Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Baptism

This is a picture I forgot to post of the McKenzie family (first part of Dec 2010).

Monday, December 20, 2010

Transfer to Te Awamutu - New Companion (Elder Mayer)

Kia Ora Mother and Dad,



This week has been crazy. The week started out with a sick companion. I had to trade off with one of our recent converts of 3 days and drop elder Tham off at a members place for the day. He has tonsilitis or however you spell it and couldn't speak very well at all on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a good day and we got a lot accomplished. Then on Wednesday, we got transfer calls. I had been in Gisborne for 3 months and elder tham for 4 1/2 months so everyone thought he would leave. Not the case. I got the call to transfer up to Te Awamutu and Elder Tham is once again training for the last transfer of his mission. All of our recent converts were sad especially the Maats. So, Wednesday and Thursday morning were spent saying goodbye to everyone. Thursday afternoon we hopped in the car and drove up to Auckland. It was raining and of course no tarp, so my suitcases got wet. Luckily everything inside was ok. We had transfers early Friday morning and I met my new companion Elder Mayer. Then we had mission conference which was half conference and half Christmas get together. It was quite good.



Friday night we headed off to my new area. I am in the Hamilton Zone and in the Temple View District. My companion is the District Leader and our district meetings are in the Visitors Center. We are supposed to do temple lights this week so I will tell you how that goes next week. Everything with the move has been great and I did receive the packages. Thank you for everything and I am looking forward to opening the gifts on Saturday. Thanks again for the emails mom and dad. They are great and I love to hear from you.



Ok about that phone call. I will plan to call you at about 2 pm New Zealand time on Sunday which is about 6 pm on Christmas day your time. Sorry about it being so late but I have church until 1 on sunday. I will call the work phone first and hopefully that works. Have it all set up by 5:30 at the latest just in case I get home early. Can't wait to talk to you.

Love you tons,
Elder Beckstead

P.S. That is the most chocolate I have ever seen in my whole life. It is going to take me forever to eat it all and I will probably be taking it to district meeting as well. Thanks again. Oh and the pants both work. Now I just have to wait to use them. We have a car in my area now so we don't have to ride in the rain so they will be perfect for winter. Thanks and love you.

P.P.S. Thank everyone else again as well for me. Grandma and Grandpa, the kids, mum, and the Smiths. Thank you thank you thank you

Thursday, December 16, 2010

News for 2nd week of December

Sounds like an eventful day at the least. Also eventful in the basketball season. Besides not being able to play the piano very well and aching now and then the finger is fine. Still bent but nothing I can do about it so yep. Nah, I would rather spend the money used for surgery on money for my mission. Good luck with the decision for Xane.

No I still haven't met Elder Levin but I haven't met very many of them. Also, he might be in the Wellington mission. I will let you know about when I am in Auckland. Transfers is this week and we find out on Wednesday.

I also wanted to ask about the phonecall as well. Let me know what time on Christmas eve and which phone number I am calling. It has to be just a phone call not skype unfortunately. Sorry dad. It will be Christmas eve for you so let me know when for sure and then the phone number as well. We will finalize that next week.

This week was very long. I was sick all week with a variety of different things and am still sick today. It started as a cold. Then I lost my voice for three days. Then I had no energy and a really bad sore throat and now it is back to a cold. I don't know what is wrong with me. Neosporin did not work this time and yes I did try it. But we did get three baptisms accomplished. The fourth is now pushed back to April so probably I wont be in Gisborne. Nothing else significant happened this week though so now it is transfers week and we will see how that goes.

Love you all tons and thanks for the emails.
Elder Beckstead

Package arrived safely and email rules

Kia Ora Mother,

Yes the package is here it is just in Auckland at the moment.

The mission rules on email is I can receive them from anyone but I can't respond to any except from family. So cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, and family is ok but no friends. I can email you and have you forward the emails to the people as well. It just has to go through you. That is the rules as far as I understand them.

Anyways, thanks for the package and I hope to get it this weekend. I'll let you know next week how that goes and where I am.

Love you tons,
Elder Beckstead

Monday, December 6, 2010

December Sabbath

Kia Ora again mother.
 
I am glad you are feeling better. Sounds like an eventful week and I am glad you enjoyed the Devotional. I'm sad I missed it. No I haven't met Elder Loomis and I wondered where Elder Smith went. Elder Tham trained him as well.
 
This week did go much better although there was a hickup as well. We had four baptisms this week. The Mckenzie family. We were supposed to have shaz as well, but a complication came up. For sure next week however. This next week is going to be a doozie with a four baptisms and a wedding to plan for. And then transfers is the 17th so that is added stress. Anyways, it will be great.

I love you tons!
 
Aroha,
Elder Beckstead

Friday, December 3, 2010

Kia Ora Whanau

Kia Ora Whanau,

An update from the land of the Kiwis.

I will forewarn you that this week was one of the hardest I have experienced yet on my mission. Satan is working tirelessly down here in Gisborne and we are feeling the effects.

To start of the week, two of our baptismal candidates dropped off the radar. One lost his desire to stop or give up the things of the world, and the other revealed a court date in two days from now that she might go to prison or get a home detention bracelet. It was a depressing start to the week. Our third baptismal prospect looked hopeful until we received a call Thursday night informing us that her Nan (Grandma) died. So she was up the coast, out of town, all weekend. So all three were unavailable for baptism this week.

