"I packed my stuff, was on the bus, I can't believe it's true..."

“How long have you been out, Elder?”
“Two years.”

For the record, Elder Taylor and I are at a 3-5 winning history in Monopoly. For clarification, that is me winning with 5. #rekt

This week had many things happen, like exchanges with Lewistown, but I just want to focus on the few things that meant the most to me. This email might be long, but the hope is that it will have a lot of heart. 

The first thing I want to mention is the interviews we had with President Larson on Wednesday. It was cool to have a personal interaction with him, though he is only my mission president for three weeks. President Larson is a young guy, he has a lot of vision, and I think he is exactly what this mission needs at this time. I am grateful for him, and for the love and counsel he gave to me, despite our brevity of interaction. Among other things, we talked about my past mission assignments, my view on the differences between district and zone leadership, music, my plans, and how the mission is in general. He told me to enjoy every second that I have left, and every time something happens for the last time on the mission. I will be seeing him again soon for my departure interview, goodbye dinner, and testimony meeting at the mission home. I am so grateful that we have a Father in Heaven that speaks to us through the whispering of His Holy Spirit, and reveals what people need to do at what times. President Larson’s call as a mission president is inspired of the Lord, just like all service in the church is. I love him, and I sustain him, just as I sustain the Lord’s prophet on the Earth today. 

Ephraim is prepared for baptism! We were able to have his brother serving a mission in California video call in and help us teach the Ten Commandments. I think it really helped him. As the call concluded, the Brother began to weep for Ephraim. I am sure it is because he underwent serious and intense change for the better in his own life because of the gospel, and he is joyed to see his brother experience the same change and joy if he will let it. I am also excited for Ephraim. His baptism is tomorrow at six. Pray for us and for him. 

Perhaps one of the sweetest tender mercies of the Lord I have experienced occurred on Sunday. Last week, Bishop Williams asked me if I would speak the following Sunday (yesterday) about how missionary work brings us closer to Christ. Of course, I love speaking, and accepted and prepared. As I was up on the stand and Bishop conducted the meeting, he announced the youth speaker before me, announced my address, and then finished by saying that the intermediate hymn would be hymn #83, “Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah.” I was struck as he said that. Elder David A. Bednar, in his 2005 conference address, entitled “The Tender Mercies of The Lord,” described his experience six months before in General Conference. On that occasion, the intermediate hymn right before he was to speak for the first time as a general authority was hymn #9, “Redeemer of Israel,” his favorite hymn. He discussed how, on that day, he knew the Lord was looking out for him, and cares about him personally enough to give him little reminders of His love, even if just in the form of our favorite song at the right time. At this, my last sacrament meeting as a full time missionary, I felt exactly the same confirmation that the Lord knows me, knows my condition, and loves me so much that he would send me His tender mercies, even if just in the form of a song. My favorite hymn is hymn #83, “Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah.”

The words I said in that talk are immaterial, except to say that I know they were true. I know Jesus Christ’s grand commission on this earth is exactly as is stated in Luke 4:18, as he reads from the Book of Isaiah a prophecy about Him, written more than seven hundred years before:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”

Heading out to the church group on the Rocky Boy Reservation after that, I was also on the roster to speak. I was without my notes from my last talk, but that was alright because I feel like what I said there was probably better anyway. The Spirit truly will give you the words you need in the very hour that you need them. Among other things, I testified of the Savior Jesus Christ, and His love for all people in all nations and throughout all time. I shared what is to me one of the most powerful scenes in all of scripture, when the Resurrected Lord descends from the sky to the people of the Nephites in the ancient American continent, and identifies Himself by saying: 

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.” 

In other words, “That person that has been prophesied to you would come to save you, the one in whom you have so much faith though you have not seen Him, the one who’s name is written on the scriptures that you’ve studied? That is me. I am here, and I am real.” In the next verse, He continues: 

“And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.” 

In other words, “Not only am I the prophesied Messiah, but I did exactly what I promised that I would do. I have worked out your salvation and mine. All that is left now is to continue faithful and follow me.” I love those scriptures! And I love serving on the reservation because as the gospel is preached to them, prophesy is being fulfilled that the gospel would go to the seed of Lehi in the latter-days, after their turning away. 

