Roooooooll Tide!

Hey everyone, I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving week and are not too full from eating too much.  I was proud of myself as I did a fairly good job of not overeating at either of the Thanksgiving dinners that I attended.  (Unlike last year when I went to three different ones and ate way too much at all three...)  

As far as missionary work goes, and non-missionary work goes, our week definitely had some ups and downs.  Thanksgiving, Iron Bowl, new referrals, those are all ups.  USU vs Boise State, nobody at church, and overall kind of a slow week, those are all downs.  Here are a few of the details about each:

First and foremost, Alabama managed to avoid an upset from Auburn.  And they did more than just avoid an upset, they kind of spanked Auburn and it was a fun game to watch.  As if he hadn't already, Tua basically cemented his spot as the top Heisman candidate.  He's so good.  Roll Tide.  That's all I have to say about that.  Funny side note about the Iron Bowl - so we live in the upstairs apartment of a couple of members, Carlie and Dakota.  Dakota is a die hard Auburn fan.  Carlie's family lives in the two houses on either side of them, and basically all throughout Attalla.  They are all die hard Alabama fans.  So we watched the game next door with them, who cheered for the winning team, while Dakota stayed home alone and watched it by himself haha.  

For Thanksgiving we were able to go to the Williams', a family from the branch.  Their Thanksgiving tradition is to make as many pies as they possibly can, and then to try as many as will fit in their stomachs.  They said their record was 67 pies one year.  Crazy!  This year they only had about 25, but it was still the most pies I had ever seen at one meal.  Later we got to go to another Thanksgiving meal with the Compton clan.  We played a little bit of football right before we ate.  Now, I don't want to brag, but I did have a pick-6, and I was targeted 3 times for 3 touchdowns on offense haha.  Backyard football is something I hadn't played for a long time, and everyone was able to have fun and stay injury free.

Earlier in the week we got a call from a member who said he needed some help patching someone's roof, so we went and helped him out.  He had been up there before to put a new patch of shingles in a few places, but it was still leaking.  We basically just covered almost the entire roof with a giant tarp.  Afterwards, we sat down and talked to the homeowner, an elderly lady named Miss Turner.  We were able to share with her a little bit about what we do as missionaries, and we talked to her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation.  She even expressed interest in coming to church with us, so we'll see where that goes.

We had plans to see Katelyn on Saturday morning and continue teaching her, but then a couple of days before she cancelled because of some type of family get-together.  We told her that was fine, and we looked forward to seeing her at church, but then she didn't come to church either.  That was a major bummer.  Savannah, Katelyn's referring member friend, told us she was sick (like a lot of people we talked to this week).  We'll do our best to see her sometime this week so we don't have to wait until Sunday to see her again.

We called the Baxley's a couple of times this week and they said they weren't feeling well, or they were out of town.  That seems like kind of their thing - being sick or being gone.  We did talk to them on the phone on Saturday night and Sister Baxley said they would be at church.  They weren't.  That was kind of the theme of our week haha - people not coming to church.

We were able to see Damion twice this week and teach him the Plan of Salvation.  Our focus with Damion the last little while has just been the basics: faith, repentance, scripture study, coming to church.  We taught him the Plan of Salvation to help him understand a little bit better why those things are so important.  Whenever we mention the word "baptism" to Damion, he always tells us something to this effect: "I don't want to get baptized and then just make mistakes and go back to where I was."  That's good.  That means he realizes that baptism is a serious commitment, and repentance comes before baptism.  We explained to him that repentance is just as available after baptism as before.  However, Damion brought up some things that he definitely needs to not be doing anymore if he is ever to get baptized.  We talked about repentance and choosing some alternative activities to do instead of the ones that he's doing.  He seems to know that the things he's doing are wrong, but I'm not sure where his intention to change is.  I guess we'll just keep working on that, and keep working on the basics as well.  Milk before meat.  When he has a testimony of the basics, then his desire to continue to repent will increase.  Unfortunately, Damion was sick like a lot of people, and he wasn't at church either.

Daniel, same deal.  He was not feeling well this weekend, as as a result he was not at church.  As a result of that, neither was his daughter, Gabi, so we haven't had another opportunity to teach her at all yet.

On Thursday we received a Book of Mormon referral (meaning she requested a copy online) named Tachise (pronounced "Ta-Cheese").  Apparently she accidentally put her information into the website and requested a Book of Mormon, but she thought that she was applying for a job.  Not really sure how that happened haha.  When the referral sisters called her she said that she would be interested in a copy, so we went and delivered.  Tachise is from Haiti, and she seemed somewhat open to learn more about the Book of Mormon.  We only visited for a few minutes, but we invited her to begin reading and we set up a return appointment for this week.  We'll see how things go with her.

