Welcome to December

Happy December! What a great month to reflect on the Savior and His life and Atonement. I am loving it already =] It is fun to just see and feel the change in people's attitudes and countenances this time of year.

It is still nice and warm here in Florida! A couple of nights it has gotten a little "cold" ha ha... Florida cold anyway. Elder Mullen let me use his sweater (he had 2) which was nice, but I think I'm going to buy one today if I see one on sale. It's kind of different here than I would've thought... it does get cold in the winter! Especially when the wind blows.

This week was the Festival of the Nativity, which was great! It is a festival the Stake puts on where they invite all sorts of people from the community to bring in their different nativity sets and paintings and things. Then they also have a little Christmas program and different arts and crafts for the kids, a room where you can dress up in the nativity clothing and get a picture, and just fun things like that. It was a great activity and a lot of non-members were there. It went Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night; which concluded with the First Presidency devotional. Wasn't that great? I hope we somehow have access to those video clips as missionaries. Hopefully we can get them on dvd or something, or get permission to just use them on the internet in lessons. What a blessing :)

Hey, for Christmas I don't think I really have some specific needs... not that I can think of anyway. I think it would be more practical for me to just buy pants and a sweater here where I can try it on and all. I would love some printed pics of the family though, those are always fun =] How about I take a rain check on that and if I need anything I'll let you know ;) Maybe you can just save that until I get back and need some new clothes or something ha ha. I'm actually trying to get rid of "stuff" right now, so that I just have the bare minimum of what I actually need. Otherwise it gets too crazy trying to bring it all around. Oh, btw, I bought some more contacts to last me for a few months.

The work is really picking up here =] The members are getting so involved! There were some great testimonies borne yesterday by lots of people.

So this past week we met a girl named N, who came to church last week with a friend. She is probably about 16, and is a great girl! She has been going throuth some hard times right now in her life, and the Lord is just blessing her with the gospel to help her at the perfect moment. We had a wonderful lesson with her at the Fs' home, and the Spirit was so strong. She came to church again yesterday and loved it, and is thinking about joining the church.

Unfortunately M & L weren't able to make it, none of the R, and neither T & K. They are all still solid though, and excited to learn more. Just one thing or another kept them from coming :( They will be back though! Plus our ward Christmas party is this Friday, so we are hoping to get a good turnout there.

Man oh man I am really having a hard time focusing right now because the place we are emailing (the family history center) is sooooo loud... other missionaries & watching things on mormon.org, etc. Normally we'd go to the library or something but E. Mullen doesn't have a library card yet and so we can't unless he wants to pay $5. Lame.

I have this bad habit of accidentally bumping the car horn. We were at McDonald's this past week when the most recent incident occured. We were in the drive-through line, and it was a rather loud, somewhat drawn-out and mean sounding honk. They guy in front of us sat up pretty quick and looked in his mirrors to see what was up. I just started laughing... and waved and said, "Sorry, that was an accident!" It was funny though lol.

Well, I really can't think much, it's still pretty loud :/ I'm sorry. Just know I'm doing great at writing in my journal right now, so all the good stuff and faith-building experiences that the Spirit brings to remembrance will be in there. I just can't quite focus here unfortunately. I will share them though someday =] Love you all! And can't wait to talk to you for 40 mins soon!

love, Elder Beckett

p.s. how ironic.. everyone just left and it's quiet now that my time is gone... ha ha such is life :P

p.p.s. Mindy you are great and will do awesome at your talk! Let me know how it goes :) Hmm you can just talk about patience and charity, and how you learned all about them and developed them growing up with me ;)

p.p.p.s. Thank you so much for the answers to those questions mom & dad! At least the ones you've answered :) I loved it!

PICTURES! :D

Mirroracles!

Happy Thanksgiving you turkeys! As Mom would say... ha ha ;) Love ya Mom! This was a great Thanksgiving and we were so blessed! The members are so good to us; we got to go to lunch (which was a dinner) with the Ks, and then dinner with the Ms! Sooo many people offered us a dinner.

