Prayer Brings Peace (Dec. 11, 2016)

Hello Family!

Things in Gyung Ju are going! This week we had some good and bad, like always. But I have seen God's hand in my life, and for that I am so grateful!

 We had to drop one of our investigators. After the last lesson, he blocked us on his phone so we can't contact him anymore. I wish he would have spoken openly about his problems with us, but he just dropped us. That's two that have happened that way. He was originally going to be baptized this Sunday, so we are sad about that. He was a super smiley guy who came from China.

Here is a picture when Elder Whiting came. I am on the back right.

As for S from Uzbekistan--I love S!  He has a cute little family and we teach them together.  I told you he attended a different church in Uzbekistan, so he knows a lot about Christianity. And he and his wife have come to church about 3 times or so! His wife is great--she reads, prays, and repents. But S won't really make any commitments. Since we met him, he has started praying to God, which is great, but he won't commit to read the Book of Mormon or ask God anything--he just wants to thank God which, don't get me wrong, is awesome--but in order to be converted, he needs to read the Book of Mormon, and pray about it!  That is absolutely essential. We are boldly, lovingly inviting him, but everyone has agency. Anyway, I wish sometimes I could convey the feelings I have about the gospel to others; but if we aren't willing to exercise our agency righteously, there isn't much God can testify of through the spirit. So please pray for S.

We also teach an English class each week, and I am pretty excited about a man we met there! He is coming to our family home evening at the church tonight, which is awesome!  He has a ton of potential. He seems humble and teachable, so we are excited to meet him tonight. One thing I have learned so much on my mission is the importance of honest, open meaningful prayer. Sometimes it is hard out here!  And at home I would often talk to Mom and Dad, Andy, Mindy, Seth, (and you when you were home, Allie!), but out here you can't do that! So you learn to pray. You learn to tell God the good and the bad, to ask Him if He's really there, if He knows about you, and why He lets some things happen.  And through all this--I have learned that He is there.

He is there!

He loves us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful and have joy; He is our father. He wants us to learn. He wants us to grow. He knows the very best way that we can do that. And he gives us what we need to do that. I am so grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who wants me to not only be happy right now, but for eternity, with my family.  Everything he does leads to that end--eternal joy with our family.

I am grateful for prayer! Prayer brings peace. In 1st Nephi, it says, "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm."

Just like Nephi, I know that prayer can bring a great calm! When life's storms and winds hit, don't forget about our loving Father who is King of all.  I love you all so much--and I want to invite and encourage you to think about your prayers, and try to pour out your soul to God. Tell Him the good and the bad, and ask Him direct questions. He will answer them, I know that is true.

Love my family!!  I hope you all have an awesome week! I think about you and pray for you all. I hope you look for opportunities to serve and help others. Encourage them. Be bold! Let love be the motivation of your boldness--you know how much this gospel can bless them, so be persistent and pray for opportunities. Thanks for all your encouragement and love! Let's do this!

Love,

Elder Beckett

OK! (December 4, 2016)

So I am still in Kyung Ju, which I am super grateful for. I LOVE Kyung Ju. The people are sooo good here. My new companion came to the mission at the same time as my awesome trainer, and he is from America. His name is Elder S.  Elder S is great! He is a super sincere missionary. When you do street proselyting, which is a huge norm in Korea, (I don't know about other places, but I assume it is too), you can quickly get into the routine of mentioning the same thing over and over again. But Elder S is always very sincere, and he really makes an effort to talk to EVERYONE. It is awesome, and I am learning a lot from him.

An interesting thing about Korea is that the fried chicken here is SUPER good! So we ordered some Saturday night--we also didn't have much food in our house, and it was soooooo good!!! Haha (oh, and here is my new comp!)

We have family home evening at the church every week, and invite investigators. Love it!