To finish my account of this last week, I will just say that the Havre ward and the members here are fantastic. They are absolutely wonderful, and I love them. There are families that do so much, make me feel at home, and really love the Lord and their families, and I want to have that example in my life with a family that I will someday raise. So, thank you Havre. It’s been a ride.

The final itinerary is to have Ephraim’s baptism on Tuesday, get me to Great Falls on Thursday night, have me in Billings on Friday, go to the temple Saturday morning and put me in a metal tube back to Phoenix’s own Sky Harbor Airport. It’s a mixed bag of emotions, but I know all things will work out for my good. 

I love my Father in Heaven, and I love His Son, Jesus Christ. I know they live, and I know they love us. I testify of the power, mercy, and grace of The Holy One of Israel, the promised Messiah, of Him who is Mighty To Save. He calls:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

I know His ways are true. That is my testimony, and I bare it in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Arizona, I’ll see you soon.

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

“... I’m three days from New York City and I’m three days from you.”

Statue on the Rocky Boy Reservation made of car parts

With a family we teach on the reservation

"Don't wait too long to come home..."

Here we are, at the beginning of another week. It is, indeed, my last full week of missionary service. We'll see where this goes.

This week was good! For the Fourth of July we went to a local event and then spent time with some members in the evening. Nothing too grand of a spectacle, but it was a lot of fun! We have some really excellent members in Havre. I enjoy working with them. 

We had two more lessons with Ephraim, and he is progressing smoothly toward his baptismal date of Wednesday, July 18th. (Three days before I go home - that'll be an awesome thing to see!) He is as energetic is any ten year old would be expected to be, but he is really smart, and it is cool to see how he often is listening well even if it doesn't seem like he is listening at all. We are really trying to make lessons snappy and visual for him. Also! His brother on a mission in California is going to video call in for our lesson on Tuesday! We're pumped for that. 

We spent quite a bit of time in Rocky Boy this week, mostly off of last-minute spiritual promptings. We made a lot of good, solid contacts, and found a new investigator! When we returned on Saturday for our follow up lesson, he had read three chapters from the Book of Mormon and had some great questions that we were able to help answer! It is often really difficult to get commitment on the reservation - most of the time people will say they will do something a hundred times and never do it - so this was a huge step forward. We are hoping to get him to church on Sunday and teaching him the first discussion next time we visit. We are also looking to do some tracting and street contacting out there, perhaps in normal clothes. It seems like people go inside and give us weird looks when they see us walking down the street. Not sure if it is because of our white shirts or white skin. To be determined. I really love working on the reservation with the native people. There is a lot to be done there, and many lives to bless.

On Friday, we went to Helena for a zone conference where we met the Larsons! I will only be a missionary under them for a total of around three weeks, but it was cool to meet them. They are phenomenal, and will definitely be what the mission is in need of right now. They opened things up to a Q&A, and Elder Vargas went right for the throat by starting it all off with "Do you like Star Wars?" Classic Elder Vargas! (The answer was 'yes.')

I gave my departing testimony at that zone conference, too. Elder Brown gave his right before me, and I gave him a hug as he was coming off the stand and I was going up. That was a mistake, because I started crying and it wrecked the whole nice testimony that I was going to bear. Ah, well. I still was able to testify of what I know to be true about God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the truthfulness of the restored gospel. And, I think that would be a good way to end my email. So, here you go:

I know that we are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us. He loves us enough to send us His Son to serve as our Savior, to ransom us from the bonds of sin and death, and to pull us out of the holes we so often dig for ourselves. He is the Redeemer, the promised Messiah, and the Holy One of Israel. He will comfort us when we are hurting and when we are weak, and He will give us direction when we are lost.

He has established His church once again on Earth in these latter days through a prophet called of God to teach the truths of the gospel. These truths are the only way under heaven whereby we can find lasting happiness, real satisfaction, and true richness in our lives. Living the gospel and relying wholly on the merits, mercy, and grace of Jesus the Christ is the only way to grow to reach our potential and thereby obtain eternal life and exaltation with our families and our Heavenly Father.

