First off, I want to thank everyone for the birthday gifts and wishes. It was a great day, and I'm so grateful for everyone I have on my side providing love, support, and prayers while I'm on my mission. I love and pray for y'all too. The Rowe's, who used to be in our ward in Logan, had us over yesterday for dinner. I didn't know that they knew it was my birthday, but they discovered it somehow and we had a little party. It was awesome. I love having friends out here who will make days like that special.
This week Elder Erickson and I were asked to speak in the Tuscaloosa ward. My assignment was to explain how both the Fall of Adam and the Atonement of Christ were evidences of God's love for us. If you want a copy of my talk, just ask my mom. As always, it was basically General Conference worthy haha.
I can't remember what I said last week about William, but things have kind of been off and on with him. His work schedule is 8 AM to 11 PM from Monday through Friday. We were able to have a really good lesson with him on Saturday, and he was really excited to come to church on Sunday. We had everything planned for him to be there, and he asked us to call him on Sunday morning to wake him up. We did, about half a dozen times, but he never answered. We also called him multiple times after church was over, and we stopped by his house on Sunday evening, but were never able to get in touch. I'm not sure what the deal is, other than he probably just sleeps all weekend because of his work schedule. Every time we have a lesson with him, it is awesome. I've hardly met anyone on my mission who wants to learn and wants to do what God wants him to do more than William. It's just that we are very off and on with being able to get in contact with him. It's pretty frustrating sometimes. One bit of good and bad news is that coming up soon, William is going to have to have surgery. He has a big fluid buildup in his leg and is having it taken care of in the near future. Due to that, he will be off work for a few weeks, and so we will (hopefully) be able to see him more often. Just pray that his surgery will go well and that we will be able to seem him more often. I know that William will get baptized at some point, I'm just not sure when. It depends on how much we can see him.
On Friday we had interviews with President, and they were fine. We didn't really have a whole lot to talk about haha. This is his last round of interviews with everyone, and I just told him that everything's going well and he said he appreciated everything I've done for the last 22 months. I do not envy mission presidents haha. They have lots of responsibilities. I'm grateful for everything that he's done, and I've just done my best to make his job a little easier.
On Friday night we also had to drive up to Fayette so Elder Erickson could to a baptismal interview for a dude named Bird. That's not his actual name, but that's what he goes by. He's 18, and he's a stud. He actually has a friend who is getting baptized next week, so we are likely going to have to drive up to Fayette again. But Bird got baptized last Saturday, and he also received the priesthood on Sunday after his confirmation, so now he gets to baptize his friend this week. It's a pretty awesome story for them. Another cool thing is that the church building in Fayette used to be a bank, so it's pretty weird haha. What used to be the vault is now the library, and it's just a weird floor plan. I like little branch buildings like that, they're fun.
Another cool thing that happened was that there was a member who texted us a week or two ago named Brother Doane. He just moved here about a month ago from Clanton, AL. He is semi-active and told us he wants to get back in church. We stopped by and visited with him briefly, and he asked us for a Book of Mormon to give to his non-member wife. We are hoping to see them again and maybe even teach them. Unfortunately, our contact with them has been about like William. They rarely answer texts/calls, and we have tried to stop by multiple times with no luck. We are hoping and praying for them.
Anyway, hope y'all have a great week! It's cooking down here in the South currently, but we are surviving out on our bikes. Heat or no heat, the Church is still true, and the work still moves on! Also, speaking of bikes, I got a nasty screw in my back tire last night, and I'm hoping that my patches hold. How about that for a birthday present haha. Fingers crossed for the patches too! Love y'all.
Elder Beach
#RollTide
Happy birthday to me!
Some friends from the YSA Branch.
The patch jobs on my tire after I ran over a screw.
Bird's cool car.
Elder LeBaron, me, Elder Erickson, and Elder Robins.
Here we are again!
Hanging out at "The Club" on p-day.
My family celebrating my birthday at Bear Lake without me. This is only the second time in 20 years (the two times being the two years I was on my mission) that I haven't celebrated my birthday at Bear Lake. I look forward to celebrating there next year!
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