 Elder S is from the Bay area in California. But is hometown is DC. Anyway, he is about 6'5" tall, and has a fairly deep voice. He reminds me a TON of our cousin, Bridger, which is great! His sense of humor and some of his mannerisms are totally like Bridger! I was thinking how cool it would be if Bridger left on his mission this summer, and came to this mission. I could totally train him, haha! That would BE SO FUN!!

This week we had a mission tour, which is when a general authority visits the mission. Elder Scott D Whiting of the Seventy came. I gave the closing prayer and got to talk to him for a bit! He was super wonderful; I learned about a lot of different things from him.  In between sessions of speakers, we had an AWESOME Thanksgiving meal thanks to this cute senior couple who lives on the military base! They were so sweet to do all this for us! It was a tender mercy to me to have that good reminder of American food!  :)

Elder S and I at the wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!

Our delicious Thanksgiving meal!

Things are going a little tough with our investigators. K hasn't been reading the Book of Mormon hardly at all, but he did read Book of Mormon Stories. I feel bad, because we kind of blazed through the lessons with him rather than focusing on individual conversion, and he isn't progressing quite as much as I had thought. Anyway, we had a bit of a rough lesson with him this week with a wonderful member, but it didn't go very well. Brother K went to a different church last week, even though the last few months he has been coming to our church pretty faithfully, so that is tough. But we want to meet him again this week and jost focus on him and his thoughts and needs.

We also met with our wonderful beatboxing investigator, also named K.  He is doing good, and even though he told us he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the restoration, he must not understand all of it, because he is still going to his other church. We met him with the ward mission leader last night, and it was an alright lesson. We talked about baptism, priesthood, and things, so if you could pray for him I'd be very grateful!

Our funny meal after fasting. It's a hodgepodge of things we had in our house.

But S, the man from Uzbekistan, is doing awesome! I love S! He attended church, he read the 3rd lesson pamphlet, and we had a really great visit with him this week. His wife and little baby are so sweet. So please keep praying for these investigators! S has faith, but he is also having a bit of a hard time acting on it right now, so we are trying to keep supporting him. Ahh, I just love S!

Well, I've got to go, love you bye!!

BYE!

November 27

Hi Family!

We are on emails kind of early today, because we are going to the Mission Home to transfer and to a fireside of Mark Peterson, who was a Korean Mission President and now he is a BYU professor. He is teaching about Korean culture! I'm super excited.  I love you all!  I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving! I am staying in Gyung Ju, which is GREAT!  My companion is going; I will really miss Elder JL, my trainer!  Here's some pictures:

Trying those funny nose pore things... haha!

 Sorry I don't have much time to write today, so I'll cut and paste part of my letter to my mission president to let you know how I'm doing. I pray for each of you and love you all so much!

Wow, training completed!  Not really--I'm not sure if my training will ever be complete, but officially I am out of the 12 week program. I am super grateful to stay in Gyung Ju, and I am excited to work with Elder S. But I will really miss Elder JL.  I hope to have the opportunity to do an exchange or two with him in the future!! He has been a wonderful trainer. I have learned so much from him--about hard work, being dedicated, having faith in our prayers, and faith that prayer works, and also having fun in missionary work! I know that you were inspired to send him to be my trainer.  So thank you so much for listening to the spirit, and I am grateful for the friendship I have developed with my trainer. He has helped me learn and grow so much, and exemplifies diligence.

A sweet little boy in our ward!

Gyung Ju is doing well as an area! I am really excited about one of our investigators __. He is so faithful. He is from China, but speaks Korean pretty well. He has a baptismal date for December 17th, and then confirmation on the 18th. We talked about the Word of Wisdom this week, and he agreed to try to live it, so I'm excited to follow up. He has been keeping commitments very well so far! I am also excited about a new investigator from China, who loves basketball. We played basketball with him and his friends up by the university, and me and him and Elder JL were a team The losing team would switch out, so when we switched out, we would talk to him a bit about himself, his family, and we taught him about Heavenly Father and prayer, and invited him to pray. I also got the contact of another one of his friends, so maybe we can play together and talk again later!

