Elder Burch π: "I wish we could open our eyes..."

Loyalists and revolutionaries alike,

Miracles? Miracles? DO YOU WANT TO SEE MIRACLES?! ... So do I. To be fair, this week was full of them.

First off, we went on exchanges. Elder Munroe came to Buffalo with me, and we had a rad time. We got a tip from Sister Jenkins regarding a guy who was moving, and he called us up. On Tuesday, we went over to help him move stuff. Towards the end of packing things into his trailer, he comes out of the building looking disheveled. Turns out that he had just gotten a call informing him that his father had passed away.

Crap.

Elder Munroe snaps into action. "Hey, man, you know we're Mormon missionaries, right? We believe that God gives power to his servants, and part of that is the power to give blessings. Some of those blessings can be for comfort. Would you like one?" The man agreed, and we were able to give him a blessing. Since then, we've been over twice more to help him move and share a short thought. Here's to hoping that us teaching about eternal families will be enough to spark his interest...

Later that night, we took a trip to Kaycee, a little town 45 miles south, to visit the Olsen family. After a very enjoyable time with them, we head back. Well, we realized that we were out of gasoline. The little display that estimates how far we have to go didn't even have a number, it just said "LOW" in big, bright, foreboding letters. "Elder Munroe, I need you to offer a prayer over the gas tank if you would. Due to the nature of me driving, I will not be closing my eyes for this prayer." And so, he did. On the drive, there were two times where I thought I felt the car lurch for fuel, but we were able to make it back into town and fill up. The Lord gives us tender mercies, and I think this is one prime example.

We had dinner with Jean Bourdin, the sick French guy, again. It was pretty good. He fed us lentils and sausage. Also, he showed us his collection of firearms. I'm not a gun person, but I was a little worried that Elder Campbell might faint, or maybe drool on himself. I knew he liked guns, but I learned then that he is quite good at identifying weapons on sight. I have to remind myself that we are in Wyoming, but I do hope to one day find someone with which I can talk about audio equipment or music. To be fair, I did find someone with an electric guitar the other night that I messed around with. I have met someone who collects records, too, but they don't have any credibility with me because all they have is Beatles and Rage Against the Machine, and they don't store their records correctly at all. Oh, well.

Elder Campbell sent the first letters of his mission! ...They were both to friends of mine that he has never met. *shrug*

I was reading in 1 Kings the other day, and there is an instance where a king inquires of his dignitaries whether he should go to battle. They all reply in the affirmative, to which he asks, "Are there any actual prophets of God in this city?" His second in command says, "There is yet one man, but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." When the king asks the prophet, the prophet tells him to not go to battle, or he will die. The second in command gets all up in arms, "See! I told you he would prophecy evil concerning us!" What is the lesson here? The king and his friend ignored truth because it just didn't suit them. That led to a miserable defeat, and the downfall of that reign. When the prophets speak, they speak the words of God. If that means we need to change, it means we need to change. We shouldn't disregard the voice of the Lord simply because it doesn't suit us.

Keep being awesome! Thank you all for what you do!

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"... To see in all directions at the same time. Oh, what a beautiful view if you were never aware of what was around you."