Here's a Thanksgiving message from Elder Burnett and some pictures.  They ran into a guy who is a paleontologist and has some cool fossils in his home.

Hello My Friends! I hope you are all doing well! Again the mission address has changed and Dec 15th my address may change so dont send anything until after the 15th. Ill let you know what My new address is or if it has stayed the same! So for thanks giving we were invited to the Marshals house which was great! We went around the table and each said 5 things we are great full for and then began to eat. We also played football in the Turkey bowl down at IUPUI so that was cool. But most recently we had a General Authority come to our mission and spoke with us. We learned alot and personally learned alot about Patience. Our mission President Gave the Training and Explained that patience is like the "Behind the scenes" Attribute, which it is. If you look at any of the Christ like attributes and there definitions in the scriptures you will find that For example. Charity :In Corinthians it says "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up," The part that makes me think of patience is SUFFRETH LONG. and you will find many examples in the scriptures when describing these attributes you will find examples of patience. I know that in life we can be more patient with things. Like our family, our work, school, Or friends and others. But we also need to be patient with ourselves. Sometimes we can be hard on ourselves. Anyways. I love all of you and hope you had a wonderful Thanks Giving! 

Hey Everyone its been a while since Ive sent a solid email out to everyone so sorry about that. Ive been thinking alot about what I could say and how I can get you up to date with whats going on. Yet not much has changed in this area Other than TONS of leaves everywhere. So here you can rake up your leaves and put them in bags and put them on the side of the road. which you could do in Idaho. But they can be plastic and or not in a bag at all. Like people would just rake everything onto the road. and people will come pick it up. They do that if trees fall over or you have lots of sticks and wood laying around. You just make a pile out front and eventually it disappears. I dont know if you can do the same thing in Idaho cause I know when we would trim trees or anything we would have to drop it off at the dump. 

Anyways back on track Not much has changed since this transfer or last but I have been thinking alot about parents and how much they affect our lives as we start out. You hear about how coming into this world we are pretty much helpless and defenseless. We are in diapers and we cant fend for ourselves. We learn from our parents as we grow and they set the example and set the path for when we grow older. They try their best to keep you on the path that will help you live a better, Happier life. Cause parents want whats best for their children. As we grow older and the time comes and we may have kids of our own eventually and we try to raise them to the best of our abilities. Then the time comes for their turn and so on. I remember seeing a picture of a dad or a mom holding a baby and caring for it. Then life goes on and the parent grows older and the kid grows to be bigger and more mature. Then in the next picture it shows an adult with and elderly parent and the adult is caring for the parent and then the next picture is where the adult now has a baby and the cycle restarts. There is this on going cycle of life that we all live. Now this may just be a giant rant where I just type down my thoughts and I apologize for that. But in the bigger picture God is our Heavenly father. He wants whats best for us. Like what our parents want for us as we are kids. 

He sent his son to pave the way for us and help us follow his teachings so that we can live better happier lives. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he does want whats best for us. I know that he hears and answers prayers. I know that he loves it when we talk to him through prayer and loves when we "Call home" and Check in. God loves and cares for each one of his children and when we seek for comfort and guidance he stands there with open arms waiting for us to come to him. I love you guys and hope you are all doing well!

Sorry for not sending an email last monday! So news Is Im staying with Elder Wood for another transfer! He is my first 12 week companion! Some Cool stuff thats been going on is We met this guy named Zach! He is 18 and very talented when it comes to music. Before we met him we were told he likes music and loves sports and my companion and I looked at each-other and laughed. Elder Wood Is very into sports and I Live music. I know we are called to the areas we serve for specific people! The work really is in Gods hands. Hes been Struggling with some things however when we talked with him he told us how much he loves music and we met up at Guitar center this last Monday and we are going to go today too! We improved a few songs while I Was on the drums and Zach On the guitar. We Played Some A day to remember, Weezer, Nirvana, and other different songs from other bands! We Clicked Instantly when we began playing. He told us how he had gone down to Utah and met missionaries down there and would go to homeless shelters and play and sing with them. He told us that he would like to come to church and sit down and learn more about our church! My companion and I are super Excited for him! Its cool how we are each given specific talents that can be used to help others! Love you guys!!! Here are some pictures of some of my Friends that are leaving my zone! Elder Newey is closest to me Elder Derbedge in the middle and Elder Messer To the far right! Stay safe!

Taking "manly" photos and using a hammer to fix a car...

Taking action shots at the local thrift store

With the holiday season approaching, please note Elder Burnett's new mission address (in case you are sending him a package).

*New Mission Home* Address:   777 Sunblest Boulevard, Fishers, IN  46038-1167

Hey I dont have that much to say this week. However I got my boot off finally. I just cant play Bball for a few more weeks until it fully heals. Ill send some pictures though for this Email! Im burning a tie for 6 months. 

