Today we went to Amsterdam with about 20 missionaries and sung Christmas songs in one of the centrums there. It's actually the same centrum that 'The Best Two Years' was filmed in. There was a really big Christmas tree there so most of the missionaries stood by it and sung while I and two other Elders contacted people walking by. There were tons of people from all over. I talked to people from 15 different countries. It was cool!
This week I had a preacher from another church call me and Elder Tilleman blasphemers and some other stuff. Then we ended up praying with him in the middle of the centrum on Saturday market day, it was soooooooooo busy...But it was cool.
Thanks for the package and the party that you threw with all my friends. It was cool to read all the letters and to see the pictures of them and to hear their voices, that was really weird. But thanks.
The temple was really good and the zone conference was also really, really good.
We've got alot of cool appointments this week with members for first Christmas Day, second Christmas Day, and Christmas Eve.
On Saturday I'm going to be cooking for a family in our ward that the mother has cancer. She has five young kids and cancer. We gave her a blessing and the tumor is almost gone and she's going to have surgery to remove her collar bone where the cancer was.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
December 15, 2008
Well, our numbers for the past weeks are as follows: 15 total lessons the first week, 26 total lessons the second week, and 33 total lessons the third week. We just keep getting better and better.
Yesterday a guy at the door called us thieves, liars, druggies and a few other things, then it made him mad when it didn't frustrate me. I felt really bad for the guy. I honestly felt that pure charity for him that he was so lost in his life and it made me sad that his life was so bad.
But anyway, I also got hugged by a drunk guy the other day.
We have one family that is really positive...it's a mother with three children, ages 9, 14, and 15. They're pretty awesome.
Other than that I've decided that a mango a day keeps the doctor away. We buy all sorts of fruits in the market on Wed. and Sat.
Anyway, I've been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to write letter or record anything. Sorry.
Tomorrow I get to go to The Hague Temple again, the first time in seven months!!
Yesterday a guy at the door called us thieves, liars, druggies and a few other things, then it made him mad when it didn't frustrate me. I felt really bad for the guy. I honestly felt that pure charity for him that he was so lost in his life and it made me sad that his life was so bad.
But anyway, I also got hugged by a drunk guy the other day.
We have one family that is really positive...it's a mother with three children, ages 9, 14, and 15. They're pretty awesome.
Other than that I've decided that a mango a day keeps the doctor away. We buy all sorts of fruits in the market on Wed. and Sat.
Anyway, I've been really busy and haven't had a lot of time to write letter or record anything. Sorry.
Tomorrow I get to go to The Hague Temple again, the first time in seven months!!
December 8, 2008
I am in Amsterdam today with a whole bunch of other Elders for our p-day.
Well, this week went by really fast. I had a couple of people yell at me and try to pick fights, but then I calmly responded to them and that would just make them even more angry. But don't worry, it's not like they would have actually done anything. Other that that this week has been fairly uneventful.
Did I tell you about standing on the dike and seeing the water level at 30 feet above the land!! That's a weird feeling. It's weird to sit on the train and see what used to be the bottom of the ocean.
Well, it's pretty cold here and very wet. It rains alot!
There was only one investigator when I got here, but we have worked really hard trying to get the city making progress again and now we have eight and it will only get better.
Well, this week went by really fast. I had a couple of people yell at me and try to pick fights, but then I calmly responded to them and that would just make them even more angry. But don't worry, it's not like they would have actually done anything. Other that that this week has been fairly uneventful.
Did I tell you about standing on the dike and seeing the water level at 30 feet above the land!! That's a weird feeling. It's weird to sit on the train and see what used to be the bottom of the ocean.
Well, it's pretty cold here and very wet. It rains alot!
There was only one investigator when I got here, but we have worked really hard trying to get the city making progress again and now we have eight and it will only get better.
December 1, 2008
Well I'm in my new city and it's not a very positive city. But the good news is that we have an actual church building and it's a fairly big branch that will be able to become a ward pretty soon. They just need a few more members. The Branch President seems pretty good and the ward mission leader too.
My new companion is from Los Vegas and the other two elders in the apartment are from Holladay, Ut. and Arizona. I get along really well with them.
Well, my year mark is on Friday...that's kind of weird. Time just slips away. It's really a crazy sensation. The time literally seems like it never existed. It's crazy.
I miss Elder Patrick and Assen! I loved that city. We were having so much success there and now I've got to start over.
But what's cool is that the ground that I'm walking on and living on is younger than Dad and Mom. It's land that they pulled out of the water. They put dikes all around it and then pumped the water out. We were out on the dike on Saturday and the water level was higher than the city! That makes you sleep soundly at night!!!!!!!!!! But it was pretty cool to see that.
My new apartment is pretty big and it's right in the middle of the Centrum (plaza). It actually looks over the square where they had the market on Wednesday and Saturday. And we have a little Christmas tree.
My new companion is from Los Vegas and the other two elders in the apartment are from Holladay, Ut. and Arizona. I get along really well with them.
Well, my year mark is on Friday...that's kind of weird. Time just slips away. It's really a crazy sensation. The time literally seems like it never existed. It's crazy.
I miss Elder Patrick and Assen! I loved that city. We were having so much success there and now I've got to start over.
But what's cool is that the ground that I'm walking on and living on is younger than Dad and Mom. It's land that they pulled out of the water. They put dikes all around it and then pumped the water out. We were out on the dike on Saturday and the water level was higher than the city! That makes you sleep soundly at night!!!!!!!!!! But it was pretty cool to see that.
My new apartment is pretty big and it's right in the middle of the Centrum (plaza). It actually looks over the square where they had the market on Wednesday and Saturday. And we have a little Christmas tree.
November 24, 2008
Hello! I'm leaving Assen and heading for Lelystad (Lelijk-ugly, stad-city). But it sound good. My new companion has only been out three months and I've been out for one year...it should be fun. My new address is:
Stadhuisplein 13A
1315-HV Almere
Nederland
We live in Almere with those elders, so it won't be just me and my companion in the apartment. That'll be fun. Unfortunately I'll be missing Fokko's, Mr. Philips', Alex's, and Happy's baptisms. But oh well, that's life. This week we had over 30 lessons and in the past two weeks we've had 13 new investigators. I've had alot of success since I have been in Assen. Hopefully I'll have alot in Lelystad too.
The other day I was on a train and I looked out the window to see thousands of geese circling a farmer's field...you have no idea the panic attach I had...those geese were being allowed to land in that field with no one within a few thousand miles to shoot at them...
