Week 5! Probably last email from the MTC!

email began with personal family stuff that I am leaving out as usual.. 

since Christmas it has really been just more studying. On Christmas we had a devotional from Elder Bednar (from a few years ago) and another from Elder Nelson and his wife (that was live feed from utah) and we got to see the premier showing of Meet the Mormons with Spanish Subtitles. so i finally got to see that :) It was really good. If it comes out on DVD you should get it :) 

Pretty much other than that we just study, teach, and study some more. 

On Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament (we all prepare talks in spanish and we are chosen at random without knowing until they call us up) and that was fun. the topic was Arrepentimos (Repentance) and I just had to quote Pollyana, so my whole talk was about death comes unexpectedly and how we need to repent now. :) I just wish i knew the rest of the sermon so i could have used more. 

And we have been teaching an "investigator" named "Omar" (i dont know if i explained earlier, but the teachers pretend to be investigators so we can practice teaching) and this week we learned a lot of things about Omar. We were teaching the Word of Wisdom and he tells us he is a drug dealer. so we had to address that. and when we went back for the next visit a couple days later, we find out that he stopped dealing and shooting people, which he did not bring up before that. so we were kind of surprised that he admitted to shooting people... but hey he stopped. :) but if it were real life we would have had to report it to the mission president. luckily we dont teach him anymore, because Hermano Trejo (aka omar) left for vacation yesterday. So that is something we dont have to deal with right now. And our other teacher plays "Raul" for us to teach and we have to drop him also. He doesnt keep any commitments we give him, so we cant help him if he doesnt help himself. so I figure we are turning out to be great Missionaries because the two investigators we have been teaching are both suddenly not going to be taught... a good start to this mission thing, huh? But it is ok, that is how it works. Some people work out, and others don´t. It´s all in the Lord´s time. 

And we got our flight info today for next week. And there are three of us going to Tacoma. And I am designated travel leader, so i have to watch the others and make sure they do everything right. Fun right? ;)

I had a minor panic attack the other day when I realized that I only have a week left before it gets really real. And I am not entirely prepared. But then I felt very strongly that I will be ok, and I am as prepared as I need to be. and I am definitely doing the right thing. Hakuna Matata. So I am still nervous, but I know I will be ok. 

We are getting group pictures in an email at some point so you can see all of us when I get that. Oh and I dont know if I will be able to email when I get to Washington. But since Tuesday is travel day and normally email day, you might not get one next week. I am not sure how that works. But I am sure I will get to email at some point next week. They cant put you through that much suffering ;) Plus if I pray for the time next week, I will get it. Prayers are answered all the time. 

I am not sure if there is anything else to say for this week...

Oh, I got real Mexican Food!!!  "Gringas" which are some kind of taco thing... I dont know exactly what, but it was really good. and much better than costco food. :) we were (mom here- I had to do some editing to this part so as not to divulge where /how they got real food LOL) warned  before hand that it might make our stomachs upset, but I was fine. So much better than the other food here for sure. 

So other than that, I guess I will email again when I am in Washington! Excited and nervous and constantly praying that Everything will be ok. :) So until next time

-Elder Burke

week 4- part two

This is the original week 4 email that didn't come last week- he re-sent it. 

so for this last week let me think of what happened...

My companion and I are getting along well. We had a talk the other day about some issues but we are doing better and teaching really well together. We tend to procrastinate planning and end up going into meetings not knowing what we want to do but it ends up really good. like the other day we were getting ready to teach and he wanted to teach the Plan of Salvation and I wanted to teach Christmas (because our "investigator"´s dad is a jehovas witness, so i figured it was a good thing to teach) and we went in thinking of Christmas and ended up teaching both. and it all tied in really amazingly. I cannot say it was all us though because we would be nothing without the help of the Spirit. :)

and we have been learning a lot of Español. I have started thinking more in spanish than in english so my brain gets confused a lot. especially when writing. :) but it is good that I am thinking more spanish. 

Oh and I think I got a way to get some authentic Mexican food. Since the CCM gets all their food from Costco we dont get much in the ways of authentic. but I made a deal with my teachers and they might get us some food for Navidad! :) I specifically asked for churros by the way because I have to get a churro in Mexico, just for you :)

As for special things here for Navidad, we get a lot of "study" time that day instead of classes. We are getting a Devotional from Elder Bednar. We are allowed to watch a video (probably a church one) that evening. and today we are getting a special live feed Devotional from one of the Apostles, not sure which one though. So we get to hear lots of important people speak. should be lots of fun :) (kind of wierd to think that a lot of devotionals are fun, but this is life in the CCM) 

Other than that it has been a lot of classes and learning. Getting a haircut today, which I am not happy for, but I will be ok... after a few days, or weeks :) you know how it is

and getting one of my suits dry cleaned today, it cost $5 american. so I think it is a good deal. plus it needs to be cleaned. :)

Thanks always for the love and prayers and support you guys share with me. I pray for everyone all the time and really wish you could share this experience. I love you all and miss you a lot. I cannot wait for thursday to come because i get to talk to you!!! 

I think that is all for now, so until thursday! (or in Español, Hasta Jueves!) Y, Feliz Navidad! 

-Elder Burke

Week 4- part one

This is the letter Robert got from Tanner.. because the email he sent to me didn't get to me.. hopefully he will send it again and I will be able to post it later. 

yes i have friends, basically my entire district here is my extended family. there are twelve of us total, plus the three teachers. so yes i have made some friends. and yes they feed us enough- they get costco food so they have plenty every meal. but they dont have authentic mexican food because of that. but i think i made a deal with my teachers so we can get some real food. they said churros is a definite possibility. :) if that happens you will get pictures :)

and yes i write in my journal. i am amazed i have been writing everyday. plus i keep track of anything during the day in a different notebook in case anything really cool happens.

so i have been doing really well with the language and have been teaching better with each meeting we have with "investigators". and i am getting very confused with languages because i have gotten spanish so much in my head when i go to write in english it comes out as spanish first. but i cant complain about that. 

i honestly cannot wait two days to call you! i have already determined i might cry from the beginning of the call through the entire 30 minutes. :) 

i love and miss you a lot 

talk to you on thursday!!!! 

-Elder Burke

MTC week 3

 thank you for the doughnuts! and they came with milk. all wrapped in christmas paper. really nice. :) i did share some of them though.  (mom note- I should hope so..we sent a dozen!)

as for exercise i did get some thing done the other day... so it made him happy. but i am not ending up like him... (speaking of his companion)

honestly i can see you in one of my classes and just looking completely lost. this week we were told we are solo español so you really wouldnt have a clue. :) but i can understand so it is good for me lol (I had told him I would love to spend just one day in the mtc to see how they teach and learn the language)

that would be awesome to get some Jamaica juice packets! but i cant leave the campus so it is probably not possible. (I discovered they sell the Jamaica juice in packets like Kool-Aid and told him about it.. well, guess what I found on Amazon? yep.. will have to order some to send him in Washington..but dont tell him! ;) )

 but speaking of leaving campus, we went to the temple grounds today! and it was really good! we saw the outside and the visitors center and got to go to the bookstore, where i got everyone some cool presents for christmas from mexico! and i will send those when i get to washington. :) 

i cant think that it is christmas next week. it is seriously so sunny and green here that it feels like may. and it hasnt rained at all so it is like a heavily polluted, tropical paradise bubble that is surrounding us. and the pollution is only bad on like three days out of the week. :)

we do not have bunk beds here, at least not in our dorms. we have separate beds and it is all good. i am glad you found that facebook page? i dont know what to think about that information you gave me. but i will share it with Elder ____insert Tanners companion here____ and see what he thinks. i guess i really should try with spanish... lol :)  (I found a WA-Tacoma missionary moms FB page and learned some things from another mom who has a spanish speaking missionary out there right now)

and that is my reply to you. now as for this week with me. 

it seems to have gone by really fast! 

ummm, we are learning a lot everyday. and we are getting a lot of cultural experiences. not just talking to people that work here, but we have a thing called TRC which is where members come into the MTC from mexico city and we teach them. it is really interesting because they are so nice and help us with explaining the topics. and it is really similar to what the real deal will be like. 

and speaking of teaching we are doing really well lately. we are teaching two "investigators" and with one we already committed to baptism, and with the other we are learning a lot. the other day we planned on teaching the second person about prayer and he gave us a curve ball and asked us about what we believe for the life after this. so we taught an impromptu lesson on the plan of salvation without any preparation, in complete español. it really was amazing. 

on saturday we had a change of schedule and when we would normally go learn language on the computers, we were invited to a traditional "ballet". and that does not mean like swan lake. it means traditional latin music and dancing. and the theme was Navidad en Mexico, so it turned out to be an amazing performance about the Navidad story. and of course i got some cool pictures to share when i get back to the states. 

went to the temple today. and other than that nothing much has been happening. just keeping really busy and learning a lot. oh and tomorrow my district is helping the new people come in. so all the new missionaries that fly in tomorrow we are helping them get their information and get to their dorms or houses in one piece (physically and mentally) lol. so that will be exciting. anything new in our schedule is looked forward to with lots of excitement. 