Spiritual thought for the week:

We had multi-zone conference this week with the Bessemer zone, and one thing that we did there, as well as in MLC last transfer, was have a testimony meeting.  We went around the room and every single person took about 20-30 seconds and share a brief, simple, pure testimony about whatever gospel principle they wanted to.  When we had approximately 60 pure testimonies borne in that short of a time, the spirit is very strong.  President talked about the difference between pure testimony vs. a thank-timony, or a travelogue, or a story-mony.  He said something like, "Imagine the power that would be in our fast and testimony meetings if we had 40, 1 minute pure testimonies, instead of 5-6 of these others."  I know that testimony invites the spirit, and it does so even more when our testimonies are pure testimonies.  I invite y'all to give that some thought and to keep it mind at your next fast and testimony meeting.

Well, we're working hard to make sure Attalla is better when we leave than it was when we arrived.  I know that the Lord has His hand in His work, and He is helping us to move it forward.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.  Love y'all!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#LightTheWorld

Me and my boy Elder Tyrrell.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

They were projecting a football game on the side of this house.  We decided to check it out!

Giving Thanks

Hey there everyone, hope y'all had a good week!  We certainly did.  Though it seems as if our hour to hour and day to day are pretty slow, there are definitely miracles happening in Attalla.  I know that the Lord is aware of each of His children, and He is with us in our work.

Early in the week we met a guy tracting named Kenneth.  We talked to him for a while and started to teach him about the Restoration and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  He told us that he hadn't been to any church for a long time, but said that he would come with us when we invited him.  We went back to see Kenneth with a member on Thursday.  We met Kenneth's significant other, Felisha, and we talked to both of them about the Book of Mormon and about coming to church.  Felisha seemed even more interested than Kenneth, honestly, but they both are looking forward to coming to church.  One little unfortunate detail: they don't have a car.  Theirs was totaled a couple of weeks ago.  And they have 5 kids.  Even if we do have a member willing to drive someone, it's kind of difficult to find a ride for 7 people.  I only know of two members that have a van, and their vans are full.  We're going to see what we can do, but hopefully they can find a car.  I know they are looking.

We were also able to continue to meet with Damion this week.  We have been talking a lot about just the basics - prayer, church attendance, faith, scripture reading, repentance.  He seems to finally be getting a grasp on things, and it's going pretty well with him.  He also came to church again this week!  For whatever reason he left after Sunday School, but he was there for Sacrament Meeting and for gospel principles, which is more than we can say for most people!  Things are going slow, but they're going.  Damion's come a long way since I first met him way back when.

Katelyn, who was a referral from Savannah last week, didn't make it to church unfortunately.  We talked to her on Saturday night and she told us she would be there, but she woke up sick and decided not to come.  However, we have talked to her since then and we are going to visit her and teach her again on Saturday and she told us she was excited to come back to church.  I've only met Katelyn once at this point, but she seems really prepared and ready to receive the gospel.  And we probably never would have met her had not Savannah invited her to church.  That's the power of member missionary work.

The Baxleys have pretty much been impaired all week.  We called them a couple of times to see if we could stop by or to invite them to church again, and they always just told us of some ailment they were dealing with and asked us not to come over.  That was rather unfortunate.  It's kind of hard to get back into church (which she has repeatedly expressed her desire to do) without being able to actually get back into church.  Please pray for their health and strength so that we can continue to visit and teach them, and so that they can make it to church each week.

This week is Thanksgiving, and we are looking forward to it.  We have been invited to have dinner with the Compton Clan (the Compton's make up like 40+% of the branch).  They are quite the large and awesome family.  I'm glad we have such great members here.  

Also with this week being Thanksgiving, I thought I'd tell y'all something that I am thankful for.  I'm thankful for all of the friendships and relationships that I have made as a result of serving a mission.  I'm so glad that I have been able to come to know and love so many different people on my mission.  There are many that I look forward to coming back and visiting again, and I'm excited for the day when I can do that.  I'm thankful for those I have taught that I have seen draw closer to our Savior as I have helped them apply His teachings.  I'm thankful for the wonderful members that have helped us, fed us, and took us in as part of their families.  I'm thankful for the great missionaries that I have had the privilege of serving with, learning from, and creating memories with.  There are so many things I would have missed out on had I not served a mission, and I'm thankful for them all.

