"While I get my last rites read by a thief..."

Personalities of all types,

This week was mad. Actually crazy. Here we go. 

So, transfers happen on Wednesday, right? Elder Ray and the rest of the nerds who are leaving get in the vehicles and get on the highway to Helena around nine in the morning, and we get the new recruits around three. Well, this story begins before that. 

A week or maybe longer ago, we got an email from our vehicle coordinator telling us that Ford had recalled the door latches or something else of little consequence on our 2013 Ford Fusion. (Brother Furrer would here make some joke about how Fords suck.) We were instructed to call the Ford dealership near our location. We do, and we schedule the appointment for Tuesday morning at eight. They made it sound like the repair would be fairly quick and inconsequential. Cool. So, we take our vehicle in and wait in the lobby. 

And wait.

And wait. 

Two cups of cocoa, one cup of cider, and seven hours later, we decide that it is probably time that we go somewhere to get lunch, while we continue to wait on this stupid car. We head to Red Robin for our first meal of the day, the time now a little after three, and as we are about to go inside to eat, we receive a call. It's from a potential investigator that we have whose dad is a member. Or, he was until he passed away just hours before. He asked if we'd be able to come by and perform last rites or whatever. I informed him that we weren't Catholic, but that we would absolutely come and pray with them. So, we walk another mile to their house, pray a little bit, talk a second, and begin to head back. The time is now such that we have to go to a few appointments, so we go do that. 

Still no call on the car.

We visit some people, then some other people, and then we go to an investigator's house for dinner. It was a good time, pretty tasty spaghetti, and as we are walking away from that we call the dealership for them to come pick us up with their shuttle so we can get our car.

No answer. Three times.

Crap. They're closed. That means we have no car, as well as no keys to the apartment. No biggie, though. We never lock the apartment. We did have to cancel service, which sucked because we had no way to get out to the boonies where we were needed.

We head to the apartment to take stock. The door is locked. What? Why is the door locked? It suddenly hits us: They inspected the apartment today while we were out! They must've locked the door when they left! So, now we were homeless, carless, and our phone had just died. To top it off, transfers are tomorrow, and Elder Ray needs his stuff. Fortunately, after going to Shopko to get fig newtons to calm our minds, we catch our neighbor out on the balcony and ask if we can use her phone. She graciously agrees, and we call a member, who insists that there should at least be a few people at the dealership in sales. He takes us there, we are able to get our apartment keys (but not our car!), and we are able to make transfers. Worth. 

Goodness, that day was crazy. 

Okay, the rest of the week.

Elder Ash is awesome! I really like him. He's from Artesia, New Mexico, and enjoys running, soccer, reading, and nerdy stuff like Star Wars and heroes. We have had several late-night conversations about Star Wars. (Though, none as long as the debate about the lake of fire and brimstone I had with Elder Berrett, and certainly none as long as the talks about nothing with Elder Campbell his first night in Buffalo.) We've been doing work, I went running for exercise for one of the first times ever, and we have had plenty of instances of breaking out into song. (Mostly music from our youth about which we are embarrassed to have listened, but worth than I thought anyway.)

We went on splits with one of the two priests in the ward. That was cool.

I felt really proud of myself the other day. At a doorstep, I felt like I gave my most honest and bold invitation yet. I mean, the invitation is always the same - to learn more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ - but I feel like I was more forward, genuine, and open with my statements. I don't handle rejection well at all, and so I'm usually pretty cautious about my door approaches - I have difficulty being bold. Which is lame! I shouldn't be that way! I know it is true! I know that I am endowed with power and that my calling is as a representative of Christ! Anyway, this woman mentioned that she was of her own faith, and I asked about that a little. She said she was familiar with Mormon beliefs, but I was skeptical. I asked her if there was one question that she had about the LDS people. She couldn't come up with one, so I told her that one of the major differences is how we believe that, just as is written in all the holy scriptures from the creation of the world, God still works through a prophet who gives us the will of God. I testified that the truths restored in these latter days will bring us peace, joy, and a sense of belonging, even more than we already have. I told her it would help her come closer to Christ, and I asked if there was a time we could come back to teach her more about these truths. She told me, "No, go find someone else to preach to. *laugh* I'm too old for this." As we left, and we drove away, I felt bad that my sincere testimony did not produce some kind of result. On the other hand, I felt awesome about how I had spoken. I felt, more than ever, that I had fulfilled my purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. I hope that I can remember this and do it more often. Pray for me. 

I think that is all of consequence. Keep on keeping on. I love you guys!

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"Start up the car. Bury your memories..."

Elder Ash!

Pros

Again with Missoula and odd political statements...

That priest I mentioned? The one we went on splits with? Photo
credit goes to him. I'm probably Snapchat famous at this point.