Hello family & friends! Christmas is around the corner!! :)

We've had a lovely week.

Monday: Met up with a college gal and taught her an in depth Restoration and all she kept saying was "Holy cow, I just got chills..." She was so genuine. A true truth seeker. She's eating the gospel right up. AWESOME.

Later in the evening we helped miss Cwith some service and taught her the Restoration as well, she had some very good questions and we seemed to have addressed her concerns pretty well. :)

Tuesday: We drove to Minnesota for exchanges in Cottage Grove. I was able to spend the night in a MANSION. it was fun... It was neat being able to work with Sister Gessel for the day; we had the opportunity to tract in -10 degrees that evening. And she's just a cutie and I learned a lot from her.

Wednesday: We had our Christmas training with all the other missionaries. Ooooh man. I love those. They are so fun. As nervous as I was about spending the holidays here away from all familiarity, I know I'm gonna love it. I AM loving it. We had a wonderful lunch, (sat by Pres and Sister Clements who told us Sister Anderson aren't getting transferred:)) anddddd... watched 'Miracle' a real life movie... what the... that was too weird. Anyway, we had a good time! (I forgot my camera, so I'll send pics next week!)

Thursday: Back in Eau Claire... Did some service... cannot remember much...

Friday: Eau Claire ward Christmas Party. Sister Anderson and I decided last minute to do a little musical talent for the ward... We got Sister Cofax involved and what we came up with was fun! We all harmonized to 'Far Far Away on Judea's Plains' and then went straight into 'Angel's We Have Heard on High' and did it to the 'cup song' (it fit perfectly btw) and it was just sweet. I wish we would have recorded it. I think we will and send it to you sometime. :) But, point is, I'm singing in front of crowds now, happy? :)

We had 4 investigators come to the Christmas Party! They all seemed to really enjoy it! Lacey and I did the weird 'girl girl girl' voice in the tune of Jingle Bells for our talent, and everyone seemed to get a crack out of that one. :)

Saturday: We shoveled a LOT. I've got some buff biceps in the process...

Sunday: We had 3 investigators to church, they were all fellowshipped pretty well :) was fun... umm... oh, and then that night we had an appointment/service for our investigator C. She's the cutest thing in the world. Like 60's and she has a rough story as well... But we walked in the door, and she grabbed my arm, had me follow her to a room where she picked up a  button down shirt, told me to put it on and then gave me hair dye... Haha, so I dyed her hair... Not sure how appropriate that was... BUT I had a good time, and we were able to teach the Plan of Salvation afterward. "Ya know, the more and more I learn about this stuff, the more I am realizing that Mormon's aren't cults, and that I am wanting to be one." Whhhaaaaaaattttttt. Yes. Yes, C. You sure do.

So, it's been a great week. I just finished 3 Nephi today. I'm learning so much all the time. I'm seeing more clearly the blessing it has been to grow up in the Beeson family, to be raised by AWESOME parents and have the best siblings. You're all my favorite people. So so so so incredibly grateful for you all.

Welp, we get to Skype. It. UP. on Christmas! Whoooo! What time would be convenient for you? I was thinking evening-ish, but if morning is better, that works too. Just let me know asap and we'll chat next Wednesday! Rock onnnn.

Love you all. xoxoxoxoxo

-Sister B

Good morning, cuties!

Well, THIS is what the peeps meant by a cold winter. It's 0 today with windchill of like -20. Boo. I'm frigid. ALL the time. I walk outside for two seconds and my face feels like it's on fire. It hurts so bad! I don't have good gloves or hat yet, so I'm gonna have to buy those today. My boots are AMAZING though. Oh man, love em. But yes, Buzz, be careful driving in the snow. It's scary here. All the roads iced over overnight, and now it's just slippery everywhere, and we have to drive to Minnesota tomorrow! I'm the designated driver, so I'll be careful, promise :)

I got your Christmas packages!!!!! THANK YOU! :D I was having a rough day when they arrived and couldn't contain myself, so I opened the one from Santa (ADORABLE pj's..that fit!... meaning length-wise...I'm not that fat--yet.) and the CUUUUUUUTE polka dot dress! AHH. Love. I'm gonna wear it this Wednesday to our Zone Conference. Then on Christmas Sunday how you'd want me to, mom. :) Love you, and thanks! I'm saving the package from the fam to open that on Christmas. I also got the package from Nonna/Grace and other fam members. Sooooo nice! I feel like I'm home with the DoTerra and caramelized graham crackers. Thank you tons and tons! And I got a THIRD package from the cutie Bushman fam! Oh my word. Made my day. They are too good to me. It was filled with all my favorite things. :) 

Well, after I got done emailing you all last week, we got a phone call from our church building..random... and it was some chick named Angie and she needed 'help.' We went over to the church, and met this Angie chick, and she just balled when she saw us, she cried and cried.

Our first question was... How in the world did she get into the building..?!

She told us that she hit her 'rock bottom' and that she was walking to the closest church nearby, and she came across our church. Supposedly, almost every other church, you can walk in there and just pray, right? Well, that's what she was going to do. She pulled on the handle of the LDS church door, and it was miraculously opened! What the...

She needed somebody to talk to, so she found a bulletin board, and there were papers everywhere, and she just called the first person she saw on a paper. It was Sister Peterson... Then Sister Peterson called us, and that's how it all happened. 

Well, Angie's story is wayyyyy too long. But lets just say she has gone through the wringer. She wants help. She wants to know God. She wants to come to church. She wants to learn. She wants to be baptized. 

Isn't Heavenly Father the best for bringing HER (who is struggling with life) to US (who are struggling finding people)?! Love it.

We've been working with her for a little bit, and I'll give you an update next week with the events that'll happen this week. :)

Then after P-day last week (when the snow REALLY started to crank down), we went to our recent convert Hailie's house, to visit her L.A. mom, and we were there for...about 5 minutes, when Sister H was having a severe allergic reaction. Her eyes got super dilated, and she broke out in a sweat and said her throat was closing up. I ran into the kitchen and got a cold wet rag and patted her face with it, and she told Hailie to call 911, Hailie freaked out, gave the phone to me, I called, and within 3 minutes they were there. They took Sister H out on a stretcher, and Sister Anderson and I were left with Hailie, her siblings and two screaming little twin boys in a house in middle of a snow blizzard. Quite the scenario. 

