True Asian

Sweet Beloveds,

So, really quick and really funny. Sister Rohlfing and I have been really thinking how long does it take to dilute the Asian blood we have because her mom is Japanese and so Asian and is EXACTLY like mother in the way she makes crazy projects, saves everything, sticks so many plates in the fridge, takes in stray animals and so forth. And we are realizing we are becoming like our mothers. There's just no stopping it. We've just accepted it and we are probably going to pass it on to our children. Come what may and love it.

Speaking of coming what may. Christmas came and went and here comes the New Years! Happy New Years! What are the resolutions you've made? It was so wonderful seeing your wonderful faces! Man, the girls are all growing up. How did it happen? “Tebie de shi guan zong shi guode tebie de qui,” am I right?

This week started out slow, our main investigators got baptized and the others are kind of “hai hao” and working on the desire to learn about his wonderful message and the family we were teaching is struggling a little, but as soon as we get the mom on board, I know things will pick up. So, it wasn't super busy, but then at the end of the week our faith kicked in because this is God's work and what that means is he WANTS it to go super-fast and WANTS us to find, teach, and baptize. So we used that faith to find and hit the streets talking to everyone and trying all sorts of ways to find. I love sister Rohlfing. She's fearless and she doesn't know it. She is so amazing and so powerful and an ABSOLUTE joy. And she has the voice of an angel. I'm so grateful to be her companion. I was worried training would turn me trunkie because the new missionaries love talking about home, but it actually showed me how my heart really did change over the past months and I don't want to be anywhere but here in this wonderful place serving the Lord.

I love finding. I love it so much. And this week we got a new family to teach. They miraculously just walked into the church and the mom said, "Hey, I want my kids to learn about Christian principles so they don't do bad things" YES! So we are meeting with them tonight. It's funny how she was so adamant on her kids learning but she didn't really want to learn (don't worry, we will hit her with the truth and the spirit to help her along).

It is easy to assume to know what others need when sometimes we need to take a look at ourselves and see what we need too. I do this a lot on the mission. I like to ask myself the same questions about faith and testimony and sincere study and prayer that I ask our investigators. Anyways, so many finding miracles. We got this awesome Nina we are going to teach and this other mother and daughter and it really turned around when we remembered how much of this work is dependent on the Lord and faith. I love it.

New Years! I love you all and hope that when 2014 comes, it comes in and finds you well and happy!

Love,

Your Daughter

Pictures from the Taichung Mission Blog

Taichung Mission at Wenwu Temple

Amanda's group with Pres. & Sister Blickenstaff

Lunch at the steak house

FA RA RA RA RA

Hey Beloveds,

Christmas is coming. Yes! Can we just take a moment and remember when I dragged Dad, Missy and Alex to Christmas mid-night mass last year? Wow. Thanks so much for entertaining my crazy ideas. It doesn't even feel like Christmas here, but then sometimes it hits me that, oh in a few days it's coming. I love it.

So this week was great. Janet got baptized. She scared me before because she said she wasn't sure if this was God's one true church. Yikes! I never wanted to help someone get baptized if they weren't quite ready and so that worried me but I asked her why she wanted to be baptized and she told us to obey and worship God. And that she hopes this is his only true church. After talking with her it felt a lot better and I realized you know getting baptized is an act of faith for her right now and it really was. After she was baptized I asked her how she thought she felt compared to before and she said her faith felt stronger. So awesome it really is through our actions that we build faith.

We did caroling yesterday with the ward! It was so fun! We drove in cars and just stopped at three different houses. Last Thursday we had our mission Christmas party and went to Sun Moon Lake. It was so foggy we couldn't see the lake but it was so nice to see missionaries I hadn't seen in 7 months! It was crazy to see how the time just went.