And star wars stuff and other fun things. It was a guy who we knocked on our door. He wasnt interested and after the conversation was over he closed the door on us and we left and knocked on another door and no one answered. Well while we were waiting for someone to answer The Guy from the previous house said " actually there is something you can do to help me." and he had us go in and pray for his dad. 

And when we came in his house was loaded with movie props and super cool things like that. XD and my shoes from having a boot so one is brand new the other is used.  I love you guys

My companion Elder Wood and I biked out into the sticks, Like far out there in our area and how we decided to do it was throw a dart at our map after we said a prayer and mark where ever it lands or the area that it went most frequently. Well we had two pins where the dart had landed closest to its previous hole and decided that it was a great place to go. So we biked out there and knocked the area. After no luck I looked up and saw someone with a HAM radio set up in his backyard. And I wanted to go talk to them. 

Well headed over and saw this house just caked with Halloween decorations and their Garage door open with them in it. I complimented them on their decorating skills and introduced ourselves as missionaries and explained what we do and shared our message about the restoration and the book of mormon. After we each bore our testimonies to them we asked if they could feel what we were feeling and they both nodded their heads and said yes. And we invited them to read the book of Mormon and watch General conference. 

Well after we ended with prayer we headed back towards home for English class and I came up to a curb and lifted my front tire to go over the curb and my back tire followed through, well the back tire hit to hard on the second curb and popped. JUST SO YOU KNOW INDIANA SIDE WALKS ARE A LIE. If you see a side walk there is only about 10 feet of it then it ends and its just grass and ditches. So what we were doing was jumping the road curbs to get to the concrete drainage thing so we could ride easier instead of riding on the 2 inch bike lain right next to cars or riding in the grass. Any ways it popped so we sat down and gave the sisters a call to come pick us up. We told them the intersection we were at and they said " Ok we are coming" well a long time passed and we watched almost everyone who passed by stare us down XD It was kinda funny. They would yell at us or just stare. So we called the sisters again and they went to our house to pick us up instead of where we had been waiting. It had been pretty cold and windy that day so since the sisters werent coming to pick us up we decided to go into the gas station and warm up a bit. I ended up buying some stuff and went back to wandering the store. 

Well, I saw a new flavor of monster. It was a banana protein shake and I wanted to see if it was any good. Well the second time I went through the line with the same cashier he said. "you know I used to talk to missionaries" I said Yeah?? and he said "Yup but I moved and lost contact with them and I would really like someone to talk to again." I told him. " Well I can help with that"  I then got his contact info and headed out the door where we found Elder Cox (a senior missionary) was sent to come to pick us up for English class.. That day I got to see first hand that everything happens for a reason. I love you Guys And hope you are all doing well!

Im with my new companion in indy 1st its right down the road from my old area. Im still in the same stake. My new address is 8515 Red Oak Ct Apt G. Indianapolis IN 46227 and the new address for the mission home is 777 Sunblest Blvd, Fishers, IN 46038.

My new companion is Elder Wood, He is the district leader and We have been called to teach English to Chin people. They are Refuges from Burma. And most of them are baptist. So I will be getting a Burmese tag soon haha. Ive been in this apartment before with my other mission friends when I was with Elder Tafuna and Elder Jenks. So we moved into this apartment Tuesday and have been cleaning and going out and learning the area. Our mission goal is for each Companion ship to find a family and teach them before the end of the transfer. I forgot to mention we were Double transferred in so the trio that was in this area was shipped outta here to another area and we came in like a new start. Or a white wash as most people know it as. So we have a fresh place to work at. Yesterday night When we got home I stayed outside to watch a lunar eclipse. It was so cool to finally watch the moon be covered completely by shadow. My companion is cool hes a pretty nice guy and does what he knows is right so thats good. His name is Elder Wood He is from Pocatello Idaho. He is 19. Update on my boot I hopefully have 3 weeks left with it. But I might have 4 left. We will see...

SO recently Ive noticed how big of a part prayer plays in our lives, and in what we do. The Time that I notice I get affected the most by it is when I pray in the morning. It sets a Better tone through out my day than how my day would have been if I hadnt. And the other time is when we go out knocking on doors or talking to random people out on the street. So after we got all unpacked and settled in we had about a half of an hour left to go do stuff and so we decided we could go knock some doors but before we went out we knelt and prayed together asking to be guided and that we could find people that were willing to talk to us and after the prayer was ended we went out and walked across the street and talked to a nice older lady for a little bit and the next house we went to knocked on the door and no one answered however as we turned to leave a lady pulled up into her drive way and at this time we needed to get headed home but she came out and talked to us asking who we were and was super nice about everything. We talked to her for a few minutes and she and her sister have been wanting to go to church for a while and says its no coincidence that we had showed up when we did. She showed us her Dog (which was a Puggle and was super cute) and after meeting her dog we headed home. I know that we were guided to her home with a little less than 15 minutes of time outside left. I know that this is the lords work and that his hand is in it. I know how much a single prayer can alter your entire day or someones entire life for the better. I know that God loves each and every one of his children. I love all of you and hope you are staying safe and doing well.  

