Email 10/29/12

2012.Oct.29

Wow,

Really this week was incredible. We had a conference with Elder Bednar. We had to travel from Cuidad Del Este. We left at 11 o’clock at night and we got into Asuncion at like 3 in the morning and the conference would start at 7:30 so we had a good little sit down time that we waited and were able to get in. It was pretty cool because we waited for like 4 hours but we were able to sit on the very very front row and see the balls of sweat trickling down his face. Really it was such a huge and powerful meeting. He truly is an Apostle of the Lord. We met there with the entire mission and the other mission in Paraguay to listen to him and to be guided by his words. One thing that he talked about was the little silly Mormon culture that we have. That we have a lot of stupid, yes an apostle said stupid, ideas and ways of living that really make no sense at all. It was very very real to us that he knows us. He can relate to us and that he knows really what’s in our head instead of trying to pretend to be above us he really came down to our level to get into our hearts and our brains that really he knows us and that the Lord knows us.

First he started talking about how that we aren’t the teachers. That a person isn’t going to be converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ by some 19 year old that can barely speak the language and that doesn’t even have a family. We are not the reason why. The spirit is what converts people to the Lord. He says that if we think that we are the teachers we are truly mistaken and must repent. He talked about that we need to change the culture of the church. That there are lots of games that we try to play that don’t make any sense. Like when we are teaching we try to play... guess what’s in my head..... or try to confuse with knowledge.... These are habits and cultures that must be corrected. It was very impressive the way that he taught us. He said that he wasn’t going to stand up and talk to us for 4 hours like we had planned on him doing. That we would be conversing with him and showing him what we are learning and feeling. He said that if we read a scripture or said something it should be what the spirit tells us to do or say that we shouldn’t try to guess what he wanted us to say. He talked about faith. He talked about how we as people need to be agents and not objects. We have been blessed with the divine gift of agency and so we have become agents. Instead of learning by being objects and letting people give us all the answers and then not doing anything, we need to be agents and act. Use our faith and our ability to choose to act on those impressions that we receive from the spirit. He talked about how we as missionaries need to invite people to act. We can’t be the ones that just talk and talk and talk. We invite and allow the people to use what they know and feel and put it into action instead of us trying to force things upon them. Really it was a great conference in helping us learn the importance of trying to allow the spirit to be the teacher through using our agency to act with faith.

At the end we got to ask questions. Wow. It was probably the only time in my entire life that I will have to be able to ask an apostle a question. He told us that we shouldn’t ask stupid questions. Like where is the sword of Laban? He answered that one for us. He doesn’t know. And he said that he didn’t care. He told us also that he was going to be picking the questions by discernment. That he wasn’t going to be picking on the missionaries that he wanted to pick but the missionaries that the Lord wanted to pick. That was sweet. AND I GOT TO ASK HIM A QUESTION........ I asked him that if really it’s so important that we have the spirit that we need to be pure vessels so that the Lord can use us. I asked him how and when can we know with certainty that the Lord has forgiven us? He told me it was a good question. It was so amazing. I was having a conversation with an apostle. He was looking at me right in my eyes and I was looking at him. He asked me if I can remember some of my sins and I said yes. He said that it wouldn’t make sense if in Doctrine and Covenants it says that the Lord ...will remember the sins no more. That was revelation that wasn’t given to me or anyone else. Yes we can remember our sins. We remember them because it helps us in staying away from the pain, suffering and tears that it brought. He then began to explain that the spirit cannot enter into unclean temples. So he asked me if I have felt the spirit. I said yes. He said well then you know that at least there is some good in you and that the Lord hasn’t given up on you yet. He said that yes we aren’t perfect, that we cannot have the spirit every millisecond of every minute of every day until the end of time. But he said that we should feel the spirit a whole lot more than when we don’t feel it.

wow...........

Really I am so grateful for the blessing that I had to be able to go and listen to a servant of the Lord and learn not from his words but from the promptings of the spirit. I could feel within my heart that really he is a special witness of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that really we all have faith and we should all be agents and USE IT. I love you and hope you have a good and awesome week, because I sure am going to...

Rohaihu

--
Elder Beatty

Email 10/22/12

Wow its crazy to think that it has already been a week since the last time that I wrote the family. I can´t even believe how fast the time seems to fly. Really all I focus on now is just trying to find people and get them to church and the Sundays just start flying by and I can´t slow them down hahaha. I know that it’s because I´m trying to stay focused and trying to help as many people as I can come unto Christ through his gospel. Well let’s see what the lowdown was for this week. On Tuesday we had a capacition where all the missionaries in the zone came to our church and we talked about the things that we had learned from President Agazzani. It went really well. We talked about planning and really that it’s all about showing our faith and putting down real names of real people and helping them through their own needs to come unto Christ. After that we started using our focus on how we looked at our areas. We have a lot of missionaries that just don’t have the faith that there are people in their areas ready to be baptized and that really they are just leaving the house to come back at the end of the day and say that they worked. We talked about John 4 35. We had them picture what a field looked like, a huge corn field. How did it look when there was nothing there and it was just dirt? We had them talk about their feelings and what hopes they had as they looked at an empty field. And then we showed them a picture of a field full of cotton and it seemed like a huge cloud and there was so much work to do. We asked them who would like to have an area full of investigators like this? Everyone raised their hand. Then we talked about how really the Lord wants every person to be able to partake of His salvation and so really our areas are full of people to be baptized we just need to work and show the Lord that we want to harvest all the fruit. It went really well and all the missionaries left super pumped to go out and baptize everyone. After that I went to Minga Guazu. They were going to have 6 baptisms and so I wanted to go out and make sure that those people were real and were going to get baptized si o si. The area is HUGE. We had to take buses everywhere so that we could talk to all their investigators. We had some sweet lessons with all of their investigators. It’s funny because I would just go and tell them that I heard that they were going to get baptized and so I wanted to come and congratulate them. They get all excited and happy after that. It’s funny... We got back at the end of the day and we were super tired from running around everywhere and just trying to visit all the people. That night I slept like a baby.

