Monday, July 29, 2013

Oh my goodness!!! 

That picture of Caden is straight messed up and I think it was taken straight from Dogwatch.com. . . Hahaha. Yeah that is definitely one for the record books. What?! Bubba got glasses! That is so crazy! Hahahaha, I am not going to lie though I am likin 'em. That is a nice look for little Bubby. 

I really liked the quote that you said and that same quote is in the little book of our family that you made for me, "Life is about learning how to dance in the rain." Lately I read a talk and we have been talking a lot about this same topic with the other missionaries about being grateful for all of your trials. The past few months I have been only trying to be grateful for all of the trials that I have had, and it has made me so much happier. I have been trying my best to be as happy as I can be right now, and it has really helped me out. Even though I am doing the same things that I was doing when I was not happy out here, it is like I am in a world of difference.

By the way, I can't believe all of those crazy updates! Kaysville is getting a little to crazy for me, so I am glad that I am over here in France. Yeah, I totally know Landon's companion, he is a really cool kid! That is awesome. Speaking of new companions. . . What are your predictions for me for the next transfer? I can't believe that it is already time for that. Missions are strange because you will have the longest days of your life and then you will look back and the week will already be over. I am convinced that I have been in a trance ever since I got to Mont-de-Marsan haha.

Everything is going really good right now though! I am really really happy! At times the french feels like it is getting a lot better and I feel like I am starting to be able to communicate with people a little bit better. It is still incredibly hard, but it is getting better everyday. 

Oh and by the way, I don't know if I mentioned last week. . . But, the curse has been broken! We finally had a lesson with someone! It was so awesome and for the first time in a long long time Mont-de-Marsan has an investigator! 

I loved what you said about I am the gardener here, I know what I want you to do. It is true, the Lord knows what he wants us to be and every trial he gives us is so that he can mold us into that person. As soon as I start to get a little proud of myself the Lord humbles me straight to the ground to prepare me for the latter part of my life.

By the way this week we had a district meeting out in Pau and it was sweet because we got to take an awesome train and bus ride all the way out there and it was gorgeous! Not to mention on the way back we were on a really nice train with lazy boy type chairs! It was sweet! 

I love being a missionary and the church is true! I love all of you so so much!

Oh and by the way can you look into getting me some church pants that have the same mesh zip mechanism as our ski pants? Haha that would be really nice :)

Love,

Elder C. Beyer

Monday, July 22, 2013 "Bordeaux was amazing"

Well hello there family!!

Just for starters Bordeaux was absolutely amazing! It honestly was so much fun being down there. We had a ton of fun with the zone leaders and this week I literally spent the whole week on exchanges. I did and exchange with Elder Kunzler, Elder Johnson, Elder Tromeur, and Elder Castillo all in this week. Elder Johnson is my zone leader and he is actually from Kaysville! It was so awesome getting to talk about good old K-Town! Hahaha :) 

This week was probably my favorite week that I have had on my mission because the zone leaders had so much energy and they were so happy to be missionaries. While we were with them we were staying in the same apartment with two other Elders, so there was six of us, and we would go out every single morning and play soccer. It was so much fun. We worked really hard this week and talked to so many people, not to mention I finally got to teach a lesson! That was awesome and man has it been awhile since I have done that! With the zone leaders we were also able to go do a service project and were able to have a BBQ with one of the members out there too, it was awesome!

We actually spent the second half of the week in Tarbes with our district leader. That was a lot of fun too. For P-Day I figured since we were already down in that area we needed to go and check out some of the cool tourists sights and the mountains, so after pulling some teeth I talked my companion into it and we went to this amazing little city called Lourd. It is one of the most beautiful cities in all of France. I am going to try and send a bunch of pictures, we need to figure out dropbox because then I could send you all of the pictures that I take really quickly. Lourd is this little city surrounded by green rolling hills and has an amazing castle and cathedral in the city that we were able to go around and see while we were there.

All of you sound absolutely amazing and I hope that you had an amazing time at the cabin. It looks beautiful where you were at! Honestly that looks a lot like the place that I was at. Caden keep working hard in football, Bubba keep being Bubba and Mom and Dad congrats on the anniversary! I can't believe that you have been married that long.

