"I put on my overcoat and walked into winter, my teeth chattered rhythms..."

Friends, family, and people who don't read these emails,

   It's been a good week! We had the awesome opportunity to participate
in Sheridan's Storybook Stroll, which was an event held in Sheridan on
Friday. The shops on Main decorated for the theme, and various
organizations had tables set up with hot chocolate and other things.
The missionaries in Sheridan invited us, and we all were able to talk
to a lot of people and share this year's Christmas initiative,
#LIGHTtheWORLD. If you haven't seen it yet, go to www.mormon.org and
check it out! Basically, it is twenty-five days of service leading up
to Christmas, with short videos to accompany each. Share it with you
friends and get some service into your holiday season! Anyway, we were
able to street contact many people. Some of the other Elders took me
out to do that, and though I was hesitant at first, it quickly became
something I was excited to do! It takes an act of faith, my friends,
and we can do anything.

   Other things this week include contacting a referral from the Hilton
family. We met the father, who is probably early thirties and has a
wife and two little boys. He let us in right away and we are so
excited to be visiting with him and his family in the future! We'll
likely be texting him today about that. His work schedule is a little
mean, so we'll have to work around that. It'll be good - we're
excited! We also did a fair amount of tracting today. I didn't
particularly care for knocking doors, but the more I do it, the more I
find enjoyment and fulfillment in it. On top of that, there seems to
be a direct correlation between tracting and success, even though that
success does not directly come from the tracting itself. Funny how
that works.
 
   I was about to make a joke about Yanni, and then I remembered that it
wouldn't be funny to pretty much anyone. That seems to be how most of
my inside jokes are. Ah, well.

   We got to see fireworks the other day. They were in a park and it
made me laugh. They were nice, but compared to even the Arizona
Celebration of Freedom, they were weak. It was super funny, though, as
we were walking away, probably three minutes after they had stopped,
there was a huge rumbling sound behind us, and we turned to see a wave
of smoke and fire rise into the air amid a few more fireworks going
off. I guess it had gotten stuck and then went off all at once?
Anyway, it was rad.

   We have an investigator on date! His name is Kieth and he lives in
the local veterans' home. He showed up to church one day, and we asked
him about it. He says that recently, he has been looking for God in
his life, and so we started to meet with him. He is awesome! He talks
a little slow, but he has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying.
(He prayed for the lesson last week!) So, yes. He is on date for
baptism coming up fairly soon. On another note, we totally ship him
with a lady in our ward who is a bit... different. She was actually at
the lesson we had with him last, and afterward we all played pool. It
looked grim at first, but her and I as a team pulled the victory over
Elder Ferrara and Kieth. "Do you hear that? Those are the winds of
change..." Maybe that game of pool was symbolic of our missionary work
more generally. Things are changing!

   I love doing this work, and I'm seeing more and more blessings from
the Lord regarding it and I just feel so thankful for it all. Let us
hope that Elder Ferrara and I show our appreciation and take advantage
of it!

   Thank you for your continuing prays and support. As always, keep the
faith, and rock and roll!

-Elder Burch π

   "... And they were grouped in twos or threes like a morse code
message was sent from me to me."

Elder Burch π, serving in Buffalo, Wyoming.

 

The district, featuring me as a Sith.

Buffalo, Wyoming from the ridge line.

The mailman is late!

Buffalo, Wyoming from the outskirts.

Playing pool with our investigator.

Buffalo, Wyoming from the ridge line.

Snowdrifts

Thanksgiving 2016

Salvation Army Reindeer

Walking away from the Storybook Stroll.

Our booth for the Storybook Stroll!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

"Faintest snow, keep falling..."

Thank you and good morning,

This week can be summed up into two main categories: Faith and Frozen. Let's start with the one that is a Disney movie title.

It snowed. It snowed a good amount. Thursday morning I woke up, looked out the window, and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree? No, I saw a white, endless expanse. After doing the morning things and studying and all that, we ventured out into the wild. Elder Brown was on exchanges with me that day, and so he can attest to much of what I will say, including the fact that I thought the snow was beautiful and magical and I loved it... For about seven minutes. After that point, I realized that it sticks on everything and it gets the floors in your car all wet, and if it gets in your shoes you might as well give up right then and there. And I got the car stuck in it three times. One of the times was on a dirty road heading to some houses and agricultural plots out of town. A nice man drove by about ten minutes later and helped pull us out with his front loader. Thank you to that man. To be honest, the snow isn't that bad. Most of the time, I find myself pleasantly enjoying it, and then there are those times where the ice on the road causes the car to slide into the intersection and I remember why I like Arizona. I also remember that I am grateful that Elder Ferrara is currently the designated driver.

