How Has Christ Changed Your Life

Dear family!

I love y'all and hearing such good things every week. Our week here in Gooding was pretty sweet. Tuesday we had such a neat experience with Ben and Mayda! We started off with the Mormon Message "Waiting on the Road to Damascus" By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, and we watched that on a projector on the wall outside haha. It set the tone and was great. We moved the lesson inside due to mosquitos and the Spirit was so strong. It led the conversation and the questions and Ben, the husband who is a member, did such a good job answering Mayda's questions and the Spirit spoke through him so well. 

Funeral for little Cash Bingham was on Wednesday. 600-800 people were there... The church was filled all the way back to the stage. The Spirit was so strong at the funeral. Bishop Jensen (Cash's grandpa) spoke and so did the other grandpa. Both of them used the scriptures and gospel teachings so well in their talks and did such a good job.

In Fairfield we met Stew's neighbor, Blake, and he is one of the nicest, most genuine guys I have ever met. Brought out cold waters for us, had great conversation and even offered to take us fishing the next day, we had to decline because it would be Sunday and we had so many meetings, but we have his number and we are going to go one of these Mondays! 

We both spoke in church in Fairfield, our topic was "How has Christ changed your life". The meeting was great. Spirit was there. Elder Edmonds talked for 5 minutes (he thought his would be longer haha) so I had 30 minutes to go when I got up, but only managed to use a little over 25. Luckily the song and prayer took the other 5 :)  

So many other wonderful things happened this week, and too many to put into one email! I am so grateful for the experiences I have and the opportunity to meet and touch so many people's lives.

    I want y'all to know how much I love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love him more than anything. I know He lives. I know He guides us today through a prophet of God. I know that His love is real. He suffered and bled so much for us. We are forever indebted to Him because of that. Nothing we do can repay it, but we can show our love and appreciation through obeying his one request: Follow Thou Me. That is the only way I can show my love to the Lord, that is why I am on my mission right now, to share this great message with God's children because I love the Lord and I know what He has done for me and continues to do. To share with the world that Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us and because of that they have restored to the earth so many precious truths that we NEED in our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love y'all,

Elder Bean

Mormon message "Waiting on Our Road to Damascus

Mayda and Ben's kids, Brooke and Johnny

Crazy rubix cube a member gave me and I have solved half of it

Gooding County Fair and Rodeo - Missionary Opportunities

It was a busyyyy week! 

Tuesday was Temple day! Love the Temple and everything it symbolizes and the feelings of peace there. 

Wednesday we had a Zone Conference in Jerome from 8:00 - 3:00. Learned a lot about the Godhead and the Recognizing and Following the Holy Ghost.  Went to the Gooding County Fair/Rodeo Parade on Main street! It was cool and talked to a lot of people there! Only got one picture of the airplane in the parade cause you don't see that everyday. 

I was still sick most all week, still worked but it was tough. Thursday was nice cause we stayed in and planned most of the day so I got to relax and heal more. 

Friday and Saturday were good! Both nights we were at the fair. Not the whole night, just some. Hard to set appts this week due to everyone being at the Fair/Rodeo. Friday night we got into the Rodeo and got to see some of it! Also saw a lot of people from Buhl there! Super cool to talk with them again :) 

One of our investigators, Deva, is a cheerleader for Gooding High School and they had a dunk tank so we went and dunked her in that! Haha.

Saturday we also set up return appts with two potentials! We are excited to see how it goes this week. Also did not get to go up to Fairfield, but we are going possibly twice this week and also giving talks in Fairfield this Sunday! 

Yesterday was a good Sunday. Church from 7:30 to 4:00 no big deal right? haha it was sweet but exhausting to say the least. The Maugers got their baby blessed and asked us to stand in on it! They had twins so that was double the blessing! We are working with them and they have been active for about a month and a half now! They are a cool family. They BBQ'd last night and invited us for that and it was fun! 

Also went and saw the Nebekers last night and had a good time talking with Ty and Thane. They are a cool family and always good to visit and help out. 

