"It's a big world, that was a small town..."

Happy Halloween!

        First, if you have not read the other email - "Over the mountain and through the woods..." - please do so.

        On Saturday, after we had concluded bowling at the Wyoming Retirement Center, Howard came up to us. Howard is a resident there, and he talks fast. He likes to joke around with us. The week before, he refused to actually bowl because we didn't show up at exactly "1400 hours." So, Howard approaches us and tells us that he had taken a picture of me on his little flip phone and wanted to send it to us. We told him our number, which he quickly repeated back to us. We laughed, waved goodbye, and went to the other side of the center to do bowling in the south wing. While bowling there, I feel the phone vibrating with a call in my pocket, but I don't answer it because we're bowling. Minutes later, it buzzes again, and I notice that it is the same unknown number. Figuring that it must be important, I step aside and just barely miss the call. The caller had left a voice message, though, and so I listen to it... Yeah, it was Howard. He also texted us a few times:

        "THANK. JACK. 1400 hr on. 10 29. 30. CLIP"

        (Jack is Elder Andrews's first name. Howard insists on calling us by our first names. "CLIP" stands for Chronically Late Insane Person, which Howard began to call me after last week.)

        "KEEP. UP. THE FAITH. PLEASE. GOD. H. 116."

        "GIVE. JACK AND STEVE MY BEST. A. JOB WELL DONE! 10.29.16 14 hr"

        Oh, Howard. We love you and think you're awesome.

        Sunday was the dedication of the Star Valley temple, which we were privileged to view from the Worland stake center. Bertie, our recent convert and friend, was able to attend! She's excited to do family history work and go to the temple to perform ordinances that her ancestors are then free to accept or decline in the next life. I'm so grateful for her and her desire to serve Christ and to follow His ways. The gospel truly blesses individuals and families.

        Sunday morning was also the morning of the big call. We looked at our phone at 8:21 am and realized that we had missed a call from President Wadsworth at 8:03 am. Crap. I called back and got his voicemail, and left a hasty message that more or less consisted of, "Hey President! Sorry we missed your call; we won't miss your next one." Presently, he called back, wanted to speak with me, and let me know that I would be finishing the final six weeks of training of another missionary, and that I would be transferred into Buffalo, Wyoming. Transfers will happen on Wednesday. I hope I'm up to this. I'm positive that part of this assignment is to put me into better shape, too, so here's to me being better than ever with Christ's help!

        Thank you all so very much for your love and support and prayers. They are definitely felt. Keep being awesome, follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, read your scriptures daily, and look for God's hand in your life.

        With that, I close mine epistle. God speed.

-Elder Burch π

        "... There in my rear view mirror disappearing now."

Elder Berrett and I went on exchanges on Tuesday!
Good to be back with that dude for a day.

The deer face off.

Dot's baptism from a little back.

Dot's new family!

District Picture!

Elder Andrews and I decided to have a sleep over in our living
room. I can't remember the last time I built a fort...

Homemade tortillas by Elder Andrews

Boo!

The Shelley family. I'm gonna miss them.

Halloween Costumes - Creativity at its finest!

We're handing out candy with our friends at 
Bonnie Blue Jacket. This is Royce. I tied his tie for him.

Oh Deer.

Hi Family!

        On my iPad, I have a folder for all the apps that I don't ever use /
aren't allowed to use. My companion does too, and he named his folder
"Babylon." In similar fashion, I have named mine "Great & Spacious."

        My companion and I were praying the other night, and the quiet
supplication "Dear Heavenly Father" caused me pause. How tender are
our supplications to the Father! The chance we have to pray to Him and
to talk about what happened that day! It's so cool! One of the things
that sets us apart as a church is that we believe the heavens are
opened and that God speaks to and helps man! That's so cool! Praying
with a specific question and listening for answers is the best, man.
(Sometimes in my prayers, I openly and verbally admit to Father that I
don't remember my investigators' names, and apologize profusely. I
think he forgives me.)

        We were listening to a talk in the car the other day, and it talked
about looking at the past and using it to help us in the future. The
talk giver person (speaker! Use your words, Stephen) discussed the
Roman god Janus, who had two faces (I am Two-Face! I have two faces!).
With one face, he looked into the past, and with the other he would
look into the future. I want to make sure that I can look backwards
into my past triumphs and mistakes to help me to excel in the future.
In a different General Conference talk (I'm trying to read them all
from 1971 to 2016), well, I'll just copy and paste it for you:

        "This philosophy of excellence was demonstrated by the artist
Whistler, who once painted a tiny picture of a spray of roses. The
artistry involved was magnificent. Never before, it seemed, had the
art of man been able to execute quite so deftly a reproduction of the
art of nature. The picture was the envy of the artists who saw it, the
despair of the collectors who yearned to buy it for their collections,
but Whistler refused steadfastly to sell it.
        “For,” said he, “whenever I feel that my hand has lost its cunning,
whenever I doubt my ability, I look at the little picture of the spray
of roses and say to myself, ‘Whistler, you painted that. Your hand
drew it. Your imagination conceived the colors. Your skill put the
roses on the canvas.’ Then,” he said, “I know that what I have done I
can do again.” "

        I really like that. I hope that I can look back whenever I feel down
and know what to do going forward.

        So, deer are a major problem on the road out here. As in, hitting
them. Elder Berrett has swerved twice to avoid deer on the road. One
such instance was at night, as Elder Berrett was telling a story about
him and his friend Dani, and just after I had half-reclined my seat to
rest my eyes and attempt to alleviate a minor headache I had. Nearly
immediately afterward, I was jolted to alertness as the car swerved to
avoid seven deer at various stages of crossing the road. After
recovering from that shock (sort of), Elder Berrett was telling me
another story. Somewhere along the lines of that story I realized that
he was talking to me, and said "Elder Berrett, repeat everything you
just said. My mind was half on the deer and half on Dani." So that's
our new phrase whenever we're out of it and not paying attention to
anything. "Half on the deer and half on Dani."

        I love you all. Keep being awesome, alright?

-Elder Burch π

*British voice*
I think I'll call this one "Mail Percy."