Elder Zach Beckman

Mon, 29 Sept. 2014 13:56

 20 years later......

Well everyone it is about that time of year again!!! Super Stoked for General Conference and all the joy it brings to everyone all around the world!  But I know that I will be able to get something that is just for me and that is what I love most about it!!  So to start off my letter I wanna challenge you all to write down a couple of questions that you have and really look to see if they will get answered in conference, because I know they will!!

Now with my letter I am going to keep it a bit short today because i got lots to do today!!  But this week was a lot of fun!!   Filled with all sorts of fun stories that you will get to hear after my mission, but I will share a few that happened this week!

So, first story is that we were going to pick up this old man in our ward to come out teaching with us, and he lives in this old folks apartment complex.... so it is filled with old people everywhere!  So on the way in, we see this old woman outside her apartment trying to get in, and she was having a really hard time.   So we went to see what was up and found out that she was locked out!!  So I looked at this situation and thought what a perfect opportunity to have permission to see if we could some how break into someones house!! ha ha!!  So I looked at Elder Christensen and said, "All righty, let's break in to this woman's house some how!!" ha ha ha!!  So we pulled out a credit card and were trying to get the back sliding door, and that wasn't working and Elder Christensen tried picking the lock to the front door because he knows how, but he wasn't able to!  So I went out back to the window and I basically pried it open with my fingers, and was able to push out the window and we climbed in through the window and Saved the Day!!!  It was funny because this whole thing probably took like 20 minutes and we had gathered a crowed of old people, just watching us, and trying to give us pointers on what to do!! ha ha!!   But it was so funny to see them all out on the back lawn with their walkers and wheel chairs and canes and what not! But, it was a great time and a lot of laughs!

So next story... I was with Elder Christensen and we were teaching Brian and Tiffany, some of our investigators, and we had planned to teach them about the atonement and how it can carry them though their tough times in life!  It went so well!!   We talked about how Jesus has suffered "all" the same things that they have gone through and how they can always have Him help them through it!!  And they were super receptive to it and really want to become a more happy family and really progress in this gospel!!  I am super excited for them to get baptized here in the next couple of weeks, so keep them in your prayers!!!

That is about it for this week!  So, I hope you all have a great week and have a great General Conference!!! LOVE YA

~Keep Smiling~

Elder Beckman

PS. Sorry No pictures today!

Keep Brian and Tiffany in your prayers, that they might be baptized and find joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elder Seth Garner

                                          Elder Seth Garner and Private Michael Watts at Cake cutting 
                                     ceremony for graduation from the Marines!
                             


 Tue, 2 Sep 2014 12:08

I think that I can say I am at a good spot in my mission. Ever since I started, I know I have been blessed to see the hand of God work in the lives of many... But right now, I feel like it is more evident than ever! I cannot even describe the joy that I have because of the things I have seen and continue to see daily. I am trying to consecrate myself for this last big push, because I know that my time is running low. My life continues to change forever as I have been apart of the greatest work. And to think that God has privileged me to be apart of it? Holy smokes, I count my blessings everyday that I get to be His instrument!

Well, maybe some explanation of why I feel this way would be a help? I will recall a few miracles I have seen over these past days. Thursday the 28th we attended the MCRD cake cutting ceremony for the graduating Marines that the church hosts. Private Michael Watts was in attendance with his family, who are all not members. He hadn't told them of his experiences regarding church at the MCRD, and they were unaware of his baptism. As I stood there when he sprung the news on them right there at the ceremony, I was touched as Watts explained his story and bore his testimony to his family. He has an incredible conversion story that was able to touch the hearts of his family (especially his mother), who were grateful that he relied on God to get through such a rough situation. Watts didn't hesitate to share the story of the first vision either! Unfortunately, that was the last I saw of Watts and his family, but I know that he will be a great influence on those who are broken and need the power of the Atonement in their lives. That sweet eighteen year old kid has forever changed my life!

