Week 20 in Piamonte

Week #60
2/23/15
Wow, its already week 20 here. Thats crazy. Ive been here for so long, and I love it! 

Well, the most eventful day of this week was Saturday. Not much else happened this week. I got sick with a cold, so i haven't done much exercise. Things are a little stagnant in our area, but we are ready to stir up the waters and get things moving. We have just been working with the same people for a while now, and we need to find new people. 

So on Saturday we got up early to visit William. He was really bummed and discouraged. He told us his family wasn't really supporting him, and that he is having a hard time economically. He said that he doesn't have enough to stock up on trash bags and candy to sell, because that's his job. He told us he felt so frustrated that he didn't want to go to the chapel anymore. When I heard that, I knew he wasn't very serious, and that he just needed to calm down a little bit. I shared with him 1 Nephi 17:3, and promised him blessings. Im glad a bishop showed me that scripture. 

So Saturday afternoon we stopped by María Eugenia to see how she was before the baptism, and her coworker had told her a bunch of stuff about polygamy, and she was not feeling sure about being baptized. You could tell she was just confused. Especially because she is really afraid of doing what is wrong, and it has been hard for her to make the decision. But she was able to reason everything out, and she confirmed that she would be coming. 

Then there was Ximena, its a miracle she was baptized this week. She had her interview on Friday, but didnt pass. She wasnt living with her boyfriend anymore, but he could always just get in the house when he wanted to, and she still wasnt living the law of chastity to the point she needed to to be baptized. So on Friday night, she was feeling bad, as she told us, and went right there and completely ended everything with her boyfriend. So the Elders from Bosa called us Friday night to tell us she wouldnt be getting baptized, and it was a bummer. Then they called us again at 10 and told us that she would be getting baptized, and i just wondered how. So she passed her second interview, and was baptized as well. 

For the service we heated the water, and it was nice. I baptized María Eugenia, and confirmed Ximena. That baptismal service was really nice, and it was encouraging. 

Oh, this week we also took William to the family history center in the stake to get him started on his family history, and he was able to print the page so he can do baptisms for the dead! We have the goal to go with William and María Eugenia to the temple on March 7th and do baptisms for the dead with them. So pictures are attached of that as well, also William doing a wheelie. 

I have been well these days. Things have been a little tough with my companion, mostly because its hard to achieve a good communication. I think I'm going to try harder with that this week. A funny moment- we were walking up a side walk, and i saw a lady on a bike, and when she passed me she said, ´beep beep´. That made me laugh. Just the way she said it was funny. 

I know God lives, and answers our prayers. I know prayer is really, and have had real experiences with prayer this week. If you feel your prayers aren't really getting past the ceiling, or you're not praying, I invite you to pray, and really talk to God. Talk to him about your day, your hopes, your setbacks, your struggles. Ask him for help, be sincere and honest. Those prayer get answered and they comfort the soul. 

Thanks for reading!

Elder Beck

Week 19 in Piamonte

Week #60
2/16/15
Okay, so this week has been quite normal. Not much new has happened, but I'm really content with everything here. During our weekly planning session this week we realized we really only have about 4 investigators we are teaching, so we need to do some finding! We decided that we would visit 3 member families this week multiple times, helping them to share the gospel so we can get some references. We are getting quite creative with messages to share about giving references and sharing the gospel, hopefully it will be quite effective. Tonight we will have FHE with 2 of the 3 families. 

Theres not much special to report this week on changes in the area, except for that we will be having 3 yet 1 yet 3 baptisms on Saturday. 3 because María Eugenia, Ximena and her son will all be baptized, yet only one because Ximena and her son belong to another ward now, but 3 because they will all be baptized in the same service. So we are quite excited. Ximena and María Eugenia both told us that they NEED the water to be warm, so we will be in the chapel a few hours early heating up the water on the stove, and in buckets with electric heaters. So that'll be fun. 

With María Eugenia, we had 2 visits before Sunday, and we weren't sure if she would be getting baptized, because she still hadn't made the decision. In our district meeting we were talking about her, and Elder Brown (our DL) suggested that we fasted for her, so I did, Saturday after lunch to Sunday, Colombian style, and she came to church. We still didn't know, until the gospel principles teacher told us that María Eugenia had told her that she was getting baptized on Saturday, so she had made her own decision! That was a huge blessing, I know fasting is real, and the Lord accepts our sacrifices. I also was thinking of a funny joke, What do you call a hasty, religious, donation? A fast offering. I kinda made it up, not sure if someone had thought of it before.

Sot that's whats new. I know that the church is the restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth, just as he established it in his mortal ministry. I know the ordinances of the priesthood ensure us our salvation and exaltation. God wants to make covenants with each one of us, so he can bless us and perfect us. I know Christ lives and loves us. 

Thanks so much for reading!

Elder Beck

Pics- me with the map and pizza from today

Week 18 in Piamonte

Week #59
2/9/15
Well, transfer news got in, and..... we had a huge upset in the picks. In our district we had been predicting the transfers for the last 2 weeks, and we got the call last night the NOBODY is leaving. It was really strange, especially because we all have already been here 3 months together, but I am super grateful and excited that I get to work here another 6 weeks and see all the people we are working with through their progression. 

So, on Tuesday we helped Ximena move on Tuesday, and she moved to Bosa, the ward right next to ours, so we aren't teaching her anymore. She didn't get baptized this week, because she is still with her boyfriend, but I'm sure she will get there soon. Its strange that we aren't going to be there, but I learned a lot helping her. The nice thing is she isn't too far away either. 

Well, this week has been tough because we weren't able to make a lot of visits. What has happened is that nobody has been able to come out with us, and we visit a lot of families where only women listen to us, so we almost always need a member to come out with us. So we didn't stay super busy this week, but knowing we will be working  a transfer more together, we have decided to work harder and smarter to have more success and find more families. 

Things with María Eugenia are going great. We went to the temple with her on Saturday, and when we were walking up she asked us why we were going if she couldn't go in. That was pretty funny, but we told her that we were going to help her prepare for when she could go in after her baptism. We got her started on FamilySearch.org, and showed her around. She even bought a family-sized triple combination. That was cool. She came to church on Sunday, and stayed all 3 hours, so if she stays all 3 again, she can get baptized on the 21st. We had a great lesson with her on Sunday as well. She finally didn't open up the restaurant, and rested yesterday. So we had a lesson in her house, and it was really different without all the distractions and noise. We were able to connect with her, and we can see her testimony growing. 

That is pretty much all that has happened this week. I'm staying another 6 weeks in Piamonte, and I'm stoked! I get to enjoy the nice house we found (finally!) and work hard to leave this area full of work to do. 

I know God loves us, and that He send us challenges because he wants us to grow. Whatever challenge you may have, you can overcome it if you rely on Him. He loves you, and yearns to hear you pray earnestly to Him.

Thanks so much for reading!

Pictures: 

temple with María Eugenia and me saying hi to all the fans back at home, and my family and friends too.

Week 17 in Piamonte

Week #58
2/2/15

Buenas Tardes,

Well, I am writing on the stickiest keyboard in existence. So sorry if I run out of time. Well, this week has been crazy. 

Well, the computer just erased my whole letter. 

Sorry. 

We moved this week to a new apartment, Ximena is getting baptized this week. Things went really well this week, and Im happy.

I know God lives and loves us. I know the gospel can change our lives, and that his plan is perfect. 

Elder Beck

Pics-

Bro. Zambrano, the member that fixed up the new apartment,

 a cool cover for my missionary manual i got

 I really like limes, and the house