Needless to say, we were able to break a few rules (for the better) and I WAS ABLE TO HOLD A BABY. Best moment of my life. That's really the whole point of this story... anyway, Sister H is fine now, and all is well. Umm... Things are still progressing. Transfers are next week. I think Sister Anderson and I will stay put on where we are. I get to talk to you all soooo soon!! Cannot wait. 

Tell Grayson CONGRATS!!! That's so awesome! I'm proud of him. When does he leave?

Also, I got a mini package in the mail (I was stoked) opened it with a huge grin, annnnnd... it was string.

Lol. Want me to mail it back to you?

I love you all. Pray hard for miracles. They are EVERYWHERE. 

xoxo Sister Beeson

Something brief that I wanted to point out that I learned in my studies this week:

I was reading about 'fasting' in the BD, and about mid way through, it says that the day of the Atonement took place on the 7th month of the 10th day (I believe)July 10th. Interesting huh? Did you know that? Me either.

Umm... Things are still progressing. Transfers are next week. I think Sister Anderson and I will stay put on where we are. I get to talk to you all soooo soon!! Cannot wait.

Tell Grayson CONGRATS!!! That's so awesome! I'm proud of him. When does he leave?

Also, I got a mini package in the mail (I was stoked) opened it with a huge grin, annnnnd... it was string.

Lol. Want me to mail it back to you?

I love you all. Pray hard for miracles. They are EVERYWHERE. 

xoxo Sister Beeson

Good morning, lovelies.

We've got a lot going today, so I'll make today's email brief, again.

We are teaching P and L. (Mom and daughter)

L lives in a foster home and gets to move back with her mom in January, so we only see her on the weekends IF that.

We've been teaching P, and she is the one who is flying through the Book of Mormon and who's countenance is legitimately changing. Yet, she doesn't have a baptism date because she is wanting to completely lay off her addictions before she commit to baptism. She doesn't want to let God down. 

Her daughter L, wants to be baptized soooo bad. She hasn't been keeping any commitments though. But we've been working with her, and she has a date set for January 18th.

WELLLL. This week (past few days) was a GAME.CHANGER. Earlier in the week, we taught them the Plan of Salvation, and the daughter was on her phone the whole time, and mom's eyes were 'tired.' It was a wreck. We left the appointment discouraged and bummed.

We went to the Napolitano's (ward mission leader&wife) and then Sister Napolitano came up with a genius idea for our next lesson.

A couple of days later we went to our investigators. We focused the lesson around daughter rather than the mom. We really put into L's mind how important baptism is. It's not something you do, then go back to old habits again. It's life changing. It's continual progress. So, we got out a white board and wrote, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" She'd write things down. "What changes do you need to make now to get there?" She'd write more. She was getting pumped, I could tell. Then, we realllllllly emphasized how Satan attacks righteous women by hurting their self-esteem. He'll do anything in his power to make you feel 'not good enough' 'not smart enough' 'not pretty enough'. So, we put on the board, "What if's"... "What if someone on Facebook told you you're stupid for joining the Mormon church?" "What if you have the sudden urge to smoke?" "What if your friends pressured you to do something you knew wasn't right?" Things like that. Well, that helped her A LOT. And at the end we gave her a picture of the St. Paul temple and told her that that is her goal. She was BEAMING. It was awesome.

She and her mom came to church that Sunday (yesterday)--fast and testimony meeting. Everyone was bearing their testimonies, and all of a sudden L turned to me and said, "I'm going up." She stood up, walked to the pulpit, and said something along the lines of: "Hey. I'm L. Um... I've never been up here before, but I just wanna say that I'm thankful for God.   We have been reading chapters of the Book of Mormon together, and since I've been doing that, so many people have been telling me that I'm glowing, and I think I am too. My eyes look bluer. I used to cut, but now I don't, the Book of Mormon is changing things in my life, and I feel closer to God... and...yeah. In Jesus' precious name, amen." 

It was AMAZING. Such a sincere, heartfelt testimony that touched many people in the congregation, so when those who followed L's testimony, all thanked L for her words in their testimonies. After sacrament meeting, people kept coming up to her and telling her how wonderful her testimony was and how it touched them. And, to put the cherry on top of this story, P and L have a family friend named __ who, after every lesson, would call P and tell her that everything we were teaching her was"BS'. UGH. P would believe him, and then things would cause problems, etc. But yesterday, _ gave P and L his little 'shpeel' and they responded to him in a completely different way telling him to cut it out and that they believe what they believe... (they kinda chewed him out) and guess what? He had no words. ROCK OOOOOOOONNNNNNNN. P and L are getting it!!!! I'm so happy. :D

So that's the fun news. I'm so happy to be here! I can't believe I'm home in less than a year. I have a little missionary card that says my time being a missionary expires on November 26, 2014... AH. no. :(

Well, I hope I didn't bore you outta your minds. I love you all. So much.

Talk to you in 23 days :D :D :D

xoxoxoxox

-Sister B

HIIIII! Holy cow I feel like I haven't talked to you people foreverrrr. Well, we only have an hour to email today since today won't count as our 'p-day'... that'll be on Thanksgiving :) Which, by the way, we're havingg Thanksgiving at the Ness's house... I met them a couple weeks ago.. It'll be fun! Haha so I won't make this letter too too long. 

Oh my gosh! I ADORED all of the pictures you've sent. You're all soooooo beautiful. Everyone looks so much older, it freaked me out. Jack is the one that has changed the most... Andy looks bigger too! Claire is a gorgeous skinny minny and Buzz looks like he could grow a beard. You're all so handsome!

Well, we had a baptism!! Whooooo. M:) She's 19 and has a hubby and baby... cutest people in the world. Love them to death. Her baptism was in English/and Spanish, it was special (gave me a tiny taste of the ATM ;)) 

I'm sleeping a lottttt better, I'm happy, Heavenly Father is the best. We set a goal to get 3 investigators to church yesterday, and Saturday night, one of our investigators was going out of town, another got sick, and another dropped us :( bam bam bam. Our goal got shot dowwwn. 

