Who'da thunk?

Heyyy! Life is soooo good here in the land of Florida =] Thanks so much for the package! I got it =] It was great, and we are enjoying the treats. Thanks for the jacket too; I will be using that when it gets a little colder. Hey, random note, if you've asked me questions about something and I haven't replied, I am really sorry. I can never remember them when I email. I'll try to remember better.

This week I got to go on exchanges with Elder McClatchy! It was a blast. It was sooo weird/fun/uplifting. We were talking about it and I was just amazed. Who would've thought that we would be together in Florida as missionaries? Only the Lord knew =] We had a lot of fun, worked until we were exhausted, and ended it off with some delicious mango smoothie. I love him a ton and he is doing great!

This past week we had a meal appointment with Bro. A H. It didn't go through. I recorded the story on the next tape I'm sending. It's really funny.

We had a service project with the A family; they are so awesome. They have 3 little boys. The 2 oldest, L & C are the cutest little kids... they are like our biggest fans ha ha. Whenever they see us they are like, "It's the missio-marries!" "Hey missio-mary! Look at me!" and they always are talking to us and it's just fun ha ha. I love them. I have been learning that service is a great way to help our investigators gain trust with us. And members too. I love service.

Man, I'm really having a hard time concentrating because it is really loud where we are at, and I'm kind of pressed for time because the computers weren't working. Our area has been all crazy lately - our normal emailing spot is under construction so we can't go there. They shut our gas station down. How sad. We have to drive like 10 miles to get to a gas station.

The other morning I was really pondering about before the mission and how I could've done a lot more to help people come back into the gospel, be strengthened, and especially just learn about it in the first place. I have some repenting to do when I get back. I thought up 16 people/families specifically that I want to start working with/help out. I'm keeping a list the rest of my mission so that when the Spirit tells me someone I can remember! I know that if we pray for the Lord to help us identify people who need the gospel then he will help us. Basically you can ask yourself, "Who do I know that is not a member of the church? Who is less-active?" And then from all the people you can think of you write them down. And then I suppose I'll select a few prayerfully to start with :)

We are still really struggling to get things going here :/ We are really focusing on helping the members become missionaries. Even though we can't see the immediate results now, that's the direction that we have been told to go in the mission. It will help things most in the long run. One way we have been trained to do that is through role-play. That is the big thing in the FOM right now, role-playing with members. Every appointment, dinner, whatever we practice with the members to help them know how to give out a pass-a-long card, a BOM, or invite to FHE/dinner. It's a lot of fun even though sometimes it's weird. The members here are great! Bishop Heninger is on fire and ready to go, same with his son Jake who helps us a lot. There are lots of great missionaries.

G didn't come to church this week :( Please continue to keep her in your prayers. We haven't been able to contact her a ton lately. She said she didn't like church because it was very irreverent with all the kids and going in and out of the meeting, etc. That made me really sad. But, we really feel like her concern is deeper than that. We will keep working with her.

J is an investigator we have (wife C, sons A & A) and he and his 2 sons have been coming to church this and last week. They are coming along slowly :) It's weird, I think he secretly knows this will bless his family but it's like he's afraid to show it.

I love you all so much! Thanks for being the best. Ever! Transfers are next week, so I'll let you know if I'm gone or not. It's interesting... (Wow, now this is interesting! The family history guy just had an N*SYNC song start playing really loud ha ha. How funny) but what I was saying is that the work is the same, wherever you are. Now it's more a matter of each day just giving my all to God and if I do than I'm happy. If not, then I repent and do better the next day. I know the church is true and that Jesus Christ lives! Love ya!

-Elder Beckett

p.s. WELCOME HOME JUSTIN! =]