"I wish the world was flat like the old days..."

Many well wishes and greetings,

     This week, we have been driving everywhere. Elder Andrews is the district leader, and part of his responsibilities include conducting baptismal interviews for all new converts in the mission district, as well as attending the baptisms that follow. Our district has been having great success recently, which is great! However, it also means lots of driving. So, in this last week, we have been to Worland twice, Burlington once, Lovell twice, and Cowley once. There have been four baptisms, one of which was quite unique.

     Dot is 81 years old, and resides at the senior care center in Lovell, Wyoming. She recently suffered a stroke, and is paralyzed on her left side. She had a desire to be baptized, and was taught the lessons from the Lovell sisters. When the baptism was performed, it was in the Lovell public pool. Elder Andrews, myself, and two other brethren got in the water, and held her as she was lowered into the water by means of a small crane-like apparatus. The prayer was said, we lowered her below the water, and lifted her back up. It was super unique, and I don't think I'll ever be party to such a thing again. It was super cool. Good for Dot!

     We had one of the people at the nursing home yell a profanity at another bowler for teasing him a little. That was funny. 

     We shared a spiritual message with a family the other night. There are four kids, but three of them are from the wife's previous marriage, and the father will not allow the children to be baptized. We shared with them the story of Amalickiah, and his deceitful rise to power. Read Alma 46 and 47 to know more about that. In short, we challenged them to make the decision today to follow the Lord and the standards, such as the Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, Sabbath day, so that when the challenges and temptations arise, they have already made they choice. That they'll be "fixed in their minds with a determined resolution," and stand for what they know is right. (Alma 47:6) The standards of the church are there as a way to help us live joyful, meaningful lives, not as barriers or arbitrary rules. Decide today to live joyfully, obediently, and meaningfully!

     Thank you for the continued support and love of you all. May God bless and keep you. Until next time!

-Elder Burch π

"... And I could travel just by folding the map."

Fancy ramen, fried Oreos, and Fresca. The meal of kings.

Brother Shumway

Sister Cheatham, Vector, and her new dog, Radian.

"Now I know why the leaves change in the fall..."

Models

I'm being threatened by a 13-year-old with a half-carved pumpkin and a knife.

Of dinosaurs and other matters.

Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite

A dinosaur track!

Look at how cute we are.

This picture shows the difference between our personalities well.

Accidental album cover?

Only in Wyoming.

"I wonder which song they're gonna play when we go..."

Monday, October 17, 2016

Good day to everyone, 

     This week, a lot happened. I'll see what I can do about breaking it down for you.

     Alright, first, Bertie was baptized on Saturday! What a lovely experience it was. Elder Andrews was telling me how often times, things go poorly the day of or the day before the baptism, the adversary trying to mess with the plans because he doesn't want more people to come to Christ, you know? I actually saw that with the person that we interviewed for baptism a while back, and all the crazy that went on there. Anyway, it seemed like Satan was weak that day. Having someone forget a dry change of underwear? Really? Is that the best you can do, man? Weak. Weak! She was baptized the following day, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm super excited that we had the privilege of teaching Bertie, and we look forward to continuing to visit her for the new member lessons! We should have pictures of us with her before too long, so I'll send those out when I can. 

     The baptism was a big- huge- part of the week, but a few other things have been on my mind. On Friday, we attended the funeral of the dad of an inactive member that we visit Fridays. I'd never actually met his dad, but he's an awesome guy, and we wanted to be there to support him. Many of his children, siblings, and friends got up to share thoughts and memories, and it was all quite enjoyable to listen to. There was a distinct difference, though between those of faith and those not. Some of the people shared memories and expressed thoughts on his life, and the life to come was often alluded to. One of his daughters even talked about the entirety of the Plan of Salvation in a way that made me take notes. It was simple, direct, and powerful, and she expressed that she was sure that because of Jesus Christ and temples, that we'll be able to see our families in the eternities. And so, while still a mournful event, it seemed that the promise of "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted" was true. (Matthew 5:6) Others were much more sorrowful, and lots of tears were shed. I guess what I'm saying is that I'm grateful for the plan of our Savior and Redeemer that saves us from death and from hell. He truly is the miracle that makes the dead come alive, and helps us to overcome sin and live more awesome lives. 

     Along those lines, we received a call right before the baptism from another less active member, who was in tears and told us that she had just lost a grandson. We visited her after the baptism, and talked to her about what had happened, and how things were progressing from there. We talked about the kid, only 18, and what he was like. It was solemn, but there was an air of peace. We had the opportunity to share with her verses from the Book of Mormon. In Alma, chapter 40, he discusses the life after death. He says:

     "Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow." (Alma 40:11-12)

He goes on to speak of the resurrection: 

     "The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. ... And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God." (Alma 40: 23, 25)

     Needless to say, this has caused me to reflect on my own life and find things that I want to do better so that I will have made the best of this mortal state I've been blessed to have. I'm grateful for the knowledge of our God and His plan for us that gives us strength over sin and the grave. I hope that I, and all of us, can live every day to the fullest and look for ways to improve. Always remember "men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)

     Keep rocking and rolling. 

