11/25/13

Dear Everyone,

  

Driving in the snow - 10 & 2

Life is good, REALLY GOOD. I don't think I have ever planned so much in my entire life or thought so much about things that are coming up. The things that I have been thinking about are "good things" so don't be thinking I am distracted. My district has been planning a way to get the members more involved, as you all know by now. We have been really trying to get these members fired up! We have been thinking of ways to do this and we have come up with a few ideas, with the help of the Branch President. The first and foremost plan that we have established is a monthly missionary fireside put on by the missionaries. We are planning on teaching the members and their friends the basic doctrines and principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In a sense we will be giving them a motivational talking to haha. We (the missionaries) have created a powerpoint that is going to rock their world and really help them and their friends understand the WHY'S of us "MORMONS". So, if you were wondering, that is what has taken over a good majority of my thinking and planning time. I am not going to lie it has been pretty stressful trying to prepare and teach something so vast in such a short period of time but also giving enough time on the important principles. Thank goodness it is not up to me to convert these people!

 

Some of you (mom and dad) may know that I never really took a lot of time or thought to planning. I sort of just did things as they came, for example a math or english test, a date (not always! sorry girls...who needs to plan or study? Well, I did not need to, until I became a missionary. When it comes to teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ you had better be prepared! However all we have to do is put enough time and effort into obtaining truths so that the Holy Ghost can testify and do the hard work! I can already tell that this fireside is going to be a real success. The biggest reason why that is, is because we are having some Site Sisters come down and teach the Restoration part of the first discussion. For some reason people just like the Sisters better! hahah That's ok...they need the attention :) 

Aside from the madness of this fireside we have been doing our best work when it comes helping people come unto Christ (and by "our best work" I mean following the promptings of the Holy Ghost and doing the will of Heavenly Father because this is not "our work" at all!!). The Spirit is so important to have in this work. For example it is really "the power" in missionary work, because "we of ourselves could do nothing" to move this work along. However when the Spirit is present we can do anything. There is nothing better than being a hand tool for the God of Israel. The Spirit for example has changed the heart of our investigator. They are ready for baptism and will be baptized Dec. 14th instead of Dec. 1st. The experience I have had while teaching has been amazing. I have been there since the very first lessons and have been able to teach everything and see the change! I always thought that missionaries played a big role in the conversion process of investigators but that is not the case. Sure the investigators may learn to love you but the real change takes place as they develop a relationship with their Heavenly Father on their own time and in their own way! That is what makes all the difference in a person. All we have to do is give them enough of the light that is in us, which can only be given if we have it, so that way they can start their own personal journey to Christ. It has been a tender mercy to be a part of something so life changing. 

It has definitely been a week to remember and that is the truth! It is funny the way that God works because just last week I was studying a lot about remembering and how important it is. It is even said by the Prophet President Kimball "that the most important word in the dictionary is REMEMBER". So, I was grateful for this tender mercy. That God would prepare me, before hand, to get the most I possibly could out of this week. It seems like the more we remember and think back on our lives the more we learn and the more we see the "significant but subtle blessings" as Elder Bednar would say. I encourage all of you to look back on some of the blessings or tender mercies you have received recently and to think about what God did to prepare you to receive them. What better time of year to do this than at thanksgiving. I know the more we remember the more we are grateful for what we have been given, no matter what our circumstances may be!

Love, 

Elder Bevan 

 

This isn't what your mom mean't , when she said,

"You need to eat what you kill".

November 18, 2013

Hello from NEW YORK!

Hope everyone is doing well and that no one is discouraged. There is no reason to be. This work is moving along and things are happening! It seems like every week, this past month we have been having amazing Spiritual Meetings. This week it was Stake Conference, and man is this area ready to flourish. There is an effectual door being opened and we are right in the midst of it! I say this because of some of the signs that I have seen this week. A lot of good signs and some bad. It was said that "the more our forces for good grow, the more the forces for bad will work on the good". Some of the things that happened this week are proof! 

Last night after having such an amazing conference a massive storm rolled in. We were sitting down planning when everything just went dark. We lost everything. We had no power, no water, nothing. It was kind of like camping yesterday :) Luckily it was not too cold outside so we did not freeze! 

 

 My companion and others in my district, bowling. The Elder to my left looks like Mel Gibson.

