3 Weeks in Kansas - Tasting Prison Food :)

Hi Everyone!

Boy, oh boy! I can't believe I have already been here in Kansas for Three weeks!  Time is flying by; it is so unfair!  At least I am doing what I can to enjoy it while I am here.

This week has been incredible, and we had a ton of miracles surface.  This week Elder Eyre and I were on bikes or on foot all week, and we had a ton of success while doing it.  It was great.  Some of the highlights include having a member go out with us, chalking up a sidewalk, and finding some new investigators.  Plus, I found out the prison food here tastes great!

We didn't have a lot of dinners planned this week. The ward is just having a little bit of trouble adjusting to the fact that they now have four young hungry teenagers to feed instead of two.  However, as we have done our best to work anyway, the Lord has provided.  On both Wednesday and Thursday, we didn't have dinners planned, but we worked to contact less active members and active members along with potentials and referrals in the areas we were working.  On Wednesday, an active family ended up inviting us in and telling us they had made way too much food, and gave the rest to us!  Thursday, a potential investigator just miraculously started making us sandwiches as we were talking to him.  The Lord sure does have his hand in everything!

Thursday night we also had an amazing member, Brother Vu, go out and teach with us.  We had a lesson planned, but it fell through, so we fell back onto "inspired tracting" which is basically knock on every door that you, or the member with you, gets prompted to knock.  We ended up having more success that way than with any other tracting I have done.  We also got to visit a recent convert here named Nicole who has been struggling.  It was really neat to see the Spirit fill her home when we were there, and see how happy she was to see us and tell us her favorite scripture (Alma 41:10, followed by Alma 32, and Moroni 9).

Friday night, we ate with a soon to be member who was in prison for five years.  He made us fried burritos (basically chimichungas) and prison cake (only two ingredients: oreos and carbonated soda).  It was really fattening, but at least I know what they eat in prison here. We did have a great time hearing his conversion story and how he has really had a mighty change of heart.  He is probably one of our favorite members here.

Elder Pack's birthday

Elder Pack's birthday decorations

Saturday was Elder Pack's birthday (he is one of my Zone Leaders, and also is one of my roommates).  He had about three cakes delivered, and about three dozen cupcakes given him by various sources.  It was so funny because he is a bit of a health guru and was trying to re-gift them all to me!  It didn't entirely work.  We did celebrate his birthday by trying a new finding activity: chalking up the institute sidewalk.  It was a ton of fun to put down mormon.org references, golden questions, and so forth.  There wasn't as much traffic as we were hoping for that evening, but we know the chalk will stay there a while and get people thinking for days to come.

Chalking the sidewalk at the Institute

Sunday was awesome!  Mukund and his daughter Mitrie (spelling that one how it sounds to me) came to church, and loved it!  We didn't have any plans for lessons, be the night before we put down a list of people to try and contact.  One of them was a non-member referral, and we were told she was super busy and might only be available on Mondays; the Spirit prompted us to put her down anyway.  We then followed our plans and were able to talk to almost everyone of them, and set up return appointments with all but one that we talked to!  And, this lady who was supposedly only available on Mondays had received a schedule change for Sundays off, and that was the only time we would have caught her.  Wow!  She also knows a recent convert that lives in her same building complex!  The Lord sure knows what is going on with his children, and is preparing them to be taught the gospel.

I realized I have been neglecting a list of those who could use prayers, so here is a pretty nice list for you.  The Miners (especially Landon), Sister Mallett, Linda, Jackie and Trinity, Germaine Miller, the Mainvilles, Marcell, the Griffees, the Koiralas, Mike and Brandy, Amber and Bryant, Sister Rodriguez, Jesse and Jessica, the Siegs, the Mondays, and the Killens.

I love you all tons! Keep being amazing!

Elder Beckstead