Ether 12:6 reminds us that "faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." I don't feel like I deserve it, but I know that the Lord is giving us the witness. Through His mercy and His grace, as well as His timing, Elder Ferrara and I have been seeing miracles in this area. We met a man named Matt, who has concerns about the Book of Mormon, and despite having read much of it before, is willing to give it another go. John, the man we mentioned from last email, committed to read the Book of Mormon after the longest lesson of my life. And Kieth, a friend of ours from the Veterans' Home who has been searching, committed to prepare for baptism in three weeks. I'm so grateful to the Lord for showing us His hand, even though I don't feel good enough to be receiving these things. I'm grateful to my companion for being awesome, and I'm grateful for the open, willing hearts of those who the Lord has prepared to hear the message of the restoration of the gospel. God really is good. I'm so grateful to Him. 

Short email, many pictures to come. Thank you so much for reading, and have a great Thanksgiving!

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

The Lord's work is rad!

Elder Burch π, Elder Ferrara, and the Zone Leader.

The first snowfall of the Buffalo season.

Elder Brown and I in said snow.

Very much stuck in snow.

Gratitude Tree

"Making contact isn't easy..."

Many much greetings and well-wishes,

      I just sneezed like an elephant and Elder Ferrara made fun of me. 

      Missionary work in Buffalo is much different than missionary work in Greybull/Basin. On Saturday, we spent more or less the entire day walking around and tracting the town, trying to meet as many people as possible and all. It's kind of grueling, I don't like knocking doors, but the Lord seems to bless us. Most of the people are pretty kind, and when we're turned away, it's always in a fairly kind manner. Straightforward, too, which is cool because it prevents us from wasting our time or engaging in a dead-end awkward conversation. So, hey! Grateful for that!

     The other day, the town of Buffalo put up wreaths and lights on the light poles on Main Street. It's nothing fancy, but it gives the town a little more of a spirit of cheer, and I like it. This year has been extremely uncommon as far as weather in Buffalo is concerned. Usually they have snow in mid October - blizzards by Halloween, often, but today is looking at a high of 68. Works for a warm-weather beast like me.

      We had a great zone conference in Gillette the other day! That was sweet. 

      Tuesday, I think, we ran into this sweet dude named John. John is in his late sixties, is from France, and is super kind to us. He thinks very deeply, and has told us many times that, "I'm not a church person. I just can't," but it is obvious in how he talks with us that he is searching for something, even with his fairly well-collected ideas of how the world and spirituality work. John has worked as a machinist for NASA. He tells us how he loved it, because it was so satisfying to create something. "It didn't have to be good," he'd tell us, "For the Space Station, it had to be perfect." Later, he worked with troubled kids, and he tells us that he was able to connect with them really well. John cares about people. He tells of an experience working with a certain kid where he feels certain that he received inspiration from something greater than himself. A confirmation, he called it. John heavily relies on logic, and after reading (and heavily annotating) the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, he told us how it makes sense to him that Jesus's blood would be needed to wash the sins of the world. Blood so perfect that it works as a detergent, he described it. John is very committed to the idea of eternal progression. He believes in reincarnation, of a sort, where we can learn more in each lifetime. Funny how we believe something similar - the part about eternal progression - just through different means, the Spirit would and the eternities rather than other mortal lives. Basically, John is one of the coolest people that I've ever met, and he thinks we're cool because, quote, "You are open minded. Yeah, you don't just say 'oh, I'll pray for you,' you want to have a conversation." I consider John a good friend already, and I'm really excited for him. Pray for him to have an open heart to the message of the restored gospel.

     I think that is where I'll cut the updates for the day. Thank you for all your kindness and support through this all. Thank you for reading my emails. Keep being awesome. Rock and roll.

-Elder Burch π

      "... When you're trying to find another meaning in time."

This is our friend John. The French one.

Today for preparation day, we went to the shooting range with John. (That's where we took the picture with him.) We're not allowed to use guns, but we watched him. He likes handguns, and can shoot reasonably accurately at 200, even 300 yards. With a handgun! Crazy.

Gillette, WY Zone Training

Elder Ferrara sending his first letter of the mission!

Elder Burch sending his 792nd.

"Here, you can be anything. Anything that scares you. ..."

Good morning and good week to you all.

