Great week, unfortunate weekend

Hey y'all, unfortunately this was a bye week for the Crimson Tide, so I more or less have nothing to talk about.  Love you guys!  Talk to you next week!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

Actually, that's not entirely true.  Though it was rather depressing without a game score to look forward to, this was a good week full of ups and downs.  Also the Aggies destroyed whomever they played, so that was great.  Let me move on to our week....

A good bit in the past I told y'all about a guy named Damion.  He is a great guy, and we love meeting with him and talking with him, but he just never showed any signs of progression.  We have just been off and on teaching him for a while.  This week, after not having seen him for a month or so, we stopped by.  Damion wasn't around.  However, his brother, Lee, was home and he let us right in.  We talked with Lee for about 30 minutes, taught him about the Restoration of the gospel, and invited him to read the Book of Mormon and attend church.  It was a really great lesson, and he understood things a little better than Damion ever has.  He told us that he had actually been to our church before a few years ago when a coworker invited him, but since then he hasn't been to any church at all.  He was really excited to get back into church because he missed it and needed some spiritual boost in his life.  We invited him to have a church tour on Saturday where we could show him around and teach him about what to expect when he came to church and all that.  He was so excited and so were we.  Then on Friday we realized that the Gadsden Elders were having a baptism on Saturday morning, and so we called Lee and invited him to come and do a church tour right before, and then stay for the baptismal service.  He told us he would love to.  When we got to the church, we spent like an hour basically pacing around, checking all the doors, walking laps to check all of the parking lot so we wouldn't miss him when he showed up - which he never did.  I'm not sure the reason why.  We also called him Saturday evening to make sure he was still coming to church, which we were assured that he would.  He didn't come to that either.  It was kind of that kind of a week for us haha.  We had so much awesome stuff leading up to the weekend, and then it all just sort of flopped.  That's okay though, it happens sometimes, and we'll just keep working with those we have met to get them to church in the future.

There is a guy named John that we met a few weeks ago tracting, and he just told us to try another time.  We didn't really have much of a conversation with him.  Well, we tried him again on Thursday this week, and we were able to have a great visit with him.  He's a really cool guy.  He used to be a minister-type guy at a church, up until recently when he left and decided to start his own church.  He is in the process of that right now.  That was kind of unfortunate to hear, just because if he is invested so much into his church, that's a difficult thing to leave even if he does gain a testimony of the restored gospel.  But at the same time, he was one of the nicest, most open ministers I've ever talked to.  He told us that he really just searched for truth wherever it is.  We shared with him the Restoration, and how we believe that Jesus Christ has restored His church to the earth.  We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and he seemed genuinely excited to read it.  The next day, we invited him to come to the baptism that Gadsden had on Saturday.  He didn't really give us a yes or a no, but just like Lee, he didn't show up.  Bummer.  But he was still a super nice guy, told us he would love to talk to us again, and also he said he would take us to lunch someday.  John's an awesome guy, I just wish he wasn't starting his own church right now......It's going to make things tough.

Last week I told y'all about the Baxleys.  They were the people who pulled us over on the road and told us that they wanted us to come visit them.  I was so excited for that.  We planned to go see them at 6 PM on Thursday, and they called at about 4:45 and cancelled on us.  Our backup plan was to go see Damion, and we ended up meeting Lee.  Our backup, backup, backup plan after that was to go see John, so I guess it all worked out.  Anyway, we missed the Baxleys.  We did invite them both to the baptism on Saturday and they told us they would be there.  About an hour before the service, they called and cancelled again.  However, they assured us that they would be at church - they didn't call and cancel this time, but they still weren't in attendance.  Again, I guess it was just one of those weeks haha.

We called Daniel on Friday and invited him and his family to the baptism the next day.  He doesn't go into work until about 1 PM, and so we assured him that he could come to the service at 11 and still have plenty of time to get ready for work if he had to go.  He told us that he would be there, and that he would be at church as well.  He let us know that his daughter, Gabi, would probably be at church with him again on Sunday, so that was all great news to hear.  Unfortunately, our weekly pattern of commitments falling through continued, and we didn't see Daniel or Gabi at the baptismal service or at church.  Not sure what the reason behind that was, but there have been times in the past where Daniel has slept in past church because he usually gets home from work at about 1 AM.  That's my guess as to the reason.

