Week 3 in Reubicaciòn (Semana Santa)

Week #9
3/28/16

Hola Everyone!!

This week was nothing too exciting! we just did lots of visits and have been trying to teach everyone the importance of no coffee, and Sabbath day! and our area is really big so we have been running all over! we visit, nucleus 1,2,and 3, paraiso, concepcion quetzaltepeque, san bartodo, galicia, and cuevitas! and this week we found out part of our area goes into Honduras? haha so we may go there! We held a mission temple event as well this week which was really cool! in the chapel next to the temple we had classes set up with little 4 to 5 minute lessons of all sorts of different principles and all of the areas brought investigators and less actives and stuff! it was really cool! and the temple here is gorgeous! unfortunately we didn't have any of the investigators from our area but we were in charge of a room! the apostasy and restoration room! and elder Le May was Joseph smith it was really funny, he had to dress up! I also went into the distribution center and bought all the videos i could find in English haha cause all the ones in the house are in Spanish and sometimes its nice to wind down at the end of the day with a church video! Friday was tough for us! in the mission all that matters to us is our investigators and church attendance and all of our lessons for the afternoon after study time fell through! nobody was home! so we only taught one lesson to a new we found while walking around! its the semana santa which is the holy week and here that is what they celebrate instead of Easter so lots of people are at the beach and at pools and stuff. Its also the hottest week of the year so that has been fun haha! However while walking around we did find out that a boy whose mom was baptized not too long ago just turned 8! his name is Alex and he is the sweetest and happiest boy Ive ever met! i love this kid! so we are teaching him now and prepping him for baptism in a few weeks!! Saturday consisted of running around to every single area and inviting as many people to church as we could! we had 80 at church, it was ward or branch conference so members from the stake leadership were there to speak and teach. But we were really happy to have 80! when elder Le May got here the attendance was 40! It was great!! good messages and happy, but tired missionaries haha! but this week was awesome and i am excited for the next! This week i have been in the mission for 2 months.. which is really weird! time flies!

Este Semana fue fantastico! Elder Le May y yo hemos estado trabajando duro y nosotros hemos visto las bendiciones! Nosotros contactamos todo las personas posible este semana y enfocamos nuestros lecciònes en la importancia del dia de reposo y dejar cafè. Cafè es un grande problema aca en El Salvador! Pero se que por medio de la ayuda de Dios las personas pueden entender la importancia de los mandamientos! Yo he aprendido mucho durante de mi misiòn, sobre la importancia de El Señor en nuestras vidas y cuando yo confio en el espititu yo se que todo es posible! Yo amo la mision y las personas aca! El señor verdaderamente ha preparado las personas para escuchar a nuestro mensaje! Yo tomo cada oportunidad para compartir la felicidad del evangelio! Yo se wue esta iglesia es verdadera!

Gracias!! have a great week everyone!

--

Love,

Elder Beck

Week 2 in Reubicaciòn

Week #8 3/21/16

Hola Everyone!!