Lastly, I love our one investigator _ so much! He is so fun and a great friend to us. He believes the Book of Mormon is true, but he is pretty involved as a deacon and children teacher in another church in Busan. It is hard for him to leave that church. We are planning to teach the Restoration again with the focus of why the Book of Mormon is important. He also said he was willing to work towards baptism.

We have been visiting and encouraging members a lot, but it can be tough to find someone to teach with. So that is one area I want to improve in.

Also, I was able to finish the Book of Mormon last night! So I finished within the transfer. It is such an amazing and inspired book that has changed my life! I am so grateful for it. Reading that quickly was a wonderful and inspired opportunity. I can now more powerfully testify of its truthfulness to others.

Well, family, that's my email to the mission president. Mom, I got your letter on Thanksgiving, which was a bit of a rough day, actually, so your letter was a tender mercy. Thank you!  I've got to run, but I love you all!

Love,
Elder Beckett

This is a new convert that we did family history with. Almost everyone here has a family history book , and his book went back to the year 1000. The names and info are written in Chinese characters, but Koreans study them in school.

Elder JL at a meat buffet we went to because it was our last week together!

Nov 21st, Finishing Training ThisWeek!

Hello Fam! It is week 6, which means next week I will no longer be a trainee! That is strange to think about. I have been almost 5 months on my mission. The time passes pretty fast, but when I think about the future I have a long way to go! I am excited to see what is in store. How are you all on this wonderful day?

Our ward mission leader and his cute 6 year old son. He took us to a special place to eat!

Today I want to share a spiritual thought first. As I already mentioned, we, as a Busan mission, are reading the whole Book of Mormon in one transfer. That is a little over 13 pages a day. And I have to tell you, I am so, so grateful that we have done this. This transfer, as I have read it, I have found such an awesome new love for this book. Reading it at this speed is amazing--you can see patterns and connections more. I also have been inspired by the amazing heroes (especially Captain Moroni:)) and seen lots of areas that I need to improve upon. Above all, I have become certain that this book is inspired of God. There is no other source of the book. As Elder Jeffrey R Holland shared, "In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, 'No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.'"

Each day as I read, I learn so much from the different prophets in the Book, those called of God to lead the church. But I also learn so much from those whose names perhaps go unknown--such as the individual stripling warriors who "did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness."  They had not fought before. They were young, and inexperienced. Yet, after a vicious enemy army who had been pursuing them suddenly halted and turned, perhaps falling upon their fellow Nephites, these brave "little sons" responded to the question, "Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?" with the absolute answer of, "Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth." (Alma 56-57)

Elder O and I with our awesome investigator. He is progressing super well, repenting, and coming to church!

I am learning so much about God's nature, as well as repentance, as I read about Nephi, Lehi, and the Lamanites who had thrown them into prison. The sinful Lamanites were overcome with "a cloud of darkness, and an awful solemn fear came upon them." They were in such fear that they couldn't even move. But God was so merciful unto them. The fearful, lost Lamanites cried, "What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?" They knew that they were trapped, and that they had to do something, but they didn't know what.  We are all like that sometimes!  Whether it is a trial in our life or a sin or any burden, we all feel confined to the darkness sometimes. We feel oppressed, unable to free ourselves. And we can't free ourselves--by ourselves. Like the Lamanites, as we "repent (which means turning to God, becoming more like our Savior) and cry unto (God), even until ye shall have faith in Christ, " eventually the dark cloud will be removed. I know that that is true. As we turn to our Father in Heaven, He will remove and illuminate the darkness in our lives. He is light. He is The Light. And as we seek to know our Father in Heaven more, and our Elder Brother, the Savior more, that light will distinctly and discernibly brighten our individual lives and circumstances.

I ordered a new nametag because I wanted one spelled just like Allie's!

I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. I have received personal guidance from it in the way I have described, as well as very clear answers to my prayers. I know that you all have, and can continue to as well. I love you all! I invite you to seek out that light in your lives--take more time for prayer, more time for studying the words we have been given by the God of the Universe, more time to just sit, and ponder about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that if you do that, no matter how bright you already are, this Light will brighten you.