Stadhuisplein 13A
1315-HV Almere
Nederland
We live in Almere with those elders, so it won't be just me and my companion in the apartment. That'll be fun. Unfortunately I'll be missing Fokko's, Mr. Philips', Alex's, and Happy's baptisms. But oh well, that's life. This week we had over 30 lessons and in the past two weeks we've had 13 new investigators. I've had alot of success since I have been in Assen. Hopefully I'll have alot in Lelystad too.
The other day I was on a train and I looked out the window to see thousands of geese circling a farmer's field...you have no idea the panic attach I had...those geese were being allowed to land in that field with no one within a few thousand miles to shoot at them...
November 17, 2008
I'm doing pretty good. We found five new investigators this last week and that was about the extent of it. I have to go on an exchange with Elder Jensen tomorrow and Wednesday.
So, today I ate an entire pound of pasta...and I've lost 2 kilos (4.4 pounds) in the past week, so I think my new slogan is going to be 'open mouth, insert food'.
So, today I ate an entire pound of pasta...and I've lost 2 kilos (4.4 pounds) in the past week, so I think my new slogan is going to be 'open mouth, insert food'.
November 10, 2008
I had a drunk guy tell me that he is "in the world, but not of the world." Then he continued on by 'blessing' us which consisted of putting a hand on each of us and then bowing his head and mumbling a bunch of slurred words. It was really funny.
We had zone conference on Tuesday and it was really, really good.
We had zone conference on Tuesday and it was really, really good.
November 3, 2008
Got my tooth fixed today..the dentist did a terrible job as far as cosmetics goes, but I guess it will do until I get home. My tooth was broken all the way down to the nerve! Only I am capable of doing something like that with a Jolly Rancher.
So I've decided that I'm a pig...Sister Lubberink gave us a whole box of cake thingys and I ate all five of mine within ten minutes of being home...not to mention the huge box of Halloween candy that I ate in a couple of days. Oh, and the other day I cooked spaghetti for myself and I ended up eating one pound of spaghetti in 15 minutes. That's enough to feed a family. And yet, I'm still losing weight...very slowly...I am 69 kilograms (151 pounds)...It's crazy!
Speaking of crazy, I went on an exchange in Hengelo and some girl in her 20's gave me and Elder Fleming a hug...it was really weird! It's the first hug I've had from a girl in 11 months. It was weird.
So I had to look up a church building for a member that just moved from Assen to Turkey, the closest church building is on the island of Cyprus which is where Mike is, so if Mike get a Turkish lady in church, it will be the one that I sent to him...That's kinda cool.
So I've decided that I'm a pig...Sister Lubberink gave us a whole box of cake thingys and I ate all five of mine within ten minutes of being home...not to mention the huge box of Halloween candy that I ate in a couple of days. Oh, and the other day I cooked spaghetti for myself and I ended up eating one pound of spaghetti in 15 minutes. That's enough to feed a family. And yet, I'm still losing weight...very slowly...I am 69 kilograms (151 pounds)...It's crazy!
Speaking of crazy, I went on an exchange in Hengelo and some girl in her 20's gave me and Elder Fleming a hug...it was really weird! It's the first hug I've had from a girl in 11 months. It was weird.
So I had to look up a church building for a member that just moved from Assen to Turkey, the closest church building is on the island of Cyprus which is where Mike is, so if Mike get a Turkish lady in church, it will be the one that I sent to him...That's kinda cool.
October 27, 2008
Hey, I don't have alot of time, but I'll tell you about a few of the events of the week. One, I got in a fight with a middle-age man. WELL, maybe fight is the wrong word, but he ripped my name tag off my jacket and threw it in the bushes and then said a few things that weren't very positive about me and about Jesus Christ. Then I said, "Excuse me, that's my name tag." and he got mad and started saying "You want some more, huh?" And I said, "Ya.", but he was too scared to do anything because I was completely calm and composed and not at all scared and that made him scared and he bakced down, went inside his house and slammed the door.
Then ten doors later we got let in and surrounded by four Jehovah's Witnesses. But it turned out alright. They didn't really try bashing with us, they wre just curious about our beliefs and so we explained them to them and they asked lots of good questions about how we account for certain scriptures that they say prove that our religion is wrong and we explained them and it turned out great. They were the nicest JW that I have ever met.
Then ten doors later we got let in and surrounded by four Jehovah's Witnesses. But it turned out alright. They didn't really try bashing with us, they wre just curious about our beliefs and so we explained them to them and they asked lots of good questions about how we account for certain scriptures that they say prove that our religion is wrong and we explained them and it turned out great. They were the nicest JW that I have ever met.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
October 19, 2008
Friends and family of Elder Burton
Sean has also sent us audio tapes which I am listening to and transcribing and will get on the blog.
Please remember to write Sean often, it really helps him knowing that people care about him.
We have finally finished building our new house and have moved into it. We'd love to have you drop by and see us. Drop us an email if you need directions (or talk to Erica!).
Time is flying by, we'll be celebrating Sean's one year mark on December 5th.
Sean has also sent us audio tapes which I am listening to and transcribing and will get on the blog.
Please remember to write Sean often, it really helps him knowing that people care about him.
We have finally finished building our new house and have moved into it. We'd love to have you drop by and see us. Drop us an email if you need directions (or talk to Erica!).
Time is flying by, we'll be celebrating Sean's one year mark on December 5th.
October 13, 2008
How's my Book of Mormon challenge going? Have you read the article and bought a box of Books of Mormon? Better get on it, only 13-1/2 months left till I get home. You'll have to really pray hard for the opportunities to give all 20 away. But it is possible, I give 20 away every month.
October 6, 2008
I'm doing pretty good except I'm sick...oh, and I broke a tooth, not just chipped, but broke a huge chunk off, so I'll have to get that fixed. Oh, and I'm STILL getting bloody noses, even with 50 gallons of snot coming out of my nose every 5 minutes and tons of rain/humidity. Anyway, enough of my medical problems.
Here's a challenge for you all. Get a box of Books of Mormon (20 books) and give them away before I come home. That's 20 Books of Mormons for each of you. In the September Ensign, Elder Cook has a great article of this on page 44. Read it and DO IT. It'll be hard, but you can all give 20 BofMs away in 14 months!
For General Conference we go to the Stake Center and all the sessions are playing there in Dutch and English. We had the Saturday morning session at 6:00 pm on Saturday night. Sunday consists of: 11:00 am Priesthood/Relief Society, then the Saturday afternoon session of Conference, then at 6:00 pm we watch the Sunday morning session. Next week at church we get the Sunday afternoon session. We had to got the Groningen for Conference.
