Elder Burch π: “But come July, we’ll ride the ferris wheel...”

Preparation day in Havre:

“Hey, what do you wanna do today Elder?”

“... What even is in Havre?”

It’s good, though. Nice to not have the stress of having to be super fast at doing stuff so you can meet up at the church. Sometimes I miss people, though. Only sometimes.

This week had some highs and lows. Let me lay it out for you:

Monday, we packed our things and headed up to Great Falls where we got Jimmy Johns (love Jimmy Johns) and then loaded up with our zone leaders for a trek down to Helena. It was in Helena that we stayed with many other missionaries until the next morning, where we loaded up again and began the trek down to the my old stomping grounds, the zoo that is Missoula, Montana. There, at the stake center at 3201 Bancroft Street, we met with missionaries from the western half of the mission, including the Kalispell, Missoula, Stevensville, Helena, Butte, Great Falls, and Great Falls East Zones. I know significantly less missionaries than I should at this point, because they’re all so young, but there were still a good amount of people I was thrilled to see, including past companions Elder Brown, Elder Ferrara, and Elder Ray. This was the last zone conference with President and Sister Wadsworth, and it was harder than I was thinking it was going to be. After some addresses from the Wadsworths, we had lunch, and then we all lined up in a circle around the chapel and, one by one, hugged President and Sister Wadsworth. As President came in for a hug with me, I muttered out a wholly inadequate “Thank you,” and he says, “Hey, Elder Burch. Rock and roll.” At that point, the breaking of my heart was complete.

See, there is something to know about mission presidents. Bill Carpenter once described it like this: It must be a requirement to be a mission president to have gargantuan hands with which to shake your hand, but the only thing bigger than a mission president’s hands is his heart. Of all the teachings of President Wadsworth, of all the good times and leadership meetings and interviews, the one thing that I will remember above all is that he loved me in an incomprehensible way every single day. The love, trust, and expectation I received from President Wadsworth made me have trust in myself, a grander vision of what I can achieve, and a knowledge that, no matter what, I was loved and supported. You know, we find types of Christ everywhere in the gospel, and I think it isn’t too far too say that I felt a type of Christ’s love for me in the love demonstrated to me by President and Sister Wadsworth. It is inadequate to say that I will miss the experience of them being my mission leaders, but I know that they will always love me and technology makes this world so small, so I know we’ll keep in touch. And so, here is to the adventure! “The future is as bright as your faith.” - President Thomas S. Monson

Some takeaways from the final addresses of President and Sister Wadsworth:

President Wadsworth’s Six Lessons He Has Learned

1. “The worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”

2. We all live below our capacity.

3. When swimming in the pool of life, we sometimes have to deal with a ‘code brown.’

4. In overcoming obstacles and trials, effort will always triumph over talent.

5. Spiritual immersion is as important to our eternal lives as oxygen is to the SCUBA diver.

6. Satan is tenacious, but Christ is all powerful and will triumph.

President Wadsworth’s favorite scripture is John 7:17. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

“You may feel lost, and you may even get lost, but you will never be lost to God.” -President Wadsworth

The big takeaway I had from Sister Wadsworth’s discussion was to always be ready and willing to follow a call from God. No hesitation, no thinking twice, just do it. When the Spirit calls or when someone with keys tells you that God has a work for you to do, leave your nets and do it.

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After zone conference, we headed back to Great Falls, where we spent the night with our zone leaders, Elder Donaldson and Elder Peterson. I love those two. They’re great examples of zone leaders and I am glad to have them. I feel their love and their support. It’s rad to have rockin’ leaders.

This is, unfortunately, where things began to go south.

Elder Taylor began to get sick Wednesday, and that sickness hit its apex (it seemed) on Saturday. Well, Sunday is when I started to feel sick, and this morning I woke up with nothing short of a gnarly sore throat. Sickness is the bane of work, but we were still able to make some good visits, including going to the Rocky Boy Reservation to do some work, and we ended up with two new investigators.

Sunday, Brother Brown took us to church at the Malta branch. He is a high councilor, and visits there once a month. The Malta branch is a wonderful group of saints. I felt welcomed, they let me bear a testimony, and they held potluck afterwards. Glory be to God for the wonderful saints that do so much for us missionaries.

I think that is about all. We will still have to figure out what today holds for us, but I guess that is all part of the fun. Thank you all or reading. Thank you for your love and support. As always, rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

“... Go ‘round and ‘round and ‘round. If you never let me go, I will never let you down...”