There were several other people that we invited to the baptismal service who gave us "maybe" for a response.  As you can see, there was kind of a theme this week - none of them came.  Oh well.

The baptismal service itself was awesome.  It was for this older couple named Wallace and JoAnne Daily.  I had met and taught them on an exchange a few months ago, and they fed us gumbo that day.  It was the best thing I've eaten since arriving in Alabama.  So good.  Anyway, their story is really awesome.  Their son joined the church about 12ish years ago when he was 19.  They were not happy with that decision at all.  Their son went on a mission a year later, and again his parents were not happy at all.  I'm not sure exactly what sparked the change, but over the past few years they have come to learn a little bit more about the Church, and their hearts have softened.  From what I hear, even in the last 3 or 4 months they have made incredible strides in building their own testimonies and strengthening their faith.  It was 12 years in the making, but Wallace and JoAnne were finally baptized last week.  Their son, who lives in Arizona now, was able to skype in for the service and give a talk and speak with his parents.  It was a really cool experience.

Side note for this story and others - if there is a baptismal service in your home ward or stake, please attend.  Even if you don't have any idea who the person is, just go!  It is incredibly important for a new convert to know that they are loved, supported, and welcomed as they make the big step in their lives and are baptized.  Also, we learn in D&C 84:20, "in the ordinances [of the priesthood], the power of godliness is manifest."  It's my opinion that outside of temple attendance and sacrament meeting, baptismal services are one of the most important things we can attend.  Why?  Because the power of godliness is manifest.  Just like in the ordinances of the temple and the ordinance of the sacrament.  So please go!  Both you and these new converts will be blessed for it.  

Alright, well, this was a good week.  We've had a great last several weeks.  For whatever reason, the Lord is raining down blessings on those in our district and their respective areas.  It's been so awesome to be able to participate in and hear about so many baptisms, and watch these choice spirits enter into their first covenant with God.  I love being a missionary, and though our success is not based on our baptisms, sometimes it's just nice to see the fruits of your labors.

Love y'all!  Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  Talk to you next week.

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#ForRealThisTime

Filling the baptismal font.

My "nog" stash.  Unfortunately, it is now gone.

The Daily's son was able to skype into their baptism and give a talk.  Cool!

I made some pork!

Dressed in White

Hello all my family and friends, this was a great week in good old Attalla.  One of the best weeks I've had as a missionary, and y'all should know why if you have been reading my previous emails.

Daniel was baptized on Saturday, and I had the opportunity to baptize him.  It was such a great experience.  He is the most prepared individual that I have ever had the privilege of meeting and teaching.  At the end of his service, Daniel shared his testimony and told a brief story that I had only heard part of before.  It was my understanding that his journey in the Restored Gospel had begun when he ordered a Book of Mormon online last spring.  He said that his journey had actually begun a little bit before that when he was on YouTube and stumbled across a video from "Brother Monson" in General Conference.  He said that he was very impressed with Brother Monson and his genuineness and humility, and that was kind of his start to learning about the Church.  What a cool thing!  It's been so great to be part of Daniel's progression over the past few months and see his knowledge and testimony grow.  He's going to be a great member and will add much to this branch in the coming years.

Daniel's daughter, Gabi, also came to church on Sunday for the first time to attend his confirmation.  She stayed for all of church, and the Young Women did a great job of making her feel welcome.  We didn't have a chance to talk to her a whole lot afterwards, but I'm hopeful that whatever fears she may have had about coming to church were lessened or dispelled.

Ruby was also baptized on Sunday afternoon.  Her service was so awesome.  I hopefully filled you in on her story before, but she was a member back in the 80s.  For some unknown reason (I've tried to talk to her about it, and I'm not sure if she even knows why) she asked that her name be removed from Church records.  Nearly a year ago now, there were some members who asked the missionaries to go check on her, and she told them her story, told them how much she missed the church, and almost immediately started attending again.  Her baptism and re-admittance into the Church has been a long time coming, and it was a joy to be a part of it.  She too has an incredibly strong testimony.  I love hearing testimonies of those who are relatively new in the gospel like Ruby and Daniel.  They are so pure and genuine and focused on what's important.  In the words of Elder Anderson, "[They] may not know everything, but [they] know enough."  I, like Daniel and Ruby, know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.  It is here to help us learn how to return to live with God again, and I know that as we obey the principles of the gospel we will be able to do just that - live with God and with our families.  What a blessing that is.  I'm so glad I was able to play a part in helping them both enter on the strait and narrow path on their way back home.