The next thing that happened started on Wednesday. Elder Tham woke up with a headache but didn't think anything of it. As the day progressed we went on trade offs and then when we traded back, Elder tham was mostly out of it. We went to our next lesson and he crashed the entire thing. So the next appointment I canceled and I took him home and put him to bed. All day Thursday he was in bed. Friday he stayed in the flat all day as well. He only slept for part of the day but was still out of it. He still isn't recovered totally to this day but at least we were able to work a little bit on Saturday and Sunday.

A few good things that happened was that the media campaign started and we had a miracle find and lesson with one of those. We walked in and taught her about the book of Mormon. We even got her to pray and receive and answer that it was true. However, we went back for our next lesson and found out that she had called us and told us to not come back. We tried to figure out why and she said that she wasn't going to consider the book of Mormon the word of god. She told us the scripture that says nothing shall be added or taken from the bible. That is an annoying scripture but we couldn't do anything about it. Another bummer. Another good thing though was that we have four solidly set people for next week. We have the baptismal program all set up and now it is a waiting game as well as keeping in contact as best we can. They live forty-five minutes away by car which is kinda hard to get to on a bike. Phone calls will have to suffice for the time being until we see them on Thursday.

So that was our week. Exhausting to say the least. Anyways, it is done and gone so now we can focus on this new week.

I love you all and am grateful for all the prayers and support sent my way.

Aroha,
Elder Beckstead

Monday, November 22, 2010

Thanksgiving is coming

Kia Ora Mother,

My goodness mom. I thought you were going to try and not be so busy anymore. It doesn't seem to be working though:)
It sounds like you had a wonderful week nonetheless. Also, good luck with the next week. You will survive on friday without us but it will be a tough one:)
This week has been a hard week and a wonderful week. The hard part was that all of our november candidates for baptism are very shakey. One is already postponed indefinitely and the others will be decided tomorrow. It is just hard to see that satan is winning in the month of November.
The good news is that we have a ton of investigators progressing for December. We have four promising prospects for the 4th and then we hope to set lots more for later in the month. Other cool thing is that christmas is on saturday so we are hoping to set a bunch for that wonderful day. So besides that, we didn't have a whole lot happen this week besides what I told you last tuesday.

I have a few things I need to ask you for however. I feel so needy out on a mission. I hope one day I can just write an email to you without asking for something but this week is not it.
I want you to email me two recipes. The breakfast casserole recipe and the pork chimichanga recipe. That is number 1. Number 2 is that I want you to sign me up for the ensign. We get one per companionship and I would like one for me so I can mark it up and such. Thanks
The third thing is a family activity for FHE. Don't worry too much about this one but just sometime in the next two years it would be nice to do for your missionary. I would like the kids to draw up each of the steps of the plan of salvation. I would like a picture for each like a cloud for the pre-earth life or those ancient scales for judgement. Stuff like that but be creative. I would like them to draw and color those and then I would like you to cut them out and laminate them and then send them to me so I can teach the plan of salvation better to kids. If you could do that for a fhe sometime that would be much appreciated. But I know you are all busy so if it doesn't get done for awhile I understand completely.

Well I thank you for the wonderful email and I love you tons.
Thanks for being such an awesome mother.
Elder Beckstead

Yesterday

Kia Ora Sam,

It sounds like you are the good luck charm. Keep it up next week as well will ya.
Have a good week dipping chocolates but don't eat them all. Save some for me.
Love you tons,
Elder Beckstead

On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 10:21 AM, <krtxk@comcast.net> wrote:

Dear Trevor. I went to the BYU football game VS New Mexico. BYU won 40 to 7 BYU won by 33 points.

Love Sam.

Hi Trev

Kia Ora Korin,

That is a pretty interesting word you got there. Do you use it often? Anyways, it sounds like you had a very fun and interesting party. TP, eh? Well that is one of the most interesting gifts that I have heard of so far. I am glad you like all your gifts.
Thanks for the love and I love you a ton as well. I miss you also and I need you to go to as many BYU basketball games for me as you can.
Love you,
Elder Beckstead

P.S. I need you to eat food for me this thursday as well as for you. See ya

On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 10:06 AM, <krtxk@comcast.net> wrote:

Hi Trev. This week I made up a new word. It is "spotequialunchezoidoryaxawaverjackamobofog". Spot-ekia-lunch-eh-zoid-or-yax-a-waver-jack-o-mob-o-fog. This word has all the letters in the alphabet. It is a grawesome word. I had a birthday party last friday and I got a lot of GRAWESOME presents. my friend jesalynn gave me a roll of toilet paper. she told me to unravel it and so I did. About half way through, a penny fell out. she told me to keep going and I found $12.99 more.  I got $63 total from all my gifts. I also got goldfish and gum and hand sanitizer lotion. I like all my gifts. I love you Trevor and I love how you are so kind. You are patient and understanding too. I love that about you and I miss you tons.
love you,
Korn Dog

