The Mission XXIV: The Finish Line

Friends and family, it looks like we've reached the end of my two year journey, serving as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  As I sit behind this computer for the last time I am left speechless with nothing but an overwhelming feeling of gratitude to the Lord for all that I have been able to accomplish and overcome during my time of service.  

It's been VERY difficult saying goodbye to the faces that I've met here in the mission, but I can't help but feel grateful for the chance that God has given me to meet such amazing people.  Whether it be members, investigators, or fellow missionaries, I can say that these people have had such a big impact on my life and I will never forget them.  

My mission will forever have a special place in my heart.  I've learned more than I ever have in my whole life and grown closer and closer every day to our loving God.  I've learned more about my Savior and as I've continued to deepen my knowledge about his gospel through studying and applying the scriptures, my love and gratitude for Him has grown and will continue to grow stronger and stronger every day.  I know that Jesus Christ lives and that because He lives we will all live again.  I love Him more than anything and I've felt His influence and the change that His atonement can bring upon any soul who is willing to follow Him.  I testify that the day will come when He will descend from above and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Christ.  I know that Heavenly Father cares about each and every one of His children and I know that His arm is extended to those who will accept Him and put their trust in him continually.      

I know that in 1820 a curious 14 year old boy knelt down in humble prayer in a grove of trees and the result of his curiosity is now the restored church of Jesus Christ brought forth again to gather the children of God.  Alam ko din na hindi nagbabago ang Diyos kaya mas naunawaan ko kung bakit siya ay tumatawag sa mga propeta para magabayan tayo sa panahon na ito.

The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God and I can testify that any person who reads it consistently and abides by its teachings will find peace in a world of kaguluhan and guidance in a world of confusion.  This book truly testifies of the doctrine of Jesus Christ and his visit to the Nephite civilization in ancient America.  Words cannot describe the love that I have developed for this book as it was able to help me through the hardest of times and struggles on my mission.  It acted as a medium through which I was able to gain personal revelation and feel like God was actually present, speaking with me.  You can bet I'll be continuing to strive to read this book every day.  I couldn't picture my life without it.

My service as a full-time missionary has been anything but easy, but I can honestly say that they were worth it. 

These two years in the service of the Lord have been unforgettable and now I'm converted for life.  

To those of you reading this, thank you for all of the love and support through it all.  You've helped me through the hardest of times and I'm grateful for each and every one of you. 

I guess this is Elder Burdeos signing off for the last time.  See you guys soon.

Elder Burdeos

ELDER BURDEOS

"It's not goodbye, it's see you later."

2016 - 2018

PHILIPPINES MANILA MISSION

Families are Forever.

What and incredible week it has been, my friends.  I'll give you the play-by-play of the emotional roller coaster it has been hahaha

Sunday: Stake Conference for the Makati Stake!!  I had the chance to catch up with some of my friends who are members from my past wards here in Makati.  I've spent over a third of my mission in different wards in this stake so not to be cocky but I do know a good amount of people here hahaha.  After Stake Conference I taught some driving lessons to the Elder who will be replacing me as an Assistant.  I haven't mentioned this in my past emails but the Elder who will be replacing me is none other than my one and only trainee, ELDER ASAY!!  Such an amazing Elder and it's been such a pleasure to see him grow as a missionary and progress.  

He happened to hit a small cement pole on his first time driving around hahaha!!  

Monday:  Last trip to the good ol' Ocean Park.  None of the Elders with me had been before so they had a really good experience.  It was a nice last day for Elder Somosa who will be departing tomorrow.

Tuesday:  We were blessed with the opportunity to head to the temple in the morning!  I can truly testify that the temple is a sacred ground where you will be able to feel the truthfulness of this church resonating within every room.

In the afternoon I had to say a hard goodbye to one of my dearest friends here in the mission, Elder Somosa.  It was hard seeing him go but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet such a great missionary like him.

Thursday:  Let me just say that the Senior Couples of a mission are the the BEST missionaries hahaha!  They took us out to Chili's as a goodbye dinner for me and Elder Bennion.  I'm so grateful for them and all that they do for us here to help our mission function and progress.

ELDER GIFFORD AND HIS ICE CREAM CAKE!!!!

The mall was really decked out with Christmas decorations!!! 

Friday: BAPTISM!!  The Callos family has been such a blessing to this ward!  Brother Callos has been a member of the church for quite some time now but became to busy to attend church.  Luckily we were able to help him return back to the church to a loving ward and at the same time we worked closely with the Sister missionaries in the ward to help his wife and children get baptized! 

I know that families can be together forever and I am so grateful to God for allowing us to be instruments in the helping of this amazing family to return to Him. 

This week we will be having our mission tour where Elder Teh from the Area Presidency and Quorum of the Seventy will be coming to our mission!!  I'm very excited to have a personal interview with him and to hear the guidance and help that he will give to help us progress in our mission.

I REALLY love being a missionary.  

1 week and a half to go.  Still so much more to do.  This gospel means everything to me and you can bet I'll be working my hardest and doing my best to the finish line.

Love you guys so much, I'll talk to you next week!!!

ELDER BURDEOS

"T Minus 2"

2016 - 2018

PHILIPPINES MANILA MISSION

The #Lighttheworld Giving Machine

Hey family and friends!!

This week we were able to get some solid work done in our proselyting area which made me very happy!  I feel that God is continuing to keep me busy by giving me new people to teach and lots of things to focus on!  

Something awesome that we were able to do this week was participate in the Light the World Giving Machine campaign!!  The Giving Machine is a vending machine in which instead of buying items for yourself, you can buy items to donate to local charities!  It is a fantastic idea and we had an awesome time participating.  

Our family with the Guillermo family!  (featuring 2 of the coolest Nanays that you will ever meet!)

Ward FHE!

SQUID LIFE!!

Love you guys!  Don't forget to think of ways that you and your loved ones can have a part in this years Light the World campaign!  Have a good week :)

Goodnight from the beautiful Makati City.

ELDER BURDEOS

"T MINUS 3"

2016 - 2018

PHILIPPINES MANILA MISSION

Coron Days

This week was insane! 

Exactly a year from this last week I was on an island on Palawan called Coron helping them start a branch in a remote part of the island called Busuanga.  Well now we have Coron under our stewardship and that gave me the opportunity to go back and work with the missionaries currently on the island!  I learned so much from them and I could really feel the love that they have for the people they serve in my time working with them.  

This is Elder Boyce, a brand new missionary who recently arrived here in the mission on Halloween.  If there's one thing that motivates me more than anything else it's working with a brand new missionary.  Their desire to preach the gospel and courage heed to the promptings of the spirit is beyond measure.  Sometimes we as missionaries get caught up on the physical aspect of the mission such as proselyting hours and numbers but new missionaries always remind us what this work is really about, inviting others to come unto Christ.  They bring fire to the mission field and we love being able to work with them.

This is Sister Rose, a member in Busuanga!  She was recently baptized in April and she has been a great help to the missionaries :)

On Wednesday morning, the morning before we left to catch our flight, we climbed a mountain in Coron that they call Mt. Tapyas and boy let me tell you I got a feel for just how out of shape that I've been on my mission while trying to climb that mountain hahaha.  721 steps has never been so difficult haha!  When reaching the top of it I remembered a quote shared by one of the members in Sampaloc stating that the nicest views always come after the hardest climbs.  We may not know why our life gets difficult or why we are experiencing the trials in our life but if we hold tight and stay faithful, God will make it known to us.  

Yes I do love my mission.  Wouldn't trade these experiences for anything.  

Love you guys have a good week!!

ELDER BURDEOS

"T - 4"

2016 - 2018

PHILIPPINES MANILA MISSION

T Minus 5 weeks

To those of you currently reading this, you are awesome.  Thanks for the support :)

This week we had a lot of time to work in our area with the only event being or MLC this last Thursday.  We talked about the importance of setting goals and having companionship study!

