Look at the bus seat! I did not write it!

Nothing like a good Texas rainstorm!

Sorry I need to keep this e-mail short because I have a ton to do. This week was great!!! I went on a division with my american district leader on friday and it was the most memorable day of my mission!! So .... at about 8 we were teaching a person and we heard thunder right, and we were like crap, Because rain is a missionaries worst nightmare. So we get outside and it looked like I was back in Texas!! Lightening was going off like crazy and my DL said "This is the first time I have seen a storm like this." I looked at him cause I knew what was coming, and said " Hell is a coming, this will either be the worst or best day of the mission!" HOLY CRAP!!! First we were hit with a wall of cold wind, and the dust that came after was terrible.  Then the lights went out. Like every single light. Sooooooo we walked through the wind and dust in the complete dark, scariest moment of my life to that point. Then we made it to an investigators house, and they thought we were idiots, but we picked up a whole new family to teach so mission accomplished there!!!! Então, after we had taught them I walked out the door and was hit by a wall of rain, like a WALL.The street was flooded, with no light and it was almost 9:30. So we ran through the street dodging all that we could see in this strom,I thought I was going to die. But, we made it back to our house, that didn't have light or power. So we did what any good missionary would do, We ordered Pizza!!! And we ate pizza in the dark on our beds!! lol Best day ever!!! 

Thank you guys for all that you do!!

Te Amo muito!!! 

Fica Segura e Fica proximo de Deus!

-Elder Burnside

happy 19th birthday!

Daughters of our Heavenly Father

11/9/2015

So this week was an emotional roller coaster. We closed a baptism this week for a little girl, and it was super hard because she has a huge fear of water. So we got her into the water and for 5 hours we waited, talked and comforted her. She entered the water slowly and we thought for sure she would be baptized. I seriously prayed so hard for probably a good 3 hours straight, and I swear I thought she would be baptized. But, we got the news at 10 that she didn't want to. And then something strange happened, I started crying. And I didn't know why. Yeah I felt sad but I didn't think it was enough to cry about. Then I looked around and realized all the other missionaries were crying too. Then it hit me. This work is sacred, and we pour our heart and soul into teaching and helping people, so when a little girl rejects being baptized after so much work, it just crushed us. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so depressed. It was super hard, but this is a testament to how much a mission can change someone. A girl I barely know, I will cry for, because she was a soul a daughter of God that rejected baptism and was so close, it breaks my heart.

But now the happy times, my birthday was good!!! had some brownies and some pizza and I called it a great day!!! Thank you again for the b-day wishes!

Eu amo vocês!! Por Favor estão segura em todas coisas!!

-Elder 

I got some Halloween cereal. My new area Casa Grande.

I ate chicken heart and I think I liked it!

11/3/15

Wow the time is flying by!   It seemed like 3 days ago I was sending my last e-mail to you guys!!! This mission is truly a life changing experience! 

So this week! No baptisms but oh boy we have some great investigators!! We have a family of 3 that are just amazing. They participate in the lessons, they read every night, heck they are making notes of questions they have in the pamphlets we leave them!! NO ONE DOES THAT!!!! Thier names are Edimilsa, Victoria and Khiekee. Amazing people!!! So yesterday was awesome, we had to visit santo amaro ( the richest part of our mission) and we had to take the train, and it was super cool. It was surreal to be crossing bridges and going over trees in a very nice train! Sorry I don't have pictures of that. Then after we had a BBQ with our District leaders, and I ate chicken heart ..... It was pretty darn good I think.

A little spiritual thought por vocês, This week me and my companion prayed and prayed and prayed to have at least 5 new investigators in the chapel this week, everything looked good on Saturday, we thought we would have 8-9 people!! But Sunday, Everyone dropped out on us....... 2 people who promised to go actually went.... soooooo we went to church and lo and behold 5 new faces...... members just by chance brought friends of theirs that lived in our area to church that day ..... Pretty cool experience. Sooo Next week I will send some Birthday pics, but thank you all for the Birthday wishes! Eu amo vocês!!!! 

A little pie in the face!

