Zone BBQ not sure what the meat was...

Dad--My companion has about 21 months in the mission.  He's gonna die 5 days after Christmas.  I'm really sorry to hear about Sister Smith passing, that's pretty rough.
I have an interview with my president this coming week.  We get interviews every two cambios, change cycles, idk what they're called in English.  I had to give a spiritual thought in a zone meeting last week and it was pretty hard.  despues de dos anos no voy a poder a hablar engles para crap.
I'm gonna try to write about daily life in a letter to Mom, but I don't have much time.  I'll take a picture of something for next week.
Love you Dad, u da bess.
El Libro azul es verdad.
Amen.  Hallelujah.

Oh, and felicidades that you got some elders in the ward finally.  Best of luck with that.  I've thought  a lot about what the heck I would do as a missionary in Idaho.  If I don't have a cita here in Colombia, I can always walk down the street and get into 1 out of 3 houses, no problem.  But at the same time, there's a reason there's no white sisters here haha.
Love you!  Give the missionaries a high five for me.

Mom--Hey, so, I just wrote you a really great letter about a crazy investigator we had.  I really did... but then the awesome Colombian computer shut down and I lost it.  I'm really sorry, but we have to leave really soon.
I'm sorry to hear about Sister Smith's passing.  I'm really glad our Father has a plan for us.
I hope you enjoyed your trip with your Philly friends.  When I come home, we should go there together!
This week was alright.  I'll rewrite you the letter next week, I promise!  This week, I'll have my first interview with the President in the field.  That's exciting.  And we are definitely stoked for conference!  We are making predictions tomorrow, in our district meeting, about which of the seventy will be chosen as the next apostles.  Winners get snickers!  For zone activity we had a barbecue and watched Toy Story.  I'm not sure what the meat was...but I'm am sure it wasn't cooked all the way... Love you lots!

Zone BBQ not sure what the meat was...

Parke Tyrona--The deep Jungle

 Hey, sorry you didn't get a letter on Monday.  This week we went to a national park all day on Monday, so we didn't have time to write yesterday.  It's something you only get to do once in the mission, and the office tells you when.  We don't have a ton of time, so I took a picture of my journal entry.  

"Monday, September 21, 2015

I'm tired.  In our mission there is a national park called "Parke Tyrona."  it's this HUGE tropical forest with really pretty beaches.  It's one of the bigger tourist spots on the coast.  It's in Santa Marta, an hour away from Barranquilla.  Before President Searle, no missionaries were allowed to go there, but he changed the rule so that every missionary would get to go there at least one time before they finish their mission.  If your companion is about to leave and hasn't been there yet, then you can go with him for the second time.  Well, normally, you get to go at the end of your mission, but Elder Cavero has never been, so we were put on the list to this Monday.

We woke up at 5:00 am to go the terminal of Barranquilla.  We took a bus for 1 1/2 hrs, then another bus for 45 min.  We entered the park on foot, then caught a bus (crappy van) to take us to the trailhead.  Then we walked (hiked) for hours (all day).  This park was ginormous.  We hiked for like 1 1/2 hours until we got to the beach.  We took a bunch of pictures there.  It was super cool to see the ocean, but really hard.  one of the hardest parts about the mission for me is not being able to swim.  After that we kept hiking to this really pretty beach with a restaurant and this tower thing with a bunch of hammocks.  We ate there and then hiked all the way back to the beach and took two busses and a motocar back to our house.  We seriously hiked like 10 miles up and down mountain trails.

It was Elder Cavero's Birthday today (LUCKY).  So this was his birthday present.  It was a really cool day, super long, but pretty awesome.  We are pretty much destroyed right now.  We have permission to send our weekly forms and write the family tomorrow, (my mom is probably freaking out a little bit).  I think when Selena Gomez and I get married, we're gonna go back there to visit."




------------------------------

Dad--Hey sorry, this p-day was nuts.  We were literally gone the whole day, but...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  I'm singing you the happy birthday song right now!  Sorry I wasn't there, I hope you ate lots of ice cream!  This week I went deep into the jungle haha.  We went deep into a real one.  One day I'll take you there and we will actually go swimming.  That's the hardest part for me, that I can't swim.  I hope you had a Happy Birthday.  Eat lots of American food for me.
Love you Dad, you de bess!

