Email July 18, 2015

Email July 18, 2015 – Elder Isaac K. Burton

Hola amigos!

So, some kinda cool news, last Sunday my companion and I were called to be zone leaders here in the mtc. It's been a great opportunity! Basically our job is to watch out for our zone and make sure everything is running well. WE minister to the members of our zone by getting to know there hearts and becoming their friends. We always try to be there for if anyone is struggling or has questions. Our administering responsibilities are that my make sure that each district is running well and that the work is progressing. WE are in charge of planning sacrament meetings and priesthood meetings each week. So basically we just supervise everything and then report back to our branch presidency. We are their eyes and ears. It has been pretty crazy though. on monday the two other districts in our zone left for the field so it was just my district until wednesday which was pretty nice. Things got a little crazier wednesday though when we got 5 brand new districts for a total of 53 new missionaries. So we jumped from having a zone of 10 to having a zone of 63. Quite the jump. Our branch president has worked here at the mtc for 4 years and this is the biggest zone he's ever had by almost three times. But it's been good! Me and my companion ran the orientation meeting for all of them and gave them a tour their first night and it seems like everyone is getting the hang of things really well. All the new missionaries are super cool. With this calling though I've definitely had to be humbled and really learn to rely on christ and the holy ghost to help us lead the way he wants us to. Thats been my main focus this week, becoming closer to my brother Jesus Christ and becoming more in tune with the spirit. My companion and I both felt very inadequate when we were first called, but as has been said, God qualifies the called. I have definitely felt a difference in how I've done things this week. You don't become closer to Christ by trying to let him guide you and work through you. You become closer to Christ by striving at all times to do do as he would do. By doing that and by focusing on having more christlike attributes, you will become closer to him and you will begin to know what he would have you do. It's a lot harder than it sounds too. The key is to turn outward at all times. Turn out towards others and not in towards yourself. Elder Bednar gave this amazing talk a few years ago here at the MTC called The Character of Christ. It is definitely the best talk I have ever heard. Elder Bednar talks about how the character of Christ is that he turns outward at all times, even in times of trial, while the natural man turns inward. We all need to strive to turn away from the natural man and instead strive to always turn outward. That is how we become more christlike people and really build our relationship and love with him. 

The language is going well, the gift of tongues is amazing. It feels weird that I've only been here for two weeks because it seems like I've been here forever. But at the same time it feels like I just got here yesterday. The days are long but the weeks are short. Time is weird. Each day is spent in classes, learning more about how to teach the gospel and learning more spanish. We also have a lot of personal study time which is super nice. Thats where we really are able to build our own relationships and conversions to the lord. The food is still good, I think I'm losing weight through, my jeans feel super loose on me today haha. Vida es buena! Thanks for all the emails! I love you all.

Love, Elder Burton