More pics:
Davis and buddies from his district:

Old Joe, a guy they were visiting.

Davis' Neighbors and BBQ friends

Recent pictures:

This was Davis' first baptism, a lady named Sarah.  He found her by tracting.  Her son Camden will be baptized after he heals from pneumonia.

Taylor and Elijah

It's Davis, so of course he took a picture of a walking stick insect he found.

So Tomorrow im going to be transferred to a new area so please hold any male or anything you might send. Here is the new mission office Address 777 Sunblest Boulevard, Fishers, Indiana 46038-1167. So it will be the new Address after September 28th.

And since Im moving to a different area ill let you all know what my new address will be. SO this last Saturday My friend Sara Harden was baptized :D She was the first person to let us into her house! When we were driving around I got lost and just decided to go into this random neighborhood. Well we parked and I looked around and saw this big interesting looking house and felt that we should go there because my companion Elder Hackney Who is the Assistant to the president)  told me to choose which house we would knock on first. So we approached this Big house and knocked on the door and no one answered and I saw there were numbers on the doors on the inside so we walked in and knocked on the door. No one answered. We turned around and knocked on the door behind us. And I heard a voice yelling "COME IN" so we looked at each other shrugged and opened the door and Sara was there on the couch and welcomed us in and and sat us down and yelled again saying " Camden! the ministers are here" and he came out and it all started there!

It has been the coolest thing to watch her grow and be strengthened! I love you guys and the work is good!  Have faith and trust in the lord for he will guide you in the right direction!! Love you guys Ill update you after I get my new companion and into my new area!

Hi Everyone, Davis' mission address is changing in case you send him a paper letter or a package:

777 Sunblest Boulevard
Fishers, IN  46038-1167

Hey Everyone hows life treating everybody? I Hope you are all doing well and staying safe. So to let you know whats going on with my foot. Turns out I have a 2nd metatarsal stress fracture in my foot I will be getting xrays today at 1:45 or 11:45 for you guys i think. So I have been running around on that for the past 3 weeks and it popped a few days ago and that hurt pretty bad. It popped on the day that I puked 3 times and was super week and dehydrated and my entire body hurt haha, However I didn't want to cancel our dinner appointment and service appointment. I Threw up once in the morning, once at the ranch we were doing service at and the last time on a guys car coming home. So funny story about that the lady sitting in the passengers seat knew i was sick so when i asked him to pull over he wouldn't he didn't know why and was asking where do you want me to pull over. And I was fighting back puking all over his car. And said pull over please. several times then tried rolling the window down when I gave up on him pulling over, And the stupid window was locked. So I told him to roll the window down and he wouldn't then The lady in the passengers side was like "HES SICK HE'S SICK" So he rolled the window down and i just got my head out and blaarghed all over his car XD  haha oh well. It wasn't to smart of me to go out that day. In the morning I thought I'd be ok because I felt better immediately after throwing up, but as you can see it didn't work out that way. Anyways I'm not complaining I'm just telling you about my week, I thought this week was awesome even with some not so awesome incidents. We haven't had much luck finding anyone to talk to but we are still looking. By the way the library was closed yesterday so I'm emailing today. 

So in other news. Sarah the friend I had found a couple months ago is going to get baptized the 19th with her son Camden! I'm so excited for them and it is amazing to see how much she and her son have grown. Its fun to see how much someone can change and see the happiness that Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father can bring into someones life. I am grateful for the changes in my life and the change I have seen in others lives because of Jesus Christ and his Atonement I am grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father who sent his only begotten son to die for us. I am grateful for my family, I am grateful for every single one of you and I thankful that I can call you all my friends. I hope that every one of you has a great day and a safe week. And know that you are loved. LOVE YOU GUYS   

