August 18th 2014

Happy Monday! It is great to hear from you, my stomach got a little queasy when you told me you got my travel plans... ALREADY?!

Mom,  Happy Birthday to the most beautiful, talented, hilarious, kind, strong, loving qwerky mom! You are so wonderful! I love you and miss you dearly.
I don't think I have thanked you enough for your example that has impacted me.  You are FORSURE my #1 role model!
When things get a little rough and tough over here, it is your strong testimony that pops into my head and has helped me stay out here just a day longer. I love you a lot for that.  I love you Mommy.
xoxox

Well, this week was wonderful. Pretty sure I gained 50 pounds on Monday.

We had a dinner appointment at 5 with some members and we were stuffed because it was their daughters birthday and so we had dinner AND dessert, and then at 7, our Muslim friend, I invited us over for food (we were originally gonna go over to eat with them when they broke their fast, but we never got the chance) so... they started us off with dried dates and date cookies, and then the dinner was ready and they had all these funky meats, and rice, and french fries, and salads and hummus and pita bread and cheese wrap things, and Sister Anderl and I were already full... :/ ahh... but we put a little on our plates, and of course they were like, "More! More! Go get more! Would you like this? or that?" noooooooooooooo. I really wouldn't. But... I didn't want to be rude. I was dying. I was just eating really reallyyyyyyyyyyyy slow. And then we were about to leave and they were like, "Wait, we have one more thing for you." And they pulled out this MASSIVE chocolate icecream cake that was bigger than my face. (And my face is BIG. :(  ) I literally couldn't walk after we left. We were DEAD. So. That was NO BUENO. I wanted to barf SO bad, but you know me, I hate barfing, so... I just dealt with a big stomach ache :( 

On Andy's birthday, it was just a really hard day. And funny thing is, is that I remember Andy's birthday perfectly from last year too. I was with Sister Szabo and it was probably one of the top 3 most discouraging days on my mission, it was the first time we both cried in front of each other. Annnnnd... guess what? Same thing with Sister Anderl. Haha... So, Andy, your birthday hasn't given me the best of luck on my mission! But it's ok. I'm glad you had a good day!:)

We had the chance to take the elders appointment for them the other day. We went to a trailer/mobile home of their recent converts, and it was tiny. 2 bedrooms. 8 humans. 13 animals. Mmm. It was a GOOD time. They had psycho cats though... one of their cats, Nugget, has a history of jumping onto elders heads and licking their hair, or par-core-ing onto a moving ceiling fan. Yeah, these animals liked us... I was dying. ICK!!! It was VERY difficult to teach.. haha

Then we drove to Minnesota AGAIN for new missionary training, and it went well! We had an appointment that evening with J, some guy we met, and... we just felt better about having the elders teach him, so we asked the elders if they could take our appointment, and then they started acting all weird and hiding their smiles... they said:

"Umm... our stomaches kind of hurt... so we will probably just go straight home..."

"What happened...?"

Then Elder H pulls up his suit sleeve and reveals a hospital bracelet... hahaha

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Well... here's the story, briefly.... something Buzz would totally do:

At district meeting, the elders brought a BAG full of thai peppers... and some of the elders were just popping them in like candy, and Elder Hardy  just starts CRYING because of the heat, he is shoving slices of bread into his mouth and squirting honey from the tube into his mouth, and as he is doing this, another elder says:

"You're gonna die tonight if you can't even handle a thai pepper!"

They were going to eat ghost peppers that night.

Well, supposedly they did, and Elder Hardy was dying, and his mouth and body were just on fire, he put everything/anything into his mouth that he could find: honey, bread, watermelon, milk, etc. and then he said his hands were going numb (pretty sure a ghost pepper is against the Word of Wisdom.)

Well, at like 2 am his stomach was WRECKED and he thought he had an ulcer, so he woke up the elders he was on exchanges with, got a blessing, and then afterward still felt horrible. They took him to the hospital at 2 am! The doctors gave him some sort of numbing meds and before they released him they said:

"The problem with your stomach wasn't caused by the ghost pepper, it was from some rotten watermelon you ate."

HA! And sure enough, the elders looked at the watermelon the next day and saw some things growing on it... hahah nastyyyy. 

Ok, but on the more spiritual side....

Sister Anderl and I got a referral from some members that we went to see right away, and the street that this referral lived at was like... hmm... a fairy tale street. It was so quiet, and green, and ADORABLE. We knocked on all of these houses, met a nice fellow who lived at a Snow White looking cottage, and over all it was just empty... we didn't even get in contact with the referral person. So, we knocked on the last house of that street, and again, no answer. We started walking back to our car when suddenly we hear a sweet soft voice call out:

"Excuse me! Did you knock on my door?"

we turned around and it was this beautiful woman from India. 