My Hectic Week

Kia Ora,

This week was one of the craziest yet in the mission. I think I say that every week but it is true.
Monday was a normal p-day where we played risk 2210. It was fun but I don't like it too much. We then went to visit a few investigators and then saw the YSA FHE at the church. They made me try a mussel. It was no good. Really salty and seafoodish. I prefer to stay away from those.
Then tuesday is where it got interesting. It was going well until about 5 o'clock. I got to DRIVE for the first time. We dropped the ZL's off at the airport because they had a meeting in Auckland. We then got to use the car the next day although because of a limit on K's we didn't except to pick them up. Oh well, I did get to drive a little on the wrong side of the road. I only did an American Salute 3 times. (turning the windshield wipers on to signal).
Wednesday was also filled with appointments as was thursday.
Thursday was interesting because we were so booked that we had to do splits with two elders in our ward. Elder Tham went to a dinner appointment and a lesson and I went to other lessons as well as ACDC (Always Creative Daily Contact). It was crazy but good and we had 8 lessons that day. Busy Busy.
Friday was also busy but not as packed as thursday was.
Saturday is the day that the week went downhill although it was good until saturday night. We traded off on friday night and I went with Elder Collett. We had a few appointments in the morning which went really well. Then we went to a Tongan wedding. Ok, they had so much food it wasn't even funny. They had cooked 20 pigs as well as having a ton of other food as well. We were lucky and didn't have to eat a lot which was unusual according to Elder Collett. We missed desert though which was sad. Then we had a few more people to visit and then we had a dinner appointment. The man took us to McDonalds for dinner which as ok and we ate at the top of Kaiti Hill. My first view of the ocean from Gisborne. Then we had another lesson with someone that I had taught a fair amount. Ashley Maats is her name and she got baptized Oct 30. We were teaching her 2 sisters and one of their boyfriends. Right as we got there, they made me try a Kina. It was nasty. It is a sea Urchin and I don't know why people would ever eat it. So that was my saturday. What made it so bad was after we had trade back. I went to bed a 10:30 but was up at 11:15, 12:30, 1:00, 2:30, 3:45, and 5:00 am. It was a terrible night in the restroom although I didn't throw up ever. What a miracle that was although getting food poisoning right before an eight hour road trip was not very fun. We went to church and i was still miserable. Then we left for Auckland about 12:30 pm or so. We made it up to Papakura just before 9 but I had to sleep on the floor. I got no sleep again but wasn't in the restroom at least. Then on Monday we had Mission Conference. The first part went really well considering and I only missed one part of it. Then we had a mission picture and sociallizing. Then after that we had 3 general Authorities come. 2 area presidency members and Elder Hinckley. It was very good and I was able to pay attention the whole time. Then we drove back to Turanga or something like that and stayed the night. I got a little better sleep but we had to get up early again. We then drove back to Gisborne and got here at 1:30ish. Now we are emailing.

So to condense the week, I drove for the first time, ate mussels and kina, saw a huge Tongan feed, got food poison from that tongan feed. It was from the pork which was a little undercooked. Then we had an 8 hour drive up to Auckland for mission conference and then drove 8 hours back. It was a very interesting week.

Love you all and miss you all as well.
Elder Beckstead

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Kia Ora Grandma and Grandpa

Kia Ora Grandma and Grandpa.

It sounds like quite a week. Lets see, lets get right to the questions. I haven't had a zone meeting yet because they are now once every 2 transfers or every three months and this last transfer we didn't have one. We also don't have one this transfer either because of mission conference. Normally zone conferences would be in Hamilton for us, mission conference is in Auckland this transfer though and it is next monday.P-day is mondays everywhere in the world now so that is what it is here as well.

About the chocolates, I love the carmels, mints, and fudge. But whatever is good for me. My week was a crazy one. We picked up some new investigators on the other side of town so we are biking a ton. We also had 35 lessons this week. The standard is 20 per week over here at the moment so we are quite busy at the moment.

Well I love you and miss you both tons. Get better and thanks for the prayers.

Love,
Elder Beckstead

Monday, November 8, 2010

Staying Put for Now

Kia Ora Mother,
How are you? I am having a good time out here but this week was really busy. Besides the craziness, transfers came and went and I am still here with Elder Tham in Gisborne. However, I get to go to Auckland next week for Mission Conference. It is next monday so P-day is pushed to wednesday. Just a heads up.
Everything is great and I love you tons.
Miss you and love you,
Elder Beckstead

Daylight Savings & Local Sites

Kia Ora Dad,

I am doing good, healthy and fantastic. Daylight savings happened for us over a month ago so now we are twenty hours apart and not nineteen.

Sounds like you had a good time with the play. Are your thighs as tired as mine? I have biked so much this week it isn't funny. Also we taught a whole lot of lessons. 35 to be exact. It seems we don't have any time for anything exept teaching and travel. But it is going great all the same. We found 5 new investigators and set 3 of them for the 20th for baptism. All three are very shaky at the moment though so we will see how things turn out.

I haven't been to any sites yet but I hope to soon. It is getting kinda boring just playing risk on P-days. It is really cold and rainy so being inside is the best decision at this time. I hope it warms up soon so we can go experience what Gisborne has to offer.

Well, everything is going good out here and It sounds like things are good at home.
I love you and miss you a ton.

Love you,
Elder Beckstead

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Miracles

Speaking of miracle experiences, yes that brother, Tama is his name, did get baptized but it was very rocky getting there. Let me start from the beginning of the week.

