"I've got my body and my mind on the same page..."

Heh, greetings,

     Alright, alright, alright, alright!

     That family from the Congo? They are progressing splendidly! Not only is the father on date for baptism, but the ten-year-old son also. The baptism was pushed back from the 1st to the 8th for reasons, but they are on fire! As far as I know, we should be good. We didn't even ask them to, and they tossed out their tea when they learned of the Word of Wisdom. We'll be meeting with them tonight, as well as a couple nights this week. They are awesome, and I am excited to see them continue in the gospel. They've come to church two and a half times so far, and we are going to get them set up so that they can watch General Conference in their native tongues. (French for the dad, Swahili for the mom. Oh, yeah. The language barrier is why the mom won't get baptized as quickly. But after the dad gets there, we'll teach her and he'll translate and it'll be great and she'll be baptized, too!) So, we're excited for that. 

     On a slightly tilted note, I am excited to say that I helped an African American family into the waters of baptism. Elder Christensen calls that a blacktism. I'm excited for this blacktism.

     Also, bishop gave us a referral for a guy who is currently in pre-release, and we met with him and he's looking to go to church. He's made some poor choices in his life, and the first time he was in prison, his wife met with the missionaries and totally turned it all around in three weeks and was baptized. At the time he wasn't so into that, but now he really wants that change for himself. He's a super nice guy, and he's been reading the Book of Mormon that they have at the correctional facility. That's pretty rad. I think we might give him over to the zone leaders because of the area. We'll talk with them. We are excited for him, too. 

     Elder Ray and I got ice cream at a Missoulian place called "Big Dipper Ice Cream," and it was super good. It was raining at the end of a good day and proved to be an excellent topper to a productive Tuesday. 

     Missoula's roads don't make sense. 

     Besides that, it has been finding, which has yielded mixed fruits. We're going to set ITL (invitation to learn) goals and hopefully boost our effectiveness this week. We're excited to see how it goes.

     I left my journal in the apartment, and so I don't remember much else about this week. Ah, well. Those are the important points, I think. Keep being awesome.

     Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π  

"... and now happiness is all the rage."

Reunited with Elder Carter!

Elder Christensen!

Elder Emms and Elder Patterson!

Eating with a family from Laos. Mm, mm, good.

 

The Zone!

This dude has a 1972 Mach 1 Mustang. It was fitted with a
552 engine that dynos at 668Hp. He turned it on for us. It was sick.

Wakati drew a picture of me!

Old people don't know how to take pictures.

"On a Wednesday in a café, I watched it begin again..."

Eight months out.

To all, whether good, bad, or ugly,

        The Lord likes to troll missionaries, okay? He's like, "Oh, you think
you're not getting blessings? Watch me bless you in more miraculous
ways than you had ever imagined and you'll sit and wonder how you came
to deserve that. Ha! Nerd." Yeah, that's pretty much what this week
has felt like. Here we go.

        That dude that approached us on the street? We went to the family
history center to brush up on our skills and get the information, and
he is super excited to visit! I'm pretty sure we'll do that tomorrow.
That'll be awesome.

        We've spent many, many hours walking around, trying former
investigators and whoever else the Spirit tells us to visit. It's been
rough. I'm an incredibly sentimental person, and so rejection is
tough. People trying to tell me I'm wrong is rough. I just generally
have a hard time with things like that.

        I was involved in the first Bible bash of my mission, which was
actually quite mild. We knocked on the door of a woman of another
missionary-center Christian faith (which will remain nameless because
ragging on other religions is lame), and I asked a little about what
she believed since she wasn't too interested in what we had. She said
we could come back on Tuesday, and we did only to find that she had
brought a friend along, who wasted no time in trying to use the Bible
to "prove" certain aspects of our faith wrong. Of course, the spirit
of contention is not of God, and another missionary just the other
week had enlightened my mind to the reality that bashing back in a
scriptural "contest" is only a show of arrogance, so I didn't contend
back. Instead, I informed her that I'd love to learn more about their
faith and to share some information about ours so we could come to a
mutual understanding, but that I wasn't super interested in listening
to her try to tell me why Michael the Archangel is actually Christ.
(Why is that pertinent to salvation, anyway?) So, we wrapped that up,
and left feeling spiritually drained. However, we read Alma 26 to get
our spirits back up and continued knocking on the doors. Sometimes,
days just don't go how you want them to.