other than that, my district is amazing and all the people i deal with everyday are great people. i am so glad i was put with them. i have been helping them as they help me. i have noticed that i tend to go up to people when they are having a bad day, and i guess it helps them because afterwards they seem better. it happens a lot more than i would like to say, but maybe that is another reason i am here, to help others be better. the other night i talked with one of the elders for over an hour after he told me he didnt want to talk about anything... but i am just so good at listening that he ended up talking a lot. :)

so things are good. I am learning a lot, and praying all the time. 

as for the christmas call, i do not have an exact time, but i am sure i will get that before next tuesday. i did find out that i get 30 minutes and when that 30 minutes is up, at exact time, the phone will automatically hang up, so i will let you guys know when i get short on time so we can say final things before the line cuts out :) should be fun to deal with. (missionaries get to call home 2 times a year..Christmas and Mothers day..we can't wait to hear from him next week!)

so that is all for this week. i hope you all are doing well and i hope dad gets home safely. 

i am praying for you guys all the time. and i am very thankful that i get you all for eternity! 

love and miss you all a lot!!! 

-Elder Burke

**italics are all notes from mom to explain a few things :)

week 2 in the MTC

ok, where to start? 

i will say that mexico city is crazy. not just the bus ride. but if you look up the celebration of the virgin guadelupe (however you spell it) you can find out what is happening this week. and i heard it only gets crazier around christmas and new years. but to give you the short version there are explosions happening constantly outside (nothing serious) and it keeps us all awake. and yesterday one of the mountains caught on fire because of it. :) fun things.

I think Elder ______~Tanners companion's name goes here~_________ is learning fast that i dont exercise. so i am not dying yet. but i might die of boredom watching him exercise all the time.  but he is a good guy and helps me a lot. and i learned that we have a lot more in common than we thought at first. 

my spanish is doing really good. We taught an "investigator" this week and i was able to say some sentences without cheating by looking at a book or paper. it surprised me a lot and later i learned i actually made sense. amazing! i do still have a lot to learn but when i think that two weeks ago i only knew what Dora the Explorer said, I really have learned so much. I am so thankful everyday that I am able to learn as fast as I have. 

Jamaica is what it is. its hard to explain other than really good. it is just a juice, not a carbonated thing.  (note from his mom.. I had asked him about the drink mentioned in his last email)

I am doing really well without caffiene. I think i have only had one bad headache. I really do see that as a miracle. because i know that caffiene makes headaches constant. but I have done really well, I am definitely off that completely. but i do carry the medicine just in case. :)

I have already picked some stuff out for the Tienda for you guys. no nativities, but maybe at the Temple. I am not sure when we go, but i know we will. so maybe then, but if not i have other great things. 

it is around the 70s today for weather and the locals are complaining that it is cold. I am like this is really nice. I just dont get it... 

that the days here are very long. everyday from 6 to 1030 we are doing something. It really increases the learning a lot. and our "investigator" from last week became our teacher so now we learn spanish from two different people. one is a student in Mexico City (he went on a mission a couple years ago) his name is Hermano (brother) Trejo, and he is seriously the funniest person. I am writing down his stories so I can share with you guys later. the other is Hermano Candia (the fake investigator) and he makes prostetic (whatever fake is) teeth out of his own lab for a living, and at night he teaches us. he is really cool too. I am so glad I have them as teachers. 

by the way both teachers are now playing investigators for us, and their stories are real people. but they are just pretending so we can learn different situations. it helps us to stay on top of learning how to teach. 

the district  i am in has lots of crazy people. but everyone is crazy. they are really cool though. everyone is getting along well enough. I like to say each day is a roller coaster because we are nice and then not so nice to each other many times everyday. but in the end we all pray and we all go to bed as family. i am actually learning to love them all as family. which is crazy because i have gotten so used to not getting to like people. but now i can actually say that they are my family here in Mexico.
That does not mean that I have forgotten you guys though- I think about you all the time. 

well my time is almost up for today, so now i have to end. 

thanks for the prayers and support. I really couldnt get through this without knowing you all are being blessed for it. I have thought of leaving at least twice because it gets tough without you, but i just think that someone out there needs me. so i push through and know that you guys are always there in my heart. (think of tarzan songs) :) 

i think that is the highlights from this last week. maybe i will think of something else for next time. 

love and miss you all!!!! do not worry about mexico city and the explosions. :)

til next week i guess! 

-Elder Burke 

First email from Tanner in the Mexico MTC

Note from Tanners mom... I will be posting most of Tanners emails here on this blog.. but I will be cutting things out of them that pertain just to his family ;-) Feel free to email him anytime! his mission email address is tanner.burke@myldsmail.net and I know he would love to get emails. He is currently in the missionary training center in Mexico and in January will be moving to Washington state for the next 2 years.  I cant figure out why this pic is sideways.. it isnt like that on my computer when I upload it. if I ever figure it out, I will fix it.