Can I just say that I love the members here? They are awesome! Every single one of them. They are so converted to the gospel and love this work. I really love working with the priests in the ward, and have made it a goal to really get them involved and coming out with us. I wish I would've known before the mission; I went out with the missionaries once. And I had no idea what was going on, or what my role with them was as a member. So I just bore my testimony and it was a lot of fun :) BUT anyway I think you should encourage the priests in the ward to proactively call the missionaries there and get a time to go out with them on exchanges. Often. That is one of the very best ways you can prepare for a mission, is just by doing missionary work. Read the Book of Mormon, read Preach My Gospel, and do missionary work with the missionaries there. It's an all around win-win situation =] One of my favorite things about working with the priests is just seeing them get all fired up for when they go on their missions. Something clicks in them and they just light up! They start talking to their friends, and losing the fear of rejection if someone says no. And we always have fun while at the same time meeting so many great people to share the gospel with! I love the members. It is only with the members' help that the real growth the Lord has told us we are capable of (with His help) will take place. It is taking place. Supposedly the Orlando, FL area is one of the hotspots for the church that is expected to just explode over the next several years. It is great to see and hopefully play a part in laying the foundation for that.

So this week at church we had 3 of the R boys! They are such a great family. Right now we have dates with those 3 for Dec 24! We are hoping to baptize their family on Christmas Eve, the Lord willing. How special would that be? Then they could be confirmed Christmas day :) The A family, who came last week, are still solid and we are going to meet with them this week. They are such a neat family as well. And then the 3rd amazing family we are working with is M & L! They are great. They weren't able to come to church yesterday because of their business. We were able to meet with them a couple times though this week, one of them where we helped put a table together and then read from the Book of Mormon together as a family at the newly assembled table. After that M, the head of the household, gave the closing prayer and did amazing! I love them so much. I love all of these people. They are becoming like family to me. I will be really excited for you guys to get to meet them all someday =]

Well, my time is almost up, but things are going great. Elder Mullen is such a blessing to be working with. He is a great guy and loves the work. He is exactly obedient, and very positive. I love it =] I am learning so much from him, one thing being to expect miracles daily. This is the Lord's work, you know ;)

A couple quick questions - Well, quick for me to ask =] I've just been thinking a lot about you Mom & Dad lately (and the siblings too =]) But I just want to know more about you! So these are some questions I have:

*What would you say are some of the gifts (as Elder Waddell talked about in Gen. Conf.) that you received from the Lord for serving your mission? How are they helping you in your lives today?

*How did you enjoy the MTC? What did you learn there?

*What did you do for schooling (college), and how did you decide what you wanted to do? Where all did you end up going, and for how long? What classes did you take and enjoy and would recommend?

*What is the whole story of you and Dad meeting and how did all of that play out?

*What can I do for you and the rest of the family to better love and serve you?

*What did you find/are you finding effective in member missionary work?

Ok, sorry =] I could go on. These are a great start though! I would love to just learn more about you, I feel like I really took for granted having such wonderful parents/family before the mission. I hope when I get back I don't overload you with questions and talking to you. So, in an effort to lessen that, I figured I'd start asking some of the questions now =] I love you!

I know the church is true =] God is so good and loving and merciful to us. He is in the details, as Sis. McNeill taught us in her homecoming talk. I love you all, keep on keeping on!

Elder Beckett + Lake Reams 4 EVR ;)

Hey Fam! Wow, this has seriously been such a miraculous week. SO many little miracles ha ha. It is great. I can't describe adequately the gratitude I have to the Lord for His goodness and mercy in my own life and all around us. Each day it's like we are just waiting on our toes with big smiles on our faces wondering, "What miracles will the Lord work today?"

