Monday, November 29, 2010

Monday, one-day

Hola mi querida familia!!!

From all of the letters that I've read, it sounds like you guys have had an AMAZING and FUN week! Sounds like you ate lots of good food (thanks for eating Reba potatoes and pie for me ;) ) and it all sounds like lots of fun. I'm excited that I'll be there next time around ;) haha

So, this week we were teaching a lady that we recently met and we asked her if she had read the chapter in the Book of Mormon that we had left to read. She told us "I'm not gonna lie to you. I really don't like to lie....except to my husband...I only lie to my husband" and the proceeded to tell us that she hadn't read the Book of Mormon. It was a slightly uncomfortable moment...especially because the husband was close by..but it seemed like he didn't hear her...that's probably a good thing lol. People are interesting. The lady said that she will be baptized on Christmas if she receives an answer from God, so that was good :) But she should probably stop lying to her husband and start reading the Book of Mormon before she gets baptized lol.

This week, we started visiting a couple of less active families to help out with Home Teaching in the Ward. They helped me realized the importance of having a firm testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. Everybody in both of the families have never prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet or if the Book of Mormon is true. I am so thankful for the testimony that I have of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And I am SO thankful that I can strengthen that testimony every time I pray and read the Scriptures. We should ask God often about those things...and every time we ask, He will answer us and our testimony will grow stronger and stronger. It made me think about the lesson that Dad taught a while back (I don't remember if it was in a FHE or on a YM campout) about that wind-up flashlight we have and our testimonies. We can't just gain a testimony and then do nothing and hope to keep that testimony. Like the constant winding on the flashlight to keep it shining bright, we have to keep doing the small and simple things to keep our testimony shining bright! So, read the Book of Mormon and say your prayers EVERY DAY!!! :D

Yesterday was the census here in Ecuador. It was super exciting...not lol. All of the teenagers from 10th, 11th, and 12th grade did the census..they just asked a few questions and then it was over. And then I slept for a while :) And then we made big hamburgers and a ton of french fries. And then I slept a bit more. And then it was 5pm so we got to leave the house and teach a few lessons. We visited some of Stefania's family...they are a family of 5 that has a baptism goal for the 18th! So, we are praying and working hard with them so that they can reach that goal :)

Well, that's the news for this week! I hope all of you have an awesome week this week..but it sounds like it would be hard to have a better week than last week! haha We just found out that next week we are going to the TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SUPER excited!!! I love every one of you SOOO much! Thanks for being awesome!

Love ya!!

Love, Elder Beck



Monday, November 22, 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hola mi querida familia!

How's everybody doing this week? Sounds like this will be a party-hard week with all the fam together in Arizona :) Soon I'll be there to enjoy all of that fun (and the DELICIOUS food that always comes with a Beck get-together ;) ) Today is my 16-month 'click' and it is hard to believe that I've been out that long! That's two-thirds....WOW I feel old! haha And today is day one of a new transfer! Aannnnddd... I will be staying put here in Guayaquil with Elder Barrientos. We are happy, cause there are lots of people that are close to being ready for baptism, and we'll be here for Christmas, and New Year, and a PHONE CALL HOME! :) What else could I ask for?? haha I have a feeling that this transfer is going to f l y by...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW DAD!!!!!!!!!! I hope you have an awesome day...but don't party too hard :) I love you SO much and I am so glad you are my Dad.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE ON THURSDAY!!!!!!!! I am so thankful for every one of you. Our family is so blessed...in SO many ways. I could use all my time for e-mail to just write the blessings I have been given....but I won't lol. I hope you all enjoy the 'feast' on Thursday and I would like to ask a favor of everyone. Eat an extra serving (or 2) of Reba potatoes and pie for me ;) Thanks! haha

One thing that I am thankful for is the PACKAGE I got this week! Peanut Butter M&Ms, gum, granola bars, chapstick, beef jerky, hilarious halloween card from Michele, Church News from General Conference, 2011 BEACHES calendar (beautiful!!), letters, and Rebecca Greeley's wedding announcement. Thanks so much for sending the package! I always love seeing all of the stuff that you can squeeze into those packages ;)

The past week was the last week of the change, so that means that we ZLs were doing house inspections! WOO! Fun stuff!! not..lol Some of the missionaries' houses were not too pretty though lol. I'm glad I live with 3 other Elders who know how to clean. I think this is the cleanest house that I've lived in.

