Week 5 at the MTC

Tsev Neeg,

This week has been awesome and crazy with the mission presidents training. Apparently 10/12 apostles were at the morning grouped sacrament meeting but I had the lunch time sacrament meeting...so just normal peeps talking to us, but don't worry the church is still true.

Also, I had one of the greatest priesthood meeting lessons ever. A member of one of the district presidencies spoke. He talked about how each of us "come unto Christ" and how the scriptures are basically a compilation of stories of people either coming unto Christ or not coming unto Him. For instance, the story of Christ walking on the water; He bade Peter to come unto Him and its a metaphor for how we have to focus on Christ rather on the tempest which would distract us from better coming unto Him. AWESOME!!!! Also, the new mission presidents talked to the elders entering their missions, so all the other elders went and watched the "Other Side of Heaven" (super cheezy but still good) :)

We also got to see the "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar. Its an awesome filmed devotional. Elder Bednar discussed how we all must understand and become like the Character of Christ. He said Neal A. Maxwell said "Without the Character of Christ there could have been no atonement." That was a inspired statement. He discussed how the natural man turns inward, but Christ turns outward. Elder Bednar said that we each must take our own journey to understand the true character of Christ and how to apply it but he provided some wonderful starting points. He said: Consider the concluding events in the Saviors' earthly ministry...He suffered in Gethsamene, found his apostles sleeping, and then found His other apostle betraying Him...yet he still cared to heal the guard's ear. If that was anyone of us...we would have been like "who cares about his ear?!" Anyways, we also recognize that the Savior's atonement continued throughout the entire ordeal so that means He continued to suffer for us in the midst of all these things. While He hung on the cross, one of the most excrusiating and painful forms of death, He gives his apostles charge over his mother, He comforts the sinners that hang next to Him, and He forgives the soldiers because they "know not what they do." All his life, Christ turned outward when we would turn inward. That is the Character of Christ. Also, after he fasted 40 days, it reads that angels came and strengthened him, however JST explains that he sent angels to minister to John the Baptist who was in prison. He did not care about his own hunger or trials but rather cared for others. So I've taken note in my journal: How can I better understand the Character of Christ and apply myself to turning outward? By constantly evaluating this question, we can lose ourselves in His work! Through losing ourselves in the work of God, we can become as Christ. This is my spiritual thought for the week (really a lifetime when you think about it).

Now I wanted to get the most important things addressed before I continued on about other stuff. Currently, our district/companionship has set some goals to help us improve, such as: SYL (speak your language), being exactly obedient (we don't open mail until its 930pm so that we aren't distracted etc.), and also being more prompt for study times. I love goal setting and planning. It makes life 10x better. Hmoob is coming along well, though it's super hard. Today we have a devotional with an apostle so that'll be awesome. Anyways, I realize this letter is kinda sporatic but its been a hectic week so forgive me.

I love you all so much! I'm thankful for everything you've done for me and the only way I feel I can repay it is by helping you with anything you need...so please send me questions about anything and everything.

Love,

Es Daws Npuaj Hwm

Week 4 at the MTC (Time is flying)

Nyob Zoo! (Hello)

Tsev Neeg (family), I have a ton to say so i can't fluff my letter but its going to be just going from one topic to the next...i made a list already of things i want to say :)

First, thanks for the California flag...it looks awesome!!!! We have it hanging in our room window so the light makes it look majestic! People always ask about it so we meet tons of random elders from CA etc.

Also, thank you for the awesome package with the jammies and eye-fi chip and the package with the cinnamon buns. I have been getting on a health kick while at the MTC so I didn't eat them all but thank you.

My cov kub (companions, not cov tus kub...because cov is a pluralizer and negates the need for the classifier "tus") are awesome. We are the best companionship...and we are all a little weird so it works out great!