Can't wait to Skype you all. It still feels like I was just Skyping you all for Mother's day. Hey, so how are you celebrating CHRISTmas? Huh? In personal study I was doing the Christ-like attribute activity with faith. I was planning on going through all nice questions but just got stuck pondering on the first one. It asks you to assess if you believe in Christ and ACCEPT him as our Savior. I really thought about that and what it meant to really accept the Savior. Accept (according to the sweet-old-smelling-smell-that-i-love Webster's dictionary that I have) means to receive with consent or agreement; to make a favorable response to; to recognize as true. Wow just grab one of those definitions and stick it to where accept is and its good stuff to ponder. Do we really accept Christ as he is? He accepts us as we are. I think of Mosiah 14 and how the Jews and everyone rejected him because he was just a humbly born. I just makes me wonder, well what were they looking for in a Savior. What are we personally looking for in a Savior? What are we thinking will bring us happiness? Money, fame, accomplishments all that jazz or peace of mind, family, fulfillment.  It said that he wasn't desirable which is so ironic because a good relationship with him and god is ALL I desire for my sweet investigators and personally. He is so kind. So loving and so WILLING to help us and constantly in the scriptures invites us to "come unto him" but it's just so easy. It's too good to be true! But it is true. The way is simple. It's to come unto Christ and give him our all. Our everything. The way is simple and clear, but it's not easy. I've seen my investigators the way they had to sacrifice so much especially pertaining to family, but in the end it's a blessing. I really want to accept Christ in his all and I feel like the best way is to accept his help. Accept his atonement, his gospel, and his love to help us. I know so much and so deeply that he is our Savior and without his sacrifice, help, and love we can do life but we are living below what it could really be. Sweet beloveds, I can't wait to talk to you in what 3 days?

Love you so much

Sister Burr

Janet got baptized this week! Yes! And then that tall girl is
another investigator.

Christmas Comes Quick

Hey Beloveds, 

 
Mom, Happy Birthday! How was it? No master's project, so relaxing I hope. You're an angel. Thanks for all you've sent me. Here is a big birthday hug and kiss {} and ;* right? Is that how you do those icons? Long time no text.

Thanks for all you have sent me and all the love and thoughts you've given me. Wow. This Christmas season. How are you spending it? Can you send me pictures of snow PLEASE? Maybe a Christmas tree or two too? Also, any good quick holiday ideas/crafts I can do to give back to the ward huh? Oh the neighborhood goodies! The Krimey's always give such good sweets.
 
Wow! Let’s talk about this week shall we. Liao JM. She is the 23-year old whose mom passed away this year. Wow. My heart. I am so grateful that I was able to meet her and guide her along to better know our sweet loving Heavenly Father. What a gift! I was able to teach her from the very start and just yesterday, she helped me peike (help teach) while I did splits with my companion (she's so brave. The first week and she was willing do split off). Wow. There were some weeks I was so worried. I thought yikes she's not answering our phone calls or I wasn't sure if she was really feeling it, but at her baptism and the day before she gave the sweetest experience and testimony. She said that every day she doesn't want to wake up and go to work because it's early and cold but she prays and asks God to help her out because she knows God wants her to learn and this life is about learning and doing what God needs to do so the whole way to work she just prays that she can be warm and that the Lord will be with her through the day. Oh man. What a joy. She gets it. That's how God's relationship is with us. We can ask Him and tell him anything. He wants our hearts to be drawn out to him in all things. Wow. THEN she helped peike Penelope's lesson. Our sweet little Penelope. Man. Penelope is still working on her relationship with God. I feel everything about a testimony and the gospel can be brought back to the glorious doctrine that we are God's literal spirit children. During the lesson we were reading Mosiah 4 and Liao JM just bore testimony of Christ and God and explained our intimate relationship with them and wow oh wow I was so grateful to be able to hear her testimony. Penelope is still a work in progress, but I know through faith, love, prayer, and work that miracles can happen with her. She is slowly coming. I really hope we can just continue to help her see how to gain a testimony and how to find God so that when she's READY to do it HERSELF she will come to God and Christ. I love missionary work.
 
We are having a baptism for Janet this Friday! I'm so pumped. Not to pick favorites, but I really love her. Her lessons usually go an hour because I just love talking gospel with her. She is really looking for answers and is so sincere and just innocent in a way. She's 31 and no Christian background. We have been meeting for about two months now. THEN on Thursday we have our Mission Christmas party and on SATURDAY our ward party. This week is looking so wonderful.

I feel like the theme of the mission lately for me has been faith. We rely on faith in this life. I've come to see how God's power and Christ's love can really be unlocked by faith. The help is there, but we just need to come to them and act. Faith and acting on faith is the key that unlocks all the miracles and blessings we are really looking for. Really.
 
I love you all so much. Don't forget our sweet Savior in the commercialism of Christmas!! We've been going to member's houses and sharing/singing the Christmas story. It has been so fun!

Okay, love you all and skype you all next week.
xoxo
Sister Burr

Our sweet, sweet Peggy (Liao JM) made her first covenants this last week!

The sweet Elders bought her a pineapple. THANK GOODNESS! Pineapples are like gold here.

Beloved

My Sweet Family,

What a wonderful week. I'm so glad Mom is all done! She's a working angel. Hopefully she will sleep now.  This week was packed, packed with so much. So, Wednesday was our English Class Christmas party. SO AWESOME! I found a Santa suit for 7 USD and so I had to buy it and Elder Morgan put it on. He was the grumpiest Santa I had ever seen. It was funny. The students did a talent show and I sang “Away in A Manger”. It went so well! We had 90 people there and everyone had a lot of fun. I love planning parties. I'm still the same though.  Running around making sure everything is in order and hardly delegating. I need to delegate more, but I'm learning.

Speaking of learning I'm also learning how to train! It's basically like any other companionship. My trainee is awesome. She is willing and ready. Her first full day she gave out a baptismal invite (and the sweet Sister Xie accepted it) and she did her first phone call, all while being jet-lagged. She's Sister Rohlfing. Alex, I think you knew her. She knew you. Brother babe. Just go to lds.org and type in Song of the Heart.  That youth video is her. She's an angel. 

This week is on fire again! Liao JM is getting baptized! She's set to go and so awesome. Had some questions about the gold plates in her interview. The sweet people I’ve been lucky enough to teach just love learning. Hopefully we can get her family there. I might make invites she can hand out to people. Janet is well on her way with a testimony. She loved the Law of Chastity. She said God gave it to us to protect us. You got it! And she is praying for her Mom's heart to soften and is talking to her Mom to come to church just to check it out. Penelope is still her. She's so dang stubborn. If only we could help her turn her stubbornness to be set in the gospel. She's opening up more and more. We met with her and she doesn't want baptism AGAIN but it's just because she’s not ready quite yet. She's getting there slowly. We're still trying to help her see how God is her loving Heavenly Father.  Pray for her please? Pray that she will accept God's love and recognize it. He's giving it to her but she's not accepting it.

Wow! I love this work. I love these people. More than anything I'm thankful for the Spirit. Lessons are so powerful when we acknowledge the role of the spirit and invite investigators to notice the feelings and thoughts during lessons. Elder Funk said when we testify of the restoration or Christ, the spirit comes stronger than ever. How true that is.

Hey, what are you all doing for Christmas? Thinking of Christ? I sure hope so. It's awesome to be on a mission during Christmas season because there's not the distraction of Santa and gifts. You can really just focus on the birth (according to the Christian world) or our individual and world's Savior.

Sweet ones, I love you so much! Thank you for all you sent me and the love and support. I remember in my setting apart, the Stake President blessed me to feel the prayers and love of my loved ones and those prayers for me. Man I have felt it. Thanks a million. You’re one in a million. You’re shining stars.

Love you

Sister Burr

Christmas Party

My Trainee

Penelope and Sister Park and I at Dong Hai College

We only sleep on the bus

Letter from the President

Dear Burr Family,

I am pleased to inform you that your daughter, Sister Amanda Man-Wai Burr, has been called to serve as a Missionary Trainer in the Taiwan Taichung Mission.

This calling is a sacred trust and only the most capable and dedicated of missionaries is called to be a Trainer.  A missionary’s first companion will have a lasting influence on the development of the new missionary’s attitude and habits; therefore, a Trainer must set a firm example of worthiness, obedience and diligence at all times.  I am confident your daughter, Sister Burr, will set such an example and be an enduring positive influence for excellence in the life of her new missionary.

I am pleased that Sister Burr has accepted this calling and hope that you will continue to support and encourage her in this important responsibility.

Sincerely,

President Blickenstaff

Taiwan Taichung Mission

9 months and getting a baby

Sweet Beloveds,

Thanksgiving! So good? Sister Park and I had turkey rice. so cheap so good! My favorite. It was fun introducing Thanksgiving to her and TURKEYS. She didn't know what that was!

Hello hello. Let me tell you about a wonderful week. I just got back from eating ice cream and visiting a college with one of our investigators. It went super well. It's Penelope. She has opened up a lot and we understand her situation a lot more. I really believe with the right guidance she can finally open her heart to this gospel! I wanted to cry last Sunday I was so touched.

Sister Liao (the one getting baptized next week) bore her testimony in sacrament meeting and said how she knows this church is true and she thanks God for blessing her and her family. Wow. Amazing! She went from not knowing if this was true at all to recognizing her testimony. Janet is doing awesome. She said to me" yeah, I have a testimony. It's small right now but I have one". YES! Wow. The work has been going so awesome the Lord has been blessing Daya to the maximum and I'm so grateful to help out with it.

Elder Funk talked to us last week. So inspiring! Revelation upon revelation. The heavens are NOT closed in any way. God SPEAKETHS! It was so awesome about working with members and just have the spirit in teaching.

So fun so we did a Thanksgiving party (picture one: stuffing) and I made pumpkin pie (they LOVED it) and stuffing. So good. It was a hit. So many families and ward members there. So great.

Oh ps I'm training. This Friday I'll get my little baby and I'll hit my 9 month mark! What?! So fitting right?

Miracle sisters. We met a 9 and 11 year old on the road. They came to the Thanksgiving party. Then church. Meeting today with their mom. Quoted the bible to me and said she wants to learn about this church because you can pray to god. WHOA. What an angel. I was a little against teaching young kids a little bit ago but one talk I forget who gave it talked in last conference it'd be a pity to think children can't feel the spirit and be inspirited by Him. Yep. Changed the way I thought. Can't wait to see what's in store. I'm not living up to my Utah blood. I'm COLD IN TAIWAN? I don't know how. Thanks for sending Christmas present love my way.

I love you all so much.

Love you all

Sister Burr

Stuffing!

On the farm

2013 Mission Tour with Elder Funk of the Quorum of Seventy - Taichung and Taichung North Zones

Wednesday, November 27

Sister Amanda and Sister Park are right behind President Blickenstaff.  Elder and Sister Funk are seated in front along with Sister Blickenstaff's Mother visiting from California.

Thanksgiving - TNTIT (There's no turkey in Taiwan)‏

Sweet Family,
 
Hello hello! Greetings from Taiwan. This week is so exciting. On
Wednesday we are going to have Elder Funk from the 70 speak with us
and then on Friday I'm teaching the ward how to make pumpkin pie and
then on Saturday we are going to have a Thanksgiving activity and we
are going to teach them football, turkey hands, give them thanksgiving
food, and then give them Book of Mormons to hand out to their friends.
O_0. What better way to show you are thankful for the gospel then
sharing it right? Are you doing the Thanksgiving talent show this
week? I was banking on it so I attatched a message and me singing some
Christmas songs so you can include that in the program! I'll give you
the real deal next Christmas/Thanksgiving. I'm so happy to be serving
at this time in this Thanksgiving season. They don't celebrate
Thanksgiving or Christmas so there are absolutely no decorations or
anything, but that makes it more the exciting to introduce Christ into
their lives.
 