The Elder on the end to my right looks like Joaquin Phoenix,

and we call my companion smalls...sometimes :)

 

We went to the lake and got caught in a huge wind storm.



 

You can seem how hard that wind was blowing!!!

 



We have some good news about one of our investigators! Jessica has officially decided to be baptized and will be baptized Dec. 7th!!! I was so happy to hear that she had committed and was willing to do whatever it takes and let me tell you it is going to take a lot with all that her ex-husband puts her through. We had an interesting experience with this "relationship" while moving. Jessica's husband kicked her and her two boys out and would not let them get any of their stuff (left them out in the cold). They were unable to do anything until the divorce was final. Well it was official this Saturday so we volunteered to help her move. Little did we know what the outcome would be. We get there and find out that there needs to be a policeman there supervising while they break into the house (because he changed the locks). Anyways that was exciting. After about 30 mins her ex shows up and of course since it is the first week of deer season he has to have a gun! He starts walking promptly to us gun in hand! Luckily the cop was there to pull him aside while we finished moving. It got a little intense but for some strange reason I was never worried at all. I just felt really bad for Jessica and all she had to go through and all that she will still have to endure. However Good always triumphs evil because no matter how bad the odds seem there are more people on our side than we could ever imagine.

I personally know that all that has happened this week, good or bad, was for the moving forward of God's work. I have learned a lot and when I felt like I was not progressing I turned to the words of the prophets and immediately found the comfort and strength I needed to rise up again and again. There is such strength in knowing who we are and having our eyes set on Eternal Goals. When we do this there is nothing that we can not overcome.

We have been doing a lot of brainstorming and planning (thinking outside the box) and have come up with a lot of great, inspired ideas on how to get people more involved and move the work along. We are going to be starting with a Missionary Fireside December 1st that will get this work moving. I just want to urge all of you to really pray. Not just say prayers but pray to our Father in Heaven. We have a responsibility as His Children to know the mind and will of Him concerning ourselves. Always be worthy of the Spirit, Pray and ask for it, Listen to it, and Heed its promptings promptly. If we do this we will surely have Eternal Life!

Love,

Elder Bevan

Instead of Spiders in our new place we catch mice :)

Dear Everyone,

If I have anything to say I would have to say that I am learning! And learning sure is necessary in order to be an effective missionary. I have so much that I want to say! I will start off with Zone Conference. It was such a great Zone Conference this past week. I really feel they get better every time. We learned a lot especially from the stake president who came and addressed all of the missionaries in the buffalo stake. He is a man full of Prophecy and Revelation. This area is really on the verge of exploding with missionary work. We (the wards/branches) are constantly getting letters from the first presidency saying to do more and work harder because there are people ready! It is so exciting. We have been really trying to get the members involved and motivated. I have learned a lot for myself about the way we really get people to do things and...It is out of love. Unless someone can act out of love there is no point in acting. We really have to apply Moroni 7:48 into our lives and Pray with all energy of heart for charity! Then we can obtain success! Some of the things that I wrote down from Zone Conference were goals or acronyms the stake president gave for us to apply and teach. They are: CTR Conversion Temple Rescue, ETTE Endure to the Endowment. Also President Francis made us a really cool promise this Conference he told us that if we will be Faithful and diligent some time in our mission we will take some from baptism all the way to the temple! I can not wait for that day. I do not know if there could be a happier thing in this world to be a part of! 

A little update on the area...We are officially working with Jessica to have a baptism date. She is finally divorced and moved out and is now able to set a date!! We also have found 4 new investigators that are really prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. All they need to do now is to "Try the virtue of the word of God" Alma 31:5. We also had some snow last night. We got 5 inches which was pretty fun to drive in:) I am not really the most experienced winter driver but thankfully I got some good practice drifting at the go kart racing place (thanks Dad!!) hahah I am just teasing. I am a really safe driver especially after my ticket ;) 

Elder Hadley and I are getting along just fine. we have our differences but so is life. We have the same goals and are working in unity. As long as we have that we are unstoppable and God can really utilize us. I have been so blessed and can't thank Heavenly Father enough. Luckily all we have to do is to keep the commandments :)

Remember we must be Brave and to be brave we must have perfect love, which "perfect Love" casteth out all Fear! :) 

Kneel down and pray for missionary opportunities and pray for charity and they will come in a way that feels natural! I promise!