Over these past weeks I have been teaching another recruit at the MCRD, Recruit Winstead. When he came to our services awhile back, he immediately explained himself. He was a prayer leader for the Catholic church, which just means he was to lead the Catholics in his platoon in prayer at night and be a spiritual support for them. He asked if he could become an LDS prayer leader instead. Winstead explained that all his life he was raised Catholic, but knew deep down that there were things about the religion that weren't right and that there was something missing. He had found the LDS church just before leaving for boot camp, and said that as soon as he walked into the doors of the chapel, he felt what was missing at the Catholic church. He recognized the Spirit and knew that it was from God. He asked me when he could be baptized, we set the date, and he was baptized this last Sunday. I even had a similar situation this last Sunday with a new recruit, and overall there should be five young recruits entering into the waters of baptism this next Sunday.

Having the mission president and his family in your ward is a bit of a perk. Sister Schmitt invited a non-member over to dinner and had us teach her there. She is thirteen years old and has a very horrible family situation. There is no support at all and her family is not a good influence. Her name is Yamira and she has been living at a members home who took her in. We have been teaching her for about a week, and she has accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 27th of September. The Schmitts have been an incredible help, and they truly love and care for her. It is so cool how the standards of the gospel can help keep anybody safe from the harm that comes from the adversary.

                                                  Elder Garner at Anthony Merchison's Baptism

We had been teaching a fourteen year old boy, Anthony Merchison, who is one of the most smartest, sincere kids I know. He had been preparing to be baptized for quite some time, and he finally made it! It was crazy because we weren't in our area for that entire week, and didn't really know if he was going to get baptized that Saturday. While I was out of my area, I called him up, he said he was good to go, so I made a few more calls and got it all set up, then right when we got back, we got him baptized! Anthony is now the only member in his immediate family, but since his baptism, his parents have been to church twice, and Anthony has received the priesthood! Man, I love that kid!

                                        Elder Garner at Kidaysha Cook's surprise baptism 

President Schmitt gave us a call last Saturday morning, and asked us for some help. He had received word that there was a Marine who was a member of the church who had gone through the MCRD back in March, and had finished his training up North. His wife and family were coming into town to see him for a few days before he had to go back, and had requested permission for the wife to be baptized while they were in San Diego. The Marine had no idea that his wife had been meeting with missionaries and wanted to get baptized. President Schmitt asked us to piggy back off of a baptism in Santee, meet the family there, and get her baptized and confirmed... It was so cool to be apart of this families experience of the only nonmember in the family getting baptized, and what was even cooler was the Marine husband was totally overwhelmed by it! President Schmitt asked me to baptize her and Elder Myler to confirm her a member of the church. After that, they had to head home to Arizona while the Marine stayed in San Diego.

Last night we met a man named Josh Young. He was referred to us by the Spanish missionaries who contacted him. As soon as we met him, he whipped out his Book of Mormon and told us his story. While he was in jail for six years, he watched a program on KPBS about the Mormons and became interested. His rack mate happened to have a copy of the Book of Mormon and lent it to him. Josh decided to read a few pages that night, which soon turned into chapter after chapter, and over a span of three days, he had finished the book. At the very end of the book, he got on his hands and knees and told God that he wanted to follow his will, and asked that if the Book of Mormon was contrary to the Bible to let him know, so he could get on the right path. As soon as Josh prayed about it, he said that the Holy Ghost burned like fire inside of him, unlike anything he had ever felt. He had read the book three times after that, along with the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. He has been out of jail for about two years now, is married and has a son. He knew more about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon than I did, and he said all he had to study were those three books! He said that he just didn't know what to do next or where to go. He also said that he didn't want to do anything luke warm, and wanted to be in it 100 percent. We invited he and his wife to take the lessons and to learn more, and you could tell that when we talked about the healing power of the Atonement, it meant something to Josh. I cannot wait to get back there and show him what he has been waiting for for a long time!

I have seen so many miracles over these past days... It is unreal how much God cares about ALL of His children, and how well people are prepared. Once again, I can't believe that I get to be apart of it! Our mission wide training exchanges are over, and we will be doing transfers and zone conferences this next month. I love my mission, and I love the Lord!