The work is going awesome. Sister Xie got the Holy Ghost this Sunday
and wore sweatpants under her skirt because she was cold. She's so
awesome. Wow. I love her and I love how willing she is to follow God.
She asks questions but she never questions God. We are working with a
Sister Liao. She is 23 and her mom died this April, and we have been
working with her for about 3 weeks now. She had no background before.
We were teaching her the 10 commandments which usually there's not too
big of a problem with teaching it, but with the first one (No graven
images or other Gods) kind of threw her off balance because her daoist
background teaches there are tons. She asked how you really know which
one is the true God and how do you worship Him. After discussing and
sharing she came to realize that yeah we just have one true God and
there are other things in this world that are good but not God. One of
the blessinsgs of the gospel is knowing WHO (romans 10:14) we worship
and HOW (DC 93:13) to worsihp Him. We worship a loving Heavenly Father
who is our God. We trust and love him and follow his commandments!
 
Penelope is still a work in progress. she is progressing on her own
time and her own time is slowly, but that's not a worry. This week she
really opened up. She has a problem with one of the commandments
because she doesn't understand how a loving God doesn't allow same sex
relationships.This is a problem in Taiwan that we've run into a couple
times because it's so common . Yeah, try explaining all that IN
CHINESE. No worries we did expalin it, she definitely felt the spirit
in that lesson. It was so strong as Sister Park and I were able to
testify of God and of the Plan of Salvation and the love he has for
all of us. So many people wonder if there is a God because of all the
things that happen in the world. The wonder if he is in fact merciful
and loving because of sickness, hunger, and unjustices. Through the
gospel, especially the Plan of Salvation we know who he is, our
relationship with him, and how to get back to him. People dont'
understand why he gives us these commandments or rules to guide our
lives and I really feel that as we better understand this Plan we
better understand why we have these commmandments that don't limit our
freedeom but lovingly guide us to have a fullfilling life. The
underlying principle is our relationship with God. He loves us so he
gave us commandments to protect us. We love him so we follow what he
says. Bad things happen and sometimes life is rough. I was reading Our
Search For Happiness by Elder Ballard. SO GOOD. He said taht bad
things in life happen just like bad things in nature happen. The
plates slip and an earthquacke happens. It's nature its the way it is.
When we came to this life we accepted those rules of nature and one is
sometimes life gets rough. We do ahve some control thoguht. That's
where agencey comes in. The blessed blessed gift of agency! I always
think of that "our turn on earth song". so good. That's why we have
commandments. God gives us those so he can guide us to use our agency
wisely to be blessed and protected. I love using the analogy of
commandments as guardrails. Just picture it you're in Zions and you're
going up Angel's Landing (Angels Summer 2014!) driving at superspeed.
There's so many cliffs, but no worries. You have those guardrails to
guide you and keep you safe. Sometime life comes at super speed and we
don'ot even realize where we're going or what we are doing BUT as long
as we follow the commandments of God we can know we will be safe and
guided to be where we need to be. Woof! Definietly a missionary here.
Love talking gospel.
 
Family,
THNAKSGIVING! Tell me about it! I am so thankful for the love and
support. You are my number 1 family!
 
I love you all so much! Eat an extra piece of pumplkin pie for me!
Love,
Your Daughter

True Companionship Love

The District

Busy Busy Bees

Sweet Family,

1. I went to the Temple today! (so this letter is going to be short
sorry) Wow. That was the first time in 6 months. It was so sweet and
such a blessing to be able to go. I hope you all go this week. Also it
was fun to see Taibei and ride on a bus and watch 17 miracles, Joseph
Smith movie, and On the Lord's Errand. It was movie overload

2. Small Xie got baptized! Wow. She is the most cuddly person to hug.
I love hugging her. Also when she bore her testimony at her baptism
she started off by saying "fuyin bu cuo" which is "the gospel is not
bad". I got a good kick out of it. She's good but didn't get confirmed
Sunday because she had to take care of her grandma at the hospital so
i'm just a little nervous until she gets that full baptism of fire.