I realize that my pictures send out of the order that I intend them to so at this point I'll just tell you that these pictures came from a combination of a fireside we held at the mission home on Sunday night, our Leadership Council on Thursday, and Elder Codina's birthday in the office.

Nice week!  Love you guys thanks for everything!!

Elder Burdeos

ELDER BURDEOS

2016 - 2018

PHILIPPINES MANILA MISSION

Mission XXIII: Last Transfer

As mentioned in my previous email, we had a nice, spooky transfer day this last halloween :)  It was the last transfer day that I will get to experience in the mission and I would say it was one of the best!  This transfer I got a new companion!  His name is Elder Lucero and he is from Samar!  My last three companions have all been from the same region of the Philippines and it's awesome hahaha!  Elder Somosa will be serving this transfer as a travelling Assistant meaning he'll be working a couple weeks in Palawan then coming back here to the mainland where he will end his mission two weeks before I do.

We were able to do a temple session with President and Sister Fermanis and the departing missionaries on Tuesday.  That night we had to say goodbye to a solid group of 5 missionaries.  We are grateful for the service they rendered here in the field and for their dedication to gathering Scattered Israel here in the mission. 

On Wednesday we had our new missionary orientation meeting where we trained the trainers and gave tips on adjusting to the new missionaries.  We taught them about the culture that we have here in the mission and also about the culture in the Philippines which they seemed to find as their favorite part.  Also something new that we implemented this orientation meeting is we gave them opportunities to practice teach other companionships and practice skills that we've been emphasizing here in our mission such as: Teaching with Plainness, tying every principle into Jesus Christ and the Restoration of the Gospel, and effectively extending baptismal invitations.  I had a spiritual experience during the practice teaching portion of the orientation.  I was walking around observing and as I listened and overheard the teaching I continuously heard the name Jesus Christ repeated throughout the room of the companionships teaching.  Believe it or not, we missionaries tend to overlook the most important part of the gospel which is of course, the Savior.  There is a certain power that can be felt in hearing two representatives testify of the Savior and bear witness that He really did atone for the sins of this world.  It was a powerful moment for me and it reminded me once again that the foundation of which the doctrine of this church is built upon is Jesus Christ.

Pictures:

1) We attended a fireside held in my old zone in Manila!  It was amazing because I was able to see some of my good friends from Sampaloc! 

2) Here is one of the departing missionaries from this transfer, Elder Pehacek!  He's been an awesome friend and I will miss him!  We have the same tie so we decided to match on his last day.

3) This is my new companion, Elder Lucero!!  He is the man!

4) While we were at the temple I saw one of my good friends from the earlier portion of my mission, Elder (Brother) Sanchez!!  He was my very first district leader here in the field!

Pretty crazy to think that this is the beginning of my last transfer.  Be assured that I'm pushing hard every single day to make sure I end my two year service on a strong note.  I love this church and I'm grateful for these last few weeks that I have to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ as a full-time missionary.  

Love you guys!!!  Hope that you have an incredible week :)

Elder Burdeos

We're in For a Spooky Transfer Day

This week hasn't quite been the best week of my mission but I'm sitting here at the end of it feeling really happy and content.  

This week I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders in the Manila/Mandaluyong Zone, helped in the office with planning for this upcoming transfer day, and ate lots of candy in preparation for this transfer day that will take place on October 31st!!

Pictures:  (Not sure if they are in order)

- Dinner at the Tablizo family residence.  The father of their family served as the best Bishop of the ward.

- The Giffords, our beloved office senior couple, saw the stress going around the office this week and decided to take us to the nicest restaurant in town, Vikings.  Here is a picture of me waiting at the counter with Elder Gifford :)

- Good ol' Elder Somosa @ Vikings

Learned a lot from this week and I'm always grateful to be a part of this marvelous work.

Love you guys!!  I'll talk to you next week!!

ELDER BURDEOS

2016 - 2018

PHILIPPINES MANILA MISSION