Temple Trip! Week 6? Aaah!

Hey fam! I sure love ya! We had a fun, hard-working week. Plus, some crazy coincidences happened. First off, we got to go to the temple! It was so great. I love going to the temple; I always learn so much and feel completely uplifted! That's something I will definitely do a lot more when I am back from my mission. We went with the Davis' in our ward, they are super nice! We had a lot of fun, and they took us to Perkins to eat afterwards. It was delicious =] I got sick this week and that was no fun. It was like an Ultra-cold. Actually, I have had a cold like that before, but probably a little worse because it dragged out for a bit. I got it along with Nolan right at the end of our Winter semester at BYU. Mindy, beware! Jk. This sickness was shorter though, but higher intensity. Grandpa was super nice and took care of me though! He gave me a bunch of cold medicine I could take, vitamin c & zinc, and made sure I was well rested and fed. Lol I love grandpa, just like my blood-grandpas! He is an amazing person, and always watching out for us. Elder Larsen and I were able to go help him plant some flowers, weed, and clean up around his house a little bit this week. He lives alone (his wife passed away), and so we like to visit him every now and again. He has been a member of the church for 5 or 6 years, and is super solid. Gotta love grandpa!

Ok, so here's a funny story. The 4 of us Elders get to church early Sunday morning for our meetings, and after the meetings Sister Couture, the Relief-Society President asks us to come help her set up a bunch of extra chairs. She tells us, "The BYU cougarrettes dance team will be coming to our ward today; they were up here for a competition." Great, ha ha, just what a bunch of missionaries trying to stay away from girls want to hear. It was funny to see the young men in the ward though before church started, everyone was running around telling their friends and whatnot. BUT, here is the crazy part... I was standing by the door to the chapel, greeting the members as usual when the BYU team came, and I saw a girl that looked familiar. Then I realized it was Mindy's old roomate! So I said hi and told her who I was and sure enough it was her. It was super weird though because she hadn't met Mindy until after I left, and so she'd seen her more recently than me. Not fair... ha ha. She texted her though in church and told her what was happening and it was just crazy! It's weird being a missionary where you can't just call/text whoever you want! It was like there was that close link though to home because I knew she was talking/texting you Mind! I don't know if it was weird for you or not, but it was for me. What a fun day.

One person in the ward, who is actually not even a member just yet, got up to bear her testimony during the meeting. It was amazing.. DS is an investigator that the North Elders have, a senior in high school, and she is so converted! She bore her testimony of the restoration of the gospel and how she came to know the church is true. She was crying as she said what she said, and everyone in the room felt the Spirit so strong. Here is the heart-breaking thing though - that her dad won't let her be baptized! She is so prepared and converted, but she just can't be baptized. Yet. She will be 18 soon enough, and then she wants to go to Utah and attend BYU. Isn't that cool though? I learned and thought so much about how thankful I am for the gospel in my life, and for a strong supportive family. I really have a lot of love and respect for converts to the church, especially those whose families are against it :/. Anyway, that was neat to see her stand and testify that this is the true church of Jesus Christ.

I am so thankful to be here serving a mission for the Lord. There really is nothing better, and I am learning and becoming something more than I ever could be on my own! The Lord has taught me so much already, and I am so happy to think that I still have about a year and 2 months left to learn more. Although that will fly by... I can't believe how fast time goes. Anyway, I love you all so much! Keep on keepin' on, and look for what the Lord wants to teach us through each experience that we have. Sorry this email was kind of short (was it? I can never tell on these new computers because the monitors are super long and weird).

Until next week,

Elder Andrew John Beckett! =]

p.s. I got the tape & package! That was SO fun to hear all of your voices and I just loved it. Thanks!