So. We prayed. Hard. And we didn't know how it would be possible, but we both felt we'd have 3 investigators to church. After ward council, we were sitting in the foyer about an hour before church started, and there were 2 young gals... we introduced ourselves and they said they were doing a project for school and our church was the closest to campus, so they decided to come here.... well, we grabbed some pamphlets out of our car, and came back in, when there was another young girl. So we sat down with theses 3 gals, taught them the Restoration, and got 3 return appointments: BAM BAM BAM! We reached our goal..See? Heavenly Father is greeeeat!

We've met some wonderful people this week, and cannot wait to teach them!

My companion has such a good heart, and I'm thankful for her.

I didn't get the pics of Indiana! Send again? 

Anyway, thanks for being so wonderful... all of you. Miss you all!!!!

Talk to you in a month.... WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT. :D

XOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXO ELIZA

Hi hi hi!

This week was better. Thanks for your encouragement and prayers. I am Sister Fisher-less! The ball is in my court. I'm glad I have Sister Anderson to help me out though. She's a cutie. She is 6'1!!!! I've NEVER served with anyone taller than me! She is from Idaho and is 21. She's great!

Umm... I honestly don't have much to say this week, I'm freaking out a bit that I'm in charge, but I keep praying and the Lord is the best comforter.

Sad news... Our investigator P broke up with us yesterday at church :( I cried. She was doing AMAZING! She has been investigating the church for 7 years, so I was sure this was her time to bloooom! She has been reading the Book of Mormon chapter after chapter, and there is a legitimate change... physical change... I can see it in her face! I have never witnessed that before!!! It has been incredible. She committed to baptism on January 18th with her daughter, but out of the blue yesterday, she told us she is done. She doesn't want to get baptized. She refuses to give up coffee and go to church for 3 hours. NOOOOO. Ugh. My heart literally shattered; I really have felt the love that our Heavenly Father has for His daughter P

We have a baptism this week, for M

:) we are soooo excited! She is so ready. Please keep her in your prayers :)

The week has been good, getting the hang of things all over again.

 

TELL me about finals!!! How did you all like Indi? I've been there twice.... bahhhhhhhhhhh... so fun huh?! Any BTR's? I want some updates, people.

I love you all. Keep on keepin' on. Talk to you in a month. :)

<3 Sister B

Miracles...Miracles

Our investigator H was BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! It was a beautiful service. Her mom is re-activating, and one of her siblings is not a member, and the other is, but really doesn't want anything to do with the church, and then of course, the two cute 18 mo. old twin boys :) Well, her whole family came to support her on the day of her baptism!!! It was wonderful. The spirit was so strong. It was neat because, like all of the YW came to support her, a ton of the leaders and other ward members as well. Hailie's mom gave the opening prayer, and I have never wanted to hear a prayer on repeat except hers! It was absolutely amazing. We had 2 of our investigators there (a mother and daughter), and afterwards, they both just break down crying, and the daughter said, "I'm ready. I want to be baptized." It was AMAZING. I'll send you some pics. :)

 

I wanted to share with you a miracle that happened yesterday. Sister Fisher and I had not taught any Restoration Lessons throughout the week plus we had to set things up for the baptism, etc. it was just crazy! So, we planned a two hour block for us to tract last night. Boo. It was so cold, so we went to one of the few apartment buildings in Eau Claire. We knocked on a couple people's doors, and amazingly, they were willing to listen to the message of the Restoration, so our night was off to a lovely start. We headed over to another apartment building, and knocked all the doors except one, and we started heading out the door to another building. This is where it gets good! Family: I can honestly tell you that I have never had the Spirit direct me so clearly like it did last night. As we were heading out the door, the Spirit whispered, "Knock on the door." We did. There was barking and a lady opened the door. We introduced ourselves, as she did to us. Her name was Wilma. We started talking to Wilma, and she suddenly interuppted us by saying, "Um... I'm not very comfortable talking to people I don't know" So, Sister Fisher got out a pamplet and handed it to her for her to keep, and while Wilma and Sister Fisher were talking, the Spirit whispered something else. It said, "Look at her dog." Look at her dog? Ok... well, her door was cracked open just a little so how was I supposed to see the dog? As my comp was talking to Wilma, I felt like an idiot, but I crouched down as smoothly as I could, trying to not look like a creep, and through the little space between her legs, I saw her dog, Star, who looked JUST. LIKE. HAPPY. Only difference: 10 llbs heavier. I interuppted the conversation between the two and said, "Oh! I love your dog! I have a dauchund (sp?) at home too!" Instantly, Wilma and I went from complete strangers to BFF's. She opened the door widely and smiled and told me I could pet her. As I kept petting her, again, the Spirit said "Keep talking about her dog" so, I did. And soon enough Wilma said in a Nonna voice, "Oh, come on in." We walked into her tidy apartment, and there was a gal sitting on the couch with her father. We all started talking a bit, and then out of no where, Wilma said, "Hey, my niece got baptized yesterday, you might know her... her name is H." H?! "We're the missionaries that have been teaching H!" What a small world. As we kept talking, I kept looking at Wilma's daughter and was wondering where I have seen her before, she looked so familiar. I finally made the connection that earlier in the week, we were at H's home helping clean clean clean before their home inspection, and right as we were headed out the door, and 3 person family walked into H's home with KFC. It was H's family! Funny, huh? Well, we start talking about religion, and Wilma was like, "I've been forced into religion my whole life, and I vowed that I'd NEVER do that to my children." So, we turned to her daughter, Tiffany, and asked what her stance is on religion, what she believes, etc. She told us that she is open to anything. "Can we share a quick message with you?" "Of course, come see my room." We sat in Chelsie's room. Taught her the Restoration. Invited her to be baptized, and she accepted. WHAAAAAT?! Huge miracle. Heavenly Father is the best.

