Wednesday, November 27, 2013

It's way hilly up here in Whitter!


Here are all the answers to all of Mom's questions:

1. I am still very much on bike. I am on bike so hard. My area is one of, if not the, hilliest area in the mission. SO many hills, and they are all massive, and could pass as mountains in eastern states. My legs are getting jacked. No lie, from the hips down i will be yoked in no time.

2. My companion is Elder R***. He is from Smithfield utah, up by logan.

He runs cross country is super fast and impssible to keep up with in the morning.

3. I am actually living with members right now. We live is a small room they have that also has a bathroom and small closet. Technically it is all we need, but it is a lot less space than I had. It is just the 2 of us that are living there.

4. Job as district leader is basically to keep everyone in my district accountable and safe. There are 11 elders in my district, and we all work in the same ward named La Esperanza, which is the spanish ward up here in Whittier.

5. I am still emailing at a library up here, but you only get 1 hour here instead of the 2 that i was enjoying down in Compton, so I am typing really fast. for that please excuse all typing errors.

6. Thanksgiving plans are to eat as many dinners with as many member as humanly possible. I heard that at the end of the day you want to throw up.

Bring it on.

7. The members do a pretty good job feeding us. I think we usually get 5 member dinners a week up here, which isnt to bad.

8. I get mail probably 2 a week. Really it is whenever someone makes a trip down to the office and brings it back.

More info about Whitter:   It is the hilliest city i think i can possibley imagine. And we are doing everything on bike. Yeah. On Thursday my back brakes went out, so i H ave been going since then with out brakes. So to stop at the bottom of all of these monster hiils, I am just using my foot and scraping against the ground. Today i will buy some new brake pads, because i dont want to have to get new shoes.
This last week in my first week of being a district leader, I got to do a baptismal interview for an investigator of one of the other companionships. It was such a cool experience to feel the holy ghost confirm to me that this young woman was ready for baptims. In my first week in this district, there has already been 2 baptisms, and the work is really progressing out here. Whittier has a stigma of being a hard place to work, but i think that we are proving that it all depends on you attitude and how hard you want to work. Thanks for everything family, love ya'll.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

spelling really isn't their thing
 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Good bye Compton :( ...Hello Whittier

Beck Family!
How is it going. Guess what, today isnt a holiday so i actually get to send a real letter. This last week has been awesome. It was the last week of the transfer, so we worked out tails off, because the odds are that i was leaving. And it is true, i got the phone call 2 nights ago, it is my time to leave Compton. I have been here for 4 transfers, that is 6 months, or 1/4 of my whole mission. That is a long time. And i feel so lucky that i got all of that time out here in the hood. It is weird, but Compton has really become my home. I love it here, i feel like i really know this city. it is crazy here, and I would have to think really hard about coming back to visit this place without a name tag on, but while being a missionary, i cant think of a better place. Love it here, but like i said, it is my time to go. I am now headed up to Whittier, which is none in the mission as the black whole where people go to die. Whittier is the farthest place out in the mission. Which really isnt that far out cause our mission is tiny, but still, for us it is out in the boonies. It is gonna be so cool, i hear that it is super hot up there, so i am glad that i am doing my Whitter tour in the winter. I have also been called as a district leader up there. There will be 11 Elders in my district. If you dont know all about how missions are organized, its not to complicated. As the district leader i will do the weekly trainings, get to go on exhanges with everybody, hear out everybodys problems, try to serve everybody and keep people happy, and most importantly lead by example. I am pretty excited for it, i think it is going to be a great time. Yesterday we had a baptism. We  baptized a kid named E***. He is E*** best friend. E*** is our recent convert who we baptized a little over a month ago. And he immediatley wanted to share the gospel with his friends, so he brought us to E*** and told us to baptize him. That is exatly what we did. That is how member missionary work gets stuff done. He is super funny, and has the same sense of humor as Hyrum. I feel like the 2 would get in a lot of trouble together in church if they sat next to each other. Anyways, it has been a super good week, even if right now i am really sad to leave Compton. Still, i trust in the Lord, and i know that he is going to put me where he needs me. Thanks for everything you do family, love ya'll.
Beck out,
Elder Beck
all 18 missionaries in their district

baptism are the best...so happy

this is where you get your locks cut!

one of their companions came back to visit
 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Skectchy ride home

Beck Family!
How are ya'll.
So i dont really have anytime today to eamil. It is veterans day, so that means that we are all crammed into the stake center history center again, so i have a total of 20 minutes to read and email everybody. Cause i am holding up like 7 elders, so i cant really take time. Sorry ya'll, but its the curse of the holidays. Missionaries dont even celbrate holidays, we just work the same. So i dont like it when the holidays mess with our everday lives. But what are you gonna do.
We had a great week this last week, we set a couple more baptismal dates, and we should be having a couple this weekend. Just gotta keep working hard to see all of those miracle blessings that a mission is made of.
We went to the sketchiest place i have ever been in my life this last week. We rode the LA river trail at 8 at night. So scary. There are hobo villes built all along the trail, it goes through scary tunnes and sketchy bridges. And some rabid hobo dogs tried to attack as as we were riding through, they were big and biting at our ankles litterally as we were riding away as fast as we could. Thats all i got time for today, love ya'll.

Beck out,
Elder Beck

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Halloween is not a fun missionary holiday


Beck Family!



We had an awesome week, we have been teaching really good lately. And by that i mean the spirit has been teaching really good, we just get the front row seats. There were some really cool moments this last week when i swear i just felt the Spirit take over mine and my companions words. One time we went by a potential investigator this last week, and had such a spiritual experience. She was very sad and angry when we arrived to her house, and without giving us a chance to say anything, she turned around and walked into the house and just left us outside her gate. We shouted out to her for her to stop because we just wanted to share with her a message of happiness and about the plan God has for us. For some reason, she stopped, and turned around, and said that we had 1 minute before she walked back inside. From then on it is a little hard to recall, because the spirit totally took over, and the next thing i knew we were invited into her home, where we then taught her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was so spiritual, i cant remember hardly any of what I said, but everything touched her heart.

She cried continually as the spirit helped her come to know the truthfullness of our message. It was amazing.

For halloween, it really sucked. We have to stay in our apartment and clean the whole night. The reason is because in this area people go out dressed up as missionaires, so it is best for us to just stay inside. So we deeped clean our whole apartment. It was filthy. I saw things that i never wanted to see. Enough of that. For the day of the dead, there were lots of festivals and stuff going on. Everybody makes food that their deceased family liked, then they all have a party, they paint their faces like skulls, then they get drunk and dance arund for the rest of the night.

Crazy holiday.

Anyways, thanks for everything family, love ya'll.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck