Hello everyone from a very hot and humid Philippines!  It was very hot yesterday and the day before which sometimes means that there is a storm or something coming.  But then again, sometimes its just hot!  In other exciting news, our investigator came to church for the third time!  His name is Dindu and he is awesome.

Recently I learned how the Savior helps us to keep going.  At zone conference one of the assistants to the president showed a video about football.  One of the players was having a bad attitude about an upcoming game and the coach called him out on it.  He was going to make him do death crawls (crawling with another player on his back) for 50 yards. The coach asked the player if he would give it ALL that he has, his very best. The player shrugged it off… the coach asked again a little louder.. and the player muttered, “yeah.. okay”.  Then the coaches voice got quiet and he looked him right in the eye and said, “Will you give it your very best?” the player got kind of freaked out and promised he would do it.

The coach put a blind fold on the player and told him to get ready. The other player got on the back of the other and they started crawling. Right off the bat the coach told the player to keep going that he was doing great and to block out the pain.  After what seemed like a while, the player asked if he was at the 20 yard-line yet, the coach didn’t tell him where he was but could tell that the player was starting to struggle greatly.  The player got mad and started yelling at the coach. “Tell me tell me! It hurts! I wanna stop!”, but the coach chastised him, “You told me you would give it your BEST. Can you still move?!!  Keep moving!!” and so it went until it was a long time.

The player was still going, he was starting to cry and to crumble under the weight of the other player. The coach started crawling beside the player raising his voice each time the arms of the player started to bend too far down.  At this point the coach was constantly at his side and urging and encouraging him to keep going.  He told the player that he wanted his best until he was exhausted.  At last the player collapsed in tears and groans of pain, mentally and physically.  The coach comforted him and asked, “Did you give it your best?” The player replied affirmatively.  The player had reached 100 yards and had done it only from strength from within and true encouragement from the coach.

Jesus Christ is our coach. We might cry, we might hurt, we might complain, sigh, yell, strain, stretch, resist, fight, and yearn for another’s help.  But it is Christ’s help that will help us gain salvation.  It is His word and His knowledge that can drive us to the end of our existence. To the end of our strength. But only if we believe him and ACT.  Please listen to the words of the modern day prophets. PLEASE, listen to the missionaries. PLEASE, read the scriptures. We can only make it if we accept his word of encouragement, and those words are in those places.

I love you all!

Elder Hunter Burbidge

Elder Burbidge’s fellow missionaries and friends packed into a Jeepney (public transportation)

So this week we were invited to do a service project for a non-member friend of a member. He owns what is called a junk shop (they recycle and make things reusable, usually metals and cardboard) and we thought we were going to help him move some of his products and materials to a new location. Well, we got there and found out that they needed help dismantling the building due to a road widening project by the government. We were a little aprehensive as we started to pick through some of the things in the building and eventually getting to the 2x4s and plywood.  But all I could hear were jokes, positive comments, and thanks coming from each person. I saw smiles and laughter as we carefully removed each piece of the building.

There was also some non-members helping us as well and it was fun to interact with them and help them. At one point, a specialized metalworker was cutting part of the base of a garage door, and the metal saw slipped down on to the top of his hand. Everybody was kind of scared because we saw blood on the ground, but nobody who we could see was bleeding. We noticed that one of the workers was gone and we went to go look for him. He was trying to do first aid on himself and wasn’t having too much success. We were able to apply the first aid that we knew to help the man and I felt blessed to be a part of it.

I think about how Christ healed. How he lifted. How he gained trust with His disciples. He did that through serving and providing hope and comfort. I’m thankful for the healing sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Savior, and I know that it is true. I know that we can be saved if we allow others to help us and even sometimes if we allow them to see our problems. As we gain understanding and leave sin, we can accept the fact that we are ALL children of Heavenly Father and that He loves us more than we can ever imagine. I’m grateful to be a part of His work on the earth!

Here’s a picture of the district after the service project! The part behind us was what we took down.

-Elder Hunter Burbidge

Service project missionaries and friends.  Elder Burbidge reppin’ the T-Birds!

Hey everyone – sorry it has been a while since I have written a blog post!  So much happens from one week to the next that when I finally get a chance to sit down and write about it, it all seems like a blur!

Checking out a game of pool!

This week was insane!  We found 21 new investigators and FINALLY had some actually come to church and commit to baptism!  I was sitting in Sacrament Meeting and while pondering my own life, I tried pondering on the lives of our investigators and I thought about my gratitude to Heavenly Father for delivering them to church. Two of the teenage girls WALKED for almost one hour to get to church!  I was surprised as all get out to see them there and I felt the love of the Lord in my heart.

Also, we received and contacted a person who is a referral from a member of the local ward that we attend.  He has been searching for the truth for a looonnnggg time. He is a world history teacher and they just finished studying ancient american civilizations…… WHAT??? (hahaha) So we taught him the Book of Mormon in the context of history!  It was awesome.. that is my favorite subject to learn about so it felt amazing to draw connections with him.  Within the first week of him being an investigator he WENT TO CHURCH!  He has a baptismal date on October 11th so I am just feeling blessed.  Please keep him in your prayers that he can make the commitments he needs to in order to be baptized.

This is a South Korean guy who married a local girl. The language barrier is intense!  The blurry dude on the left is my companion, Elder Caliguiran.

I’m thankful for all of you and the support and encouragement you give me.  I miss home and am excited to hear about the 2014 T-Bird’s season!  But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now and know that I am doing what I should be doing right now in my life.  I pray for you often!Love,

Elder Hunter Burbidge