Elder Burch π: "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