Transfers! October 29, 2017

Hey family! I am staying in Haeundae! We are getting a B-Team, and my new companion is Elder K T H. So it will be fun!   So our house is really a 4 man house... Now a 2nd team is going to come here with us. So it will be good!

Our nerf war last week. Fun times!

And it was my companion's last transfer, so Elder P is going home now. We had a good transfer together. Over the transfer we became good friends and learned a lot from each other. So as we were together I was able to share things I learned from mom and dad with him... he really appreciated the things I shared and in turn shared them with other missionaries. He told me he went out of his mission on a high note, so I am really glad about that! Thanks mom and dad for being so good and teaching and helping us kids since we were little. I am trying to share the things you taught me, and it really seems to help other people.

I would love to share some stuff, I was just thinking about sharing that actually. Here are some things we talked about:

One big thing we talked about was positivity. Some people feel that people who are positive ignore problems, or don't look at them in the right light. But I shared how, especially when I was a little kid, I had a problem with overreacting to problems. Whether it was getting really mad during sports, or getting really sulky because things didn't go the way I wanted to, I let my outward circumstances control my agency... But what I shared was something dad shared with me. Our life is composed of 1% of our circumstances, what happens to us, and 99% of how we act, what we choose to do it our circumstances (my companion is literally saying this to another missionary who he is talking with on the phone right now). Of course, our circumstances can influence our lives greatly-- but we have power to choose those things which are most important to us. That is why there are people who are miserable and rich, and those who are poor and joyful.

And positivity doesn't mean ignoring problems. It means focusing on what you can do, and not on the things you can't control.

I have to leave right about now... I might be able to finish my email time later. We are going to meet my new companion!

Kenz-- that is a really interesting thing you said. I think that is a good point. There is a difference between putting on a face and focusing on the positive! I have done both, too... Putting on a face is no fun!

Other things I was able to share with Elder 박:

There is value in calling out Satan for who he is. Sometimes, as dad also told me, I have just said, "Satan, go to hell." Which in Korea, hell is not a swear word. 

Honestly, though... it is interesting to recognize in my life two things: 

1: Satan is a very real force in our lives. He will constantly whisper at us to:

 criticize others

 to be angry with them

 to believe that we understand everything better than others (whether companions or leaders or whoever)

 to compare ourselves to others (seeing them as unattainable perfect, or hopelessly lost case)

 to criticize and hate ourselves

 to believe that we have problems and circumstances that no one else has experienced, meaning WE are the exception to the rule-- we can't be forgiven, or understood, or loved. WE can't have hope.

To believe that we are the exact same as everyone else

 we have no power to change, to grow, or improve-- man is man and doesn't change.

and many more.

These things are not true.

But one thing that I have learned in the Gospel, is that those who are happiest in the Gospel, living the most realistic Gospel, do not generalize or deal in absolutes quite as much as others. For example, one thing that has been difficult for me, is trying to discern every thought that comes-- is it a prompting??

No. Every thought will not be a prompting. We are expected to use our heads and hearts, and God will lead us when it counts most!

I better go. But I love you all!

October 22, 2017

Hello Family!

Hey! I will only be on for like 30 minutes right now... We are doing a zone p-day and so we have to get some other stuff done, so I might end up emailing once you are asleep... How are you?? How was state XC?? It is my companion's last week and he wanted to do a nerf gun war at a church so we are meeting with a bunch of missionaries to do that! Should be pretty fun!

Also, sorry about last week, the internet gave out so I couldn't finish emailing... 아쉽네요...I'll email more after our p -day activity.

Hey fam! I'm back, not much time left... things didn't go as hoped with time, but the nerf gun war was super fun!

We found a cool new investigator this week. I talked to him as we were riding the subway back home from an appointment. He is a pretty big-wig doctor who has his own hospital kind of thing. Well he invited me and Elder P to a lunch at the biggest nicest hotel on the Haeundae beach... it is called the Westin Chosun if you want to find it.

Well we ate lunch together. He was a really nice guy, he is Catholic and has great faith. He shared with us some of his feelings about the Gospel, about Christ. I would like to share one thought he shared with us.

He talked about how Christ would often say "진실로 진실로" when he taught-- that means, in English, "verily verily". The root of verily is the same as verity, which is truth. So he shared that Christ always- always-- taught truth. Not fact, truth. 

I thought that was interesting... is there a difference between fact, and truth?

I asked him the same question: what is the difference between fact and truth?

He said this: Truth is fact--with love. I still didn't quite get what he was saying, so he shared an example with me-- the woman taken in adultery. The fact was that, she was an adulterer. She had committed that sin. But Jesus loved her-- and so he said that whosoever is without sin may cast the first stone. And she was saved.

I continued to think about that-- how the Savior had loved her. He knew, obviously, the fact that she was an adulterer, a sinner. But he loved her enough to see her potential. He didn't condemn her. He knew the truth, and regarded the more complete truth as more important than individual facts. 

We too need to view the things in our lives, the people around us, and ourselves, in a truthful perspective. Satan loves to distract us with individual facts-- using them without love to cause us to condemn others and ourselves. As we take the facts, and view them with Christlike love, we will have not only the capacity, but the desire to to serve, to forgive, and love not only others, but ourselves. When we view things with love and recognize our potential we can receive great hope, and share that same hope with others.

Love you all! View everything the same way that Christ did-- truthfully!

Anyway, I hope you all know how much I love you and look up to you! Keep living each day to be a little better! Far more than big decisions in our lives, I think the little things we do each day, consistently, add up to a greater total effect on our lives... So make the little decisions good ones :)

LOVE YOU!

October 15, 2017

Hello Fam!

So this week! We did exchanges with the district leaders in our zone, it was super fun! I stayed with Elder 송(S) in 해운대 the first one, then went to 광안(Gwangan) the second one, and was with Elder M, who was in the MTC with me! 

In Haeundae our church is right by our apartment, on a walking road that gets a fair amount of people, as there are schools right by it too. So sometimes when we do language or companion study, we set up a table in front of the church, then study there so we are visible to people. We also set a desk with Book of Mormons, pamphlets, and a BOM question and answer sheet. 

Well with Elder S, we were studying like that, when a man had stopped and was looking at the BOM question and answer list. So we talked to him, shared a little bit about our beliefs. He said he didn't know anything about God, but wanted to learn. So we set up an appointment for the next morning, then met, and taught about God and Jesus Christ! He wasn't ready to make a 2nd appointment yet, but he always hangs out on the benches right by the church with other elderly people (He is like 78) so we have seen him again since then, and will try to set up another appointment! It was really cool to teach him; he has almost no concept of God, but was very willing to listen.

In Gwangan I helped teach the English class, then we had district meeting that morning. It was fun! I like Elder M and elder S; they are both really fun missionaries.

We also met with our recent convert couple and an American family in the ward twice this week! It was super fun-- the American family is here with the Navy. They are just a solid, diligent family, who works hard to live and serve in the Gospel. We ate Thai food together! And the curry tasted just like the curry you can get at Mai Thai in Tooele!

Ahh-- and also, we met our American investigator this week. The recent convert couple loves America and wants to learn English, so they asked if they could come. They are so sweet and awesome, but very beginner level in English, and when they met him right off, one of them said to our investigator (who was wearing a fedora hat and a Hawaiian shirt with polo shorts) "Hello! I am ____. Nice to meet you. You look funny!" And then busted up laughing... Haha it was kind of a facepalm moment. But our investigator seemed to shake it off pretty well. 

Gotta run, love you all!

Elder Beckett