Elder Jackson Beach: And All Are Alike

Hey everyone, I hope y'all have had a good week out and about wherever you are in the world. Our week, as usual, has had some ups and downs, but that's life I guess. We're still having fun and working hard. It's tough to believe how fast time flies when you're a missionary. Like they say, days are long and weeks are short. I can attest to the truthfulness of that statement.

We don't have quite as much time to write today, as we have been doing stuff all morning and still have more to do, but I'll try and jam it all in here.

This week we had an exchange with the Columbiana Elders, and I went with Elder Barfuss. He's actually from Logan and went to Logan High (though he openly admitted that he would have rather gone to Sky View. Same). We worked in Birmingham, and were able to have some good experiences together. We spent a little bit of time walking around UAB campus talking to people. Elder Barfuss is like me in that he doesn't really like to put himself out there. So I set him up with a few opportunities to do so, and he did well. We met one guy named Sai, who told us he had met with missionaries a few months ago on campus, they talked for a couple of hours, and he received a copy of the Book of Mormon. He admitted that he hadn't read much, but was willing to meet with us again and learn more about it and begin reading again. However, just like dozens of others whom we have met, taught, and received contact info for, he has ignored our attempts to get back in touch with him. That seems to have been the story of our lives this transfer. We were going through our calendar and a lot of it is just failed contact attempts. We meet someone, they are interested, we teach them, get their info for a future visit, we try to contact them, we get ignored. Time and time again. I guess the more people we talk to, the better chance we have of finding someone who doesn't ignore us, but for now that has been our struggle. We're working on it.

During our exchange we went to dinner with a guy from the branch named Colton. He's just a cool dude. He was baptized about 3 years ago, and recently went to the temple to be endowed for the first time. He basically just told us his conversion story (which I had heard parts of from other people, but not the whole thing). It was pretty awesome. He told us how after he was baptized, he basically rid himself of everything that wasn't a good influence in his life. He really had to make some big changes, but he knew that the blessings of the gospel were worth any sacrifice. Hearing conversion stories is one of my favorite things about being a missionary. Being a part of that story for someone is pretty cool too. :) Anyway, after we left dinner, Colton called us a few minutes later and basically said, "There's more people just like me out there." And that's absolutely true. I have heard the stories of many, I have met many, and I have had the privilege of helping several to change their lives in remarkable ways. It's one of the great joys of missionary work.

We had an appointment with Cosby this week, but for some reason he had to cancel. We were able to answer a few of his questions, and he has definitely been reading from the Book of Mormon. We have invited him to church for the last few weeks, and we even asked a member that Cosby knew to invite him one week, but he hasn't been in quite some time. We are going to turn to the members to invite him to stuff, as there have been several who have asked about him this week. In case you didn't know, it's really easy for people to say no to the missionaries. It's slightly more difficult to say no when the invitation comes from someone else. That's the goal with Cosby going forward.

One random note on the weather. We escaped any 'nader damage here in Birmingham. However, most people are in a panic because there is supposed to be a huge ice storm coming in tomorrow. All the bread and milk and eggs are gone off the shelves haha. Such is the custom when the dreaded "s-word" is mentioned in this great state. (the s-word is "snow" by the way, for those who may be unaware).

Here's a cool thing: this morning for Pday, President gave permission for all of the missionaries around the Birmingham area to go to the Civil Rights Museum. They are normally closed on Monday, but there is a member in one of the wards around here that works there so he got us in today, and we were the only ones there. It was awesome. Most of the info in the museum I was already somewhat familiar with, but it's still crazy to think about what actually happened in the South. And it wasn't even that long ago! People were crazy back then. Some people are still crazy today haha. But I'm just glad that for the most part, as Dr. King put it, we are not judged "by the color of our skin but by the content of our character." 2 Nephi 26:33 - "...and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile." We are all alike in the eyes of God, why should we be any different in the eyes of one another?

Well, I'm grateful for that knowledge. I'm grateful that we live in a time and in a place where we are free to live and worship as we please. The world might seem like a crazy place, and it is, but coming unto Christ and living His gospel will always be a source of hope, peace, and freedom to us. He will always be there. He invites all to come unto Him. Even you. I know that the effort required to do so is worth any sacrifice.

Love y'all! Have a great week!

Elder Beach
#RollTide