I know we are led by God through His prophet today. God speaks to us. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom established upon the earth. I know that if we follow the council of prophets and seek to receive and follow our own personal revelation, we need not fear, for God is on our side and will not let us fail. We were never made to fail. We were made to succeed, and to succeed gloriously. Jesus Christ is the one that makes it possible.

I testify of Him who is Mighty to Save. I testify of our Father, of the Holy Ghost, and of the reality of the Plan of Salvation. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Rock and roll ~

Elder Burch π

Missionary - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Montana Billings Mission

"... My, how the years and our youth pass on."

4th of July

I like trains

Ephraim and us 

President and Sister Larson

“I’m just secondhand news...”

Not yet I’m not!

I’ll keep telling myself that.

This week saw the unfortunate and drawn out continuation of the Saga of Sickness of Elder Burch. Nevertheless, some exciting and noteworthy things did occur. Here is the rundown:

There is a family in the ward that has an unbaptized 10 year old son, and that boy has a brother on a mission. The brother’s story is one of zero to hero, an ultimate story of success and finding a direction in life and going for it. The hope is that the same can happen to the young boy we are now teaching. He is as focused as one might expect a ten year old to be, but he is smart and responds well to visual lessons. We’ve been able to knock out the first two discussions, and the tentative baptismal date is for July 18th. Fingers crossed. Please pray for Ephraim.

We went out to the Malta branch on Wednesday for a luau that included a full pig roast, a game of baseball, and some water slides we did not participate in. It was fun. Malta is far away. We listened to a lot of talks.

Saturday there was a big (lol, is anything big here?) event with vendors and food trucks on one street of the Havre downtown. Talked to a lot of people, gave out some pass along cards, bought some food truck food (11/18, on a scale of 3-18) and watched a local group cover Tom Petty. It was a good time.

Sunday, we went to church in Havre (Ephraim made it to the last two hours), and then we headed out to the Rocky Boy Reservation to be a part of the group church service. Those services are some of the most interesting. There usually are between seven and twelve people there, one of whom is an older man named Henry who is fairly recently ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. Elder Taylor and I bless the sacrament, and Henry passes. After that, we had a brief testimony meeting, followed by a Sunday school lesson. We watched a general conference talk given by a general authority who is of Native American ancestry. Henry really likes those talks. He feels connected. Honestly, driving around the reservation, it is kind of a sad and dismal place. Nevertheless, my hope for the people there is high. The gospel has been promised to the people there, to the descendants of Lehi. And, from what I’ve seen, the prophecy is slowly coming to pass, though maybe not as slowly as it sometimes seems.

Thank you for your love. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

We made the Daily Herald final cut!

Goodbye Pres. and Sis. Wadsworth
Welcome Pres. and Sis. Larson

“But come July, we’ll ride the ferris wheel...”

Preparation day in Havre:

“Hey, what do you wanna do today Elder?”

“... What even is in Havre?”

It’s good, though. Nice to not have the stress of having to be super fast at doing stuff so you can meet up at the church. Sometimes I miss people, though. Only sometimes.

This week had some highs and lows. Let me lay it out for you:

Monday, we packed our things and headed up to Great Falls where we got Jimmy Johns (love Jimmy Johns) and then loaded up with our zone leaders for a trek down to Helena. It was in Helena that we stayed with many other missionaries until the next morning, where we loaded up again and began the trek down to the my old stomping grounds, the zoo that is Missoula, Montana. There, at the stake center at 3201 Bancroft Street, we met with missionaries from the western half of the mission, including the Kalispell, Missoula, Stevensville, Helena, Butte, Great Falls, and Great Falls East Zones. I know significantly less missionaries than I should at this point, because they’re all so young, but there were still a good amount of people I was thrilled to see, including past companions Elder Brown, Elder Ferrara, and Elder Ray. This was the last zone conference with President and Sister Wadsworth, and it was harder than I was thinking it was going to be. After some addresses from the Wadsworths, we had lunch, and then we all lined up in a circle around the chapel and, one by one, hugged President and Sister Wadsworth. As President came in for a hug with me, I muttered out a wholly inadequate “Thank you,” and he says, “Hey, Elder Burch. Rock and roll.” At that point, the breaking of my heart was complete. 

