It's hard to believe that next p-day is Christmas! Crazy how fast time flies, especially as a missionary. Tomorrow will be my 5-month mark, and by the end of this week, other Elder Beach will only have 6 months left on his mission! I can't believe that. Either way, I'm really excited for Christmas, really excited to Facetime home, and really excited for the people that we are working with and helping to progress in the Gospel.
Last week I told y'all quite a bit about the variety of things that we have been teaching Dustin. I guess at the time we thought that everything we were teaching him was what he needed to hear (probably just because he was asking questions about it). But we realized that it might just be confusing him more than it was helping him. We also realized that our job is to help people progress towards baptism, and while all of the things we were teaching were probably helpful and informative, they weren't accomplishing that task in the best way possible. So, we decided to start over with him. A few days ago, we taught him the Restoration again (for maybe the 3rd time). I'm so glad that we made the decision to do that, because he didn't remember anything from it. However, this time he actually understood it, understood the purpose behind the Book of Mormon, and understood the necessity of the Priesthood. We invited him to be baptized, and he accepted. We were planning on setting a date with him, but we found out this week that you are unable to baptize people who are on probation (which he is, and likely will be for a long time). We have not told him that yet, but we plan on it soon. Our goal at this point is to help him grow in his desire to be baptized so much that he will do everything he can to either (1) get his probation cut short, or (2) do everything he can to prepare to be baptized and live the Gospel in every way that he can until his probation is over. (Or both, that would be nice).
This week I read my journal entry from the first day we met Dustin. He is still pretty crazy, and he still smokes like a chimney and drinks tea and coffee by the gallons, but he has progressed SO much from where he was before. I know that it is in no small part to all of the faith and prayers in his behalf from all of you. Thank you!
A couple of days ago we were also able to go teach Deana, and we brought the Carlsons (members from the branch) along with us. It was the first actual lesson that I have had with Deana, so I was able to get a good idea of where she is at and what her concerns are. She is a very emotional person, and she struggles with a lot of self doubt. We talked about a lot of different things with her in that lesson, one of the main ones being that we are not expected to be perfect, even after baptism, but through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be forgiven of our imperfections. We also re-taught her the Restoration, just to review what she remembered from when she was taught back in the summer. Elder Marshall did a great job of explaining to her that this is not just some new church. It was not "invented" by Joseph Smith, and it is not something that has only been around since 1830. Elder Marshall bore a powerful testimony that this is the EXACT SAME Gospel and Church that has been on the Earth since the beginning of time. It is literally Jesus Christ's Church, the same as it has always been. It was a great testimony, and I'm proud of him for it. He's a great missionary, and will only get better (and it's totally because I trained him haha, just kidding). Anyway, Deana knows that what we taught her is true, her only concerns are her fear/self-doubt, and her husband. This is actually her 3rd marriage, and though it isn't a great one, she doesn't want a decision like baptism to pull her away from her husband because she knows what that is like already. It's a tough situation, but we encouraged her to seek counsel from the Lord and from President Bennett, the Branch President. She accepted that advice.
Towards the end of our lesson, her husband came home. I was a little worried that he would be super mad that we were there, but he was actually pretty nice. I hadn't heard great things about his feelings towards the Church or towards religion in general, but he was nice enough to us. I hope that that wasn't just a mask for the short time that we were there, which he quickly took off after we left. She's just in a tough situation, but I know that with many prayers and faith from her, and from others in her behalf, everything will work out. If she sincerely desires to be baptized, the Lord will provide a way. It's now our job to help her gain a testimony and a desire strong enough to make that happen. Please keep her in your prayers. She's so ready and prepared to receive the Gospel, she just needs a lot of support and encouragement, and she needs her husband to agree with her decision. I have faith that she will be able to be baptized soon.
Unfortunately, this week brought some bad news: We saw both Deana and Dustin on Saturday night, and we were expecting both of them at church on Sunday - neither one showed. We saw Dustin again Sunday night, and he told us that he had had a migraine all day, but we have yet to hear from Deana to understand her reasons for not coming. It's hard to be a missionary when people don't keep commitments, especially when you don't know their reasons, or their reasons are beyond your control.
We also saw Drew for the first time in a couple of weeks. We used to see him outside while we went in and out of the apartment several times a week, but lately he hasn't been out much (maybe because it's getting colder). Anyway, we saw him and talked for a good 15 minutes or so. Here's a side story about Drew: every time he sees us, he judges our ties that we have on. So whenever we see him, Elder Marshall and I have this competition to see whose tie Drew will like better that day. The first few times, I would always get beat, but lately we have been about 50/50 on who wins. So last time we saw Drew, yesterday, I had on this cool blue and white floral tie that I got at Unclaimed last week. Obviously I won the competition yesterday. But I told Drew that I had a Where's Waldo tie, and he immediately was like, "Go put it on!" I ran upstairs right quick and switched my ties, came back down, and Drew just said, "Alright, you win. The contest is over, sorry Elder Marshall. He automatically wins forever now." Haha I was dying. Drew even took a picture of my tie haha. I am officially the tie master now. So I guess to end this story, I just need to give a quick shoutout to my great leader and friend, Brother Tom Buhr, who sent me the Where's Waldo tie. Thanks a bunch! I love it even more now, because it brought happiness to not only me, but one of my good friends, Drew. Thanks again!
Thanks also to everyone else whose ties I have opened so far - Grandpa Gary, President Wilson, Brother Toone, and Coach Mike Paulsin. I wear each of them proudly, and I'm especially thankful for each of your notes, advice, and words of wisdom. I appreciate all of you and what you have done for me. I look forward to opening the rest, adding to my tie collection (it's up to about 35 now), and hearing from others who have been an influence in my life. I love y'all! Thanks also to Mom for putting it all together, and spending the time and effort to make it special for me. Thanks, Mom! Thanks also to Mom and Grandma for all of the packages, notes, treats, and emails. Any mail is good mail, and I love all of it. Thanks for everything you do for me. Love you!
This past week we also had our Follow-Up Trainers meeting, where all of the new trainees who have now been out for 6 weeks, and their trainers get together to talk about how things are going, learn some awesome things, and see how we can improve. At one point, the trainers and the trainees split into different rooms for different things. Elder Marshall told me afterwards that that part was basically just everyone complaining about how hard everything is and kind of whining a bit. He said that he was really glad that he thought everything was great with us, because some of his old MTC buddies were struggling. Elder Marshall is doing great, and we are working hard and having lots of fun together. In my part of that meeting, with all the other trainers, we had a good training, but we finished like 20 minutes before the other guys did, so we just had story time. Man, missions are full of hilarious stories. We all laughed so dang hard at all of the funny stuff and funny people that we run into as missionaries. I love those stories. I have had a share of my own, between people like Dustin, Jerry, Elden, and other random crazies that I have had a chance to meet. We capped off the meeting with a great lunch and some awesome trainings from President and Sister Sainsbury, so it was a great couple of hours. I loved it.
This upcoming week, on Wednesday, we have our Zone Conference/Christmas Party. I'm really excited for it. We have a talent show, and we get to watch a movie (not sure which one yet). I heard rumors that President was somehow going to let us watch the new Star Wars that came out this week. That would be SO cool. I'm so sad I have to wait 19 more months to see that. If anyone wants to somehow download it and send it to me, I'd be so pumped. Just kidding, that's not allowed :-( Whether those rumors were true or not, it has also been said that Sister Sainsbury told him no. Gotta listen to the wife! Darn. I don't know what we are watching, but I'm excited for it.
This week has been good. We are all excited for Christmas, and I'm excited for what Scotty B (Scottsboro) has in store for us this week. I'm so thankful this Christmas season to be doing the Lord's work and sharing the inspiring message of His Gospel. I know that this is His work, and I love being a part of it. Love y'all! Merry Christmas!
Elder Beach
#RollTide
#LightTheWorld
#JingleBells
#HoHoHo
#MerryChristmas
#TisTheSeason
#JoyToTheWorld
#TooManyHashtags
Looks like all we eat/drink is eggs and milk! (And my bag of insulin takes up quite a bit of space as well...)
Lighting the world in Alabama!
My tie wins, according to Drew!
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