Elder Jackson Beach: I have a son!

Well, transfers are Wednesday, and here's the scoop:

- We got our transfer news last night (Monday), and the Zone Leaders told us that Elder Hastings would be leaving Scottsboro and I would not be. That's all we got told last night.

- Transfer news got changed, so now we only get told if we are leaving or not. Then at transfer meeting (which is tomorrow, Wednesday) we will be told where our new area is, and who our new companion is.

- We got another call from the Zone Leaders this morning. They told me I would be training a new missionary. Yep. I have been out here for all of 12 weeks, I just finished getting trained, and now I'm training. It should be fun, and I hope I can do well. I guess if President Sainsbury thinks I'm ready, then I am. He's the one with the authority over this mission, and the Lord can tell him what is best for each of us missionaries.

- So, as of tomorrow, I have a son. Cool beans. Should be a party. :)

This week had its ups and downs. Let's start with the downs so that I can end on a high note.

Roger, who was so solid just a few weeks ago, has all but dropped us. We have tried him at his house, and we have seen him through the window, but he ignores our knocking. He also ignores our texts and phone calls. I really don't know what his deal is. Every time we actually get to see him, he seems so solid, commits to doing things (like come to church, pray, and read the Book of Mormon) and then in between visits, nothing. We texted and asked him if he wanted to keep meeting with us or if he just needs some time, to which we got no response. I think we'll just give him a break for a while. The worst thing is just when we get ignored. If people want to drop us, at least they can just say it to our faces. As much as that sucks, at least they are being honest and we can focus our time and attention to people who are ready to receive the message.

We met a lady last week named Anna while we were knocking some apartments. She took a Restoration pamphlet, but was kind of skeptical. Anyway, we set a return appointment with her, and we showed up a couple of days later for the appointment. Like halfway through our lesson, Anna's neighbor Deborah just walks in the door and joins our conversation. Deborah kind of missed the first bit of the Restoration, but she was still on board with what we were discussing. She agreed to let us come to her apartment the next day and teach her the whole thing. So the next day we went over to Deborah's and taught her the Restoration, gave her a Book of Mormon, and invited her to be baptized. Again, she was really on board with everything we taught, and she agreed to be baptized on November 25. We set a return appointment with her, and we were really excited. A few days later, we went to our appointment with Deborah, but we were a little early so we stopped by Anna's real quick. Anna told us that Deborah had told her about our lesson with her, and that she had prayed about the stuff we taught, and "the fear of God came on her." Anna told us that Deborah said she was really scared to get baptized, and Anna basically had talked her out of it. Anyway, we were a little confused/nervous, but we knew that we had an appointment with Deborah in like 10 minutes so we could address it then if she brought it up. Anyway, we left Anna's, said a prayer, and went to go knock on Deborah's door. On her doorstep was the copy of the Book of Mormon that we gave her, and a note that said, "I prayed about it, and it's not for me. No disrespect intended." We knocked on her door, and could hear her inside, but she didn't answer. We took her note, but left the Book of Mormon there with a note of our own. We just said, "We invite you to check out a scripture. Galatians 5:22-23. Fear doesn't come from God, but these feelings do. We hope you keep praying, and pay attention to these feelings as you do." I was bummed that we had found such a solid investigator, who agreed to a baptismal date, who just dropped us so fast like that. It was sad, but I know that the things we taught her are true, and that the Book of Mormon is true. I hope that she continues to pray about it, and read the Book of Mormon we gave her.

We had an exchange last Wednesday and Thursday with the Fort Payne Elders. I went with Elder Layton, and we went to go see crazy Roger (the one who eats weed). He hadn't read any of the Book of Mormon, so I just said to him, "Can I just take like 5 minutes and tell you why the Book of Mormon is so important?" He said sure, so we taught him the Restoration again, and explained that the Book of Mormon is convincing evidence that Jesus Christ's church is on the earth today, and that He is at the head of it. Roger told us that he was really interested in reading it now, but he still said that he wasn't much of a reader. I hope he reads it. After that, he said something really unexpected. He told us that we probably shouldn't come by any more because his family was tired of us coming by. We actually have never even met his family, except his wife, so that was really unexpected. Roger told us that he may come to church sometime, he may read the Book of Mormon sometime, and he may call us sometime to come back if he does, but until that time comes, Roger dropped us.

So we had a couple of sad moments, but we have also had several good ones. I'm not sure if I have told you about Tyler before. He and his wife just got married like a month ago, and we have been over there a few times to talk to them. We left him with a Book of Mormon when we first met them before their wedding, and he said that now that the wedding stuff is over he will start reading it. Tyler sort of claims to be an atheist, but he seems like someone who wants to believe, he just can't yet. He has been to some church when he was younger, but he told us about some of the stuff they did and it was super weird. I get why he has uneasy thoughts on religion. But he does understand the Restoration (at least he seemed like he did), and he likes that our church is focused on keeping Jesus' church as pure as possible from when He established it. I'm glad Tyler likes that, because this is literally Jesus Christ's church, in it fullest, purest, truest form. He told us that he would keep reading the Book of Mormon, (he started 1 Nephi this week). We had a really good conversation with Tyler last night, and talked all about the Book of Mormon, the church, the Priesthood, the Gospel, and all kinds of stuff. We both really like Tyler, and he is one of our many good friends here in Scottsboro.

A few nights ago we went to go see Jerry (whom I know I told you about). Some lady named Sandy has sort of been staying at his house. It's pretty in and out, so I'm not really sure what the deal is. I don't know if they are friends, or are dating, or what, but every once in a while, she is just there. So when we went to go see him, we asked if he had been reading the Book of Mormon, and he said no. So we basically just did what Elder Layton and I did with Roger. We taught the Restoration and helped Jerry and Sandy see why the Book of Mormon is so important. We also gave a copy to Sandy, and we committed both of them to read and to pray about it. It was a good lesson.

Last Friday we had the fall harvest festival thing at the church. There were a good bit of people there, and Dustin, his wife Joan, and their kids (and some other kids that aren't theirs) came to it. They all seemed to enjoy it except Dustin. He thought it was fine, but I have just never seen him so out of his element. He told us that he gets anxiety around big groups of people, and he was kind of freaking out the whole time. He was also just nervous to be somewhere he had never been with people he didn't know. He also felt embarrassed because he thought that others would think the only reason he came was for a free meal. The whole time we just kept telling him it was fine, that nobody cared about that, they were just happy to see him there. Everyone was really nice, and he started to open up after a little while. We went back to his house the next day, Saturday, and he told us that he really did enjoy it, he just hates big groups of people. Either way, I know his kids had fun. They were just running around all night. We also did a trunk or treat at the end, and between all of the candy that we had already bought, as well as all of the stuff that mom sent, we gave away A LOT of candy. All the kids were really pumped. Elder Hasting's' mom sent him some fake mustaches, so those were our costumes for the night. It was fantastic.

Mom, last week in the package you sent, you included a bunch of the book "Believing Christ." I read all of that last night. One thing that it talked about was forming a companionship with the Savior. When that happens, it doesn't matter where we are at, we will be perfect. He is infinitely perfect, and anything (positive or negative) plus infinity is still infinity. So no matter where we are at, as soon as we are one with the Savior, we are perfect. Elder Hastings and I got into a random conversation when I said, "Obviously no one is perfect, but do you think anyone at any time has lived a perfect day?" After talking about it, we both decided that it was impossible, even for someone like the prophet, to live one full day perfectly. That just reiterated my testimony of how much we really need Christ in our lives. We are commanded to be perfect even as he is. But the ONLY way to do that is to be perfected IN HIM. We have to have Him on our side if we are ever to achieve perfection. And if we do our best to make that happen, He has promised us that we can.

I'm so glad I have the chance to be here in Scottsboro serving. I'm going to miss Elder Hastings. It's been a party. I'm also pretty nervous about training my new son. But I know that if the Lord needs me to, I can and I will. I love you all. Hope you have a great Halloween. I appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers, letters, packages, and love.

Elder Beach

#RollTide

P.S. - Today is our dog's birthday. Happy birthday, Hallie!