Elder Samuel Burge: The crash test dummies of Maplewood!!!

Greetings from Maplewood!~

Well, this past week was my last in the Aloha area. I got the call that I was to be transferred! Transfer meeting was interesting seeing as it was President Morby's last— there were many returned missionaries that showed up to the meeting, and of course many tears were shed as we saw President and Sister Morby in their final debut with all the missionaries. I am sad to see me both go, but I'm not too shaken up about the change. We've all grown to love them, and I will forever be thankful for them, but change is a part of life. I guess I just don't like goodbyes either, it's not like I'll never see them again so I don't feel that upset or sad. I felt like I should have been more sad at the transfer, but I wasn't crying or anything like that. (Who knows, maybe I'm just insensitive.)

I am glad I had the chance to serve in Aloha, I had a lot of good experiences there definitely. We, as a district/zone, met up at the church in the AM and made crepes/took pictures before we all took of our separate ways. I was blessed with a great district! I loved all the elders and sisters, and I definitely learned a lot from being a district leader. I will miss living with the Read's a lot too, it was great staying with them— great people and I will definitely come back to visit with them.

So the past day has been absolutely hectic and crazy! So I was transferred to the Maplewood ward over in South Portland, bordering the boundary between Beaverton and Portland. I love the new area, it's awesome! I'm the new district leader here, and downtown Portland is actually in my district and I am stoked about that! Our ZL's cover the actual branch downtown (Market Street) and also a newly opened Pacific Branch for islanders— there's a big LDS Tongan/Samoan population here in Portland. Another cool surprise is Elder Austin Meredith in the district! I didn't know him very well, but he's from the 'Bury! We have talked about everybody we know from school, all sorts of things about good old Tooele!

My area is a lot more inner-city and I am so excited about, not to mention all the members here that I've met so far are awesome! We ate with some Iranian converts last night, talked about converting from the Muslim faith and they were really friendly, great people! Then after that we taught a guy and ended up setting baptismal date with him at the end of the lesson! It was sweet, the area is pretty similar to my others as far as teaching goes, but I see so much promise here! I'm hopeful and faithful we can see some miracles here and get some good ol' missionary work done!

Speaking of miracles: we had a very crazy, surreal ending to our night last night. So since I don't have my license yet, I can't drive our car. My new companion, Elder Viecco, was driving us back to the apartment after our sweet lesson and didn't see a stop sign blocked by a large tree. Right as we were about to go through the intersection I saw the stop sign, but it was little too late and we flew right into traffic. He tried to hit the brakes, but unfortunately we got hit broadside on the driver's side by a car doing like 40 MPH. Now I we are 100% OKAY AND HEALTHY– nothing more than some soreness from the seatbelt and the airbag! The guy driving the other car was okay as well, and the damage to his car wasn't that bad at all, but ours... Pretty messed up.. So the driver's door is completely smashed in, not openable and everything, not to mention side (not the front) airbags being deployed. The car wouldn't start and it's going to need some serious body work!

You think that will buff out?

Probably not

Back to the bicycles

Elder Viecco, my new companion

It was hectic, we ended up filling out a TON of paperwork, getting the into the tow-truck, talking with President and Sister Morby, and also the vehicle coordinator. We didn't get back to the apartment until like 11:00ish. Luckily our zone leaders were able to come and help us out, give us a ride back, the whole deal. Phew, it was crazy though! I mean, the impact was totally insane and it was so surreal! It was a miracle we came out of the whole thing unscathed, we truly were taken care of by a loving Heavenly Father. President said the lady at the body shop was completely blown away we didn't get sent straight to the ER for serious injury. The poor guy driving the car was so relieved to hear our voices on the inside of the car (he couldn't see inside because of the airbags).

Sorry to scare you with that, I know you're probably freaking out as you read this. We are 100% okay! A little shocked, and now back to a bike area, but other then that we are doing alright. Great start the next seven weeks!

Well, I love you all and am grateful that the people involved are alright, that I'm okay, and that things back home are alright. It reminds me of the Lord's promise to his servants in D&C 30.
We'll be hitting the streets come 6:00 tonight!

Love,

Elder Samuel A. Burge