Last Email from the Mission!

Hey Y'all!

I honestly don't know what to say in this email knowing it is my last. I am honestly so stoked to see y'all this weekend! I love this work though, so I have to grind for 4 more days :)

Haha I guess I will share about yesterday! We went up to church in Sun Valley and the Stake President found out it was my last Sunday so he put me on the agenda to share a brief testimony. Wellll there was almost 500 people that showed up and Elder Hamula of the Seventy came! Talk about nervous! It was good though and after the meeting a lot of people came to talk to me, I kinda felt famous haha. Met some great people! 

There are so many great people I have met in this area that I am going to miss a lot! One of them is the Torelli family! They are so close to my heart. I love going over there and yesterday I shared with them a very tender experience from my mission and I shared it in almost all Spanish and I thought it would be not as good because my Spanish is not advanced, but the Spirit was still there were tears in the room. I love the Spirit so much. It does not matter the greatness of the language, because the language of the Spirit speaks to all and will testify of all truth. 

I love y'all! I love this work! There is no greater Spirit than the Spirit that comes from missionary work and it just fills you up with so much joy and love. This is everything to me and I am excited for the future, but I know that these 2 years will always be the closest to my heart because of the good that it has brought my life and the opportunities I have had. I cannot describe enough how amazing it is to be a servant of the Lord and make a difference in someone else's life. No other feeling like it. 

Much Love, Elder Bean

La Familia Torelli

Davis family from Carey

Elder Bunker and I

Yo Amo Español!

Hey y'all,

I am not sure exactly what to put in the email this week! We had a lot of things happen and every week is so filled with excitement. I guess I will dedicate most of this email to some Spanish work! We talk to at least one or two Spanish people daily.

We met with a less-active part member family last night that speaks Spanish and pretty good English. I just LOVE Spanish people. They are so fun and welcoming. Also there is just a great Spirit with them. We talked to the mom, Mayra, about going to the temple! She wants to prepare for that, and we also talked to her boys about serving missions (they are 18 and 17). They are going to look into it and I really hope they decide to serve. The 18 year old seems pretty serious about looking into it.

We meet with this one active Spanish family from Costa Rica and they are just TOO awesome. We get to speak a mix of Spanish and English there and I just love it so much. Mi español es mejor ahora ;) 

Intercambios con Elder Willis fueron viernes! Tenemos mucho divertido. Estabamos en Shoshone y Dietrich. ( Elder Willis and I went on exchanges Friday! We had a lot of fun! We were in Shoshone and Dietrich.)

Overall another solid week in the books. Looking forward to another one.

Love y'all, and see y'all soon

Elder Bean

Teaching the Prepared and Famous!

Where to even start? So many amazing things happened this week and words cannot fully express the magnitude of it all.

One of the most amazing miracles this week was when we knock on the door of this lady, Amy. She answers the door and only manages to say in a shaking voice "They knew to come, the missionaries are here" into the phone up to her ear. Amy was on the verge of taking her life and was telling that to someone on the phone the very minute that we showed up. The Spirit filled the room with peace and Amy felt it as she said "I know now that God loves me". I will not forget that experience very easily! Being led by the Spirit to go see someone to save their life brings a feeling like no other.  God really does love us and is so very aware of us. I know that.

4th of July was great and very busy last week! We met this lady at the parade, Courtney is her name, and she is from Hollywood, California! We gave her a church tour on Saturday and we taught her about faith and repentance and the sacrament and the Atonement of Christ. The Spirit was very strong and you could feel it so clearly. Especially at the moment that she accepted to be baptized. It was very neat, and she is very prepared for the gospel. She loves the idea of taking the sacrament each week to receive a remission of sins. She goes back to California in a couple weeks and the baptism will most likely happen there! Btw she is an actress in Hollywood ;)

Many many experiences I could share from just the past 7 days. That would take forever though! One last thing to share is that on Friday I was on Exchanges with Elder Willis and we went up to Ketchum to walk around (only thing I can compare Ketchum to is Market Street in the Woodlands, but better). Talked to a lot of cool people, and even some famous ones because of Allen and Company (billionaire summer camp up here).  Met this girl that had obviously been drinking, but we sat down and had a nice conversation and discussed some scriptures with her. Right smack in the middle of downtown! (good publicity for us right?) Hopefully she has some recollection of things we talked about when we meet with her again!

Love y'all! Don't wish me home too fast. Still lots to do here :)

Elder Bean

Elder Willis and I in Ketchum Idaho with the Strong family

Exchange with Elder Willis

Grandpa and Grandma Bingham!! I love them dearly,

we helped them move to Ashton Idaho.

Happy 4th of July + Miracle

I don't even know where to start! So many things happened this week.

We had a great lesson with this investigator named Charlie (20) and he fasted and came to church this Sunday! It was his first step of actual progress and it was neat to see. The ward fellow-shipped him well.

I got to use a lot of my Spanish this week! We taught a lesson to the Ruiz family on the El Libro De Mormon in Spanish and read from 1 Nefi 1 ! I actually did a little teaching and we had a member that spoke Spanish so he translated what I couldn't say. I am getting pretty good at contacting people in Spanish and getting a return appointment. Then we just bring someone to help translate haha.

Miracle of the week! : While out visiting on Thursday I was out with one of the young men that is in high school and we contacted this family that was out on their porch. Turned out to be one of the best contacts I have ever made. His name is Ryan and hers is Regina. Ryan is way cool and we had a good discussion about Jesus Christ. At the end he was like "Yeah you know I would like to learn more." Then, the next day he texts us a super long message about how he looked into our beliefs after we left and found a lot of the same things he already believes. He said that he found differences in belief/lifestyle, but those differences are things he has been wanting to change his whole life. He told us he wants to come to church next Sunday as well! I cannot even explain how much joy I felt as I read that message. Ryan is so prepared by the Lord to accept the gospel! His family too! I am so excited to be able to teach them and it was a blessing/miracle that we found them. This truly is the Lord's work and He led us to them for a reason.