Thanks for all your love! 

Elder BEVAN 

November 4, 2013

Dear Everyone,

All is well in Cattaraugus. My companion and I have been doing really well together. Not without some divine guidance. We have been really focusing on always having the Holy Ghost to be our guide, in all phases of the work. It has been some of the most peaceful times yet probably because when the Holy Ghost is near that is just what happens. 

Don't go thinking that nothing bad has happened because that would be down right outlandish. The work is moving a long and people's hearts are softening. They are not quite softening at the pace that I have in mind but I know they are being softened according to God's will. I have really come to know that God's thoughts are not my thoughts and that His ways are not My ways! Talk about an important lesson to learn. 

We have our new senior couple this week! The McNeils they are from New Mexico. This is their 6th mission! They have served a lot of them on Indian Reservations so this is going to be a perfect fit for them. The other elders in my district are doing really well! They are really stirring the pot down in Gowanda New York ahaha. That is something missionaries in Western New York are really good at. I am not sure if that is because nobody likes us or because we are starting to have a lot of success or both? Who knows. All I know is no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing!

The leaves are almost gone and the cold air is finally here! We have had snow fluries but still have not quite had anything stick! 

I am sorry for the short email today but there is just so much going on today! 

Thanks for all of your emails and support I am glad to see the family is doing well!

Love,

Elder Bevan

October 21, 2013

Dear Everyone,

Another TRANSFER!!! 

First things first. The Progress in our area has been a little slow this week. Especially since two of the days we had to move out of our apartment by ourselves, into the (previous) Senior couples place. We also had to clean like I have never cleaned before! It was gruesome and exhausting. I am really thankful that is all done with. On top of that we (Elder Wood and I) had to make 130 Navajo Tacos for the youth Super Saturday. We got volunteered because Elder Wood is a pretty good cook and used to sell fry bread back home! So we spent all day Saturday making Fry Bread! I still smell like those dang things!

 

So when we did have time to do "real" missionary work we had some pretty good success! We taught our most progressing investigator and it went really well. She has agreed to fast and pray about setting a date for baptism! So I think we will be having another baptism sometime this month! I am super excited for her! Her name is Jessica, she is Polish and has had some rough times, she is in the process of separating from her husband with her two boys (5 and 7 yrs). She is very sincere and knows the Church is true! I really can't complain about not having success because I have been blessed so much since I have been out here. Success is a Gift from God, given when we prove ourselves worthy of it. 

I also had a lot of crazy things happen this week. By crazy things I mean Miracles. One of the miracles was while I was on an exchange with Elder Ivie. We were trying talk to a member about setting up a time for dinner that day. Of course the service on the Rez is terrible so it dropped our call! So we pulled into the first driveway we found, to turn around, and as we were about to flip around some man starts walking toward us. My initial thought was "great we chose the wrong driveway! Now we get to get yelled at by some big Indian." Well that was not the case! We rolled down our window to hear what he had to say. The first words that came out of his mouth were "Elders! I knew you would come!" Haha talk about a shocker! We just kind of went along with it and said "oh yeah, of course!" We asked him what his name was and found out a little more about him. It was a very interesting conversation considering the fact that he thought someone had told us to stop by or something like that. It was the strangest thing. As we drove away Elder Ivie and just started laughing at how we were both scared that we would get yelled at. It just goes to show that we really should not judge people, the Lord works in very Mysterious ways, and that when we are on the Lord's errand we have nothing to be afraid of! It was a powerful experience!

This week was the last week of this transfer! I can not even believe that I am on my 6th transfer! We got the transfer calls last night and I found out that I will be getting a new companion! Elder Hadley. I guess he is from Mesa, AZ? I guess President wants to keep the Arizona boys together to keep them safe from the Utah boys haha or something like that....

Along with this transfer "thing" that is happening I am a little nervous (more unsure than nervous) about how things will go without Elder Wood, my indian peacemaker with me! Elder Hadley has only been out for 1 month! So it is going to be an interesting but awesome experience! 

We are supposed to get our first official snow this week as well! I am trying to be optimistic  :) it will be easier now that I have my big winter Jacket! (Thanks Mom and Dad!) 

