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Courtesy Burrows family. Elder Mckay Burrows (bottom left corner) with his family, Ashton, Navasha, mom Shirley and dad Dana Burrows. Mckay died while serving an LDS mission in Romania.

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Courtesy Burrows family. Elder Mckay Burrows who died while serving an LDS mission in Romania.

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Courtesy Burrows family Elder Mckay Burrows (bottom left corner) with his family, Ashton, Navasha, mom Shirley and dad Dana Burrows. Mckay died while serving an LDS mission in Romania.

Courtesy Burrows family

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Courtesy Burrows family Elder Mckay Burrows who died while serving an LDS mission in Romania.

Courtesy Burrows family

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The family of an LDS missionary who died Friday in Romania says serving a mission was his lifelong goal.

McKay Chow Burrows, a resident of Highland who was serving a full-time mission in Romania for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his companion, Jace Edwards Davis of Logandale, Nev., died in their apartment because of an apparent natural gas leak.

“McKay passed from this life while fulfilling his lifelong desire and commitment to serve a mission,” said his family in a media statement.

Burrows may best be remembered by his smile.

“He had a very charming smile and you saw his smile a lot,” said Patrick Hendrickson, family friend and former bishop in the Burrows’s LDS ward, or congregation. “Everyone will remember and miss that about him.”

Similarly, the first thing that struck Burrows’s LDS stake president when he came in for his mission interviews was his smile.

“He had a ready smile and a sparkle in his eye,” said President Howard Bangerter. “He was very well prepared for a mission.”

“McKay is an important and loved member of a strong family, and a dear friend to many,” the family’s statement said. “We will miss — but forever remember — his bright mind, quick wit, empathetic approach, enthusiasm for life, and happy, engaging smile.”

Burrows entered the LDS Missionary Training Center in June of 2009 and had been serving in Romania since August. “Previous reports said that Burrows and his companion were in Bucharest at the time of their passing; however, they were living in the town of Timisoara, Romania,” Bangerter said.

Before his mission, Burrows was a dedicated student, musician and athlete.

“He was an exceptional student, graduating with honors from Lone Peak High School. He attended BYU on a scholarship,” said the family statement. “He was a highly accomplished musician, and mastered the piano with a concert pianist’s skill to the delight, admiration and appreciation of all who had the good fortune to listen to him play. … He enjoyed and was grateful for his abilities in a wide variety of other activities, including football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, singing, guitar, writing, drawing and close relationships with many friends.”

“Even at such a young age he has accomplished a lot of good in his life,” Hendrickson said. “It’s a real tragedy, and nobody wanted this to happen, and I think it’s comforting that he has accomplished so much in such a short time in his life.”

Burrows’s enthusiasm and dedication before his mission carried into the mission field.

“He had recent success as a missionary and was happy that they were able to find and teach a family,” Bangerter said. “It’s a difficult place to baptize but McKay and his companion did it.”

Hendrickson said that throughout Burrows’s life, he was always trying to serve and to reach out to others.

“He was a dependable young man, and if he said he would do something, he would do it,” Hendrickson said.

“We express heartfelt condolences to the Burrows family,” said Bangerter, who told them of their son’s death on Saturday afternoon. “This is a very tragic situation for their family and all who knew McKay.”

Because of the circumstances of Burrows’s death, there will be an autopsy done before his body is sent back t o Utah for funeral services. The family does not yet know when that will be.

“The soonest they can expect to have his body returned will be this coming weekend,” Hendrickson said. “They can’t make funeral plans until they have his body returned. Hopefully that will change as we receive more information this coming week.”

“The mission will presumably be holding a service which will be videotaped,” Bangerter said. “They would like to involve the missionaries from his mission in mourning their loss, but details of that service are not yet known.”

McKay is the son of Dana and Shirley Burrows of Highland and is the oldest of three children.

“We appreciate the many expressions of kindness and sympathy from family, friends and loved ones,” said the family statement. “We feel your love and support, and we thank you for them at this difficult time.”