Just so you know. . . this week I got pooped on by a bird while running to catch a train, I got kicked in the bum by a drunk punk, someone spit a bunch of water out the window that got all over my pants, I have blisters all over my feet, but this week was the happiest that I have been since I have been out on my mission. I love being a missionary, despite every trial, and I know for a fact that this church is true! I love being able to tell people that everyday.

Yes I did talk to Elder Phelps! He was going to tell his parents! He is a really, really cool kid. And no that was three zones combined together! Ours are a little bit bigger than Brock's though!

Love,
Elder C. Beyer

Monday, July 15, 2013 "The Church is True!"

Hahaha trek looked like it was so fun! Man I wish that I could have been able to do that! The life lessons that were learned in that experience will definitely be applied to missionary work though. It really is so true, hard things can be done. Just when I think I can't go any further I forget myself, put a smile on my face, put my trust in the Lord and I get through it every time.

I loved Bubba's cow shirt and I hope that he wears that around town more often. Also, hopefully Caden finally took a shower. Yeah, I bet it was crazy with having the house so quiet. With Brock and myself gone it is not that much different, but with Caden gone it is a world of difference haha.

Ohhh, Kole back on the market. Yeah I remember her! Hopefully everything works out!

That seems crazy to see a flag for me... Geezzzzz! I can't believe that I am on my mission right now! I have been singing songs and preparing my whole life, and now I am finally here.

About the new dress code, yeah I am sooooooooo happy! I am going right to the store to try and find and light colored suit and pants. The problem is that everything is closed here on Mondays though. I think that will really help with the heat right now so as soon as I can I am going to go and buy some light colored clothing and a really bright tie!

This is the church in Bordeaux.

Okay. . . 

So life is so great right now. I finally came to conclusion that the mission is my life for the next two years. I am trying to work my hardest and talking to everyone that we can. We still don't have investigators, we haven't taught a lesson in a month, we have had a lot of rejection, but I am so happy right now!

I am so lucky to be out here walking around all day everyday looking for people to teach the gospel too, even though I can't walk at the end of the day I have a smile on my face now (Emphasis on the not being able to walk. . . I have so many blisters on my feet). 

This week at church was a good one though, after having no one show up or having no one to talk to these past few weeks we were sitting there waiting for sacrament meeting to start when all of the sudden our rugby playing Tongan family walked in. Man was that a sight for sore eyes! It was so amazing to have them there, that is the  family we went and did service for and had a BBQ with. They showed up and my spirits jumped right up.

Okay so as for p-days we haven't had much to do, but next p-day we are going to try and take a train down to the southwest of France and take a train through those mountains and do some walking around for the day. It is going to be sweet!!!

Everything is going good right now though. I want you to know how much I love you and that I am always praying for you!

Love,

Elder Beyer

PS. The church is true!

Monday, July 8, 2013 "Go to work"

Hey family!!

I am doing so very well thank you! Haha it sounds like you had an amazing river rafting trip! Geezz Bubba what are you doing falling out of the raft? I remember being up there with Brad and jumping off of those cliffs, that was a blast. I am glad that dad was able to get a few days off and that you had a good fourth of July together! My fourth of July was about the same as every other day, but we did have a zone training meeting that was pretty good. Speaking of that training meeting it is funny that you would mention Elder Phelps because I actually met him at that meeting and we are in the same zone, haha so next time I will have to bring that connection up to his attention.

All in all everyone sounds like they are doing really well. I can't believe that football is already starting up for those little guys, and Caden is going to have a blast on trek, I wish that I would have been able to go to that.

So, this week was good, and really really long! Everyday seems like twenty days combined haha. We spend all of our time walking around and contacting or going door to door and talking to people. Some how we need to start getting some lessons so that we can be inside of an air conditioned home or I am going to die of heat exhaustion. . . That will be our reward when we can find someone to teach. For the moment there are still no investigators in this town and we are having a tough time finding anyone who wants to listen, but I am sure that this week we will find someone! We haven't had a lesson the entire time we have been here, but hey from all of this walking and sweating I am going to be in killer shape.