Scripture for the week: "Worship God in whatsoever place ye may be in, in Spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." - Alma 34:38

Well, I hope y'all have a great week.  Love y'all!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

We finally got our stove/oven installed!  #stoveselfie

After 18.5 days of not having something to cook on, this is our inaugural meal.  You can't go wrong with biscuits and gravy!

The Aggies are ranked #1 in the nation in scoring!

We love this family!  (Mom's note:  We received an email from this family this week that said, "Elder Beach is the best missionary Attalla has ever had."  Parental pay day for sure!)

Elder Vanderhoff, Daniel and me!

Can't ever resist a playground...especially one with a springy purple dinosaur! :)

Members, Missionaries and the Sons of Mosiah

Hey y'all, this has been another great week and another great transfer in Attalla and on the mission. We got the call last night that Elder Lyons and I will be staying here for another 6 weeks! (The main reason I was excited to hear that news was because we have been invited to watch the Iron Bowl with some people. I'm not sure if I would have been able to in a different area.) Haha that's not the real reason. I do love the people here in Attalla, especially the members. They are all so awesome. I'm so glad we moved near many of them so we can see them often. 

Two Sundays ago we were asked to come into Relief Society and go over the Branch Mission Plan with the sisters in there.  The Attalla Branch Mission Plan includes how each of the members can and should go about inviting those that they know to learn about the Restored Gospel.  It talks about how, as a family council, we should prayerfully identify some individuals and families that we think we could invite to church or to a church activity or to dinner with the missionaries or something like that.  Then we should take time on a fast Sunday, or anytime really, to fast and pray for these individuals to be open to your invitation, and then to invite.  Most of the people in the branch were not very familiar with it, so it was good to review it with them, discuss it with them, and invite them to participate.  We have been reviewing and following up on this with each of the members that we have visited recently, and we are seeing their enthusiasm to share the gospel build.

In fact, we received a call this week from one of the sisters in the branch named Savannah.  She is preparing to leave on her mission to Virginia next month.  She called us and said, "Hey!  I've got this friend who is going to be coming to church this Sunday, and she wants you to teach her."  Okay!  That is one of my favorite calls ever!  Savannah's friend is named Katelyn, and so we taught her the Restoration during Sunday school.  It was a great lesson, and I look forward to continuing to teach Katelyn in the future.  She accepted the invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray about it to know that it is true.  She said it was a little bit odd to think about, just because it was unfamiliar, but she told us she would definitely read it.

This week we also received another referral by the name of Tim.  A member who lives in another state sent us Tim's info and asked us to go visit him.  We called Tim first and told him what was up, and he seemed happy to meet with us.  The unfortunate thing is that he works in Huntsville, and I'm not sure what exactly he does, but he told us he is "on call 24/7."  So we haven't been able to see him yet, but we look forward to the day that we do.  Tim seemed like a nice guy on the phone and seemed genuinely interested in what we have to say.

Haha cool story this week, Daniel spoke in church! One of the guys in the branch presidency was in charge of assigning speakers, and he asked Daniel to speak. I could tell that our branch president was thinking, "Why the heck would you ask him to speak?  He's only been a member for like 3 weeks!" It was pretty funny. But Daniel actually did a great job, and so it was awesome. He also got to talk to President Sickles about receiving a temple recommend, and he's almost all set.  Daniel hasn't paid his tithing since being baptized, but that's kind of our fault because we didn't explain in great detail about how to do so.  So as soon as that gets done, Daniel will receive the priesthood and a temple recommend.  And then we can go to the temple with him!  I'm so excited!  Ruby is also working on that.  We tried to explain to her that she doesn't need to wait a year to go to the baptistry in the temple, but I'm not sure if she understood haha.  She is also pretty scared of being dunked again, and so maybe she'll just have to go and do confirmations if she does decide to go soon.  However, she is very proud of the family history work that she has done so far, and is eager to get their names into the temple.

One other really cool thing about Daniel is that our YW president saw his wife and daughter at Walmart the other day.  She told us that they talked for a long time, and she also said that Daniel's wife, Sandra, said that she wanted to come to church sometime.  That was huge!  Now, neither Sandra nor their daughter, Gabi, came to church on Sunday, but just knowing that there is a chance that they will come in the future is so much more than I thought we would get anytime soon.  I know that Daniel is working hard on them, and we are trying to help the members of the branch to do so as well.  I know they have been invited to dinner at different members' homes, and everyone is doing a great job of trying to work with them.  Time will tell, but I think if the effort is sustained, the results will follow.  It just goes to show that the Lord puts people in the situations that they need to be in to further His work.  I have seen that so many times.