10/27/15

Well, my new area is pretty darn cool!  I am out of the favelas and I have the costco of brasil next to my house.   It is pretty awesome! So stories, my new area is Casa Grande, It is beautiful here!  There are so many tress and a lake right next to my area! My zone and district are awesome! We had a super mega grande p-day zona today and I got some Pie in my face.  I visited the Autódromo today , The formula one race track in Interlagos. Pretty darn cool! I didn't have a baptism this week, my area is just a touch bit less receptive but I think we will have some good investiagators here soon! Portuguese is great! I am finally able to communicate and hold conversations with people.  FINALLY!! It has been tough and it will continue to be tough, but every day I can speak a little bit better!!! 

Sabe que amo você e cada noite eu oro por você, por sucesso, saúde, e felicidade. Com muito amor

-Elder Burnside

Baptism of Marcos

Well ... 5th baptism in a row!!!! I was able to baptize Marcos this last week! And get this .. back in the day he was going to school to be a pastor. He was a super die-hard catholic, and he knows the Bible so well! But, man during our lessons the spirit was always just so strong. He is not married, but that is because he hasn't found the right girl yet. He is a very humble and loving man. 

Time for the story of a life time. I was the one to baptize Marcos ...  I said the baptismal prayer perfectly, I lowered him in and his foot slipped and we both kind of went into the water ... A rookie mistake lol! Everything was good! It will be something he and I remember forever. 

Day to day details. Breakfast I love to make an egg, put it on some toast and put avacado, tomato and some salt on it! Oh my gosh perfect! I have also learned how to make some really good juices down here. Guava juice with a banana! Super good! We usually prosylete from 2:30-9 and I am always just dead when we get home! Lunch is always with members, except on Monday and Friday. Trust me they feed us more than they should,   We make contacts in the street, on the bus, really everywhere! 

This week I did make Pudim, the best food ever!! It is super good, and really easy to make,  This week was very good as well. We picked up 2 families of 6+ to teach. Super exciting!! My mission president is still comfused as to how a new missionary has been able to baptize 5 weeks straight, and to be quite honest, I wonder the same thing.  But, the work is great here!! And I continue to pray for all of you guys daily!! Deuste abençoa, lembra mandar o senhor mias perto em sua vida!

Eu Amo vocês Muito mutio mutio!!!

-Elder  Burnside

streets in my area

I COOK and I CLEAN!

MOM...I am cooking.

Wow conference was amazing!!! And yes I got to watch in English. I loved all the talks, but it really made me sad when Elder Costa did not speak in Portuguese and when Elder Nelson said Recife in the most american voice ever. But other than that it was great!!! This week we had .... ANOTHER BAPTISM!!! President Dalton included us in his letter the other day:

OS ESCALADORES DA MISSÃO: Parabéns para o Elder Walker. Agora, ele tem batizado por 5 semanas em seguinte. E também, parabéns para os Élderes F. Pereira e Burnside. Eles tem batizado 4 semanas em seguinte. MUITO OBRIGADO, Élderes!!

That pretty much says congrats for 4 weeks of straight baptisms.

So you guys would be proud of me I am actually cooking meals,  I don´t just feast on artificial goodness, all the time ;). I make a lot of eggs, toast, fruit drinks, and other easier things. Today I am going to learn how to make pudim dolce de leite and succor natural!! I am super excited to learn how to make that stuff!

The language is getting a lot better, I can actually communicate most of the desires of my heart and bear powerful testimonies in Portuguese, but the people here are beginning to understand me! FINALLY!!!!! Hahaha

It was awesome this week we found an investigator named Marcos, and about 3 months earlier he turned the missionaries away from his door, but he let me and my companion in last week, and I have a good feeling he will be baptized. He reads the Book of Mormon every day, prays every night, and he even went to conference this past weekend!! He is a policeman, but he is super smart, very intelligent and super kind. He loves to talk about the differences between america and Brazil with me But, I love him to death! 

Ok last thing for this group e-mail, I am forgetting what English sounds like .... there are some words I will automatically say in Portuguese and have to think about to say in English. And this is the scary part, you know that song by Ed Sheeran that's like " I'm thinking about how we should be ... blah blah blah." I couldn't recognize it!! It sounded strange to me!!! Hahahaha that really scares me!!!! 

But, the mission is great, time is starting to go by a lot faster now! I will talk to you guys again next week!! 

Eu amo vocês

Deus te abençoa!

