My comp. is going home

Beck Family!

Holy cow it has been a crazy week. We have basically been getting all ready to send my comp. home. Yep hes been out for a whole 2 years, and now its time to send him home. His Dad and Brother came out to take him home. We were taking them around with us saturday to lessons it was really cool. We also went to church with them yesterday, and last night we had the departure fireside for the departing missionaries. Pretty crazy stuff.  The good news here is i get to stay in Compton for atleast another 6 weeks. Wahoo. My new companion will be elder xxx, i dont know him, but ill meet him tomorrow. Hopefully he doesnt have a nervous break down out here. I got to go to the LA temple last tuesday, it was incredible. That temple is enourmous, freakin huge, and just awesome.

Yesterday at church we set a new personal best for investigators at church. We had 12 investigators come to church, and 28 people over all, including less actives, investigators, and former investigators. That was quite a turn out, and it was awesome to fill up a few rows with just people that we had gotten there. 

Now that's some artwork!

 

Me at the temple

 

This is my desk

 
These are some pictures of me at the temple and the LA visitors center. We managed to walk the entire visitors center without having to talk to a single sister missionary. Success. Well have a great week family, I love ya'll.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

 

 

Ants or roaches?

Beck Family!

So pretty good week out here in Compton. We have been teaching this awesome guy and his son. his son is about 30 years old, but has the mentalitly of an 8 year old, and he is super funny. He reminds me a lot of garrett, he just says the darndest things. I actually get to go to the LA temple tomorrow, so i am super excited for that. Ive heard their is a new treat instore, cant wait. Hma XXX in my ward has to be the funniest best grandma a missionary could have. She called up my companion's ex girlfriend, the one that dear johned him one year into his mission, and she gave her a piece of her mind. She just tore into her, let her know how dear johnning my comp.  was the worst thing she had ever done and that she will never find another guy like him. It was awesome. And it felt like we took a stand for every Elder that has every gotten a dear john that night. Cause that night, we had Hma xxx fight back, and she takes no prisoners. So mom, if you hear that a missionary has gotten a dear john, you ask for her number, then you call her, and you destroy her. And if they didnt get dear johned, maybe you should just call their family back home and let them know that how great their missionary is.. The work has been progressing, hopefully we can have a baptism or 2 . My mission presidnet is a boss. Pres. xxx  is one of those spiritual giants that you can all just feel when he walks into a room. He is awesome, i love the guy.

We had zone conferrence and he just blew us all away, really powerful guy.

My apartment has changed from being infested with roaches to being infested with ants. Honestly, we realized just this morning how much of our food has been broken into and ruined by thousands of ants. We will buy Raid, and their will be a war, and it will be us or them that dies by tomorrow. My taste buds are now even climatizing to habeneros. There are still really spicy, but they dont cause near the level of pain that they used to, and i can more comfortably eat them. . Have a great week family, and pray for missionary experiences. Then act on your prayers and look for missionary experiences. Have a good one.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

One Crazy week

Beck Family!

Yup, this is the wreck

Oh my goodness it has been a crazy week, and i got some pretty good pictures for yall. This week was interesting to say the least. It has probably been the most dangerous week in the City since I have been here. There we lots of shootings and gang wars, more than usual. I'm not sure what for, but it was a crazy week to be walking around. At one point a guy came up to us and just told us that we were going to want to leave that area for a little bit. We did, and as we were walking away we heard them and somebody else fireing back at each other. Then the helicopters come flying in, the police show up, there is more gun fire, then everything stops, order is restored, and life goes on. It was a crazy week.