Here's a challenge for you all. Get a box of Books of Mormon (20 books) and give them away before I come home. That's 20 Books of Mormons for each of you. In the September Ensign, Elder Cook has a great article of this on page 44. Read it and DO IT. It'll be hard, but you can all give 20 BofMs away in 14 months!
For General Conference we go to the Stake Center and all the sessions are playing there in Dutch and English. We had the Saturday morning session at 6:00 pm on Saturday night. Sunday consists of: 11:00 am Priesthood/Relief Society, then the Saturday afternoon session of Conference, then at 6:00 pm we watch the Sunday morning session. Next week at church we get the Sunday afternoon session. We had to got the Groningen for Conference.
September 29, 2008
I'm doing pretty good. It's starting to get colder here. If you happen to see some changing leaves and have a camera with you, could you take lots of pictures and send them to me. That would be awesome.
Jean Jacques was confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday, that was cool. Other than that the week was just lots and lots of angry Dutch people on the doors.
Jean Jacques was confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday, that was cool. Other than that the week was just lots and lots of angry Dutch people on the doors.
September 22, 2008
I got to baptize Jean Jacques on Saturday. And I got all 7 feet of him under the water! It was pretty cool.
We have member in our branch that is from Hondurus so I've been speaking Spanish with her and I'm getting pretty good at it.
We have member in our branch that is from Hondurus so I've been speaking Spanish with her and I'm getting pretty good at it.
September 15, 2008
Thank you so much for the birthday packages, I think that half the food items are already gone. I was hungry this morning, what can I say. But thanks so much fo everything. Unfortunately I don't have an oven to bake the cake in, but I was reading the side of the box, and it's actually healthier to eat the mix without baking it first, so I think that I'l do that.
September 8, 2008
In answer to your question, NO I HAVE NOT GAINED WEIGHT I've lost a ton though.
Has anyone ever seen a case of someone dying because of cabin fever? 'Cause I think that I'm getting to the point that I'm going to die because of my cabin fever....it's soooooooooooooooooo bad!
Anyway, my new companion is very quite which isn't all that bad, so that's a plus. He has been out two transfers longer than me. He's from Springville.
The past week was long...we did tons of findind (contacting/tracting). But it wasn't all that bad. I'm going to Amsterdam tomorrow.
Has anyone ever seen a case of someone dying because of cabin fever? 'Cause I think that I'm getting to the point that I'm going to die because of my cabin fever....it's soooooooooooooooooo bad!
Anyway, my new companion is very quite which isn't all that bad, so that's a plus. He has been out two transfers longer than me. He's from Springville.
The past week was long...we did tons of findind (contacting/tracting). But it wasn't all that bad. I'm going to Amsterdam tomorrow.
September 1, 2008
So it is transfer time, I'm staying in Assen and I'm getting a new companion, Elder Patrick. I went on an exchange with him once before, he's very quite and hardly ever talks. But, anyway, it will be fun, I'm sure it will be.
Dina's baptism went really well, she was so happy and glowing afterwards. She is such a funny little girl. It was awesome!
Elder Monson is getting transferred out of the zone.
Dina's baptism went really well, she was so happy and glowing afterwards. She is such a funny little girl. It was awesome!
Elder Monson is getting transferred out of the zone.
August 27, 2008
I'm riding my bike down the street and some lady came running to us and yelled, in English, "Hey missionaries!" Turns out she's a member and she lived in New York for six years and jsut moved back to the Nederlands and wants to come back to church. She's from South America somewhere. But that was cool.
I picked up my bike tire and it only ended up costing 63 euros ($95.00) so that was way cool.
Oh, by the way, I have a baptism on Saturday, Dina is getting baptized. Oh, and my incredible investigator, Jean Jacques is getting baptized on Sept. 17. Oh, and Bibi in Den Bosch finally read the Book of Mormon and knows it's true.
I picked up my bike tire and it only ended up costing 63 euros ($95.00) so that was way cool.
Oh, by the way, I have a baptism on Saturday, Dina is getting baptized. Oh, and my incredible investigator, Jean Jacques is getting baptized on Sept. 17. Oh, and Bibi in Den Bosch finally read the Book of Mormon and knows it's true.
August 20, 2008
So my back tire on my bike decided that it's had enough and now I've got to drop 80 euros ($120.00) to get it fixed!
August 13, 2008
I was in Amsterdam yesterday..that city is so crazy. I hate it, it's too busy for me, too many people, too much weed, drugs and sex too. Anyway the Zone Conference was amazing and the spirit was so strong...it was great.
We have a baptism on August 30 with Dina and Jean Jacques. Dina is a 9-year old girl whose mom is inactive and hopefully her daughter getting baptized can help to reactivate her. Jean Jacques is a 7-foot tall African fron the Congo.. He's awesome and he's almost quit smoking to. He loves the Book of Mormon and coming to church.
We have a baptism on August 30 with Dina and Jean Jacques. Dina is a 9-year old girl whose mom is inactive and hopefully her daughter getting baptized can help to reactivate her. Jean Jacques is a 7-foot tall African fron the Congo.. He's awesome and he's almost quit smoking to. He loves the Book of Mormon and coming to church.
August 6, 2008
Hey, so yesterday I installed wood flooring in our kitchen and bathroom. Then we went to the only concentration camp in the Nederlands, that was really cool. And we went houseboat contacting the other day.
My new companion, Elder Walker, is from Idaho Falls. My companion kind of has a different style of missionary work than me, but our lessons are still good. It's interesting. But we've seen alot of success since I've been in Assen. People are lettingus in their doors like crazy and we're setting baptismal dates like crazy too. It's awesome. The work is starting to take off here in Assen.
On Monday we went to Leeuwarden for District meeting and we went to the place where the first convert baptism in the Nederlands took place. It was pretty cool. In my new District there are 8 elders and a senior couple. And Elder Monson from my MTC group is in my district too.
A few days ago there was a crazy lightening storm that was literally constant, non-stop lightening for two hours. It was crazy! Just flash after flash and a constant rumble of thunder. Then yesterday we got soaked in a rainstorm that was like being in the shower on full blast. Everything was completely soaked through.
I had to get my bike fixed because I broke 9 spokes on my back tire. Really not sure how that happened, but it cost me 30 euros!
My new companion, Elder Walker, is from Idaho Falls. My companion kind of has a different style of missionary work than me, but our lessons are still good. It's interesting. But we've seen alot of success since I've been in Assen. People are lettingus in their doors like crazy and we're setting baptismal dates like crazy too. It's awesome. The work is starting to take off here in Assen.