On monday, we had another regular p-day or sort of. One of the zone-leaders was not feeling well so we stayed in the flat cleaning up while we waited for them to come over. Then we shopped and did emails as usual. After 6 we went over to our rides house to go to FHE, or what we thought was our ride. It turns out that he needed a ride as well and left us a note saying sorry but oh well. So we didn't go to FHE on monday. Tuesday through wednesday morning were excellent. We were well on our way to accomplishing the goals we had set for the week and surpassing them by a lot. But then wednesday afternoon came. The whole day was planned out with lessons and we had the interviews for two of our baptismal candidates set up. One of them was there but Tama wasn't. We did a trade-off and I went with Elder Sessions to find Tama. We found him at his house and he told us straight up that he wasn't going to get baptized until he had talked face to face with both of his parents. His mother just lived a few Ks away so that wasn't too bad but his father lived in Australia and had practically disowned him for what we could tell. We tried to persuade him to do god's will first but he wouldn't hear of it.

So we went back to the chapel a little discouraged but later than we had planned so we missed several appointments and had a rough evening. We were able to help someone set up a quit smoking plan which was good. He is less-active and wants to come back. Anyways, thursday we had an official trade-off. I was with Elder Sessions in our area so I was unofficially the senior companion for the day. Oh my goodness! I don't like it much at all. The day turned out really well and our numbers were pretty good. We saw Tama again and he seemed to be doing a lot better. He said he was going to just ask his mother instead which was good news. We told him to call us the next morning and tell us whether he wanted an interview or not. That not we traded back and I called him after planning to see how he was and remind him to call us but no one answered.
The next morning was friday which was weekly planning. Out day was booked full of lessons again and we had to squeeze in our three baptismal candidates which we hadn't set up lessons for. But things never go as planned. Weekly planning was good and Tama did call us around noon. Elder Tham picked up but Tama asked for me. I talked to him and he said set up the interview but we had to answer three questions for him beforehand. We said done, so we set it up for 4 o'clock. Of course that threw a wrench in our day but we didn't care too much because we were so happy. Our appointments fell through at one and we had a walk in lesson that was a complete disaster. One of those almost bible bashing lessons or one of those "A bible, A bible, we have a bible and need no other bible," people. Yeah. So anyways that was at one and then we were late for our next appointment. When we got there, she was drunk and so no go on that lesson. We had other people to see but they were all busy or not home. It wasn't a very great afternoon for numbers or new investigators. Then four rolled around and we went to the maats house to see Tama. They are next door neighbors you see and they were the ones that got baptized a few weeks ago and another cousin was getting baptized saturday. We went in and tried to answer his concerns that he had had over the phone. The first two were fine. Why is authority necessary? and How does the baptism process go? So those were fine in answering but the third was on the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 5. We had a hard time getting him to understand it is just a format to saying prayers not actually saying that prayer. So that lesson took almost an hour. Then we went over to the chapel for the interview. The interview was taking awhile so Elder Session's and I again traded off and went and saw another of our investigators by the name of Teatatu. She is ten and the best investigator anyone could hope for. Never any doubt whatsoever. We saw her and then went back to the chapel and waited for awhile. We had a baptismal program to type up so we did that. Finally the interview was over. It took two hours. So we missed several lessons. We were even late for our MCM which was at 8. It was incredible to have him pass the interview but my goodness, our day was shot. So that was our friday.
Saturday, I woke up feeling really nauseous and dizzy. We had to wake up at six because we had to be at the chapel at seven. I took a shower but still didn't feel well. I said a prayer and felt a little better. I was able to set up the baptism ok but I still wasn't great. Then the baptism rolled around and I was ok. Through the pictures and the actual program I felt fine. I have Heavenly Father to thank for that. We had lunch or a sugar overload after the baptism and then we went back to the flat for a little while after words. While elder Tham was doing some paperwork, I sat down on the couch and felt terrible. I went into bed and crashed for the rest of the day. Again our numbers out the window and our investigators we didn't get to see. The good thing was that both of our appointments fell through that we had that day. Heavenly Father was looking out for us again. Sunday rolled around and I still wasn't feeling good but we went to church and had four wonderful confirmations. I was privileged enough to perform two of them. Tama and Teatatu. It really was a miracle that all four got baptized and it helped us get our zone goal for the month. It was a wonderful miracle that I was able to experience.
So that was my week. I am feeling better now so nothing to worry about. I hope your week was wonderful.

Love you all tons,

Kakite, Elder Beckstead

Monday, October 25, 2010

Email to Sam

Sam's email:

To Elder Beckstead

Yesterday I went to the BYU football game and a BYU  soccer game BYU wun both games. Hurry!

----

Trevor's reply:

I am assuming this is sam. So Kia Ora Sam. I am glad you got to go. Keep cheering for me ok. Keep doing good in school ok.

