Email March 6, 2021

Email March 6, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton 

きゅしゅうかん！！(Week 9)

こんいちは！

I can't believe I'm done! The MTC went by soso fast. Holy cow. But what an amazing experience it has been. I can't really even describe it. I have grown more in these last two months than I have in the past two years! Haha. It's actually crazy. I have absolutely loved the MTC, even when it's been online. Spiritually, I don't think there were any downsides for having it online. Such an amazing experience. I will definitely miss it, and especially my district, they're the best. But! I am beyond excited to head out to Texas on Monday morning. What an adventure it will be, serving the Lord!

Sorry this one is so short. The day's been crazy with packing and everything and I have to go to bed. Keep on keeping on! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true! I love you all! :)

Love,

Burton 長老

Email February 27, 2021

Email February 27, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

はっしゅうかん！！ (Week 8)

Brigham arranged his study desk so that he could practice sitting on the floor in preparation for serving in Sapporo Japan.

こんにちは！

Well. It's official. I now have a week left in the MTC! 

As everyone says here, days feel like weeks but weeks feel like days! It's honestly crazy. But this week has been another awesome one! We were able to teach Eri and Collin again and both went really well! I could understand about 50% of what Eri said during the lesson, compared to like 20% two weeks ago, so there has been lots of improvement haha. We had originally planned to talk to her about how God is our Heavenly Father again because we didn't feel like she understood it very well from the first time but she really wanted to know about Jesus Christ's teachings and his Gospel so we just went with it! She seemed very engaged and excited to learn more. But sadly that will be our last time teaching her. Collin on the other hand was in English and it was super great! We talked with him about prayer, faith, and repentance and he seemed very moved by it. I hope this week he can apply what we taught and see how God feels about him. We'll see next week with our last lesson with him.

A thought I'd like to share:

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is one of the most powerful things that we can know about and have in our lives. It is the ultimate gift from our Heavenly Father and the ultimate sacrifice from our Brother. Nothing else compares. Without the Atonement we would all become increasingly more broken and battered. Not able to overcome physical or spiritual death. Not able to overcome simple mistakes. But the Atonement covers EVERYTHING! Through Jesus Christ we can feel whole and full of joy. We can have hope that we will be able return to our Heavenly Father after this life. But we have to be willing to repent. I know repentance can be scary. But I encourage you to repent. Daily. It'll really change your life. Turn your heart and your mind to the Savior and become more like him. That's what I am called to do on this mission. To bring people unto repentance through Jesus Christ and his Gospel. This knowledge has brought me so much joy and comfort. I have felt God's love surround me as I've tried to become better everyday. I testify that the Atonement is real. It's redeeming AND enabling power are real. This Gospel is true. Find it out for yourself! I hope you all have amazing weeks! :)

Love,

Burton 長老

 

Email February 20, 2021

Email February 20, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

ななしゅうかん！！

こんにちは！

This one is gonna be short!

What a great week! We had some really awesome lessons and lots of guiding from the Spirit. Kenna prayed for us and it was incredible! Way better than anyone in our district haha. I really hope she continues to pray throughout this week. The power of prayer and revelation are real! This week I have been able to feel that tremendously. The Lord cares about what we care about and he wants to hear from us! Don't be afraid to tell him anything. He wants to draw close to us so we must draw close to him.

Thank you for all of the love and support you all give me! I love you so much!

Love,

Burton 長老

Email February 13, 2021

Email February 13, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

ろくしゅうかん！！（Week 6)

こんにちは！

It's been a great week! Lots of learning, growing, and humbling experiences haha. We taught two real Japanese people this week and boy was it a slap in the face!! Haha. They talk so fast and you can't understand what they say at all. After the second lesson about the Plan of Salvation, we got feedback in English and apparently he had been saying that he didn't really want to be like God and he just wanted to be reincarnated as a rock or a tree. What a guy. I definitely have a long way ahead of me. But I'm still excited for the challenge.

Besides that fiasco lol, I feel like my Japanese has been improving a lot lately! All the grammar is coming together a lot easier now even though it's still a struggle. The gift of tongues is real! I think I've gotten a taste of what it's like this week. The Lord is good and helps those who seek him. 

Also this talk was suggested by a friend to read and I could not recommend it enough!! 

Our Identity and Our Destiny - Tad R. Callister

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/tad-r-callister/our-identity-and-our-destiny/#byu-header

Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day and a great week! Don't forget how much your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you! Their love is never ending and is all we need to keep going. If you are having a hard time feeling that love, I would encourage you to think of all of the things you're grateful for. Then, pray to them with faith and a sincere heart. You will feel their love surround you.

Love,

Burton ちょうろう 

Email February 6, 2021

Email February 6, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

ごしゅうかん！！（Week 5)

こんにちは！

Well, this week has gone by just as crazy fast as all the other ones! And I think today is officially the halfway mark of my MTC experience! It's been a great one.

We taught our first (kind of real) lesson in Japanese on Wednesday! The girl we met with is named Kenna and she is super nice! She was definitely very understanding of our sketchy Japanese haha. I think that it went way better than I imagined it going though so that's good! Also shout out to Jones ちょうろう for being a master at Japanese. It would've been a lot more rough without him haha. We taught her about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and how we can pray to him for guidance. We asked her to talk to her family about what we taught and to pray about our message. We'll see what happens next week!

Other than that we've really just been grinding out our Japanese learning and our study of the Gospel. It's really really awesome! Our discussions can get very deep and it's just cool to talk about that stuff that no one exactly knows all the answers to. Mind bending kinda things haha.

A scripture with a thought I'd like to share:

I came across Mosiah 5:13 in my personal scripture study and I really liked it, it says, 

13 For how ^aknoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?

How can we know Jesus Christ if we have not served him? Or kept him in our hearts? The simple answer is that we can't. In order to REALLY know Jesus Christ, as a brother and a friend, we must try to give our whole selves to him. We must choose him everyday. Choose to pray. Choose to repent. Choose to serve. And when we falter and inevitably lose our way, we can turn to him again and he will be waiting to help us with open arms. And if you don't know him that well? He is eagerly waiting for you to talk to him. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know He is my Savior and I know He is yours too. Choose Christ!

I hope you all have an amazing week! :)

Love,

Burton ちょうろう

Email January 30, 2021

 Email January 30, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

The Reassignment....Dun Dun DUNNNNNN

こんいちは　！！

Whelp. This week has been a whirl! If you haven't heard already, due to Covid freaking 19 hahaha (sorry I just hate that phrase), I have been temporarily reassigned tooooooo....

LUBBOCK, TEXAS!!!!!

And I am so excited!! Is it Japan, no. But the fact that I will get to experience two completely different missions is blowing my mind. I will give my all in whatever place the Lord sends me. I consider myself very blessed. And! Another cool thing is that my companion, Elder Jones and Elder Iwaasa from my district will be joining me! What an incredible experience it will be. They're both amazing at Japanese so it'll be awesome if we are able to study together as well. They say that everything is bigger in Texas, so my one goal while I'm there is that I can make that true about the Gospel, but not about me lol.

Collin got engaged! And yes, I know, it's probably fake but I can't help but feel excited for the guy. He's awesome! We taught him about families and the Restoration of the Gospel this week and he seemed super interested! I think the most of any lesson we've taught I think, so I'm excited for next week. Next week we also teach our first lesson in Japanese! (to someone who's not our teachers pretending to be people haha) It's definitely gonna be an experience haha. We'll see how it goes and I'll tell you all about it next week. 

A quick thought: Remember. As we prepare to take the sacrament on the Sabbath tomorrow, remember the Atonement. Remember Jesus Christ and His love for you. Remember to always take His name upon you. Think about the sacrament prayers and ponder them in your heart. They are powerful. His sacrifice for us is infinite. May we all try to remember him and thank him infinitely.

Love you all! :) Have a すばらし week!

Love,

Burton ちょうろう

Temporary Reassignment

 Phone Call 1/27/21 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

New temporary mission reassignment

Elder Burton receives a phone call from Stake President Diamond informing him of his temporary mission assignment. He will continue his MTC training for Japan.

Lubbock, Texas!! 

He will be headed there about March 8th

Email January 23, 2021

 Email January 23, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

さんしゅうかん　！！ (Week 3)

こんにちは　！

This week has gone by soso quick but also been really fun! My district has been able to meet together more outside of class and it's always a party. We're definitely connecting a lot more now and it's been super awesome to get to know them all. This week I had a little too much fun and had the joyous opportunity of pranking my teachers. Zoom lets you add in backgrounds and filters as most of you probably know and over the weekend I "grew" a gnarly goatee. Which is very much against the dress and grooming standards. Both teachers in both classes totally thought it was real. After they had kindly told me to go shave, I made it disappear and watched as they confusingly asked, "Wait, that was fake??" The whole district was laughing and it was a great time all around hahaha.

This week we also had the opportunity to teach Collin again! It went much better than the last one and I was able to communicate my thoughts and feelings in a much more elegant way. I know the Spirit was helping me teach! Faith and the power of prayer are real and the Lord will help you if it's a righteous desire. My testimony of that was definitely strengthened this week.

