Parañaque West

This week flew by!  I've been adjusting to the in field schedule and I really enjoy it actually.  

The Philippines is basically just one giant party everyone is always outside playing, dancing, and just enjoying life!  It is an extremely different culture here which I will go more into depth in later emails.  Right now we are focusing on 6 investigators.  We are hoping to gain more by following those who were discontinued in our area book for no reason.  The missionaries in this area before were not the best apparently.  We had 2 of our investigators Tess and Roland Montilla attend a temple trip with us.  We rode in a jeepney for 2 hours, got to the temple in the pouring rain, then rode back for another 3 hours because of traffic.  Terrible yet they were able to feel the spirit and really enjoyed it.  We're hoping to give them a baptismal date this week.  They've been attending church weekly since we've met with them.  I can already tell it's going to be an amazing time here in the Philippines.

Here are some pictures of my area i'll have more for you next week!!  I love you all be safe and the church is true!

Elder Burdeos

Welcome to Manila

I'm alive!!!!!  I felt the need to state that since it's been about 18 days since you last heard from me.  It has been 18 of the most hectic days of my life! We arrived safely in Manila on February 3rd.  Since our flight left Salt Lake City at around 11:30 pmto Hong Kong, I was able to successfully sleep through all of February 2nd!!!  It was the WORST flight of my life.  I was against a wall and my seat didn't recline so it was 15 hours of sleeping completely straight up.  As soon as we arrived here in Manila I started sweating hard and it was hard to breathe because of the humidity.  We got in the car to the MTC and held on for dear life.  There is 1 rule to driving in Manila and it's: don't crash.  Many instances I thought we were going to drive right through the cars in front of us but luckily we made it to the MTC safely.  We stayed at the Manila MTC for 5 days and it felt like a vacation.  We had the chance to go out and proselyte with some of the missionaries serving in Quezon City.  We also had the chance to visit the Manila Temple.  It is absolutely beautiful and it was amazing to be able to go through it.  I think that my favorite part of my MTC stay was being able to meet my Grandma for the first time and some of my cousins.  I had to say even more heart breaking goodbyes to my companions and to my district.  I left for the Manila mission home at 6 am on Wednesday and met President and Sister Ostler for the first time.  They are the coolest mission presidents ever and it makes me sad they will be leaving in July.  We had orientation and I received my first area assignment, Parañaque West!  My companion is native Filipino, Elder Desabille.  Since then i've just been adjusting to the new culture and schedule!! It Really is a whole different world here!

Love you all see you next week!

Elder Burdeos​

Last Week at the MTC!

Where has the time gone?!  I'm leaving for Manila next week!​

     The MTC has been such an amazing and uplifting experience for me.  The challenges, the strong spirit, and the excessive amounts of food have made for an unforgettable experience.  Besides the hardcore volleyball every day, I think the thing I will miss the most are the devotionals.  The MTC devotionals are like having a general conference twice a week.  They allowed me to feel the spirit and know my purpose as a missionary whenever I have felt inadequate.  Another thing that I will miss are the awesome teachers, they work their hardest to invite the spirit before each class and it enables us to learn so much more through the power of the spirit!  I will have pictures with my teachers next week because I don't actually end classes until next Monday.  

     I would be lying if I didn't say the MTC has been the hardest few weeks of my life.  The days are long, the language is difficult, and the schedule flat out makes no sense sometimes.  I've endured a lot of struggles here mentally and physically to the point that i've questioned my purpose of serving a mission.  The MTC has made me question how hard i'm willing to work to bring the Lord's children unto him.  One day this week I was feeling very down and felt no motivation to learn, lead, or even move for that matter.  I wanted to go back to the residency and take a long nap.  I couldn't feel the spirit when teaching our practice investigators and less active members so I was getting frustrated and wondering if I was even worthy enough to feel the spirit.  That night, a teacher pulled me aside for our weekly coaching and asked me how I was doing.  I was honest with him and told him the truth about how I was doing.  He shared his MTC experience with me which was actually very similar to my situation and gave me advice that really stood out to me.  He said, "If you ever feel inadequate or not strong enough to be a missionary, put your strength in Jesus Christ".  It actually took me a while to think about and ponder the meaning of his words.  Then it hit me, the strength behind the message of this gospel has nothing to do with me.  It's founded upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  It doesn't matter if i'm the most confident or most timid missionary in the field, the message is still the same.  

     The MTC on top of everything has taught me to trust in the Lord and remember that He has a plan.  Everything happens for a reason.  It makes me excited to see what the Lord has in store for me in the Philippines!  In all honesty I am terrified to go to the Philippines.  I'm not yet confident with the language, i'm going to be 20 hours away from my friends and family back home, and I HATE HOT WEATHER.  Luckily, I will have the Lord to watch over me and my loved ones.  It's very comforting to know we are never alone!!  Thank you to those who have sent me letters and emails here at the MTC i'm glad to have you along with me as well!  I love you all I will see you in Manila!!!

​Elder Burdeos​

Elder Tyler (A friend back home from Riverton going to Urdaneta) and I

My beautiful zone. I will miss them so much

Loving the language here. the book actually makes more sense if you hold it upside down

I'm going to miss Elder Brunson he's been a brother to me and i'm grateful to have known him.

Be Prepared

Not much has happened here at the MTC since I was last emailing.  It kind of feels like I've hit a spiritual wall but the devotionals and weekly temple visits are helping me through everything for sure.  My favorite experience this week was probably sacrament meeting.  Our whole zone is instructed to prepare a 5 minute talk every Sunday for sacrament meeting and we don't find out who will be speaking until about 30 seconds before you go up.  So me, being the responsible leader that I am, did not prepare a talk.  I completely forgot and lone behold the very first speaker they called up was truly yours.  I didn't even know what the topic was that Sunday so instead of preparing for a good 30 seconds to give that talk, I used that 30 seconds to pray to Heavenly Father.  I was about to make a fool out of myself in front of 2 zones and all of our leaders so it was basically a "PLEASE HAVE MERCY" prayer.  I walked up to the podium with my scriptures as if I knew I was going to give a talk when in reality the scriptures were opened to the scripture index so I was looking for a scripture WHILE ON THE PODIUM.  Heavenly Father is too good to me.  I took a wildly vague guess and decided to talk about repentance and baptism and all those great missionary responsibilities.  I GUESSED RIGHT!!!  I just sat there and let the words flow out of me thanks to the Holy Ghost and it turned out to be a decent talk.  President DeLamare shook my hand and told me that he really enjoyed my talk.  This experience was a warning from Heavenly Father that if I don't start being more responsible, one of these times I won't be as lucky and have the spirit with me when I need it.  He truly is too good to me.

I am absolutely loving the missionaries in my zone.  They treat me with respect and love so it's my responsibility to do the same for them.  I wasn't able to get a picture of them all but I will for sure next week!  Just imagine about 15 six foot missionaries and 1 small Filipino boy and you'll be able to form a great mental image!  God be with you and I love you all!  Thank you for your packages and kind emails they never go unnoticed!

-Elder Burdeos



Had to say goodbye to these two squares this week.  Can't wait to see them touch those in Washington!  (Their visas got delayed so they'll be serving in Washington for 6 weeks)

Meant to send this one last week but it didn't work.

Halfway to Heaven

Great week here at the MTC!  Very stressful but we are hanging in there!

I received exciting news this week during our sacrament meeting.  I was released as district leader and now I have the opportunity to be the zone leader!  It was very intimidating for me at first considering that I would be going from leading a group of 6 people to leading the whole Tagalog speaking zone (about 30 people) but i'm very excited for this opportunity and i'm going to try my hardest to set the example for our zone.  We have 18 new missionaries that came in yesterday and I can't wait to get to know them better.

Elder Neil L. Andersen came in for a devotional on Tuesday and it was incredible.  He spoke to us about the blessings that come from being a missionary and why is it so important for us to make every moment count on a mission.  I was so intrigued by Elder Andersen's words and I could feel the spirit throughout the room.  After his talk we walked over to my district (we were assigned to be ushers this week so we got front row seats to both devotionals) and shook our hands.  We were six of the only people who had the chance to shake his hand because soon after the devotional we waited for him to leave the room before departing from the auditorium.  I am never washing this hand again.

This week I realized that attitude is everything.  A couple days ago, we learned that our flight plans have been delayed by a week.  Initially I felt like I was going to die on the spot.  I have been so eager to leave for Manila and immerse myself in the Filipino culture so receiving that news ruined my day. Luckily, the spirit somehow found its way into my heart while we were teaching our practice investigators and testified to me that Heavenly Father needs me here for one more week.  Whether it's to learn more tagalog or get extra practice teaching, there's a reason for everything.  I only get to enjoy the MTC once so I need to make it count!

Love you all i'll talk to you next week.

-Elder Burdeos


Elder Takau, our old zone leader and my brother.  Taught me everything I know about the MTC and what it takes to lead.  He was the very first person I would go to when I was struggling and needed words of motivation.  Remember his name, he will be playing running back for BYU when we get back.

Me :)

As a zone leader I have records for the last few missionary transfers.  I found Kirsten and Brady's records hahaha

We have been going to the temple weekly, this is us this morning.

I've been collecting Disney characters in Kinder eggs and I have some of my favorites so far.

I'M A BIG DEAL

Week 3

Very spiritually uplifting week!  I'm starting to get into more of a rhythm now here at the MTC.  The days are starting to fly by and I feel a little more in tune with the spirit everyday.

We started off this week with fast Sunday and it is safe to say it was the best fast Sunday ever!  I love to mess around with my zone and they are all a bunch of dorks but sitting in that meeting listening to all of them bear their testimonies was incredible.  Missionaries are blessed with the gift of being able to testify of the spirit stronger than ever.  I saw the spiritual side of the people in my zone and it just made me realize that underneath all of us lies a message.  A testimony that we need to share and a light that we need to let shine forth in order to bring those around us unto Him.  It made me so grateful to be a missionary and to be blessed with the people around me.

Here at the MTC we have the opportunity to teach members of the church each Tuesday; we call this TRC.  So my companions and I formed a lesson centered around the Book of Mormon.  We walked into that lesson taking into account that the person we were teaching was going to be a member and we arranged our lesson thinking that they would have some knowledge of the Book of Mormon. Well it turns out that due to some car problems, the members we were supposed to teach were unable to make it and they needed to find a last minute replacement.  So the guy we were sitting there teaching, 1: Didn't speak any tagalog, 2: Was not a member of the church and had little knowledge of the Book of Mormon, and 3: Not only was he not a member of the church but he was actually an Atheist.  That was possible the most nervous I have been when teaching a lesson than ever before.  I would pick teaching a full Tagalog lesson to a member of the church on the spot than teaching a full English lesson to an Atheist on the spot any day.  Anyways, the Lord blessed us throughout the lesson.  We taught him a very strong lesson about how God is our Loving Heavenly Father and it turned out to be incredible.  We actually got him to commit to read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon and he said a prayer for us before we left.  It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to be able to teach real investigators every day.  Unfortunately it will probably take a while for me to be able to teach just as well in Tagalog but through faith I know somehow I'll be able to do it.

I hope you had an amazing new year and I encourage you to have at least one new years resolution centered around growing your testimony!  I love you all thank you so much for your kind and supportive emails!

-Elder Burdeos


Probably one of the funniest things I have ever read.  One of my Zone Leaders is from Australia so his companion likes to make fun of Australia saying that it's run by emus.

We were asked to host for the new missionaries entering the MTC.  We showed them around and gave them some advice on how to not cry like a little girl every night.  Something I wish my host would have taught me.  (Elder Wilde who is on the far left was actually my host here)

Me and one of my best friends here at the MTC, Elder Dickson.  He's 6'5" so this is me standing tall as I possibly can and I can barely see over his shoulder.

Happy New Years!

This week has been a very hard one but not nearly as hard as last week thank the Heavens!  We're starting to get into the groove of the MTC and it's all starting to get a little bit easier.

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas!  Even though it was extremely hard to be away from home on Christmas it felt good to focus on the Savior, who is the reason we celebrate the holiday in the first place!  We had Elder Dallin H. Oaks come and give us an amazing devotional with his incredibly talented kids.  No joke we were witnessing some 5 years olds tear up the violin.  It was incredible! Not only did we get to listen to an Apostle of the Lord speak to us on Christmas but we also get to hear the voice of an Angel, David Archuleta!  And if that wasn't already good enough, after the performance we got to meet him!  David Archuleta is such a humble guy and an amazing example to me.  He dropped the fame, the money, everything just so he could serve the Lord for 2 years of his life.  If he can do it then there's no reason I can't.  Christmas was a pretty good day aside from the cereal we had for dinner so that the workers could all be with their families but we didn't mind too much because every other day they work really hard to provide for us.

This week has been pretty much smooth we have been working hard as a district and my Tagalog is getting better each day.  We have to teach lessons to 2 practice investigators in full Tagalog and it's stressful but you can definitely feel the presence of the Holy Ghost preventing me from saying something really stupid in Tagalog.  Now let's just hope one day He can prevent me from saying stupid things in English...  My companions and I were struggling for a while but we went through some companionship inventories and we get along pretty darn well now (for the most part).  I'm loving it so far here thank you all for your nice emails they help me so much.  See you all next week!  Happy New Year!!!

-Elder Burdeos


Christmas Day at the MTC

A rare shot of Elder Brunson and I actually awake in class (just kidding mom please don't hurt me).

Me and my beautiful district with the secret santa gifts we all bought each other.

One of my favorite Christmas presents of all time.  Ms. Maysen Rollo sent me a calendar with our face photoshopped all throughout it.  Amazing!