"Don't don't don't let's start..."

"... This is the worst part."

Monday, May 29th, 2017

To those sitting in darkness,

Prepare to be enlightened by my email! Just kidding, I'm sure my email couldn't come close to inspiring, but it may entertain. Here goes.

To begin, transfer news is in. I will be staying in Missoula for now, and Elder Ray will be taking his adventure to East Billings, where he will be serving on several reservations. I wish best of luck to Elder Ray! These last two transfers with Elder Ray have been quite marvelous. We've gotten along well, and enjoyed being with one another. Keep the faith, dude. 

I will be receiving Elder Ash, who has been out four and a half months. He will be a valuable asset in building this area! Heaven knows that we need it. After the baptism, we have no progressing investigators. Oh, hey! We had a baptism!

This week, we saw the baptism of Justine Kambale! The people in Frenchtown forgot to fill the font, so we had to start a little late. Fortunately, the font in Frenchtown filled with lightning speed, which is distinctly different from the font in Buffalo, which took somewhere around three hours to fill. Tender mercies. Joel was ordained to the priesthood, and was therefore able to baptize his wife, as well as pass the sacrament on Sunday. It was a wonderful experience, and I think it went smoother than Joel's baptism, even with the font problems. There was an excellent turnout of people, so much that the room was quite cramped and immobile. It was awesome. Elder Ray was able to confirm her in church the following day. 

The priesthood is real. That is all. 

Everyone has a story. Everyone has their struggles. As you seek to empathize with people, you will come to a greater knowledge of them. As you come to a greater knowledge of them, you will come to a greater knowledge of yourself. So, listen intently to what people have to say. You just might learn something.

Me: "Yep. Back home, I love music. I played in a rock and roll band."
87 year old lady: "What would Mr. Smith think if he knew?"

Me (confused) : "Are you asking me what Joseph Smith would say if he knew I was in a band? He'd probably ask when my next gig is."

Jodi: "What happened to the lid on the ice cream container?"

Chuck: "It was stuck on one day when I was trying to get ice cream."

Jodi: "So you beat it to death?"

Thank you all for everything! I love you. Keep close to Christ.

"And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"

Keep the faith. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful..."

Filling the font

Justine and Joel Kambale

Baptism Day!

The Baptism

The Zone, feat. The bromance of Elder Burch and Elder Hendrix

How many emo things can you spot in this picture?
(No, I'm not the artist.) 

   

Missoula: land of stickers

"Lately the weather has been so bipolar..."

"... And consequently so have I."

Communists and otherwise,

This week, the email will be short. Primarily because I am feeling
anxious, and that leads to shorter emails. Why am I feeling anxious?
Satan, man. Gotta stay vigilant. I'm just spouting nonsense now. On to
the real email.

...After this one joke! Did you hear about the dyslexic devil
worshiper? He sold his soul to Santa.

Too soon? Not soon enough!

We were privileged to attend mission tour this week, which is like a
giant zone conference where half the mission gets together and we are
instructed by our mission president, his wife, and a general authority
and his wife. It was a wonderful time! I left feeling primarily
rebuked, but that is okay! Always improving, right? I also got to see
Elder Campbell! I love Elder Campbell! I've missed Elder Campbell!
Elder Campbell and I could conquer the world together with our wits
and sarcasms. Elder Campbell, will you be my valentine? Okay, so
another thing about mission tour. It was in Helena, which is about two
hours away through some gorgeous mountain passes. Great, right? Well,
except that Montana decided that we all needed a little snow to ring
in the middle of May, so that's exactly what we got. Blowing wind and
snow all the way there and all the way back. I was not amused. I was
also not awake for most of it, so there is that, too.

We tracted this housing development where the houses are so similar we
dubbed it the communist establishment. Those with white pillars are
the leaders. We met an old couple with LDS family that will let us
come back, we think. Good times.

Flaky investigators are flaky. Lame.

Transfers coming up. I think Elder Ray is leaving. He's been here long
enough. Elder Ray is awesome. Thank you for being awesome, Elder Ray.

I think that is all for now.

No spiritual thought now because I am too lazy. I will give you one next week!

Keep being awesome. Thank you for all that y'all do. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"Now I'm sunny with a high of 75 since you took my heavy heart and
made it light..."

Says it all

 "Sheet music is like a sound recipe."

I told you there were commies.

This is what all the cool cats were doing before I left home.

 Elder Hendrix and I getting comfy.

Looking over Missoula.

The handy work of Elder Campbell. Best friends FOREVER

"Roll down the windows, let the cold air come in..."

Denizens of the court,

This week was a big week full of many good things. Even in the tough times, it is pretty easy to look over the week and observe plenty of miracles poured out on us by the Lord. So, here we go.