HELLO EVERYONE!!!! So to update you guys on what has happened this week!. So to update you a bit on me is ive been writing a song well one song is farther than the other two and ill be puting lyrics to it soon. . Tanner my new companion is super cool! A day or two ago we went to go work on what i call a backyard ranch up in the hills or forest. and We chased down a ram and a sheep and tackled the sheep. Running through the forest is difficult when your trying to chase down a little animal. and your trying not to trip and fall. So in other news My foot has been swelling up and it is really painful to walk on, this was not from chasing down the sheep. I have no idea whats wrong with my food. Sister Stedmen our nurse said that 99 percent of the time its your shoes. But i dont know. So ive been wearing dads shoes that he gave me for now. like his running shoes to see if the swelling an pain goes down. I also borrowed crutches from our ward mission leader to take weight off of it. So hopefully it goes down. Lets see the Temple dedication was yesterday we went to the 12oclock and 3 o'clock session then  went and helped the young men with family history after dinner. We also watched the youth cultural celebration Saturday so that was cool. The temple Dedication was a wonderful experience. Recently we have been trying to find new people to talk to and we went out after dinner at 7:oo Pm and went to this neighborhood that ive been to before. A lot of the people were not friendly at all so i was expecting the same thing but instead of going left at the break in the neighborhood we went right. We said a prayer before we began and not a single person we talked to was mean and everyone wanted to talk to us XD Well after we were all done it was getting close to 9 and Elder tanner and I felt we should knock one more house and went accross the street to a house with an open garage and a packed drive way. Well We squeezed passed the camping trailer and a car and didnt even make it to the door when a voice came from the garage yelling at us. Asking us what we were doing and it startled both of us. We were like. Uhh we were coming to knock on your door and come talk to you and he said. "Oh yeah??" and we said yes. I noticed he had an old Mobster car like the mobsters with Tommy guns and fedoras. So I started asking him about it and he opened up a bit then asked who we are and what we are doing. We Explained that we are missionaries and he said so what do you do. and we explained that we had a message and that our purpose as missionaries is to invite others come to Christ and if they have a faith in him already that we are here to help strengthen that faith. He lit up in a good way and told us how he was just praying for his brother who has cancer and isnt doing to well. And he said. This is going to sound cheesy but its crazy that you guys would show up in the middle of my prayer. its like a sign. We laughed and said thats not cheesy at all we see things like this happen quite a bit. He laughed and said yeah Its funny how God works. Well he offered to meet up with us again and we will meet with him soon! Its a reminder to me to always try to follow the promptings of the spirit and how important it is to stay worthy to always have the holy ghost as a constant companion. Love you guys hope you are all doing well!!!

New hair style:

Its been a week or two since ive updated you guys so. to catch you up. I have a new companion Elder Tanner. The dude is awesome! Love him! so I also have a new hair cut. Its a bit interesting. Don't know if im a huge fan of it haha. So recently I told you about Joe. The dude is awesome. He looks up to us and loves when we visit him. We asked how his book of Mormon and bible studying is going. Turns out his eyesight is going bad so he cant even read the large print. However he wants to try and come to church in a week or two! Ok so we no longer have sisters in our area for the next 6 weeks which is one transfer. So Elder Tanner and I took over their area and we now no longer share a car with the other elders. We have a full time car with less miles allotted to us and a lot more area to work so we will be biking and walking for long distances and periods of time. Its the beginning of week two with this transfer so right now we are just working on organization and figuring out our new area. Ill update you guys more next week and share some cool experiences. Ill share an uplifting message first before a funny story. SO the previous transfer was pretty rough. It didn't feel like we were getting much done and there was a bit of frustration and contention however there is always something to learn from tough times whether patients, love, or learning to be more humble. Well when the contention and anger was between my companion and I, I noticed that we could not function. The spirit wasn't there and it was extremely hard to cooperate. however When i noticed I would say a prayer in my head that I could have the strength to be more humble that i could be patient and sit and love my companion and love who we were talking to at the time and that after that I was able to calm down and focus and relax and just let go of what ever was bothering me and it helped us work together a lot better or even if at times it didn't help it would help me feel peace and focus on what we can do better and how i can help my companion and or who ever we are teaching or talking to. Just a short message. Be patient and kind. Love you guys hope you all stay safe!

  ***THOSE OF YOU WHO DO NOT LIKE OR ARE OFFENDED BY POTTY TALK OR GROSS THINGS PLEASE DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING STORY AFTER THIS WARNING***

 Some fun stuff that has recently happened we went to eat at White castle. The rumored eatery of death. The guy we went with loves to take missionaries who are brand new and never eaten at white castle. He told us the record of sliders eaten was 10 and he wanted us to beet it. What sliders are for those of you who haven't eaten there are little. sandwich looking things with a tiny mystery meat square patty with holes in it and soggy buns with a pickle and unions. The buns are soggy with grease and other things and is known for causing some mean trouser chili. Or Diarrhea. YAY FUN. So being the thick headed puffy chested missionary I am decided I could beat the record and be fine. I was was kind of wrong. I say kind of cause I beat the record. however being ok after words was a different story. I ate 20 sliders and was fine for the next hour or so. Then it hit me like a mini nuclear bomb down in my stomach. I wont continue on with the story that is up to you and your imagination.

