I got a tape recorder :)

Hey ya'll! This has been quite a fantastic week. The Lord has really heard and answered mine and Elder Stock's (and yours too :) prayers and fasts! L and M want to be baptized! It was such an awesome experience how it happened. Here is the story:

Tuesday nights are often the time when we go over to their house to have dinner and a lesson. They are always super nice to feed us, and M makes delicious meals too! Anyway, we were over there and decided to teach them "Revelation Through Church Attendance," one of the new simplified PMG lessons. We have this church we draw made up of different parts and have a bunch of different scriptures to go along with it and all. Well, we taught them that and they really enjoyed it. After we went over that we were just kind of answering some of the questions they had about things, and we got on the subject of baptism. Elder Stock and I have invited them to set a baptismal date to work towards a bunch of times, but the answer had always been, "Well, I feel like I need more time. I'm just not ready yet." Anyway, tonight Sister B (branch Relief-Society Pres.) invites them to set a date. We told them how it was just a goal to work towards, and if they aren't ready by that time then they won't be baptized. M turns to L and says, "Well, what do you think?" L kind of holds his chin for a second thinking and replies, "Well, I know what I'm going to do!"

"What?" (M)

"I'm going to get baptized!"

"That's what I was thinking too!" (M)
YES! You have no idea how happy I was right then. That was one of the BIGGEST highlights of my mission so far for sure. Some others that will be coming up that I can already see are their actual baptism day, and then especially when they go to be sealed in the temple a year from now! Elder Stock and I will still be here so we will get to go! YEAH! Plus of course when we come back here together in like a year and a half or whenever we can go visit them!

Of course, we still had (at that time) to teach them most of the Commandments (lesson 4 in PMG), and so before we left that night we gave them a heads up about the Word of Wisdom and all of that good stuff. Lol M had no problem and was fine with all of it, but L wasn't so happy about it. He drinks coffee all day everyday and said he would need time. M still wanted to set a date though and so she decided on Feb. 13th, a week from yesterday (that Saturday wouldn't work). Well, she got sick this week with strep throat and wasn't able to make it to church. We went over with the Bs last night though and gave her a blessing. We also went in depth into the Word of Wisdom, how it came about, etc. We went over all of the baptismal interview questions, and their only concerns were Thomas S. Monson being a prophet of God and L with giving up coffee. The Bs were perfect to have there though because they went through the exact same things that the Ss are right now. They had to give up their coffee and everything before being baptized, and they did an awesome job of bearing testimony that they could do it too. We helped L understand that all he really has to do is find out if the Word of Wisdom is really from God (which he knows it is =]) and then he will follow it. They are both incredible people and very ready and prepared to be baptized!

Oh, and about their concerns with modern prophets and apostles... We have talked over and over again about that and how it all really goes back to the Book of Mormon being evidence that this is the Lord's church. We left them with the assignment to read chapter 9 in the Gospel Principles manual, as well as some talks on LDS.org by President Monson (we have read a few with them already). Anyway, last night we re-set baptismal dates with both of them for Feb. 19th so that they can both be baptized together. L is confident he can overcome his coffee and they are going to be ready =]

By the way, it is SO satisfying to meet good people like the Ss. Day after day of getting doors slammed in your face and people missing appointments and not keeping commitments kind of starts to wear on you and almost think less of people in general. But, when you find the elect, it is worth every single one of the rejections and lies and whatever else! One thing I have learned on my mission is the importance of keeping commitments to people. I haven't been very good at that in the past, but I definitely realize how important it is now. That is part of being like Jesus - keeping commitments and having your word be your bond. Anyway, when L and M say they will do something, they do it.

In other great news, T is now ready to be baptized as well! If you remember a few weeks back she had a baptismal date, but then we found out there were some other things she needed to work through for a little longer. President told us to keep working with her, and keep him updated. Well, she has been doing great, keeping commitments, coming to church, and when we were teaching her this past week she said, "Hey, I was wondering when your next baptismal service is? I really want to be baptized." Yeah! Woo! That is so cool. We told her we will talk to President Hall asap and get that worked out. So now he just needs to clear some things with Salt Lake I guess and he will get back to us.

Another lesson that we learned this week is the importance of thinking before you speak. Now, when we are tracting or teaching or whatever we do, we always offer service to everyone before we leave. Elder Stock and I were out tracting, and we saw this guy walking into his shed in the back yard and he was on crutches and only had one arm (he had like a little stub on the other side - enough that he could pinch a crutch in his armpit). He had some serious trials. On top of that we found out that he was sick and kind of down in the dumps that day. Well, he wasn't interested, and so we asked him if there was anything we could do for him. He said no. We left him with our names and phone number on a card, and Elder Stock said, "Yeah, and like we said, if you ever need an extra hand or anything, let us know." Bad word choice. Lol. I kind of winced as it came out of his mouth, almost like I knew it was coming the second before he said it, but we just acted like nothing was out of the ordinary and left. He didn't say anything about it either so that was good. We got to the car and just busted up. Not laughing at that poor man, but we just couldn't believe that slip of words! Moral of the story: think before you speak, even if it is seemingly a kind thing you say quite often.

Well, my time is up. The church is true. Always put God first, and the rest of things will fall into their proper place. Don't ever lose trust in Him. He knows best. I love all of you =] I'll be getting a tape ready quick. Do you want me to fill it all up before I send it, or just send one every two weeks, or what? I'll try and figure something out. Maybe you could type up what I say or something and that way we can re-use each tape until it wears out! I'm not sure. But anyway, I gotta go. Love ya!

-Elder Andrew Beckett