I'll tell you one neat story real quick that happened this past fast Sunday, when Elder Jensen was still here. As you know, I was almost sure that I was going to be transferred. And, since it was the last testimony meeting before I was surely going to leave, I was thinking I'd better kind of give my farewell testimony to the ward. Well, fast and testimony meeting started, but I just wasn't feeling it. I had no idea why. I wanted to, and it made sense that I should, but I didn't feel like it. So, I sat there and waited, figuring it would come in a little bit; surely before the end of the meeting. Well, Elder Jensen got up and bore his testimony. Great... now I probably really wasn't going to; I didn't want the missionaries to take over the meeting and take away from the members. I never felt like I should that whole meeting, even though going into it I was planning on it. I was kind of confused and bummed out, feeling like I would be transferred and that was the last impression that I didn't leave on the ward. I prayed that night, and just told the Lord what I was feeling, and almost like I was a little disappointed in myself or something. Well, it didn't click until we found out who was actually getting transferred, Elder Jensen, and then it all made sense. Isn't it amazing how the Lord works through the feelings of the Spirit that we have? Even though things don't always make sense to us at the time, as we follow the Spirit I know we will be blessed and that things will work out for the best.

My new companion is Elder Michael James Mullen from Provo, UT. His dad is actually a stake president right now for a BYU stake. Elder Mullen is great! I love him a lot already and we have been so blessed by the Lord. We have found some great families this week, and the members have been helping us out SO much. The members are really starting to get on board here!

M, T & K & fam, and I all came to church yesterday =) It was like the perfect Sacrament meeting! Pres. & Sis. Hall spoke, and there was an incredible musical number. The Spirit was SO strong! I spoke too :) The members really reached out and befriended our friends, it was great. Wow, I almost feel like so much happened this past week that I can't fit it in this email. But, I'll tell what I can!

We have been making it a point to ask everyone for referrals. We knocked on a door we felt we needed to in an apartment complex. They weren't interested, but he said his friend might be in another building. We stopped by and talked to them, and the Mom came out to talk to us. She said we could come back. We came back, and ended up teaching those who were there, the father and his 2 sons. This is a family of 7 from Peru. Well, long story short, the R family we found out knows G! And also the father coaches soccer with a member of the bishopric here; and their sons play on the same team! We are going back this week to teach them :) What a great miracle.

Another miracle - we were able to teach T & K, an awesome family from England, at the church and take them on a church tour. Sister A & Sister S (they are sisters who know K) were there and it just went perfect! And same thing at church and all. The Lord is blessing us like crazy.

M is doing great, he is such an amazing guy. He just wants to do what is right for his family, and is leading out in learning about the church. We had the opportunity to do some service with him this week, and teach him more as well. He understands the BOM really well.

Well, I'd better go, but things are great! I'm doing awesome. Do you have any ideas/needs that I could help the family with for Christmas? I have been racking my brain and have no idea what to do :S What would be meaningful for you guys? We stopped by a Disney store here, but everything was like $10+ :/ Anyway let me know if there is anything specific you want or need, otherwise I'll just keep thinking and come up w/ something =] Mom you asked about me? I'm doing great, my blue pants are pretty faded. Maybe if you could just make sure I have some money on my card and I can get some cheap blue pants at a Ross or something here. That would be great! Oh, and Dad my car charger cord for the GPS broke :( I'm not even sure how.. I just looked at it one day and the end was munched up. If you could find a good deal on that.. but otherwise I don't need anything. Just prayers, letters, and some pics maybe :P I love you guys! Have a great week!

love, Elder Beckett

Craziness, Service, and Little Miracles

Hey familia!

Wow. First of all, good news! I am staying in Lake Reams at least one more transfer! The bad news is that... Elder Jensen is gone :( However, Elder Mullen will be coming, who is great! I love Elder Mullen and will be excited to work with him. I am so thankful for the time that I have had to serve with Elder Jensen. He will be one of my best friends for life! I have learned so much from him.

This has been a great week. We were able to teach M finally and set a baptismal date with him for Dec 4! We are excited for that. Unfortunately he wasn't able to go to church yesterday because he had to go to Miami for his work at the last second. However, his family is prepared to receive the restored gospel and so they will be good to go here pretty quick =] We had the opportunity to do some service for them the other week; just small stuff like change the smoke detector batteries, some light bulbs, and put in a lock on his door. It was a lot of fun, but at the same time built up a lot of trust! Serving others is one of my favorite parts of missionary work, and it is one of the best ways to actually show your investigators your love for them.