Some additional pictures of Elder B:

Hi Everyone, Davis has been experiencing the ups and downs of missionary work.  Here is his latest email and some pictures.

***
Hey Sorry its been a while. I don't get much time around here to do anything. Hopefully I will soon but here is a guy weve started working with.  Out here there are lots of things going on. 

We've had a few people challenge us and one tell us if we gave him 5 minutes he could shake our faith and No one really wants to talk to us. However we are working with this one guy who always tells us he is agnostic. His name is joe and loves to read. The only reason we were aloud back is because of what we said the first time we met him. Well when we were walking and talking to people for a few hours now and it was extremely hot and humid. We were drenched with sweat and tired. No one was interested and we were approaching the end of the street and we saw this dirty pumpkin orange house. We walked up the stairs and knocked on the door and a little old fella answered and asked. "what do you want" and we explained that we were missionaries and that we were going around and sharing a message about Jesus Christ. At first he told us that he was Atheist and didn't want to hear it. So we said alright well do you have anything we could help you out with? Any service work we would love to help mow the lawn or do anything that could help you. He stopped and looked at us for a few minutes then asked what our names were. We told him our names "Elder Burnett and Elder Jenks!" He said Elders huh? You look pretty young to be "Elders" We laughed and he asked how old we were and we told him 19 and 20. he laughed and said you know what. Ill think about it you guys should come back next week around the same time. 

So we did and there he was sitting with his door open waiting on his couch for us. He let us in with a warm welcome and told us how glad he was that we came. We sat down and talked to him and got to know each other. He told us. Im impressed with you guys. Ive had so many others come to my house and try and share a message or tell me something or sell me something and I tell them no and they leave. But you guys offered me help. Im old and cant do much anymore and you guys offered to help me. Now I don't need you to do anything I have a guy I pay to mow my lawn so you don't need to worry about that. But im impressed with you and respect you. He sat down and he asked us if we have ever heard about these scholars that show how God doesn't exist and how these things couldn't be true. But then he told us that he believes in God. He then told us that we should read these books and that they are very interesting. I asked him if reading is a hobby of his and he pointed over to the pile of books and said I have a library upstairs. "I love to read. but ive grown old and need to go buy a large print bible." I asked him if I could give him a book and get him a large print bible for free. He said oh yes that would be wonderful and he asked what book we had for him. We explained it was the book of Mormon and he said. Id love one! I can reimburse you guys for the cost. We told him its fine there is no cost and that we would get him large print as soon as possible and that we would love to come read with him. He was just as excited as we are and told us how much he loves the bible and the stories in it and how you can apply them to everyday lives. Well we had to go soon after the conversation. But we are going back to visit with him soon! I am excited to.
There is a scripture that has a wonderful message about service. Mosiah 2:17 "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God." When you serve or offer to serve others they see that you really do care and that you aren't just there for yourself. Its a meaningful way to show love and respect.! 

Recently the weather our here has been crazy. It has rained a ton and has broken the record for most rain fall since weather started being recorded. Its been hot and super humid and it can be exhausting. However the work goes on! recently with the temple open house the first day they were expecting just around 200 people to go through the temple with the missionaries however close to 2000 came through with us that day. They are expecting around 74,000 to go through the regular tours however since then there are going to be a bunch more. The Temple open house has been a great opportunity to answer questions and help others feel closer to Christ. There have been many fun stories we've gotten from the Sisters that are helping with the tours. My companion and I went with one of the recent converts from his last area and her son and her mom. While we were there we saw our mission president and other missionaries and so many people that wanted to learn about the Temple. The Temple is beautiful and the spirit there is so strong. It was amazing to go through and see the beautiful inside and feel the warm and powerful presence of the spirit there. Those of you in Idaho the Meridian temple will be finished soon. I invite you all to go through the open house if at all possible. it is a rare opportunity to see the insides of a temple for yourself and to feel the wonderful spirit that resides inside and on the grounds. 

I love you all and hope you are all safe. I am doing well and have some pictures for you. One of a sunset of Indiana then the Indiana temple. Love you guys stay safe and continue to be awesome!

It has been A while since I have last sent out an email> I want you all to know Everything is AOK out here! So to catch you all up. So Elder Tafuna (My last companion) has been transferred. I now have a new companion named Elder Jenks. I will be killing him off so in 5 weeks he will be going home. My wrist has gotten a little better however I am still not capable of lifting anything heavy or grabbing and pulling anything. Just yesterday I caught a turtle! It was wandering down the side walk and coming our way. His name is Toko. I got pictures with him and let him go. 