We have investigators right now who are also our teachers but they are strictly seperate. Their names are: Txooj Neb Vaj, Npis Vaj, and Meej Lauj. Meej is commited to be baptized and we are arranging for a baptisimal interview which he must pass...then the simulation has ended and we will recieve a new referral. Txooj is a shaman and he is super difficult to teach but we are getting there. Npis, Txooj's son, is also having a hard time but we are making progress (theres a little language barrier hahaha). Next week, each of us (companions), will play an investigator role for the other pair and we will have to prepare to teach them as well. Basically its as real as it can get. Meej commited to stop smoking...Txooj no longer is praying over his altar.

Next thing, this next weekend and coming week, is new mission presidents week so all of the Quorom of the Twelve will be here...supah exciting. Our teacher said if a General Authority walks in, just pretend we know exactly what is going on because the authority will probably not know hmoob (hmong=english spelling, hmoob=hmong spelling).

You asked about an Elder B. He is our Vietnamese brother. He and Elder S are all the male Vietnamese missionaries in the MTC and they have 3 sisters that are going to Cambodia speaking Vietnamese. One Vietnamese speaking sister. is 'hmong' and she is helping us with a ton of hmoob speaking issues.

Today, me and my companions went to the temple so that was awesome. We did sealing sessions and the sealers were super cool...and talked about our missions etc.

I will be sending a letter today, with a schedule for the week we print off for our planners. You probably won't understand it all, but its our schedule...i'm going to take some time and just write out my daily schedule in relation to the schedule online.

630- wake up...we have two alarms

630 and 3 seconds later- run to the shower to ensure you don't have to wait in line

636- get out of the shower quickly b/c there is now a line

705- be dressed and ready to go, make bed, get organized etc.

720- at breakfast...I am eating healthy so I get fruit, a bagel, and some cracked wheat

750- be at the classroom

751- start our personal study, we study doctrine and scriptures in prep for our mulitple afternoon teaching appointments.

850-companion study, we work on organizing our plans and just sharing insights in prep for appointments

915-leave to go back to the residence halls

929-leave to go to gym

931- start running 2 miles

945-core workout

1000-play 4 square or volleyball

1010- go back and run a few laps around the track for cool down

1020-run to residence hall to get showered

1022-shower and get dressed

1100- workshop, we got to a conference room and get taught in huge groups about different doctrine/teaching fundamentals

1200- lunch

1230-check mail

1245- be back at the classroom

1245- start language study, we go over pre-work for class and review grammer principles and work on our language study plans

145- break

200- start prep for teaching apt.

230- teach apt.

300- end apt, return to classroom to start group language instruction

400- end language instruction, start coaching missionary study: we get help on anything from the teachers and resource managers..such as studying effectively, better planning etc.

500-dinner

530-check mail

545-be back at classroom

545-prep for apt

615- teaching apt.

645-end teaching apt., start going over lessons

745- end going over preach my gospel lesson

745- start another group language instruction

845-end GLI, break

900-start daily planning for the next day and start language study plan (sometimes we have service so we skip this and go get changed and go straight to break things down after devo...its really crazy not being able to have planning time...i secretly <3 planning time)

930- back to residence, start personal time to write in journal, scripture study etc.

1015- quiet time

1030-bed lights out

Just hectic days...that's for sure.

Spiritual Thoughts

Jeffrey R. Holland

"the work of salvation is not cheap. It was not cheap for him and it cannot be cheap for us. Its hard work, its supposed to be."

This really put everything in perspective. Yeah, missionary work is not easy but it shouldn't ever be because it wasn't easy for the Savior. It was not easy for Him to suffer in the garden or hang on the cross, or even live perfectly...it was hard, but it was worth it.

Bro. Malm of the Seventy

Talked about Yuron Krop (sp?) from his hometown (in Sweden)who biked to Mt. Everest and climbed it and biked it...crazy story (should look it up) He talked about 3 things that make missionaries successful : desire, work, and faith. Great talk and we can apply those things to anything in the church.

Bro. Callister

10 points that the great apostacy occured...stressed that in order to teach the restoration, we must convey the magnitude of the apostacy

1. apostles were killed

2. scriptures bear witness of the apostacy (isaiah..famine of the word of god

3. bible ends...why would it end after only 100 or so years after christ...were there no more issues in the church...no more guidance needed?

4. miracles and gifts of the spirit cease

5. teachings of christ were lost

6. ordinaces were changed (baptism, sprinkling etc

7. simple manner of prayer was altered

8. scriptures were removed from the common man...would christ want his word removed from the masses

9. the on-going church no longer bore the name of christ

10. the priesthood was lost

Some ask why wait almost 2000 yrs to restore the gospel?  Brother Callister  offered this explanation:

if a planes' engines were on fire....you need to land the plane...the quickest way to do this is put it in a nose dive...but that is not the safe way for the passengers or aircraft...instead you must get to the ground as safely as possible..its simply the Lord had to safely bring the restored gospel back!!

Okay i'm over 10 minutes on this email so i gotta go...love ya lots

Love,
Es Daws Npuaj Hwm

Week 3 at the MTC

Tsev Neeg (family),

This week has been awesome….as usual! I once again reiterate that I have the best companions in the world. They are extremely hardworking and we are learning lots. On Sunday, we attended our usual fireside and it was excellent but then we went to a taped talk of Jeffrey R. Holland (Missions Are Forever). He is super inspirational! He told us missionaries that we must be like the angel that appeared to Alma the Younger…we must be as the missionaries that reconverted the apostate group of Nephites. He went onto say that we MUST go out and ASTONISH somebody. We must use the power of God and preach with power and authority. There is no other way that we can convert unless it is with power and authority through the Holy Ghost. After listening to his talk, we all basically just wanted to go be awesome missionaries and convert the world.

I don’t know if I told you or not but my district (me and my cov tus khub…companions) helps out on Tuesday and Sunday Nights cleaning up after the huge firesides. We put away a ton of chairs and then fold this huge tarp that covers the entire gym floor. Apparently I should have folded blankets more often because the fold for this tarp is extremely complicated. When it is all finished, we all yell Hurrah Hurrah Hurrah for Israel. Yeah pretty sweet. Elder Bruggeman likes to randomly have us all put our fists in the middle and yell "Army of Helaman" whenever we are roaming the MTC…its hilarious because everybody stares.

Well, I appreciate all the wonderful updates and the scriptural thoughts. I love you lots and wish you all the best of luck with everything.

The church is true.

Love,

Es Daw Npuaj Hwm

Week 2 at the MTC

Hi Everyone,

It's really funny to read all your daily updates of the little things in life, Mom.  Half the stuff I'm like LOL and the other half I'm like...seriously.

FUN NEWS OF THE WEEK:
The word: "Peaceful" in Hmong is literally translated as: field of opium and pregnant daughter in law....weird

 

Also, look up the cinnamon challenge on youtube....me and my companions (for Es Daws Doane's B-Day) and the Vietnamese Elders tried it....pretty funny but a little painful! You'll see when you look at videos of it online.

THE WORK

The work has been going great. We are learning so much, so FAST! We had one investigator and now we have 3.  Meej (our first investigator) has commited to be baptized so its sweet!  I would challenge you to try and start reading the Book of Mormon cover-to-cover and try and start reading Jesus the Christ...both books are quite excellent (LOL). It will definitely bless you in unimaginable ways.

MTC

The food has been good actually.  Here everything is extremely structured and it's great for studying but there is no time to do anything extra.  My P-day is on Tuesdays.

Please thank all the people you might know who have been sending me letters and such...its awesome to here about everything and all the love and support is...well a support :)

I just would like to thank you all for all the things you've done for me!  I appreciate all the love and support and all the letters!  Love you guys!   Good luck with everything back home...I'm praying for ya!