As a final spiritual thought for the week, I thought I'd just share a scripture.  This one comes from Mosiah, and is about the Sons of Mosiah.  As we know, they were some of the most wicked people in all of the scriptures, but then after seeing an angel, learning the joy that comes from repentance, and having a change of heart, they became some of the greatest missionaries ever.  Mosiah 28:3 describes them - "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."  They could not even endure the thought that someone should suffer without the peace of forgiveness that they had experienced.  The sons of Mosiah had felt the peace that repentance, forgiveness, and the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ bring into our lives.  When we feel that same power, the result that takes place comes naturally: we want to do everything we can to help others experience the same.  I know that the Savior's power to forgive is real, and that he wants to forgive.  He only asks that we come unto Him, and to help others do the same.

I love y'all!  Thanks for the prayers, the letters, the random funny emails that find their way to my inbox.  I love those!  Y'all have a great week.  Talk to you later.

Love,

Elder Beach

#RollTide

Our newest investigator...

I took Elder Lyons to see this panda, and we were shining our phone lights on it so it looked like a disco bear.  Someone called the cops on us because they thought we were doing graffiti...

Random picture of "The Celestial District".  President Sainsbury called us that last month because we had so many baptisms.  :)

Unfortunate Week, Great Weekend

Hey y'all, week after week just flies by here in Alabama, and it seems as if we hardly get a chance to do anything before I need to sit down and tell y'all about the week.  Makes me think a little bit harder and come up with some stories and experiences that are worthwhile to share.  As you may have noticed, my title this week is the same as last week only flipped.  The week was not really unfortunate, it's just that we had a lot of stuff going on that kept us from working as much as I would have liked.  But we still had several good things happen this week which y'all will read about shortly.

This week we finally moved into our new house.  It's pretty awesome.  There are a few quirks to it that we are still figuring out or getting used to, but for the most part, it's much better than our previous living arrangement.  We spent most of last P-day cleaning up and packing.  Tuesday morning we spent hauling our stuff into the new house.  We pretty much just dumped it all in the front living room and then changed and went straight to interviews with President Sainsbury.  Following interviews, we had a quick district council meeting and then we went on an exchange with the Gadsden Elders which lasted until Wednesday evening.  So our first day in the new house, we didn't even get to stay in it haha.  Wednesday night we weren't allowed to proselyte past 6 PM (unless we had appointments made or members who invited us over) because it was Halloween.  Ruby had us over for dinner at 6, and then we came home and just unpacked for the rest of the night.

Thursday we were finally able to visit the Baxleys.  They are pretty cool, and I'm pretty excited for Brother Baxley.  He's been reading the Book of Mormon, and he tells us that he's about halfway through.  His health is poor, and he's not ready yet to commit to anything like baptism, but Sister Baxley is doing everything she can to make sure that they are sealed in the temple someday.  Long way to go, but she is doing so awesome!  They told us that they would be at church as long as they were feeling well, but they didn't make it.  That was too bad, but we are going to keep visiting them often and see what we can do to speed up the progression of Brother Baxley.  He'll progress when it's time and when he's ready, but maybe we can help him get ready a little sooner.

On Friday we had our Follow-Up Trainers Meeting (which is for trainers/trainees, mostly just to make sure you are both still alive and to have some trainings about stuff).  It lasted pretty much all day.  There was one point where the trainers and trainees were separated for about an hour for some different trainings.  Ours as trainers only lasted about 40 minutes and then we just told funny mission stories for a while.  That is one of my favorite things about getting together with other missionaries - hearing stories.  They are especially awesome when I was either a part of them, or I know the people or the area in which they took place.  Also at these meetings, we talked a lot about what we can do to increase the number of baptisms in our mission.  One thing that was brought up is how much more Sisters baptize than Elders, and we discussed why that is.  One of the major reasons that we decided was that Sisters are better at showing people that they love them.  And people are more likely to progress when they know that they are loved and cared for.  Now, it's not that Sisters actually love the people they meet more than Elders (which may or may not be true), but I guess that most of the time females are just better at expressing their love to people than males are.  Due to that and other reasons, Sisters baptize more people than Elders do.  That's something that I have been working on for the last few days, and will continue to work on throughout my mission and my life.  I've been trying really hard to just tell those that we meet and teach that I love them, because I do!  If I didn't love them, I wouldn't do my best to share with them the gospel and the blessings that come from living it.  So I've been really focusing on that this week.