We also finally have an investigator! She is absolutely solid every time we have met with her she has had concerns about the church and all of them had been resolved. She is reading the book of Mormon and the bible side by side using the references down at the bottom. She is super interested in what we have to say and has enjoyed meeting with us. Sarah is a single mom with a young boy. They have a little dog and all of them are wonderful! I love meeting with them. Recently she asked about what we do for kids and we asked her what she meant by that and she had explained that she wants her kid to stay away from drugs and stay healthy and we brought up the word of wisdom talking about how we keep away from drugs and alcohol and harmful substances and she loved it XD She is continuously reading the book of Mormon and asking questions about what she is reading and giving us the opportunity to help connect the dots however she gets it almost all the time. She knows her bible like the back of her hand and it is super awesome! Recently we went over to her house with a member and had a great discussion that went on for an hour or two! it was great. The sad part is I don't think she is in our area. So we might have to introduce her to our district leader and his companion because she might be in their area. I will probably still have opportunities to teach her! 

So in Indiana the Temple open house is drawing near and my companion and I are going with a few others and possibly with my neighbors. With The Temple growing closer to the open house people are taking interest. We have invited many to come and see and feel the beauty of the temple and to feel the precious spirit that resides there. I am excited to go see the new Temple with others not of our faith. It is a very exiting time. This is a great and rare opportunity for those who have never been to the temple to get to know more about it!!!

Happy 4th of July by the way everyone! I hope everybody is safe and had a great time! we went to this one guys house that was in a different area to watch his show. It reminded me of home and going to awesome firework shows at my friends house. Ill never forget the 4th of Julys with my dad and all of his buddies and my friends farting around with fireworks!  What makes me happier than anything about the 4th here is that mortars are legal here XD I LOVE IT even if they weren't people still would get them! Well the work is moving forward and sun is still shining I love you guys and pray and hope for the best for you all

Hey Dad happy Fathers day! There is a lot and little going on right now. SO I thought about talking to my companion, which no matter what I say it will be ignored and he will not respond to it. He will just text on the phone or play on his Ipod. We have a new investigator and the guy is very Bible smart. So on Thursday we will bring a member from our ward to go with us to meet with him. his name is mike. I started reading the training manual. I will be Training myself. Almost all the Elders that I am with will be leaving this transfer next Wednesday. 20 new missionaries will be coming this transfer.

We think that one of our neighbors is dead because he has not come out of his apartment for a few weeks and we know this because a few weeks ago the apartment managers put a paper at each of our doors and his is leaning on the door and its been there for weeks. and the flies are everywhere in his apartment. There are tons and tons of them on his windows and sliding door. and his truck has been sitting outside. It could be a number of things. He could of had a ton of meat left out or he left his dog when he went to work. or I don't know but we do know he was older and had a stroke a while ago and had his mom start living with him... So my other neighbors are going to call in and see whats up.

So we got new ward missionaries finally and thank goodness. We only had one and she is a stud when it comes to missionary work. I forgot to tell you guys but like 2 weeks ago or a week ago I injured my wrist. I dislocated it trying to tackle my comp playing football with the guys XD we have been playing sports and lifting on our free time. I guess its their last chance to hang with each other so no matter what I do or say I am ignored and it happens anyways. However it is during later hours in the day after tracting hours. It has been a very slow month since not much is being done. My companion thinks its ok to interrupt people. I told him to knock it off but he says you learn to interrupt people because they can go on tangents and try to bible bash... That is stupid you don't do that to members XD So right now im learning to be more patient. My district leader said don't worry. it’s almost transfers and pretty soon you will have new people and hopefully less distractions for Tafuna. One day you will be with a very obedient companion and you will work super hard and it will be the best time. I am learning what kind of missionary I am not going to be. Ive been praying a ton. And went back to studying the basics of my purpose. Ive been asking for help and praying for everyone. so It will get better and I personally have been becoming more obedient like waking up early and doing what I can. Which I can still do better at.  

I love you dad. Happy father’s day ! I’m working towards being a great missionary!!!

This week has been slow btw. Because Elder Tafuna Got ran over like his bike and have of his body under the car. So we were down from going around much this week. However we have set new goals to become better missionaries and kill it this week. Let me know if you both do. I’m just buffing out all the details and stuff right now and I feel as if I am starting to become the missionary I want to be. Yesterday I got up and bore my testimony for the first time in front of our ward. It was awesome. I felt like I could just go up and talk for days. My testimony was pretty smooth and a lot more expound than my usual own.  Words just came out! IT WAS AWESOME, I just felt pumped yesterday.