 

Well, I'm gonna have to leave soon, transfers are this Wednesday, I've got sooo much to do today. I'll be serving with Sister Anderson. Don't know who she is! Hmm... I'm excited though. Also, Sister Schwartz took over Med Lake!!! Where J and D

Eliza and Elder Tubbs from American Fork, representing us well!

live!!! AHHHH cool huh? I'm so happy. :) Anyway, I love love love you all and hope the week is spectacular. xoxox

Sister Beeson

ps. Anything for Christmas is fine ;) I just can't wait to SKYPE

PSS.. I got your Halloween package... THANK YOU I LOVED IT!:)

Wet in Wisconsin!

I'm sure it's been a crazy busy week with Regionals and all. How was it? Thanks for the pics! Looks like it was a blast. Everyone looks SO good. You are all so beautiful. 

It has been quite the week for me as well!

We have a 12 year old investigator named 'H'... she is soooo funny. Her life is rough. Really rough already.

Her mom is a champ. She was baptized a couple years ago, but has kind of fallen off the deep end. She has 5 kiddies, 3 of them from different dads... The two teenagers are sooo rebellious and absolutely RUDE to her. It breaks my heart. 'H' is getting to that rebellious stage, but we've been teaching her and she is making SO many changes. It's amazing. There are also 18 month old boy twins. Her house just smells like smoke, it's a disaster, and she has a house inspection coming up tomorrow. Us and the Elders have been working our butts off to make things tidy...or as tidy as they can be. :/ BUT... point is: 'H' has been taught for a while, and she is getting baptized this Saturday! The Saturday before Sister Fisher leaves. :( But we are so so so excited for her. She is being an amazing example to her family at such a young age... She has grown up drinking coffee and breaking the sabbath, and other commandments, but she is making these changes and helping her mom make them too. It's awesome.

Earlier in the week, we had a 48 hr exchange in Cottage Grove, MN and Zone Training the next day, which meant we'd be out of our area for 3ish days! AHHH. Terrifying. Cottage Grove was... good. I worked with Sister Breedlove for the day. She's a doll. We are practically twins. I have never worked with someone who is my exact height, who isn't physically fit in the slightest, and who has my same eye color. Haha... Well, we biked. All day. In the rain. It was about 30ish degrees. I will neverrrr forget that. Haha... We walked up the 'Stairs of Death' with our bikes, then once we started riding, Sister B's chain fell off, we had to fix that... We biked to multiple people's houses, no one was home and people were telling us to get out of the rain and into a car... we biked up sooo many HUGE hills, and then she had a phone call to make to the ZL's so we looked for some shelter outside. We found a park, dug up a little hole under the playground, and sat in it with our hoods on while it was still drizzly and freeeezing. It was great. :) And as luck would have it, 2 out of our 3 appointments canceled, so we tracted most of the day. We tracted a ton the night before Halloween, it was SOOOO foggy. Pretty spooky. It was cool, because we knocked on a door and a lady with an accent opened it. SHE WAS FROM SCOTLAND! Tender mercy or what? I was blessed to have got a brief taste of what Elder Beeson's mission was like. She just talked and talked and talked and TALKED. I told her that my dad served there, and that he said it always rains. She did some sort of interjection that I can't type out, (the noise you make when you recite Jabez) basically, 'pfft' and said to tell my dad that he is WRONG. Haha... weird. Anyway, a thought came into my mind as she was talking. Dad emailed me a few weeks ago talking about the things President McConkie would tell his missionaries, and one of them was "Make Hell's bells ring: read the Book of Mormon." I remember dad told me that the average for any missionary was two baptisms in the entire two years. President McConkie told the missionaries that they were not to carry their Bibles. So. I interrupted her rambling, got a Book of Mormon out of my bag, and said, "Kathrine. We knocked on your door this evening to share this special book with you." I went on by giving her background of what the book was, and testified that that is the reason I am here and that I know it is true. Well, she interrupted (again) haha and I guess she supposedly had met with the missionaries a long time ago and actually knew quite a bit. That was interesting. But it was just such a cool experience to be in 'Scotland' for 40 minutes. :)

Halloween was fun. We weren't allowed to tract, but we had sooo much tupperware to return, so we did that, and got a lot of candy out of it ;) One last thing, then I'll stop: Sister Fisher and I went tracting this week and met a Hmong family. A beautiful gal named 'G' and she speaks pretty decent English, but her husband and 3 children don't. She has hardly ANY Christian background. It was really hard to put things that are so natural to me into simple terms, like: baptism, prophets, commandments, and even Jesus! But, we got a return appt with her, and we knocked on her door, and she was totally expecting us, pulled out two chairs immediately, and we had a wonderful discussion. We're seeing her again tonight with the Elders (one of them speaks Hmong so he'll help translate.) Anyway, it's just something so different for me. I'm excited to simplify. It'll help me personally more than anything.

WELLLL. I love you all. Sister Fisher leaves in a week-ish. Then I take over Eau Claire. AHHHHH freaking out a bit. Everyone absolutely LOVES her. It's gonna be quite the loss for Eau Claire. Anyway. Take care everybody. I'll talk to ya in a month :) whoo! xoxo

Love, Sister Beeson

P.S. I never got your Halloween package. My heart is broken </3 Did you Fed-ex it? That could be the problem...

P.S.S. My hands look like Claire's: SOOOO DRY and cracky. I'd love some Doterra for Christmas. (Wow, did I seriously just wish that?)

P.S.S.S. I don't sleep. Sister Fisher and I came to the conclusion that I have insomnia. I had an interview with President the other day and he asked me if I have 'a sense of urgency for the work' I told him I want to, I hope to think I do.

LOVE YOU!

Mom! I can't even believe I am about a 1/3 way done either! It's freaking me out, actually. This transfer is over half way done and I feel like I just BARELY left Med Lake. WHERE IS TIME GOING?

 

I'm glad you had a fun Halloween party. Know what I'm gonna be doing on Halloween? TRACTING. Mhmm. That's right. :D candy galore. I haven't gotten your package yet :( can't wait for it!!!! I'm also feeling a lot better, thanks.

Congrats on the Timp Show! 

