Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Zone Conference, Transfer to Wichita & Reunion with Elder Chun

Hello Everyone!

Wow. It is still weird for me to think that I am a missionary. It is definitely the best. We have so many experience every day that seem to be once in a lifetime things, and we feel the Spirit so strongly all the time it is just incredible. I love it with all my heart.

So this week, we had a lot (compared to most weeks) of our time to be out proselyting cut because of meetings. They were incredible though, so it is all good! Tuesday we had a Zone Conference, and that was awesome! Elder Nash from the Seventy came and taught us very powerfully. It was amazing to see how well he knew the scriptures and how he could answer every questions. The Spirit was there bearing witness of everything he said so powerfully, that on the drive home from the conference, I was physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted. Thank goodness the Lord was able to help me still get out and do some work. In fact, after that meeting, attempting to apply many of the things we were just taught to do, we had one of the most powerful lessons we have had with Johnson Sehna, a recent convert who is also now less-active. Words just cannot describe how great it was.

We also had to listen to a bunch of conference calls too. Elder Eyre got called to be a trainer again (thankfully I dodged that bullet) so we had to listen in on the "train the trainers" meeting. It was really good, and the church keeps coming out with great things to help missionary become more powerful and effective even more quickly. In fact, there is a new booklet called adjusting to missionary life that will be used to help new missionaries, and really all missionaries, deal with stress, physical and spiritual demands, and self confidence, and all that stuff. It is pretty great. We also participated in the call for all the missionaries finishing their training. I am proud to say that I am now eligible to be advanced to a senior companion, if the need arises. Also, I have now been approved to drive, also if the need arises.

This week was pretty awesome all around, and we found this amazing man, who is very ready to hear the Gospel, just last night. His name is Willie, and he was a referral that we contacted, and he is super excited to learn. Unfortunately, I will not be able to continue to teach him because I will be transferred tomorrow. I am headed down to Wichita in Auburn Hills to be companions with Elder Chun...that's right, my MTC companion. I am super excited. Anyone that I need to contact?

Love you all!

Elder Beckstead

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Week of Learning

Hello Everyone!

Being a missionary is AMAZING! There is so much joy and happiness that comes from just serving all the time. It is pretty incredible to us how happy we can be when we are walking out on the street in the pouring rain, or stopping to talk to someone in the middle of an intersection, or just smiling and saying hello to every student that walks out of the testing center. Definitely one of the biggest rewards is seeing people smile back. Although not many people wanted to talk more extensively this week, I am sure that a ton of people felt the Savior's love for them and were lifted a little bit in their efforts to make it through life.

Honestly, being able to spread the gospel is always amazing, even though this last week was really hard. Very few of the people we are currently teaching have been able to see the long term benefits, and are not really progressing.  It is so sad for us to see them within reach of the greatest knowledge on earth, and just standing there, undecided on how to act! It has broken our hearts time and time again, but we will never give up on them; even if we must stop teaching, we will remember them in our prayers and press forward with faith.

The most apparent miracle we noticed this week again occurred in a trailer park, late at night (a different one then last week, though). We were again walking back to our car when we passed this young lady holding some grocery bags and staring at her car. We offered to help, of course, and she said yes!  (This is actually the first time anyone has let me help them carry groceries, despite many offers, so it was really cool.)  We set up a return appointment and when we taught her again later in the week, we had an amazing member come with us, and we had an incredible lesson on faith.  Her name is Brandy, and she is an evolutionary biologist, with no religious background, and a lot of skepticism. The Spirit testified powerfully during our lesson, and by the end, she was very excited to use the scientific method to experiment with prayer and find out if God is real, and if what we taught is true. It was so cool!

We love you all so much! Thank you for all your prayers!

Elder Beckstead