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Mormon missionary has a taste for adventure

What do you do after you've dirt biked across the desert of Wendover, walked away from a small plane crash in the wintry mountains of Idaho and survived a brown bear attack in the wilds of Alaska....
Doug Burkman
Doug Burkman, Thompson branch president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, will talk about his adventures as an outdoorsman during an open house fireside chat in Thompson on Oct. 11.

What do you do after you've dirt biked across the desert of Wendover, walked away from a small plane crash in the wintry mountains of Idaho and survived a brown bear attack in the wilds of Alaska.... you move to Thompson, Manitoba! Or at least that is what Doug Burkman did.

Burkman is the newly called branch president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) here in Thompson. Burkman and his wife are serving as senior missionaries for the LDS Church in Thompson. The Thompson branch of the LDS Church covers a very large area including communities as far away as Norway House and Churchill with Thompson being the centre point.

Burkman's adventures as an outdoorsman are the subject of an open house fireside on Oct. 11. The fireside begins at 7 p.m. and will be preceded by light refreshments and mingling at 6 p.m. and will be held at the LDS Church at 83 Copper Road. There will be photos of the Alaska wilderness and an opportunity to meet the Burkmans.

Burkman's story has something for everyone; it is a “cautionary tale with a happy ending,” according to Burkman, who was attacked by a brown bear in the Alaska wilderness while bow-hunting. Burkman is a master bowman, and has taught many classes over numerous years on bow-hunting safety.

The Burkmans hope to become a welcomed part of the community while they are assigned in the area. Prior to the fireside, there will be an open house at the LDS Church on the same day beginning at 1 p.m. and continuing until 5 p.m. The LDS Church is one of the fastest-growing faiths in the world.

If you have enjoyed music by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, liked the movie Ender's Game, read the Twilight series, or just watched TV then, your life has already been touched by Mormons. The LDS Church has over 15 million members worldwide.

Less than one per cent of Canadians are members but that number is growing. The reason for its fast growth is the church's focus on the family. Everything the LDS church does is to help grow stronger happier families. The church believes that families are eternal and that God commands men to treat their wives as equal partners in the marriage and to love and treasure them always.

On the first Sunday of each month, visitors may be surprised to see several men taking their turn at the pulpit to publicly proclaim their love for their wives and families. But this is a regular occurrence on what is referred to as Fast Sunday. Fast Sunday is a day when members of the church go without two meals and commit the money saved to helping those in need. It is also a day in which no traditional sermon is given; instead, it is a day to reflect on the many blessings in one's life and to share a personal testimony of God's blessings.

The Church of Latter-Day Saints is also world-renowned for their assistance and help in times of crisis. The Red Cross considers the members of the LDS church as “essential” to moving relief personnel into an area. The Red Cross has also credited the LDS Church for being on the ground in a crisis ahead of them and often long after the Red Cross and other volunteer groups have left a devastated area. Sandy Rose tells the story about her childhood home burning to the ground. While her church provided some clothing and food to get them through some very hard weeks, “The LDS church built us a house! I still can't believe it. We aren't members or anything.They just showed up and built us a house.”

Members of the church are compelled to help others. They believe that they are literally representatives of Christ and that every day, in all that they do and say, that they should act as Christ would. Members of the LDS Church, on average, volunteer approximately 427 hours a year to helping others. This does not take into account the hours members put into running the church. All positions within the church, from the church's leader president Thomas S. Monson down to the local youth serving missions, are unpaid.

There have been several professional athletes, such as New Zealander Sid Going, a professional rugby player, that turned down million-dollar contracts in order to spend two years serving missions around the world. Other professionals like doctors will take breaks from their practices or business, at considerable cost to themselves, in order to spend multiple years providing free medical care and other much-needed assistance and training around the world.

Perhaps you've seen the two young LDS missionaries here in Thompson, who at their own expense, came to do the work of growing the LDS church and helping those in need. These young missionaries, like Elder Scott and Elder Cox who are serving part of their mission in the Thompson area, put their educations on hold and will spend two years doing this difficult work because of their dedicated love for Jesus Christ and their fellow man.

In a time when fewer people are involved in organized religion, one must wonder what the LDS Church does differently. The Oct. 11 open house from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. will help explain that difference. The fireside chat at 7 p.m. will introduce Burkman to the community and give everyone an opportunity to hear about his adventures in Alaska. Both the open house and fireside will be held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints chapel located at 83 Copper Road.

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