December 23, 2013

 

A little p-day fun

 

 

Dear Everyone,

Merry Christmas to all of you!

 

This has been a good week of GOOD hahah. SO much has taken place that I can not even begin to think where to start. Well I will start with something that has really helped me out this week. It is a pattern of thinking and preparing that can be found in almost every aspect of life and when it is applied there is no way that you can be unprepared! It goes like this: 1. Review, 2.Discuss (step 1 and 2 help you obtain a vision of what needs to be done and what your standing is) next 3. Set goals, 4. Make plans. When you apply these 4 simple steps to something that you want to accomplish (whether it is preparing to teach, teaching, cooking, cleaning....whatever) you will be successful. You may think that you do these things already (so did I) but once you take the time to do it step by step you change the way you perform! 

Some of the blessings that I have received this past week range from finding people that have been prepared and led right into my lap (this may be my favorite missionary experience/feeling that we missionaries get to experience) all the way to an amazing turn out at our first annual Christmas caroling event. This week we found two very solid investigators that we met with and taught. We taught them a "new way" that was shown to us by the Head of Proselyting at Zone Leader Council. It works like a charm when applied and prepared correctly! It uploads the Spirit as opposed to downloading the doctrine! That is the key to success as a missionary.

The two people we found this week that are prepared are both Native American and have some strong ties already to the church! They have had their hearts softened to the message of the Restoration. I have no doubt in my mind that they were just waiting for my companion and I to learn how to "really teach" the Restoration by the Spirit. We found one of them while shoveling snow. Ok a little background to this story. The day before our HUGE blizzard I prayed and asked for it to snow like crazy so that I would be able to know if there was someone that needed to be found by us shoveling or doing service. Well that prayer was answered!!! The other investigator we found by shoveling snow as well. God is really aware of us and sometimes allows us the opportunity to look forward with a perfect eye of Faith! :)

I am sorry that I do not have more time to explain and answer all your questions but I hope to be able to talk with most of you and answer questions as we are skyping! I love you all and pray for you everyday! I just pray that the Spirit may be always with you to keep you in the right path!

Love,

Elder Bevan

 

 

 

Yes I am in my slacks and everything :) 

 December 16, 2013

Dear Everyone,

This has been the fastest week of my entire life. There has been a little bit of everything! To start this week off we had a blizzard that pretty much blew us away. My companion and I were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders when it happened (of course) so all four of us were cooped up in our little apartment for the day. Of course, we did not stay cooped up for too long. We had a little bit of fun in the snow but after things started to clear up and the roads were plowed we went back to work. As we were driving to do some (last minute) finding in Angola I received a call from the Assistants to the President (APs). They invited me to Zone Leader council all the way down in Rochester that next morning! This is really weird for a few reasons #1 because I am a district leader #2 because there were only three other district leaders asked to go. Anyways it worked out perfectly because I was already with the Zone Leaders and all I had to do was pack my stuff and head out! Sounds simple, right? Well, not really because the storm came back as we were driving to Rochester (which normally is a 2 1/2 hour drive). The drive ended up taking close to 4 hours! We could only go about 20 mph for most of it because we could not see anything! We did however see our fair share of accidents. They seemed to follow us all the way to Rochester.

 

After we finally arrived, all of the Zone leaders (and the 3 other district leaders) slept at the mission home. It was a pretty fun night. The next morning was the interesting part however...we were on our way to the meeting when all of the sudden we went through the intersection and got T-Boned!! It was a pretty unreal experience.... Mostly because none of us felt anything when the Van hit us and it was probably going at least 30 mph. To add on to that, the truck we were in had minimal damage. Talk about a miracle. We were definitely watched out for and preserved for a good reason.

 

 It is safe to say that we experienced a lot of opposition on our way to this meeting. Maybe because it was one of the most insightful and uplifting meetings I have had. It has changed the way I look at missionary work. We learned a lot of information about physical things and spiritual things pertaining to missionary work. I wish I had a way of showing it to you through email but that would be impossible. However if we will just BE STILL and trust in God all that He has in store for us will happen. I have had many experiences this week that I believe are preparing me for what is to come.

As you can tell I spent a lot of time away (3 days total because of inclement weather) from my companion. This made our week a lot less productive in our actual area but we have the tools now to make it better than it ever could have been before. Good things are happening in this area. Many hearts (both member and nonmember) are being prepared and we are being led to those who are ready to receive. I am so grateful that I do not have to shoulder alone all of my responsibilities.

 

Life is good and I am happy. What more could you ask for? I have a strong testimony that this is the last time that our Father in Heaven will send us out to prepare the vineyard for His coming. We need to watch and pray always for ways that we can fulfill our responsibilities as His servants. 

O be wise; what can I say more? Jacob 6:12

Love you all! Have a merry merry  CHRISTmas season

Elder Bevan

December 9, 2013

 

Dear Everyone,

It has been a rewarding week! We had such great success finding people and teaching them! We have been blessed exceedingly. If I had to choose a part of missionary work that I liked the best and felt was the most rewarding...I would probably say finding new people after following an impression from the Holy Ghost. There is nothing better than that.