Well keep praying for Missionary Experiences! They will come and you will be blessed! 

Love

Elder Bevan

October 15, 2013

Dear Everyone,

It has been a hectic week for me. I have had a lot of events that were very irregular. One of these irregular events was an exchange with the Zone leaders. I am not sure if the purpose of these exchanges are for my benefit or for my district but I sure needed a break from my regular routine. I believe  this exchange was refreshing for me because I was not having to be the sole motivator and could really just focus on doing missionary work. I sometimes get a little overwhelmed when it comes to my companion not wanting to dig in. However, after the exchange was over there was a new attitude that attended our companionship. It was such a blessing for me. 

Preparation Day - Fishing at a members house

I have been studying a lot this week about breaking off your sins/weaknesses through righteousness. I even had this great district meeting planned out and everything but like I said earlier this week was a fiasco. Our senior couple goes home tomorrow and they were part of the problem when it came time for district meeting. They have been really awesome and helpful but boy were they trunky! It was almost hard to be around them because they were so ready to go hahah. That is something I do not want to be like when it comes time for me to go. 

We had another funeral this week...everyone is dying! There have been about 12 deaths within the past month! Maybe this is the Lord preparing some people to hear our message? That was another "thing" to add to this week since We...the missionaries...are the worker bees of this branch. Ryan told me that he was always helping people move...well we are always burying people!! 

Aside from all of this the missionary work is going along at a slow pace. We are working on a few people right now to get them into the waters of baptism, but however much I would love to spoon feed them everything that they need. I can't. I am just praying for their hearts to be softened unto repentance! The important thing is that we keep teaching and finding!

Palmyra Temple Grounds

I did not even tell you half of the craziness of this week but to add on to it I will be finishing up my exchanges with my district this week! I get to go down to Gowanda. I am really looking forward to it! There are a lot of challenges that come from leadership positions but the joy comes once we are able to minister and to serve those that we are responsible for. Keep me in your prayers :) I am so grateful for all of you! 

Love,

Elder Bevan

October 7, 2013

Dear Everyone, 

I hope that I will be able to say all that I have in mind to say and that I will also be able to answer any other questions you may have.  The weather here is very inconsistent, it is really cold and windy one day and hot and muggy the other, this goes along with the people as well. 

I have been asking myself what more can be done to move this work along. After many experiences this week I have learned to be grateful for the little battles that are won. I will tell you of the little battles that were won this week. The first battle that I had to over come was District Meeting. I have not yet mastered the art of feeling 100% comfortable with teaching. However, this is a good feeling because it humbles me and then I am able to have and feel the Spirit work through me. It was a good district meeting I know this because I was jotting down mental notes as I was teaching and testifying. 

The second battle came as we were teaching this lady who has a lot of questions and concerns. After applying the Preach My Gospel section on Concerns she was finally able to move on. This principle was put perfectly into words when President Thomas S. Monson quoted Abraham Lincoln about winning someone to your cause! (Check it out). The third battle came while trying to resolve problems with my companion...I had a lot of questions on what I should do and even more on how I should go about doing them! Lets just say things happen at a certain time for a reason.I say this because after all these challenges arose I was able to sit down in a monthly interview with President Francis and he gave an assignment to look for answers in Conference. Well this not only resolved my questions but it built my testimony of the power of inspiration given to those that speak at General Conference. I had written down 11 questions or concerns I wanted to have answered and all of the questions were addressed individually. It was just perfect. 

I have so much to say about conference, I would even go far enough to say I have too much to say! The over all theme that I felt kept coming up throughout all of the sessions was love. Whether it was love of God or of all mankind. It made me think about Jesus Christ and how he overcame the world through love and isn't that why we have Apostles and Prophets? They are here to help us in our path home by overcoming the ills of this world! I can tell you that they have shown me the way and the way is Jesus Christ and His Gospel. After one of the sessions I was reading the scriptures and pondering about one of the messages and I thought of this little saying that I have heard so often "It does not matter what you know but who you know" I thought about that and it is so true. That person that we need to know is Jesus Christ! So I took the liberty to add to that saying, "It does not matter what you know, but who you know, and what you know about Him". If we can just understand this more deeply what this really means to "learn of Him" we will never depart from the path home and our burdens truly will be taken away.

