I got to finally see the beach

So, i have had another great week in paradise. This last week my companionship turned into a trio. We got another new greenie, who is actually waiting on his visa to go to Argentina. But since the mtc is so full, they cant keep visa waiters there, so they temp send them to a US mission. His name is Elder xxx, he is really cool, and was actually gonna go play football at Dixie state, so he is pretty good. This last week i did something that i haven't done since the plane ride here, i went to see the ocean. Yes, i finally got to go the coast part of my area, and i saw the ocean. I have a small section of Highway 1 in my area, and we "had" to drive on highway one for a little bit. It was so nice. Endless beautiful beach and  palm trees everywhere. And then i saw the biggest homes i have ever seen in my life. Literally, i saw a castle. A 6 story tall home on the beach that was a castle. It had a gate, big watch towers, and a astin parked out front. Someone literally had the dream as a little kid to live on the beach in a castle, and now that they have enough money to do that, they really did it. It was massive, and crazy. When we were driving through the rich part of hunting beach, the coast, i was just looking around at all of the nice cars. There were enough porches to make them look like economy cars, there were bugotis, locust, ferrari, bentlys, astin martins, audi r8s, lambos, literaly every car that is over 100k. It was insane. Cause then we drove back inland to where we do most of our work, and then we are back to the ghettos with low riding hondas and full sized vans. The coast was so incredibly nice i couldnt hardly believe it, i wanted to go swimming so bad, it was just mind blowing. It is technically in my area, but there arent exaclty any spanish people there. No lie, even the landscapers there were white. Thats what you call the rich part of town. I also have a yahct club in my zone that i drove past, saw a harbor full of yachts bigger that our house. Honestly, there were like private cruise ships. Still doing good out here. Had lots of super tireing days. I am getting slightly more comfortable with the spanish, in that i can atleast slaughter the lessons a little bit less. I have just stopped worrying about messing up and just try say whatever i am thinking of. Cause since i am white(and with stunning blue eyes) they are all so cool with me making mistakes when i am talking to them. They are usually just happy that i atleast try to speak spanish to them all. So they let go a lot of my mistakes, and actually help me out when i mess up. Like i get tons of spanish help from total strangers on the street that i am just trying to talk to. So no, i am not great, but gosh darn it i am trying what i know. These are some pictures of what we make for lunch, and that is some real good fried rice. Home made. Mind blowing good. Also, that is my posterity tie from my father(trainer) which i have to wear atleast once a transfer, and will eventually pass along to my

son(trainee) It is probalby the most hideous tie you have ever seen. But someday it will be someone elses problem. 
Well have a good one ya'll, love everybody.

Beck out,

Elder Beck

This is the awesome fried rice!

Me and my comp. and that fabulous tie!

It's blue eyes

Beck Family!