This week as we were riding down the road, there was a lady who pulled us over in her car.  She told that she was a member, had just moved to Attalla a couple of months ago, and asked us where the church was.  She also told us that her husband was not a member, but she felt that there was some potential there.  He had met with missionaries before in Georgia, but hadn't been able to since they moved here.  It was definitely an unexpected stop, but those are the kind of things we love!  Finding is tough, and I love when they come to us instead of us going to them.  Unfortunately they didn't come to church on Sunday like she said they would, but hopefully we will be able to go visit them this week and start teaching her husband again.

We also got a call from a member family a week or so ago telling us that their neighbors want us to come over and more or less perform an exorcism for them.  We called and made an appointment with them for this Wednesday.  Now, we aren't going to do an exorcism, but we can definitely go visit them, bless the home, pray with them, help them to feel the Spirit, and "chase away darkness" as President Sainsbury says.  I look forward to the visit, and hopefully we can make it be uplifting for them and us, and not weird (like most visits I've had with people who claim they have evil spirits in their homes).  

This past Saturday we also were able to set up our Family History booth at the Attalla Heritage Day festival.  It rained most of the day unfortunately, but it was still a semi-successful event.  Not a whole lot of people were interested in learning about their family, but we did meet several individuals that we had family/gospel discussions with.  One lady said that she used to cut the hair of a previous bishop and she had read the Book of Mormon before.  She said that she had had lots of gospel discussions with this bishop before, and she took another copy of the Book of Mormon and told us that she would be up for meeting with us and discussing it sometime.  I really hope she gives us a call, I would really love to meet with her again.  Time will tell with her and others that we met.

One final thought for the week.  Last week at Zone Conference, President Sainsbury asked us all to take time and notice tender mercies, or miraculous coincidences, that happen each day.  He asked us to write them down, right when and as they happen.  I had actually started doing a similar thing about a month ago (since I have not been too great at journal writing), and I have noticed that as I write those things down, I definitely recognize the Lord's hand more often.  "Revelation received is good for the moment.  Revelation received and recorded is good for eternity."

Love y'all!  Thanks for all of your thoughts, prayers, and mail.  I love receiving them all.  Have a great week!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#8-0

PS - We are moving into our new dwelling this upcoming weekend.  I'll get y'all the address as soon as I can.  If you have anything to send, please wait until you get the new address (unless it will get here by Oct 27.  Thanks.)

Dressed in white for Daniel's baptism!

Ruby's baptism!

Our Family History/Face Painting booth at the Attalla Heritage days festival.

"I'll call the police!"

Hello to all my family and friends, fall is finally upon us (I hope) in Alabama.  I have heard reports of snow from out West, but that will probably not be the case here ever.  One morning last week we went outside to run and it was 46 degrees.  I almost froze.  However, most days still sit right around 80 degrees for the high.  I am still looking forward to cooler weather, and there have been days that hint of it.

Crazy week in college football, there were lots of top 25 teams that lost, and many more that nearly lost.  However, the Aggies and the Crimson Tide both won handily, so that's all I really care about.  I can't wait until Bama plays LSU.  We might finally have a close game.

This week we had some ups and downs, as usual.  There is a lady named Cathy that Elder Vanderhoff and I met several weeks ago.  She talked about how she was a Baptist, but not a "pure Baptist."  Kinda weird, but she did show some genuine interest.  We tried her multiple times over the last few weeks with no luck, so Elder Lyons and I went to try her one last time on Tuesday.  She didn't answer.  So we walked back to our bikes at the end of the driveway, and sat there for a couple minutes trying to figure out what to do, since all of our plans had fallen through.  As we sat and went through the area book looking for someone to visit, Cathy came to the door and called to us to come back up to the porch.  We did, and had a great visit with her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon.  There were times when she showed interest, and times where she said, "Well, I'm Baptist," and just brushed off what we told her.  However, she said that she loves to study books, especially the Bible, and she said that she would read through the Book of Mormon.  During our conversation, there were about 3 times when she said, "I'm Baptist."  After the third one, I said to her something like this: "You know, that's a principle that I have thought about a lot lately, and something that we have discussed quite a bit - the idea that tradition trumps truth."  She sat there for a bit, and then asked me to say what I had just said again.  "Tradition trumps truth," I told her.  "I wish that were not the case, but with many people it is."  Elder Lyons and I then both testified of the Book of Mormon, of the truth it contains, and of the spirit that will bear witness to her heart of its truth as she reads.  I asked her to not read the Book of Mormon in an effort to just add information to her head, but to read it in an effort to find truth.  If she did, then she would come to know that it was true for herself.  She committed to read, and we are going to hopefully see her again this week.

