Sunset MTC

This is a picture of the sunset through the window of my classroom. It's so beautiful!

Email October 25, 2017

Email October 25, 2017 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Hey everyone!

Hey everyone!

       It's been an awesome week! I have less than two weeks left at the MTC! We should be getting our flight plans this Friday. I'm so excited! There's a new missionary in our zone who has already served a year of his mission, but he got sick and had to go home for a year. But now he's back in the MTC and it's really cool to get to talk to someone who's already experienced being out in the field but isn't exactly a returned missionary. And he's going to Sapporo, so I get to hear cool stories about my mission! I'm so excited! It sounds like the food is amazing.

        Elder Stevenson came and spoke at the devotional yesterday! He gave such a great talk! He served a mission in Fukuoka, Japan and was a mission president in Nagoya, Japan so he made a few references to Japan in his talk which was really cool. I could tell from the way he talked about it that he still loves Japan. In his talk he discussed chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel, Developing Christlike Attributes. There are a bunch of Christlike attributes in the chapter, but he discussed four specifically, humility, obedience, virtue,  and diligence. He talked about how important each one is for missionaries and the blessings that come from living each one. The theme for the MTC right now is Become As He Is, so it related really well. I think it's really important for everyone to strive to become like Christ. The whole purpose of being here on earth is to become the kind of people who can return to live with God again, and we can do that through developing Christlike attributes.

MTC Zone

This was my zone on Sunday. I'm on the right edge. Everyone in this picture except my district of 10 people left to Japan on Monday! They were awesome and they're gonna be great missionaries. We're getting new missionaries today!

Email October 18, 2017

Email October 18, 2017 – Elder Jackson Kunzler Burton

Hey Everyone!

Hey Everyone!

     This has been an amazing week! On Friday we had the dedication of the two new MTC buildings. I'm not sure why they waited so long to dedicate them but it was awesome! President Nelson and President Eyring both spoke. Their talks got me so pumped up for missionary work! They talked a lot about the history of missionary work in the church, and the growth and changes that have occurred over the decades as the number of missionaries has increased, and how it will continue to grow and we get to be a part of it. Also, the Japanese zones have had class in one one the old buildings up until now, but today we are moving to one of the new buildings! I'm so excited! The new buildings are so beautiful, with huge windows that have views of the mountains and the Provo temple. It's gonna be awesome to spend my last three weeks at the MTC there. Speaking of which, I can't believe I only have three weeks left! I'm so excited to go to Japan! The daughter of one of the counselors in our branch presidency ca,e and spoke to us on Sunday. She got back from Sapporo about a year ago. She told some really cool stories from her mission and talked a little bit about the winter in Sapporo. It sounds like it's pretty brutal. But she said that a member of the Seventy came to their mission and said, "Yes, you're in a cold mission. If you don't like it, like it!" It's all about your attitude. We had a devotional by Elder Nielson of the Seventy yesterday, and he talked about what he had learned from a few of the apostles and the prophet. From Elder Bednar he learned that we need to pray for the strength to be able to handle our circumstances,  not for our circumstances to change. The atonement is enabling, it enables us to endure any challenge. No matter how much I pray, Sapporo will still be cold in the winter, but if I pray for strength, I know I'll be able to handle it. Something I keep hearing here in the MTC is that through faith, we can overcome fear. Fear is literally the opposite of faith. Another thing from the devotional yesterday came from President Packer. He said that you can't have both fear and faith at the same time. One will drive out the other. Fear is Satan's most powerful tool. Any time we are kept fro, doing something right, it's because we are afraid. But if we truly have faith that Christ will help us, we will never be afraid to do what's right. Christ will never give us fear. If we have faith, we can literally live without fear, because we know that Christ is on our side. I think that this is something God has really been trying to teach me. Overcoming my fear is something I really need to work on. But I know through Christ I know I can do all things. For those of you who don't know, my mission scripture is D&C 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." I've always loved that scripture, but I didn't realize just how important it would be for my mission. I know that if we look unto Christ in every thought, we have no reason to doubt or fear. Thank you all for the support and prayers. I can really feel them. I love you all!

Love,

バートン長老

Elder Burton