I love being on a mission. At first I was here because I knew that is what I needed to do. Now I am here because I love the Lord. The most important thing we can do is love the Lord and if we do that then everything else falls into line... commandments, ordinances, scriptures, prayer, church, all of it! If we love the Lord we will submit ourselves to His will. HUMBLY submit, not proudly submitting! And when we do that then we will do all that He asks us to do with a loving and willing heart, which will allow blessings to flow into our lives! 

I love y'all.

Elder Bean

Temple trip with the District

Parade

Gooding County Fair/Rodeo

With Ty Nebeker, I love this guy!

This Week Had its Ups and Downs

This week had its ups and downs!

Went to the Nebeker's last Monday for FHE and had a good time there! They are such a neat family and some of the best people I have met. 

Tuesday we had a lesson with Mayda Hatfield and she brought up some concerns and right now she is 'sitting on the fence'. We are going again this week and hope to help her choose the side she wants to be on! 

Wednesday we had dinner with the Blunts (Ben made such a good pork loin roast) and Deva gave the lesson on the 'Fall of Adam and Eve'! Then we went to Fairfield and taught Erika and her fiance Josh! Took the Rick's with us and shared the Restoration video!

We have been going to the Senior Citizen's center a couple times during lunch and helping Sis. Nebeker (Momma Neb's is what everyone calls her) with serving/preparing food and then we get to eat! It is cool because 80% of those people are not LDS and we get to have good conversations with a lot of them! They have enjoyed us being there so far!

 Yesterday during the Gooding 2nd ward, Dakota Harden gave his farewell talk since he leaves this week on his mission to Bakersfield, CA.. A ton of people were there and the whole meeting was so spiritually powerful. The Elders Quorum Pres talked first and gave a very powerful talk on sacrament, Jesus Christ, and being who we claim to be. All the YM and leaders got up (and us) and sang the Army of Helaman song. IT was powerful. I was fasting yesterday and the spirit during the talks was overwhelming my body, but when we sang I thought I was going to pass out from the Spirit (like in the B of M haha). We were at church from 7:30-3 yesterday... about 8 hours. and usually we stay til 4 haha. But we left early to go to the Harden's place for his open house! 

Strangest thing happened, I met another Elder Bean! Well he isn't Elder now because he has been home 2 months, but he was at church and the open house because his fiance is cousins to the Hardens. He lives in Burley! Kinda cool maybe I will serve in Burley someday and meet all the Beans (I have heard my whole mission that there is a lot there).

Also yesterday at the Blunts, Charlee gave the lesson on the Creation! And Deva and Hayden are doing a combined lesson this Friday! It is cool to have the kids do the lesson and they learn more that way! Their dad still won't let them be baptized...

David's baptism this week is off and the Brown's has been moved to the end of this month or September.

I love y'all and miss y'all a ton. 

-Elder Bean

Elder Edmonds, Dakota Harden, Me

I Love the Knowledge and Peace the Gospel Brings

It was another good week in Gooding, ID! 

Transfers were on Wednesday and E. Edmonds and I are now companions officially. We did a lot of good work this week and taught a lot of lessons! Most I have ever taught in a week on my mission. 

We visited the Natal's almost everyday this week. Helping David not smoke and helping clean the house cause Colleen's arm is broken. He is still set for baptism on August 22nd!

Super cool thing happened with this family the Browns who we have been trying to teach for a while. While visiting, the two unbaptized kids told us they wanted the lessons for baptism so we taught Plan of Salvation super simply and they want to be baptized on Aug. 19th! Not completely solid yet, have to talk to mom still and find good day (she wasn't home this week). It was pretty cool!

Met up with Steven who we helped move in, and invited him to ward BBQ and church! He agreed and came to both!! He also said he has some questions for us and to come by this week! He is a cool guy and has a super neat background and he is very prepared for the gospel!

Yesterday was cool for this family, the Thiemann's, who we visit a lot. She is a recent convert and he is recently activated and they are so solid! They read and pray every night at as a family and do family home evenings and everything! They are way fun too. Well, Shawn (the dad) got the Melchizedik Priesthood yesterday! He also asked us to stand in and it was super cool. 6 months and they can be sealed as a family!! It is so neat to see the gospel bless people and seeing them progress in it.