Love,

       Elder Garner

Elder Zach Beckman

Mon, 22 Sep 2014 13:22

Elder Beckman, The Fishing Missionary!!



Well Hellooooo Everyone!!!

Things have been going great here in the great Land of Cherry Grove! I recently Got a new companion, Elder Jordan Christensen!!!  He is from Oregon and is a way sick missionary!  It is really funny how similar we are!  He is super laid back and chill and doesn't get stressed about anything and is just a way fun person to be around! But that also means that I lost Elder Price..... :( it was so sad to see him leave.  You have no idea!!   The first couple of days of him being gone, I was super sad and missed him a lot.  I really loved serving with him and it was kind of like leaving family all over again.  But I feel I will feel the same way for Elder Christensen too.

So this last week was sweet we got a lot of people to church and just had some really fun times!!  We have been meeting with a returning member, Allen, a lot lately and we have actually helped him get his Temple Recommend and he is going to come with us to the temple next month!!  I was super happy for him and we just had a great time with him!  Along with Allen... he is a super awesome member missionary!  He was the one who introduced us to Deanna and Anthony and he is now helping us teach his little brother Damien!!  It was awesome we set a lesson with Damien and Allen said that it would be more fun if we went fishing and then had a lesson on the shore of a lake.... So I thought about it for about half a second and said '' OF COURSE!!!"  So we went to a lake with some members of the ward and had a sweet time fishing and talking about the church!!!  Damien came to church the next day and had a great time because of all the boys who came fishing!!   It was so cool to see him so happy with friends now.

Last Story was going to transfers to pick up Elder Christensen... Allen was supposed to drive us up to Dayton for transfer meeting and so in the morning we get this call from him saying that a drunk driver hit his car and now he can't take us.... so, at like 7 am, we called like 20 members asking to take us up there and they all said no.  So we were out of luck and said forget it, we are just gonna drive the mission car up there and just have to sacrifice miles for the month!  So we did and it was all ok in the end.  We got the miles written off and it was all ok in the end. But Holy cow sometimes when one little thing goes wrong it can cause so much stress ha ha it is nuts 

But that is about it for my week I will be sure to have an awesome letter for you all next week!

KEEP SMILING

LOVE,

Elder Beckman

Elder Justin Thiel

This week was better then last week. I found out on Saturday that my companion is going to be transferred on Tuesday and that I will be training a new missionary again.  I'm more excited about it this time around.  It should be a great experience. 

One thing that Elder Kopischki told us to do when he came, was to memorize 42 scriptures for the 42 principles that we teach as missionaries, so I have been working on that all this since Friday.  I have 10 memorized so far. The ones that I memorized were: Malachi 2:10, Genesis 28:14, Amos 3:7, Isaiah 59:1-2, John 3:5, John 3:16-17, John 15:16, Ephesians 2:19-20, Hebrews 5:4, Moroni 10:3-5.  I still have a long way to go, but we are to use the scriptures when we talk to people, so that should really help me out in the work.  (Maybe you all could look them up and memorize them too!) :)

We had some awesome experiences this week.  We were sitting at the end of a street trying to figure out what we were going to do on Tuesday around 2, because an appointment had fallen through, when someone who we taught 2 months ago pulled up in a car next to us and asked if we could come to his house to teach him.  My companion and I were a little shocked at this, but we readily agreed.  When we got to his house, we taught him and his girlfriend who seemed really interested in the Restoration of the Gospel.  We taught them again later in the week, about the Book Of Mormon and the girlfriend had some really good questions and really wanted to read it.  It was a really cool miracle!

We had a church tour with our investigator, Lee, this week.   We showed him around the building talking about the different organizations in the church and explaining some of the pictures and what they represent.  The most powerful part was when we got to the chapel.  We talked about the sacrament and invited him to pray.  After he prayed, he got up and asked if he could say something and we agreed.  He said that he could feel the Spirit of Christ from the moment that he walked into the building, and that he now feels comfortable with coming to church and bringing this family with him.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to come to church this Sunday, but we have high hopes for him.

I'm sorry to hear about Matthew.. I know how he feels, because I have had many of them myself and I know that it is not fun.  How did he get it?  It sound like things just weren't working for you guys this week, with dad's back and the dryer.. that's awesome that Jacob gets to go to the dedication of the temple!  That should be a really cool experience for him.  Did he get to go to one of the open houses?

I hope that the weeks start to get easier for you guys.  I love you and I will keep you in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Thiel 

Elder Dallin Stout

Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 1:07 PM

Awesome Week!

    Tuesday

We did service for Maurice, who we met Sunday at church, a friend invited her.  She has chickens, roosters, turkeys, rabbits and horses.  We trimmed hedges, I dug up a small palm tree and tilled hard dirt with a pick ax. We had lunch with her after and she invited us to come over again to go swimming.  We said we'll come by again but to do more service instead!  We taught Bob the plan of salvation. As we started, he mentioned that his Dad died when he was 7 and he doesn't know if he was a man of God. He asked "will he get a chance to know the truth?" Then said "I might be crazy for thinking this, but that means he needs to be baptized. Is there a way that I could be baptized in his behalf?" We said "YES!" we were completely blown away by that. He had a cup of coffee, so we addressed the Word of wisdom and after teaching it, he committed to live it.  As we were leaving he grabbed his cup and said "well this cup is staying empty tonight!"

     Wednesday

For exchanges Elder Banks came with Elder Slaugh and I. We did service for Tony, the hoarder, for 41/2 hours and didn't make much progress.  Then we biked to Elliot's house. (the Jew guy we just met).  But he wasn't home.  So we went to the Crows and read Alma 32 with them and Brett. 

     Thursday

Our shower wouldn't turn off completely, so it stayed at a small steady stream all day and maintenance never came.  After district meeting all 5 of us (Elders Banks and Grey) went to a sushi place for lunch. I had a lot of wasabi left over and the Elders  dared me to eat it all at once.  So I did and so did Elder Banks.  After dinner Elders Banks, Grey and I felt sick, so I'm not gonna do that again!  Our neighbors were watching the Ravens/Steelers game. I saw that the Ravens were winning 24-6 with short time left, so that made my day!  Elder Slaugh and Jimmy rigged our leaking shower head to slow down the flow.

     Friday

We did service for Brother Buck Poulsen,   In his attic are hundreds to a thousand canvas paintings!  We sorted huge piles of them!  He played minor league baseball as a pitcher and got into painting at 28. He's been doing it for 50 years and has had a TV show ("Painting with Poulsen") for over 20 years!  He gave us each a season of his TV show on DVD.

     Saturday

This morning we rode along the coast and rode up the back side of Correo Street. "The Correo" is a huge hill, we went down it at about 42 mph!  Later we went to Bueno Vista (The care center where Bob is) and the receptionist had some questions for us.  We had a little lesson and gave her a Book Of Mormon.  We met with Bob, he told us that a lady asked him what his religion is and he said Mormon!  She wanted some scriptures to help her out and he gave her Book Of Mormon and Bible verses!  We took Bob to stake conference and he stayed for most of it before he had to go.  I saw Elder Bartholemew there!  Before he left Thousand Oaks I told him in his Shout Out Journal that we would meet in Santa Barbara... Prophecy fulfilled!  The plumber finally came and fixed our shower after the 3rd time we called.

     Sunday

We went to Bueno Vista and the Mormon lady that works there took us to their church service with all the old people.  We sang hymns, that was awesome (Even though they had voices only a mother could love) and they bore testimonies about Jesus.  We met a lady named Hannah who just turned 101 years old!   We read 1Nephi 3-4 with Bob and she sat in.  As we left, the receptionist told us that a Catholic priest was just there, saw her reading the Book Of Mormon and told her that she shouldn't be reading it.  He said we don't believe in Christ and she said,  "Well that's not true!"  Then he said we don't believe in the holy trinity, and she said, "Neither do I.  Look the boys are right in that room, why don't I get them so you can talk to them?"  He said, "No I have to go." So she totally backed us up!  She has read the whole intro to the Book Of Mormon and started 1st Nephi yesterday, when we gave it to her!  It has been a great week! 