I have been here for a whole transfer. What the heck, where is all of this time going? That means I am halfway through being trained. Its already been 6 weeks. Thats just crazy to me. I have gotten every package that you have sent, so please, it is ok to send me more. Dont not send me stuff cause you think im not getting it. I am getting it all and enjoying it. That jerkey was really good, and it is a good test for my taste buds to reach in to the bag with my eyes closed and just pick out a piece of meat and eat it. I then try and tell what type of meat it is, either moose, pork, or beef. Its a great challenge, and i am pretty sure that i have been 100 percent so far. My carnivore taste buds are as highly tuned as ever. I love the camelbak, that thing is a life saver. It is so much more comfortable than that other bag i was using, and it doesnt hurt my back, so i think it is gonna become my go to bag. I also have hung up my california flag, it looks good. It hasnt rained once since I have been here. I didnt know that california was more of a desert than utah, but all the missionaries say that it hardly ever rains here, even in the spring, and that I will be lucky if it rains at all in the next couple of months. Right now me and my companion have 5 baptismal dates set and we are working our tales off to make sure that they all go through. I have been helping one of our investigators by helping him get his GED. So i have been tutoring him in writing essays and stuff, and in return he lets us teach him. And he actually said that he wants to get baptised the day after he marries his "wife." So we are also helping him with the legal stuff in getting married. That is kind of the tricky thing here, everybody calls each other husband and wife, even if they are only boyfriend and girlfriend. And unfortunantly it is almost always boyfriend and girlfirend, even when they have their whole lives together. Cause to get married, you have to be legal. And, well, that just isnt all that common. But we work with them and we are making sure that they will be all good for baptism. There is this one street where we work a lot, cause it is where all of the spanish people live. It is called La Pat, and it is just so ghetto i love it. There is always loud gangster rap coming from low riding cars driving by, people just box and fight each other in the driveways, and there are always ice cream trucks there. And that is where a ton of our investigators are, so we spend a lot of time there. And something crazy, i just realized this last week. I just looked around me throughout the day, and i realized that I was the only white guy in sight. Literally, when we work in the northern part of our area, I am the only white guy around. But everybody does like when i try to talk to them in spanish. Cause when they see me they immediatley assume that i dont speak any spanish. So when i simply say "todo bien" after they ask whats up, they are always taken aback, and are just like "whose this white guy?" Then they assume that i am fluent and just start rattling off an entire conversation, which i just kinda sit back and listen to, then turn to my companion, and ask what did he say? Also, every body loves my blue eyes. Apparently that is a pretty big deal with mexicans to have blue eyes, and mine are just the bluest they have ever seen. So when i say like 3 or 4 words in spanish, and they see my blue eyes, everybody loves me. These eagle peepers are earning their money. A lot of them when they meet me try to say something in english to me cause they assume that it dont understand spanish, so they are just suprised when i start speaking spanish back at them. They all assume that i like american football (which is true) and that my favorite food is a hamburger (which is close) and that I am from Utah (which is also true). So i am a very classic white man, that is why they are just so suprised that i (try to) speak spanish. But it is awesome out here, i love working out here with everybody. And tomorrow, i am actually going to be turned into a trio. There are so many missionaries that my trainer is going to start training a new missionary with me. He is a visa waiter, but i dont know anything else about him. But for the next transfer i will be in a trio, so hopefully i like they guy. Well i cant believe that Dad ran a marathon, cause now that means that I have to run one. I am not excited. But gosh darn it I will do it. In 2 years or so, I will have to run one to joing the marathon club. Well done Dad, well done, the bar has been raised. Well have an awesome week everybody, and recover.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

April 15th---what the zip flip

Beck Family!

Things are going good out here, Hunting Beach is one of the prettiest places i have ever seen. But i still havent seen the ocean since I flew in. Yes, im working in Hunting Beach, and i havent even seen the ocean. What the zip flip. but its all good cause the saying of the mission is "where the sand begins the mission ends." So i wont ever get to go the ocean, but all i want to do is see it. But it just hasnt happened yet. I have been driving for about the last week, and it has totally sucked. Driving in california is the worst. People are completely crazy, they dont look for lane changes, dont check for bikers, and the dont follow the speed limits, like not even close. Yesterday i totally almost got turned into road kill by a speeding car that took a complelety blind left turn and came about 2 inches from bowling me over at about 30 miles per hour. But its all good, cause i am a missionary, and pretty much nothing can happen to me. Right? I have a new respect for you mother. I have been trying to feed myself for only 123 dollars a month, and it is super hard. California is crazy expensive, so i have been doing a lot of top ramen eating, rice a roni, and balogni and chees sandwiches. I long for your home cooking so much, when i read about you feeding the missionaries baked ziti, my mouth starting to water up. And you gotta understand that that is only feeding me for breakfast and lunch, usually i get dinner at members homes. So yes, i guess i still eat plently. Because on only 2 meals a day i am spending quite a bit of money. I usually do 3 top ramens and half a role of saltines for a meal, If i am trying to cut back and be fast. So yes, i miss you mother, more than you know. And samuel thats to bad about the dog, maybe i will have to put in a good word for you, give you a little help in getting that little 4 legged friend. And i dont have a printer, so i cant send you any pics unless i go to walmart, and there isnt always a lot of time for that. But maybe i will make it there eventually. Well i love your letters and sounds like everything is still going great back home. I am just teaching all the live long day out here, trying my darndest to learn spanish, and studying, like a lot. I am trying me best to get along with my companion, trying to learn everything I can from him, espescially the language. Have a good week, Love ya'll

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

One month veteran

Beck Family!

What is up? Well i have officially been in the mission for a whole month.

So yes, i am now a seasoned veteran. At least that is what i think, but then I go out and try to speak the spanish, and i am humbled all over again. But still, things are going great. General conference was pretty much dabom.com I got to go to see all the sessions, and i actually got some of our investigators to go with us. Right now I have 2 families with baptismal dates, and they are not getting out of them. Another guy is going to get his marriage liscense tomorrow so he can get married, so then we can set him up for baptism. The one lady was flipping incredible. She was just a referall and we went and visited her, challenged her to baptism and she accepted. And then during our second visit she went and testified to us about how all of these things are true, and that she now feels the burning desire to get baptized. What a miracle right. It is just insane to go about working out here and to find people that have been so specifically prepared for us to teach them. I would like the army camel bak if that is possible.