I love the Lord and I love his truth that has been restored to us! I love the knowledge and peace the gospel brings and I want so badly for so many in this world to be freed from their guilt and their afflictions through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! He truly loves us and has all power to enable us to be greater than we could ever be on our own. 

Love y'all,

Elder Bean

Lunch last Monday, yummy Mexican food

 

The new digs in Gooding with Elder Edmonds

Pigs

Ward BBQ

Elder Edmonds pushing the Patton girls around on the table dolly.

Transfers - Staying in Gooding!!

Hey fam!! I miss y'all!

This week was pretty good! I don't have my other planner so I have to go off of memory on what happened this week... I know good things did happen!

We spent a lot of time at David and Colleen Natal's house. He is quitting smoking to be baptized on August 22nd so we go give some spiritual support! 

We received a referral on Monday for someone in Fairfield to teach so we went up there and had super good lesson. Her name is Erika and she is about 24 and has a fiancé and two kids. She believes in having a relationship with God and she agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and what we taught. The Spirit was really strong there. 

We also are still meeting with Stew and he came to church again this week! He is doing great. And the rest of the work in Fairfield is going really well! This huge family of 12 kids we finally got in with. They are the Shorts. I don't know how many are members or not, but at least one of the parents is. They are way fun and we ended up giving one of the daughters a blessing for healing. 

Thursday we had a really good Zone Meeting and TiWi training. We have TiWi's in our cars now and it monitors speed, seat belt, and aggressive driving and says warnings at you until you correct it or it will send a violation which after so many could result in suspension of privileges. It isn't that bad, just helps us be more safe! The Zone training was on Baptism and preparing better quality and quantity of converts. Was super good! 

Went on Exchanges with District Leader and had a good time! While visiting Mayda, we shared a Mormon message -Hope of God's Light- and she also told us she read a Word of Wisdom talk by Boyd K. Packer and it was motivating to her! It was cool to hear she is studying on her own. They are a really good family and just need to have greater understanding of the gospel!

Anyways things are going well for me and I am learning a lot! I love serving and teaching people and everything else that a mission involves. Best experience of my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Love, One and Only Elder Bean

 

A Baptism and Pioneer Day Celebrations

It was a really good week again!

We stayed pretty busy and didn't have hardly any slow hours, which was nice. I can tell the Lord has been blessing us and this area. Tuesday we talked to a lot of people and taught 4 lessons just in that day! While at dinner at the Mclaughlins, one of their friends was there and we shared a little of L-1 and Sister Mclaughlin did a solid job at being a missionary and invited him to hear our lessons and set a return appt for Tuesday the 28th! It was really cool to see.

Wednesday was really good and we saw this guy, Pineapple and he is 79 year old Hawaiian man and he is so fit and energized it is crazy. He bikes so far, like 100s of miles all the time like its nothing. We met this girl, Desa Qualls, outside and talked with her about the gospel and she was super nice and said we could come back this Wednesday. She has met with missionaries before, and read some of the Book of Mormon and had some questions about the church!

Finished up Tara's lessons and she was baptized on Saturday! It was such a neat baptism and a lot of people attended. Also they all came to church the next day too which was neat.

Friday was the Pioneer Day Stake Celebration and the missionaries in the stake helped serve food. (I think they said they were expecting over 800 people) and I saw a lot of nonmembers/less-actives come to it! The food was really good and then they had team roping, calf scramble for kids, handcart races, and water pig races ahha. It was a lot of fun and we had a good time with some families we are teaching that came!

Things are going well here in Gooding! I love serving and I love the Lord, we listen to some cool talks in the car while we drive and I love it because then I am constantly learning new things. I love the Gospel and Jesus Christ! He is our Savior and Redeemer and because of Him there is no end. I know it to be true. I know that true happiness and peace comes only through living the gospel of Jesus Christ and striving to be exact obedient to all his commandments. 

I love y'all!