Love You tons,
Elder Beckstead

Email to Korin

Korin's email:

Hi Trev,

I'm so sorry I didn't get to write to you last week. I had a headache so I came home and slept. Opening night for the play is on Wednesday Nov 3. It is really soon and I'm a little scared. Mom finished my costume and I wish you could see it. On Friday last week, I went and stayed with Tara at her apartment. We got to babysit Mady. After that we went and saw despicable me. It is so funny. I hope we can get it. Than we went back to her apartment and slept. We slept in till 10. It was great. She dropped me off at the BYU stadium. Xane, Sam and I watched the game and BYU won. Than we went home and I got in the car to go to the photo shoot for the play. than we came home and saw the girl that Xane asked on a date. We had dinner with her and than we went to the BYU womens soccer game. It was fun and the San Diego State goalie got a red card. BYU won.Today it has been really rainy. I don't like it.

Love you,

kornish pixie dounuts
------
Trevor's reply:
Kia Ora Korinny,

No worries on the missed email last week. I am glad to hear from you this week. It sounds like a good week for you. Keep track of those movies you see that are good so I can see them when I get home. Way to go, BYU in both sports. Xane asked a girl on a date. Are You SERIOUS? No way. Good on him. Keep tara company for me will ya. Thanks.

Keep doing what your doing and good luck with school and especially the play in a week and a half.

Love ya tons,
Elder Beckstead

Email to Dad

Kia Ora Dad,

Thanks for the insight on the iron rod. I just couldn't help thinking that an Iron rod would have been nice climbing lone peak. Or I guess decending lone peak. Anyways, that is very cool. Clinging to the word of god is the greatest things we had do to get closer to our heavenly father. Those three people preparing for baptism are doing well. Two are ready for sure and the third is getting there. I am kinda worried about him but it is in the lord's hands now whether he gets baptized or not. We will do all we can of course but we'll see.

This week was also better with lessons. A lot more people kept their appointments and we taught a ton of lessons this week. It was very exciting. I love teaching lessons and it is much better being busy rather than slow.
Well I hope things are good back home and even though I miss you all, I know I am where I am supposed to be.

Love you tons,
Elder Beckstead

Email to Mom

Kia Ora Mother,

It sounds like you had a very busy week doing one thing the entire time. My goodness. Well I am glad you are done with two of the three costumes. Although I am kinda worried that life gets harder after the mission. The mission is hard enough. I am glad you had fun with Xane and his date. It sounded fun.

It is good over here. We have 3 baptisms this week we are preparing for and it is going to take a lot of work to get there. Our investigators are doing well. I can't believe I have been here for a month already but at the same time I can't believe it has only been a month. It has felt like forever since I got here. The weather is getting warmer which is nice but it will soon be really hot. I am going to burn so bad this summer if it is as bad as everyone says. Or I going to run out of sunscreen by december. Anyways, it is nice to have warm weather and not rain.

I had a crazy experience this week. Two actually. On monday I had the opportunity to eat two dinners, or it was my first time. I did ok until dessert at the second house. I ate two thirds of it and then went into the bathroom and threw up. They didn't make me eat the rest of dessert thank goodness but I hope they don't know that I threw up either. I don't know how I will survive with the islanders in Auckland. I will have to pray for hollow legs up there. I also had the chance to have raw oysters. It was disgusting. Very Very salty. I knew I didn't like seafood, but this just confirmed it 10 fold.

Anyways, I good over here and I hope you are all doing well over there.
Love You tons and miss you tons as well.
Love,
Elder Beckstead

Monday, October 18, 2010

Hey From Gisborne

Hey from Gisborne.

This week was a crazy week down here. Last monday was p-day and we played Risk as we are doing now. Then we went to the YSA FHE and taught a lesson. It was great.

Then tuesday came and we had district meeting. We learned about how better to get our investigators to church. Then my companion took off to Auckland with the Zone Leaders for a leadership training thingamobob. So I went with the other elders in our zone down to Wairoa. It was interesting because we got to use the training we had in District meeting on an inactive lady that hadn't been to church in over ten years. We got her committed and actually taught her a lesson the next day. It was a good experience. Wairoa is about an hour south of Gisborne.

Then arrived Wednesday. We were still in Wairoa and went and visited most of their investigators. The elders I was with were Elder Manning and Elder Petty. They are both great elders. We did teach several times and actually helped with a service project in the morning. I didn't have my work shoes with me so i had to wear a pair of Elder Manning's. We also had the privelege of giving a blessing. That night after PEC we came back up to Gisborne.

Then came thursday. Elder Petty had a meeting at the stake center so Elder Manning and I went to some of our investigators by the church. Only one was home and we set an appointment for later. Then we collected Elder Petty and off we went to the Investigators in our area. We went to almost all of the ones I could remember and it was a hard day. Several investigators dropped us and we hadn't taught a lesson. After lunch back at the flat in which we made pasta Elder Petty said a prayer that we would get to teach a lesson. We went and taught the Maats who were getting baptized on saturday. We taught them and I got to meet the cousin that had gone out of town. It was a good lesson but I kept praying that we would get another lesson in. We went around and another investigator dropped us. It was frustrating but we kept our heads up and kept going. We finally tried one of the people i had talked to on the street the week before. We got in the door and were able to teach them. It was a major miracle and a great experience. The lady I talked to was in her twenties and hadn't anything to do with religion before. The mother in law was catholic and she actually helped us out in teaching part of the lesson. It was very interesting but wonderful.