A thought I want to share: This week on Tuesday we got to listen to a devotional by Elder Ronald A. Rasband. It was amazing! One thing he said really stuck out to me. Which basically said this. 'They'll inquire about the treasures in heaven, but can't let go of what they prize on earth.' In order to truly be committed to the Gospel and to Jesus Christ, we must be willing to let go and sacrifice some of the things of the earth. Whether that be sin, worldly possessions, grudges, or so many other things, we must learn to let go. Not gonna lie, as a missionary, it's been very hard for me to let go of a lot of the music used to listen to. Songs will pop into my head and I have to replace them with a hymn or other church music. Not that they're bad songs, they just don't invite the Spirit that I would like to have as a missionary. But as I have tried to focus my thoughts and music on my Savior, I have felt an increase in my ability to feel the Spirit and connect with my brother, Jesus Christ. It's nothing big and it doesn't have to be. By small things, the Lord will bring great things to come to pass. I know that as you try and forsake all of the little things that might be holding you back, you will see blessings in your life and the treasures that are in heaven will be within reach!

I am very thankful for all of you!! :)

Love,

Burton ちょうろう

 My district!! Love these guys! 

Email January 16, 2021

 Email January 16, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

にしゅうかん！！(Week 2)

I can't believe it's been two weeks in the MTC! Seems like the weeks go by crazy fast but the days go by slow, which is great because I'm loving every second of it!

A lot has changed in a week! I can now, very simply, meet someone, offer a prayer, testify, and share a scripture, in Japanese. It still feels like I know almost nothing but we're working on it for sure. This week on Wednesday we taught our first lesson in Japanese! It honestly didn't go as bad as I thought it would but there's still lots of room for improvement. We also taught a few lessons in English this week to some "non-members" haha. Collin and Katie. Both lessons overall went pretty well, but my nerves tend to get to me and I trip on my words a lot. Definitely something I'm working on. Good thing I have legit the best companions who can smooth all of my rough patches over. Elder Jones and Elder Helms are awesome.

One invitation I would like to extend to all of you is to USE A STUDY JOURNAL for your scripture reading!! And any gospel study in general. It's grown my love for the Book of Mormon so much. A spark of the spirit can explode into a whole bombardment of spiritual wonderness when you write down and think about what you're reading and feeling. And who doesn't want more spiritual wonderness in their life?? I sure do. When we cherish the thoughts and promptings of the Spirit by pondering and writing them down, it shows God that we are thankful for that revelation and he will trust us with more of that in the future. In 1st Nephi, Nephi desired to know the things which his father had seen. It says "I sat pondering in mine heart..." thinking about those things. He may not have written it down but I promise it will help you think on those things of your heart. And because Nephi had such great faith, the Spirit of the Lord showed him not only what his father had seen but also so many other things. The Lord will bless you if you take note of the things he says to you. I know that to be true.

Hope everyone had a great week! :)

Love,

Burton ちょうろう

Email January 9, 2021

Email January 9, 2021 - Elder Brigham Craig Burton

The Empty Sea!

 こんにちは　！！

Holy moly. The online MTC has already been such an amazing experience.
And I'm only three days in. Wow. I don't know if I've ever felt so
purposeful in my life! Dedicating all of your time to the Lord is a
wonderful feeling and it's crazy how your life before can just melt
away when you fully focus on what's important. Nothing is more
important than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want each of you to know
that.

While I am in the MTC, I get to be in a trio! Elder Jones and Elder
Helms are both so awesome! Elder Jones already knows lots of Japanese
and is super helpful and kind. Elder Helms and I are basically
starting from the beginning and are both working on getting it
together. He knows how to study hard and I'm learning a lot from him.
I think my head is about to explode with にほんご。 The language is very
difficult but it's coming along and I am excited to see where I can go
with it!  I have also very much enjoyed having dedicated time to study
the scriptures. Not having to fight off sleep as I read before bed is
definitely something I didn't know I needed haha and should've changed
way sooner. I would invite everyone, if you don't do it already, to
set a specific amount of time aside, no matter how long, and follow
it. It will bless your life. In these three days I feel like I've
already grown so much. Don't take the scriptures or your prayers for
granted. They are POWERFUL. I have felt that multiple times already in
the MTC.

A quick thought I wanted to share that was told in a workshop on my first day.
When President Hinckley went on his mission he was feeling awful and
wanted to go home. He emailed his dad and said something to the effect
of, I feel like I'm wasting my time and your money. I think I should
just come home. And I love what his dad simply replied, "Forget
yourself, and go to work." Not only do I hope that I can apply this
principle to my mission and my life, but I hope you can apply it to
yours. It's not about you. It never is. Whatever you are doing. Forget
yourself and go to work. For your family, maybe your future family,
for the Lord, go to WORK. I promise you, you will feel more purposeful
than you ever have. You may be freaking tired at the end of the day
like I am but I know you will feel a greater sense of happiness and
joy because you are giving your life to a greater cause than yourself.

I hope all of you are staying healthy and safe! You all mean so much to me!　：）

Love,
Burton ちようるう