After turning to God and relying on Him, the Lamanites heard the voice come unto them, soothing, "Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world." I am so grateful for the light that the gospel brings into my life! I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to share that light, and that you do too! The peace from the Gospel is real, and I know that it is through the Savior that we find that peace.

This is me laying on the ground after a great victory. Elder O and I are both super new--neither of us speaks Korean very well yet. So I called our recent convert and talked on the phone to ask him to teach with us the next day, and had a whole conversation with him! And I understood almost all of it! I was so excited that I fell to the floor (maybe also from my recent Book of Mormon reading--see Ammon, King Lamoni, his father, etc.!)

Love,

Elder Beckett

I Love You All! (November 13, 2016)

Hello family, does anyone happen to be up at this late hour? I'll tell you a few things going on here. Our golden investigator, J--I felt super close to him. We were like brothers. But he hasn't answered a phone call in weeks! And he hasn't come to church the last couple of weeks either. That has been rough, because he was originally going to be baptized in October. It makes me sad.

Today for p-day we went bowling as a district. It was $4 total for 2 games and shoes! I started getting pretty good, honestly... 

But S, From Uzbekistan, is doing great! He really opened up to us this week. He and his wife attended church, came to ward family home evening, and we've met outside of that a couple of times. We teach very very simply, because he understands limited English, which can be tough, but he is such a good man. And his daughter is an adorable little toddler! So we are excited to continue with them.

We are also teaching one other investigator pretty consistently. His name is K, from China.  He is such a kind man, about 50 or 60 I would say. He is very faithful and willing to learn. He has a baptismal date on December 3 that we are working towards!

Here are some interesting things about Korea:  The vast majority of people live in villas and apartments.  Villas are like baby apartments, like the one we live in now. And the weird part is that for heating, they don't have vent systems. There is some kind of heater in the floor, and the heat just rises up. So you will step somewhere and if it feels pretty hot, it is a heating spot, ha ha!

This is my zone leader who is into health stuff, so we did face masks!  ha ha!

In Korea, eating together and meals in general are a big deal.  People are SO GENEROUS to us, taking us out multiple times to eat. I am super grateful. My point is, if someone from Korea ever visits you in Utah, please be super generous back to them and thank them for us! The eating deal is also funny in that we will try to proselyte to someone sometimes, and they have no interest in the message, but they will suddenly go buy us a drink or an ice cream, haha!

This senior missionary couple came to do housing inspections this week. They were super cute and brought us peanut butter captain crunch, oatmeal, hot chocolate, granola bars, and root beer. AWESOME!

Elder O and I.  We were in the MTC together for 3 weeks.  And food, of course!

Well, I've got to go. I will email again next week. I pray for you individually. I love you!!!

 Nate

My week - November 6, 2016

This week I had the opportunity to help with 4 blessings! I had never done that in Korea until this week! The first one I just stood in on; the next 3, I did the anointing in Korean, and my companion sealed the anointing.  It was a wonderful opportunity. One of the things my stake president counseled me to do before my mission was to seek opportunities to exercise the priesthood, and also to bear testimony of the priesthood. I thought a lot about that this week. As I anointed those people, and stood in on those blessings, there was such a special power there. It definitely wasn't my power--I am so grateful that God trusts me enough to allow me to exercise His power.

Allie's package she sent me full of delicious candy!! Sweetie!!

This week we were a little down because our investigator, J, chose to work on Sunday instead of come to church. He does work day by day. And we are a little concerned about him, because I think he is having a bit of trouble trusting that the Word of Wisdom is God's word. But he loves the Book of Mormon, so we should be able to use that to help him. I have faith that he will overcome this roadblock, though!

The food we ate after District Meeting. Totally delicious!

An elder in our district with my companion on the right.