Friday came along and we had a lesson with the Maats and noon. Then the Elders came back from Auckland and I finally got mail from everyone. At least I hadn't gotten one when I arrived in Auckland that first day. After we had lunch and regrouped, I took off with Elder Tham but again it was a really hard day. No one was home. Even the appointments I had set on thursday fell through. It was frustating again. I got my first flat tire and it took two patches to fix. We did have a lesson with recent converts and then dinner with a member. The recent converts were a family named the martins and they are great. They have 11 kids. Only 8 or so are still in the house though. One of the dogs stoll both of our right shoes and it was kinda funny. The dog also stoll Elder Tham's helmet and Elder Tham got a flat tire. Dinner at the members house was kfc and it was good. We also did a friend share and we are trying to set up a Wananga which is like a conference weekend thing where we stay at a members house and eat, do dishes, and teach for a weekend. I hope it works out.

Saturday was conference weekend and it was a very busy day for us. We had to be at the church at 7:30 am to fill the font. We had a wonderful baptism at 10 for Shayna and Chrystal Maats, and Katya McFlinn. A member baptized them and I got to confirm Shayna. It was a great experience although I was really nervous but it went ok. Then we had conference at 1, 4 and 7. They were all great but the one at 1 was the priesthood session and it was different seeing it first. Then we went home. We were at the church almost all day. We did go out and preached by the way for a little bit but mostly we remained at the chapel.

Sunday had a slow start. We studied and then weekly planned for the next week. After that we went to the lunch at a members house. It was very good.We had a roast of somekind. I still prefer grandma's though. Then we went to conference. The first session was great. Then we gave a blessing and one of our recent converts of last july, gave the annointing for the first time. It was his first blessing and it was great for him. The church was then closed because of a health issue and we didn't get to watch the second session. We were going to go out and visit some of our investigators but we found out who had the dvd of conference and went and took it from them. We watched it a little but again were interupted to give another blessing in the zone leaders area. We went to the blessing and then were late reporting to the AP's the weeks numbers. It was crazy day.

So now it is monday and p-day again and we are playing Risk. I love everyone back home and miss them. I hope everything is going great there and things are great here. Love ya tons.
Elder Beckstead

P.S. Some fun facts about here so far. I have eaten Lamb tails and powa. Lamb tails are ok but not really worth the effort of eating them. Not enough meat. Powas are ok as well but I will stay clear of them if possible. Cray fish is weird as well and the prices on everything is astonomical.
Love ya!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Letter to Grandma & Grandpa B

Things have been going great over here. I even have had 3 more baptisms added to my list and it was a great experience. I even got to confirm one of them. I hope they get some elk as well. It figures that crazy people are still about and yes I have encountered some of those free thinkers over here. Some of them are so funny.

I am in the gisborne zone actually and it has been rather cold over here lately. I wish it would warm up a bit, but not too much. I serve in the Kaiti and Mangapapa areas of Gisborne, but those are just areas inside the actual city of Gisborne. I had the chance to go to Wairoa this week and it was pretty fun down there as well. Whakatane is about 3 or 4 hours from here in Gisborne according to the elders I am with. Gisborne is an eight hour drive from Auckland so I am way out here. I am in the place that sees the sun first in the world. Gisborne is about 20,000 people so not super big. The actually city part is not in our area so we are more in the suburbs type areas. It is pretty out here although more dry than I thought possible at sea level.

I am loving it out here although I miss you all.

Love you and grandma tons.
Elder Beckstead

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Hello Elder

Dear dad,
 
Yes, general conference gets recorded and then we watch it next week in the chapels. I am excited to watch and to bring investigators to watch as well. That is a funny story but when I got to my first area, it was at 9:30 at night. So we planned and went to bed. The next morning was semi-booked though so that was good. I am jealous about the general conference business. I wish I could've gone with you both. It sounded like they were good sessions.
 
I am sorry about BYU, but I hope they turn around soon and win all the rest. I do hope that elk hunting goes well. I request some jerky for christmas as well. Thanks for the quote, I am wondering when my mission will seem to go by fast, but I need to exercise more patience i guess. We have a few more baptisms next week that I am excited for. I actually get to confirm one of them. I hope I do ok.
I love you and miss you and I hope work and life is going well.
 
Love you tons,
Elder Beckstead

Awesome Missionary Mail

Mother,
 
It has been a great week and I am getting along with my companion. He is sick at the moment though. Yes my mission seems like it is going to last for 100 years not 2. Everyones says it goes fast but I want to know when it starts to seem that way. The work is hard here yes and the days last forever. I definitely look forward to each night. Either, or. Multiple emails is great or one email is great too. As long as you write, I am satisfied. For the BOM testimonies, print them out and sent them and sent the pdf file. General conference is next week for me so I am looking forward to it.
 
There were no baptisms for us this weekend but we did have one in our zone. We also have 3 next weekend and I am excited. We did teach 21 lessons this week though. I was proud of that. We are really close with some other people as well. We just need to get them committed to baptism. Anyways, the mission is great so far and I am glad everything is going well back home.
 
Love,
Elder Beckstead

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

1st letter from New Zealand - Sept 27, 2010

How are you all. I have been having a pretty busy week already but I will tell you about it in a minute. P-day is mondays here so I am thankful for the email before Sunday. For this area, it would be best to email becuase if you send things to the mission home, I wont get them right away. But you still could if you wanted, I would not complain. I would just get it later rather than sooner.
I arrived early wednesday morning and had a pretty full day. After I wrote to you via email we went back to the motel and took a nap. Then we went over to the mission home for a few lessons and dinner. Then after dinner we had an awesome testimony meeting with all the new missionaries plus the A.P.s, the missionary couples in the office and president and sister porter. It was very nice to hear all of the testimonies and the spirit was very strong. Then we turned in early that night. We got back to the motel just after 9.