On friday we saw the guy run into the fire hydrant. The fire hydrants are kind of weak sauce in Compton, they are real skinny, probably all the city can afford, so this guy just knocked it right out of the ground. Then his car was no doubt ruined by the water, and he was just standing next to his Lexus with his hands on his head, and was then arrested for drunk driving. It totally flooded the streets and train tracks. it was pretty cool.
We got this referal so we went to the trailer, and this old nutty looking skinny guy welcomed us in. Now i dont expect a lot from trailers in Compton, but this had to be the grossest place I have ever been in. It was completely swimming in cockaraoaches. Now i am going to tell the rest of this story without any exageration. You could not look at any square inch of his trailer and in 5 seconds not see a roach scurry by. I looked into his trash can in the kitchen, and the trash was littlerally swarmed and swimming in roaches

 That was pretty wild, not something that happens every day out her in Compton. That was the jist of my week. Thanks for all the support back home, and for your prayers, you are probably literally saving my life out here.

p.s.

The last package i got from you was the tshirt about being a missionary, and that means that all of the girls have to keep back. that is an honest problem out here mom, all the girls are all over us handsome missionaries. With no exxageration, me and my companion are hit on by many  teenage girls every single day without fail. Im sure its the last time they will put me with a decent looking companion, we draw to much attention. I love you to mom, your the best in the whole world.

Beck out,

Elder Beck

So true

Them peppers are hot!

Beck Family!

 I had a pretty excellent week as always, im still alive here in Compton. I have had to go on exchanges with lots of greenies lately, and it was weird for me to think, that i am no longer a greenie, that i am actually one who to them seems like ive been here forever and knows everything. I still feel like i just got here. Crazy huh. I really do wish time would slow down a little bit, my mission is flying by way to fast. But its all good. I am now the toughest gringo here. Why? Because i have never turned down a chile, i have eaten every hot thing that anyone has given me, and i have kept it down. You gotta understand, people here like to pick on the gringos. They like to try to make us cry and admit we arent as tough as them for eating these hot things. So it just does me so much good when i pop in a fresh habenero and eat it like its candy, and see all of their jaws just drop to the floor. I have been put through the fire, in some instances literrally, with eating the hottest chilis these people have. I am now at the level that i eat whole fresh or dried habenero peppers without breaking a sweat. Granted everything taste like ash for the next  48 hours, and my insides get crazy messed up, but gosh darn it i can eat them. I have eaten a few things hotter than habeneros, and habeneros are freaking spicy, no lie. Just this last week an investigator of ours bout 3 times a habenero, and those almost melted my teeth, but i kept it together. I have never cried at eating one yet, and i dont plan on it. My next level of pepper is literally the ghost pepper. i have eaten everything up to that, so that will be my next challenge. that is the hottest organic pepper im pretty sure in the world, and at a grocery story you have to sign a waiver before they will sell you one. Thats what i am working my way up to. I think I can do it.

 This last week an investigator of ours took us out to wing stop, and we ordered their atomic wings, and ate them right there in front of the cooks, without water, and without problem, and just left them amazed. They told me those were supposed to be spicy, but i could hardly tell they had put something on them. childs play. the picture with people with cake all over their faces, is just how mexican partys usually end up. That is our gigantic investigator family, and we went over to their b-day party they were having. And for some reason, at every mexican party, the persons face has to be shoved in the cake. They know its going to happen, everyone expects it, it is just part of the party that their faces is pile drived through the frosting, apparently thats fun. And it happens at every party I have ever been to.  . but anyways, that was pretty much my week, best times as usual. And also, i did just find out that my area of compton is the stronghold for the Cryps, so that is cool, right? That explains all of those blood stained blue bandanas i have seen around the city in the ally ways and stuff. Light Bulb. Have a great week family, love ya'll

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

Pretty normal week

Beck Family!

So it was a pretty normal week, we are teaching lots of good people. One of the people we are teaching used to be a professional soccer player in Mexico for Cruz Azul, but he is now living here in Compton in a trailer cause he had kidney failure, and in mexico he said they pretty much discard you if that comes up. He is just a super cool guy, and we love going over to see him.

 Life is still the best in Compton, there are just so many crazy people here, there is never a dull moment. We are also teaching a couple big familys, one of the familys we think is about 15 people, but we arent really sure. Everytime we go over to that house more little kids seem to show up. So we dont really know how big the family is, just that 11 of them are baptismal age, so hopefully this works out good for us.