To begin the week, we went on exchanges with the elders in Clinton/East Missoula. It brought many memories of serving in small town, USA. Good times. I went to Clinton with Elder Hendrix, who has previously served as my zone leader. It is odd to serve now as his district leader. I appreciate Elder Hendrix because he is always striving to improve, despite already being a phenomenal and effective missionary. He is dedicated to being obedient, and loves to live in the moment. Serving with him for the day was a good time. 

We were blessed to have interviews with President Wadsworth on Thursday. President is awesome. I'm sure what I say here stands for mission presidents the world over: They love you. They really do, and they desire nothing more than your growth, success, and happiness. 

We mowed the lawn of a recently widowed sister in the ward. It was a huge job. Pictures to follow.

People need to be better about returning texts and calls. We have some exciting prospects, but we can't meet because they will NEVER ANSWER. Okay, rage over.

Despite our frustration over some things, the district is actually having a lot of success. Clinton has an investigator praying about a baptismal date, and so do the 3rd Ward sisters. 2nd Ward has recently found some new investigators, and 1st Ward has an investigator whom I will be interviewing for baptism (hopefully!) on Friday. And, of course, there is Justine Kambale. We are so excited for her, and think that she will be totally ready for baptism on the 27th. 

Mother's Day! We were, of course, allowed to call home, and it was a grand experience. Sounds like all is well on the home front.

Do any of you readers, missionaries past or present, have any finding tips? I could use them. Let me know!

I've been reading in Isaiah, and a phrase that is found repeated therein is, "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." (Isaiah 5:25; 9:12, 17, 21; 10:4. See also: 2 Nephi 15, 19, 20) In the footnotes of Isaiah 9:12, the phrase is clarified as "IE In spite of all, the lord is available if they will turn to Him." The Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, and sometimes He does chasten us, but the blessed truth of the gospel is that He will always be there for us with a stretched out hand. When we lay aside our wickedness, carnality, and pride, and reach out to Him, He will support us in our afflictions and make us better than we could ever become on our own. I know that is true, because He's done it for me. Keep the faith. That is my testimony, and I give it in Christ's name. Amen.

Thank you all for the continued support and all. Keep being awesome. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"Well, here's to living in the moment, 'cause it passed."

Smooth Criminal

No, I didn't throw up. The Clinton elders had a cucumber in their
apartment that was way old and gooey and gross. As I was taking said
cucumber, in a bag, to the trash, it slipped out of the bag and
splattered all over the floor and my shoes! Lame. So, here we are.

And then I broke their chair. (I fixed it! ("... I got better!))

The Adventures of Elder Hendrix and Elder Burch

Elder Ray's birthday pie

When you have service at 4pm and a lesson at 5pm

Look, it's me being swag!

"Now the lights go low in the avenue..."

"... And the cars pass by in the rain ..."


Good morning, acolytes!

This week saw even more rain. The last two days, specifically. Also, we woke up today to find that the rain on our car has turned to frost overnight. So, that means that this week had a day with a high of 86, and also a night where it froze. Great. Montana and her darned inconsistency. The warm day was nice, though. It felt downright hot after the weather we have been getting, but it was welcomed anyway.

Earlier this week, we had exchanges with the zone leaders. Of note from the exchange: Friendly less active family, puppies, and I GOT SUNBURNT. I thought that was a thing that didn't exist here! (Not really, but seriously.) I can't believe I got sunburnt.

We were called upon by a member of the ward to help them paint the home of one of their relatives who had just passed, in preparation for the selling of the home. We spent quite a bit of time on that on Thursday and Friday. It was good, though! There were some older gentlemen working with us, and I am not sure... well, I just don't know if the lights are on and nobody is home or what. It was fun. 

We decided that we needed a mix-up of the finding techniques. We bounced around a few ideas, and we have plans to use some of them in the upcoming days, but we settled on one for this week. So, Saturday, we did some service tracting, which yielded some solid results. We put on the regular clothes and went door to door, letting people know that we are part of a service-oriented church, and that we were looking for service opportunities. We were able to rake the leaves of a former investigator and was given a return appointment before even asking. It was awesome! 

Justine's baptism is set for the 27th of May. Bishop is looking to get Joel the Aaronic Priesthood so that he can baptize her. How rad is that? We're excited for them.