This week has been great!! and again just a bunch of curve balls! i think i have had one day of normal everything! So Tuesday we had to go about an hour away for interviews with the president and when we got about 45 minutes from our area.. we got a call, no more interviews haha so that stunk, and i left my nice water bottle on the bus which made me a little sad but im gonna buy a new one! we get nice filter bottles in the mtc that u can put like any water in and drink from it!! Then we went to a baptismal interview cause my comp is the district leader and it was interesting haha some people in El Salvador have done some crazy things haha! Wednesday still another weird day, and your all not gonna believe this but we got a call Tuesday night from the zone and they said tomorrow be at cine mark center at 9 am.. we were confused and they explained that the reason our interviews got cancelled was because president was seeing a movie, the resurrection of Christ and liked it so he wanted the entire mission to see it as well! so we went to watch a movie with like 120 missionaries it was pretty funny! good movie, i think haha it was all in Spanish so i didn't get much but it was fun to be there in the AC and watch a movie and eat popcorn! They want to close our branch because they dont think the church attendance is sufficient so my comp and i are working really really hard to try and get people invited and attending! we had 11 investigators and 9 less actives at church yesterday which we were half disappointed in and half excited, disappointed because we invited like 150 haha! but we will keep the branch open! we need 80 by June and were determined to get it! we had 62 at church but lots of members didn't show up because its break here so that was a bummer! next week we will!! We do lots of lessons with members here which i like, cause they speak Spanish to me and help me get better! and I also really like them! we have one who is named Johnathon who is 20 and preparing to serve, hes a really cool guy and a good teacher, and the other is Mauricio, he is 17 and prepping to serve as well! Mauricio teaches reading tpo a family of 7 in our area so we went with him helped out a little and shared a message! 7 new investigators haha! were trying to get them to church! We also painted out local pupuseria which was fun! Thursday was another weird day, i had to go to immigration and go through that whole process which kinda ruined our plans and we didn't get to do a whole lopt of teaching which was a bummer but now im legal here haha! Friday was another not normal day.. we had district meeting so i didn't get to do studies once again! but i got to eat a delicious chocolate covered banana after! there isn't much to eat in our area so when we get to leave we take advantage of it and eat yummy food! Saturday was just a bunch of traveling to peoples houses and telling them the Sabbath day is important and they need to go to church! haha and Sunday was just a usual Sunday with church, and inviting people to come in the morning! it was nice! But anyways i am absolutely loving everything about the mission, i have nothi8ng to complain about at all! the people are so amazing and humble ready to listen to our message and my companion is amazing! he is a phenomenal teacher and a great friend and trainer! I love my area! its gorgeous and a total culture shock but its great! soo different here but i love the experience! Hope everything is well for all of you! Thanks for reading!!

Este Semana fue increible! Lo amo aqui en El Salvador! Yo se què la obra aqui es la obra de Dios y yo estoy muy feliz por estar aqui! Cada dia fortelezco mi testimonio! por medio de experiencias con la idioma y nuestros investigadores! Por medio de las bendiciones como misioneros y el espiritu santo! Cada dia yo veo el poder de Dios y el Espiritu Santo! Yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera y cada persona en el mundo nececita escuchar el mensaje de esta iglesia! Yo estoy muy emocionado para compartir esta mensaje y amo cada dia en la mision!

Adios!

--

Love,

Elder Beck

Week 1 in Reubicación!

Week #7 3/14/16

 Well i left the MTC this week which felt great! I was really excited to get into the field! i left Tuesday and took a bus 5 hours into El Salvador! then we met president at the mission home and got a bunch of info and stuff, ate dinner then headed to the place we slept that night, really dirty house where the secretaries live! Then in the morning we drove to a church nearby met with president again and met our companions! my companion is elder Le May! he is from Canada and has about 5 months left in the mission! my area is called Reubicación, and is a small colony with no ward only a branch with about 50 to 60 people at church Sundays! My house is interesting its a pretty good size house but its really really dirty haha! but its okay cause were only in there to study and sleep! First day we got a call in the morning from president saying we couldn't work because of a war between the gangs and the police so we were inside for like 4 hours then got the go so we went out and introduced me to all the members and instigators! this week has been awesome! we have a big area so we walk a lot! this week we walked probably about 20 miles!! in 5 days! 12 yesterday! its also really really hot here all the time!! like 110 every day! so basically i smell and sweat a lot! i am like always wet hahaha! but im getting used to it! we only have water like every three days so we bucket shower in the mornings which is awesome i think its great! and when the water does come its hardly any, like a little trickle for like 20 hours! its awesome! so basically I wont be taking a normal shower for 2 years! my comp said most areas are like that! people here are amazing! and the area is beautiful! i wish i had my camera with me all the time! luckily this is one of the safest areas in all the mission so i can carry my little one around whenever and its not a problem! this Saturday we had 3 baptisms and The youngest girl Eva corina Bolaños Guardado chose me to baptize her so I got to baptize on my first week which was awesome!! the people in the area that is 5 miles from our house are my favorite its an area called Concepción Quetzaltepeque and we get lots of references there! and contacts! I love the mission and the dang pupusas are yummy i have had 24 in 5 days haha my comp has had almost 800 in his mission! I wish I had more time this week to write all about everything that has happened! and i forgot my journal so next time I will write more! Everything is great and I am so happy to be here! I love everything about this mission so far except not knowing what anyone is saying to me haha! but my Spanish is getting better every day! My companion and ]I work really hard and right now have the best numbers in the zone! which wasn't a whole lot of me but im happy to be in a great area! All is well I know this is where im supposed to be! Im out of time so no Spanish testimony this week:| but here are some pictures!!! in another email cause i cant figure out my camera rn!

