"When I finally finished school, it was the first thing that I did..."

Good afternoon (or whatever), everyone!

I don't like to start letters with a disclaimer, so I won't.

The plane ride was short an uneventful, which is honestly kind of a
disappointment since I think my last plane ride was a combined total
of fifty-something hours. Also, German airlines. Never mind, I'm
getting off topic.

Lest there was any confusion, the first thing Elder Derek Wright said
to me as he walked down the stairs with his overly long, curly hair
and his smiling red face was, "Hey, look; it's a nerd!"

There were eleven people in my district, divided into eight elders and
four sisters. My companion, Elder Carter, is from Delta, Utah (I
didn't (and probably still don't) know where it was, either). He likes
hard work. Or, he says he does. It seems to me that he likes goofing
around, too. We get along well, but he won't tell me that he loves me,
and he won't hug me. Fortunately, I have Elder Simmons for that.

See, there were four people in our dorm: Elder Carter (my comp), Elder
Simmons, Elder Johnson, and myself. Elder Johnson had been having some
problems, and on Friday, he went home. Please pray for him - I know
that he's got what it takes, and that he'll be out again soon with
God's help. This left Elder Simmons to be in a tripanionship (real
word?) with Elder Carter and I, and it's been pretty awesome. The
three of us and the four sisters in our district are all going to
Montana, and four of us are from Arizona (Mesa, Gilbert, Phoenix, and
Gila Valley).

And, I'll wrap up with a spiritual thought. There are so many truly
eye-opening spiritual moments here, and I wish I could go into more
depth, but I'll stick with this one. We've all heard that contention
is of the devil, but we don't really understand what that means until
we're in a situation where we need the spirit so strongly. My
companions and I were preparing a lesson for an investigator, and
there was dissension as far as how it will go. Neither of us were too
eager to let go of our position, and we kept going back and forth.
That is when Sister Kezele stepped in, and said, "Elders, I'm hearing
a lot of 'I think.' Try praying. Listen to the Spirit, and see what He
thinks." I know that the contentious spirit that was there before we
decided to pray would have totally hindered us in our goal of teaching
what needed to be taught to our "investigator," and that through
praying we were able to find unity and peace. I hope that you can do
the same.

One more thing: To all the wonderful people that gave me some kind of
gift before I took off, I sincerely apologize for not writing a thank
you card. I super appreciate you and whatever it is you gave to me, I
just didn't have much time in those last 48 hours. Anyway, thank you.

I call that a wrap (much like the ones at the salad bar in the MTC).
Keep on keepin' on, everyone.

Elder Burch π

"... What every townie kid dreams of, I packed and started west."