 That is HILARIOUS about dad. I read that to my comp and we laughed ahaha

Soooo... A couple things:

-This cutie 62 yr old lady in my ward, Sister D is leaving on a mission in a month, and her step daughter, E is also leaving for her mission in a couple weeks (E is 19 too and going to Germany, she comes JT with us all the time, we're like BFF's.) Well, Sister D bought E some fleece tights, and they're very good quality, and so she just barely texted me offering to buy me a pair or two! 

How nice! People are so thoughtful down here. 

-I bought my heavy-duty $180 coat. :/ ahhh pricey!!!! It's sooo worth it though.

-I spoke in church yesterday, and it went well! I'll mail you my talk later today :)

This week has been great! We are trying to get 2 of our investigators baptized before Sister Fisher leaves! Please keep M in your prayers that she will get her marriage license soon, and He for her to keep her commitments! 

 

The power of prayer is incredible, that is what I have really learned this week. Every lesson taught, every person we visited, most topics in church were ALL about prayer. I love the quote on prayer by Gordon B. Hinckley and Howard W. Hunter in Preach my Gospel (pg 95). Put Claire in charge of FHE and have her plan around those two quotes. There is also a prayer evaluation that I take often. It's awesome! Let me know what you think. :)

I am healthy. I am happy. I am helping my companion to not freak out about leaving in 2 weeks. :( I'm so sad! She's been so great. We get along really well. Anyway, I hope you're all doing great. Miss you all!!! Love love love you! 

ps. my comp is wondering how you started your 'voice overs' and being on the radio. She has a GREAT voice and I told her she'd be good at it, and so she wants to know. Because she is freaking out about what to do with her life in 2 weeks. haha. 

LOVE YOU!

<3LIZA

Sick...yuck!

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! J AND D ARE GETTING MARRIED?!?!?! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME!!!! I feel like I'm out of the bubble down here in Eau Claire! Oh my heck. I started screaming I'm so happy!!!! :):):):)

Ok, wait, who did Buzz go to Sadie Hawkins with? I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING.

Soooo... I won't take too much time. BUT. It was a good week.

*I am addicted to milk. Yes, me. Eliza. WHAAAAT? I drink glasses and glasses of it all the time. It must taste different or something down here. And the butter. And cheese. Great. See ya when I'm 500 llbs. 

*I was pretty sick this week. I had a fever, I was dizzy and nauseous... The Elders gave me a blessing, and my ward mission leaders wife took care of me :) Sister Napolitano. She's the best. She took my temp, bought me some sprite and applesauce and called multiple times a day to check up. We weren't able to leave the house from Friday night until this morning :/ ugh. Not fun. 

*I'm getting a cold sore. Yippee! 

*I'm gonna go buy my hefty coat in about an hour, soooo... I justed wanted you to know that... I hope I have enough in my account, because I have to get it regardless. There are already flurries in the air! :/

This week we met with a sister, a convert . She invited us over for some apple pie. She shared her story. It KILLED me. Absolutely killed me. 

I won't go into too much detail just for the sake of you not to ball your eyes out, but when she was 3, her parents sold her for prostitution, and according to her, she remembers, as a 3 year old, praying to God to have her parents stop doing what they were doing. What struck me was how did she even know who God was? She was only 3, and her parents obviously didn't teach her anything about her Father in Heaven. From day one, she just seemed to have been so in tune with the other side. 

Anyway, she went into detail how absolutely horrible she was treated until she got married when she was 27--to an abusive husband. Her life has been horrible from the get-go. 

She is now living in a nursing home, she's only in her 50's but, she is so beat up and has so many health problems that she isn't able to properly care for herself. But she said with the most sincerity, "Life is the best it has EVER been." 

I cried and cried and cried when she shared this with us. It really put into perspective for me how BLESSED I have been. I know that you, mom and dad, would say that to us kiddies constantly growing up: "Do you know how blessed we are?" our replies, "Uh-huh." Well, I really really understand, more than ever now, how BLESSED I am to have grown up in the loving arms of Sam and Sarah Beeson. I really cannot thank my Heavenly Father enough. I can't thank you and dad enough. 

I am speaking this Sunday on a favorite General Conference talk. I'll email/mail it to you next week. Until then, have a lovely week. I think of you all very often and pray and pray and pray for you. Loves. 

xoxo.

Sister Beeson

Yeah, I never want to be sick again without my mom. That was tough. But, Sister Napolitano is Grandma Gaye to the T!!! So that was nice.

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 I'm so glad you all made a 'get away.' Fall break always seems to come when you need it most. How is dad? I've been worrying about him lately. Us missionaries talked to the Eau Claire bishop yesterday, and he just looked like he had SO much on his plate; I couldn't help but think about dad. You're the PERFECT companion for him, mom. He wouldn't be able to do what he is doing without your love and support--GUARANTEED.

Well, this week just FLEW by. I feel like my mission is going faster and faster--just like people would always tell me. We had a BAPTISM! My first! I don't know if it really counts since I only taught them once, but hey. :) M and A got a knock at the door December 2012-- the month I opened my call! And here they are, a year later, members of the church. :) It was a beautiful baptism, and Sister Fisher and I did a musical number (arrangement of 'I am a Child of God') it went well! 

Something that I have noticed since being here in Eau Claire is that I feel a LOT more in tune with the Spirit.. I don't know what has happened, but I find myself in lessons with words literally flying out of my mouth that I know for a FACT is not Eliza. It's suuuuper cool. 

Also... every district meeting, we role play. I HATE roleplaying with everything inside me. Why? Because the feedback I ALWAYS get is, "BOLD BOLD BOLD! BE MORE BOLD!" and it has always made me feel like a crappy missionary. BUT.

This week, my first district meeting in Eau Claire, we roleplayed. And I decided to take the advice I have been getting for the past 5 months and put it to action. 

I roleplayed extending a bold invitation to be baptized, and to attend church to an Elder who I came out with. He went first, and did awesome. I went next and was nervous--because of my past roleplaying experiences. BUT I did it. And I realized that whole 'words-flying-out-of-my-mouth' thing again. He looked at me after the roleplay and was SHOCKED. He kept saying how amazing I did and how he felt the Spirit so strong and loved how bold I was. WHAAAAT?! That made me feel like a hundred bucks. ( I'm not trying to brag, but it's just awesome how much the Spirit has overcome my words!) 

I met someone who is related to an A.F. friend here. President Squires is related to Jennifer Squires (the gal who was in the little graduate group who attended the temple and did little mission lessons together) so that was cool! The ward is different, it's good. Just different. I'm still pretty homesick from Med Lake, but Eau Claire is slowly growing on me. :) 

One last thing: In March, Sister Fisher and her previous companion, Sister Cartwright tracted the apartment buildings that we currently live in before they lived in them. They met a gal named K who didn't come off too interested. She was nice, but definitely didn't want to listen. Well, a little while later, the sister's moved in and became neighbors with K! They were always so nice to her, and so she'd even come by and visit them on occasion. Well, these sister's started to do 'teaching evaluations' (practice teaching lessons) with K. The more practice lessons they did, the more K felt the Spirit. She said every church she has attended has not given her the 'structure' she wants/needs. When the sister's committed her in their practice lesson to keep the Word of Wisdom, she did. When they asked her to read chapters out of the Book of Mormon, she did. She is CHANGING. She had a REALLY rough past, but through keeping these commitments, she is noticing the changes in her life and has decided to devote her life to God. Although we are K's friends and neighbors, we notice that she recognizes us as true representatives of Jesus Christ and as people she can trust.  We are teaching her about the Law of Chastity tonight, soooo... wish us luck! :) 

I'm learning to love being here. It's so different, but it's something that I'm coming to understand how much I NEED to be here. Serious.

I love you all so much! Stay warm and happy! 

xoxoxo

Love, Sister Eliza

Saying goodbye to the family I lived with...they even gave me a Minnesota T-shirt:)

 

Eliza saying goodbye to Grandma GG

Saying Goodbye to some special investigators that I have grown to love

Wiscooooooonsin Cheese!

FAMILY:

Well well well. 

I'm here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It could be compared to the Twilight Zone. It really is the WEIRDEST here... I have an odd feeling, not sure why.

Wisconsin:

-Bagged milk.

-Cheese curds (squeaky kind)

-Lawn ornaments.

-Black and white squirrels.

-No Liberians :'(

WHERE AM I?
My companion's name is Sister Fisher. She is from California and is the youngest, and has 6 weeks left of the mish! CRAZY. She is very nice.  She reminds me of Rachel Young, actually.

 

The area is huuuuge. We drove an hour to go teach a gal named Monse. She and her boyfriend speak mainly spanish. So, it's interesting teaching lessons. I'm gonna get my espanol down. :)

How I said, there are hardly any Liberians, which absolutely BREAKS my heart. But the diversity is still pretty big. TONS of Hmong people and Mexicans. I literally feel like I'm in a whole new world. I'm homesick for Minnesota </3 :( But I know I am supposed to be here.

 

My companion isn't allowed to drive because she got in a wreck a few months ago and so she got her driving priviledge taken away. Sooo... I drove from Minnesota to Wisconsin! 2.5 hour drive.

We have an amazing ward mission leader: Brother and Sister Napalitano (TOTAL New Yorkers. LOVE.)

We have a progressing family, and they just got married yesterday and are getting baptized Saturday! :)

Loved conference SO much. It really is so amazing to be here on my mission at this time when we are inching and inching closer to the second coming of our Savior!

We've met plenty of people who have hard hearts and closed minds to receiving the Restoration message.

One instance in particular: Saturday, after conference, we headed out to go see a few potentials. It starts sprinkling, and was SO cold, and we see a family outside of their car with umbrellas and raincoats just standing there. They locked their keys in their car, and were waiting for help. So, perfect opportunity to share the Gospel:) we started chatting, and this man and wife knew 'everything about our religion'--don't you hate it when people tell you what you believe? Well, it came to the point where I could do nothing BUT bear sincere testimony of Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon and telling him that Heavenly Father loves him. It bothered me that I didn't really have the chance to say everything I wanted to, but hey... I planted a seed, right? We walked away, and it POURED hard. core.

It's definitely gotten to the 'no turning back for warmth' weather. It's chilly. And I got my boots, so thanks mom!

Also got the CUTEST nicest package from Bushmans. I appreciate all the letters and packages, peeps. Thanks from the bottom of my heart!

I love you all and I am praying for all of you everyday. I miss you like CRAZY.

We get to talk in 2 months. :) whoo!

xoxo

also, yes. the relief society broadcast. I died. SOOOO good. I cried a bit. I LOVE this church. Is it true or WHAAAAT.

Hey fam bam!

I know that I say every week is a roller coaster week, but this week was a legit roller coaster week. Monday night, President calls us and said "what would happen to your area/investigators if you left them for a little bit?" "umm... they'd still be solid" "ok, then pack your bags for 8 days, Sister Beeson, you're headed to Bloomington for the week and will be in a Tripanionship with Sister Pead and Sister Edstrom. Sister DuBrueler, you're going to Eden Prairie with Sister Mansfield."

WHAT THEEEE.

So, pretty much that was Sister D's and my last day working together. :'(  because we found out transfers today. soooo sadddd!!! I was really upset. We both were. BUT! It has been fun! We've biked a ton, we had a baptism, and I fell in love with the ward! :)  We were teaching this less active lady who is OBSESSED with breaking the Law of Chastity, so we came up with the idea of getting pictures of Jesus and temples and huuuuge posters with scriptures on there so that she wouldn't have that temptation anymore. Annnnd, so far, it has worked!

I can't hold it in. ahhhh... I'm leaving Med Lake!!! :'( I'm gonna cry. I'm leaving Janelle and Dustin and the boys!!!!!! :( OUUUUCH. I'm headed 2 hours away. To Wisconsin. What the heck. In a place called Eau Claire.(claire...yay:)) kay, see ya.

AHHHH I really am so so so so so sad :( my companion will been Sister Fisher who leaves after this transfer... I heard she's a doll, so that's good.:)

Buuuut, I really can't focus on anything besides the fact that I'm leaving Med Lake and I'm freaking out and I have to drive 40 minutes back to med lake to pack, back to bloomington, and then 2 hours to wisconsin. OH MY LANTA. Missions are too weird. my life can change within 48 hours.

