Blackman and Robin

The cold came all at once. A few days ago summer still lingered, but a
cold wind blew in and brought the beginnings of Fall with it. Trees
are displaying the first inkling of fall hues and their leaves are
just starting to crisp at the edges. I wore my coat for the first time
already.

A* came back from Texas and she is determined to be baptized,
but wants to wait a few extra weeks to ever her parents more used to
the idea. We want a bit more time to review everything with her too,
so it all works out. Halloween is her current baptismal date now!
She's so solid in her conversion that I know nothing will stop her
from being baptized. She expressed to us that she knows she has to
proceed with or without her parents approval, but she would much
rather have it, which is why she's made her way of introducing them to
the church a matter of study and prayer and so far, as I said last
week, they have shown minimal opposition.

We met a guy named R* on the street who seems promising he said he
once met with missionaries and would like to start taking lessons
again. He's only the second male R* I've heard of, and the other is
Batman's sidekick. He approached us, which is always a nice change
from the usual order of things and shows some sincerity and real
intent.

We also had a man cross our path while we were contacting in Central
Park. He was black, probably about 6'6" and extremely skinny. He just
raised up his arms when he stood in front of us and said, "Brothers!
Pray for me!" And immediately bowed his head and folded his arms. So
we prayed for him right there. For a brief moment, I felt like I was
back in the Bronx! Afterwards an Asian tourist couple came up to him
and wanted a picture with him. I've noticed the countless Asian
tourists are all fascinated by the African American here. Maybe
they've never seen black people before. Haha. Weird stuff.

This Friday we have a special conference with Elder Arnold of the
Seventy. We don't really know what to expect, but President Smith and
the Assistants are making a pretty big deal out of it. I'll report on
how it goes next week.

I'm getting the first signs of a cold, but other than that, all is
well and the work is slowly t surely moving forward. I'm enjoying the
Manhattan life though it's all quite overwhelming still. Thanks for
the prayers and support!

-Elder Samuel Burton

Pictures:

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Elder L'Espérance wants me to send you his gratitude for the pumpkin cookies.