Oh so today we are starting our exercise and eating healthy with a few other Elders. Because. we are all getting fat. I’ve gained like 10 - 20 pounds XD Jk am not sure I’ve probably gained like 10. and the pot is at a different residence. it’s in my companions old place. No one really won. It was just my companion and I then we told some sisters to come join us so we took it outside. OHH I Made fried rice the other day with bacon oil and rice in a pot and eggs and a whole bunch of spices I found XD it was good!

We got one of our Pdays taken away cause the zone got in trouble so we went to email another day and on Fridays its family history day. and no one showed us how to do it so we waited for the sisters and they came at the last minute of the library day so we just sat and emailed and I put star wars music and Skyrim and fallout 3 music on my flash drive!! SO FUN STUFF!!!! I love you guys and am figuring it all out!!

A couple of pictures from his pday nerf gun fight...Rambo would be proud.

Hey Everyone!!! Just want you all to know everything is going good!!! My neighbors and I have been talking a lot and we had a BBQ with them yesterday! Where I had some Ghost pepper hot sauce! YUMMY!!! So far we have had not much luck but we are praying and searching for new investigators. So Saturday we had an F1 tornado touch down like 2 miles away from our apartments so that was fun! Its been pretty rainy this week and I love it! You can go outside and get soaked in like two seconds! Elder Tafuna and I have been teaching This one Ladies son and getting him ready to be baptized before June 17th. How ever we want to help her get reactivated in the church so she can lead by example for her family. She has another son who sits in on the lessons and listens and participates so that's pretty cool! On a random note. There are ponds everywhere here and it is pretty humid. There are all sorts of animals chillin around here and HUGE OPOSSUMS HERE or possums or how ever you spell the name XD We chased one away from our door. We also have 4 big snapping turtles in our little pond out back and bunnies and fun stuff like that!!! So far the mission is a great experience and I love every second of it! Even the rough parts because every second of it is a learning experience. One thing my companion and I recently talked about was how we become stronger after having a rough experience and how it helps shape us and strengthen us so that we can stand up stronger or get up faster if another bad experience may happen. We also talked about how there is opposition in all things. For instance if you were to eat bread all day every day for your entire life. How would you know how great steak is or any other food is. That is one way to look at the times when we were feeling low. If life was perfect and everything went the way it is suppose to then how can we appreciate those times of  happiness to the fullest.  Hopefully you all get what im trying to say. But there is always opposition in all things and that's how we can grow stronger and grow to appreciate what we have more. Any ways. I love you all!! I hope and pray that you are all doing good!

I had asked Elder Burnett some questions about his mission and the question and answers are below:

1.       When is your Pday?

2.       How does the mission handle finances?  Do they send you a check each month or direct deposit money into your account?

3.       Did the Indianapolis 500 cause any excitement for the people in your area?

4.       Is the opening of the Indianapolis temple creating any opportunities for you guys?

5.       How big is your ward?

6.       Do you have any good investigators?

7.       How many Elders and Sisters are in your district?

*****

President Cleveland is apparently ok with music and playing instruments and we chose what we feel is appropriate for music. Some of the music my comp and I have is questionable so I got some music that should be appropriate. 

 

To answer your questions. My Pday is Monday. They put 60$ into my MSF My mission saving or spending fund. every Two Weeks. We didn't really talk to many people during the indie 500. There were a lot of Formula 1 cars at walmart and on flat bed Pick up trucks. But I didn't hear to much about the race. I know there were a lot of crashes and stuff. The opening for the temple helps us give out cards and tell people that this is there chance to go find out about the Temple and see what it looks like on the inside. I Feel like our ward is pretty small maybe medium but its not huge. Our Bishop and his wife are pretty cool but right now we are working on making the church branch out a little bit instead of sticking to themselves and their own little (clicks) OR group of friends. So far what I consider an investigator is our neighbors. Ill write you the story on paper of how I got to know them. And pretty soon we will be talking to 3 Black dudes that live under the sisters. Sooo I think we have 4 Elders and 2 Sisters.

 

Ill be trying to work hard out here and find more investigators through street contacting and tracting. But I Guess the way to go here is through referrals, and We have a few of those. This lady is wanting us to baptize her son before June 17th or something. Before he turns nine and wants us to get her other son prepared to be baptized. However Tafuna and I feel like we need to get her to come back to church first so that the son doesn't just get baptized then fall away super fast... This lady just has an excuse for everything XD So while I was trying to promise blessings on her and her family if she would just get up and commit to coming to church she interrupted me with some weird random thing. SO OH WELL. So Tafuna is going to teach her while I Teach her two sons in the same room.  

Elder Burnett got a new companion and a new address:

His first companion is a Polynesian, Elder Tafuna.  We are exited because we always had great experiences with Poly Elders and Sisters in the field.