The work is just so good out here, Compton is where the danger is yes, but it also where the humblest people are. People that have juast had a whole life of problems, and see us as their answer and way out of it all. This is the best place to serve a mission in the world, i love it here.

 I might have gotten food poisoning yesterday, it smelled like something a member gave us had rotten mayo, but since we cant offend members, i had to eat it. Today i regret that. that potato salad will get you every time. Still life is good.

Have a great week everybody, love ya'll

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

Look what we found

Beck Family!

So it was an awesome week, I am still in Compton, and it is crazy here.

Some one got murdered just infront of our apartment last week, about 5 minutes before we got home. Also, i have collected a few souvenires from my time here in Comtpon, that i figure i would ojnly really find in Comtpon.

In the streets  I have found a loaded 45 bullet, and just the other day I found a fire 45 slug. That stuff is just all over, and i thought i would grab one of each just as proof that i was here and i survived.

 And the other pic is of the Menu at Roscoes chicken and waffles. This place is world famous, and i know why. I never thought that eating a chicken breast with a waffle would be so delicous, but it was honetlsy one of the best things that has passed my system. It was crazy good. That is what black soul food is all about.

 The teaching is going good out here, we have lots of investigators and lots more baptismal dates set, now just gotta make them follow through. The XXX are our go to members, they do so much for us. And they are helping us baptize a lot of their neighbors, they are the best. Thanks for the update family, sounds like you all had fun at trek, even sierra, and lava looked like a blast. Love ya'll and have a good week.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

I worked on my birthday

Beck Family!

Holy cow did i have a crazy week. For my birthday, nothing happened. I mean i woke up on time, went out to work on time, worked hard the whole day, came home on time, went to bed on time. I did nothing to waste any time that day like going out to eat or taking an after noon nap, it was pure business. And that is just what I wanted to do, keep on working. But i did have a member give me a soccer jersey. Its for Arsenal, which i dont really know anything about, but it looks pretty cool, and it was defintley expensive. So that is pretty cool. But other than that, it was a totally normal day.
 The work is going great out here. We had another person confirmed yesterday, and we had 11 investigators come to church! Some of them were people that we hadnt talked to in 2 weeks, but they just decided to show up yesterday. How awesome is that, this is gonna mean many baptisms to follow. The work is just moving along out here. So things are going awesome. I get to stay in Compton for atleast another 6 weeks and we are just tearing it up out here. My companion  actually goes home at the end of this transfer, so I am going to be the one to kill him. And today we actually say goodbye to one of the elders in our Pad. He has been the one that ive been working out with, and he has absolutley been killing me.  I had to buy a saudering iron to burn to hole in my belt cause im getting so skinny. That is a combination of working out with him, and just walking around all day in this heat. I am still eating a ton, i mean literally a ton of mexican food, but im just getting skinny. I guess 14 hours of physical excersize is what it takes to combat the food from the Mexican culture. But for real, I have already had to burn 4 more holes into my belt.
Mom, dont think that the member arent feeding me out here, they feed us realy good. send you a . Im not sure what I weigh, but i left the MTC at about 204, yeah the MTC did me no favors, and i am definetly a lot less than that now. I am in the Long Beach 16th ward, which is a unique ward among all other wards. In my ward there are 19 missionaries. Yep,19, cause somebody is in a trio. No other ward in the world has that many missionaries in it. Its a few weird circumstances that made this happen, large boundries, tons of inactives, a need to put all the spanish missionaries somewhere. Its pretty fun, but we missionaries basically run the whole ward. We teach every class, that means form primary to elders quarum. We organize every activity, even the father and sons stuff. And we talk in sacrament meetingevery week. So now we are focusing on a lot of re activation, which is working. Church attendence is staring to overflow the chapel, and we are baptizing like crazy. Now we just need some preisthood. But it is a blast. Well love you family, keep enjoying your summer.

 

Beck out,

Elder Beck

This is my area

My ZONE

Here's a look at Compton



And yes, everyone has a pit bull