-Elder Burnside 

sweet milk with coconut....MMMMMMM

WE HAD ANOTHER BAPTISM THIS WEEK!!! A man named Paulo, he is great man, has a family of 4 and they are all members now!! Sorry I don´t have pics I left my camera at the house :(

But, this week was awesome. We ate at a members house his name was Jorgergeraldo (yeah it is a mouthful) and .... he killed us. We ate until we were full and he said that he did not want any food left ... so he filled our plates full and we had to eat all the food.  I think I am sick of rice and beans now...

I blessed the sacrament yesterday ... And it was terrível lol! A missionary that speaks very good English said "congrats, that was the worst blessing in Portuguese ever" lolololol I said everything right, just probably in a really bad sotaque (american voice).  Portuguese is coming great, I am able to follow almost all the lessons we give, and I have been asking questions and responding very well during lessons, and I made my first contact in only Portuguese the other day. Language is good, Not great but good!

 I made french toast the other day (yes I cooked something besides cereal) and the Brazlians here flipped! They loved it!! I had members asking me for the recipe and I was like ovos e pão.... frito ... come!!! I just thought that  was funny!  Oh my gosh!! I found my weakness here! It is called Doce de leite com Coco. Sweet milk with coconut. AHHHHHHH  SO GOOD!!!!!!  A desert that y'all have to try Pudim and mousse de limou ... So good!  And finally .... I found heaven here yes those are oreos!

Great week I hope you guys have a wonderful week, know my prayers are with you always!

Deus te Abençoa

-Elder Burnside

 

Heaven in Brazil....OREOS

Ouch!

And yeah I have some pretty bad blisters :(  LOL a small price to pay for happiness!! Oh and I want you to try and find the youtube video :

A expiaçâo aos obras de missionario. The atonement in missionary work

Portuguese or English??

OH MY GOSH! Slowly but surely things are getting better! Everyday Portuguese gets a little bit better, it still frustrates the crap out of me when I can´t say what I want to but things are better!! So 3 stories for y' all! 

1) I made a contact in english with someone on the street.... like what? I guess he saw an american and wanted to talk english. We talked about church for a second and then I started talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet I had in my bag, but that is not the best part. I started talking and every other word I wanted to say was in freaking Portuguese ... It was like " This is a pamphlet about the evangelho, sorry gospel, of Jesus Christ. Fala sobre, sorry it talks about, how famìlias can be together forever and the cinco prinipios of the gospel. Primero fé, second, repentance, batismo, domde espirito sant, and perservering until the end." Oh my gosh I was so mad, I can not talk fast in english anymore without saying a word or two in Portuguese...

2) I rode in a car with a Brazilian and I was scared to death .... I felt like I was on a roller coaster through the favelas, and It felty like I was in a movie,  He was taking turns super fast, almost hitting people, and speeding down little alley ways, scariest drive of my life

3) This last week, we baptized 3 people, and I was able to Baptize a man name Sergio, Maybe the kindest man alive. He was prepared for me and my companion, He accepted the gospel so easily, and he will be blessed a ton! 

This week has been great, Portguese is being built line upon line, and It is my goal to know what is being said all the time in 2 months. Eu amo vocês!

Deus te abençoa! 

Picture from my window. "the Favehlas"

Rough first day...worst....but I love it!

Well .... talk about rough first days!!!! I think I could mark mine down as one of the worst! After I emailed you guys we had lunch and that was good, talked and talked and finally it came time to leave. President Dalton was going to take us in his car, because it was raining, and I was perfectly good with that, but .... apparently my companion had to get to an appointment.   We had to take the bus .... Now we started walking to the bus stop and it started to pour rain, like terrible rain. I didn´t have my umbrella or rain jacket so I kept on going in my suit.  I was soaked and cold. We got on the bus and it was about an hour ride in a crowded bus, with my suitcases, and I am freezing. We missed our stop, so I had to walk with my suitcases in the rain, freezing for about 2 miles. And get this MY FIRST AREA IS IN THE FAVEHLAS!!! The poorest parts of my mission. So I am freezing pulling suitcases through a pretty rough place. And I am walking up hill with 2 heavy suitcases... We got to our apartment, which is pretty sketchy, and all I wanted to do was lay down. But, nope. I had time to change and get ready to go teach. Now I thought I could speak Portuguese, nahhhh ..... The people talk a whole lot faster here than they did in the MTC, I had no clue as to what was being said. We returned home after a couple hours of teaching, and I thought to myself, this is gonna be a long ride .... But, I wouldn´t trade that experience for anything. I absolutely love it here!!! I can´t speak fluently, but everyday I can feel myself understanding more, speaking faster, and knowing more words. Soooooo.... the first week was good, we had a baptism yesterday and should have another one this week, and more than likely a couple in 2 weeks!!  The favahelas here are always built on huge hills so I continually walk up and down hills.  I am pretty sure I lost that 10 pounds I gained in the CTM lol!!!  I finally get to send pictures too!!