The next morning we got up early and went back to the mission home for breakfast and one last lesson before transfers. They demonstrated a friend share which is you acting like a members friend and then demonstrating how they could start a conversation with them so that they would feel more comfortable with the missionaries coming over. It seems to be an effective way to get referrals. Then we were off to transfers. Like you know, my companion is Elder Tham and I don't know if sister porter told you but I am in Gisborne. I don't know if Grma Grpa, served all the way over here. So after transfers, I put my luggage in the trailer and off we went on a eight hour car ride. Wahoo, not! We stopped at a kfc to eat and it just wasn't the same as back home. We arrived in Gisborne around 9:30 or so. We didn't have any time to unpack so I just changed and found sheets and a blanket to sleep with. The next morning was good. I got to study and we just rode around meeting as many of the investigators as we could. We checked up on our baptismal candidates and they were all great. So friday wasn't to big of a day.

Saturday however was a pretty big day. We got up and had to be to the chapel by 8:30 to start filling up the font. Yep, we had a baptism. Four actually. It was the Ngaro family. Two 14 year old boys and 12 and 10 year old girls. There mom was a less active that has now been coming back to church. We were planning to study before the baptism which was a 11 but we got roped into helping set up for a dinner that night so no study time for us. The baptism went really well. It started a little late because the father was cooking but other than that, it went very well. Elder Tham baptized all four of them which was fine by me. It was great to see those four kids be baptized and I wish I could have seen the conversion process. One of the members said it was just amazing to see all of them change over the months and weeks. Apparently it took 4 months to get them baptized. So, it was a great morning. Then while we were out later that day we had a lesson with a girl named Noell. She is 18 and very interested it seems. We read 3 Nephi 11 with and then asked if she wanted to be baptized. She said yes but we haven't set a date yet so its not official. After that great lesson, we had another lesson with 3 of our other 4 baptismal candidates. The mom is another less active and she has two daughters and two nieces we are teaching. They are the Maats family They are all set for the 9th of October which is general conference weekend for us down here. One probably wont be baptized because she is out of the country until the 7th or 8th and you have to go to church 3 times in order to be baptized ands we don't know if she has wherever she is. The other three seem close to being ready however. We need to teach them all a bit more but I am pretty sure they will be ready by the ninth. Also, we went to another less active family and he said he wanted us to teach his son who is nine. We gladly obliged and we started to teach him. We taught him about prayer. I hope to teach him and get him baptized before I leave. So saturday was a pretty good day for us.

Sunday was also a busy day in the morning. Again, no studies because of ward council. After that we had 6 investigators at church with us. I just wish Noell could have been there. Oh, well. Next week for sure. All four Ngaros were confirmed. Three by Elder Tham and one by the Bishop. It went very well and the spririt was very strong. I hope it touched the hearts of our investigators. The six that were there were the three Maats and then Catherine and her 2 children which I don't know at all. She is apparently wanting to be baptized but her partner wont marry her. So what to do, I know not. After all three of the meetings, the elders quorum president came up to us and said that his daughter was nine and wanted to get baptized. So he wanted us to teach her and then help her get baptized. She seemed to know a lot already but apparently her mom is a non-member and is allowing her to now get baptized. So miracles are already starting to happen on my mission. The rest of sunday was mostly seeing investigators and missing investigators. We were able to give two investigators blessings yesterday. They are flying to Auckland on tuesday to get a Gastroscopy I think it is called and they wanted a bit of comfort. It went really well and they both felt peaceful afterwords so I hope we can teach them more and they will progress faster.

So, to sum things up, I have had four baptisms and confirmations and we have four others with a date. We haven't taught a whole lot of lessons but they few we have had went really well. We also have 10 lessons scheduled for next week. I am loving New Zealand but it is a little cold down here. I can't see to get warm some of the time. My bike is nice although my legs and bum are killing me from overuse. and yeah I love it so far. Time is going so slow though, I am going to have a super long mission.

Well It was really good to here from you and I will write again next week and tell you how things are looking for our investigators. Know the church is true and miracles do happen today.

Love you all tons,
Elder Trevor Beckstead

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

New Zealand

Trevor has arrived in New Zealand. We will let you know details of his companion and where he is assigned when we find out.

Welcome to New Zealand!

Excited to get to New Zealand - Sept 18, 2010

I am so excited to leave the MTC and go to New Zealand. I love the MTC, but there is something about the idea of going to New Zealand. This is the epitome of leaving the world behind. it is weird yet kind of nice at the same time.
That quote (one Dad sent me about scriptures) is exactly what we learned yesterday about the scriptures. Scriptures help investigators gain faith in Jesus Christ and gain a testimony.
I am glad to hear that Baptisms or the number of them doesn't define how well your mission goes. I think I have always known that, but it is nice to hear all the same. The biggest part for me is just believing I will be a good missionary.
I want to say that I am thankful I had you as parents and you as brothers and sister. I love you all so much! I will email you when I get to New Zealand ... I will probably be on my way when you get this letter. Thanks for all you have done and will talk to you next from the Los Angeles airport ... and then I will be in New Zealand.