Anyway, glad MB season is going well. I wanna see the show DANGIT. Mom, don't ever hashtag again. hahahaha miss you all and love you. Until next week, my lovelies. :)

Look what I found!! My brothers would LOVE this!

This turtle and Eliza both have something in common...they're both coming out of their shells!

Mom...  Dad is the best. And you're the best. I love you both so much for doing the RIGHT THING. For doing those simple little but HUGE commandments. You're both great great missionaries.

You like football? What the... So does my companion. She's dying. Football season/Halloween/her birthday, it's all her fav.

So this week has been a roller coaster, and I apologize for being a downer last week. I sometimes feel like my world has crashed and burned one day, and then couldn't be better the next. Missions are the weirdest.

Wednesday we had our Zone Training, and that went well. We also had our interviews with President, and that went well also... it's always SO nice to see other missionaries. It's funny that I love them about just as much as you guys even though I've known these people for only 5 months. Can you believe I'm coming up on my 5 month mark?! Weiiiiird. Well, all the missionaries seem to be having it really rough. Whether it's their area, or their companion, or discouragement, or whatever. I'm so blessed to be in Medicine Lake (President claimed to be the best ward of the whole mission) with Sister D. She's so great. I really have lucked out, so I'm worried to find out next week about transfers! It's already here again. I can't believe it.

Well, J and D and their boys are still progressing. Really, the only thing that is holding them back is J's divorce that they're still working out. We had a lesson with them on Tuesday with the H's. I think I've talked to you about the H's before but a LONG time ago. I met them the first week of my mission on exchanges and this couple is amazing. Well, they found the church last year, and got baptized this past February, and LOVE the church. They are so active, so missionary minded, and are just the best people in the world. President told us that we needed to have them come to the 'move out until the divorce is final because you're breaking the law of chastity' lesson with us. They did. And they even offered D to stay at their home until they get married, etc. They're so great. J and D are still figuring things out though with the boys.

So, we taught them the Restoration. We watched the Joseph Smith movie, and afterwards, I bore my testimony. And balled. J was emotional as well. The Spirit was SO strong.

Thennn...Yesterday they came to church, DRESSED UP for the first time! That may seem dumb, but that was a huuuuge step. They've worn street clothes every Sunday for weeks and weeks, but this kind of showed a sign of their commitment. Their boys participated in the Primary Program!! And then we had a 'Linger Longer' (don't you love MN?) after Church and J even brought a salad. So, they definitely loveeee the church, it's just the divorce that's holding them back. I love them with all my HEART!!!!

Sorry, I feel like this email is super boring and scattered. Umm... yeah, anyway, Sister D. and I worked our TAILS off this week. Harder than I have ever worked. It was great. Our goal is to be exhausted by the end of each day, and I really really am.

I love you all! I'll send a couple pics. Have a fantastic week and know that you're in my thoughts and prayers and that I love you!!!!
xoxooxoxxooxoxox

Eliza

Hard Times ....sigh

Hey!! I miss you!

Ugh. This week has been TOUGH. Ehh... more like that past 24 hours. Sister D and I have been crying like we've just gone through a bad break up. We've got the roll of toilet paper in our room, and we have lots of chocolate, and... we've only got each other. This is soooo tough. Good thing I had absolutely no idea how hard this would be before I came out here!!!

 

But! It's fine. Our week was pretty decent.

 

J and D and their fam were SUPPOSED to get baptized on the 28th this month.

BUT.

I was on exchanges with Sister Mansfield on Friday when we went to their house, and we were just doing kind of a huge follow up/'see where they're at' lesson, and bad news. 

J's divorce could possibly take MONTHS.

  But D wants a Spring wedding, and things are just kind of going down.

 Zone Leaders called, they were bugged, District Leader called, President called last night telling us we need to talk to them tonight and tell them to separate until the divorce is final. It's just been one thing after another, and Sister D and I just feel like we're doing everything WRONG. 

 

 When I was on exchanges with her, the first person we dropped by to see was Larry and Bev (I sent a pic of me and Bev a while ago) And when I got to Bev's room, everything was moved out. Her name wasn't on the door. My heart stopped. 

I asked the nurse where she was. 

Bev passed away Wednesday. 

I lost it. 

I loved her soooo much. 

She was very special to me and I LOVED visiting her. 

 

It's funny, every companion I've had has told me that I am literally MEANT to work with the elderly.  I really do have an overwhelming love for elderly people and am seriously considering working with them when I get back. :)

But on the upside, they came to all 3 meetings for church yesterday, Di drew a cute pic for me in Primary, and then they came to the President's fireside that evening.

The fireside:

I got out of the car, and saw the JOHNSON'S!!!! They were so so so happy to see me! It really made my day (they were one of the speakers for the fireside)

I saw SISTER SZABO!!!! Made. my. life. I miss her too much. She has had SO much of an impact on me. I feel so bad for her, she was telling me how absolutely HARD it is in Andover.

I saw a ton of Shingle Creek people, and a family we were working with are getting baptized next week! It was just soooo amazing to see all these people and the changes they are making in their lives to come closer to Christ. Their countenances showed it!

Sister D and I performed our musical number (arranged version of 'I am a Child of God' it went fairly well! So that was fun. Buuuuut yeah, this week has been a literal roller coaster. And, it looks like it won't stop until next November! Ahhh. Thank you for your prayers though. That's what's keeping me out here.

Love you.xoxo

Sister B.

PS, Yes I got your package and snail mail. MEANT THE WORLD.

Buzz looked great at homecoming! 

Pday Sushi..YUM!

Our district

Sister DeBrueler and Sister Beeson

Baptism scheduled!

I've had a great week! Sister DuBrueler is the best. I just love her. I am so blessed to have her as my companion. We get along so so so well.