Spiritual thought: I was listening to a talk given by McConkie called "The Teacher's Divine Commission." He describes that, as teachers, "We are appointed 1) To teach the principles of the gospel 2) out of the standard works 3) by the power of the Holy Ghost, 4) always applying the teachings to our needs, and 5) to testify that what we have taught is true." As such, I've begun to evaluate my teaching methods and what I can improve. Instead of answering questions off of the top of my head, with vague references to scripture and having some moments of flipping my tie back to signify speculative doctrine, I should instead take questions, expound relevant verses from the scriptures, apply that doctrine to the life and needs of the investigator; and bear my personal testimony of the truthfulness of the principle just explained. As a crutch to help me with this, I have begun studying by topic on various common questions, and creating a quick reference guide to lead me to the scriptures, and explaining the relevance of the doctrine to us, and then writing a short testimony on the matter. Here is an example:

Faith, concerning works (see also: Grace)
James 2: 14-26 Faith without works expounded
Mat 7:21 "Doeth the will of my Father"
Mat 19: 16-17 Keep the commandments to inherit eternal life
Romans 3: 22-31 Salvation by grace through the Law Faith
Alma 34: 32-36 This life is for men to prepare to meet God
2 Nephi 25:23 By grace we are saved after all we can do
       The truth that salvation is achieved through the grace of God and by following His commandments is important to us because 1) our works are how we truly "accept Christ" and allow His sacrifice to save us, 2) following God's law prepares us to abide under heaven's law and in the presence of the Lord, and 3) our works confirm the reality of our faith in Christ.

       I have a testimony that Christ died for me, and that because He died for me, I have the ability to follow Him, better myself, and reach my potential. I am grateful for His sacrifice that will allow me to return to His presence if I prepare myself, follow His commandments, walk in His ways, and strive to be like Him.

I really think that this method, which is referenced in the handbook "Teaching In The Savior's Way," will help to make me a more effective teacher, and someday I'll know the scriptures well enough to not need a quick reference guide. Teaching is such a joy! 

Thank you all for your continued support and love! Keep being awesome. 

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"... The university boys and the girls fill the bars while I'm just waitin' on the light to change." 

You can't really tell, but that  is a police car behind us.
I was going way too fast. There is only one speed limit sign,
and it's almost hid! I got off with a warning.
Elder Ray: "I leave you alone with the car for five minutes!..."

Arrow'd!

Candid Puppy Shot

Elder Smith blessed both district meetings with doughnuts

Missoula is hilarious

Kambale family selfie, per usual

A Lotus Elise!

Oh, the world 😝

Breakfast this morning at Paul's Pancake Parlor, feat. YSA Elders

Relaxing in our room like ballers

District greatness. Missoula District, best district.

"Sometimes I think this cycle never ends..."

Soldiers of all rank,

This week was a little hazier. I will relate some good stuff and some funny stuff and move on.

We put Justine, Joel's wife, on date for baptism! We're looking at May 20th, so hopefully that will go through. Teaching her goes alright, reading from the Swahili pamphlets and asking questions through Joel, who translates for us. On a totally unrelated note, she has the coolest dresses. I imagine that they are from Tanzania. Maybe. Anyway, they are different and look cool. 

We visited some other people. It was kind of worth. Oh! I know what I can talk about! (About what I can talk.) Elder Ray and I have started doing a thing where, for our journal, we have a quotation of the day and a proverb as well. (By the end of the transfer, we will have written Proverbs 32 and 33.) One of our proverbs involves one of the people that we work with. (With whom we work.) It reads, "If thou smoketh weed, yet read thine scriptures, it profiteth thee not." I'm slightly embarrassed that I shared that with you. Sorrynotsorry.

Oh! Funny story! So, Joel. Speaks English, but not too well, you know? Enough to have a conversation, but not enough to fill out a 1040. Anyway, we got a text from him which read: "can you come home now i received a letter from Missoula Federation credit union.come and translate for me.i am at home." Okay, sounds good. We headed over there, and he brings out this letter. We think it is going to be an account balance or something, but as we read the two pages it becomes quickly clear that it is a simple advertisement for car insurance through the bank. He was freaked out, because there was a section in the ad that says how you can save $552/yr compared to Allstate, or $398/yr compared to Geico! He thought it was a bill! It was funny, and we assured him that it was just an advertisement and he had no money due. He thanked us, and expressed how he was scared and how he called us because "It was from the bank. I had to show it to someone I trusted!" It was awesome.

My legs have rarely been more sore. So much walking. 

We have a mission tour on May 17th, which means an area seventy will be at our multi-zone conference in Helena. How cool is that?

My only spiritual thought today is that the Song of Solomon is garbage. Read the Book of Mormon. Let me know what your insights have been recently! 

Rock and roll! 

-Elder Burch π

"... We slide from top to bottom, then we turn and climb again."

Kambale Family!

I'm so heroic. This picture will likely be featured in an
upcoming Facebook post. Any puns based off scripture
or General Conference will be considered.