 My bishop here is pretty sweet, and on sunday he had the missionaries over for dinner and grilled us all huge prime cut ribeye steaks. The members feedin us here are great, authentic mexican food is spicy and delicious. However it does have its consequences with the digestive system, but it just tastes so good i cant turn it away. Well, I hope ya'll have a good week, and see ya'll later.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

65 degrees with ocean breezes and breakfast

Beck Family!

My goodness, i feel like i was just at this computer sending you my last letter. Time is really going by so fast out here, I hear that is what starts happening once you get in the swing of things. I have just been getting my butt kicked by the language for the last few days, but i am trying my best to get on top of it. I had a great Easter, but outside of church, I wouldnt have known that it was a holiday at all. Cause all we did for the whole day was go out and work as hard as we do any other day. Cause that is just how we role. Me and another comp of elders have gotten into the great tradition of having a community breakfast every p day. That means that we make up some great food, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, bisquits and gravy, and just go crazy on it all. But I am still working so hard that I am dropping weight out here. My mouth hasnt really cooled down for the last 3 days, cause three days ago I had a blistering hot dinner. It was full of chilis and peppers, that were flippin spicy, but the food was just so good that I had to keep eating it. I think it was called a warachi, basically it is a mess of deep fried everything with spicy guacamole and chili salsa. Really. Good. I am working on getting some people baptized right now, and should hopefully be getting them in the water very soon. The thing that seems to hold everyone back from that here is that they arent married. So many couples live together, have a family, call each other husband and wife, but they just arent legally married. So after we teach them about the gospel we have to convince them to go get their marriage liscence, which you can only get if you are a legal citizen.

So there are tons of people who are very ready and willing to come into the church, but they just have things that are holding them back. Its terribly sad, but we are teaching a couple of people who we think we can get past all of these obstacles. It is still near paradise here, it is a beautiful

65 degrees all day with the ocean breeze blowing in fog in the morning and night. It is a lot hotter in other parts of the mission, but here with the ocean breeze, it keeps it nice and cool. Running in the morning through the fog and palm trees, its just darn near perfect. And i still love riding my bike, that is one of the things that is helping me keep my sanity out here.

But i am scared to take it off any sweet jumps cause my companion just told me that he has spent over 1000 bucks repairing his since he has been out here, and that is just cause he has taken his off of a lot of sweet jumps.

But, at somepoint i am gonna have to find out how fast it goes and how far it flys, just maybe not right now. I actually have my camera, so i am gonna send some pics of my life here. I miss ya'll, and hope you all had a great easter weekend. My comp is just speaking to me in spanish all of the time, so hopefully that helps me pick up this language a little quicker. I really need to figure this out, cause i am not sure how long i can get by on dumb luck and the gift of tongues, i really need to learn this fast. If you look at these pictures you will see we are taking the classic mtc picture of everyone pointing to where they are going on their mission. This is back from the mtc. And i decided to be funny and just point out to the middle of nowhere of the pacific ocean. Photo bomb expert. That was my district from back at the mtc, and i have seen all of the elders since I have been here.

It has been awesome to see them all, elder lund is pretty much a stud.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

Dallin doing a back flip up the walls at the MTC

Where is Dallin going??? Somewhere in the Ocean!

Yes mom, this is how I eat now!

And I can catch laser beams

And Can still make sweet breakfasts!

My ride!

Flat Dallin flies to the Aviary

We took Flat Dallin on a field trip

That's him by a cool road runner

Golden Eagles...they have been known to fly off with a catch on 8 lbs.!

I love Flamingos! Dallin had two friends named Erika and Paul so when we moved from Logan, we named our two pink flamingos Erika and Paul.  That's what all flamingo's names are to me!

Hyrum fed that peacock!



Thank you Hyrum!

Second week there...he's getting a workout!

Beck Family!