This week something kinda funny/awkward happened in sacrament meeting. They announced the Sacrament hymn and that we were going to take the Sacrament. And then the music director stood up and we started to 'sing' the hymn....but it was a hymn that I think NOBODY had ever heard before because it was awful lol. I was looking around to see if I was the only one who had never heard that hymn and the looks on other peoples' faces made it obvious that they had never heard the hymn either. But thankfully the bishop caught on 'quickly' (and by quickly, I mean while we were trying to sing the 3rd verse lol) and stood up to the mic and said 'I think it would be better if we sang a different hymn....' And then we sang a song that everybody knew and it was all ok. But those were some very painful moments while we tried to sing that other hymn lol.

The thing I mentioned last week to make it so your tie doesn't flap around in the wind is called Tie-SAVER...not tie-buddy ;) And my companion has requested a Christmas present. He wants a CTR ring..but in Spanish (HLJ). And if they have one that says HLJ and CTR that would be better. He is size 7.5 Thanks! ;)

Well, that's the news for this week! I hope you all enjoy your week! Be thankful for the time together as family. Be thankful for EVERYTHING! I am so thankful for YOU! I love you tons...like I always say. But I just can't say it enough!

Love you!
Love, Elder Beck



Monday, November 15, 2010

SUPER p-day

Hola mi querida familia!!!

So, today is the last p-day of this transfer, which means that it is SUPER p-day! And you know what that means....extra cleaning. Super, right?! Ok, maybe not so super lol. But it's always nice to have the house extra clean! I don't know if I've ever mentioned this but I really miss vacuuming. It is SO much better than sweeping! lol Things just don't get as clean when you only sweep..but I'll just have to deal until next July haha.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW GRANDPA BECK!!!! I love you and hope you have a great birthday!!!

This week we were invited to dinner with some members. When I was in Salinas we ate dinner almost every day with members, but here it's very rare if they invited us to dinner haha. But this week they made something that was almost like Roast Beef (roast beast!). It was so delicious...with carrots and potatoes. It made me think of Sunday dinner with the Fam. It had been way too long since I had eaten roast beast haha.

This week it rained....and now we are about to start what the Ecuadorians called winter (the super hot season when it rains a ton lol). If I remember well, last year it didn't rain until almost Christmas..or maybe after? It didn't rain very hard though....just enough to make a lot of mud :P But it's all good...only one more 'winter' left in the mission haha.

Last week Elder Sanchez bought UNO cards..so that has made its way into our nightly routine ;) After our nightly planning, we write in our journals and eat something, and then play a game or 2 of UNO. Good times :) That game will come in handy on the 28th when they are going to do a census here. EVERYBODY has to stay in their houses all day and people are going to come to every house and do the census. In the States they do it all my mail, right? Much easier..but their mail system isn't too advanced here :P

This week there were a couple funny things in Church that I had to write down to remember to tell you about ;) After the singing, one of the members who leaves on a mission on Wednesday gave his not-farewell talk. First, he said that the only one in his family who ISN'T a member is his cat (that was weird and had nothing to do with what he was talking about). And then, AFTER his testimony, but BEFORE saying "In the name of Jesus Christ Amen" He invited everyone to his house on Tuesday night...and added a little special invitation saying, "I hope that everyone can come over to my house on Tuesday night at 7pm to say bye to me...especially all of the girls...cause, you know, that will be the last time I can kiss all of them for 2 years!! BAHAHAHA In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." I wasn't sure if I should say Amen after that or not..lol. I noticed the Stake Pres on the stand got VERY red when he said that haha. And then, to keep that Spirit, after his talk the Primary presented their Sacrament Meeting Program lol. The first kid got up, jumped a few times to grab the mic, and then shouted his testimony. It was hilarious! Especially cause it wasn't even his turn...so we got to hear the same thing a second time when it was actually his turn. Another highlight was a little kid that said to his teacher "I hate my part! YOU say it!" baaha Good times in Church ;)

Mom, next time you are at Deseret Book can you look for a thingy for ties...I think it is called Tie Buddy. It buttons onto 2 buttons and goes through the flap on your tie and makes it so your tie can't flap around in the wind. Thanks! :)

Well, that's all the news for this week! I love you TONS family! Thanks for always being supportive ;) I LOVE YOU!

