Preparation day fun

Our new shower curtain! Did we try to be as dumb
as possible with it on purpose? You betcha!

"I want to live where soul meets body..."

September 26th, 2016

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

        First off, sorry about the repeat email about the change of scenery.
I accidentally hit a wrong button and sent it off again. So, again,
sorry for unnecessarily clogging your email box with that.

        This week has been a little nuts. Let me try to sum it up for you in
a few short paragraphs.

        First, we waved goodbye to Elder Berrett, my loving, excited, fun,
hard-working companion from this last transfer. He left me to go and
be a zone leader in Powell, just right up the road. I wish him the
best of luck in the world, and I know that the Spirit of the Lord will
follow him in all of his missionary work in the future. I feel like
I've been done an injustice by only having been his companion for a
transfer, but I can forgive. (D&C 64:10) On the bright side, he only
lives twenty four minutes from my home, so we'll be hanging out. Elder
Berrett, wherever you are, God be with you. It was a good time.

        Second, we waved hello to Elder Andrews, my new companion. Elder
Andrews is from Logan, Utah, and was transferred here from Eureka,
Montana, seven miles south of the Canada border. Elder Andrews enjoys
Pokémon (he wants you to know that he isn't just a hipster that says
he likes Pokémon, but that he could actually name "98% of the original
151"), listening to and playing music, and his truck. We hit it off
really quickly, and enjoy singing songs about Jesus in the car. I'm
being hit by the realization that him and I don't live in the same
general location like Elder Berrett and I, and so I won't really get
to hang out after the mission. That kind of sucks. But, it's okay!
We'll have a good time doing the Lord's work right here, right now.

        Third, General Conference is right around the corner, and I don't
know that I could possibly be more excited. We have plans to watch it
with a few less-active families and two investigators, so that will be
awesome.

        Fourth, you know the old, clichéd adage of "you don't know what you
have until you've lost it"? Well, we moved into the apartment, and I
can tell you that the saying is completely true. Funny how you don't
notice little things that you don't have, like shower curtains or salt
shakers. We'll be heading over to the thrift store today to pick up
some of the basic amenities we need. Other things about the apartment
include the layer of drywall that is on all of our dishes, and how we
need to thoroughly clean all of them. And it smells kind of weird.
Don't get me wrong, our apartment is quite nice - very nice, even - it
is just missing some stuff. Like WiFi. There was WiFi here at one
point, but no longer. I'm pretty sure that thinking we would have WiFi
and then not having it is the biggest letdown since Cain tried to
offer fruit to God as a sacrifice. (Genesis 4: 3-5) So, there is a
little update on our living situation. All in all, I am very happy and
feel blessed with this apartment, but I miss the Cheathams. And
Vector. I miss Vector.

        Fifth, a spiritual thought for you. In the Book of Mormon, in the
book of Mosiah, there is a group known as the people of Limhi. The
people of Limhi were in bondage to the Lamanites, and wanted out. They
had tried to go to war with them, and had failed multiple times. So,
the sat in their city and debated what to do as the Lamanite guards
stood outside the city walls. Ultimately, we read in Mosiah chapter
22, verse 2 about some of their thinking. It says: "And it came to
pass that they could find no way to deliver themselves out of bondage,
except it were to...depart into the wilderness; for the Lamanites
being so numerous, it was impossible for the people of Limhi to
contend with them, thinking to deliver themselves out of bondage by
the sword." This passage made me think of another scripture, that says
that the devil is the father of contention. (3 Nephi 11: 29) In our
daily wandering, as we come across people that disagree with us, have
different views, or who want to argue with us, remember that
contention is not the way out of it. It is impossible for us to
deliver ourselves out by the sword. Instead, let us seek through
meekness, kindness, love, compassion, and charity to resolve our
conflicts. If we need to walk out of a conversation, or to not start
an argument (Facebook arguments, am I right?), then let us do it. I
pray that we may always be the peacemakers, and not seek to deliver
ourselves through contention and the sword, or though sharp language
and arguing, as the case may be. I leave that with you in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.

        Thank you all for being supportive and reading my emails, and for
sending me letters and emails! I love you all, and I wish you the very
best in all of your endeavors.

        Until next time, keep rocking on.

-Elder Burch π

        "... And where the sun wraps its arms around me..."

Elder Andrews and I rollin' down the street in fairly heavy rain.