 

Some other cool things that happened this week.... This week for district meeting I gave a training on Success and setting Goals. At first I was a little timid about this one because we had something similar the other month for a Zone Meeting. However I felt impressed to give it this week. So I did and it went really well. We were able to even set some District Goals. Which I feel, will allow God to work more powerfully through us. The goal involves us opening our mouths and teaching which will help us find more people and increase the Baptisms in this area. Back to the District meeting...we had an awesome experience setting goals and discussing what success really was. Following this, in our next Branch Council meeting, we received a letter from the Stake Presidency that said we needed to set goals to increase the number of converts and bring more people back to activity. Ironically enough we also talked all about what success was. It was a pretty sweet experience to feel the Spirit testify and give me a witness after the trial of my Faith that I was led by the Spirit. God is good. 

On to the bad news...I have been pretty itchy this past week all over my ankles...yeah you know what that means...FLEAS. I realized this while I was reading the ensign a little bug hopped onto the page I was reading. I tried squishing it, well, they are pretty tough boogers to squish! When I did it squirted blood all over. I guess it had a good snack. I would say that I was pretty grossed out and scared to sleep in my bed but I really was not bothered too bad, I must be pretty by the time I get home or something. We have not yet found a solution to the problem so until then I will have to deal with the itch. We are thinking one of those bug bombs!? Aside from that all is well. I am rolling with the punches as they come and learning a lot about my Savior and His plan for me. I sometimes get a little nervous about the future and what challenges are ahead but the phrase Be Still and Know that I Am God comes into my head. Sometimes we need to just be still and know that He has a plan and it is one of EXTREME Happiness.

I love you all!

Elder Bevan

P.S. Shout out to My Fellow Sister! I was pretty excited for her when I heard that she received her VISA (Christmas Present:) GOD is Good! Am I right?

December 2, 2013

Dear Everyone,

Happy late Thanksgiving!! It has been an awesome week. I loved getting all of your emails about what you did and seeing how much fun you had! That was something I was really thankful for this week. MY FAMILY! I am not going to lie I missed being at home and having a thanksgiving with family but only for about 2 seconds haha. We were so busy this week that there was no time to feel homesick or anything like it. So I will tell you a little bit of what happened around Turkey Day. So in the morning before we had our feast we had District Meeting which was really great! (I still stress over them every week and even get a little nervous but it is good practice for me!) After District Meeting we went over to a members house for a thanksgiving feast! She is a recent convert of about 2 weeks! She is pretty awesome and reminds me a lot of mom (because they have the same RED HAIR). It was a great time but we did not spend a lot of time there. We promptly left the meal and went about doing the Lord's work. 

My companion and some other elders had an idea to go around and shovel snow for people as a way of finding new people to teach (Shovel tracting). This was a way awesome experience! I do not know if it was because of thanksgiving or what, but people seemed to love us!!! (maybe because we were shoveling a foot of snow out of their yards?) It seemed like everywhere we went we found a warm welcome and an invitation to come in and have hot chocolate and pie! It may have been one of the happiest tracting experiences I have had :). We found 2 new investigators because of it and 2 or 3 others with some REAL potential. It is amazing what can happen when you go around and just DO GOOD. I think people were more open because they felt more like they were working with us as opposed to us working ON them. It is so important to see people as your family and to treat them as such. I know as a member of a family that I do not like being told what to do but would rather work with someone and learn from their example.

This week was also the week of our long awaited FIRESIDE!!! It was so much work to put together! I prayed a ton and stressed even more, for about 2 weeks, creating a presentation that would be easy to understand and invite the Spirit. We planned on this fireside being directed toward nonmembers and encouraging members to invite their friends. Well it worked! Our prayers and efforts were answered with an outpouring of the Spirit. It was nothing but the Grace of God that allowed this to come together so perfectly. We, along with the Sisters, (from Orchard Park) were able to teach the Restoration in a way that involved the people and taught them the most important message that, we as missionaries, have to share. The greatest thing that resulted from our efforts was that the people who needed to hear this message came to the fireside! We had planned, of course, on having all of our investigators come (we have about 21 investigators) and only 1 came. Of course we were disappointed but, come to find out, the Lord had different plans. What I came to realize was that the members needed to hear this message more than anyone else in this area. They were the ones that needed the light of this wonderful message in their lives. For the sole purpose that, they could have something to share with their friends. We also needed to gain their trust and support in moving this work along. The only way this was ever going to happen was for them to see us in action. 

I have really been strengthened this week to do more than I could ever hope or aspire to do on my own. I know that this was only possible because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His ability to overcome all things has added strength to my physical capacities as well as my emotional, and Spiritual and has led all my trials to be swallowed up in the Joy of Christ just like Alma says in Alma 31:38 And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ.Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith. I know that things are true and that we are able to overcome all things if we can just recognize our dependence on our Brother Jesus Christ and ask Him in Faith to strengthen us. 

I hope you all have a great week and really prepare yourself for this wonderful CHRISTMAS season! I am so excited for CHRISTmas! By the way...we just found out that our whole mission is getting together for Christmas eve and having a day long "event" (aka party) I am very excited but not as excited as I am to teach and testify! :)

Thanks again!

Love you all,

Elder Bevan