“It’s too cold outside...”

You only get pictures today. 

Almost.

Know it is really cold. And transfers went smoothly despite snow storms. I saw so many people I love at transfers! So good. And exchanges with the assistants on Thursday. And Elder Tate Shumway is a great district 

Leader. 

- Elder Burch π

Elder Wheeler, me, and Elder Murphy 

Elder Lester, myself, Elder Campbell, and Elder Brown

Sister Miner, me, and Sister MacQueen

Myself, Sister Taylor, and Sister Medley

Myself and Elder Ray

Sister Rash, myself, and Sister Hymas

... What grass?

The refinery blocks out the sun. Makes it look like the apocalypse.

“Coming out of my cage and I’ve been doing just fine...”

Welcome to Great Falls!

The land where the wind blows cold and doesn’t stop. We live in a cozy apartment right down the street from the church. We cover the Two Rivers Ward here in town, and we cover the Cascade Branch, which extends almost to Helena. A picture will be included. 

Elder Lester is a fantastic companion. He is all about getting out there and getting the work done, doing his best to achieve goals. It’s been good. We’ve talked to quite a few people and invited them to come to Christ. We’ve met quite a few of the investigators and less active members that they have been working with in this area, and there are a lot of awesome people here! (Cool people named Chuck seem to be constant across all my areas. Weird.) Overall, I like it here! When we were going to visit an investigator, a guy called over to us and asked what we were doing. “Just visiting our friend across the street.” “Oh, okay.” And then he started trying to bash. I mean, c’mon! “Do you still think you have to work to get to heaven? Why don’t you have a cross on your church? The Bible says not to add! I’m just afraid you don’t believe in the right Jesus.” Seriously? “Sir, we believe in the Jesus spoken of in the Bible who died for our sins and was raised on the third day.” I am pretty okay with holding my tongue, but when people tell me I believe in a “different Jesus,” it bothers me. Ah, well. All’s well that ends well. 

Thank you for reading! Y’all are cool. Happy Thanksgiving!

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Stephen Burch π

“... gotta be down because I want it all.”

Elder Lester and I!

My area

The real Missoula OGs. Sister Miller is the only missionary
that was in Missoula when I got there and when I left.
We both served Missoula for 6 transfers, or almost 9 months.
Good times. 

Missoula’s Ward Mission Leader and his wife.
They were an awesome part of the Zoo, and will be missed.

“I am a visitor here, I am not permanent...”

Everyone,

Alas, my time in Missoula is about to come to an end. Wednesday morning, I will drive the Man Van for the last time to Helena, where I will meet up with Elder Lester, and head up to Great Falls to spend the next part of my missionary service. Cool thing, Elder Lester was my best friend in 4th Grade. Check that out! My new address will be: 1109 9th St. NW #7 Great Falls MT 59404

Saturday, we had the awesome opportunity to attend the baptism of Gary, the guy we interviewed last week. It was awesome. There was definitely a strong feeling in the air - easy to tell that the Spirit was there in abundance. I mentioned in the last email (I think?) how it was obvious that the Lord had been preparing Gary to receive the message of the restoration of the gospel, and the baptism felt so natural - like any other step, he was taking his next step in progression on the path of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He started the journey home to our Father. And, it will be a journey full of joy, because God wants us to be happy here as well as in the life to come. It was a powerful experience. “There must’ve been something in the water...”

We talked about Christlike attributes in MLC, and the takeaway I received was about how we can identify Christlike attributes in others, and when look for those positive things, it naturally increases Christlike attributes in us as we increase in love through focusing on the positive of others. Seeking out the good in others is an important thing to do. So, this week, take an extra effort to identify positive things about others, and point them out! It’ll be a good change, I promise. (See the picture I made down below for a list of Preach My Gospel’s identified Christlike attributes. There are more, but this is a good start.)

Love you all! It’s getting colder here. Christmas will be here before we know it!

Rock and roll ~

-Elder Burch π

“... The district sleeps alone tonight.”

Frozen Yogurt with some awesome Elders

At Gary's baptism with Elders Zitto, Ritchie, and Wheeler 

With Elder Ritchie

Saw the Kambale family again!

Look what we did. Feel proud.
I actually ate two. It’s better the second time. 

We watched the Testaments one night on the little portable
DVD player we have.It was a good time.
(No, Elder Wheeler is not flipping you off.)

"There goes my hero..."

All,

This week was really good. We had exchanges with the Ronan elders, and I was privileged to spend time with Elder Griffin, the new district leader. Elder Griffin has been out three transfers and he is an awesome missionary. We did a lot of good finding, including offering to rake peoples yards. Most of them were kind of confused, and some of the reactions were funny. "Hey, we're missionaries, and it is a beautiful day, so we are going out and doing service, because service is good. Can we rake your yard?" "..." "... for free?" "Oh, you don't have to do that!" (In my head) I know I don't have to. I'm dressed up in Sunday best, and I knocked on your door to ask you if I could rake your leaves. I understand that I don't have to do it. Now, can I rake your yard? It was a good time.

Later in the week, I went on another exchange with another Elder in the district. We did some really good finding, and found a potential or two. Finding has been slow, and we are looking to improve how we find people to teach.

We were asked to speak last minute in church, and so we had to prepare haphazardly. This was not made any better when the spirit told me that what I prepared was not good, and I needed to start from scratch and do this other thing. So I did. And I rambled. So my 12 minute talk turned into 20 or more. It's OK though. It went well. Our topics were on the priesthood, and so Elder Wheeler taught the restoration of the priesthood (basically the first missionary lesson) over the pulpit. It was great. I taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because baptism and confirmation and priesthood ordinances. Tangentially related, right?

Then the primary dressed us up. It was great. Elder Wheeler was Moses, and I was Dave Grohl. Elder Wheeler pointed out the similarities. He was right. I must've missed the part in the Old Testament when they talk about the Foo Fighters.

Jk, when my side of the primary sang the best, they were able to put on another piece of my costume, and I gave them one hint as to who I was. Let's play that game here! See if you can guess.

1. I was wise
2. I was a king
3. I was the son of David
4. I built a cool temple
5. I was a little too good with the ladies
6. I was a pretty solid king until I started worshiping idols...
7. ... And way overtaxing my people #taxationistheft
8. My name starts with an 'S' and ends with an 'olomon.'

Love you all! Rock and roll ~


"... watch him as he goes."

Backstage Picture

Us!

"So here I am struggling out in the mighty jungle..."

Someday I'll write more than just pictures. Ah, well. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Road back from MLC. Photo taken in Mullan Pass.

I looked out the window, and what did I see?

Zone conference!

Jason was baptized!
I had worked with him in 5th Ward for a long time.
It was a sweet moment.

Reunited with my assistant! I mean, companion.

-Elder Stephen Burch π

"...moving eighteen miles a minute but not slowing down for nothing."

"You wanna start over but never start over..."

What a week! Oh, man.

Transfers came, of course. Almost as sad as dropping off Elder
Rickenbacker, was driving the Man Van to transfers with Elder Ash
sitting in the co-pilot's seat, just like old times. Elder Ash inspires me 
to be my best. On top of that, he is just such a funny person, and I feel 
like I grew quite close to him in our two transfers together. Now, he's 
off on some adventure being the district leader over an area in Billings. 
Elder Ash is a shining example of Christlike attributes, and will do 
marvelously as a district leader. It was really rough to see him leave our 
zone, but I guess that other people deserve to experience the greatness 
that is him.

So, we drove to Helena on Wednesday to pick up the missionaries coming
to this area, minus the ones fresh from the MTC. (That comes later.)
It was a good time. I am a little concerned about one or two of them,
but I know that they have great companions, and that the Atonement is
real, and that we are all at different stages of spiritual
progression, and that the Lord will bless them as they seek to do
their best. After getting back from Helena (a two hour drive both
ways), my companion and I hardly had any time, because we had a dinner
with the Frenchtown stake president in Polson, so we had to drive
there and back (another three hours, total). Then, on Thursday, we
returned to Helena to get the new missionaries. THEN, we realized that
a missionary in Butte had put his stuff in one of the trucks going to
Missoula, so we had to meet them halfway to Butte on Friday, which was
another two hours of driving. In short, I am done with driving, and we
have MLC in Helena tomorrow. Great. And, I mean that both in reality
and sarcastically. Yes, I am not terribly excited to drive more, but I
do love the revelation and spirit that is present at MLC. And, it's
good to see people again.

Love you all. Rock and roll ~

"... So pull the trigger, it never gets closer..."

The MTC district, reunited at transfers

Helping people move

Stake breakfast

Elder Wheeler and I

One of the creepiest things ever