We also tried to see Kim this week, the lady that we met last week who was interested.  When we went over, she said that she hadn't read the pamphlet yet and she didn't want to talk or visit with us until she had.  Bummer, but we will try her again soon.

Alright, here's the story behind the title of my email.  I'll try to make it short(ish).  It's an odd story to explain without going into lots of detail.  We were at William's house.  He's a guy whom we have been teaching for a long time.  He's been to church once, and our last lesson with him was last week.  He knows he needs to be baptized, but he says that he needs to find the right church to do it in first.  Our plan in seeing him this week was to reteach the Restoration, because he obviously doesn't understand it quite yet.  So we go over to his house to do that.  He wasn't feeling that well, so we were just going to stay a few minutes, see if we could do anything for him, and invite him to read the Restoration pamphlet in preparation for our next lesson.  We had been there for about 5 minutes when a lady knocks on the door, and he invites her in.  She is his neighbor from across the street.  She walks in, sits down, and I was just thinking, "Awesome, we can teach her the Restoration too."  We go back to talking to William, but like 10 seconds later she interrupts and she says to us, "Isn't it a little late for y'all to be out visiting people?"  I responded, "Well, it's only 6 PM.  People don't usually want to talk to us after dark, but we still have some time until then."  Then we go back to talking to William.

Again, like 10 seconds later, she says to us, "Will you two leave so that we can talk?"  I told her that we were on our way out (which was the truth), we just wanted to talk to William for about 1 more minute.  So we proceed to try and talk to him.

A third time we get interrupted by this lady.  She says, "Aren't you being a little rude?!  I asked you to leave, and you haven't.  I assume that you represent a Christian church, and this is the way you act?!"  I was baffled.  I really wanted to just start yelling at her because she was the one being rude, but I knew that I couldn't.  I said, "Alright, we're gonna get going, but we'll stop back by sometime soon."

"No you won't!" she yells at us.  "I'll call the police!"  Again, I was baffled.  I don't know what her purpose was in doing this, but it was just odd.  I said to her, "Okay, there's no reason to do that.  We are leaving, and we'll be back another time."

She yells at us again that she will call the police on us if we do.  So I turned to William and said, "William, would it be alright if we stop by again?"  He said yes, which just made the lady even more mad haha.  She was just glaring at us and yelling at us, even as we thanked William for letting us in for a few minutes, invited him to read the Restoration pamphlet before we came back, and we told him we would call him before we stopped by again.  He said that would be fine, and we left.  As we rode down his driveway, there were two guys on the driveway of the house across the street (the house that the lady had come from).  I called to them, "Hey, how are y'all doing?"  Neither of them said a word, but they just glared at us both.  I laughed and said, "Alright, y'all have a good night!"  It was great, but the whole experience was just so odd.  I mean, a lady literally walked into a house that she did not own - a house that I have been to about a dozen times with no interruption - and kicked us out, threatening to call the police if we came back.  And she likely had the guys at her house ready to come in and drag us out if we didn't leave. Crazy!  Haha I'm so excited to go back there and teach William, whether this lady shows up or not.  He has lots of potential to progress, he just needs to have a few things click first, and reteaching the Restoration will definitely help that to happen.  We are going to take a member with us next time we go.

Alright, back to good news instead of bad.  Daniel is ready for baptism this week.  We finished teaching him everything, and so this week will just be follow-up, and administrative/logistical stuff, such as filling out his baptismal record and doing his interview.  We are going to keep close tabs on him this week so he doesn't get cold feet.  He shouldn't, but at zone conference this week we talked about how somebody's most difficult days in their conversion process is the 10 days before their baptism and the 10 days after.  That's when Satan works on them really hard, so we are going to keep up with Daniel to help dispel the darkness that will inevitably try to creep into his life.