On Monday we went to Leeuwarden for District meeting and we went to the place where the first convert baptism in the Nederlands took place. It was pretty cool. In my new District there are 8 elders and a senior couple. And Elder Monson from my MTC group is in my district too.
A few days ago there was a crazy lightening storm that was literally constant, non-stop lightening for two hours. It was crazy! Just flash after flash and a constant rumble of thunder. Then yesterday we got soaked in a rainstorm that was like being in the shower on full blast. Everything was completely soaked through.
I had to get my bike fixed because I broke 9 spokes on my back tire. Really not sure how that happened, but it cost me 30 euros!
July 29, 2008
Hey, how's it going? I'm doing pretty good. We have found alot of people in the last week. The new apartment is pretty good. We are on the sixth floor and it is the first of three buildings. The branch here is pretty small, only 20 people. The past week has been pretty good, but today I'm incredibly homesick. But I'll just take a nap and get back to work.
July 22, 2008
Hey, so I got transferred. I'm going to Assen and my new companion is Elder Walker. Assen is an incredible city and we will be having a baptismal interview tomorrow night and a baptism either this Saturday or next. We have four baptismal dates and will be setting a few more in the next few weeks. It's gonna be an awesome new city, I don't know whole lot about my new companion, but I'm sure it will be good. I'll surely miss Den Bosch and the ward here and Elder Laursen. My new address is:
Maria in Campislaan 239
9406-JG
Assen, Nederlands
Maria in Campislaan 239
9406-JG
Assen, Nederlands
July 16, 2008
So I probably have only one week left in Den Bosch. My P-day is on Tuesday and transfer are on Wednesday. I'm doing good. Bibi was supposed to be baptized this coming Monday, but I don't think it is going to happen. Oh, well, it'll happend next transfer. As for other investigators, we have Sabrina who didn't come to church and that's our only investigator. Yep, its not very fun. But it's alright.
Yesterday and Monday, I was in Utrecht for exchanges with Elder Carter...he's been out six months longer thatn me, but he lives in Draper and went to Alta. It was way fun, we know alot of the same people, places and everything.
Yesterday and Monday, I was in Utrecht for exchanges with Elder Carter...he's been out six months longer thatn me, but he lives in Draper and went to Alta. It was way fun, we know alot of the same people, places and everything.
July 8, 2008
Email to Elder Burton from his mother:
Elder SEAN ROSS Burton,
We HAVE NOT received a letter from you (other than the package and the letter to Dad, which was wonderful) in FIVE weeks.
If there is not a letter arriving this Friday or Saturday--and it better be really long--I am going to email or call your Misson President.
Love you forever, Your REALLY UPSET Mom
Email reply from Elder Burton:
DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL MY MISSION PRESIDENT! I am writing you letters today and you will get them next Wed. or Thurday.
So today we went to Utrecht with the whole Zone and pretty much did the whole soapbox thing. Sabrine prayed and read and knows it's true. We have an appointment with her tomorrow. Susan won't make any appointments with us, but is in really good contact with alot of the ward members and goes to all the singles adult activities and everything, but she feels we are only here to baptize her and she wants to be friends.
Elder SEAN ROSS Burton,
We HAVE NOT received a letter from you (other than the package and the letter to Dad, which was wonderful) in FIVE weeks.
If there is not a letter arriving this Friday or Saturday--and it better be really long--I am going to email or call your Misson President.
Love you forever, Your REALLY UPSET Mom
Email reply from Elder Burton:
DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL MY MISSION PRESIDENT! I am writing you letters today and you will get them next Wed. or Thurday.
So today we went to Utrecht with the whole Zone and pretty much did the whole soapbox thing. Sabrine prayed and read and knows it's true. We have an appointment with her tomorrow. Susan won't make any appointments with us, but is in really good contact with alot of the ward members and goes to all the singles adult activities and everything, but she feels we are only here to baptize her and she wants to be friends.
July 2, 2008
I went on exchanges in Rotterdam two day ago, and I visited a guy that I met on the airplane when I was coming here. He's an inactive member and he's way nice. He goes to Utah and visits friends two or three time a year. It ws pretty cool. Things are going alright here. We have a lesson tonight with a lady named Sabrina, she is so amazing and she's way nice.
Monday, June 23, 2008
JUNE UPDATES
I am sorry that we have not updated Sean's blog for soooooo long. We did not receive a letter for 4 weeks, then got a 1 paper letter, then no letters for 3-1/2 weeks, and his email are generally 3-5 sentences long, so I will string them all together for the most updated info. Mom Kim
June 17: We have lost contact with Susan (investigator) and Bibi (investigator from Africa) will only be baptized in America. No other investigators. Back is getting worse, but with the pain meds it's alright.
June 10: I spent the whole day today in the hospital and the doctor told me to exercise my back and take ibprofen and then wrote me a prescription for a muscle relaxant. I'll do what he says but I don't agree with him on the diagnosis. Oh ya, one of my socks slipped into my garments laundry batch so almost all my garments are blue and it won't come out. I've tried everything. Could you send me new sets, that would be great, thanks.
June 4: I had a great experience in The Hauge Temple, it was so awesome!!!
May 21: I had my first baptism on May 17th. It was awesome! The baptism was incredible. (see picture above). He had such a glow afterward. Diederik (ward member--in the Nederlands, the ward members are encouraged to do the ordinances) baptized him and my companion and I were witnesses. Then on Sunday, the Bishop gave him the Gift of the Holy Ghost and my comp and I were in the circle, and it was incredible. We are hoping to baptize Susan and Bibi on June 7th. My new companion, Elder Lawerson, just turned 20, he is from a little town by Logan called Libly. He has been out 12 weeks longer than me and he is awesome!
May 14: I'm doing great, well, except for my back. But on the bright side, I love my new companion, we get along really well and we work well together. And we eat really good, I like food. Anyway, I'm getting really tan, but I'm getting really funny tan lines from my shirts because of the collars. It's been really hot here lately.
Apr 28: My companion got transferred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks for all the food, it's great!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
March 19, 2008
Here is information about our ward members.
Robert/Petra--Robert is from Nigeria, he has been a member for four years and we use him alot as a joint teacher when we teach Africans, which is very often. He is getting married to Petra in May. Petra is Dutch, and she has been a member for about three years. She is very nice and speaks really good English. Robert makes absolutely awesome food...I love African food!
Dieteric Linders--He is Dutch, served his mission in this mission, Belgium/Netherlands. His whole family is in our ward. We use him as a joint teacher alot also, and he eats with us every Tuesday night at the Fabers.
The Fabers--an older couple, Dutch. They fed us every Tuesday...they are very nice. Missionaries used to live with them.
Meinderstama family--family of four, two boys ages 3 and 5. They are very nice and they speak very good American-style English which they pick up from watching TV. They fed us every Friday.
Noot family--Dutch, lived in Utah for a long time, then moved back to the Netherlands.
Stomps family--Dutch, nice family, Feds us every once in a while..their son Dave served his mission in our Sandy Stake
There are alot more and they are all really nice. We usually always have joint teachers when we need one and we eat five times a week with members or investigators.
Bibi, our invesigator from Algeria has set his baptismal date for April 12. Kenneth is setting his baptismal date on Sunday. Yousif is from Iraq... he wants America to stay in Iraq forever...he was there during the worst parts of the war. He is very humble and will be getting baptized soon.
We taught a lesson to two Dutch guys and a New York girl who is a Jew. The spirit was so incredible! It will be a slow process, but I think all three will eventually get baptized.
Robert/Petra--Robert is from Nigeria, he has been a member for four years and we use him alot as a joint teacher when we teach Africans, which is very often. He is getting married to Petra in May. Petra is Dutch, and she has been a member for about three years. She is very nice and speaks really good English. Robert makes absolutely awesome food...I love African food!
Dieteric Linders--He is Dutch, served his mission in this mission, Belgium/Netherlands. His whole family is in our ward. We use him as a joint teacher alot also, and he eats with us every Tuesday night at the Fabers.
The Fabers--an older couple, Dutch. They fed us every Tuesday...they are very nice. Missionaries used to live with them.
Meinderstama family--family of four, two boys ages 3 and 5. They are very nice and they speak very good American-style English which they pick up from watching TV. They fed us every Friday.
Noot family--Dutch, lived in Utah for a long time, then moved back to the Netherlands.
Stomps family--Dutch, nice family, Feds us every once in a while..their son Dave served his mission in our Sandy Stake
There are alot more and they are all really nice. We usually always have joint teachers when we need one and we eat five times a week with members or investigators.
Bibi, our invesigator from Algeria has set his baptismal date for April 12. Kenneth is setting his baptismal date on Sunday. Yousif is from Iraq... he wants America to stay in Iraq forever...he was there during the worst parts of the war. He is very humble and will be getting baptized soon.
We taught a lesson to two Dutch guys and a New York girl who is a Jew. The spirit was so incredible! It will be a slow process, but I think all three will eventually get baptized.
Friday, March 28, 2008
March 12, 2008 Letter
Hi,
Well, it looks like I'm gonna be in Den Bosch for a long while. No transfers for either of us.
But anyway, on a better note, I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time on my mission! I think that's my seventh time overall. I' m going to try to read it once a transfer and so by the end of my mission I will have read it sixteen times.
Pictures (photos) mean the world to me. Send more!
Well, it looks like I'm gonna be in Den Bosch for a long while. No transfers for either of us.
But anyway, on a better note, I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time on my mission! I think that's my seventh time overall. I' m going to try to read it once a transfer and so by the end of my mission I will have read it sixteen times.
Pictures (photos) mean the world to me. Send more!
March 5, 2008 Letter
Hey! How's everything going?
Last week I got to go on exchanges with the zone leaders, so I went and stayed two nights and one day in Northern Rotterdam with Elder Thomas, who is one of our zone leaders. It was so nice to get away from my companion. And we actually ate something besides sandwiches for every meal. It was so much better. I liked it alot and I talked to some really cool people on the street. It was fun.
The other day we tracted into a lady that had investigated the Church in 2001 but then stopped, but has been paying her tithing to our Church ever since. She has been paying money to a church she doesn't attend or belong to for seven years! And she let us in and we talked for a while and she fed us and it was really cool.
Then we also had zone conference last week. It was really good and I got to see some other the other guys from my MTC group. It was fun and we had good food and had training from the Mission President, the APs, and both of the zone leader companionships (we combined with Apeldorn zone.) It was good.
I have sucessfully cleaned most of our apartment. I cleaned the refrigerators, stove top, sink, dishes, table, and bathroom. It was so disgusting. It took me 2 hours just to clean the stove top!
(Sean's mom is loving this!!!) And there was food in the refrigerators that had been here longer than my companion (at least 4 months). There were apples and pears that wre already completely fermented. I could smell the alcohol in them. It was disgusting. But now it's alot cleaner.
Our ward has about 80 members that are active. They are all really nice and we eat at members houses alot. They are a great ward and have alot of RMs. ANd one even served in our Sandy ward, Elder Dave Stomps. It's cool to talk about my home area with him and look at his mission picture to see my home area.
I've realy learned alot. I've learned how to keep up with cleaning and to just DO it. I've learn how to be patient and tolerant. And I've learned how to be cooperative. That's the biggest thing. I've learned how to work with someone effectively that is difficult. I've learned to seek the good and try to look past the bad. I still don't like my companion and we are just very different people, but I've learned how to make the work easy even if I'm about to explode at him. It's difficult, but I'm getting really good at it. I've learned how much my family really means to me. Before I really didn't know how much I loved my family and how much they mean to me. I've realized how blessed I am to have grown up when I did and especially where I did. America is truly the 'promised land' and Ut is definitely 'the place'. I appreciate all that I have so much more now that I see what it's like in other places. I'm truly blessed.
So far we have biked just over 300 miles according to my bike computer! Everyone here bikes. It is the main mode of transportation. It's very expensive to get a driver's license and gas is about $10.00 a gallon. Is it safe? Not really, but no one get hurt badly if they get hit by a car because the cars aren't going very fast in the places where people could get hit. The problem is that cars are supposed to yield to bikes, but sometimes they don't. But missionaries don't get hit very often and it's never resulted in anything more than a bruise or scrape.
The summer Olympics are coming up...will you record the water polo matches and save it for me? And keep me updated on it too.
It's really cold and rainy here. I'm alway soaking wet and then the wind blows and makes it really cold and gives up a brain freeze and we can't wear hats while contacting. It's Cold!!!
Hey, will you pray for my investigators? I have five that are close to baptism. They can really use as much help as possible.
Bibi--from Algeria, he used to be Muslim/Amanuel--from Erithrea, he has been in alot of African wars, very humble/Yousif--from Iraq/Clark--from the Netherlands/Kenneth--from Nigeria. We are also teaching Henk--from the Netherlands/Mano--from Indonesia/Steven--from Guana/Stella--from Kurisou/Cliff--from Aruba/Antillies/Eddie--from Romania/Chental--from somewhere in Africa/Florence--from Nigeria.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Last week I got to go on exchanges with the zone leaders, so I went and stayed two nights and one day in Northern Rotterdam with Elder Thomas, who is one of our zone leaders. It was so nice to get away from my companion. And we actually ate something besides sandwiches for every meal. It was so much better. I liked it alot and I talked to some really cool people on the street. It was fun.
The other day we tracted into a lady that had investigated the Church in 2001 but then stopped, but has been paying her tithing to our Church ever since. She has been paying money to a church she doesn't attend or belong to for seven years! And she let us in and we talked for a while and she fed us and it was really cool.
Then we also had zone conference last week. It was really good and I got to see some other the other guys from my MTC group. It was fun and we had good food and had training from the Mission President, the APs, and both of the zone leader companionships (we combined with Apeldorn zone.) It was good.
I have sucessfully cleaned most of our apartment. I cleaned the refrigerators, stove top, sink, dishes, table, and bathroom. It was so disgusting. It took me 2 hours just to clean the stove top!
(Sean's mom is loving this!!!) And there was food in the refrigerators that had been here longer than my companion (at least 4 months). There were apples and pears that wre already completely fermented. I could smell the alcohol in them. It was disgusting. But now it's alot cleaner.
Our ward has about 80 members that are active. They are all really nice and we eat at members houses alot. They are a great ward and have alot of RMs. ANd one even served in our Sandy ward, Elder Dave Stomps. It's cool to talk about my home area with him and look at his mission picture to see my home area.
I've realy learned alot. I've learned how to keep up with cleaning and to just DO it. I've learn how to be patient and tolerant. And I've learned how to be cooperative. That's the biggest thing. I've learned how to work with someone effectively that is difficult. I've learned to seek the good and try to look past the bad. I still don't like my companion and we are just very different people, but I've learned how to make the work easy even if I'm about to explode at him. It's difficult, but I'm getting really good at it. I've learned how much my family really means to me. Before I really didn't know how much I loved my family and how much they mean to me. I've realized how blessed I am to have grown up when I did and especially where I did. America is truly the 'promised land' and Ut is definitely 'the place'. I appreciate all that I have so much more now that I see what it's like in other places. I'm truly blessed.
So far we have biked just over 300 miles according to my bike computer! Everyone here bikes. It is the main mode of transportation. It's very expensive to get a driver's license and gas is about $10.00 a gallon. Is it safe? Not really, but no one get hurt badly if they get hit by a car because the cars aren't going very fast in the places where people could get hit. The problem is that cars are supposed to yield to bikes, but sometimes they don't. But missionaries don't get hit very often and it's never resulted in anything more than a bruise or scrape.
The summer Olympics are coming up...will you record the water polo matches and save it for me? And keep me updated on it too.
It's really cold and rainy here. I'm alway soaking wet and then the wind blows and makes it really cold and gives up a brain freeze and we can't wear hats while contacting. It's Cold!!!
Hey, will you pray for my investigators? I have five that are close to baptism. They can really use as much help as possible.
Bibi--from Algeria, he used to be Muslim/Amanuel--from Erithrea, he has been in alot of African wars, very humble/Yousif--from Iraq/Clark--from the Netherlands/Kenneth--from Nigeria. We are also teaching Henk--from the Netherlands/Mano--from Indonesia/Steven--from Guana/Stella--from Kurisou/Cliff--from Aruba/Antillies/Eddie--from Romania/Chental--from somewhere in Africa/Florence--from Nigeria.
Anyway, that's all for now.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sean's Letter of February 27, 2008
I'm doing alright. The 17-year old investigator we had told us to never come back. So much for that awesome experience.
It's been raining alot here. Sometimes we gotta stop and dump the water out of our shoes and then continue on. It sucks. I am definitely not going to live in Europe after my mission. I sure love and miss America.
We had Niel L. Anderson from the Presidency of the 70 come and speak to us. Just to our zone and the Den Haad zone. So in total 40 missionaries and I sat on the front row. He was literally one foot away from me the whole time. I shook his hand, he even used me in his talk thingy. It was so cool. He looked me in the eye like twenty times. It was so cool.
But last week we ate dinner at an investigator's house and they fed us raw chicken. It was cooked on one side, but 75% of it was RAW! I was so scared that I was going to get sick from it but I didn't.
But ya. Nothing else really this week. Oh, I gave a talk in church. In Dutch. That was fun!
By-the-way, my friends CAN email me (sean.burton@myldsmail.com) I just have to write them back, I can't email them. But anyway...I haven't received anything yet. No letters or anything.
I went to Sint Jans (Saint John's) church today. It's the oldest and biggest church in the Netherlands. It was pretty cool.
I have traveled to Rotterdam three times, Amsterdam, Goude, Utrecht, three time sto hiel, oss, and den Haag.
So far I've talked to people from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afganistan, India, China, Indonesia, South America and tons of African nations.
It's been raining alot here. Sometimes we gotta stop and dump the water out of our shoes and then continue on. It sucks. I am definitely not going to live in Europe after my mission. I sure love and miss America.
We had Niel L. Anderson from the Presidency of the 70 come and speak to us. Just to our zone and the Den Haad zone. So in total 40 missionaries and I sat on the front row. He was literally one foot away from me the whole time. I shook his hand, he even used me in his talk thingy. It was so cool. He looked me in the eye like twenty times. It was so cool.
But last week we ate dinner at an investigator's house and they fed us raw chicken. It was cooked on one side, but 75% of it was RAW! I was so scared that I was going to get sick from it but I didn't.
But ya. Nothing else really this week. Oh, I gave a talk in church. In Dutch. That was fun!
By-the-way, my friends CAN email me (sean.burton@myldsmail.com) I just have to write them back, I can't email them. But anyway...I haven't received anything yet. No letters or anything.
I went to Sint Jans (Saint John's) church today. It's the oldest and biggest church in the Netherlands. It was pretty cool.
I have traveled to Rotterdam three times, Amsterdam, Goude, Utrecht, three time sto hiel, oss, and den Haag.
So far I've talked to people from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Afganistan, India, China, Indonesia, South America and tons of African nations.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
February 22, 2008 letter
Here is what Sean said in his email this week:
"Hey so here is the deal. You guys can all email me but i have to write you a letter back. But you guys CAN email me. So do it. But keep in mind that i cannot receive attachments.But tell everybody else that they can email me. So forward this email. And text people. And tell people. Ok? Good. I wanna hear everything that is goin on back at home. So email me.
But if you want to send me pictures or anything you have to send them to this address:
Elder Sean Burton
Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission
Boulevard Brand Whitlock, 87
1200-Brussels
Belgium
And that's all for now. Hope to hear from all of you soon.
