"And you're in love with all the wonder it brings..."

Chairmen of the board,

This week has been a good week, in that most nights have resulted in Elder Ash and I getting home and being utterly exhausted because of all the stuff we did that day. Working hard feels good, man. A few brief things that occurred this week:

We have been setting daily goals, which we seek to set under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord. We have been promised that if we do this, and if we work hard to achieve our worthy goals, we will find at least one new investigator a day. Like all blessings, they are predicated upon our acts of faith. So, here's to faithfulness.

We have already seen a significant amount of miracles from our efforts, and I feel very blessed. Elder Ash and I have been really doing our best to talk with everyone and work hard. Things are looking up!

We got a new car! It is a 2017 Toyota RAV4. In related news, we just became the last mission in the United States to have TIWI installed. Mine hasn't spoken to me yet. I think it's broken. *shrug*

The Lord promises us a lot of things. All through the scriptures are statements, clarifying that if _____, then ______. It is up to us to trust that the Lord can and will fulfill His promises. And, He created the Earth, the universe, and us, so I think there is reasonable evidence that He can fulfill His promises. We also know that He is always honest, so there. God keeps His promises. It's up to us to do our part.

Rock and roll~

-Elder Burch π

"... Off you scream into the night."

"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.

"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!

"Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch who watches over you..."

Heh, greetings.

        This week has been, honestly, pretty strange. From the
will-it-won't-it rain to the odd calls and unexpected happenings, this
week has been pretty strange.

        First off, the rain. The great, open skies above have been teasing
rain on and off for the last week. Finally, Saturday night, as we
stayed in a member's attic room (very Mary Poppins - esque), the sky
let out the brightest cracks of lightning that I think I've ever seen.
They would blast through the window and light the entire room as
though someone has flickered the lights on and off again. And, of
course, I fell asleep for the rain. Just my luck, right?

        So, as of now we stay with a very awesome couple, Eric and Sarah
Cheatham. Living with them has been a blast, partly because they
provide us with food, partly because Brother Cheatham can fix or solve
almost any problem we have, partly because their dog is so dang cute,
and partly because Brother Cheatham knows everything and will give us
mini-lectures some nights on topics ranging from flight and physics to
dark matter and the proper method to cook bacon. We are living with
them because roughly four months ago, the apartment that the
missionaries stayed in was flooded with raw sewage, and needed to be
redone. This restoration was paused due to an insurance battle with
the city, but we got a call the other day saying that all was almost
done. Well, crap. I don't want to move into the apartment! Living with
members is far too awesome! Gah. I'm not excited about it. *murmurs*
I'll just have to learn to live with it.

        Last week at church, a non-member came up to us. She had been
visiting with her friend, and told us that she'd like to learn more,
and that she'd like to have a dinner appointment / lesson at her
friend's house. Could we ask for anything better? Dinner, a member
present at a lesson, and an anxious investigator! The Lord really does
prepare people, doesn't He? We taught her the restoration, and she
accepted the baptismal invitation. No date yet, because baptism date
commitments typically come on the second lesson. I'll keep you
updated.

        The small town mindset is an interesting thing. It seems that even
when people really don't want to talk with us about God and His love
for His children and eternal families and such (shocker, right?), they
are usually quite amiable and polite to us. It's neat.

        As always, I love to hear from you all! Questions will be answered if
asked, and prayers are super appreciated. For those of you who don't
normally pray, can I ask you to do something for me? Kneel down, and
pray for me, just once. It's simple: 1. Start with a greeting to God,
like "Dear Heavenly Father" or "Dear God" or something along those
lines. 2. Say anything you feel. Thank God for blessings in your life,
ask Him for things you might need, and don't forget to throw in a
"please bless Elder Stephen Burch" for me. 3. Close in the name of
Jesus Christ.

        Try it out! It would mean a lot to me. Tell me about it, if you feel
so inclined. I live off of two things out here: Dinner from members,
and the spiritual experiences of others.

        Have an excellent day! You are all awesome - don't forget it.

-Elder Burch π

        "... Make a little birdhouse in your soul."

Weekly planning with Elder Berrett. The two 't's at the end of his name 
can make a π when written right, so he's got that covered.

Vector, the Cheatham's dog.

"Come unto Jesus from ev’ry nation, From ev’ry land and isle of the sea.
Unto the high and lowly in station, Ever he calls, 'Come to me.'"

"While you're at it, keep the nightlight on inside the birdhouse in your soul."

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."

"In my head there's all these classic cars and outlawed cowboy bands..."

Hello! It's good to see you again!

Thank you for reading my emails. It feels good that people are rooting for me back home.

Sunday was an excellent day. The spiritual uplift that we get on Sunday is desperately needed and very appreciated. On top of that, seeing investigators and less active members come to church makes the hard work and rejection of the rest of the week totally worth it. Today, three investigators and two less active members with which we've been working showed up to church, and it was awesome. I was asked to give a talk in Basin Ward on the Fourth Article of Faith. It wasn't my best, but I felt the Spirit and I hope some people learned something. One highlight I'll share from it: "Everything about this gospel is based on making us better, more awesome, more like God. If my dad were here, he'd refer to these as 'upgrades.' "

We ran into some racism the other day. Those people need the gospel. I don't like racism.

During some of our less productive times of the day, Elder Berrett and I have decided to visit members' homes and sing to them a hymn, share a few messages, and see if they know anyone who could use the message of the restoration of the gospel. It's proved a good way to feel the Spirit, let off some stress, and get to know the members better. "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."

I ran out of feta cheese for my salads, but we're also super broke, so I have to wait until next week to get more. Sad.

The weeks go by in a blur. The days are forever long, but the weeks are quick. I hope you're doing well, and I repeat my invitation for you to write me! I love hearing what's going on out there. 

I wish I had a copy of Green Eggs & Ham with me when talking to some people. "No, I'm not interested." "... Try it and you may. Try it and you may, I say!" There's so much joy that the message of Christ can bring to people in this life, and I wish I could show them that in the short time before they close themselves and turn away. "Strange we come to find ourselves not knowing we're lost."

Alright, thank you again for reading. Until next week, keep on keeping on.

-Elder Burch π

"... I always kinda sorta wished I looked like Elvis. I always kinda sorta wished I was someone else."

Drinks at the Maverick!

Our town's one stoplight.
They're simultaneously proud of and annoyed by it.

Planning selfie!

This was in our front left tire. Ah.