Elder Burch π: “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22...”

This week was easily one of the busiest of weeks, at least since the last two weeks of my ninth transfer. But, that doesn’t mean it was bad. To the contrary, there were plentiful wonderful experiences about which I will now tell you.

On Tuesday, Elder Craig and I packed up the Frontier and headed up the road to the mission headquarters in Billings, Montana. We pulled into the biggest city in the mission (still not even half of Mesa), and ventured up to the temple off of Rimrock Road. There, we met with President Wadsworth and the rest of the MLC (zone leaders, sister training leaders, and the assistants). Going through the temple with the entirety of the MLC, including many past companions and many more dear friends, is easily one of the best experiences I have ever had. Seeing everyone in white, and knowing that, despite anything, we all had our sights on the Father and the Son, was powerful. I happened to be the final missionary to finish the session, and walking into the Celestial Room to see all the people that I have come to love so much was a powerful and glorious experience.

10/10, would do it again.

Wednesday was MLC in Billings (which featured Jimmy Johns instead of Pizza Hut for lunch, thank heavens

), and it was one of the better ones, I think. Things are coming down to the wire. President and Sister Wadsworth will conclude their missions at the end of this month, and President and Sister Larson of Queen Creek, Arizona will come to lead the Montana Billings Mission. Anyway, one of the things we discussed as an MLC was what our goal for convert baptisms as a mission would be for the month of June. After prayer and pondering, people began to offer their feelings.

I’m normally reverent, I swear.

After some numbers tossed around, “Twenty five,” and “nineteen,” and “twenty three,” and more, someone asked President, the key holder for the mission, what impressions came to him. He looked up and offered, “The number that came to me was twenty two.” There was a short time of silence, which was concluded by me announcing to the MLC and motioning to President Wadsworth, “I don’t know about you, but he’s feeling 22.”

Like I said, normally reverent.

Maybe that isn’t true. Last MLC, I made reference to Star Trek. *shrug* Happens.

After MLC, we drove back, a new dresser for our apartment in tow. But that wasn’t the end of our driving for the week.

Thursday we packed up and headed over to Byron to conduct a baptismal interview there, and then took off from there and went south to Worland, where we conducted another baptismal interview. The candidate for baptism is a native Spanish speaker, and so, despite five or more years of Spanish class in the public education system, I had Elder Loran with me to translate. I did get to add in a few phrases of my own, probably highly butchered (“¿Podemos hacer un oracion final?”), and it went well. And then we packed up and came back home.

Friday was in our area. Good times. Lessons and all.

Saturday we gave some service at the community garden before cleaning up and going back to Worland for the baptismal service. It was one of the coolest ones I’ve ever been to. The woman being baptized spoke only marginal English, with Spanish being her first language. The majority of the baptismal service, including the songs, were in Spanish. The Spirit was very strong, even though I understood about half of what was said, at most.

I will close this email with a short testimony. I testify that the priesthood authority has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that because of it we have access to the ordinances of the gospel with which God seeks to bless us. The gospel is all about love, progression, and service. We gain access to all that God has for us when we follow the path He has shown. More happiness than we have ever experienced awaits us as we labor in the Lord’s vineyard.

Keep the faith. Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π