Brinley:  Hey Brinley, I haven't gotten any letters yet, sorry about that.  I'll let you know when I do!  I love you Brinley, you're the best!

Spencer:  haha that sucks that you have braces.  I don't even know if I have my retainer.  But I have a spiritual one.  That's awesome that you're loving soccer.  Keep on going love you bro!

We work for the Lord

Tuesday we were waiting outside the door of a less active to see if they were home and a lady walked by on the street and asked if we were Mormons.  Yes we are!  haha  She told us that her family has a lot of problems and her friend told her to go look for the Jehovah Witnesses or The Mormons.  Luckily, she found the Mormons first!

We followed her to her house and she described to us that there has been lots of fighting in her house and she thinks there's bad spirits in her house.  She said that the people who lived in the house before them played that we-gee board game or something and that they did priest craft.

When we got to the house, we found that the husband was smoking and drinking rum.  Both of the sons had problems with beer, rum, illegal drugs, and cigarettes, as well as tea and coffee.  The mom said that they've been having huge fights and it was getting really dangerous in the house.  Then she said, "If you don't believe me, look behind you!"  We turned around to find blood splattered all over the wall.  It was like when you have abstract art day in school, and you splatter the paint with the paintbrush, but with blood.  Yea, so that's not good.  Nope, not good at all.  So, we taught the Word of Wisdom--https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/89

We explained directly to the mom, dad, and second son what the Word of Wisdom is, and that they had a problem with this doctrine.  We talked about addictions and spiritual strength.  We promised them that if they could get rid of these addictions that they could have the spirit of the Lord in their house.  The spirit was really strong.  The dad gave us his cigarettes.  It was cool to see them all commit to change and understand what was lacking in their lives.

The second visit, we met with the first son.  He was shirtless, with tattoos all over and a huge scar all up his wrist.  He couldn't move his fingers on one hand because he got hit with a machete.  He had a big drug addiction.  But he understood that he needed to change.  While we were talking with him, the other brother walked by, smoking with cigarettes in his hand, so we sat him down and talked with him too, and took his cigarettes.  The older brother had a really dark countenance--not like normal druggie countenance--like something else was deeply wrong.  You could see the toll that this life had taken on him spiritually.

Before we walked into the house the first time, my companion told me, "I have a bad feeling about this house."  After we met the first son, he said to me, "I'm scared." (In English-haha)

The reason for this story is because of a question a less active member asked us when we used this story as an example of the effects of addictions in the family.  The question was, how were you able to teach the lesson in a place like that?

The answer:  We didn't.  We didn't teach anything.  That's the BEST part about missionary work!  We work for the Lord.  There's NO way that two young men, from different countries, could walk into a man's house, that they've never met before, and tell him to change his life and help his family, then take his cigarettes.  There's NO way we would know what to say or what to do.  We are not therapists or counselors, or rehab experts.  We are not family consultants.  Our job is to have love for these people and open our mouths.  Simple.  When we do our part, God can talk to his children.  When we as missionaries, and when you as members of the church, open your mouths, you are letting God speak to his children and help them.  Help them hear, once again, the plan that God gave us before this life.  You are helping them remember.

When we sat up and looked this family in the eye to tell them God's commandment, and made addiction plans and goals to help each other, the spirit was the one talking.  Not us.  God needs to talk to every child.  But he talks through us.  We simply need to open our mouths.

The blue book is true.
Amen

--Elder Mason Burk

Pictures:

Ok, so we wash our clothes in these lavadores, they are kinda like washing machines, but it's really just a big bucket that spins really slow.  

 Next to it is a mini dryer type thing that kinda works ok.  It usually takes us 2 hours every p-day to wash our clothes. 

Elder Cavero reading with so much spirit, his shirt ripped. 

A typical street, with a bonus donkey cart.  

La moharra frita (My Favorite!)

