Welcome to Manchester, Elder Burns!

Hello everyone! 

Wow! This week has been so jam packed full, there is absolutely no time to write it all! 

This week has been amazing, and the people are great. Everyone in the MTC is so loving and supportive, we all feel like a feel one big family! Or small, depending on how you look at it. This mtc is quite smaller than Provo's. There is probably 30[?] Elders and sisters here, and they are all amazing!

It has been such a spiritual high. Literally every minute of the day is planned out. There's either a lesson, workshop, workout, devotional, study time. It is definitely a different lifestyle. I'm used to having more down time, sleeping 10 hrs a day..... you know. Getting up at 6:30 is not my cup of tea.

My companion, Elder Masango, is so great! He is from South Africa, just east of Johannesburg. The culture is quite different between us, but it is cool to see the differences. I have also learned that my Lion King Zulu is laughable 🤣 It is quite multicultural here, we've got people from all over. 

Our very first full day, they already had us teaching lessons. It was slightly nerving, because we hadn't been taught really anything yet. But we persevered, and I think we did pretty good! But because we didn't know all the points from Preach my Gospel, it really taught that you have to rely on the Spirit to teach. No matter what, the Spirit is the true teacher.

On Sunday, we were able to go to a Christmas choir concert. It was really good, and really put me in the Christmas spirit. When we went there, I was surprised. I knew that Bro Hunter was directing the choir, (For those who don't know Bro Hunter, I know him from the Nauvoo and British Pageants. He is also a teacher at the MTC. It is really good to have a familiar face.) But I didn't know that Robin, (who was also in the pageants) was a soloist in the concert! I didn't get to say hello to him, but it was fun to hear him sing, and to again see a familiar face. I also discovered that Sister Taylor knows him too. She was a youth narrator in the British Pageant, and is currently in the MTC with me. Connections! We now know that we've got a lot of mutual friends!

Yesterday we were able to go to Piccadilly gardens in Manchester to go finding. Wow! I have not been so terrified or excited! It was a blender bottle of emotions. The very first person I "talked" to (he didn't really let me speak) was from Southern Ireland. He was extremely wasted, and told me to "f*** off" a good 20 times in the first minute. I could tell he wouldn't listen, so I said "have a good day" and left. It is sad that he wouldn't even listen. 

But the day wasn't all terrible. We were able to meet a woman by the name of Jenny that had just missed her train to Leeds. She told us that she believes that there is a God, but she didn't know which God was the real one. We were able to tell her about the restoration of the gospel, as she was very receptive of our message. She graciously accepted a Book of Mormon, and gave us her contact information. 

We also met a lady, Elsa, and her cute little 3-year old boy. She was hesitant at talking to us first because she thought we were Jehova Witnesses. Once we established that we weren't, we are missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she was willing to listen. She asked us how we were different from other religions, and we told her about the Book of Mormon and how it came through Joseph Smith the prophet. We told her about how Joseph Smith didn't know which church to join, and after reading James 1:5 "If any of you like wisdom, let him ask of God, that given to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.", he decided to pray to know what church to join. We told her about the first vision, and the results of that. She expressed that she felt just like Joseph Smith, and didn't know what church to join. She also accepted a Book of Mormon and gave us her contact information. It was sad at this point, because she couldn't give us an address. She had recently become homeless. I pray for her that she will be able to provide for herself and her son.

And then today, was especially special. 1) I was able to read the messages of family and friends, and it was very happy and loving. I feel your support and love as I'm here. 2) I was able to explore Chorley, and experience more of England. It was weird to buy things in a different currency. We saw some Cadbury Surprise eggs, so I had to get some! (Sorry America, but the UK beats us when it comes to chocolate) We were also able to go to a Chippy!! Fish and Chips are preeetty good! They add vineager and salt to their thick cut fries which makes them sooo good! They also dip them in Tartar sauce, and I really like it. 

4) Most importantly, we were able to do a session in the Preston temple. It is SOOOOOO beautiful!!! Honestly, It is indescribable. The spirit was so strong, as it always is. There is no other place in the world that you can feel closer to God than in His house, the temple. 

I urge all of you to make the temple a priority. It is the pinnacle of life, of joy, of happiness, of peace.

Finally, I would like to hear from you guys. I felt inspired to include a "question of the week" type of thing. It may be related to a lesson we had, a question I have, maybe an investigator's question. I feel like this will help me as well as bless you all.

Sooo...

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: How has the gospel blessed your life?

I love you all, and can't wait to write you all again!

With much love,

Elder Burns