Elder Stout

Elder Zach Beckman

Mon, 15 Sept 2014 13:44

Reds Nation!!!

Hey Everyone!!! So this last week was awesome for me!  I had so much fun doing all kinds of weird crap and we just had a blast at the Reds game and then just being with all the missionaries was so much fun, I loved it!!  But yes, I have a ton of pictures for you all, and sorry I have to send them in different messages... I can't figure out how to send them all in one big email!

So this last Monday was the REDS GAME!!! and it was so sweet!! Holy cow!!!   Even though we lost, it was so much fun!  So President Jensen (mission presidency) is super loaded rich, and he bought out two sections at the game and then we just paid him like half price for the tickets, so that was so sweet!  But man the stadium was so sweet!!  It is right next to the river and it is just awesome to see!  But it was way cool, me and Elder Gibb ( a Spanish elder) walked down to the very bottom section and some guy came up to us and was like, "Hey I'm about to leave do you guys want my seats?" ha ha!!  It was so sweet!!  His seats were like 15 rows off 1st base and then we walked down all the way to the front row after a while!   So sweet and such a cool stadium!  But ya, it was a great time!!  The Radcliife Family took us to the game and after the game we went to the Kentucky side of the river and took pictures of us with the Cincinnati Skyline in the background. But dang was that a long night!! We didn't get back home till like 11:30 p.m.  But dang it was so much fun, I can't even tell ya!

Next Story was our mission had a Social Media split day!! and if any of you know what that is... Our mission came up with it, so ya!!  But anyway, Social Media day is a day where all the missionaries focus on going out with people and having them post pictures of them on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and then they Hashtag #SocialMediaSplit,  but I had all the members use #elderbeckman,  but you can try #ElderBeckman or #Elderbeckman.... I'm not sure if makes a difference, but ya, if you wanna see pictures of this guy, look up those hashtags.... But ya, it was fun!!   We did a lot of fun, weird things!!  But I really love Social Media day!!  It gives us a chance to do weird things, ha ha!! 

Well last thing I have to say is this week is transfers and I am staying here and I will be getting a new companion!! It is super sad to see Elder Price leave!  I really liked him as a companion!!  We clicked so well, and now I have to start the process all over again, but I think I will like my new companion!!   My options are pretty good.  So ya, it will all work out in the end!

But ya, I miss all of you guys and hope everything is going well!!  I'd love to hear from you guys, so if you can write back and I'll talk to ya'll next week!!

Keep Smiling

Elder Beckman

Elder Justin Thiel

This week was another pretty hard week numbers wise. We had a lot of our appointments fall through, but we did end up meeting an awesome guy named Chris.  We met him on the street and he was on his way back from buying some beer, but we stopped and talked to him anyway.  He set an appointment with us and initially he missed his appointment, but we caught him on the street again and set another appointment and he kept this one.  We taught him about the Restoration of the gospel and he really felt the spirit.  We invited him to be baptized and he had never been baptized before so he was willing to set that as a goal.  It was a super cool miracle!  He didn't end up coming to church this week because he hurt his arm at work, but he said that he would come to church this week.  We are seeing him again on Tuesday.

We had another experience with a man named Walter.  We called him on the phone because he had met with us before and he didn't want to meet with us at first.  He said that he read most of 1st Nephi in the Book of Mormon and said that it was really boring, because he said that he had heard the message of repentance already in his life multiple times.  I ended up persuading him over the phone to let us come talk to him again, using parts of the plan of salvation to convince him.  When we met, we taught the Plan of Salvation.  He didn't seem very interested in what we were saying.  When we taught about the kingdoms of glory, he said that he would most likely go to the teletial kingdom, and he said that this was okay with him. He has a very negative personality, kind of like Eore from Winnie the Pooh.  We are still working with him..

We didn't get to see Lee this week because he went out of town, but we are seeing him on Tuesday.