Although, we did finally get to do some service this week! It was awesome! I was so happy to finally get out and do some yard work. We have this Tongan family in our ward and the husband is on the rugby team, there family is so nice and loving and seriously as soon as I saw their name on the less actives list I called them right up. They were really excited to hear from us and said that they would love it if we could come and do service for them while he is training full time for the season. So, we got to help them out and work out in the yard for a few hours! It was so awesome, not to mention it really broke up our daily routine of contacting so it was amazing. . . After we had finished up they took us home, we showered and changed, we went out contacting for three hours and then it was back to their house for a BBQ. Ahhh it was so good! It was a real authentic Tongan BBQ with a ton of really good meat. It really made me feel at home and was a fun fourth of July tradition that needed to happen.

I have been having a really hard time out here and this week I read Gordon B. Hinckley talk where he talks about when he was on his mission and he wrote is dad and said, "I am just wasting my time and your money while I am out here." I feel like that a lot. But, as I continued to read I read the same passage that I have heard in the past. His father responded and said, "Gordon, I have your letter. I just have one thing to say, Forget yourself and go to work."

Bull fighting arena!

So, that is what I need to do!

I love you all so so much! Keep being the amazing family that you are!

Love,

Elder C. Beyer

Monday, July 1, 2013 "Mont-de-Marsan"

Hey Family!!!!

You all sound so amazing and I was loving all of the pictures! Ha ha it looks like you are having so much fun! Family reunion at Brad's?! No fair! Did you go white water rafting? I bet it seemed really different going to the reunion missing half of our family. Hopefully dad's work load starts to get a little bit easier over the next few weeks, he needs to hire up some new employees! Or get Caden to stop taking vacations! By the way that picture of the corn rows is really funny, he definitely needs to keep those in for a couple of months :) And Bubba, what are you talking about?! That is the best bike ever! You can cruise so much faster than everyone on that thing! Haha, I love riding that bike. I hope you had fun on your bike ride though, it sounds like a long fun one. 

I am so glad that you got my little package and hopefully you liked everything in it! You will have to let me know what you thought. (By the way everything is on sale here right now so if I find a good cheap coat I think I am going to buy it!)

Okay, so I am doing really good right now! This week was a really long one and it had it's ups and downs, but for the most part it was really good. I think that my favorite part of this new little town is how beautiful the city is and how awesome our apartment is, we seriously have the best apartment in the mission. We have an awesome little balcony that I sit out on every single night and just write a little bit in my journal, read my scriptures, drink some kool-aid jammers, eat some pistachios, and just enjoy the amazing french evenings. Although it is killer hot during the day, the nights here are absolutely perfect. After a long hard days work of walking around in the hot sun and talking to people I am so lucky to sit on that balcony and just relax. It's not too bad. (Not to mention it is keeping me sane :))

Our apartment overlooks this little tiny forest and we are on the second floor of the building. At night a lot of the time I can hear people playing their guitars in the neighborhood while I watch the sun setting through the trees. I love it :)

This town is really beautiful too. I think it is even prettier than Perigueux, and that place was amazing. This place is a little bit different though, because literally everyone that is here is retired. Mont-de-Marsan is where everyone comes when they are done working and now they just want to relax. So, this is a really relaxed town with not a ton going on, but I really like it! With that being said next week there is a huge party here and we might have to leave and go to another city for a few days because the party is all day for I think four days and it is really bad for the missionaries to be out when the party is going on. People are coming in from all over the place for this party though.

So you asked about the branch, man is it tiny. We have about 10-15 members every week if we have a good week, but during the summer everyone leaves, so we are estimating about 5-8 people there every Sunday in July. Haha, it is really small. But the members are so amazing here. I already love them so much. They are all so happy and loving and seriously make you feel like you are a part of their family. That is one think that I really love about the small branches, it is just like a little family. I am really excited to be working with all of them over the next little while and to get to know them.

The french is still really difficult, but I feel like it is starting to get a little bit better. This week we are going to try and go a whole week with only speaking french, so wish me luck! Ha ha I am going to need it. I hope that after this speaking will come a lot easier and my understanding will increase. My comp speaks really well so I think he will help me out a lot this transfer.

I love that scripture and I actually just read that story last night! There is a quote that I really like that says you have to go through the wilderness to get to the promised land!

Well family, I love you all so so much and miss you like crazy! The Church is true! I love telling people that everyday especially when they call me crazy :)

Love,

Elder Beyer