Love, Elder Beck

Monday, November 8, 2010

sunny monday




Hola mi querida familia!!!
First, Here is the pic of the baptism that I promised last week. The 3 girls were baptized by 3 members from the ward. And second, here is a pic of the BAPTISM that we had THIS week!!! Her name is Stefanía Cabrera..I baptized her. And after that, we bought Magnum ice cream bars (they're like Dove Ice cream bars! :) ) and a fat hamburger with french fries and a fried egg and guacamole on it haha. And the other 2 elders that live with us got in the picture too :) haha
So, this week we had a baptism! Stefania contacted US..she came up to us in the street and wanted us to teach her. I've never seen someone fulfill their commitments so quickly. She is awesome...a golden investigator. Now, we are working with her family (cousins and aunts and uncles) so that they can all enjoy the blessings of being a member of the True Church. I think that like 15 people live in that house lol. Today we were at that house and we made no-bake cookies with them and they made us lunch. It was fun :) And that's why I'm writing late..sorry ;) Funny thing from the baptism, when she put on her white jumpsuit, she came out of the bathroom laughing and said "I look like a polar bear!" It was hilarious...at least she said it, and not me ;) lol
This week a Priest went out to proselyte with us for about an hour before lunch and introduced us to one of his friends. But, his friend doesn't live in our sector :P But I'm not writing about this to tell you about a cool teaching experience or anything...but I am writing to tell you something that made me laugh pretty hard. After the hour with the Priest we dropped him off at his house and we wanted to take a pic because it was the first time he had gone out with the missionaries. So, we asked his mom to take the pic and I'm pretty sure it was the first time she had ever seen a digital camera.....she took the camera and put her eye up to the lens and started telling us that she couldn't see anything, and asking how the camera works and we were all basically dying laughing because we were all looking at her eye super-close-up on the screen. And then we explained to her how there are these new cameras and you just have to look at the screen and that shows what you are looking at! lol She said that she wasn't very updated in technology (If she hadn't said that I would have never guessed!!!!! lol NOT hahaha). It was pretty funny and the priest was kind of embarrassed because of his mom lol.
We met an Atheist this week....I think that was the first atheist person I've ever met. They have interesting ideas, but they just don't make sense! lol I love the Gospel cause it just makes sense! It's so simple and clear and true. And I love the chance that I have every day to share it with the ecuadorians :) We are truly blessed to be members of this Church and to have our testimonies and know the things we know.
Well, that's the news for this week. Not much, but oh well :) I love you SO much family! Thanks for being awesome! Share the gospel with everyone :)
Love ya!
Love, Elder Beck

Monday, November 1, 2010

November...already?!

Hola mi querida familia!!
How's everybody doing this week? I'm doing great...this week was a really great week! :) Have I ever told you all how much I LOVE the mission?? I know it is the best thing that I could possibly be doing at this point in my life. And time FLIES while you're a missionary!! I can't believe it is November...what happened with October?! lol
On Friday, we had a Mission leadership council (or counsel...I'm not sure which would be the correct one? lol). Pres. and Sister Gamboa talked a lot about an area training they had been to a couple weeks ago in Peru with the Area presidency. They say that they want to double or even triple the number of baptisms. And they say that we have a LOT of work to do :) They said that the missionaries do NOT give solutions. The missionaries need to teach the investigadores how to solve their own problems and that they need to learn to sacrifice. Without sacrifice, the things that they achieve won't mean anything to them, because they didn't have to do anything to achieve it. They say that if we apply that, the converts will be more converted and firm in the Gospel. It's so true...and we need to change the way we have been doing things :)
Yesterday, in one of our wards it was the Primary Program sacrament meeting. It wasn't nearly as funny as some that I have seen back home, but there was one pretty funny part. The kids sang their first song, which sounded really good and brought the Spirit. And then the first kid who got up to say his part literally screamed into the mic. That would have been funny by itself, but the kid did something else that made it even funnier. When he screamed he obviously scared himself because of how loud it sounded in the mic, and he kind of jerked and poked himself in the eye with the mic. And then that made him start crying and he ran and sat down in his seat lol. It was hilarious.
This week, we have been running around like crazy doing baptism interviews in our Zone. We almost didn't have time to teach our investigadores because of it haha. But they all went well :) And...we had THREE baptisms in our sector too!!! Jennifer, Johanna, and Xiomara (she-oh-mar-uh) got baptized on Saturday! It was a great baptism and they were so happy. They are 3 sisters, and their mom will be baptized shortly too..but she wasn't ready to be baptized this week. The 3 sisters were baptized by 3 members of the ward too, which was awesome. It was the first time one of them had baptized somebody :) On sunday, after they were confirmed, they shared their testimonies and it was great. Simple and pure :) I love being a part of this marvelous work.
Lastly, thanks for the PACKAGE I receieved this week!!!! Chocolate pies, rubber band bracelets (those will be a big hit with the kids here..they are SOO popular right now), Pop Rocks, Rachelle and Joplin's wedding announcement (my companion can't believe how good-looking the people are in the States and other parts of the world lol), the Garfield comic about the chicken soup lol,the letter from Mom, and letters from my buds in the mission. Thanks a ton!! I love getting packages...have I mentioned that before? haha
Well, that's the news for this week!!! I hope everybody has an amazing week. I hope your Halloween was great! I love you all SOO much! Thanks for everything!!! I'll send the baptism pics next week, cause I'm out of time this week. Sorry!
I LOVE YOU!
Love, Elder Beck