"I don't care what they say about us, anyway..."

All,

Good week. Short email.

MLC was the most fantastic meeting. I feel like I received a ton of
revelation on how to work effectively and help the zone to do the
same. We got an entirely new Chapter 8 for Preach My Gospel, which is
only in a few missions thus far. It has a completely new, more
streamlined, technology-integrated approach to planning, which is more
focused on the individual. Also, Technology is no longer a gimmick in
the missionary work. Need proof? The 5th Ward Elders taught a lesson
over Skype and then a lesson over Facebook messenger the other day. It
was awesome.

I had a few experiences with blessings this last week. Besides giving a
few blessings at the hospital, the Sister Training Leaders got in a
bad wreck. It was raining, and their car was totaled. They were fine,
besides some bruising. Understandably shaken, though. I was on
exchanges with another Elder a that time, and he didn't feel
comfortable blessing, so I gave a blessing to both sisters. I felt
really led by the Spirit in those blessings and it was really neat. I
like the priesthood.

Interviews went way over. Our mission president is one of the most
amazing people to have ever been born. He is personable, and he cares
for each of us in the mission. He is awesome.

1st and 2nd Ward sisters stole our Lego people that we put on our
dashboard. It is war.

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π
1101 Greenough Dr Apt E10
Missoula, MT 59802

"... I don't care about that..."

"I know places we won't be found..."

Everyone,

Short emails are the worst, best, pizza.

Attended the first ever Frenchtown Stake Conference. Missoula 4th Ward
is a part of the newly created Frenchtown stake. It's cool. "Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah" was the opening song of the priesthood session, and it might be my new favorite hymn.

New investigator lesson tonight! We are really excited for it.

It has been raining, and the rain has been quenching the fires. It has
been a blessing.

Finished listening to the Old Testament today! That's exciting.

Loving the work, and realizing that there isn't a ton of time left and
I need to do my best with what I am allotted.

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π
1101 Greenough Dr Apt E10
Missoula, MT 59802

Eating sushi with Elder Rickenbacker

Eating a ghost pepper hot wing calls for chocolate milk.

Lego people on our dashboard.

"Wasting words on lowercases and capitals..."

Everyone,

Quick email this week. Not as much has happened. We almost got caught in the middle of a fight between homeless people. We ran into a bachelorette party that asked if we were the male strippers they ordered. (Spoiler alert: We weren't.)  

We have two kids of a returning less active family on date. That's cool. 

Going to Billings tonight and the temple tomorrow. 

I love missionary work! We gave water bottles and cookies to other homeless people. Not the fighting ones.

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

"Keep the blood in your head and keep your feet on the ground..."

Oh, one other thing. You know those "Pop Goes Punk" and "Punk Goes Acoustic" and other such albums? Well, Elder Rickenbacker and I are going to release "LDS Youth Music Goes Punk." Look for it in Deseret Book stores near you.

🎶The "Chelsea" pictures are strictly a Gaslight Anthem reference🎶

"How I wish you could see the potential..."

Star-struck audience,

Maybe not star-struck, but I can dream.

One of the best weeks of the mission. Easy. Elder Rickenbacker and I
have had so much fun, and we have put in a lot of work. And, the Lord
has blessed us well.

I have so many new investigators of which to speak! Ah! So good! We
had our first lesson with Tonya, a new investigator with friends in
the church. She is very Christian, but has never been baptized, and
she'd like to be. Elder Rickenbacker, of course, took that opportunity
to invite to baptism at the end of our lesson, and the answer came as
"Absolutely." So, we're praying she follows through on the commitment
we left, and that the Spirit touches her heart.

THEN we were looking for a former investigator. Didn't find him, but
literally had two other people in the complex call us over and
announce that they'd like to visit with us and come closer to Christ.
It was cool. We have return appointments Tuesday and Thursday,
respectively. They both have things that they want to change in their
life that the gospel can help. Can't wait to see them!

THEN we had our fantastic Ward Mission Leader, Brother Griffin, and
his wife (who is a recent convert of three years) invite a young woman
over for dinner and a lesson with us. Her family is less active, and
she wants to be in the church but feels like she doesn't have support
or a place to go for questions. Solution: The Griffins and the YW as
support, and them plus the missionaries for questions. It's perfect.
She met with the bishop on Sunday to get a temple recommend to go to
the youth temple trip.

THEN we were walking downtown, doing some finding, and we came across
a place titled: Missoula Club Burgers and Beer. Right inside the
window at a table were four college-aged women and two men. A few of
them waved at us, and then motioned for us to join them. Elder
Rickenbacker played the charades game, and tried to motion for them to
come outside. They insisted, and so Elder Rickenbacker led the way as
we went into this bar to talk with these people. Inside, we started
talking with them, and two other people joined up. One was a less
active returned missionary and the other was his friend. We had a good
conversation with the six at the table about us, them, what we were
doing, and what we believe. It was uncomfortable at first, but got
better quickly. They were really nice, invited us to play rugby with
them one of these Mondays, and we traded numbers. Rad!

LAST thing for now, we had a new investigator, Kyle, come to church
with us on Sunday!  He says he was once a God-fearing man, and that he
wants it back. It seemed like he enjoyed church, and invited himself
back for next week! He moved to Lolo, but there are no missionaries
there right now because of the fires, so we get to be his missionaries
until that situation changes. We are so excited for Kyle and the
blessings the gospel can bring.

The Lord is preparing people. I'm so glad to be a part of this work.

Also, Elder Rickenbacker is fantastic.

Thank you all for everything. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π
1101 Greenough Dr Apt E10
Missoula, MT 59802

P.S. We had to help push the Stevi Elders' truck because the
dealership didn't fix it right. We pushed it almost a mile to the
dealership to tell (show) them of their mistake. Worth it for the
story.

"... The potential of you and me."