 My companion is great by the way!  It has been really cold and rainy here lately.  The rain jacket works amazing! But, I am ready for the summer to get here!!!  This first week has been pretty good besides the first day.  In about a month I should know enough Portuguese to type and speak without having to stop and think, but until that time I got to keep paying the price. Enjoy this next week! I will have more pics to send next week!!!
 

Eu Amo Vocês!!!

Elder Carson Burnside

My companion Elder Perriera and my new mission president and his wife. President Loren and Annette Dalton.

The mission is Awesome!

Today I got into the field. I woke up at 4:45 this morning and I am super tired. We had our first interview with President Dalton and it went very well. The mission is awesome, the people here seem wonderful! I would be lying if I said I was not scared a little bit. I feel like a 1st grader talking to a college professor when I am talking with the Brazilians. But despite all of that, I told my mission president that I wanted to learn Portuguese as fast as possible. I asked him to put me with a companion, my trainer, who doesn´t speak English. That was a tough choice and he told me it would be hard,  I would feel alone and secluded, but It would be the right choice. He promised me this decision would help me so much. So my companion is Elder Perriera, and he is a native of Rio De Janero. He Does NOT speak ANY ENGLISH. He is also 26 years old. So this will be very interesting. These next few weeks will be super tough. I think I have learned enough in the CTM to get me by, to show the people my love for them and the gospel, to show my companion my desires to help him and not be a burden, and I hope by this trainer decision and all my work in the CTM Heavenly Father will acknowledge my efforts and help me learn this language even faster than what I could imagine. So now, I say goodbye until Monday (I think ) That will be the next p-day. Keep your prayers with me, hopefully I have some good stories for you guys next week!

Eu Amo Vocês!!!

Love Elder Burnside

What would you do for Chocolate?

HEY family!!! 

So yes, the field is coming up very fast.... and I would be lying if I said I was not a little scared. My Portuguese is adequate and I am working so hard everyday.  I have really just come to accept the fact that I probably won´t be able to speak and understand everything I want, which is really frustrating... But, faith in the Lord is necessary right? 

 I leave the MTC next Tuesday morning. I think I will be out doing the things of the missionaries on Wednesday. I hope I can send pictures on Tuesday when I get to the Mission home.  I think that the president wants to give us some instructions that day. There are 4 other people in my district going to Interlagos with me.  I really need a good long run, The next p-day won´t be for another 12 days unfortunately BUT I DON'T HAVE TO STAY IN THE MISSIONARY FARM!!!! 

This week went by super fast .. I listened to a devotional here only in Portuguese and I understood most of it so that was pretty cool. There was one point in our class we were learning about some grammatical structure and this one kid goes "O que você farai por ........ ( a minute pause) ..... Chocolate?" ( What would you do for ..... Chocolate. It was the most anti-climatical thing I have ever seen in my life. Our instructor was crying. And my instructor really helped me and probably some of the other people in the district out he said " I had a companion out in the field, he was 7 months in and he barely knew more Portuguese than you do now." That was last week too, He continued to say that you guys can survive with the Portuguese you know, but if you are willing "Pagar o Preço" ( Pay the price)  you will be fluent in 4 months. Fluent, in about a month or 2 you will be able to say everything you want to. CAN THAT DAY COME FASTER????? 

I love you guys as well, I am scared for the field, but I know I can do it. Please send some prayers my way, and hopefully in 12 days I have some pretty scary/ awesome stories to tell you!!! 

Love you Guys!!!

Elder Burnside