I love you all tons!
Elder Trevor Beckstead

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

MTC - Last P-day

Can you believe it is my last pday in the MTC? It has gone by pretty fast. I enjoyed all of your letters.

Things have been going well here. I love the teaching experiences and we have done a ton over the last week. I am super excited to get to the mission field though. It is so cut off from the outside world here, it is weird sometimes. One of my favorite things so far has been our experience last monday. We were in the TRC and we were teaching Melvin for the second time. We did really well I thought and the spirit was there. The cool part was after the teaching experience though. We ran into melvin as we were leaving and he stopped me. He said we did two things that really impressed him. We looked him straight in the eye as we talked and testified to him and he said we answered all his questions very well. What he said at the end made my companion and I think he might have been a real investigator, but we aren't to sure. He might have been role playing still.


Congratulations to Korin for making the school play and she will make a very cute dragon and the other two things. I hope her leg feels better. I enjoyed the letter from sam :) (regarding Stake Conference) and I'm sorry he was so bored. No we did not get to see it although I heard it was very good. We just had a regular Sunday except for the fireside. We didn't have one. The gym is closed and has been the entire time. It won't be open until around the 27th. I wish we could've played basketball because early morning gym is pretty cold. We have mainly played volleyball and I have juggled once just on my own.


Is crazy soccer over yet? Mom said it was still hectic around the house even though that first soccer week was over. I hope it isn't too busy for everyone.


One more thing before my time is up. Will you tell everyone to send mail to the New Zealand mission address after I leave the MTC. If it is sent here, it will be returned home, so to save the hassel, send it to New Zealand.


I love you all tons and wish you all the best.

Elder Trevor Beckstead

Sunday, September 12, 2010

MTC - Love Being a Missionary

Letter to Grandma & Grandpa Beckstead - Sept 8, 2010

How are you holding up? I hope your not missing me too much, but I am missing you guys a whole lot. Not playing games on Sunday was kinda hard. Anyway, I love having the opportunity to be a missionary. It is so nice being in the MTC surrounded by the Spirit and other missionaries. Teaching is so fun!! I am soooo excited to go to New Zealand and get to work. I am trying my hardest to learn everything I can so that I am ready to go in two weeks. Can you believe I have been gone a whole week? It feels like much longer here. I love the lessons we have here. Our teachers are so great and I have learned a tone so far ... I haven't really had time to be homesick because I have been so busy. It is just non-stop teaching and learning and studying here. Well I hope you are both well and having fun working in the temple.
Elder Beckstead

MTC - Spirit is so Powerful

Letter to my cousin Tara, Sept 3, 2010

"I love the MTC. The spirit is so powerful. My first day was hectic and confusing. I got here and an escort took my luggage while I went through and got my stuff. Then I went and dropped off my luggage in my room. I had time to get my scriptures and Preach My Gospel. Then I went to our classroom and did an orientation video. Then we got to meet our teachers and our district.I am in branch 37 District C. We then went to a welcome meeting with all the new missionaries. There was about 430-440 of us. In my district there are 6 elders going to Portland, Oregon and 4 of us going to Auckland, New Zealand.
After dinner we went to three live teaching scenarios. They were so cool. I wish we could just do those every day.
Thanks for writing me. Tell Brooke thanks too. Tell her I'll write to her next Wednesday on my P-day. Technically I'm not supposed to write until then, but they said write our parents tonight, so please share this with them so it counts :)
Elder Beckstead

MTC is awesome

1st letter home (Sept 3, 2010):

"The MTC is awesome! I love the atmosphere here and the spirit is so strong. I can't write again until P-day, which is Wednesday, but I still enjoy getting mail (hint, hint) ... I slept pretty well the first night. I got up at 6:20am and we had class at 7am. The rest of the day went smooth, but it was incredibly long. It felt like a whole day had passed and it was only 9:30 am. We learned about what the investigators and us as missionaries need to feel in order to be taught or teach effectively. The food is great here. There is a rumor to not drink the orange juice. It is true, it messes with your system.
Today we started learning about the Plan of Salvation and how to teach it. We had the opportunity to teach our companion today. Well, it was more of getting to know our investigator, not teaching doctrine. It is really hard to convey to someone that you care without knowing them at all, but the struggle just makes you want them to have the gospel even more. Later during companion study, we were able to teach someone in our district who pretended to be an investigator. Having a companion is definitely beneficial, and I'm glad I have one. His name is Elder Devey from South Jordan. He is awesome! Our district has grown really close even though we have been together less than a week. I'm glad I get to spend three weeks with these awesome elders.
Elder Beckstead

Friday, September 10, 2010

The Beginning

Welcome,

As a family we are super excited to have a missionary out in the mission field. We want to share Trevor's mission experiences with our family and friends. We will post letters, pictures, etc. that we receive from Trevor. So feel free to check back to the blog as often as you like. If you have received a letter or something from Trev that you would like posted, let us know and we will put it up on the blog.

Thank you all for your love and support. It has blessed Trevor and our entire family and we are forever grateful.

Kristin & Ryan