Welcome to Swinton, Elder Burns

July 29, 2019

Hello all!

Well, I made it to Swinton! I managed to get all my bags packed, hauled down 3 flights of stairs, onto a train and bus, then back up 3 more flights of stairs. To my dismay, however, I discovered that I forgot to pack my Skippy Peanut Butter  (However, my zone leaders said they can hook me up )

Swinton reminds me a lot of Southport. It is flat, no hills, and the building structure is similar. It's right outside Manchester so it's convenient but pricey. Surprisingly, though, there aren't as many people as I would have thought for being so close to Manchester.

There's not too many people in our teaching pool, so we are doing a lot of finding. It's quite a stark difference from Rochdale, where we struggled to schedule any consecrated finding time. So, next week we are having a ward fast for the missionary work and I know that will help. They had one in Rochdale right before I got there, and it became a fruitful field indeed.

My companion, Elder Wolf, has been out for about 7 months. He was in Elder Mbuli's group, and his last companion was Elder Payne! He is quite the character, and loves music just about as much as I do! To my surprise, I think he has a bigger music library than me, and that's a rare thing for me to see.

So, it was sad saying goodbye to people, as I grew to love the Rochdale ward so much. But now it's on to the adventures of Manchester Zone! (Side Note: If I get transferred to Preston Zone, I will have served in all the zones in the mission!)

Also, study highlight this week: I listened to a talk given at BYU by President Gordon B. Hinckley. I think it's called "The History of the Church in Great Britain". It was given at an event celebrating 150 years of missionary work in Great Britain. It made a special connection to me, because I was able to see more deeply that President Hinckley faced similar trials to the ones we face as missionaries today, yet look at the impact that wonderful man made. True, his story might not be so well known if he didn't become a general authority. My story might not ever become well known, but it's not about that. The only people that really need to know are those who played a role in the story and those who will be changed by it.

I am so grateful to serve the Lord here in the England Manchester Mission. I'm grateful to walk in the footsteps of such spiritual giants, those that began and furthered the spreading of the gospel in this blessed land. I know the Lord is at the head of this work and that His gospel will be spread to every nation, kindred, tongue and people in a preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I love you all and wish you a great week!

See miracles. Be miracles.

Elder Burns