who has been here longer. I guess he called yesterday and left a message I never saw it or knew that it happened but he was pretty upset that we were "ignoring him" and he was saying stuff like "if you see me on sunday you better walk the other way". anyways i just sat there and took it and was just thinking man if i say anything he is gonna freak out anyways we ended up resoving the bad feelings with apologese and explanations. but after the phone call i was just like flip im incharge this transfer i dont think i can handle this so i was particularly ditraught at this point so i went into the bathroom with my scriptures and really wanted to feel the love. ifelt pretty alone and real nervous about this transfer so i just opened the scriptures hopeing and praying to find the lords lof for me. so BAM!!! open up to D/C section 7 where the lord is talking to oliver cowdrey and helping him pick himself up and see what he was ordaind unto. anyways i knew the lord was talking to me. "Fear not little flock"

well im hopin that i will live this transfer and that i will be a good senior comp. im glad to hear that cati enjoyed her bath and that tell her i miss her alot i wish she was here with me to be my seeing eye dog. but i know she will wait.

my address is the same good old victory Blvd

well thanks for the prayers i know that you are sending i feel them everyday.

we are getting close to another baptismal date so things are going good in the area still.

oh another really cool experience. last saterday we got to baptize an ex communicated member we had been working with her for a little while. she is at the hospital and is diagnesed with termanal lung cancer with only a littl time left here on earth. anyways she got moved to the hospital here in california and and called to have missionary visits and what not so we were working with her for a while and the the bishop ask the bretheren if she could be baptised and the permission came the only problem was that she had a trach or hole in her throught and the docter said that if she got any water in her longs that that would be it so sho put her faith in the lord and her life in the hands of two missionaries i performed the ordinace and was very nervous bet she was baptised without a sigal problem another miricale well i really have to go my times up but i love and miss you guys and give cati a kiss for me also sorry i didnt send you any thing for your birthday Mom i promise i was thinking of you and i love you

Elder
Jesse Wayne
v

Just got this one today!

so things are going more than great here we just had a zone conference and we had elder johnson form the 70 there it was a ton of fun. we got new phones pretty exciting and we are still walking iam gonna buy a bike soon i think im just lookin for on thats cheap im pretty confident that i can keep it working good for at least a year and 5 months. Im glad to hear that you guys are including catti in you adventures i dont want her to start gaining wait while im gone. I did get the letter with catis paw print and at night i put it under my pillow i will send you pictures soon im sorry everything is just a little harder without a car.
this last P-day we decided to go to the zoo because it was my companions first time to ever go to the zoo and i have to say that i was pretty dissapointed in the La zoo experience all the animals were desiesed and look really sad even the monkies didnt look happy i dont think i heard one animal sound the whole time i was there it was pretty sad i took lots of pictures so i will send those to you soon.
so transfers are this monday and this friday and saterday are transfer calls so its pretty intense because im gonna for sure get a different companion who could it be? well my companion is pretty sick right now he has had a really bad sore throat and cough and hes got joint pain and what not so i have been slammin the vitamin c packets that you put in your drink if you could maybe send some more of those and my bike helmet looks like i could use that soon. and toothpaste toothbrushes and hair gel would be fantastic.
I just got a letter from ayris in omaha last week it sounds like she is haveing a hard time geting used to things but i guess thats just how life goes.we had our baptisim 2 sundays ago and last sunday we confirmed her so thats pretty exciting. The kid i was telling you guys about albert who just got out of rehab has been clean from crystal meth for a solid month and 7 days and we just got this new guy who moved to our ward and he was a meth addict but he got clean about 9 months ago so we have been taking him with us to alberts house our last lesson with albert he commited to being baptized its been really exciting here some of these people i never thought even could change but there doin it.
well love and miss you guys and im havein a ball down here i hope all is well back home. i know i need to send you guys pictures but maybe in you nest package you guys send me maybe you could send me some pictures. I promise to get you some pictures. love you guys much/.

love your son
Elder Burbidge

A Zone Conferance

Letter from the Mission President

Good Morning! I hope you are all having a great day. I hope each of you felt as richly rewarded as I did in attending Zone Conference this past week with Elder and Sister Johnson. I would like to thank all who participated; in the role plays, the beautiful music, the food and set up, prayers, etc. Thank you. I have attached photos Sister Anderson took at the San Fernando Valley Zone Conference so that you can forward them home as a keepsake. I will try to get the pictures taken at Palmdale Zone Conference on the email next week.

A few notes from the Conference: (Elder Johnson)
1) In connecting the role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion and We Invite, They Commit, We follow-up; an investigator must exercise faith by doing. John 7:17 "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." That is how they gain a witness of the doctrine, by doing it.
2) Don't get too far ahead of investigators where we can only see them in the rear view mirror. We must pace with how they are keeping their commitments.
3) We can manipulate people to baptism...but that is not our purpose. Our purpose is to bring them unto Christ. To do that, they must exercise faith in Christ by keeping commitments, including repentance.
4) If we teach people, they can sense our love. If we teach lessons, it is more difficult to feel that love.
5) Progress isn't related to how many lessons a person has been given but by commitments kept.
6) Strive to be high yielding, low maintenance missionaries.

(Sister Johnson)
1) It's not about me.
2) If the spirit can be with you, you have something the rest of the world doesn't have. (D&C 50:41,43,44)

From my Book of Mormon reading this week, I would like to share two highlighted areas of doctrine that really impacted me:
1 Nephi 15:8,11 "Have you inquired of the Lord?" If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you." (pray continually)
2 Nephi 2:25-28. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (Our eternal purpose) And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil, to act for themselves and not to be acted upon (free agency). Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given unto them which are expedient unto men. (Our probation and opportunity on earth). And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men (Atonement), or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself (opposite of joy). And now my sons (missionaries, liken the scriptures unto ourselves), I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments, and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life. (the greatest of the gifts of God)

Next week I will be reading through 2 Nephi 27.

Last week the mission had 14 baptisms, bringing our total for the year to 323. I am grateful for that harvest. It is late Elders and Sisters so I think I will stop here. May I just say how much Sister Martin and I admire and love each one of you. How much we appreciate you 'thrusting in the sickle" to gather Israel. The gospel is true. It is Heaven or nothing! May the Lord bless each of you to accomplish all of your righteous desires.

President Martin

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