Speaking of zone conference, we had that last Thursday.  It was definitely a big help.  In Attalla, we have a festival type thing going on this week, and we are going to be doing a family history booth at it.  I really didn't know what to expect or how it would work, but one of the themes for ZC was how to use family history better in our proselytizing.  It was a big help, and will be especially helpful for us this Saturday at the booth.  It was also great to see some of my homies from the zone, and to share stories and just spend time together.  I always love doing that.

One other story that I'm going to ask a little advice and help on.  We taught gospel principles on Sunday, and we talked about temples.  Daniel, as well as Rena Gray (a member who is coming back into activity) were present.  Both of them have spouses and families who are not interested in the restored gospel.  So the question inevitably came up, "How can I be sealed, or how can I have an eternal family, if my spouse doesn't do what is necessary for that to happen?"  Now, I have thought a lot about that over the last couple of weeks because I knew Daniel would ask about that when we taught about temples.  The only answer that I can think of is the answer we gave them - that while there are blessings that may be delayed, there will not be any blessings denied to us based on the decisions of another person, provided that we do our part to receive those blessings.  I don't know how it's all going to work out, but I know that if we live Celestial lives, we will receive all of the blessings of the Celestial Kingdom (including an eternal family), regardless of how our spouse or our family lives.  I hope that that was accurate, but I just wish I had more information.  I'm going to do some homework, and I would just ask that if any of y'all who read this email have any more information on this topic, send it my way.  Thanks!

Well, this week was a good week.  Still trying our best to find new people to teach.  People like Daniel and Ruby give me hope that those prepared people do exist, we just need to find them or they need to find us!  It's my hope and prayer that that will happen.

Love y'all!  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!  Know that you're in mine.  Have a good week!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#7-0

Zone Conference.  Can you find me?

I love spending time with my mission buddies at conferences!

Conference, Tracting and Training (pt. 2)

Happy Monday to all of my family and friends.  I have come to realize that one of the many things I am going to miss about mission life is that Mondays are awesome.  In the real world, Mondays are....Mondays.  Anyway, what a great week that we had to listen to a prophet's voice, as well as other Church leaders.  It was a great opportunity for us to receive revelation for ourselves and better understand the mind and will of the Lord.  Hard to believe I only have one more General Conference left to watch as a missionary.  Time flies.

Before I get into my thoughts about that, as well as some stories from the week, I just want to say 1) Roll Tide! and 2) Go Aggies!  Honestly, watching Alabama play (which I have done a miniscule amount of so far this season) has been pretty boring.  They literally have no competition.  Every single team that they play they destroy.  I'm looking forward to the Auburn, LSU, and possibly Clemson and/or Georgia games because they might actually be close.  But we'll see.  I was also so pumped to hear that Utah State spanked BYU.  Nothing could have made me happier at that moment in time.  So if you exclude everything else from the week, it was still good just based on a couple of football scores haha.

Alright, General Conference.  It was another historic one.  2-hour church is definitely going to be an odd change, but I know that what we were taught was true.  Gospel learning should be home-based, and church-supported, not the other way around.  It's going to take some getting used to, as well as some responsibility on our part, but it will be great in the long run.  Something that one member said right after that announcement was that with more freedom comes more responsibility.  I have often heard and discussed with people about how the gap between true believers and non believers (or even passive believers) is becoming ever wider.  I feel like this is one of the changes that will widen the gap even more.  The Lord is coming soon, and we all need to prepare for it.  That takes work.  Lots of it.  I hope that we will all heed the words from the prophets, both ancient and modern, and do everything we can to prepare to meet God.  We have been given lots of counsel to help us do that.  Let's follow it.

Also, I got a new companion this week.  Haha probably should have mentioned that earlier.  His name is Elder Lyons and he's from Meridian, Idaho.  We have so far had a good time working hard and doing good.  It's definitely been a grind this week, knocking lots of doors with seemingly little success.  Elder Vanderhoff was sent off to Hamilton, a town in northwest Alabama.  In the weeks before his departure, we dropped nearly everyone in our teaching pool just due to lack of progression and interest, so Elder Lyons and I are hitting that grind to find new people to teach the gospel and help come unto Christ.  It's tough, but we are working hard.  Haha I am definitely putting Elder Lyons outside his comfort zone, and sometimes that makes for some awkward experiences.  But he is doing great, and I enjoy working with him.