Wow ok, so there is a lot to say without a lot of time. I only get an hour on here so I will try to say everything. the flights were ok, the first one had a lot of turbulance, but I did make it to Atlanta fine and with over an hour to spare. The flight from Atlanta had a ton of missionaries on it! and we filled three busses on our way to the MTC. btw the bus ride through the city is crazy- like italy crazy (at least how I picture driving in italy). And the city itself is so colorful, but so poor looking. And everything here is way cheap!! yes luggage made it fine, they did check one of them but nothing was missing. As for the email thing... that was my fault. i forgot to put mail.com on the end.... oops.:) but we were in a new missionary orientation meeting when president pratt (mtc president related to parley p. pratt) pulls me aside and says I am in trouble. so it wasnt a big scene, but it was crazy. (note from Tanners mom- we didn't get the email saying he had made it to the MTC the first day and emailed them to find out..well, we finally got one, but it was from Pres. Pratt's email account written by Tanner so we thought maybe he had gotten lectured haha)

 they do get packages here if they are sent from mexico through online things. one person even got krispie kremes (hint hint). my companion is good for the most part. we have our differences, but he is forgiving and so am i. we are both going to tacoma after this, so it is really cool that we are here together too. he enjoys exercise way too much! like that is one thing i cannot do. he has diabetes type 1, and some other medical things but so far nothing to be concerned over. it was interesting the first night though when he was telling me all the medical things i need to watch him for.

 both of us are learning spanish fast. he already knew a lot from school, and gets mad at me for not trying to speak as much as i should. but i am learning at my own speed. we have taught an "investigator" three times now in complete spanish, which is the scarriest thing ever. being thrown into that right away the second day was no bueno. and we are constantly asking for el don de linguas (the gift of tongues) so we are hoping faith can take us far. I have realized that i can understand much more than i know. If someone speaks to me I can understand just about everything they say, but responding is the problem because i dont know how to. so i can interpret well :)

 cant believe it has only been 6 days! it feels like so much longer because they teach so much in a day and i honestly think they only thing getting me through all that is Heavenly Father. seriously these days are long and hard, but I am learning a lot. I do wish i could cook here, just to relieve some stress sometimes. but the food is pretty good. everyday is something new, sometimes mexican sometimes not. taquitos (they call them tacos) are good. and they have a drink that is called jamaica (pronounced hamica) that is soooo good! if you can find it, try it. :) they dont have caffiene drinks here (good thing) but they do have sodas. i am buying you stuff at the tienda (store) because they have a lot of cultural things for sale for cheap. and the temple apparently has some cool things so i am going to get more pesos for when i get to visit the temple visitors center (should be in a few weeks).

 taking lots of pictures. it is very cool here, a lot like what you would think of as paradise. 70 degrees most days, slight chill at night. sunny all the time. green grass. palm trees. mountains surrounding. it really is amazing. (yes i am bragging) btw did you get snow yet?

 I am glad you got to the temple. i wish i could have been there. i will say though that the spirit here is amazingly strong. it really helps me get through the day. i have constantly at the randomest times felt this immense love that i think is from you all being sent to me from the spirit. it is such a good time of day when i get that. Yes i have cried a lot here. mostly because of the spirit. it is seriously so strong we all had a district meeting and everyone was in tears at the end (we have another tonight so we will probably get there again)... everyone here is so supportive it is crazy. and the locals who work around the campus are crazy friendly. such a great place to learn the gospel.

 pray for me. it is very hard here, and the language is tough but i only get through the day because of you guys, so please remember that. i love you all soooo much and i miss you like crazy. i did send some snail mail for you guys but i dont know when it will get there. ummm.... cant think of much else. thanks for the support. i seriously love you all. and i think of you guys all the time. so til next week, Elder Burke (still know my first name is tanner btw) staying strong and getting through it. :)

 In a 2nd email we got this:

 oh, i still have 15 minutes, so i am going to write again and just think about you guys. because i don't want to close out my email yet.... ummm lets see I guess since I am running out of time I will end with this: I love you all so much and i really do hope that my being here is blessing you guys as much as it is me. I might be in spiritual overload (if that is even possible) so i hope you guys are getting a lot of it. I think you all deserve it. i pray for you all the time, and i know you are praying for me too. i have thought of so many disney quotes here it is not funny, but they all seem to be relevant for the moment. crazy huh? but the ones that stick out most are from pollyanna "look for the good in them and you will find it" and of course lion king "hakuna matata" oh and "remember who you are" i guess this is really the end until next week. or maybe if i get snail mail from you guys... love you all more than anything. and for the third time while writing these emails i am tearing up, so i really should stop. but i dont want to.... love you and miss you!! -for real this time, Elder Burke (still Tanner)