     Being transferred is one of the weirdest experiences yet. Tuesday night, they dropped me off in Lovell and shuttled me up to Billings with a few other missionaries. We stayed the night and most of the rest of the next day in Billings, not doing much until four o'clock, when the transfer van came to take me and nine other missionaries to the Wyoming East Area. Once there, I was able to meet my new companion, Elder Ferrara. Elder Ferrara has been out one transfer, and I was assigned to complete his training. He's a rad guy from Pocatello, Idaho, home of the worst designed flag in all of the United States of America. Elder Ferrara is awesome, and I'm excited to work with him. He has a desire and an excitement about the work, and I really think we can do good work here. Due to things I can only guess (lazy past missionaries, poor ward involvement, etc.), this area is slow. Really slow. No area is ever dead, but I would say that this one is in deep hibernation. Using the powers of Christ and working hard, I'm amped to turn this area around and make it successful with the help of Elder Ferrara. Pray for the missionaries in the Montana Billings Mission, especially those in Buffalo, Wyoming. 

     My first night in Buffalo, we visited the Thomas family. Elder Ferrara explained to me that the wife is a member, but her husband is not. They have two kids, eight and six, and we were going to teach the Law of Chastity lesson to Brother Kevin Thomas. 

     Alright. Rad. A lesson with a part member family right off the freaking bat. Perfect.

     And so we went.

     Upon meeting the Thomas family, they put their kids to bed and we sat down with Brother Kevin Thomas. He is a large, black man and he started off the conversation with: "Alright, look. You're a new guy, and the Bible tells us to be honest, so I'm gonna be honest with ya. I have no intention of getting baptized into your %#$& church. Now, what is the lesson on tonight"

     I was a little confused, but I've seen people totally turn around. Elder Ferrara then said, "It's the Law of Chastity tonight, Brother Thomas."

     "Ah, $#!+."

     The lesson was the oddest, strangest thing I've ever experienced.

     "Brother Thomas, why do you think God would only want us to do these kinds of things within the bonds of marriage?"

     "To be honest, I don't &@%#!^$ know. I mean, I love my wife, but I've got so many women throwing themselves at me, and I can't deny them."

     What the crap? I'm thinking to myself. 

     After a while of back and forth, and eventually Brother Thomas asking if this was an intervention, I decided to take a different approach. Elder Ferrara hasn't said much in the conversation thus far. I looked over at him.

     "Not to derail this entire lesson, but let's take a step back." I thought about my next words.

     "You like to think about the stuff you say," said Brother Thomas, "I like that. You mean what you say."

     I nodded, then said, "Brother Thomas, I've only known you for about thirty three minutes so far, but I can already tell you're pretty cool. At the beginning of this lesson, you told us, and I quote, 'I have no intention of getting baptized into your %#$& church.' What makes you say that?"

     A light came on in his eye.

     "I'm really glad you asked that question." He goes on to recount how he is taking the lessons for his wife's sake, because it makes her happy, and how he can't believe how a 14 year old boy went into a grove of trees, saw God, and established a church, and a whole string of other concerns of his. 

     As I think of how to address some of these things, wondering how to simplify and invite him to do something to increase his faith in Christ one step at a time, he says to me, "Elder Burch, you're cool. I'm just kidding, I'm a member."

     "... What?"

     "Yeah, we're both members, I have the priesthood, and I'm the old ward mission leader. This is a joke we like to play on new missionaries. Welcome to Buffalo."

     Brother and Sister Thomas are both converts of the church with the craziest background imaginable, involving a Romeo and Juliet-like story of them belonging to two of the biggest rival gangs in Texas, the Bloods and the Crypts. They're both active members, involved in the ward and missionary work. What a welcome that was. 

     I'm excited to be in Buffalo, and we'll see what we can do to get this area humming with the Spirit of God and missionary work. Onward, ever onward!

     Keep being awesome. Rock and roll.

-Elder Burch π

500 W Fetterman Apt 1

Buffalo, WY 82834

     "... I think that scares you."

Elder Andrews is a dork.

Greybull/Basin + Thermopolis feat. Me as either a Jedi or a wizard of some kind.

Elder Andrews and I.

Hey! Check that out!

 Halloween trunk-or-treat back in Greybull/Basin.

Elder Ferrara and I in out first companionship selfie!

Elder Ferrara and I, again.

Sister Thomas!

Outside doing the work. Serious missionary work.

Chocolate is pretty good...

Look at how long and unbitten my nails are! LOOK AT IT! I'm so proud of this.

Looking fab.

Elder Ferrara is an Onderdonk.

Pocatello, Idaho. Home of Elder Ferrara, as well as the worst flag
in North American vexillological history.

 Puppy dog!

Word of Wisdom, dude.