See, there is something to know about mission presidents. Bill Carpenter once described it like this: It must be a requirement to be a mission president to have gargantuan hands with which to shake your hand, but the only thing bigger than a mission president’s hands is his heart. Of all the teachings of President Wadsworth, of all the good times and leadership meetings and interviews, the one thing that I will remember above all is that he loved me in an incomprehensible way every single day. The love, trust, and expectation I received from President Wadsworth made me have trust in myself, a grander vision of what I can achieve, and a knowledge that, no matter what, I was loved and supported. You know, we find types of Christ everywhere in the gospel, and I think it isn’t too far too say that I felt a type of Christ’s love for me in the love demonstrated to me by President and Sister Wadsworth. It is inadequate to say that I will miss the experience of them being my mission leaders, but I know that they will always love me and technology makes this world so small, so I know we’ll keep in touch. And so, here is to the adventure! “The future is as bright as your faith.” - President Thomas S. Monson

Some takeaways from the final addresses of President and Sister Wadsworth:

President Wadsworth’s Six Lessons He Has Learned

1. “The worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”

2. We all live below our capacity.

3. When swimming in the pool of life, we sometimes have to deal with a ‘code brown.’

4. In overcoming obstacles and trials, effort will always triumph over talent.

5. Spiritual immersion is as important to our eternal lives as oxygen is to the SCUBA diver.

6. Satan is tenacious, but Christ is all powerful and will triumph.

President Wadsworth’s favorite scripture is John 7:17. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

“You may feel lost, and you may even get lost, but you will never be lost to God.” -President Wadsworth

The big takeaway I had from Sister Wadsworth’s discussion was to always be ready and willing to follow a call from God. No hesitation, no thinking twice, just do it. When the Spirit calls or when someone with keys tells you that God has a work for you to do, leave your nets and do it. 

___________________________________________________

After zone conference, we headed back to Great Falls, where we spent the night with our zone leaders, Elder Donaldson and Elder Peterson. I love those two. They’re great examples of zone leaders and I am glad to have them. I feel their love and their support. It’s rad to have rockin’ leaders.

This is, unfortunately, where things began to go south. 

Elder Taylor began to get sick Wednesday, and that sickness hit its apex (it seemed) on Saturday. Well, Sunday is when I started to feel sick, and this morning I woke up with nothing short of a gnarly sore throat. Sickness is the bane of work, but we were still able to make some good visits, including going to the Rocky Boy Reservation to do some work, and we ended up with two new investigators. 

Sunday, Brother Brown took us to church at the Malta branch. He is a high councilor, and visits there once a month. The Malta branch is a wonderful group of saints. I felt welcomed, they let me bear a testimony, and they held potluck afterwards. Glory be to God for the wonderful saints that do so much for us missionaries. 

I think that is about all. We will still have to figure out what today holds for us, but I guess that is all part of the fun. Thank you all or reading. Thank you for your love and support. As always, rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

“... Go ‘round and ‘round and ‘round. If you never let me go, I will never let you down...”

Both almost made the cut as a profile picture

Last zone conference with President & Sister Wadsworth

Reunited with Sister Miner

Humor (hopefully not true)

Elder Taylor and I at the Malta Branch

At the Call Family's home for dinner

“These nights are still ours...”

Transfers, oh transfers. 

Transfers were long. I got to see a lot of people I love though, which was cool. We spent the night with Elder Elison, Elder Carter and Elder Wilcox. Good times. Saw many many people I love on the way to Great Falls. In Great Falls, we got to go on a five-hour split with the zone leaders there, so I got to spend most of the day with Elder Peterson. We did mostly finding (because everything fell through!) and had Jimmy Johns. Some solid contacts, gave out two copies of the Book of Mormon, and made one return appointment. I love Elder Peterson. He’s a good guy.

Elder Taylor is a good man. He’s from North Carolina, and his family has done/does shrimping. Like, Bubba Gump shrimp IRL. Well played. We’ve been working mostly on finding. The teaching pool needs a little bit of TLC, and we are eager to give it what it needs. We have been trying to talk with everyone we see as much as we can with the rain that we have been getting, and have seen some cool things. Nothing huge yet, but it will happen. 