"Yeah, we did!"

"Well.... did you want to come in?"

UH YES, LADY. 

"We'd love to!" 

She didn't even ask who we were! She introduced herself as A, and walked us into her home, we met her white husband B, and sat in their beautiful home. We started chatting a little bit about religion and such, A being Catholic, and B non-denominational. They were asking ALL the right questions though:

"Wouldn't God just have one true church?"

"The Bible just has way too many interpretations, it's hard to know what to believe..."

You know, just the golden investigator questions.

And then it perfectly led into the opportunity to share Joseph Smith's first vision... after it was recited, we paused in silence for a second, and then asked how they felt.

A said, "The clock stopped. Everything stood still." 

UM, best description of the Spirit EVER. The Spirit was really strong.

We continued talking, and introduced the Book of Mormon, and A was very interested (she being an English professor ) and B was a little skeptical. But... we asked them what questions they've had on their mind about religion and we'd leave them a place to read.

A wanted to know how to have better faith and trust in God, gave her Alma 32

B struggles with life after death, gave him Alma 40. It was the saddest thing. He said to us:

"All of my siblings tell me that everything is ok because even though mom and dad have passed away, they are looking out for us... and that is not true. They don't even know each other in Heaven." then he looks at A and says, "I won't know you when I die... the only relationship I'll have when I pass away is with God. I won't know my kids or my friends, none of that will be in my memory." 

WHAT? B NO. It broke my heart! Mainly to see A's face as Blooked her in the eyes and told her that! 

"B,  then why do you think God would even put us into families in the first place if we weren't meant to have a relationship after this life?"

He thought... and then completely danced around his words, eventually leading to "the Bible doesn't say we will!" ... well, it doesn't say we won't either.

It was sad, so he HARD CORE needs the P of S. We're so excited to go back and see them!!!

Sorry how MASSIVE this email is. I'll quit, but hey. I love you all. I'm so grateful for my testimony of how the Gospel BLESSES FAMILIES. I'm very very sure of that. It amazes me. Have a super week, I'll be praying for you! (esp Aunt Julynn!!)

<3 Sister Beeson

Hello my lovelies! 

Can I just tell you how amazing you all are? I love each of you so much. That video of dad and grandma Gaye made me SO happy. My companion love love loved that. I'm so blessed for all of you!!! How did I become so fortunate?

Sister Anderl and I have had a focus this week to talk to EVERY single person we saw. It really paid off! We found a LOT of new investigators and our faith has been strengthened, and if there is one thing that I have truly learned on my mission, it is to TRUST THE LORD. In everything! It is definitely easier said then done, especially when you're in a situation that you need to.

After Book of Mormon study on Thursday, we had some finding time. We weren't sure where we needed to be, but then a house that I've been prompted to go to time and time again popped into my head. This house was a mad house, and I loved passing it in the car because there are kid toys ALL over the lawn, and there are always kiddies running around and going crazy. Well, we finally followed this prompting, and we met L! She is a young Hispanic mom and recently moved from Florida and grew up Catholic, we got talking to her, and she was just SO open and her heart was SO prepared for the Gospel. We were able to share the Restoration with her, and she really really liked it and wanted to learn more! We got a return appointment with her and we shook her hand when we left, but she just pulled us in and gave us a hug thanking us! It was super neat. We will see how our appointment goes with her and her family tonight!

Then last night we were able to teach a referral from the C's.  We were teaching a little boy named I ( and his Grandpa or 'Dad' J. Our hearts ache for them and the knowledge they don't have makes them miserable! It felt so good to bear testimony and to share scriptures with our brothers. :)

We then had some finding time, and where we were finding, there wasn't much success. So looked at a map. Picked a few streets. And prayed. We headed over to where God had led us, and we met ANOTHER Hispanic family! They were ADORABLE. Super super cute. They reminded me a lot of our cousins :) The kids spoke perfect English, but the mom hardly speaks it. Thankfully we have a member who is fluent! The kids LOVED us, they followed us away and would give us hugs and wanted us to come back so soon. 

We walked down some more streets, got a few rejections, taught some lessons, and then as we started heading back to our car, we saw two men in front of their apartment building. They were both very different from one another. One was white, the other black, one was old, the other young. One was dressed in gaming clothes, the other in sports attire. The similarity we found though, was that they both looked glum. 

"Hey! How are you two doing?"

...."....alright..." They looked so weirded out. Haha

We introduced ourselves, and got talking, and I honestly cannot remember the full conversation. I am a thousand percent certain the Spirit took over our conversation, because all I know was that when we first walked up to them, they looked at us like we were crazies and looked flat out depressed, but right before we left, they were a lot more open and talkative, their countenances changed, and they even turned their frowns upside down. :) I do remember hearing about some experiences they both went through in their lives. They experienced very different things. Things that broke my heart which led me to silently thank Heavenly Father for my blessed life. One struggled with forgiveness, the other who he is. I find it miraculous that no matter who we are or what we have or are or will go through, Jesus Christ gets it. He KNOWS how we feel, and he KNOWS how to help us. These men last night, did not know how to find that help to forgive or to find who he is. We testified. A lot. And I cannot express to you the LOVE I felt for these two brothers! There have been only a little handful of times on my mission where I have met someone and by only talking to them for 30 minutes, I am overwhelmed with the love that God has for them. That happened last night. Good thing it was getting dark outside because I was getting teary. The calling I hold right now is real! And it's amazing! And I never want it to leave!

So those were a few miracles that we were able to find this week. Like I said earlier, as we fully TRUST the Lord, literally leave everything and give everything to Him, He WILL take care of us. I know that. I know that would have taken me a lot longer to figure that out if I were still in Utah. 

I love love love you all. I'm especially mindful of you this month! With all of the celebrations of your birthdays! 

Andy: Happy birthday tomorrow! I literally have no idea how old you're going to be...dddddddeeeeeeeeeepppp doooop dooooooo daaaaaaaaaaaaaa... but, I hope you have a happy happy birthday. I look forward to celebrating it with you next year. :) You're a joy and ray of sunshine to me! Thanks for being you. I love you a lot!

<3 Sister Beeson

Aug. 4, 2014

Hey, it's been a GOOD week.

We are finding many many families to teach! It's been a huge blessing. We have been teaching The A family, and they've been investigating for quite a while, and really what's holding the mom back from getting baptized is that she feels nervous to commit to something she feels like she could potentially screw up... aka... Word of Wisdom. She has some pretty bad addictions. But... we felt inspired to help her! She  needs a lot of moral support, so I volunteered Sister Anderl and I to give up ALL sweets.... ehmm... ALL. And it has been like the hardest thing ever. We are completely pathetic. Major withdrawals, we're so tired, and literally going crazy and just are craving chocolate like maaaaaaaad. But, now it's been almost a whole week, and it's not as bad as it was :P Sister A has relapsed on things a couple of times, but we're gonna continue to help her!

We are also working with the M family. It is a PM family and they are ADORABLE.  She has ADORABLE  kiddies. We've been TRYING AND TRYING AND TRYING to set up an appointment with their family, but it has not happened because the mom is just hesitant because of how crazy and hyper  her children are. But, we finally convinced her. And we got there, and guess what? The Spirit did it's magic, and they were SO good and SO attentive and had a billion questions. It was really cool. We were teaching them the Plan of Salvation, and we got to earth life and we asked what we need to do here on earth to come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the mom said: 

"I think it is really important to be baptized, because that is how I have felt closer to them."

Then the kids were like, "I wanna be baptized!" And so we talked a little bit about it and the things they'd need to do to reach that goal and then we committed them! 

They came to church yesterday and loved it, and it was just so so so special. 

Anyway, then we were able to have a great lesson with J's  mom!!! She opened up a TON yesterday during our family home evening and she is so down to earth, and notices that Mormons are different and why they are, and she's just really really cool. We committed her to come to church, and she said yes, and J about cried! It was amazing to see that!:)

 

Dad- Happy Birthday!  For your 43rd ( wow is this true?) I'd love to share my testimony with you.  I want you to know that I know that Heavenly Father is truly our Father and that he is a personal God.  He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to fulfill a mission that only HE was capable of doing so that one day we would be in the arms of our loving Heavenly Father once again.

 

I don't fully understand the Atonement.  No one does.  But I am grateful to know that in the strength of the Lord, I can do all things.  I know that through the Atonement, ALL mankind may be saved; of course we must do our part.  I love Jesus Christ and I look forward to the day when I will kneel  at His feet to praise and thank him.

 

I am grateful for my testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith.  He truly did do more (save Jesus only) for the world. Joseph saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in 1820 in a grove of trees. I know this because of the Book of Mormon.

 

I am grateful everyday to share The Book of Mormon with my brothers and sisters. I joyfully testify that it is true!  The most correct of any book, and it truly has brought me closer to my Father and Savior. 

I treasure this short time I have to "suffer his cross' and thank my God every single day for what he has blessed me with, including my incredible, loving, covenant keeping, earthly father, Samuel B.  I love you alot and admire who you are!

Anyway, I'm lovin' it here. I really really do. It's amazing. Write back promising me you'll all come and visit with me... (preferably before Buzz's mish:)) 

I know that this Gospel is Christ's gospel, and that we are able to change our nature to become better as we seek His Atonement in our lives!

All my lovvvvvvvvvvvvve!

<3Sister Beeson