-Elder Burch π

     "... I hope it's something quiet and minor and peaceful and slow."

Bertie and Us. Better pictures to come.

It's odd looking at the forecast and saying, "Elder Andrews, it is going to be hot.
High of 75 and low of 48."  What has become of me?

Photo bombed by a pumpkin!

Rollin'

"I don't make deals with peasants!"

One of the old folks at the Wyoming Retirement Center
(Eva, I believe) was reading this! Haha!

"It all began on a Monday morning..."

Dearest everyone,

     Today, I will briefly describe a weekly service activity that we Elders do here in Greybull/Basin. Every Friday, we have the opportunity to go to Bonnie Blue Jacket, a retirement center between Greybull and Basin, and participate in a bowling activity with the residents. There is a long, blue carpet on which the pins are set, and a metal rail that holds a rubber bowling ball that the residents push down the ramp and aim to get a strike. Some like to position the rail themselves, some just push it, and some need help lifting their hands to the ball. The game usually lasts four or five rounds, with about ten residents showing up each week. One of the residents is Ted, a man who loves to laugh and loves his cigarettes. (Or, he used to at least. He told us last time that he had quit. I'm not sure if he's actually trying to quit or just out of money for the month.) Some others include Lorna, the ornery blind woman who refers to me as 'Mesa;' Lorna's husband Johnny, who needs to lift up his feet when we wheel him to the rail; and Patty, who blames her not getting a strike on us. It is such a fun time, and feels good to be bringing joy into the lives of some of these people. 

     We do a similar activity at the Wyoming Retirement Center on Saturdays, where Cathy always tells us, "I told them that you were going to come! I even drew you a picture!" after which she'll hand us a coloring page she did for us. "I even have my medal!" she'll say, proudly displaying her medallion won at the BBJ/WRC bowling tournament last month. Eva and her husband Lewis will come out for bowling, and so will Howard, who refers to us only by our first names. Margie comes out, as well, and she questions Elder Andrews about his native heritage. Going and doing this service brings such a joy to the week, and feels good to be serving children of God in their last years of life. We also have the opportunity to do a sacrament meeting for the residents of the Wyoming Retirement Center, where Cathy will tell us every time, "I even wore a dress! See, I told you I'd wear a dress!" followed usually by, "I even drew you a picture." Cathy doesn't leave without a hug. 

     Find something in your community that could use a hand, and then go help out. I don't care what it is, but anything you do that is giving of yourself will make you feel awesome, and will make someone else feel good, too. "When ye are in the service of your fellow being, ye are only in the service of your God." Keep being awesome. Do cool things. Rock and roll.

-Elder Burch π

"She loves the natural light, captured in black and white..."

Howard and I. He was on a bit more medication than usual.

Me, Margie, Cathy, Howard, and Elder Andrews

The Approaching Curve of Winter

Elder Andrews eating cereal with chopsticks

At the Basin JH football game

Companionship goals

The loving family with Elder Andrews

Us and the Frame family

Sister George's cat thinks it is a parrot. We did not put the cat there, it just jumped up.

"We raise it up, this offering..."

We meet again,

     This week has been long, but not too bad. We've joined the seminary class Friday mornings. Working with the youth is a great experience because you're able to pick up on their growing testimonies that are nonetheless just as powerful as anyone else, perhaps more. We've been getting more comfortable with our living space, and we've been enjoying the missionary-minded members that we have the opportunity to work with.

     Of course, General Conference was this weekend. It was awesome, particularly the priesthood session. LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. was one of my favorite of the night. He spoke of the absolute truth and power of the Book of Mormon, and how we can gain strength for our challenges in life, grow closer as families, and receive so much more light and knowledge through reading it. Much as Elder Palmer expressed, this conference was a focus on the basics of the gospel, and it is awesome to remember that it isn't a complicated thing to grow closer to Heavenly Father and to follow Christ. Just focus on the basics, and read the Book of Mormon. 

     A short message for today, but there will be pictures to make up for it. Thank you all for your messages, letters, prayers, and thoughts! Keep doing your best. 

     Rock and roll.

Elder Burch π

There was a huge pig in the road on the way to Lovell. Just, a pig.

Elder Andrews - Either this is Jurassic Park or a zombie apocalypse.

Hello there, Dr. Andrews

Potato soup, Part II.

Seminary teaches us torturous murder by way of a balloon contraption.

All dogs go to heaven.

The Zone

The Zone again, of course!

"I want to live where soul meets body..."

September 26th, 2016

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

        First off, sorry about the repeat email about the change of scenery.
I accidentally hit a wrong button and sent it off again. So, again,
sorry for unnecessarily clogging your email box with that.

        This week has been a little nuts. Let me try to sum it up for you in
a few short paragraphs.

        First, we waved goodbye to Elder Berrett, my loving, excited, fun,
hard-working companion from this last transfer. He left me to go and
be a zone leader in Powell, just right up the road. I wish him the
best of luck in the world, and I know that the Spirit of the Lord will
follow him in all of his missionary work in the future. I feel like
I've been done an injustice by only having been his companion for a
transfer, but I can forgive. (D&C 64:10) On the bright side, he only
lives twenty four minutes from my home, so we'll be hanging out. Elder
Berrett, wherever you are, God be with you. It was a good time.

        Second, we waved hello to Elder Andrews, my new companion. Elder
Andrews is from Logan, Utah, and was transferred here from Eureka,
Montana, seven miles south of the Canada border. Elder Andrews enjoys
Pokémon (he wants you to know that he isn't just a hipster that says
he likes Pokémon, but that he could actually name "98% of the original
151"), listening to and playing music, and his truck. We hit it off
really quickly, and enjoy singing songs about Jesus in the car. I'm
being hit by the realization that him and I don't live in the same
general location like Elder Berrett and I, and so I won't really get
to hang out after the mission. That kind of sucks. But, it's okay!
We'll have a good time doing the Lord's work right here, right now.

        Third, General Conference is right around the corner, and I don't
know that I could possibly be more excited. We have plans to watch it
with a few less-active families and two investigators, so that will be
awesome.

        Fourth, you know the old, clichéd adage of "you don't know what you
have until you've lost it"? Well, we moved into the apartment, and I
can tell you that the saying is completely true. Funny how you don't
notice little things that you don't have, like shower curtains or salt
shakers. We'll be heading over to the thrift store today to pick up
some of the basic amenities we need. Other things about the apartment
include the layer of drywall that is on all of our dishes, and how we
need to thoroughly clean all of them. And it smells kind of weird.
Don't get me wrong, our apartment is quite nice - very nice, even - it
is just missing some stuff. Like WiFi. There was WiFi here at one
point, but no longer. I'm pretty sure that thinking we would have WiFi
and then not having it is the biggest letdown since Cain tried to
offer fruit to God as a sacrifice. (Genesis 4: 3-5) So, there is a
little update on our living situation. All in all, I am very happy and
feel blessed with this apartment, but I miss the Cheathams. And
Vector. I miss Vector.

        Fifth, a spiritual thought for you. In the Book of Mormon, in the
book of Mosiah, there is a group known as the people of Limhi. The
people of Limhi were in bondage to the Lamanites, and wanted out. They
had tried to go to war with them, and had failed multiple times. So,
the sat in their city and debated what to do as the Lamanite guards
stood outside the city walls. Ultimately, we read in Mosiah chapter
22, verse 2 about some of their thinking. It says: "And it came to
pass that they could find no way to deliver themselves out of bondage,
except it were to...depart into the wilderness; for the Lamanites
being so numerous, it was impossible for the people of Limhi to
contend with them, thinking to deliver themselves out of bondage by
the sword." This passage made me think of another scripture, that says
that the devil is the father of contention. (3 Nephi 11: 29) In our
daily wandering, as we come across people that disagree with us, have
different views, or who want to argue with us, remember that
contention is not the way out of it. It is impossible for us to
deliver ourselves out by the sword. Instead, let us seek through
meekness, kindness, love, compassion, and charity to resolve our
conflicts. If we need to walk out of a conversation, or to not start
an argument (Facebook arguments, am I right?), then let us do it. I
pray that we may always be the peacemakers, and not seek to deliver
ourselves through contention and the sword, or though sharp language
and arguing, as the case may be. I leave that with you in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.

        Thank you all for being supportive and reading my emails, and for
sending me letters and emails! I love you all, and I wish you the very
best in all of your endeavors.

        Until next time, keep rocking on.

-Elder Burch π

        "... And where the sun wraps its arms around me..."

Elder Andrews and I rollin' down the street in fairly heavy rain.

Called of God to share His word by any means possible.

"We were the magnificent dreamers in secret lamplight hideouts..."

Greetings from Greybull, Wyoming!

     There have been some rumors going around that Elder Berrett is being transferred to another area and that I'm going to be trained by someone else for the foreseeable future. I would like to put those rumors to rest: They are true. Am I super happy about it? No. Is it probably for the best and a representation of God's will if it's what President Wadsworth has deemed what needs to happen? Yes. I'm going to miss that guy. Our spiritual lessons, the effortless way we can laugh together, the guidance he's given me, and the conversations we're able to have about Star Trek. No one else is going to think my awful inside jokes are funny! Ah, well. It's been good.

     On Monday, we went to the Thermopolis Dinosaur Center. As cool as it was, I can't help but think that the museum in Mesa is better. It's way bigger, has more well-done exhibits, and has more interesting informative placards. It was still a good time, though. 

     This week, we had the opportunity to do quite a bit of service for a non-member that we've taught in the past, but we haven't been able to get a lesson with him set up. He needed help doing some work, and we helped him out for a few hours. During the course of that, he said to us, "You know, I'm getting too old for this. I just really need to stop drinking, stop smoking, get off my butt, and go to church." Yes, Dave, yes. That is exactly what you should do. Do that and let us teach you the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

     Bertie's lessons are going well! Her baptism date has been pushed back to October 15th because October 1st is General Conference. Pray for her. All is going well, but, you know. Satan (Stan) likes to throw wrenches into the mix. 

     Chris, a young adult less active that we are working with, got injured in the back. It's been rough on him, and he went back to trucking today (he works weekdays). We went by last night, and Elder Berrett gave him a blessing of healing. It was the most specific blessing I've ever been party to, and if it comes to pass, I think it will be a huge faith-building experience for Chris, as well as for me. So, pray for that. It's going to be cool.

     We cooked dinner for a less-active family this week, and that was an adventure. After the potatoes didn't bake after being in the oven for an hour and a half, we decided to just nuke them in the microwave. That worked a lot better. The potato soup turned out pretty well. Or, I think so. I liked it. Also, cookies. Cookies are good. On another note, I have remained at a constant weight this entire time. I don't know how I feel about that.

     As we were driving into Basin yesterday at about seven o'clock, the sky was blanketed by a fairly thick layer of clouds. However, far in the west, the clouds ended, allowing the sun to shine under this blanket of clouds. The resulting illumination was gorgeous; golden light thrown across the open area and rolling hills, and rain coming down in this light. It was absolutely beautiful. To top it off, to the east was not one, but two complete rainbows, vibrant and stark against the backdrop of the clouds. The Earth is truly a beautiful thing, a creation of majesty and glory. Look for that in your lives.

     Thank you for your messages, prayers, and support. Keep being awesome. I love you all. 

-Elder Burch π

"... We swore the world couldn't break us even when the world took us down."

Thermopolis Dinosaur Center

Maybe I should just be a dentist.

We're such rebels.

Our Zone.....(until Wednesday)

How our zone really is.

Cookies and potato soup.

I promise you that it was better in person.

The Tolman family.

"Leave it alone, and leave a little room for the Holy Ghost."

Heh, printer.

        This email will be a bit shorter, as Elder Berrett and I are being
taken to Thermopolis to the dinosaur museum today, and I therefore do
not have as much time to write as I would normally like. I'll throw in
some good pictures to make up for it.

        Alright, first and foremost: We put an investigator on baptismal
date! October 1st is the projected day, and goodness gracious, I am
excited. Her name is Bertie, and she has been to church a few times.
Her friend in the ward took her to Education Week in Utah, and she
wanted to know more. She's in her eighties, but she doesn't look it.
She's pretty rad, and I'm excited for her.

        Secondly, Frank came to church again! He's the less active that came
to church and surprised us a few weeks ago. He missed last week on
account of being out of town, but he came this week! I like him; he's
a good guy, but sometimes his fears and doubts cloud his mind. It's
okay, though - we can help with that.

        Third, we were without our car for three days, and it was actually a
blessing. Besides having to bike into Basin (Full headwind - it kind
of sucked. On the other hand, it was pretty fun.), we walked a lot.
Through walking, we saw many miracles. We met six new people, were
able to give a random, unplanned act of service to some people moving
some furniture, and we were able to talk with several people about
families and the importance of them. I have a testimony that when God
gives us signs, we should follow them. On Wednesday, we didn't have
the car, and then a bike tire went flat, and then we couldn't find
Elder Berrett's helmet after that. I know that the Lord wants us to be
wise and resourceful, but I had received signs enough, and told Elder
Berrett that we should just walk. Lo and behold, that is when we saw
miracles.

        Moral? Listen to the Spirit. God has His ways, and they are the best
ways. He will guide and direct us.

        Elder Berrett thinks he is a stunt driver, and I think he has a
slight obsession with e-brakes. I don't even think our Corolla has an
e-brake; aren't they just parking brakes?

        This email was wholly inferior and less interesting than my other
ones. Stay tuned next week for something a little bit more exciting!
As always, thank you for reading. Send me emails and letters, and I
will do my darnedest to respond. Keep being awesome!

-Elder Burch π

        "... Now your pretty horses run wild and free. Have mercy."

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

This little dude turned 14 on Sunday!

Elder Berrett sits on couches weird.

This is in one of the training videos. Check out that polo, though.

With Elder Berrett and Mickey!