We ate dinner at a member's home and the member's name is Brother Burch.  He is a co partner in a security business.  He is a really cool guy who served a mission 10 years ago.  He has a young family and work is what brought him out here.  He fed us a home made, Cafe Rio. and it was super good!  He said it was a treat for me because all Utah missionaries apparently always miss that while on their missions.  He said that I could work for him after my mission, but I would have to move out there with him to help him with his work out there, and I don't know if I want to live out here, haha!!  He went out teaching with us after dinner, and we taught Sona and one of his friends that happened to be there with him, that was studying to be a Jehovah's Witness.   We have to save him!!! haha!!   Our lesson was awesome and that member really taught me some good resources for teaching. He served in Brazil and while he was there, it was the highest baptizing mission in the world.  He said that he would teach me how to do that here.

I am still a 34 waist.  Chocolate cookies would work for me.  Thanks!!!

I might have a member order me T-25, Shaun T's new work out program, for me to do in the morning using the birthday money that I got.  It's a workout that is only 25 minutes long, perfect for a missionaries morning schedule!

I'm sorry to hear about the hardships that Matt is going through.  Tell him that he needs to drink more water.  Also he should be taking protein once or twice a day to help him recover from everything that he is doing.  He could also start taking some amino acids to help him.  Also if he is doing all that, make sure that he is stretching all his muscle groups everyday!  If you need so ideas for some stretches for him to do, look some up.  He should be doing them everynight and right before he works out.  Those are some things that might help him.

Love,
Elder Thiel

Elder Dallin Stout

Mon, Sep 8, 2014 at 1:39 PM

Transfered/Miracles Week!

It has been an amazing week with many things happening!

Monday

     So after dinner we got a call from the assistants and they told us that we're both being transferred. Elder Martin is going back to Simi Valley to replace an Elder who is going home. I am going to Santa Barbra (AKA Santa Babylon! Its called that for the local college that is the number 2 biggest party school in the Nation!) and my new companions are Elder Yager and Elder Slaugh. The 1st ward Elders (Elders Pace and Comin) are now covering their ward and 2nd ward. (ours)

Tuesday

     We spent the day deep cleaning the apartment, packing and updating the area book. We said a quick good bye to the Gonzalez's and the 1st ward Elders. Then Brother Henderson gave us a ride to the mission office in Oxnard at 8pm. Elder Martin went with his companion to his area and I stayed the night with Elder James, President and Sister Felix at the mission home in Ventura.

Wednesday

     At 3:45 am I woke up and got ready.  We took Elder James to the Santa Barbara airport and President dropped me off at my apartment. We got there at 6:15 am and President called my companions to wake them up and come get me. They didn't know what time I was coming so it really surprised them! Elder Yager is the District leader and has been out 6 months. Elder Slaugh came out a transfer after I did, he has a small dutch oven that he uses to make peach cobbler and stuff! We share a ward with Elders Banks and Grey (Elder Banks was also companions with my trainer Elder Driggs).  We saw a part member family called the Dunnings, we were talking with the Mom when her 11 year old daughter came up to her and whispered in her ear "Can I be Baptized?" and the Mom quietly said back "yes"! They said they would come to church for sure. 

Thursday

     I got to meet my new district, it is the largest in the mission! We have 9 sisters and 7 Elders! Sister Ashworth is also in a tri-companionship (she was in my MTC district) and Sister Wilson is here. (who was in my last district in Camarillo).  We had an amazing district meeting. Elder Grey gave a great talk on Charity and read us a story from Saints and Soldiers that was about giving our lives for our friends. We did service for a guy that is a hoarder. As we were helping clean out the magazines in his garage, Elder Slaugh totally pulled out a Porno right in front of me by accident from a huge stack! We made sure that it was buried at the bottom of his trash can! (not the first or last of similar things that I've seen since I've been in Santa Babylon! but besides that I really do love it here.) 

Friday

     Elder Yager went to a leadership meeting so Elder Slaugh and I teamed up with 2 other Elders who have district leader companions, Elders Philips and Lewis. We spent the day tracting and seeing less actives. 