Love,

Es Daws Burdick

First Letter from the MTC

Tsev Neeg,

The MTC is crazy...AWESOME!!!!! The first day, we were already teaching "investigators" (They're hired but the information they share is all real). Its crazy how good they are at getting you off your A-Game (and that was in english). I went to a computer lab to do an orientation and all the teachers directing us we're speaking the languages...so I had a hmoob guy telling me what to do. I asked questions to a thai teacher, and then I'm pretty sure there was a vietnamese teacher there as well. Of course, I didn't get anything they were trying to say. All day long, I was more or less confused but it was amazing. I actually have two companions because there is only 3 of us speaking hmoob in the MTC. I have a companion named Es Daws Doane from Draper, UT and a companion named Es Daws Lowry from Daytona Beach, FL. They are awesome companions...we have a ton of fun and are working hard. Our first few days everyone was saying "just make it to Sunday, and everything will work out." Me and my companions we're like: "whatchya'll talkin' bout?, this place is great...super hard, but still amazing." Today I had the opportunity to go to the temple and do initiatorys and that was a great experience in spite of the 1 hr wait. Everything at the MTC is work, even P-days. We are constantly working and learning more. We have classroom instruction for about 3 hours with a teacher and then almost 6 hours of studying is done without teachers around. I've never been so focused on my own learning in my life. Me and my companions use every minute we have in a day (from 6:30-10:30). We always go to bed with a ton of work to do and its crazy how much we are getting done already. We pray and bear testimony in hmoob and we have been teaching in an "investigator" in hmoob as well. We've met with him three times now and there is a double-sided mirror in the room so we're a little sketched out about someone observing us. Its quite a site to see, 3 elders who can barely say a word in hmoob try and teach a lesson to a fluent hmoob speaker. However, everyday we are progressing by leaps and bounds. For instance, we were supposed to teach Meej Lauj (investigator) about Christ and His ministry and we had researched and studied all the phrases needed, however when we went to follow up on our previous challenge for Meej to pray he told us he had not. Then, we went completely off-script and we're able to ask about why he was scared about praying and then we're able to get him to pray in front of us. Now, even though we now he is not an actual investigator, its awesome to be able to understand the needs of the people we are teaching!!! We were so pumped as we came out because it was a rather successful lesson even though we didn't cover the things we originally needed to. There is so much crammed in a day, its hard to keep track of all the awesome things. I can tell you the food is "okay" and i've been eating a lot healthier and have been doing well 'getting up.' BTW, me and my companions (tus khub) are also our own district so its really nice for planning purposes. Anywhooo...i've got a lot to tell you but its really hard especially with a timer ticking away so just a few more things and I''ll save the rest for later.  I think of you guys all the time and i'm so appreciative to have such an awesome family. There are people here that don't have the same support I do and I can see the difference. Thanks for being such an awesome tsev neeg. Kov paub hai thias vajtwvs hlub koj.

Kuv hlub koj!!!! <3

Love,

Es Daws Burdick

P.S.  Haven't had time for pictures but will be sure to send some when I finally get around to taking them and somehow?? uploading them.

Pre-MTC

Scott arrived in Salt Lake City on Monday, May 21st 2012 and began the journey with many sets of firsts; traveling in a suit without watching television, listening to his Ipod, or reading e-mail.  But he survived!  We spent a fabulous few days visiting Dan and Suzanne (Dave's bro & sis-in-law) and their family and my sister and her husband surprised me by showing up at our hotel, completely unexpected.  Some highlights of our mini adventure included multiple stops to Deseret Book (seriously? how hard can it be to get a set of scriptures without flaws?), The Missionary Mall in Orem, and of course, Sonic.  Tuesday was spent going to a live session at the Salt Lake Temple and then eating a huge steak at Ruth's Chris.

Scott was scheduled to report to the Missionary Training Center at 12:40.  We spent some time across the street in the Provo Temple parking lot with many other families of missionaries with the same idea saying our 'real' goodbyes.  We drove through the MTC gates at 12:37pm, pulled into parking spot number 5 and an Elder greeted us and helped Scott with his bags.  They asked him if he had keys or a phone and he told them "no" and then it was a quick hug for me, Brent and Sheila and he was off!  We pulled out of the MTC at 12:41, a little shocked at how quickly everything had happened.

We are SO proud of Scott and his desire to serve a mission. 

Scott at the Provo Temple minutes before entering the MTC   

Scott and Mom at the Provo Temple grounds

Sheila, Scott and Brent at Temple Square