        We get yelled at a lot in Zootown Missoula. There's this one guy,
actually, who has yelled at us like three times in his car going by.
It's a white Ford Explorer, and he says something different every time.
It's almost funny, actually. It's a good thing I'm a missionary,
because otherwise I would have some great comebacks to yell back.
Instead, I just notate them in my journal.

        In spite of all that, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven,
and the Lord has made good on that promise.

        On Saturday, we got a call from the zone leaders:
        "Hey, is this address in your area?"
        "Lemme check... yeah, it is."
        "We have a referral for you."
        "Oh?"
        "It's a family we were referred to, and we taught them the first
lesson. It's a dad, mom, and three kids, and they're from the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. They want to be baptized. Also, they
want a French Book of Mormon."

        (Side note: Isn't it funny how when a country has "Democratic
Republic" in its name, it almost always means communism? Democratic
Republic of China? Communist. Republic of Cuba? Communist.)

        Like, what even? We went to contact the family, and learned that they
had already attended church back in Africa, and had attended at the
stake center last week. They are eager to be baptized, and wonder why
they have to wait so long. THEY ARE WONDERING WHY THEY HAVE TO WAIT SO
LONG TO BE BAPTIZED. They have a date for freaking April 1st! I feel
the need to sing the song of redeeming love. What's more, we got them
a ride to church yesterday, and they came, and we found a member in
the ward who speaks French to help us teach!

        God is awesome. He knows what we're capable of, and He knows when to
help out. I am so deeply indebted to Him, and I'm grateful for his
bounteous blessings upon us. Here's to continuing to raise His banner
high and proclaiming the good news to all who cross our way!

        There are a great many other events that could be written about, but
this email is already long. I'll list a few to tickle your
imagination.

        - Zone Training
        - Getting a slinky from a slightly intoxicated Jew
        - Make out tactics
        - Helicopter crashes and miracles
        - Sleeping, sleeping, sleeping
        - Electric guitar man neighbor (a.k.a. All Elder Burch's Go To Heaven)
        - Non-members stepping up to the lunch plate

        Man, this week was packed. Cool! Rock and roll, everyone ~

-Elder Burch π

        "I've been spending the last eight months thinking all love ever does
is break and burn and end. But on a Wednesday in a café, I watched it
begin again."

My parents sent me a pie on Pi Day!
Are they not the greatest people on the Earth today?

"I've got a blank space, baby, and I'll write your name."

 

The Zone

On another note, I have had a team name with each of my companions.
With Elder Ferrara, we were the "On-Point Kings," and with Elder
Campbell, we were "Dangeresque." With Elder Ray, we are "Sons of
Moroni." There is a story associated with that. Ask my mom, she might
know. Once I tell her, anyway.


******
(The email to the family with more details about the week)

Family,

So, the missionary schedule tells us to keep a journal. As part of my recommittal to live as close to the missionary schedule as possible, I have begun to keep a nightly journal. It's been a good experience thus far, and I think it will prove to be a valuable endeavor to maintain. After all, think of all the laughs I'll get rereading it in the future! Worth it for the story. 

I'm pretty much going to tell you about all the things I listed in the main email and then didn't elaborate on. Here goes!

Zone training was sweet. Probably my favorite thus far. I still remember my first zone training, which was my third day in the field. Elder Hatch was one of the zone leaders at the time, and his intense spirituality combined with his inhumanly deep voice and his godlike organ playing intimidated the dickens out of me. (Why were the dickens ever inside of me? I feel violated.) Anyway, this most recent one was awesome, and I gave a discussion on sacrifice. Yes, I cried, and it sucked. Nevertheless, I learned something from it, and I hope everyone else did, too. 

Ah, yes, my Jewish slinky. We were walking down the street one evening, probably around 7:30, and a man is sitting on his porch smoking a cigarette and drinking a cold one. He calls out to us, "Sons of Moroni, right?" ... Well, not exactly. We asked him how he knew who we were (kind of), and it led to him exclaiming, "I'm a Jew, and you have no chance of converting me. If cattle prods and machine guns and gas chambers couldn't change me, neither can you!" Well, fair enough. Not really, considering that he was only forty at most and therefore could not have possibly endured World War II, but that's alright. We began chatting with him about religion, and he said, "Look, assuming that Jesus of Nazareth was who he said he was, I'm totally on board with what you guys teach - why wouldn't he visit the Americas? And, hey, even though I think you're totally wrong, I respect you for being out here and doing what you do." (These excerpts were said between long political tangents that he would go on.) He invited us inside for a drink of water ("But if you wanted a Co-cola or a coffee, I wouldn't tell nobody!" *wink*), so we went in and continued to visit with him. Through the conversation, I began playing with the metal slinky on the coffee table. As we were leaving, and he invited us to visit any time, I realized I still had the slinky in my hand. I tried to give it back, but he refused, insisting that, "You've had more fun with it than I ever have had. Keep it, man." And that is how I got a slinky from a slightly intoxicated Jew.

Saturday, as we were walking to visit the family I mentioned in the main email, a couple pulled up in front of their home which we were walking by. They waved at us enthusiastically, so we waved back, and then they proceeded to make out. A lot. Elder Ray and I laughed as we walked away, noting that this is the first time someone has tried to avoid talking with us by snogging. The best part of the story, though, occurs on the way back from our appointment. As we're walking back on the same street, we see the girl come out and get her mail. I'm the master of awkward, so...

"Hey, thanks for the laugh!"

"What?"

"You waved at us, and then started, you know, making out. It was funny because we don't get to do that for a long time."

"Oh... You guys doing the year thing?"

"Two years, yep."

"Ah. Long distance is hard."

"Tell me about it. Have a great night!"

Some things worth it for the story. Most things worth it for the story.

I was getting a few minutes of shut-eye after dinner at our apartment one day, when suddenly I begin to hear tones of music coming from the apartment beneath us. In my still-drowsy state, I begin thinking things such as "That kid has some good tone on his trombone..." And then I leap off of the couch as awake as anything, and exclaim to my companion, "That is an electric guitar. We must meet this person immediately." And, so, we head downstairs and knock on the door below us. A confused 30-year-old answers, and and he lets us in! We talk about music for a while and I try to make something decent come out of his guitar, and it was a good experience. He isn't super interested in the gospel at this time, but he said he'd be down for us to visit and hang out! Through small and simple things...

Okay, lightning round. A non-member payed for our lunch today! It was super awesome. I fell asleep at a member's house after eating an enormous meal. We met a dude who was a commercial helicopter pilot who crashed and survived seven days in Alaska before being rescued. 

There you go!

Caught napping

Greetings, Cadets!


They call Missoula "The Zoo." I am beginning to see why.

The last week has been a massive adventure. Between seeing many
unfamiliar people, some familiar faces, crossing hundreds of miles,
and arriving in Missoula, things have been crazy. Here we go:

Elder Campbell. Oh, Elder Campbell. How I miss you! Elder Campbell
and I waived good bye at a gas station in Sheridan, and he is still in
Buffalo with Elder Allen. All the best wishes to him - he is an
awesome friend and an awesome elder. I hope he finds much joy and
success in Buffalo and beyond.

We drove to Billings that night, and stayed in the mission home with
the rest of the elders transferring to various places across the
mission. The next morning at six, we took off in a van most referred
to as the space shuttle. We made a stop in Bozeman, and then in
Helena, where I was reunited briefly with my first trainer, Elder
Berrett. It sounds like he's still doing well, and it was awesome to
see him again.

From Helena, we took off and headed down to Missoula, where I met
Elder Ray. Elder Ray is my new companion. He is from Eagar, Arizona,
and enjoys guns, trucks, and Pokémon. I haven't spoken Pokémon since I
was young, I picked up gun speak from Elder Campbell, and I picked up
truck speak from Elder Andrews. In short, I think we can get along
alright.

I am also excited to not be drive man anymore. Driving is great, but
having the responsibility lifted from my shoulders is a nice thing.

So, Missoula 5th Ward. We don't have any real potential investigators
right now. But, not for long! With hard work, charisma, and the Spirit
of the Lord, we will increase our teaching pool and bring many people
to the fold! The hand of the Lord has been prevelant in the work
already. We met a Jehovah's Witness woman the other day who we have
a return appointment with tomorrow at 2. We have been trying former
investigators, and two of them have accepted an invitation to see us again.
One evening while walking around, a man approached us from behind and 
started talking with us. "You boys doing ministering work?" 
"Heck yeah, we are!" He told us of some concerns he was having about his 
nephew involving getting a job and the Sabbath day, and after that 
conversation had ended we asked him if he'd be down for talking 
about the gospel some day. "Not really. I'm really spiritual and all, 
but I'm not really one for preaching." He paused, then continued, 
"Do you boys want to come and visit at my place, though? Get some 
water, maybe some salsa?" Well, we're all into that! So, we walk with 
him and talk, and find out that he is a drummer! Sweet! When we 
get to his home, we go into his basement to check out his drum set, 
and we notice a desk in the corner with some old-looking pictures. 
"What are those?" I inquired. "That is my grandfather, and my great 
grandfather, and my great-great grandfather..." No freaking way. 
This guy had been doing family history work. We eagerly tell him of 
the resources available free through family search, and the family 
history center available at the stake center. He was excited, and 
gave us his number so that we could contact him with the times of 
the center, and as we took off, he told us, "You boys are doing good 
work. If you ever need food or water, or just want to hang out, stop 
on by! If you want to talk about Jesus, too, we can do that, too." 
Freak yeah! The Lord is putting people into our path, and is blessing us.

I have a testimony of the promises of God. When He promises
blessings, He means it. As it says in D&C 82:10, "I the Lord am bound
when ye do what I say." I may have shared that before, but it is true.
Please pray for the missionary work in Missoula, and that we will find
more people to teach as we diligently seek to find.

Thank you all for everything! Rock and roll~

-Elder Burch π

  "... We've got fun and games."

Transfer Selfie

Goodbye Elder Campbell

Goodbye Thomas Family

Elder Ray!

With a member of the ward

I thought this stood for "Gravy Check," but Elder Ray informed me that it likely
means "Groovy Chick". Ha! Shows where by stomach, er...mind was.

The drummer dude we met.

"Take me down to the paradise city..."

Ladies, gentlemen, and other assorted grasshoppers,

After three transfers - 18 weeks - my stay in Buffalo, Wyoming is coming to a close. It is time to open the next chapter, where I will serve in Montana, the state in which I was actually called to serve. (Montana is a lawless, yet God-fearing state. God, of course, having been introduced to Montana in 1874. Montana's main export is rocks. Germany was discovered in Montana!) More specifically, I will be serving in the Missoula 5th Ward, where I will continue as a district leader. I have heard many things about Missoula, ranging from, "Oh, you're going to the zoo!" to "It's really pretty there," to "Have fun with all the college students." We'll see how this goes. Google Maps tells me that Missoula has three record stores, though, so that will be an adventure. (Pls send money.) Missoula is a city of something like 70,000 people, which is much closer to my speed. I guess we'll see how I like it after being in sleepy Buffalo for so long. Regardless, I am both excited and not excited for the nine-hour van ride. Pray for the people of Missoula - they won't know what hit them!

A quick eulogy to Elder Campbell: Elder Campbell has made this last transfer an absolute joy, and I am so grateful for the fun that we have had serving and working together. Buffalo will flourish under his stewardship, I am sure. I feel a little gypped that we only get one transfer together, but I guess good things must come to an end. I'm sure President was considering transfers, came across our companionship, and though, "Oh, heck no, that companionship is far too much fun to last!" Sigh. If only, if only...

Alright, so for this week: We had exchanges. That is all.

For Elder Campbell's kindabirthdaysortof (he was born on February 29th), we had dinner with the Thomas family. They make pulled pork sandwiches and we had an awesome cake! It was a good time. I am sad to be leaving the Thomas family.

Elder Campbell and I had story time and read a book called Because Jesus. Shout out to the lovely person who sent said book my way! It was a good time. We now feel a renewed sense of purpose for serving our Lord.

Elder Campbell won at Scrabble (finally, also again), making the record for this transfer Bette: 3, Elder Burch: 2, and Elder Campbell: 2. This is significantly worse than last transfer against Bette, where I used my superior skills to best both her and Elder Ferrara six out of ten games. I guess one has to share the wealth a little bit.

We had a lesson with Megan and Branden. (Side note: Megan and Branden are one of the major things that make leaving hurt a little. Sure, I'm ready for a change of scenery, but Megan and Branden are not only progressing investigators, but they're my friends. Continue to pray for them, please.) We had a lesson with them where we read from 2 Nephi chapter 2, and we discussed the miracle of Christ's atonement and what it means for us. We then talked about baptism, and the blessings which come from following this commandment from God. Along with that, we detailed for them the requirements of baptism, and what the promised covenant entails for them. After this, we left them a challenge: Pray together and separately, and come up with a date for baptism. Once you do, we'll set goals and make plans to help you to progress towards baptism on that date. They accepted, and I think that they are quite sincere in their desires to follow Christ. They accepted, and mentioned once again how us teaching them has been a blessing in their lives. We will be eating with them tonight. We have been commissioned with bringing the rootbeer floats.

We took a hike! It was very nice!

The church got all smokey toward the end of sacrament yesterday. It was quite odd.

Aiden, the kid of a returning less-active family, is progressing as well.

I think that is all I have for now. Spiritual thought: The atonement is sufficient to help us to change and become the best people we can be if we are willing to let it change us. "Let it change us" sounds like a passive invitation, but it is the exact opposite: It requires effort on our part to bring our will and action in line with the Lord. Josiah in the Old Testament was appointed king at 8 years old. Eighteen years into his reign, he found the book of the Law of Moses - the law that Israel was supposed to be following. Josiah looked around at the wickedness and idolatry of the people perpetuated by decades of unrighteous kings, and decided things needed a change. Through his efforts, he was able to return Israel to following the Lord, if only for a short time. No matter how far you feel like you've sunk, you can always return to the Lord and He will accept you with open arms, just like the Israelites.

I realize more and more how proud I am of my home state. Whenever anyone mentions Arizona, I give the "rock on!" hand sign and mention something about how great it is or how it is the promised land. Elder Campbell told me the other day, "You are so proud of your stupid state that I bet you bleed red, white, and Arizona." To that, I say simply this: Heck freak yeah I do!

Keep being awesome. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"... Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Oh, won't you please take me home!"

Disclaimer: The grass may be green in Missoula, MT, but the Arizona skylines and desert vistas are still unmatched. Also, Arizona girls.

Look at that handsome face.

Some rad people we met on our hike!

Because Jesus.

Look! It's old Uncle Sam, wielding the
slightly-faded-but-oh-so-American flag!

Goodbye, Sheridan. It's been a good run.