Saturday

     We biked to the other side of our area (about a 45 minute ride). We were at a Care facility and were going to see Brother Giles, but we got held up by a Jewish guy, named Elliot, that was really cool. We talked for about an hour and got his info so we can see him again. Then a Catholic guy named Armondo gave us prayer cards with a picture of Jesus and started to bash. He talked about the Spalding theory but we had a lesson with him. (that took about 30 min) Then we read scriptures to Brother Giles, right as we started a guy named Bob came up to us and asked to talk with us after we were done. We met with him, he said he's been praying for guidance to get back in tune with God. This morning he felt like something big was going to happen, he was in an area of the facility with a friend that he never goes to and he saw us. We taught him the restoration and he felt the spirit hit him! He just got his big toe amputated and has been in pain, also his breathing is labored. But after the lesson he said that he couldn't feel it and felt completely at peace. He is excited to come to church and read the Book Of Mormon. We invited him to be baptized when he finds out that its true and he said "yes, absolutely!"  Then we had apparently "the best lesson ever" with Brett. (a homeless guy living with a part member family. We talked about overcoming trials with the Lords help. We read 1Cor 10: 13, 1Nephi 3:7, and Ether 12:26.

Sunday

     We were expecting 5-6 investigators that said they would come to church but none of them came, but we had one dropped investigator come. (which no one was expecting)!  After church, we saw Bob and he was caught up in physical therapy but plans on coming next week. We read 2 Nephi 31 with him, it talks about the doctrine of Christ. He said that this is his number one priority now! That he will make time to see us and go to church! Meeting him was a definite miracle, we were held up to the perfect timing, We prayed for people to find, the ward fasted for missionary work today, he prayed to find God and His brother is a good example to him as a converted member!  It is awesome to see the Lords hand at work.

Love,

Elder Stout

Elder Zach Beckman

Wed, 3 Sep 2014 13:23

WEDDING CRASHERS!!!.... JK more like Salvation Savers!! ;)

Hey everyone!!! This Letter is going to be pretty short because I don't have that much time to write!!  But I want you all to know that I am loving it here and I hope I never leave Cherry Grove!

But this last week was the Wedding and Baptism of Deanna & Anthony Kreiser!!!  We met them about 2 months ago, all because a less active member shared the gospel with them!!  So there is no excuse for any of you not to open your mouth because God will bless you for doing it!!  But they are the coolest family ever I am so happy to have been a part of their conversion!  I just love them so much!! The wedding was awesome!!   We basically handed it over to the church members to put on and they did such a good job it was amazing!!!  And we got to go and hang out and just be with them through this great moment! 

Next day was Sunday and they got confirmed and it was so cool to see the ward just welcome them with open arms!!  I love it here, it is like a huge ward family!  All of the members are so close they all just love each other and there is absolutely no drama! 

Last little story was LABOR DAY!!! Our mission does a finding challenge for every holiday and the zone who gets the most investigators in one day wins!!  And my zone has won the last 3 by a long shot!! ha ha!!  Yes, I know we are awesome, but this last one was really cool!!  We had a FREE CAR WASH!!  It was cool!!   We got all the elders and sister together and went to our church parking lot and we had a car wash.  While some missionaries were holding signs and some washing, there were some inside the church giving tours to people who were waiting for their car to be done!  It was so sweet!!  I didn't think so many people would come, but they just started flooding in... but it was nice because we bought pop sickles for the kids who were crying!!  But it was just a fun activity for the day!  So my Labor day weekend was way fun!  Because when you are with me, we are always having fun no matter what we do on the mission!

But ya, that was about it for the week!   I am loving it out here and if you wanna hear a very cool story about prayer, you can write me a letter and I will be sure to write you back!! I sure do love you all and hope you are all having an awesome week!!   LOVE YA!

~Keep Smiling~

Elder Beckman

             The Willow Wood Wardies sporting new car wash beards!!  Elder Beckman and Elder Price!!