Love,

Elder Beck

Bienvenida Elder Beck

Querida Familia Beck

Es un privilegio y una gran bendición tener a su hijo en nuestra Misión,
gracias por el sacrificio que hacen al dar lo mejor de su vida al Señor y a
su hermosa Obra Misional la cual preparará la Segunda Vendida de Nuestro
Salvador, sabemos que ellos encontrarán a los escogidos del Padre edificando

su Iglesia en El Salvador y estamos deseosos de ayudarles a desarrollar su potencial.

Deseamos que les apoyen con sus oraciones y consejos en esta hermosa etapa
de sus vidas y que sepan que ellos son del Señor en este momento.

Elder Beck podrá escribirles todos los lunes en su día de preparación, y además

Podrán encontrar en nuestras páginas de Facebook las fotografías de las actividades de la misión

brenda lopez de vasquez y bruno brunetti

Nuestro lema es:

Somos Misioneros de Jesucristo y de Predicad Mi Evangelio y con su
Autoridad Convertimos, Bautizamos y Retenemos.

Con Amor Presidente y Hermana Vásquez

Atentamente:

Bruno Emilio Vásquez Robles

Presidente de Misión

El Salvador San Salvador Este

Week 5 of 6 in the CCM!

Week #5 3-2-16
Hola Everyone!

This week was another great one! I love it here in the MTC but am stretching my arms to the doors ready to leave haha! It is sometimes hard for me to have a good attitude towards the practice work and lessons because I am ready to go do it for real and cant take it seriously anymore but I am still tying to do my best while I can learn in the comfort of the CCM! After that I am just thrown into it and will be on my own! which I am very excited for but at the same time know that I will wish I was studying the language in my comfy chair at my desk in the MTC! I am learning more and more every day and can teach descent lessons in my opinion! I cant wait to teach them to real people!! its definately different, and I know that because the second week I was able to teach people about the book of mormon in the plaza in guatemala city! I was so pumped to share one message I cant wait to feel that all day everyday as I teach and see the change in peoples lives! Classes are going good and teachers are still great! I forgot to say last week that they gave me a haircut in the MtC and it is not how I would prefer my hair haha i have never had the clippers go against the way I come my hair and it kinda sucked! its like really short and I cant really spike it in the front so thats a little sad but it has beed a week and i dont care anymore! nect time I am definately ¿gonna have someone else do it that wont just chop it all off!! Memorization has been going really well for me! I have down now the first vision, invitation to be baptised, missionary purpose, and D&C 4! Im working on more now! Also studying phrases of the lessons and prcticing grammer so I can teach better! I have so many times in lessons where im talking and want to say something but dont know how! its tough but after I write down what I would have said and get it translated and study it! I have gotten down the past tenses in spanish which are really strange! I still need to work on stem changers and irregulars tho! When I get to the field I am hoping that I will get a companion that speaks no english so ill be forced to speak it all the time!! the nortes arnt as good as we could be at speaking spanish all the time so we havnt gotten as good as I know we all could have! but we set a district goal to speak only spanish unless we cant say what we need to! I have had a really cool experience with scipture study and diligence here in the CCM, reading and studying is really hard for me! reading is my least favorite thing to do, and it is hard for me to focus! so i have been starting study time with a prayer and have asked for help from my heavenly father to help me stay focused and read comprehensively and really study the doctrine enabling me to be a more efective servant for him and I have not had a problem staying focused at all! Huge testimony to me and I know that im doing what i am with the help of the lord! I had a wonderful week minus one tough day but i know that is is just part of the mission and im praying to know what it is the lord wanted me to learn from those days! I look forward to this last week here in the mtc and cant wait to share the message with some real investigators!! Thanks for reading and I hope all is well for all of you!!

