🥳🤯

This week was so awesome. 

NoHo is keeping us SUPER busy.

It's been so much fun! 

The valley is completely different from the city. It's a whole 'nother world up here. It feels so weird. There are still a lot of people but it's soooo quiet! And there are mountains. I'm still not used to it yet. 

My new apartment is the nicest one I've been in yet and we have a washer and dryer. I think I've died and gone to heaven. It's so sweet. My companion is super awesome too! He's another one of those killer trainees with the fire and enthusiasm that brings miracles! He is from Henderson Nevada and Bryce Harper lives in his ward during the off season. He said Bryce Harper taught his Elders quorum a couple times before he left on his mission. I'm jealous. 

Its amazing up here in NoHo. There are lots of interesting people for lots of different reasons. For example the ward mission leader of the Burbank ward just east of here is the coach from high school musical, our bishop makes movies and TV shows, a member works for Nabisco and has given away $80,000 worth of Oreos and Nabisco products to the ward this year, and we have a bunch of old retired singers and actors in the ward. 

And another thing that is really different is that the people up here really love animals. And they are a little more creative than just cats and dogs. We knocked on this one ladies door and when she opened it an entire zoo flooded out. Bunnies, cats, Guinea pigs, you name it, it ran out the door. Hijole. But that's nothing. Our ward mission leader was telling us that a while ago his wife bought two rabbits as pets. Yesterday at church she announced they now have 111 rabbits destroying their yard and house. Nice. 

Well Saturday was one of the best days ever! We had a baptism in our area for an awesome 9 year old kid named J__. He and his mom have been meeting with missionaries for about a year. His mom is getting pretty close to getting baptized too. After we had that baptism we took off and drove down to Inglewood to go to the S__'S BAPTISM!!! Wahooooooo it was so awesome! They finally made it!  Two of the five weren't quite ready to be baptized yet but hopefully soon! The baptismal service was super cool. I got to see a lot of the members from my Inglewood area and holy cow there were tons of missionaries there. It was just a big party. I'm so happy for them. The gospel is the greatest. 

Moroni 10:32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Merry Christmas! Have a great week! 

-Elder Burgon 

Pics:

- S__'s baptism

- All the missionaries who taught the S__'s who are still on their mission and could make it to the baptism. 

- Elder Durham and I with the S__'s

- Elder Leishman and I with J__ at his baptism 

🏝️🎄Mele Kalikimaka🎄🏝️

Hello again!! 

It's been a while since I've sent out a group email

 so I hope you are ready for a few weeks 

worth of news squished into one email! 

We got our transfer calls on Sunday and I'm leaving pv. I'm going to N__ up in the S__ Valley. The land of Feliz Navidad. There's supposed to be lots of Spanish speakers up there so that should be fun! I'm follow up training an Elder from Henderson Nevada named Elder Leishman. Should be awesome! N__ is going to be great! 

Being in Palos Verdes has been lots of fun for many reasons. Obviously the view is one of my favorite reasons. It's so cool to be up on the hill and to be able to look out in one direction and see the whole city and then look in the opposite direction and have an amazing view of the ocean. A member related the view here to life and I really liked it. This is what she said. 

In LA there are a ton of things always polluting the air. So over time the pollution builds up and the air gets smoggy. 

The smog blocks the view and makes it hard or even impossible to see what's really there. The only thing that clears the smog and brings back the incredible view is a storm. The storm and the wind it brings clears out the smog and fresh air fills its place. After the storm is gone we are left once again with the incredible and clear view. 

In life the gospel brings us an amazing view of the bigger picture or an eternal perspective. But there are always things that are trying to distract us from what truly matters and there are voices that are trying to make us doubt what we believe. These things can make it hard for us to see what really matters in the long run and why we are really here. They make us lose our eternal perspective. But as the storms of life roll in, if we handle them with faith, they will clear what was blocking our view and stopping us from having an eternal perspective. We can always come out of trials stronger and a better disciple of Jesus Christ with a clearer and refreshed view on life. Trials are how we learn, grow, and become more like our savior.

President John Taylor said, 

"What if we have to suffer affliction? We came here for that purpose; we came in order that we might be purified; and this is intended to give us a knowledge of God, ...to give us a knowledge of eternal life, that we may be enabled to overcome all evil and be exalted to thrones of power and glory.

We call it suffering. I call it a school of experience. What are these things for? Why is it that good men should be tried? … I have never looked at these things in any other light than trials for the purpose of purifying the Saints of God that they may be, as the scriptures say, as gold that has been seven times purified by the fire."

I just really like that. I thinks it's really cool to understand why we are given trials in this life. With faith we can not only move mountains, but we can get on top of them and have a better perspective. 

Another thing that I have really liked about being in Palos Verdes is the fact that it gave me the opportunity to figure out how to do things I haven't done before like teaching English class. It went super good this past transfer! I started to really enjoying teaching it. We were able to find some new students that are just so hilarious and so much fun to teach. I've loved it. 

We had our mission Christmas devotional and it was so great. We watched the movie Coco as a mission so that was a party. I love this time of year so much. It's such a great time to be a missionary. More people are focused on their families and Jesus Christ which is what the Gospel is all about. So it's great to see how everyone is a little happier and kinder during the Christmas season. It just goes to show that focusing on the things that are most important is what will bring us lasting happiness. 

Have a great week and merry Christmas! 

-Elder Burgon

Pics:

- the Hawaiian Christmas wedding 

-the gang

- the thanksgiving dinner crew

- the soccer squad