One of my favorite talks from Conference was from Elder Uchtdorf, "Believe, Love, Do."  He taught about how living the counsel found in those 3 words will help us through almost anything we will face in life.  "...if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong..."  That is belief.  "And though I have...all knowledge,,,and have not charity, I am nothing."  That is love.  "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  That is action.  Elder Renlund also talked about how we have agency to choose to make the right decisions and to follow the Savior.  It's our choice to believe, love, and do.  When we choose those things, we receive blessings from heaven, and we help others to do the same.  I'm looking forward to following President Nelson's counsel and studying all of the messages of Conference again, especially that talk.  I hope y'all are as well.

This week we have met lots of interesting people.  Our main approach for the week when we met people was that there is a prophet on the earth today, and we have the chance to listen to him this week.  It blows my mind how often people just don't care.  Like, let me say it again: we have a PROPHET!  He speaks to God, God speaks to him, and then he tells us what God wants us to know.  Wouldn't you want to listen?  Most people just shrug it off and reject the offer to listen to one of the Lord's servants.  I'm not sure what goes through people's minds.  Anyway, we did meet one lady this week named Kim who seemed really interested.  I'm not sure if we used that approach on her, but we were able to teach her briefly about the Restoration and give her a copy of the Book of Mormon.  She seemed excited to read and to meet with us again.  We will be seeing her this week.

Some time in the recent past I told y'all about Cora.  She was also somebody who was really interested when we first met her, but we haven't seen her since.  We have been by twice, once we talked to her brother and he gave us a specific time to try again, and the other time nobody was home.  Pretty disappointing, but that's missionary life sometimes.  

We also met a man this week while tracting who was 97 years old.  I was very impressed, because he didn't look it (kind of like President Nelson).  Anyway, we started talking to him, and he told us, "I only believe in one church - the church that Jesus established when he was on the earth."  I said, "Awesome, us too!  In fact, that's the church which we represent, the Church of Jesus Christ, the same one that he established during His lifetime."  The man just said, "I go to a Primitive Baptist church," and then he basically just walked back into his house while we were still talking to him.  Again, I'll never understand why people believe what they believe, or do what they do based on (or not really based on) those beliefs.  I'm just thankful to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It is exactly what it claims to be - the Lord's Kingdom on the earth.  It is very literally His Church, and it is true.  Whether people listen or not, I'm grateful for the chance to share this wonderful truth with others.

Daniel is still looking forward to his baptism on the 20th.  We saw him in between sessions on Sunday, and we talked to him about how he enjoyed conference, and also about some stuff about his baptismal interview, as well as post-baptism stuff (like callings and serving in the Church).  I asked him, "Do you understand the significance of being baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as opposed to any other church?"  He honestly didn't give a definitive answer.  He did mention the priesthood, but it sounded like he just didn't quite get it, which had me worried.  I explained a couple of things briefly, and after that he seemed to comprehend fully, but that answer that he gave just put a little thought in my mind like, "I'm not sure if he's ready yet."  After we talked for a minute though, that thought seemed to fade away.  It was just a weird experience.  Anyway, we invited him to read through all of the pamphlets, starting with the Restoration, and going all the way through to the ones about Temples and serving in the Church.  That should be a good review for him to just be reminded of the basics.  We all need that sometimes, especially someone like Daniel, who is relatively new in his knowledge of the restored gospel.  We'll review as necessary to make sure he's ready, but everything should be shaping up well for his baptism as planned.

Alrighty, well this was a good week.  We are definitely grinding to find new people to bring into the waters of baptism.  At this point we don't have a whole ton to work with, but we are optimistic about a couple of the people we met this week, and I know that there are others out there, we just need to find them.  I'm so thankful for your thoughts and prayers, and especially for the chance we had to listen to God's servants at General Conference.  I hope we can all do everything we can to heed their counsel, for the Lord has promised, "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."  Trust in that promise, and live for the promised blessing of heeding their words to be fulfilled.  I know they will.

Love y'all!  Have a great week!

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#6-0

#GoAggies

My new companion, Elder Lyons.

The many faces of Elder Maness.

Elder Maness' companion, Elder McKeon.

Transfer 10: Complete

Friends and Family, as we come to the close of another transfer, I have some news for y'all. Elder Vanderhoff will be leaving Attalla tomorrow, and I have been asked to train again. Some aspects of training a new missionary I am very much looking forward to, others not so much, but it should be another adventure and hopefully a couple more transfers for the books!

