Elder Burch π: "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."