We are headed to Helena tonight, and on to Missoula Zone Conference tomorrow. We will see how that goes...

Until next week! Onward and upward. Rock and roll! ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

Cody Wyoming District, minus Elder Carter

Amber and I

With Sister Miller and Elder Maynard

Elder Ash and I

Elder Taylor and I

Big Sky Country, Big Sky Construction Vehicles

“...I will follow you into the dark.”

You only get five more weekly emails from me after this point. That’s kinda sad, don’t you think? The last one will probably hardly be an email at all, just pictures commemorating all the time in glorious Montana and Wyoming. Oh, yeah, transfers. You probably want to know about that.

I won’t tell you.

Just kidding. I can’t not give you my address. I like mail too much. The assistants to the president called Sunday morning to give us all the inside scoop on who is going where and with whom they are going to be. Elder Ash will be taking my spot as Zone Leader here in the great land of Powell, Wyoming. I’m going to miss this place. There are a lot of people here who have made a major impact on me, for which I will be eternally grateful. Also, Elder Craig has been a great companion, and I am grateful for the things he has taught me, specifically involving how to talk with people more, and more effectively. So, thank you Elder Craig for this transfer. Enjoy the next one with my old counterpart, the Ashman. 

My new address will be:
820 4th Street #405 
Havre, MT 59501

Don’t know where Havre is? Don’t worry; most people don’t. It’s about two hours northeast of Great Falls. I will not, however, be in the same zone as I was when I was in Great Falls. I’ll actually be in the Great Falls East Zone. Technicalities. And, chances are I’ll only see the light (?) of the city of Great Falls maybe twice in my whole stay there. When you get banished on the mission, you are super banished.

But I’m not banished without good company! Or, I don’t think so. My new companion will be Elder Taylor from North Carolina. He hasn’t been out too long and seems like a really swell person from what I have been told. Here’s to the adventure!
_______

This week was quite good. On Tuesday, it was a nice, warm day, so we elected to have our companionship study at a park in town. After doing companionship study, and Elder Craig helping me to learn how to better help other missionaries that might be struggling, we felt like we should hang out at the park for a little bit. So, we started kicking around a soccer ball, and talked to a few people that walked by here and there, but not much. Before too long, this eighteen year old boy joins us and starts kicking the ball around. We get to talking, and it turns out that he actually grew up in a member home, not been baptized, but things went sour there and he ended up here in Powell. He still holds many of the same morals, and has a belief in God and said he’d like to learn more! We invited him to the Ultimate Frisbee activity with the YSA and Elders Quorums, and he came! Looking forward to more from that. 

Miracle 2: We were pulling into the church to have a new-member lesson with Kaili Sondrup, the YSA (well, not anymore - marriage) member that was baptized my first week in Powell. As we pull up, we notice this girl sitting in one of the trees on the church yard, and she looks like she was having not a great day. As we sit down with Kaili for the lesson, the girl in the tree came to mind again, so we asked Kaili if she could go see if the girl was okay. Kaili, being the most friendly and excited person I have ever met (there is no exaggeration there) leaves, and twenty minutes later comes back with this girl in tow. We visit with her, and end up teaching the first discussion to her! She is young women’s age, and her name is Sonya. After the lesson, she expressed that it made her feel better, and she took a Book of Mormon, a Restoration pamphlet, and a For The Strength Of Youth. Later that night, she made a post on Facebook (picture below) that made us so excited! Sonya is awesome. Kaili has been wonderful at being a fellowshipper, and helped her get to both a YSA activity (even though Sonya is a little young for the YSA) and to church for 2nd Ward. There, Kaili and her husband Logan gave talks, and after sacrament, the Young Women welcomed Sonya right in. I’m sure it was a little overwhelming (Mormons can do that sometimes), but she said that she felt good. I’m so excited for Sonya and to see where she goes! 

Last miracle: Cancelled lessons lead to finding two new investigators. How about that? We talked with a really nice lady, then met a Seventh Day Adventist that shared with us some of her faith building experiences and invited us back to teach her, and then met a nice YSA aged gentleman that was excited to go to family home evening with the YSA. Here’s to hoping!