Unfortunately we did not have a whole lot of teaching opportunities this week, but there are a few experiences and stories and testimonies that I would like to share with y'all.

First off, Daniel continues to progress nicely. We were worried because he was late to church on Sunday, but he did eventually show up. Our Sacrament Service started, and he wasn't there, so we assumed he had slept in (as he has done a couple times before haha). But after the service was over, we looked back and there he was sitting in the back, chatting it up with a member. It was also the branch Primary Program this week, and he loved it, so I'm glad he came. He continues to dig into the gospel library and read anything that he can find. He told us that he finished reading the Gospel Principles book this week, and that he often takes time at the end of each chapter to check out the additional scriptures and notes to the chapter. The notes have the scriptural references which provide the doctrinal basis for the chapter. Anyway, he told us that doing that has been really helpful to help him understand things that he previously hadn't. He has such a strong testimony of the Restoration, and of all of the true doctrine that is unique to our church. He said, "The more I read, the more I believe. The more I read, the more it makes sense." He's miles ahead of almost everybody that I have ever taught on my mission, and it is such a privilege to be a part of his conversion process. One side note on Daniel: we moved his baptismal date to the 20th instead of the 13th, just so that we could announce it in church on the Sunday before. His baptism will be that day, and there seems to be no reason that it won't happen.

A week or so ago I started reading Saints, the new book that the Church recently released. I finished it yesterday, and it was a great book. There were lots of stories that I hadn't heard before, and it was great to kind of dive into the lives of the early Saints. Life was rough for them. Really rough. There were many who fell away because of hardships or trials or differences of opinion. However, there were many more who stayed and were valiant in their efforts to serve God and their fellow men. For their faith and their example I am grateful. I often wondered while reading the Book what my reaction would have been to certain circumstances and events. I hope that I would have been able to stand strong with the rest and, when asked if I was going to leave or stay, respond as Peter did and say, "To whom shall I go?" I know as well as the Saints did in the early days of the Church, and as Peter did 2,000 years ago, that if I leave this Church and the Gospel that is taught in it, there is truly nowhere else to go. This Church, and the Savior who is at its head, offers everything that you and I and they could ever need. We cannot go anywhere else in the world for that, and I am grateful for it.

Ruby also continues to be awesome. We had dinner at her place on Sunday, and she always just takes time to tell us how excited she is for her upcoming baptism, and how much it means to her. Because she was previously a member, had her records removed, and is coming back to the Church, she is not technically a convert in statistical terms. As such, we aren't responsible as missionaries for her baptism and the process leading up to it. However, she has asked that we play a role in it, and we are happy to give in to her request. She is "so awesome" (that's her favorite phrase), and we are so excited for her to regain her membership in the Church of Jesus Christ. 

I am also very much looking forward to General Conference, and I hope y'all are as well.  It is truly a wonderful time that we have to listen to God's mouthpiece(s) on the earth, and it has been a great opportunity for me the last couple of weeks to testify of President Russell M. Nelson and his prophetic calling.  He truly is a prophet of God.  I have invited many people to "come listen to a prophet's voice," and I hope and pray that many heed the calling.  It's such a blessing to be able to hear and to learn from living prophets and apostles.  It saddens me that so many people here in the south and throughout the world find that doctrine of living prophet blasphemous.  However, I know and testify that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I know that He has organized His Church in our day, and that it is truly "built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone."  What a blessing that is.

Well, I do look forward to another transfer of being in Attalla, and for the chance I have to train again.  I love the branch here, and all that they do for us.  I also love y'all and all of your thoughts and prayers.  Know always that you are in mine.  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Beach

#RollTide

#5-0

#WinningIsTooEasy

#Future2018CFPChamps

PS, here is some stuff I forgot about:

Adrea, whose husband was going to have the Skype lessons with us, is kind of out of the loop for now.  We asked her if we were still on for a lesson yesterday evening, and she replied: "Sorry, on indefinite hold.  Will keep in touch."  Not sure what the deal is, but hopefully we can hear from them soon.

Also, Elder Maness texted me a couple days ago with his flight information.  He is rejoining the ABM tomorrow.  Yeah boy!  I love that kid.

The "diskrict" (that's how they say it in the South...)

A black Jesus.

#4EyesOnTheScreen

Daniel - We love this guy!

Eutaw, Alabama.  It is pronounced "Utah"!  :)