As for those that I am teaching we are having little progression, but like I said before you have to learn to recognize the little victories in order to really be prepared and worthy for the big ones. We have a lot of hope for one of our investigators. Her name is Jessica and she is in a tough spot with her husband. They are separated but now back together/separated again. It is tough, but she watched conference on Sunday and Loved it! The coolest part was when she was listening to the Prophet. Since she is a Jehovahs Witness she knows a lot about Prophets. After hearing the words of a true and living Prophet she was dumbfounded (for lack of a better term). She told us afterwards that she did not want conference to end and that she wished President Monson would have spoke more. She is making big leaps towards following Jesus Christ. We are so excited for the Faith and Testimony she is gaining! 

We may not be making a big difference when it comes to outward appearance but I have learned that not too many people wear their hearts on their sleeves especially in a world that we live in now. It is important to never get discouraged and to be steadfast in the Faith that we have. This Church is so true we must begin to plant the seed of Faith into the hearts of those around us and be patient and let the Lord succor His people. 

Well Cattaraugus is doing well colorful leaves are in no short supply. Trees are the most abundant resource Western New York has aside from dead opossums :) ahaha the leaves are falling and winter is coming. I am pretty excited to shovel the snow :) 

Thanks so much for all of your emails and letters. I am so lucky and have never felt without support! I am so blessed.

Love,

Elder Bevan

P.S. Mom we did watch Conference at the Church. And nope we did not get a dinner appointment but we went around bugging the members till they fed us ahaha :)

9/30/2013

Dear Everyone,

There is a lot going on right now in the Cattaraugus Branch! We have just about picked all of the apples out of our orchard. Talk about a lot of work especially because when we picked them it was pooring rain! However all the work was well worth it because from it came a lot of good. We are working with quite a few Less Active members and are really doing our best to get them involved and this event was perfect. 

We have been stirring a lot of pots (figuratively) and doing our best to get a lot of the stagnant members back into the circle of activity. To this point we have been without a lot of success but we had an awesome specialized training from President Francis which was just what we needed. It was centered on the Atonement but what really stood out to me was an analogy of a basketball player measuring his success as he went along practicing and how with each shot he would "see it go through". That was exactly what we needed to hear and do. 

We have been talking to a lot of people and working really hard but people don't change overnight and they definitely won't change if they are not held accountable. If you can't tell already, as a missionary you learn some really great life lessons in a shortened period of time. These two years are in a way an incubator for growth if we take advantage of it. I just want to let you know that when you do take advantage of it, it can be extremely rewarding. It is always the little things that are the most motivating. For example the other day we were teaching an in active, part member family who is investigating (re-investigating) the church something really cool happened after we taught...the inactive member (Nadine) said " I want to meet and learn more, sooner, because a week is too long to wait". Little things such as that just keep your fire burning. These little moments only come through our Faithful and Diligent efforts. We have to do the small and simple acts of obedience consistently in order to receive the blessing the Lord has promised us which is that He will encircle us in the arms of His love. These are the moments that I live for as a missionary. Whether they come after a long day of hard work and only one lesson to show for it, or they come after we have prepared ourselves Spiritually  to partake of the Sacrament and then feeling an overwhelming feeling of love, comfort, and peace, they always come! They lift us higher than life itself. 

I had a definite "first" this morning. A member of our branch passed away this weekend and since our branch lacks a lot of committed members, a lot of the responsibilities fall on the missionaries. So we were in charge of this funeral that was going to take place. This morning at about 8 o'clock I had to go out and plot out a grave site in the grave yard behind our building (our building has a graveyard instead of a baseball diamond) so this way the back hoe would know where to dig because last time they dug back there they accidentally dug up two graves.... I was also asked to dedicate the grave site at the Funeral which was a pretty cool experience I must say. All in all this area has been quite interesting when it comes to the things you are asked to do. I have learned a lot in these few weeks that I have been here. Probably more than I could have learned in my last area! So I can now see a little bit of the big picture of why I am here! I am so grateful for the hard times I get to have because boy do I learn a lot from them. I just pray everyday that I can keep this attitude :) 

Thanks for your prayers in my behalf I really do get the blessings!

Love,

Elder Bevan