Elder Burch π: "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..."