His new address is:

505 Spinnaker Bay #104, Greenwood IN  46143

Hi Everyone, Elder Burnett made it to Indiana yesterday.  Here are some pictures of him and his MTC companions, as well as with his Mission President, Steve Cleveland (former BYU basketball coach).

Hey Im being shipped off on Tuesday at 3 in the morning!!! and ill be alone after Monday because my companions leave then... soooo. ILL BE A LONE MISSIONARY AHGHGHGH and ill be flying with 5 other missionaries to Indiana. And only one Sister out of the 4 Elders going. I am going to miss my companions alot, along with my zone and district and all the nubes that came it. They all have me in their journal they say XD I have had... around 15 lessons or so I believe. Today was the last day of lessons. My investigators names are Debi, Jordan, Eric, and Ben, and it appears that I have to go right now and back to the class room to clean the room and do daily planning. Today was the last day to see our teachers so it will just be My district in the class cleaning. Then we go back to the dorm and pack ;D IM STOKED I love you all!!! Oh and everyone says yall cause we cant say dude, bro, or anything. It can only be Sister and Elder. And I guess it is acceptable to say yall... I dont say it. And will you send me Parker's email please or something.. Ill write you all soon :P

So Hello everyone! I have made it to the MTC It feels like it has been for ever since I was in Boise. There is so much that is going on and so much I am learning. We have no time to mess around out here! I still love every second! So Ill tell you a brief over view of what is going on. I am in a trio companion ship, so there is three of us! A normal companion ship there is only two. One companion is Elder Gregson from Canada and Elder Smith from Oregon!!! We are all best friends since day one! I love everyone out here in the MTC. The food is sometimes good and other times not so great however they make up for it with their chocolate milk from the dairy across the street. The first few nights sleep was rare because of a high pitched noise constantly ringing in the back ground. The first night I woke up with a migraine at 4:00 Am. Every day we wake up at six and study, practice and teach all day until 10:00 Pm. It has been different to not see family or friends and though to you it may only be 5 days, here so much goes on that it feels like months. Sometimes the day goes by super fast and that is why we feel like it has been so long. 

 

Oh and when I got here it was like everyone automaticly has a built in friendship with eachother. The group that we bunk next to that just left was only here for two weeks yet they treated each other like they have been family since the day they were born. They showed so much love for one another and it was awesome to see! Anyways enough of the random tangents. \

Everything is great and going well. I love every second even the seconds that are hard. I love everyone I am with and cant wait to make it to Indiana. Oh I forgot to tell you out of the group I am with which is 4 Sisters and 3 Elders I am the only one going to Indiana and they leave the 18th to New Zealand and North Carolina! I leave the 19th so I get to bunk with some Elders next door and one of those Elders is from Nampa! It is great being here, and sometimes it is absolutely exhausting but I am having fun! I LOVE YOU ALL and will write again soon!!!

Here is Davis' first email home.  We got to talk with him on Sunday (Mother's Day).  He sounds great!  He's in a threesome and really likes his two companions.  He talked a lot about the spirit and how the scripture have come alive for him.  He loves the MTC and is already growing a lot spiritually.

HEY whats up!!!!! I stayed tough too no tears so far!!! I am in a trio two companions! I love them so much haha we are like a family! Just so you guys know I leave the MTC the 18th and I will be calling you Sunday the 10th 4:00PM  so BE HOME IT IS MY ONE SHOT AND CHANCE TO CALL!!!! Anyways yeah Its been Amazing. I am exhausted, But I have learned so much. It is amazing how the spirit takes a hold of your mind and gives you energy at the times you need it. However today after a very spiritual experience between my companions and I and our investigator we are exhausted. Not to mention after our lesson or discussion with our investigator we gave a Sister in our district a blessing... 

     Btw The MTC food is great and all. But you fart like crazy XD Oh well its worth it! there is a kid from Nampa Idaho in our zone XD so far he is pretty cool we acknowledge eachother by where we are from so in other words I call him Nampa he calls me Boise. I love it here!!! IT IS AMAZING. I never thought I would be capable of doing what we are doing. Oh and there is a high pitched noise in our dorm room that seems to grow louder and louder in the silence. Its basically Chinese water torture. Its great XD im sure we will be blessed in our afflictions. there is a lot to talk about but no time to write. I have to go. I LOVE YOU ALL SEE YOU SOON

Welcome to Elder Davis Burnett's Mission blog!

His email address is davis.burnett@myldsmail.net.  Feel free to send him an email, he would love to hear from you!

Here is his mission home address for letters and packages:

Elder Davis Lyle Burnett

Indiana Indianapolis Mission

777 Sunblest Boulevard
Fishers, IN  46038-1167

United States