-Elder Bean II

Tara's baptism, she was baptized by her husband, Ben.

 

Corn field

Wendell Stake Pioneer Day celebration

In front of my house

 

Obedience in the Morning, Diligence in the Afternoon, Brings Miracles in the Evening!

So last Monday we played sand volleyball and some basketball with other missionaries and then that night we went to the Ray's. They had a bonfire, hot dogs and s'mores, so it was way fun. We had an appointment right after that though, and while we were at the Ray's I got the thought that maybe we should reschedule and just stay here and enjoy this. So glad that I did not go through with that. We went to the lesson with the Koch's and it was powerful. Read 1 Nephi 13 and the Spirit was so strong. They felt it and I could see it on their countenances. We invited them to church and for the first time they accepted eagerly! I realized looking back that the adversary tried to sway us from going there. He put in my mind that I should stay and 'enjoy myself' instead of doing what I am called to do and serve others. I am thankful the Lord helped me realize this!

On Tuesday we had interviews with President Curtis and they were awesome. Then we went to a funeral in Wendell. Mario Reyes (19) died in a car wreck and he was a recent convert preparing for a mission. The spirit was so strong there. One of the missionaries that taught him, Elder Slavens, who is home now, came back and sang a musical number that was way good.

Wednesday when we went to the Hales we had another good experience. We have been reading in the Bible with them and this time she asked if we could read in the Book of Mormon! She walks with Sis. Snow every morning and they talk about the Gospel and Sis. Snow gave her 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World' and she loved it (especially due to recent events in the world). So we read with her in 1 Nephi 2-4 and it was really good! She was very engaged and her husband, Bro. Hales (also a nonmember) had really good things to say and he even answered her questions sometimes. He has studied a lot of religions and read the Book of Mormon 17 years ago. 

Also had David and Colleen's wedding that night! It was great and then the next day we set a baptism date for August 22nd with him! He has things to overcome but he is down to earth and humble guy and is way fun to be around and teach.

Friday was good too. The day was slow but the night was good! Obedience in the morning, Diligence in the afternoon, brings Miracles in the evening. It was so true. We went to the Hutchings (recent convert and recently activated member) and had a good time talking with them. They have a ton of horses since he buys/sells and trains them. Also Bro. Hutching and I got into a really good gospel conversation and it turned out really well! They are a good family!

Then went to Ben and Mayda Hatfields and had a great time. Talked about organization of the church and Ben bore his testimony and said things that have shown him how it is true, and they both mentioned experiences on how they have a testimony of paying tithing! So cool to see, and we are hoping that Mayda continues to progress towards baptism in the future.

Saturday we went to Fairfield and met some cool people and some good potential. Taught a lesson to a part-member family. Most of Fairfield is part-member families actually.

Sunday we went over to the Blunts with Bro. Scott! We taught a lesson and he set up the program for Tara's baptism this Saturday at 8 pm!! We are so excited for them. She has taken the lessons so many times and this time it is the right time! 

All is going well here in Gooding. I really like it here and I love Fairfield. Other than Texas, I want to live in Fairfield lol. It is so sweet up there. (it was like 60 degrees up there!)  

I loved this week and all the experiences we had! Love y'all!

-Elder Bean II

OH YEAH!! Forgot to add that on Saturday on the way to Fairfield I had another neat experience. So it has to do with that picture of Elder Manygoats and I together with the valley in the background. That spot is a spot where you can pull over and take pictures and stuff, and when we came up on it while driving I felt like we should stop so we did and there was a lady standing next to her car. So we get out and take some pics and then ask her to take one of us! She did and we started talking and talked for like 10 minutes and then at the end I felt like we should ask her to hear our message. We shared a little with her and then asked her and she said Sure!! So got her info and are going to send it to the mission office to give to the missionaries in her area! Neat experience and I realized "what if we hadn't of stopped?' or 'what if we never would of invited her?'. I hope all goes well and that the missionaries end up teaching her and her family! She has a husband and a baby girl too.

Picture spot on the way to Fairfield

Fairfield, it's a small town for sure!

David and Colleen's wedding