Elder Brandon Wallis

August 28th

Alright, so we had transfers! As you know... and my new companion is...(drum roll).... Elder Hafoka! He's been out about 4 months, and he's straight from Tonga! His English is a little rough, but he's learning pretty quick. The Native's here seem to love him. We get along just fine, and we've had some great success already! We have 7 investigators with a baptism date. Dale, Kahora, Vangela, and Brooklyn have a goal for the 23rd! Evon and Harvis have a date for the 30th. Audree Johnson has a date for the 23rd. All of them have some things that they'll need to work on and change, but many of them are sincere and have a desire to change. We've been able to start teaching some less actives, and some of them are making some good progress now too. We even got this older lady Sadie to church! She hasn't been in a while! It was awesome to see her come. So Dale and his family were taught the Plan of Salvation yesterday, and I have to say, it was a very spiritual lesson! They lost a son about a year ago, his name is Dallas. Not only did he pass away, but he was murdered by some supposed "friends". This has been really hard on the family. Yesterday was also the first time that we taught the Mom. When we told her that her son was safe in the Spirit World she was so happy, starting to get teary eyed. Then we told her that she and her entire family, including Dallas, could be sealed together for time and all eternity she started bawling. After the lesson we recommitted everyone in the family and committed her to being baptized on the 23rd. If they continue doing what they are doing, they'll be a wonderful asset to the rest of the Branch.

So today is going to be the best P-Day of my mission! Not only do we get to go play Zone Sports, I got permission from President Miller to go back to Ladera West to Baptize Kiley!!! It's Heather's daughter. Her father finally gave her permission to be baptized and she requested that I come back and do it! I didn't think it would be allowed but I promised them I would at least ask, and to my surprise President said yes!!! This also means that it's going to be a lot of driving today... but totally worth it. I'll try and send some pictures real soon. This was a big transfer for this Zone. Every companionship has changed except for two! This is also the biggest Zone in the Mission! It'll be fun playing bball with new people. Oh, hey Dad! I got my six pack back!!! I'm working hard and eating heathly! Thank goodness I haven't been sick either for a long time now! Knock on wood...

I love you all! Have fun on the rest of your vacation! Time is flying by! It's starting to cool off nicely here, and we're well into monsoon season, so we get rain fairly often.

Love,

Elder Wallis

Elder Zach Beckman

                              Elder Price, President Lochinger, Elder Beckman at the airport


Mon, 18 Aug 2014 13:07


LIFE OF ELDER BECKMAN

Hey everyone!!! LIFE is great here in the Great Ohio Cincinnati Mission!!!  We have had an awesome week and we are just loving being here in Cherry Grove!!  There is no better area in the mission!!  But ya, I hope you are all having a good week.  It was good to hear from some of you.... but some of you failed and don't write/email but I am still including you in the email because I still love ya!! ;)

So this week was fun!  This last Tuesday we had a unusual day... we had a baptismal interview that didn't pass because they did something but they had to get interviewed by a member of the mission presidency.  So we called President Lochinger from Dayton and he was able to fly down... yes, I said fly!  He flew in his plane down here to come give someone an interview.  You could say that is guy is loaded, but he is so awesome!!  He has only been a member since he was 30, but it is awesome!  So we picked him up from the airport and were his taxi for the rest of the day!  And when it was time to drop him off, he took us to white castle and it was awful for those of you who know what white castle is!! ha ha ha, I white castled my pants later that afternoon ;)

Next was zone conference and that was up in Montgomery (where Seegmiller is serving) and we all sat at the same table which was pretty cool, because I have been companions with everyone I was by, so that was a small world, and it was a good meeting we talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ and how to apply it in our lives and the lives of our investigators, and holy cow it was so sweet!!  After the meeting we had a stake president meeting with President Porter and the stake president and because it was so soon President Porter took us and Seegmiller and Barnett out to eat at this awesome Korean place!!  So it was a good day!!  That is what we did from 9 in the morning till 9 at night!!  Just hanging out with President Porter all day!!

Well that is about it for the week!  Sorry that I only had like two stories for this week, but I don't really have time to write about our teaching pool because I would be here all day!!  Just know that they are all doing awesome and having a great time with us ;)  But ya, if you have any questions for me be sure to write me and ask or else I will not tell ya!!  But I miss you all and hope life is great for ya!!  LOVE YA!

~Keep Smiling~

Elder Beckman