Cool note of the week: Went up to Sun Valley to greet people as they came to church, and there was 517 people that came! Tons of people on vacation for the 4th of July!

Love y'all!  'Sweet is the Work'

Elder Bean

P.S. Also yesterday we ate lunch with a family in Carey and they had a lot of people over. One of them was this guy that is Youtube famous for playing the violin! His name is Rob L??? Can't remember his last name. He was super cool though and we talked about violin since I used to play, he graduated from Rice University in Houston in fact!  Best part: He played for all of us! It was the most legit violin playing I have ever heard. He played Radioactive, Hello, Thunderstruck, Thriller, James Bond, Hallelujah, some others and finished with How Great Thou Art. Also played Ghostbusters! and he releases that video this Wednesday, so we got the sneak peak.

The Land of Happiness

Soo hence the title; people actually call this place the land of happiness. And I know why: Beautiful mountains, scenic drives, lots of trees, great lakes, and plenty more. The cost of living is pretty high here which sets it apart from the rest of Idaho. To best describe it, it is like mini-California! (Cade and I get to be in the same place after all haha)

I really love this place already and sweet is the work here!

We had such a bomb lesson with Justin/Janelle on Monday. We were super bold and just told them how much we loved their family and then invited them to progress in the gospel. We ended up having a great discussion and the relationship we have built is really good! This is a family that I know I have made an impact on. Not just because they have said it, but because I can see it!

Soo after being in Carey, I started to miss people. In a town of 800 you meet or hear about everyone pretty quick. Moving up here has just confirmed that I really was missing people! We went tracting many times and it was a breath of fresh air to just knock on some doors and proclaim the gospel! I love the gospel and the Savior greatly. I feel myself draw nearer to Him each day, and I know He lifts me and helps me all the time.

One of the greatest things I have learned on my mission is LOVE! Love from the Savior to all of us, and the ability to feel that same love for others. It is amazing to be able to look at people and love them no matter what. Because that is what the Savior would do.

Love y'all,

Elder Bean

Moving to Bellevue, ID!

Hey! just another solid week in the ITFM :) soon to be IBM next week!

Transfers are this week! I am staying in Carey, but we are picking up 3 more wards. Hailey 1 & 2, and Sun Valley wards. We now cover the towns of Carey, Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum, and Sun Valley! My new companion is going to be Elder Bunker.. again! I served with him over a year and half ago. It will be great, Sun Valley especially is a big tourist spot. It will be neat to see what goes on this summer up there!

Next Tuesday our new mission president, President Bartlett comes into the mission! Sad to see President Curtis go. Him and his wife have been so great and like family to me.

We had a good exchange this week, and I actually went to Sun Valley for that! Got to know the area a little bit ahead of time haha. 

We had sweet lesson with a family this week and their niece was in town! She blew me away with how composed and mature she was for 14! She wants to be baptized, but lives in Twin with her grandparents who are not members. She said she is waiting to get baptized when she can actually fulfill the commitment and come to church every week and stick with it. That was way shocking to hear how well she understood that being baptized really is a commitment to follow the Savior in all ways. She taught me a lesson of how there are great and chosen youth that have things figured out, and that I can be a lot better at understanding what I am really committed to.

Overall great week and had great experiences! 

Love y'all,

Elder Bean

The exchange in Sun Valley, Elder Aamodt, Elder Bunker, Elder Wihongi, Me.

OH yeah we don't cover Richfield anymore unfortunately.

This is one of the Telford families from Richfield!

Run in with a Snake!!

Had such a great week here and it was full of joy!

Started the week with a hot dog roast up Road Canyon for Pday! It was all great other than the close run in I had with the rattlesnake :) Luckily I was not bit. 

That night we had a great lesson with Justin / Janelle and the Spirit was really strong as we taught the Restoration. We left them with a commitment to read the BofM and they accepted. We have developed a good relationship with them and they are neat family. I just look at their family and know how much this gospel will bless them if they accept and live it. Sometimes my heart breaks because I want these people to be so happy in the gospel and they don't see it that way. I hope that Justin can really help his family take the steps they need to.

Tuesday I went up to Salmon to be with Elder Edmonds and Reamer for an exchange. It was cool to serve with Elder Edmonds for the day since we were companions almost a year ago. Had a great time up there! It is a very beautiful spot in the mountains and the people were great. It will probably be the last time up there since that area will be going to the Idaho Falls mission in July.

Friday we helped this nonmember family set up for their out of school water party they were throwing! It was fun to help and we stayed at the party for a little bit. There were many kids there that we knew (pretty much all of them actually) and when they found out that we were there they soaked us with water guns! Haha it was great though. The family that we helped is so awesome. I really want them to just accept the gospel and we are going to meet with them this week! 

Yesterday Elder Driscoll of the Seventy (Area authority) came to Richfield with our mission president and it was a great meeting. Heard them both speak three times and learned some great things. Elder Driscoll was very down to earth and spoke a lot about obedience to what the Lord asks of us! Had my last interview with my mission president, President Curtis. It was great and I am going to miss him a lot! He goes home at the end of the month. He is a great man that loves the Lord and he definitely loves his missionaries. I have a close bond with him and I feel and see his great love.

Overall a great week! Found some promising potentials in Picabo that we will work with this week as well.

Love y'all! See ya soon

Elder Bean :)

The rattlesnake, dead but was coiled and ready to strike!