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Mason: Hey, Elder Caveros parents didn't write him this week, you should send him a letter real quick (use really simple English)  sergio.cavero (atsimbol) myldsmail.net

Mom:  Elder Cavero, We are so glad you are Elder Burk's companion!  What did you do this week?  We are glad he had such a smart, intelligent, good looking trainer.  We were worried that no one would be able to teach him how to do missionary work.
Who did you teach this week?  We want to know how good Elder Burk is doing in his work.  If you write to me in English every week, I will write back to you.
How did you like the American candy?  Tell me which one was your favorite.  I was worried about the chocolate candy making it there without melting.  I hope it turned out ok.  Have a wonderful week!  We pray for you every night.  I hope someday you can come visit us in Idaho.
Lots of love, Sister Burk

Elder Cavero:  "Idont now english ...i love the candys, are delicious . Idon't believe that I be good looking trainer but I now work and elder Burk is good missionary .he will be a leader in the mission later.  I like the skitles but i dont likethe acid skitles.  The chocolate is save because we have freezer ...Ok impleased to meet you .Bye"

Mason: Excellent, Thank you Mom!

The guy with the red pants and sick dreads

Let me share a little life lesson from the guy with the red pants and sick dreads I met before my mission.

Dominic Balli

A couple weeks before I left for Colombia, I went to a concert with a friend.  While we were there, this lady spilled her beer all over the floor right behind us.  She apparently was incapable of cleaning it up, so we wiped it up with some paper towels.  Afterwards, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands (so my parents didn't ask why I smelled like beer).  While I was in the bathroom, I saw a guy with some sweet bright red pants, and probably the sickest hairdoo I've every seen.  He had a big healthy mess of dreads.  I told him I liked his doo and then I left back into the audience to watch the show.

Well, about 15 minutes later, after the first pre-show, the same guy walked out on stage.  He had his red pants, a sick mess of dreads, and a sweet Taylor guitar.  His show was just him with his guitar, and his friend on a mini drum set.  As he talked between songs, he told us about how he started up in Brazil.  He's really well known in Brazil, and usually does lots of tours there, but this year he had  tours through the US.  All of his songs were super upbeat and uplifting.  The main message of his songs was to find the good in everything and everyone.

He related several stories of times when he talked to people that might be homeless, or jobless, or have problems with drugs, or who knows what.  He talked about how we as humans have a first instinct to either reject people or try to help them because we have something that they don't.  But how often do we ask ourselves, "What knowledge does this person have that I don't?" or  "What is it that I could learn from this person?"

I've found this question to be really important in my mission.  As members of the church, we try to help people as much as we can.  We can see easily see the weaknesses of others, but often times we forget to look for their strengths.  The message of this artist was that every single person out there, every single child of God, has something to teach you.  Every person you see on the street has some light, some knowledge to share with you.  Not one of us is perfect, and not one of us is useless.
God doesn't make worthless children.

I've found this to be so true in the mission.  When I go into a house of an investigator, or a companionship exchange, with a set mind of what I am going to teach them, I learn absolutely nothing.  And I may or may not help them at all.  But the times when I go in just to listen, two things happen:
1) The spirit is able to teach them.
2)  I learn something, either from the spirit or from the other person.

We have to listen, we have to look.  Truths of the gospel are everywhere.

If you're having trouble loving someone, look for their strengths.  Figure out why God put them in your life.  Find the lesson that they are here to teach you.  Whether it's a big lesson or a small one, I promise it's there.  Every person you meet, see or talk to has something to teach you.
Those that don't seek will not find.

------------------
Today I went to the zone leaders house to get the packages you sent.  I got all 4 today.  I think they have been at the office for awhile.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  The zone leaders said they have never seen a package so big.  Elder Cavero loves all the stuff you sent!  The music is awesome!  We haven't listened to it all yet, but believe me, we will!

I decided to send a written page of a thought that has been on my mind this week.

Thank you so much again for the packages.  It was super cool.  You are the best Mom ever!  Are there specific pictures you want?  We can't use our cameras while we are proselyting, so we can only use it on p-days, at baptisms or at family home evenings.
Love you lots, Elder Mason Danger

Spencer, Here is a map of our apartment:

I only have 15 min...

Ok, this week was kinda crazy.

We had transfers and only one zone leader.  So my companion and I were helping him get all the new people to their houses and stuff.  Our district leader got transferred to Santa Marta and my companion is now our district leader.  So I am going to have a lot of exchanges.  Having had one day with the zone leader, I've decided that doesn't look fun.  He seriously had to send like a billion forms!  Half of our district got transferred.  The new people are a lot quieter.  We have one trainer with a brand new missionary.

We had a crazy p-day today, so I only have like 15 minutes to write.  I hope you got the picture.  Sorry.  next week I will try to get more.  The pictures are of the new zone.  Our new zone leader is Elder Slack, from Utah.

Tonight we have two family home evenings with mixed families of less actives and nonmembers.  We have three investigators that we are working really hard for, but they all need help to build their testimonies.  We are working with the ward to get some more activities to help with that.  We talked with some stake leaders to have a training with the ward leaders to help them understand how to do ward council.  Hopefully they learn a lot!

Love you all!
Elder Burk

I feel like I have been Dear Johned

The boys wrote to Mason and told him that we sold his white truck this week.  This was his sad reply: 

"I feel like part of my heart died when I read about the truck.  

I feel like I have been Dear Johned.  Wow.  

Some people get dumped by girls.  

My truck left me. 

Don't let the dogs die!"

Este Semana: 
This week was pretty awesome! We had our last district meeting of the transfer.  We think our district leader is going to be transferred, because he has 8 months in this area.  So that's kind of sad.  We won't know for sure until 9:00 pm tonight.  That's when they call the missionaries and tell them if they're staying or going or what.  I can't wait to hear the changes this week.  I think my companion may become the new district leader!

Noche Blanca:
This Saturday we had a noche blanca.  Everyone in our Zone brought their investigators that are ready for baptism to the same building to have a big service.  At first, I didn't like the idea, because I thought it would take away form the special ness of each person.  But it actually turned out to be a lot better.  When it's just one person, the program is kind of just made up on the spot.  But with this Noche Blanca, we had about 100 people there to watch, and 6 people were baptized between our zone.  One of the members of the stake presidency came to conduct the meeting.  It was really cool.  My companion and I had two investigators get baptized.  Their names are Andrea and Angie de Avila.  They are sisters.  They were definitely ready for baptism.  We have been working with their family for a long time.  They were one of the first lessons I had when I arrived in this area.

 Their mom is also working towards baptism.  She just needs to separate from the father of the kids don't like him very much and he is cousins with the Mom.  (awkward...)

The sisters were baptized by their uncle who came all the way from Bogota to baptize them.  It's a really long drive.  He's the second councilor in his ward.  You could definitely see the difference in their countenance afterward.  SO awesome!  We've been trying to describe the Holy Ghost for a long time, but now they finally understand.  

 

The church building we went to was in a richer area, so they had a nice weighted keyboard.  I played and sang "I Believe in Christ" in Spanish and English for a musical number.  It's the first time I've played anything in almost two months.  It turned out alright.  (First gig on the mission wat wat.  Pretty cool!)

Smell and See:

Ok, if you're standing in the middle of the street, this is what you see:  EVERYTHING is made of cement.  The street, the sidewalk, the walls, the houses, etc.  There's trash on the side of the road in big piles all over.  You can smell an open sewer a half mile away.  There's tons of people walking everywhere with very little clothing.  The power lines are a tangled mess.  You can smell fried meat of every kind, mixed with garbage and sewer.  IF you're still in the road at this point, you're dead, because everyone here drives crazy like me.  There's motocars, lots of bullet bikes.  Busses and taxis that look like crappy cars and sound like broken trucks.  And yea, that's pretty much it. 

Ok, I have to go, 

Love you!

The Lord loves you. So do I!

Well, this week we had a zone conference.  So we all took taxis for like an hour and a half to the inner city.  We had about 90 missionaries in this chapel and had a lot of capacitation (training).  It was pretty cool.  I saw a lot of new faces.  Elder Cavero had to to to the office to renew his visa.  He has about 4 months left in this mission, but his visa expires in November.  Luckily, he was able to get it renewed.

My companion and I have the zone leaders in our ward, and a park pretty close by, so we wake up at 5:50 everyday and play futbol for an hour or so.  My foot skills have definitely improved.  There are some people that are really good and others that I can beat.  I'm always faster, that's for sure, but we're always playing on a cement court.  It's a different game.

We have ward council every week, but we rarely have everyone there.  It's kind of tough, because the ward leaders all act like teenagers, including the Bishop.  But we're working on it!

We were walking in the street in one of the poorer areas this week, when this guy came up to us and asked for a Bible.  He definitely looked like an addict.  We followed him to his house, where we found his Mom and another day met more of this family.  I think he has a little bit of autism.  His Mom has 8 children and their father abandoned them.  The children are all over 20, but they have a lot of problems.  Lots of addictions.  Coke is the main one of the ones we met.  But they were super receptive to the message we gave and they all said they wanted to change.  The mom has been through a lot, but it's really cool to see the effect the spirit had on them.  You could see it in their eyes that they needed help and they trusted that our message was from God to them.

Whenever I miss my friends or family at home, I think about all of my friends out in the field--all of the other soldiers working for the Lord.  That all of them are doing the same thing I am!  The more time I'm out, the more I think about the investigators.  If I stay busy, I forget about everything else. The Lord loves you. So do I!

Elder Danger Burk

---------------------------------------------------------------

We got lucky this week and caught Mason online for a little Q/A:

What did you like about Zone Conference?
It was cool to see the other leaders and the President.  (I've only seen him one other time.)  They had some cool capacitation, I think that means training, I don't really know.  Honestly, it was cool just to travel a little bit.  The lessons were awesome.  They talked about when the Savior visited the Apostles after his death when they were fishing.  There's a really cool talk by Elder Holland all about it.  You should look it up.  It's titled, "Feed My Sheep."

What's your President like?
He's a farmer. HaHa

Did your first package get there yet? (sent August 5th)
No, I haven't heard anything yet.  It will probably be another week or so, is my guess.

What city are you in?  We want to see on the map where you are serving.
Soledad 2000.  It's a district right next to Barranquilla.

Is there a map of your mission with the boundaries of the different areas?  
Hmm, idk.  I know there's only like 5 cities with missionaries.  I'll keep you updated on that.  This week was kind of slow on pictures.  The computer I'm at won't let me use my photos.  We can only use our cameras at baptisms, FHE, p-days, and meetings.  So sorry, I'm working on it, but I'll try harder this week.

Spencer and I are in the car together. He wants to know what kind of food you are eating for each meal.  I want to know, are you cooking for yourself, or are members cooking for you?
I eat fried mystery food on the streets and lots of bread.  We pay one family to make lunch for us everyday.  Lots of chicken and rice.

Tell us more about your companion.  He seems funny in the pictures.  Are you guys getting along?  Does he come from an active family? Is he a convert?
He's been a member all of his life.  His dad was a Bishop.  He really knows the scriptures.  He's very sarcastic.  He sounds a lot like Jasie when he speaks English.  But he jokes like Bonnie.  We'll send you a recording next week.

Spencer wants to know how comfortable your bed it.  I want to know if you have a good pillow, mattress, blanket and how did the microfiber towel work out, are you happy with it?
Yep, I've got all that stuff.  The towel is great.
Mom, can you send me a copy of the Family Proclamation in English, via email?  I can print it off.

Yes, here you go--

 Letters to siblings:

Spencer--Hey, That's super cool that you're playing basketball!  Whenever we play basketball here, we, the gringos, always win!  haha.  The Latinos are really good at soccer, but not so coordinated with their hands.  It also helps that we're usually a lot taller.  Good luck with practice.  Just be sure to touch the ball everyday!

Brinley--That's awesome that you're starting gymnastics!  You should have Braden teach you how to do a backflip!  By the time I come home, I bet you'll be a pro!  Are you excited to start school? When is your first day?  Love you lots!