Love,
Sean"
And in his letter he said:
"My area has 600,000+ people in it. I live in s'Hertogenbosch right next to the train station. You can look on GoogleEarth.com and see it.
My companion, Elder Jensen, is from Castledale, Utah which is by Price. He has been out for a year.
We don't really cook that much. Mostly we just eat easy stuff (sandwiches). We have two dinner appointments that are every week and then we usually have one to two sometimes three additional appointments. Sometime it's good food. Sometimes it's really disgusting like sourkraut, spek (a type of fatty bacon) and mashed potatoes mixed together. BLAH! I almost died it wa so bad. I was sick the rest of the night. B ut we had African food today and it was amazingly good. I liked it. And I've had Spanish, Dutch, Belgium, French, German, African, and South American food. All sorts. Some good, some not so good. But ya.
The weather is sometimes sunny, but not very often. Mostly it's so humid that it's really foggy and always cloudy. And it's cold. And always windy.
We ride our bikes alot. All over the place. We have already ridden 125+ miles. And it's not too bad. My upper legs were already in shape. And we always lock them up. Everybody rides kies here and they get stolen alot. But it's crazy. Bikes have the right-of-way. I've almost been hit by cars and buses all the time. Yesterday we saw a kid on a bike get hit by a car. It's nuts!! But it's pretty fun.
I don't have a branch (when there are not enough Church members to make a ward), it's a ward. There are about 60 members taht are active. They're all pretty nice. Sundays are regular days except for three hours of church.
We tract/contact for 15 or more hours a week. We have a few good investigators. But not really. We tracted into a couple of good ones that seem promising. One that is my favorite:
We were tracting in a place about a 30 minute bike ride from our house. We made an appointment with them for the next week. Then we went to the appointment and started to tech the lady, her son came in and sat down and then he really started to get into the lesson and was way interested and wash asking questions and we hade to make our next appointment so that he would be home because he he wanted to be there. It was awesome! Oh, and he's only 17!! It was way awesome!
I've beento Rotterdam and Den Haag already and I'm going to Amsterdam on Saturday. I haven't been to/seen the temple yet (in The Hague). But I saw a floating red light district. Pretty much the complete opposite. This place has so much sin. It's ridiculous. They have these places called "coffee shops" that are really just hooka lounges whre people go to smoke weed. People start smoking at age 10 here and pretty much everyone smokes. And alot of them smoke weed.
People are so rude to us. I get yelled at all the time. People avoid us, ignore us. People just hate us. And alot of them hate "butenlanders" which means foreigners.
Oh, and I've got another story for you. We contacted this kid on the street and then went to his house a few days later and we were talking to him and he was the only one home. And he started talking about Muslim beliefs and terrorism and shooting people in the back and all sorts of crazy stuff and his TV was on some Turkish terrorist news station that was showing dead bodies. It was nuts, and then his mom came home and we found out that his family was hardcore Muslim with the headwraps and everything. And we aren't supposed to talk to them at all, and the mom freaked out and was yelling at hime in Turkish and then she swore at us in Turkish. I was just waiting for her to pull an AK-47 out of her turban headdress thing. We left a Book of Mormon and got out of there. It was nuts.
Oh, and I don't know if I told you about our street preacher in Den Bosch. He's just a regular guy but goes in the Centrum at night and preaches and yells repentance. It's awesome. And he gives up referrals too. He's not a member, but he believes the Book of Mormon. He stands in the Centrum and yells and his voice booms and echoes throughout the Centrum. It's cool."
"Hey so here is the deal. You guys can all email me but i have to write you a letter back. But you guys CAN email me. So do it. But keep in mind that i cannot receive attachments.But tell everybody else that they can email me. So forward this email. And text people. And tell people. Ok? Good. I wanna hear everything that is goin on back at home. So email me.
But if you want to send me pictures or anything you have to send them to this address:
Elder Sean Burton
Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission
Boulevard Brand Whitlock, 87
1200-Brussels
Belgium
And that's all for now. Hope to hear from all of you soon.
Love,
Sean"
And in his letter he said:
"My area has 600,000+ people in it. I live in s'Hertogenbosch right next to the train station. You can look on GoogleEarth.com and see it.
My companion, Elder Jensen, is from Castledale, Utah which is by Price. He has been out for a year.
We don't really cook that much. Mostly we just eat easy stuff (sandwiches). We have two dinner appointments that are every week and then we usually have one to two sometimes three additional appointments. Sometime it's good food. Sometimes it's really disgusting like sourkraut, spek (a type of fatty bacon) and mashed potatoes mixed together. BLAH! I almost died it wa so bad. I was sick the rest of the night. B ut we had African food today and it was amazingly good. I liked it. And I've had Spanish, Dutch, Belgium, French, German, African, and South American food. All sorts. Some good, some not so good. But ya.
The weather is sometimes sunny, but not very often. Mostly it's so humid that it's really foggy and always cloudy. And it's cold. And always windy.
We ride our bikes alot. All over the place. We have already ridden 125+ miles. And it's not too bad. My upper legs were already in shape. And we always lock them up. Everybody rides kies here and they get stolen alot. But it's crazy. Bikes have the right-of-way. I've almost been hit by cars and buses all the time. Yesterday we saw a kid on a bike get hit by a car. It's nuts!! But it's pretty fun.
I don't have a branch (when there are not enough Church members to make a ward), it's a ward. There are about 60 members taht are active. They're all pretty nice. Sundays are regular days except for three hours of church.
We tract/contact for 15 or more hours a week. We have a few good investigators. But not really. We tracted into a couple of good ones that seem promising. One that is my favorite:
We were tracting in a place about a 30 minute bike ride from our house. We made an appointment with them for the next week. Then we went to the appointment and started to tech the lady, her son came in and sat down and then he really started to get into the lesson and was way interested and wash asking questions and we hade to make our next appointment so that he would be home because he he wanted to be there. It was awesome! Oh, and he's only 17!! It was way awesome!
I've beento Rotterdam and Den Haag already and I'm going to Amsterdam on Saturday. I haven't been to/seen the temple yet (in The Hague). But I saw a floating red light district. Pretty much the complete opposite. This place has so much sin. It's ridiculous. They have these places called "coffee shops" that are really just hooka lounges whre people go to smoke weed. People start smoking at age 10 here and pretty much everyone smokes. And alot of them smoke weed.
People are so rude to us. I get yelled at all the time. People avoid us, ignore us. People just hate us. And alot of them hate "butenlanders" which means foreigners.