Speaking of the Book of Mormon, we have really been trying to use that in our teaching lately. It is awesome! As we do, I think it is helping our investigators to understand its importance. I am also loving the daily reading. Here is something cool I learned in the last few days.  Amaleki, in the book of Omni, tells about how King Mosiah and his people departed from the more wicked Nephites, and found the people of Zarahemla, whose language had become corrupted (because they didn't have records). The Nephites couldn't even understand them, so Mosiah and his people taught them the language and the Gospel. I can imagine how much they must have helped the people of Zarahemla! The thing I thought that was awesome was when Amaleki said, "wherefore, I shall deliver up these plates...exhorting all men to come unto God, the Holy One of Israel, and believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels, and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are good; for there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord: and that which is evil cometh from the devil.

26.  And now my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

It is his last testimony. And as I read that about the gift of tongues and interpreting languages, I thought about how he had first hand experience with that! I am sure, as Mosiah's people taught the people of Zarahemla, the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues was manifest. I too can have that gift!  As I pray, and then after saying amen, make the prayer a powerful prayer by going to work, I too can receive this gift. I have already felt it.

We went to a restaurant by the church to eat, and the sister's bought a cake for my companion's birthday.

This is delicious dark chicken stuff!

I love you all so much! I have to get off soon, but know that I love and care about you all a ton!! I pray for you. Keep working hard! Keep doing the things that help you to feel the spirit--as Bishop Bartley teaches, the spirit is SO IMPORTANT in everything we do.

Love you all!

Elder Beckett

My Week (October 30, 2016)

Hey everyone!

Elder O and I at a pizza buffet!

This is my District at the pizza buffet!

This week we were pretty stressed about our investigator, J.  He didn't come to church last week, and he hadn't been answering our calls at night. But the sisters talked with him a bit. He was super golden and was originally going to be baptized on October 30, but because we couldn't finish the lessons with him, we pushed it to November 20. Anyway, he and his wife came to church yesterday, and it was so good to see him again! He is so loving and good. He just wants to do what is right. Work has been pretty hard on him, but yesterday we were able to teach him about the Sabbath Day and the Word of Wisdom. He and his wife were so faithful. They said alcohol and tobacco are not problems, but they have been drinking tea and coffee.  But this is what I wrote to the mission president about it:

"They decided to keep the Word of Wisdom on the spot! J said, "I have been drinking tea all of my life, but this change is good, I like change, we will do it." I just felt so much love for them. I told them that I am blessed as a missionary to feel a portion of what Heavenly Father feels for them--not fully, but from time to time, I can just feel pure love for the investigators as they try to align their lives with the standard God has set for them. They are spiritual children right now, but they are growing!"  They are amazing people. I am blessed to work with them.

This is my info sheet for the ward bulletin board.

We also met a wonderful family from Uzbekistan. Elder Lee and I were going back to the church, and we saw this family.  I said hello and asked about their daughter in Korean, but realized they just looked Korean. Anyway, they were very friendly, and came to the church with us on the spot! We gave them a tour and taught about Joseph Smith. We told them a little about church and things, and got their contact info. The husband speaks English, but the wife only Russian. Then they came to our Halloween party, and the wife, even though she cannot speak English or Korean, came to church yesterday. They have so much potential!

This is our family home evening last week. The man on the far right is from China! we made crafts to get ready for our Halloween Party.

Family Home Evening crafts again

Our Halloween party! These little girls were so cute!

I drew Frankenstein for the cake walk!

Anyway, I love you all! We have been reading the Book of Mormon as a mission in one transfer this transfer--it is wonderful to get this new perspective.  I encourage you all to feast upon God's word. When you choose to study the scriptures, God blesses you for using your personal agency. You give Him power in your life, to guide you and bless you, whether you know it or not. By choosing to pray, keep the commandments, attend church--all of these things give God more influence and help in your life. I know that's true. The Book of Mormon is God's word, and through it we can find, build, and develop a relationship with Him.

Allie's cute letter to me!

Love,

Elder Beckett