Unfortunately we haven't been able to get in contact with G :( We have been praying and fasting for her. She is a great lady, but we aren't quite sure what exactly her concerns are right now. We can't really help her with that unless we are at least able to meet with her. We aren't giving up just yet though :)

Saturday we had the opportunity to participate in a service project at the Buena Vista Palace Hotel with the Prader-Willi foundation. It was so much fun, and one of the best experiences ever! We got to help a bunch of people with this syndrome go through different activities and arts & crafts, obstacle courses, etc., while their families attended a conference. It was so fun to be able to cheer them on and help them just have the time of their lives! I really learned a lot more about just how much Heavenly Father loves each one of His children. You could feel it so much as we got to interact and help each of them through the different courses. I got to help out with the obstacle course, and there were a bunch of fun little things to go through like the "temple of doom" (a decorated little tunnel with fake snakes, ballons, etc.), the limbo, and some other things. A bunch of missionaries got to help out and it was a blast.

Yesterday I was feeling down because We had tons of our investigators bail on us for coming to church, we had some appointments fall through, and it was just a bummer. That night we were out doing some finding, and it seemed like nothing was going. Well, we stopped in the middle of the street and decided to have a prayer. We finished and went and talked to a lady we saw walking into her house. She ran in, slammed the door, locked it, and turned off her front porch light. Not quite prepared yet.

So, we went and talked to the next person we saw just a couple houses down who was walking in her house. It's kind of weird contacting people now that it's dark around 6 or 6:30, but that's why the Spirit is so important. We went up and talked to her and found out she had met with missionaries in the past. She was really nice (her name is M), but let us know that she wasn't interested in our message and her family had a church. Well, she was kind of going to leave to go inside, and then she offered us a drink. Normally I'm just like, "No thanks, I'm doing fine." or something like that (unless I'm dying of thirst ha ha..), but this time I felt (aka the Spirit told me) to say yes. I did and she invited us in and let us sit on her couch for a bit. Long story short we ended up talking to her and her husband for 45 mins or so about Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ, and their past experiences with the church. We were able to find out why they stopped investigating, and get a feel for where they are at now. And, best part, we are going back this Saturday to help them with some service =] Isn't the Lord great? I really have a testimony that if we seek to listen to the Spirit in our lives we will be able to hear those promptings better.

I love you all, and am so thankful for your prayers, examples, testimonies, and love! The gospel is true. I know it =)

I hope you enjoy the pics, I'll send you more soon! Love you tons!

love, Elder Andrew John Beckett

p.s. Dad & Mindy you should have letters coming this week (assuming I get it finished today... :P I should ;)

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! =]

Life's so good =]

Hey family! Hope you had a great week. I did here, we have been so very blessed. I'm short on time today, so sorry if it's not too detailed :P This week we had zone conference with Elder Larry W. Gibbons of the Seventy. It was such a great experience, and we all received tons of revelation on what we need to work on in the mission! We are going to be doing a lot more effective member-work and really focus more on establishing the church through real growth, rather than just helping people be baptized and that's it. We are going to focus more in depth on the doctrines of repentance, and enduring to the end. I learned so much from Elder Gibbons; it was great. Plus Elder Jensen & I in the role-play part of the conference got to practice teaching with him and his wife! It was pretty intimidating at first, but then we just decided to go for it, have fun, and learn as much as we could from him. It turned out wonderful.

I'll have to write more next week, but love you all! ANd yes mom, I did get letters from the primary a while back from Sis. Johnson.. I haven't written back or anything but please tell them thanks a bunch! I'm still way behind on letterse and all but I'm working on it. We never have time on P-days to do much anymore... but that's alright, I'm out here to work :) Love ya!

-Elder Beckett