Oh, and I've got another story for you. We contacted this kid on the street and then went to his house a few days later and we were talking to him and he was the only one home. And he started talking about Muslim beliefs and terrorism and shooting people in the back and all sorts of crazy stuff and his TV was on some Turkish terrorist news station that was showing dead bodies. It was nuts, and then his mom came home and we found out that his family was hardcore Muslim with the headwraps and everything. And we aren't supposed to talk to them at all, and the mom freaked out and was yelling at hime in Turkish and then she swore at us in Turkish. I was just waiting for her to pull an AK-47 out of her turban headdress thing. We left a Book of Mormon and got out of there. It was nuts.
Oh, and I don't know if I told you about our street preacher in Den Bosch. He's just a regular guy but goes in the Centrum at night and preaches and yells repentance. It's awesome. And he gives up referrals too. He's not a member, but he believes the Book of Mormon. He stands in the Centrum and yells and his voice booms and echoes throughout the Centrum. It's cool."
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Here is what Sean said in his last email:
"s'-Hertogenbosch and the rest of my area has about 600,000 people in it. And only two missionaries. But we don't really cook much. We just eat sandwiches and with members. My apartment has a bedroom, bathroom, and a kitchen/living area. My companion has been out a year. The members cook some wierd food. It's very common to just make mashed potatoes and then mix everything in that. Such as carrots, saur crout, spek(disgusting bacon-y stuff), etc. It's gross. But there's also some good things too. The weather is cold, extremely humid, and no rain yet except the first day. We ride our bikes alot. I have already biked 115 miles! and we always lock our bikes. They get stolen alot. We have about 60 people in our ward, we aren't a branch. Sundays consist of church and then regular missionary stuff."
It costs $.90 to mail a letter and takes 2 weeks to get there. If you would like to mail something to Sean, i.e. food, letters, etc., email my mom at knb520@hotmail.com and she can accumulate stuff and mail it together.
"s'-Hertogenbosch and the rest of my area has about 600,000 people in it. And only two missionaries. But we don't really cook much. We just eat sandwiches and with members. My apartment has a bedroom, bathroom, and a kitchen/living area. My companion has been out a year. The members cook some wierd food. It's very common to just make mashed potatoes and then mix everything in that. Such as carrots, saur crout, spek(disgusting bacon-y stuff), etc. It's gross. But there's also some good things too. The weather is cold, extremely humid, and no rain yet except the first day. We ride our bikes alot. I have already biked 115 miles! and we always lock our bikes. They get stolen alot. We have about 60 people in our ward, we aren't a branch. Sundays consist of church and then regular missionary stuff."
It costs $.90 to mail a letter and takes 2 weeks to get there. If you would like to mail something to Sean, i.e. food, letters, etc., email my mom at knb520@hotmail.com and she can accumulate stuff and mail it together.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Elder Burton's New Address in the Netherlands
Here is what Elder Burton said about his new address:
"All packages must be sent to the Mission Home address and letters can be sent there too but it will take 5-10 extra days for me to get them. My apartment address right now is Boschveldweg 27E 5211-VH 's-Hertogenbosch Nederlands. If you send packsges, use DHL, i think it's faster."
"All packages must be sent to the Mission Home address and letters can be sent there too but it will take 5-10 extra days for me to get them. My apartment address right now is Boschveldweg 27E 5211-VH 's-Hertogenbosch Nederlands. If you send packsges, use DHL, i think it's faster."
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Elder Burton's going to the Netherlands!
Today, Sunday February 3, will be Elder Burton's last night at the MTC! He flys out tomorrow to begin his mission. He is very excited to be headed out and begin his missionary work! The MTC has been hard, but he seems to have enjoyed being there and feeling the Spirit and learning more about the Gospel. He has been somewhat injury plagued, being the accident prone kid that he is, but thanks to a priesthood blessing, he is able to continue his service.
His email address is Sean.Burton@myldsmail.net.
Letters and Packages can be sent to:
Elder Sean Ross Burton
Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission
87, Blvd. Brand Whittock
B-1200 Brussels
BELGIUM
His email address is Sean.Burton@myldsmail.net.
Letters and Packages can be sent to:
Elder Sean Ross Burton
Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission
87, Blvd. Brand Whittock
B-1200 Brussels
BELGIUM
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
We have received several letters from Sean now. We get letters once a week. He says he is doing well. He tells us he has one hour of personal, companion, and language study for 3 hours total. Then he has an hour and 15 minutes of MDT (missionary directed time). The rest is just classroom instruction. They have firesides on Sunday and Tuesday nights. The BYU men's chorus, Elder Lance B. Wickman, Elder David B. Dickson, and some others have spoken to them.
For Christmas Elder L. Tom Perry and his family gave a devotional. Sean says it was really great. The MTC gave them a bag with a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD and some candy in it.
They go to the temple every week and Sean loves it.
He says that he has gained 15 pounds of muscle, but with the amount of candy that we keep sending him, we're not so sure it is muscle. He is not a big fan of the food at the MTC, so anything non-perishable that can be sent would be great.
Sean told us a joke that the MTC president told them on their first Sunday there: "You know what the difference between the MTC and prison is? In prison you get a phone call and a TV." Sean says being in the MTC is the hardest thing he has ever done, so letters would really be appreciated. He would love to know that people still remember him and are praying for him.
If you live in Provo, the UPS store on University Avenue up by the Riverwoods (it is about 1/2 a mile south of the Riverwoods in a strip mall on the East side of the road) does free same day MTC delivery. If you live along the Wasatch front, there are also several UPS stores that do same day delivery as well if you deliver the package by noon. I think this costs a little money, but I'm not sure. Go to www.mtcdelivery.com for more information.
For Christmas Elder L. Tom Perry and his family gave a devotional. Sean says it was really great. The MTC gave them a bag with a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD and some candy in it.
They go to the temple every week and Sean loves it.
He says that he has gained 15 pounds of muscle, but with the amount of candy that we keep sending him, we're not so sure it is muscle. He is not a big fan of the food at the MTC, so anything non-perishable that can be sent would be great.
Sean told us a joke that the MTC president told them on their first Sunday there: "You know what the difference between the MTC and prison is? In prison you get a phone call and a TV." Sean says being in the MTC is the hardest thing he has ever done, so letters would really be appreciated. He would love to know that people still remember him and are praying for him.
If you live in Provo, the UPS store on University Avenue up by the Riverwoods (it is about 1/2 a mile south of the Riverwoods in a strip mall on the East side of the road) does free same day MTC delivery. If you live along the Wasatch front, there are also several UPS stores that do same day delivery as well if you deliver the package by noon. I think this costs a little money, but I'm not sure. Go to www.mtcdelivery.com for more information.
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