Another thing that was mentioned is something that Elder Rumel said.  He is a guy who was trained in Scottsboro right before me by Elder Fotu, and then he was companions with Elder Hastings.  Those 3 are all guys that I love and respect a lot.  Anyway, Elder Rumel said a little while ago, he and Elder Fotu were talking, and Elder Fotu said to him, "You know, I really hope that everybody in this mission makes it home.  And I don't mean home in a year or two, I mean home home."  I thought about that, and it has definitely stuck with me.  I hope that we all do, too.  And I don't just hope that everyone from the mission makes it Home, but I hope that everyone that I have come to know and love throughout my mission and throughout my lifetime make it there, be they friends, family, missionaries, members, those I've taught, neighbors, or whoever else.  I hope and pray that we can all "make it Home."  That's why I'm a missionary.  That's why I'm here in Alabama as a representative of the Lord.  I'm here to help people come unto Christ, the only person who has ever lived that can bring us all Home.

On our way home from our Follow-up Trainers Meeting, we stopped in Oneonta to grab a Little Caesar's pizza.  While we were eating, we saw this guy who was pushing his car off to the side of the road and so we went over and gave him a jump start.  Unfortunately, his car had a few more problems than just needing a jump.  So after trying to start it up a few times, he eventually just called someone to come pick him up and we left.  Before we left, we talked to him a little bit about what we do as missionaries, and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  He said that it would be fine if missionaries came and talked to him some more, and so we got his info and sent a referral to the Elders serving in the Locust Fork branch.  It was a good way to cap off the night.

On Saturday evening we went to go try and see Damion.  He is a guy whom we have been seeing for quite some time, but we only go see him every couple of weeks because he just doesn't progress and he's kind of lazy.  At this visit, we really focused on two things, 1) prayer, and 2) coming to church.  Damion is a tough guy to get to commit to anything, but after we read from the Book of Mormon with him about these things, and we explained to him the importance of doing them and the blessings that come from it, he agreed to do them.  He prayed at the end of the lesson for the first time in a long time, and he came to church!  I didn't want to be pessimistic, but I was honestly surprised that he showed up.  He stayed for all 3 hours and when we talked to him afterwards he said that he enjoyed it.  We asked if he would bring his brother, Lee, next week (he's the one who didn't show up to the church tour/baptismal service, or church last week), and Damion said he would try and get him to come with him.  So that was great!

Daniel also came to church, unfortunately his daughter, Gabi, didn't.  He told us that she would have except she was not feeling well, so that was good to hear at least.  We should be seeing her at church in the future.  We were also able to meet with Daniel and the Branch President after church, and talk to Daniel about receiving the Priesthood and getting a temple recommend.  He's going to be interviewed for them next week!  Daniel told us how ready he was to start contributing and helping out.  He more or less said, "I want to do something.  Give me some responsibilities."  Haha he's so awesome.  When we explained to him a little bit about priesthood duties and responsibilities he was so excited to start doing them.  I love Daniel, he's such a stud.

The Gadsden Elders also had another baptismal service after church and Daniel stayed for that and it was so awesome.  Like my title says, we had a great weekend due to the continued progress of Daniel, and the fact that Daniel came to church.

Also, another great highlight of the week was that Alabama absolutely spanked LSU.  Haha it was so awesome to check the score.  Also Utah State is ranked #14 as of now, which is the highest I've ever seen them.  It may be the highest they have ever been ranked, I'm not sure.  So awesome!  More good to add to our great weekend.

Alright well, love y'all!  I'm loving it here in Attalla.  Sometimes the going is rough, but the Lord is definitely looking out for us and blessing us when we do our part.  It's so great to be a missionary, and it's so great to be here in Alabama.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers, and know that you're in mine.

Elder Beach

#RollTide

PS - Due to the unusual amount of baptisms that have been poured out on our district the last few weeks, at interviews President Sainsbury called us "The Celestial District."  Haha it was so funny.

#BirminghamAlabamaTemple

We moved into our new place, but the stove/oven we brought with us doesn't fit into the space.  Our handyman friend has been helping us do some electrical work so we can soon cook in our house!

Exchanges with the Gadsden Elders.  I was with Elder Bare.

Many of the Elders I have come to love in my mission!

Testing out the "wide lens" selfie feature on my camera.