Called of God to share His word by any means possible.

"We were the magnificent dreamers in secret lamplight hideouts..."

Greetings from Greybull, Wyoming!

     There have been some rumors going around that Elder Berrett is being transferred to another area and that I'm going to be trained by someone else for the foreseeable future. I would like to put those rumors to rest: They are true. Am I super happy about it? No. Is it probably for the best and a representation of God's will if it's what President Wadsworth has deemed what needs to happen? Yes. I'm going to miss that guy. Our spiritual lessons, the effortless way we can laugh together, the guidance he's given me, and the conversations we're able to have about Star Trek. No one else is going to think my awful inside jokes are funny! Ah, well. It's been good.

     On Monday, we went to the Thermopolis Dinosaur Center. As cool as it was, I can't help but think that the museum in Mesa is better. It's way bigger, has more well-done exhibits, and has more interesting informative placards. It was still a good time, though. 

     This week, we had the opportunity to do quite a bit of service for a non-member that we've taught in the past, but we haven't been able to get a lesson with him set up. He needed help doing some work, and we helped him out for a few hours. During the course of that, he said to us, "You know, I'm getting too old for this. I just really need to stop drinking, stop smoking, get off my butt, and go to church." Yes, Dave, yes. That is exactly what you should do. Do that and let us teach you the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

     Bertie's lessons are going well! Her baptism date has been pushed back to October 15th because October 1st is General Conference. Pray for her. All is going well, but, you know. Satan (Stan) likes to throw wrenches into the mix. 

     Chris, a young adult less active that we are working with, got injured in the back. It's been rough on him, and he went back to trucking today (he works weekdays). We went by last night, and Elder Berrett gave him a blessing of healing. It was the most specific blessing I've ever been party to, and if it comes to pass, I think it will be a huge faith-building experience for Chris, as well as for me. So, pray for that. It's going to be cool.

     We cooked dinner for a less-active family this week, and that was an adventure. After the potatoes didn't bake after being in the oven for an hour and a half, we decided to just nuke them in the microwave. That worked a lot better. The potato soup turned out pretty well. Or, I think so. I liked it. Also, cookies. Cookies are good. On another note, I have remained at a constant weight this entire time. I don't know how I feel about that.

     As we were driving into Basin yesterday at about seven o'clock, the sky was blanketed by a fairly thick layer of clouds. However, far in the west, the clouds ended, allowing the sun to shine under this blanket of clouds. The resulting illumination was gorgeous; golden light thrown across the open area and rolling hills, and rain coming down in this light. It was absolutely beautiful. To top it off, to the east was not one, but two complete rainbows, vibrant and stark against the backdrop of the clouds. The Earth is truly a beautiful thing, a creation of majesty and glory. Look for that in your lives.

     Thank you for your messages, prayers, and support. Keep being awesome. I love you all. 

-Elder Burch π

"... We swore the world couldn't break us even when the world took us down."

Thermopolis Dinosaur Center

Maybe I should just be a dentist.

We're such rebels.

Our Zone.....(until Wednesday)

How our zone really is.

Cookies and potato soup.

I promise you that it was better in person.

The Tolman family.

"Leave it alone, and leave a little room for the Holy Ghost."

Heh, printer.

        This email will be a bit shorter, as Elder Berrett and I are being
taken to Thermopolis to the dinosaur museum today, and I therefore do
not have as much time to write as I would normally like. I'll throw in
some good pictures to make up for it.

        Alright, first and foremost: We put an investigator on baptismal
date! October 1st is the projected day, and goodness gracious, I am
excited. Her name is Bertie, and she has been to church a few times.
Her friend in the ward took her to Education Week in Utah, and she
wanted to know more. She's in her eighties, but she doesn't look it.
She's pretty rad, and I'm excited for her.

        Secondly, Frank came to church again! He's the less active that came
to church and surprised us a few weeks ago. He missed last week on
account of being out of town, but he came this week! I like him; he's
a good guy, but sometimes his fears and doubts cloud his mind. It's
okay, though - we can help with that.