Wow. Parents what a wonderful week you had. Are you back in America?
What an experience to see the places of the Book of Mormon. We have
been super busy. The work has exploded. Not just in our companionship,
but the district! It's on FIRE as people like to say. The members are
getting involved immensely and it reeally has opened up our
investigators pool. Every member a missionary. I'll say it over and
over. Everyone can share the gospel. Just live it. I've been thinking
a lot about prayers of faith and how powerful a prayer is when we
truly believe that when we do it we will indeed get an answer or that
God will hear it. I love making promises to investigators. I love
telling them they CAN know for themselves if God is there, if this
Book of mormon is true and not just hubabaloo. It's really powerful to
really believe these promises that I make I've come to find out.
Prayers of faith. They are great. Sorry this doesn't have much, but we
dont' have much time. I'll email again on Monday.

Alex: if you want more stickers I can send them. We just got new
stickers! And how are the CD's?
Mom: Thank you thank you!
Tori: thank you thank you!
Dad: Thank you thank you!!
Love
Sister Burr

2 Nephi 31:20

Beloveds,

Sweet family. Wow. This week has been so amazing. I can't tell you the changes that have happened. I feel like a whole new person and I have never been happier or have felt so much fulfillment as I have in these past weeks. I'm so happy that I made the decision to stay and more over I'm so eternal grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given us the Holy Ghost to guide and teach us.

There are big things happening in the land of Daya. The work is going so well. So amazingly well I'm so worried that a big trial will be coming soon, but no worries. Let them come. You know how much I love challenges. Speaking of challenges I almost got into a food eating contest with the Elders. I'm actually pretty positive I would've won. They don't know how much food I can pack down thanks to mom and her love to feed us food. This week we got some amazing new investigators. There is one that is breaking my heart a little because she met with us and then found another "church" that brings her happiness. NO! No worries. I just know with prayer, proper study, use of scriptures, and love she can begin to see the light. And if it's not her time then we'll hit her so hard with the spirit that when it is her time she can remember that feeling and come around.

I had an amazing experience while studying for her. I really have started to change my prayers. It's all about others. I've been praying so hard for my investigators and so specifically. I also started a prayer journal so when those inspirations come I write them down. I did that for her (She is Sister Lin) and got some promptings. The next morning in personal study I looked at that inspiration and was really pondering it. As I was doing this and reading the Book of Mormon I had the strongest feeling to share 2 Nephi 9:50-51.

50: Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.

51: Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.

52: Behold, my beloved brethren, remember the words of your God; pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night. Let your hearts rejoice.

What a beautiful invite right? Well we were teaching a first and it didn't really fit in but I was okay and I felt like she needs this. More than anything I felt like she needed a purpose. Usually with moms we focus on how the gospel blesses families, but I just felt like she wanted freedom and a goal in life. As we were teaching her, she actually said that's exactly what she was looking for and she was trying to find worth in life. BINGO! No worries, because the Spirit and I had a nice little chat in the morning I knew just how to answer her and more importantly to use SCRIPTURES to answer her. Wow! I'm so grateful for that experience. It just shows what prayer, acting on the inspirations of prayer, and scripture study can do. I can't wait for it to happen again. I've been using the Book of Mormon like crazy lately and we have 3 (soon to be 4) investigators with baptismal dates and 2 are going to hit those for sure. The others need some work. The work is EXPLODING. Sister Park and I taught 11 lessons with members this week and 19 other lessons. That's a lot. Trust me. It's not us. It's the Lord. Xie JM's sister is getting baptized next week! Solid. Testimony solid. And Penelope is still a work in progress. I'm drowning her with love and the spirit, the most important elements in this work.

Are you ready to hit up the Nephite temples???? I can't wait to hear about it. And hey, where are all the Halloween pictures??? C'mon! Love you all. Don't worry. No more bike accidents. We have to wear reflective gear, but it doesn't work because an elder got hit last night. Taizhong is crazy. I can't even imagine Taibei. Poor Valeria.

I love you,

Love Sister Burr

Sister Park's first PB&J!!! She loved it.

My Taiwan