This all reminds me of the scripture in Moroni Chapter 7, verses 35 and 37, which read:

“... Has the day of miracles ceased? ... Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.”

Today is a day of miracles. Or, it can be if we have faith. If you don’t see miracles in your life, I would exhort you to turn to God and spend a little more time doing the things that He has asked of us. Doing so will increase our faith, and faith is the means by which God can work miracles among the children of men. 

Thank you for all you guys have done in supporting me on the mission and helping me to do my best. Hurrah for Israel!

Oh, and rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

My New Area

Determined bike thieves are determined

Sonya’s Facebook post

“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22...”

This week was easily one of the busiest of weeks, at least since the last two weeks of my ninth transfer. But, that doesn’t mean it was bad. To the contrary, there were plentiful wonderful experiences about which I will now tell you.

On Tuesday, Elder Craig and I packed up the Frontier and headed up the road to the mission headquarters in Billings, Montana. We pulled into the biggest city in the mission (still not even half of Mesa), and ventured up to the temple off of Rimrock Road. There, we met with President Wadsworth and the rest of the MLC (zone leaders, sister training leaders, and the assistants). Going through the temple with the entirety of the MLC, including many past companions and many more dear friends, is easily one of the best experiences I have ever had. Seeing everyone in white, and knowing that, despite anything, we all had our sights on the Father and the Son, was powerful. I happened to be the final missionary to finish the session, and walking into the Celestial Room to see all the people that I have come to love so much was a powerful and glorious experience.

10/10, would do it again.

 Wednesday was MLC in Billings (which featured Jimmy Johns instead of Pizza Hut for lunch, thank heavens ), and it was one of the better ones, I think. Things are coming down to the wire. President and Sister Wadsworth will conclude their missions at the end of this month, and President and Sister Larson of Queen Creek, Arizona will come to lead the Montana Billings Mission. Anyway, one of the things we discussed as an MLC was what our goal for convert baptisms as a mission would be for the month of June. After prayer and pondering, people began to offer their feelings. 

I’m normally reverent, I swear.

After some numbers tossed around, “Twenty five,” and “nineteen,” and “twenty three,” and more, someone asked President, the key holder for the mission, what impressions came to him. He looked up and offered, “The number that came to me was twenty two.” There was a short time of silence, which was concluded by me announcing to the MLC and motioning to President Wadsworth, “I don’t know about you, but he’s feeling 22.”

Like I said, normally reverent.

Maybe that isn’t true. Last MLC, I made reference to Star Trek. *shrug* Happens.

After MLC, we drove back, a new dresser for our apartment in tow. But that wasn’t the end of our driving for the week.

Thursday we packed up and headed over to Byron to conduct a baptismal interview there, and then took off from there and went south to Worland, where we conducted another baptismal interview. The candidate for baptism is a native Spanish speaker, and so, despite five or more years of Spanish class in the public education system, I had Elder Loran with me to translate. I did get to add in a few phrases of my own, probably highly butchered (“¿Podemos hacer un oracion final?”), and it went well. And then we packed up and came back home.

Friday was in our area. Good times. Lessons and all.

Saturday we gave some service at the community garden before cleaning up and going back to Worland for the baptismal service. It was one of the coolest ones I’ve ever been to. The woman being baptized spoke only marginal English, with Spanish being her first language. The majority of the baptismal service, including the songs, were in Spanish. The Spirit was very strong, even though I understood about half of what was said, at most.

I will close this email with a short testimony. I testify that the priesthood authority has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that because of it we have access to the ordinances of the gospel with which God seeks to bless us. The gospel is all about love, progression, and service. We gain access to all that God has for us when we follow the path He has shown. More happiness than we have ever experienced awaits us as we labor in the Lord’s vineyard.

Keep the faith. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

At the baptism, JJ thought we
were the coolest. Happens.

MLC

Billings, MT Temple

Dinner after the temple, feat.
Elders Craig, Madden, Wheeler, Donaldson,
Wadsworth, Wright, Peterson, and Burch

Bro. Cheatham and I

Airplanes in Greybull 

Shell Falls, WY