I honestly don't have anything too exciting to share this week, other than Janelle and Dustin and the boys are doing well, September 28 is THE DAY! She even put it on her calendar: 'Family Baptism' so that is exciting. I love them. With all my heart. Seriously. I will be friends with these people for eternity!! Ahhhh. We taught them the Word of Wisdom yesterday, and Janelle was really bummed about the coffee dealio. Cigarettes are tough for her too. But, luckily we had our cute joint teacher Sister Pugh who is a convert of 3 years, and was the BIGGEST coffee addict. The things she shared with Janelle and Dustin were PERFECT.

We met a cutie pie named Gramma G.G. She's 93 years old. She talks like she's 40. She works like she's 30. She dances like she's 50. And.... she's practically a Mormon. She knows sooo much about our church. She has attended the Easter Pageant a billion times, has been to Temple Square a ton, listens to MoTab regularly, and LOVES our church. Wouldn't that be cool if we got to baptize a 93 year old?! Stay tuned. It's happening.

We're gonna go to a thrift store and and buy huuuuuge jeans, and she's going to make us jean aprons! She knits, sews, and crochets like crazy. She's a cutie.

Sister Clements called us a couple of days ago, and asked if Sister D. and I would be able to play a musical number at the President's fireside this upcoming Sunday. This fireside is huge. A ton of investigators come, and there are about 3-4 recent converts who tell their story. It is very powerful. So, Sister D and I are so excited to be able to use our talents in front of all these people! I might arrange a hymn while she sings. We don't know yet. But it'll be fun!

Well, I love you all so much. I'm staying busy, which means I don't have much time to think about you---which is good. :)

Stay safe and keep those commandments!
xoxo

Sister Beeson

Called to LABOR -IN-HIS-VINEYARD-DAY:)

Mi Familia!!! Happy Labor Day! 

Oh my heck. This week. There are no words.

First off, I am soooo happy Buzz is ok. That really scared me. It's so weird, I am convinced I know when something is 'off' at home, because I feel anxious/uneasy the whole day, and I definitely felt that at one point during this week. 

I am so sorry to hear about Jodee. I'll keep their fam in my prayers too. 

Ok, well, as I'm sure you are aware, I went to the Youngquists for dinner on Tuesday, and Sis Y. asked "So what are your names?" "Sister Beeson" "Sister Beeson?! Are you related to Gaylene Beeson?!" "Yes! That's my grandma!" "That's my cousin!" WHAT THE. I'm related to someone in my own ward. Who knew. It made me feel so so so comforted, it was nice to feel at home and close to family (even though its not the closest relation). She and her husband are just the SWEETEST. We talked about Ron and Great Grandpa Alf, and she even showed me some pics of her from forever ago, it was lovely. She also made a very Grandma-Gaye-esque salad. With carrots and celery...and even had a lot of the same mannerisms as her. I loved everything about that dinner. TENDER MERCY.

We had district meeting on Wednesday, and Sister DuBrueler and I sang and sang and sangggg hymns together. I'm actually getting pretty dece at harmonizing.. FINALLY. Everyone LOVED it. The Elders were like.. "Keep singing" And I'm not saying this for bragging rights...mmm....actually...yes. I am. But also to make you happy, MOM. And I know you want to hear me say it, so... here it goes: YOU WERE RIGHT. (also thank you for that piano music:))

And then, about somewhere in the middle of the week, we were having personal study, and Sister D just leaves the room, and I just kept hearing sniffles in the other room. So, I finally went to see if she was ok, and she was a WRECK. She was balling. She was saying she didn't want to do this anymore, she's always soooo exhausted, everyday feels like the same day, she knows she doesn't HAVE to be here, thats why it is hard to stay, etc. That made me sad. :( But, I've honestly BEEN there. I still am sometimes, and so we talked, I told her what I love about her, what she is good at, the example she is to her family, how much I am learning from her and how much this ward and the investigators love her. That seemed to help a lot. But, I somehow ended up crying too. It's just funny. I'm 19. She's 20. I've been here for 4 months. She's been here for 3. We have NO clue how to do this, but yet we know we can. It was just one of those moments where we needed the reassuring 'you can do this' chat from our parents, BUUUUT, since that's impossible, we went to our second option: our faux-parents. We called up Sister Clements, and we talked to her for 50 minutes. She is SUCH a sweetheart, we addressed all our worries and concerns and she replaced those with love and confidence in us. It helped SO much. And the funny thing is, is that Sister Clements said everything you, mom, would have said! Sister DuBrueler said the same. So, we went on to have studies, and about 5 minutes later, President Clements calls. AH. He told us that his wife told him we were struggling (just like what would happen at home) haha and then he talked to us about what we need to do, gave us great advice and told us he loved us--just like dad! It was just a tender mercy from Heavenly Father that even though I can't talk to my own parents when I'm struggling, I can talk to God--obviously, but also turn to our loving Mission President and sweet wife.I am so grateful that they took the time out of their BUSY schedule to talk to us! My relationship with the two of them jumped to a hoool-nuvuh-levuh. 

Amazing things have also been happening with Janelle, Dustin and the boys. We taught them the Law of Chastity yesterday (which makes that two for the week) ahhh. Sister D and I had to roleplay that lesson like crazy because...we're 12. So immature. Sheesh. But they committed to keep it! So, we'll be working out Janelle's divorce issues this week, plan a wedding, then dunk 'em!!!! Brother Camp (legend in the ward) invited them over for a brunch, Janelle and her boys were able to make it, not Dustin, but it was SOOO good. Brother Camp brought such a sweet spirit, and Janelle lost it, and expressed her love for us teaching her, and for her Heavenly Father. It was amazing. 

I've just felt the Spirit SO strong this week with all these tender mercies and things that have happened. I love this GOSPEL. It's so true. It is. It's black and white. 

I hope you all have a lovely week, and I'll see you in 432 days :)

xoxo Sister Eliza B

ps. Thank you all for writing me this week! Sheesh! Let's make that a weekly thing, yeah? It really made my day. Buzz: I can assure you, that you will have no dating success unless you write me begging for my advice. ;)

Also, Julia Larsen from Dear Lizzie gave me a package with CUTE letters from her little primary class and my fav COOKIES from DL! So nice. Everyone is the best. Thank you all!