Tribute to Forks

October 12, 2010

Hey family, on Saturday we got our transfer calls and I found out that my lucky streak in Forks was coming to an end. So here I am in Tacoma, well, actually we're in Lakewood right now because thats where the best library is. I am very sad to leave Forks and I will miss all of the wonderful people there. President Bowen has asked me to be a zone leader in the largest zone in the mission, with 28 missionaries, which is quite a big difference from the little Forks district of only 5 missionaries. So I am a little nervous to take on the responsibility, but I am excited for what the Lord has in store for me. I've heard that Tacoma zone is the heartbeat of the mission - if it's doing well, then the mission is doing well. The area that I'm in has seen a lot of success in the past, lately they've had a little dryspell but things are gonna pick up soon. We are in the Wapato Park/Allenmore wards. Wapato Park is a good area with a good Bishop, and Allenmore is actually the only Samoan Ward in the mission. So I will be getting a Samoan nametag, and I hear the Samoans will feed us... a lot. In fact they fed us a large stir-fry dinner yesterday. And the Samoans are crazy about getting people baptized, so i'm excited. Elder McDowell is the other zone leader and we are training a greeny, Elder Houston from New York City. Elder Houston went to MIT before coming out on a mission so he's got the brains, we just need to teach him a few things about missionary work. We also have Elder Bouchard, which I dont know if you remember him but I actually trained him in Forks with Elder Miles about 6 months ago. McDowell used to be my zone leader in PA, so we are gonna get along great, the greeny is humble and ready to learn, and Elder Bouchard is good too so we will have unity and see a lot of work get done together. We have a pretty cool house for the 4 of us, and one of the mission's Chevy Malibus so that will be good.

I loved Forks. I will have spent time there probably longer than any other area, 7 1/2 months, which is tied for the longest elder in Forks. Bishop Winters understood what we had to do to build up the Kingdom of God in Forks, and he had the faith to do it. Brother Romney, the ward mission leader, was a invaluable resource to mission work and a great example to me of how to be a more Christ-like person. The missionaries and the ward had the unity it needs to see a lot of work get done. The Bishops goal was to get enough baptize weekly for the year, thats 52 baptisms. And when I left there had been 44 converts so far, so we are 2 ahead of schedule! I will never forget the converts and the experiences I have had in Forks. So I wanted to write this little tribute to Forks to show how much I loved it there, but I'm sure that there are great things ahead in Tacoma. Elder Isham will be able to take over the area and he's got a new companion and a greeny, they will keep the fire going.

So far, things have been pretty weird here in Tacoma. Theres so many streets and cars and so many people, and I dont know any of them! I could drive around Forks and know most of the people walking around, and I knew exactly where I was all the time. The people here dont really wave and say hi as easily as the people in Forks do, and there is quite a variety of people here. It's totally different than Forks in pretty much every way. I'm sure soon enough and with the Lord's help, I will be able to grapple how missionary work is done here in Tacoma, and I will learn to love the people here.
My new address is:
5214 South Fife St.
Tacoma, WA 98409
Write soon and let me know how things are going. Well, I'm out of time, love you guys!
Elder Burgess