Yo se qué soy una siervo de Dios! Yo se qué con la ayuda de Dios y Jesucristo yo puedo alcanzar todo! Yo se qué Dios quiere la mejor por mi en mi trabajo y yo se qué el es me ayudando todos las dias! Yo veo las manos de Dios en mi vido en todos aspectos! Durante de mi estudias, en mi lecciones, y en todo otros! Yo estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad yo tengo para ser un siervo de Dios y yo espero yo so suficiente en mis trabajos! Yo no puedo esperer para ir a el campo y enseñar personas qien necesitan la iglesia en sus  vidas! 

Gracias por leyendo! (not sure if i used reading correctly, if u speak spanish lmk!)

--

Love,

Elder Beck

Week 4 of 6!!

Week #4 2/24/16

Hola Everyone!

This week has been really good! I have been going along same as all the weeks in the past studying hard and progressing slowly but surely! I love the experiences that im having here, the people im meeting the things im learning and the spirit im feeling! I am so happy to be a missionary and represent the church of Jesus Christ! I have become more and more grateful for the opportunity that I have to be here, and the more I come to know about what i will be doing and the things I will be doing and the lessons I will be teaching I become more and more grateful! In classes were finally beginning to learn harder concepts of Spanish that are used a lot more so it has been nice to progress in the language a lot this week! We worked on the preterite tense in Spanish all week and teaching the commandments! My language skills jumped a lot this week and it has been very encouraging! The more and more we practice lessons here the more and more comfortable I feel teaching them in Spanish! We also earned the future tense this week but i need to practice with that one more! My companion and I are getting better at teaching in unison and it makes lessons go a lot better! I had one difficult day this week but im not gonna talk about it because it doesn't matter and its all part of learning and part of the mission!! (it wasn't too difficult, I was just not feeling super motivated like i usually do) Sunday was great as always, talks her in sacrament are kinda like Russian roulette (idk how to spell that) and this week I was called up to speak. They don't warn you beforehand they just call your name and you go up and do your best! Im not the best public speaker in the world, in fact its one of the most difficult things for me to do, but it went really well, I talked about faith and shared some scriptures it was good! luckily they only ask that you speak for five minutes! after that we had some devotionals and study time! This week so far has been different than most. I was called into the mtc presidents office on Monday and received a phone call from my dad. I was told that my grandma had just passed away and it was difficult to hear! I was sad for a bit but told myself that everything would be okay because she is now in a better place. So this week I have been thinking a lot about the plan of salvation. For those of you who are not members of this church the plan of salvation is Gods plan for us to live on this earth, learn, grow, have families, be happy, and eventually return to live with heavenly father again. I have been studying this plan a lot to find comfort in the passing of my grandma and have been praying that i would be able to remain focused on the work at hand which for me is studying the gospel and learning Spanish! I have learned a lot and it has made me so grateful for this plan! through this plan I know that I will see my grandma again and I know that my family can be together forever! Now for a more positive note, I found out this week that in the past week when we were told we would be here for 7 weeks we were given false info! so im happy to have the news that I will head out to El Salvador after 2 more weeks here in training! Cant believe I have almost been out for a month! time is flying by! Temple this morning was great! always a nice relaxing way to start the week off! Im excited for what this week has to offer and love hearing from all of you so please continue to write! 

Thanks for reading! here is another testimony: (you can use google translate to understand)

Yo estoy muy agradecido por este misión! Yo estoy muy agradecido por la oportunidad yo tengo para servir el Señor y ser una representante de Dios y Jesucristo! Este semana pasado fue muy bueno! Yo aprende mucho! En especifico este semana yo estoy muy agradecido por la expiación de Jesucristo y El plan de Salvación! Yo se que por medio este plan yo vera mi abuela otra vez! Yo estoy muy agradecido por Jesucristo y por su expiación, porque el sufrió por nuestros pecados y dolores nosotros podemos ser limpio en este vida! Por medio la expiación de Jesucristo nosotros podemos vivir con Dios otra vez y con nuestros familias por eterno! Estoy muy agradecido por la iglesia de Jesucristo y por el ejemplo de Jesucristo! Estoy muy agradecido por el don de lenguas y yo se que esta iglesia es verdadera! Yo se que el Libro De mormón es verdadero! Yo no puedo esperar para compartir esta mensaje con las personas en El Salvador! 

Thanks for reading!!

--

Love,

Elder Beck

Week 3 of 7?

Week #3 2/16/16

This week was really great again! Its east to say that when you are in the CCM! not too much hardships, fake investigators, nice beds, good food, warm showers! So i titled my letter this week 3 of 7 with a question mark because ewe found out yesterday that since my district came on an off week we wouldn't be leaving after the original time of 6 weeks.. So now im here for 7! which is bitter sweet for me! like I said last time I am ready to go work and teach real people, but for the last two weeks im here I will have a Latino companion so I will most likely learn some good Spanish!! I look forward to that challenge! schedule keeps flipping for us cause were a special group so this week were writing after only 6 days! I will loose my favorite maestro (teacher) this week because in the morning new north Americans get here! so im sad about that because he is definitely the best teacher here! but I am sure that whoever replaces him will be great as well! Food is still good here! we haven't had one meal that I didn't like! except some fish.. but I drenched it in lime so it didn't taste like fish anymore haha so it wasn't that bad! (for those of you who dont know that is the one food I really dont like!) Today we got to go to the temple again and as always it is my favorite part of the week! its nice to get out of the CCM and the temple here is beautiful! As the weeks go by though I am getting more and more excited to see what El Salvador brings!! there's two other kids in my district that will be going to my mission! Yesterday I cut one of the kids hair in my district and it was pretty great! It turned out really good and im not sure if that is a good thing because now everyone knows I can cut hair.. but it was funny and a fun experience! This weeks learning was really good! we are finally getting into grammar that I dont know how to do like future and progressive tenses which help with teaching!! I am still learning lots practicing teaching lessons with the pamphlets and memorizing phrases for lessons and stuff! Over all it is still going really well! definitely has slowed down a little because I have learned a lot of the easy stuff but I am learning at a good pace! hopefully by the end of the 7 weeks now I will be ready to teach some good lessons in Spanish!!! I probably wont have any other pictures while im here because we arnt aloud to take them like anywhere and i don't think were aloud to send them in the CCM so sorry about that but when im in the field ill be sure to send lots! I am absolutely filled with joy to be here and love learning and preparing to teach the people of El Salvador! This week was another fantastic one and im pumped and ready top go for the next!!

This week i want to bear testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ! 

Yo sé que Jesucristo es nuestra salvador y redentor y yo sé que por medio de la expiacion nosotros podemos ser limpio de nuestros pecados! Yo sé que Dios y Jesucristo quieren nosotros a vivimos en felicidades en este vida! Y yo sé que es posible por todos personas! Si nosotros seguimos el ejemple de Jesucristo y guardar los mandamientos nosotros podemos vivir con Dios otra vez! Yo estoy muy agradecido por la expiación de Jesucristo en mi vida y yo veo los bendiciones y la manos de Dios en mi vida todos las dias! Yo sé que este iglesia es verdadera! Yo estoy muy agradecido por eso!!

Thanks everyone for reading!! hope all is well!

--

Love,

Elder Beck