So my goodness, i have just been having one heck of a time out here. Your not gonna believe this, but i still dont have my camera, it is somewhere in the apartment, so i still have to send you all the pics from the mtc and my first few weeks here. I know, i must be killing you, but i there are just so many things that i have to do on p day that i pretty much forget to grab it. today i woke up at 5'30 to get a haircut. My comp cut my hair, he pretty much just gave me a glorified buzz cut. I look more like i should be in the army than a missionary, but hey maybe it is a good look. Then at 6 i go to do my laundry, and since then all i have done is go shopping and clean the apartment. P day is literally as busy, or more, than every other day of the week. It is complete anarchy. But i love it all. Last week i had some crazy things happen. I had to go on exchanges without a spanish speaking companion, in my area. My comp, Elder Leon, is a district leader, so he has to go and do excahnges with the other missionaries in the district. So last week, after i had only been here for 7 days, he left me in charge of my area, and the companion i got stuck with for 24 hours didnt speak a lick of spanish. He had been out here for a while, but he somehow didnt know how to say jack squat in spanish. So for the whole day i was the one contacting people, trying to get appointments, and proselyte all in spanish. Eventually i some how talked my way into someones home, and taught the entire first lesson, all in spanish, and they actually invited us back.

They are just this perfect little family, and if i get my way they are all gonna be baptized. It was crazy, i didnt know where anything was, even how to get back to my own apartment, but i was left in charge of the area. And i got a family worth of new investigators. I dont even know what i was saying when i was in their home, but apparently it was good enough that they invited us all back. I also turned a street contact into a blessing.

This random guy we talked to just unloaded on us about all his problems, so then we asked if he wanted a blessing, and he said yes. So he took us back to his appartment, and i gave him a blessing. Just crazy things like that are happening all the time here. I am so consistently tired its crazy. I ride my bike for hours a day in the california sun, only stopping to walk entire blocks talking to people on the street. At home at night, i just kind of collapse into my bed. But somehow i keep functioning. I have a few things i would like to ask for, if you could send them in a package. If you could send me my little yellow escape tool, that would be great. All i remember is it was somewhere in my room, im guessing that stuff has all been moved anyways. If you could also send me some more stamps, that would be great. There just isnt enough time to every stop by a post office, so if you dont send em to me, i wont ever have em. Also, how much does it cost to send a letter to another country? Like France? A physical hand written letter. I mean, i have got no real reason to ask this question, you know, i was just curious. Like is it 3 stamps or what? And if you could send me a California flag that would be pretty sweet too. I has just been awesome over here, i have been challenging people to baptism, and we will hopefully have one on conference weekend. My companion is half ecuadorian and hondurian. Im not sure if that is politically correct, but close enough. He is a eating champion. He pretty much doesnt eat the entire day, but then once we get to dinner, he makes up for the entire days worth of food. I think he can literally unhinge his lower jaw, and flip on a vaccuum switch behind his ear, and just inhale the food through his gaping mouth. It is impressive and slightly frightening. But he is a great guy, and he works hard, and he never stops for anything. We get along good cause of that. I finally got bike lights today, so now i will be less scared about being hit by cars. I forgot to get them last week, and we just didnt have time in the whole week to go get them. My comp just said, "tenemos fe," and we kept on riding. I got to teach elders quarum on sunday to. Didnt find out about it until 3 minutes before sacrament started. Obviously, the whole thing was in spanish. Just one more of those crazy things we have done since I have been here. It is very nice here, it is 65 degrees the whole day, and it is just perfect. I have heard that it is about to get very hot though, so that is gonna ruin this paradise that i have got going on here. It is great to here that sierra, i knew you wouldnt get anything but 100 percent. Dont ask me how how knew, but i just had a feeling. My bike is pretty nice, its a nice smooth ride, and i have gotten going pretty fast on it when i am racing from one appointment on one side of town to the other. Our area is super big cause as spanish missionaries we cover the whole stake. But since my comp is the district leader, we do have a car. And i am the driver cause he cant drive. So when we drive, i am the one dealing with all of these insane cali drivers. But we like bike more, so we do that more. I have been eating good authentic mexican food almost every night. The members here have a calender to feed us so We have been eating with them for the whole week.

They just know how to do mexican food right. But I am biking so much that I am still actually losing weight out here. Hopefully by the end of this transfer I am gonna be all leaned up. I have already lost 9 pounds since that first mtc week. I am just running and biking and doing all sorts of crazy pushups. I am actually getting in better shape out here, even with all the incredibly fattening food that i am being fed at night. I guess when you work this hard you can just eat whatever you want. I cant enough pronounce half of the food that I am eating, but it all includes beef, is spicy, is some part of it deep fried, and is delicious. On sunday it was fast and testimony meeting, and with a little encouragement from my companion, i went up there and bore my testimony in spanish. My comp makes me do a lot of things that are a bit outside my comfort zone, but are good for me. Well i hope this is long enough for ya'll, I think we should just call this the Epistle of Elder Beck. Being a missionary is awesome. Things are just going great here. Love ya'll.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck