May 9, 2016

Current Address:

Elder Truman Burgess

140 Pheasant Lane #D2

Woodstock, VA  22664

We're emailing in a different library than usual because of saving miles for our trip in an hour to play ultimate frisbee. The problem is that the old librarians here absolutely hate us. We get 1 1/2 hours of emailing and I've been on here for only like 30 minutes, yet they keep harassing us to get off. When I am old I  swear I will be a jolly old man, not a human incarnation of a cranky toad with a migraine. 

On a happier note, despite the constant grey skies and faint rain  this week, we have found two separate teenager seniors who are just about to graduate high school and have no plans ahead. Neither have applied to colleges, have a religious background, or even have jobs! In both instances it was cool to see how they both thirsted for direction in life. Looking back to my high school days (holy cow I graduated two years ago), I wonder at how much happier and successful I'd have been if I had a solid belief on what my purpose in life was. I think  I had a bit more motivation than the teenagers we taught this week, but I still went with the motions caring very little for what decisions I made because I had no vision of the whole goal of life. It's miraculous to see the change in optimism, happiness, honesty, and motivation in a person once they catch the vision of where they came from, why they are here, and where they are going. 

Honestly believing that each of us have a loving Father in Heaven who created this incredible world for us to learn and progress in love, wisdom, and experience lifts us out of any storm drain flooding with the mud of mistakes. The hope in a Savior who's sole purpose is to lead us to find true joy amid showers of mistakes guides us to look upward for a better world. Knowing the impossible to describe experiences of charity guides our paths through the dark mists of uncertainty. Life is something to experience, regardless of the turmoil, serenity, or surprises that await us around each corner. There is a God above that knows each of us by name and sent us here to find real, palpable joy. I wish I would have put some effort earlier on to find out if this was worth believing. Regardless of the past, I am loving where I am now because of who I am becoming.

Happy Mother's Day!

xoxo

Elder Burgess 

May 2, 2016

Generally when you seek out community service opportunities you are referred to other church denomination's soup kitchens and food pantries. For the first time in my life we were referred to an underground gym that has absolutely no membership fees or contracts, and has no signs to direct where its at. Confused and not the least bit curious, we looked around every tight brick corner of Woodstock seeking this far fetched idea of an underground gym. Finally we found a pathway down an alley that led to a narrow staircase. No signs, only a MASSIVE cross. Oh boy.

Sure enough, it was the rumored gym. Elder Abraham and I call it "Cross Fit", since it doesn't even have a name! It's a hardcore Christian gym with Christian Rock blaring, crosses and hymns covering the walls, and people doing prayer circles in between lifting sets. Definitely the most bizarre gym I think I'll ever encounter. To make it stranger, we were able to volunteer as janitors, cleaning the bathrooms and kitchens while one of the managers recited scriptures and "history" on why Elder Abraham should revert his name to Abram. Not the most pleasant of toilets I've scrubbed in my time, but service is service, and Mike the Cross Master is indeed my brother. Sometimes we have to turn off the ears and open the heart.

Amid the first thunder storms of the year we stumbled into two different families to teach, both of which were 100% open to learning more on how they can strengthen their faith. Perhaps the flashing lightning and rumbling thunder created an ambient atmosphere to teach of the inspiring light of the Restoration of the Gospel, because both families committed to baptism! It's amazing how people yearn to seek the truth in both trying and comfortable circumstances. The difficult problem is only finding these families.

xoxo

Elder Burgess

April 25, 2016

I thought that it was impossible to be bullied now that I'm out of school. Little did I know that the meanest bullies I would face in my life would not even be human beings but.....turkeys. There we were out in the sticks looking for a referral named Steve with the only direction to where he lived being, "On that road, the house with dem cows with dem longgg horns." 

How specific. 

Still we pressed onward until we reached a house with a massive assortment of animals--average angus cows, herds of goats, sheep, squads of ducks, chickens, a couple pigs, and even some quail. We pull up into the driveway (there's no fence for the animals by the way, so they could just roam off into the road and hills if they wanted to), open the doors, take one step out of the car when we heard....gobblegobblegobblegobble. My least favorite sound in the world. Around the corner of the nearest barn, two massive male turkeys walked side by side like territorial siamese twins, lurking toward us. We grabbed our bags, quickly walked down the road looking for long horned cattle, and felt relieved as the gobbling faded after a while. Eventually we found Steve up on a tractor far down a separate driveway. Although he was drunk as a skunk, he was very pleased to show us his enormous long horned cattle. Holy cow were those horns giant. He told us how he wasn't religious at all and sent us back on our way. 

To my horror, the two turkeys had leaped onto the roof of our car in our brief absence. My heart sank  into me as they turned toward us and began the gobble doom once again. I yelled at them and even threw a rock at them but nooooo, they didn't even flinch. Only the car alarm got them off the car enough for us to hurry in and peel out. I will forever look forward to Thanksgiving dinner's main course from now on.

On a friendlier note, God helped us with an inspiring answer to prayers regarding a high schooler kid named Alec who has been off and on toward the Church. Alec is one of the member's good friends and has attended Chruch once befoere and is often at their house. Before we left our car to enter this member's home for dinner, we said a fervent prayer asking for Alec to show up. Dinner began, Alec was nowhere to be seen, but we kept on shoveling that hamburger helper. At exactly the moment I asked if we could share a spiritual message, someone knocked on the door. You guessed it. Alec felt like he should walk on over for some reason. He sat down and we taught the Restoration of the Gospel with his best friend explaining what it means to have purpose and direction in life by a living day prophet, with the prefectly restored teachings of Christ to lead us to eternal bliss. Miracles are everywhere you live, as long as we live by faith and not by sight. 

xoxo

Elder Burgess

 There's Elder Abraham and I with Eric Green from the Denver Nuggets