        Third, we were without our car for three days, and it was actually a
blessing. Besides having to bike into Basin (Full headwind - it kind
of sucked. On the other hand, it was pretty fun.), we walked a lot.
Through walking, we saw many miracles. We met six new people, were
able to give a random, unplanned act of service to some people moving
some furniture, and we were able to talk with several people about
families and the importance of them. I have a testimony that when God
gives us signs, we should follow them. On Wednesday, we didn't have
the car, and then a bike tire went flat, and then we couldn't find
Elder Berrett's helmet after that. I know that the Lord wants us to be
wise and resourceful, but I had received signs enough, and told Elder
Berrett that we should just walk. Lo and behold, that is when we saw
miracles.

        Moral? Listen to the Spirit. God has His ways, and they are the best
ways. He will guide and direct us.

        Elder Berrett thinks he is a stunt driver, and I think he has a
slight obsession with e-brakes. I don't even think our Corolla has an
e-brake; aren't they just parking brakes?

        This email was wholly inferior and less interesting than my other
ones. Stay tuned next week for something a little bit more exciting!
As always, thank you for reading. Send me emails and letters, and I
will do my darnedest to respond. Keep being awesome!

-Elder Burch π

        "... Now your pretty horses run wild and free. Have mercy."

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

This little dude turned 14 on Sunday!

Elder Berrett sits on couches weird.

This is in one of the training videos. Check out that polo, though.

With Elder Berrett and Mickey!

"Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch who watches over you..."

Heh, greetings.

        This week has been, honestly, pretty strange. From the
will-it-won't-it rain to the odd calls and unexpected happenings, this
week has been pretty strange.

        First off, the rain. The great, open skies above have been teasing
rain on and off for the last week. Finally, Saturday night, as we
stayed in a member's attic room (very Mary Poppins - esque), the sky
let out the brightest cracks of lightning that I think I've ever seen.
They would blast through the window and light the entire room as
though someone has flickered the lights on and off again. And, of
course, I fell asleep for the rain. Just my luck, right?

        So, as of now we stay with a very awesome couple, Eric and Sarah
Cheatham. Living with them has been a blast, partly because they
provide us with food, partly because Brother Cheatham can fix or solve
almost any problem we have, partly because their dog is so dang cute,
and partly because Brother Cheatham knows everything and will give us
mini-lectures some nights on topics ranging from flight and physics to
dark matter and the proper method to cook bacon. We are living with
them because roughly four months ago, the apartment that the
missionaries stayed in was flooded with raw sewage, and needed to be
redone. This restoration was paused due to an insurance battle with
the city, but we got a call the other day saying that all was almost
done. Well, crap. I don't want to move into the apartment! Living with
members is far too awesome! Gah. I'm not excited about it. *murmurs*
I'll just have to learn to live with it.

        Last week at church, a non-member came up to us. She had been
visiting with her friend, and told us that she'd like to learn more,
and that she'd like to have a dinner appointment / lesson at her
friend's house. Could we ask for anything better? Dinner, a member
present at a lesson, and an anxious investigator! The Lord really does
prepare people, doesn't He? We taught her the restoration, and she
accepted the baptismal invitation. No date yet, because baptism date
commitments typically come on the second lesson. I'll keep you
updated.

        The small town mindset is an interesting thing. It seems that even
when people really don't want to talk with us about God and His love
for His children and eternal families and such (shocker, right?), they
are usually quite amiable and polite to us. It's neat.

        As always, I love to hear from you all! Questions will be answered if
asked, and prayers are super appreciated. For those of you who don't
normally pray, can I ask you to do something for me? Kneel down, and
pray for me, just once. It's simple: 1. Start with a greeting to God,
like "Dear Heavenly Father" or "Dear God" or something along those
lines. 2. Say anything you feel. Thank God for blessings in your life,
ask Him for things you might need, and don't forget to throw in a
"please bless Elder Stephen Burch" for me. 3. Close in the name of
Jesus Christ.

        Try it out! It would mean a lot to me. Tell me about it, if you feel
so inclined. I live off of two things out here: Dinner from members,
and the spiritual experiences of others.

        Have an excellent day! You are all awesome - don't forget it.

-Elder Burch π

        "... Make a little birdhouse in your soul."

Weekly planning with Elder Berrett. The two 't's at the end of his name 
can make a π when written right, so he's got that covered.

Vector, the Cheatham's dog.

"Come unto Jesus from ev’ry nation, From ev’ry land and isle of the sea.
Unto the high and lowly in station, Ever he calls, 'Come to me.'"

"While you're at it, keep the nightlight on inside the birdhouse in your soul."