Yesterday on Sunday we had some sweet trials and sweet miracles. So the guy that we found on last Sunday, his name is Fulgencio. Si o si (yes o yes) he is going to be baptized. He is already a member practically. He knows so much and he loves how everything in the gospel just makes so much sense. He has already read the triple 4 times and knows it’s true. But he came to church walking in the rain yesterday. Wow, what faith. He doesn´t smoke or drink, and lives alone. Really he is practically a member already. Also Elder Martinez and I were walking in the rain before church just trying to find more people to get to church. We didn´t really have much success so finally we got back and we met a girl that was from our area. She said that she just got up and wanted to go to our church so she got ready and then walked in the rain to get there. Wow, Huge miracle. She is super nice and really intelligent and is going to get baptized si o si. Really church was filled with miracles for us especially while it was raining. In Paraguay the rain means that everything and everyone shut down. But I know that the Lord blessed us because we were trying to be diligent and showing our faith.

This last week I have been reading my journal from a year ago. It’s nice to see that I was writing in my journal every day. I really like being able to go back. But to me it is amazing the progress that I have seen. I knew that I really wasn´t that great of a missionary back last year but now I can see that I have taken the gospel and not only taught it correctly, but I have put it into my heart and applied it in my life so that I can be the missionary that the Lord wants me to be. I have been reading a lot of how my attitude was and I realize that my faith has grown a ton and now I have more love and hope for the people of Paraguay. I love them with all my heart. They have taught me so much and are going to continue to teach me a mountain of things.

This last week we were with a family and we were talking about faith and prayer. I couldn´t really think of an example of faith and prayer but later this week I was just walking in the hot sun and thinking about it. Then came to my mind that one time when mom took us to Snowflake and we got caught on Jacobs Lake in a huge snow storm. I remember that the car hit the guard rail because mom had lost control of the car. I remember that all of us as little kids we were super scared and didn’t know what to do. I remember that we said a prayer and then mom acted. She got out of the car to look for help. Then that one guy in his jeep stopped and helped us get to the top of the mountain. I know that the Lord sent us that divine help. He knew that we had showed our faith by praying and then acting on what we knew we could do. I know that the Lord is listening, but also that He doesn´t just expect us to sit and wait for the blessings of our prayers. I know that He expects us to act. To pray and then go out and do what we had prayed about. To show the Lord our confidence in Him and I know that He will guide our steps and place the people in our paths that will help us overcome our challenges and doubts.

We have been teaching another family called the Britas family. It’s been super hard for my companion because he wants to baptize them so bad. They are a super nice family and really are super humble. We know that they have felt the spirit when we are with them and that they are feeling the spirit when we are reading with them. The only problem is that they have gone through so many churches and so many religions that they just kinda mesh all of their teachings into one and kinda make their own religion. Ahhhh its super frustrating because they don´t really understand Spanish too well and I don´t speak Guaraní enough. Finally we got down to the point where we had to ask them who established their church that they go to. They said that really they didn´t know who did. Then we helped them understand why it would be important to know. We had read the scripture in 3 Nephi 27 about the church carrying the name of Christ, and then they said that their church was called Alpha and Omega another name of Christ. So we had to help them resolve that doubt and realize that it has to teach the gospel of Christ. So we asked them what was the doctrine of Christ according to their church and they didn’t know. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating here in Paraguay because people really don´t care about what the doctrine is in the church or what church they go to as long as they feel good while they go. Wow that is a huge sign that it’s the “true church”. It’s been a struggle for me to help people understand how important the doctrine is. But on the flipside it’s helped me not only to learn the doctrine but to really internalize it and to bare my testimony of it.

Well I’ve got to go. I know that this is the church of Christ, the same church that existed about 2000 years ago. Christ is driving this bus and we are all going to get into the celestial kingdom if we live the gospel and follow the basic principles taught by living prophets. I love you all, and I love the mission. Peace!

Rohaihu
--
Elder Beatty

Email 10/15/12

Como estan todos? Tranquilopa hahaha Well another week another day and another hour. The time just seems to keep clicking by slowly but surely. I have come to agree with Elder Nate Northcott in the sense that I’m super excited to come on P-day and write the family but then I get here and sit down and I find that I really don’t have anything to say or I don’t know where to begin. It’s quite the problem but I’m hoping that the Spirit will guide me so that I can say the things that I need to say in order to have a edifying letter of hope and faith to you all. This week we have had continued trials as a companionship. We did discover an area that has produced some great results. We are super excited to start working in that area to hopefully find someone who is ready to progress and accept the gospel in their lives.

The miracles of this week…

                      

So a few weeks ago we were in the terminal to receive a few missionaries that were coming from Asuncion where they had to go to sign some papers to stay in the country and we were there waiting at like 7 at night when a guy came up to my companion. I was off talking to another guy. I came over and realized that they were talking in English and so I joined the conversation. I guess that this guy was a member for over 30 years. He was baptized when he was a little kid and his mom and all his family were members. This guy is a super famous singer here in Paraguay and is known throughout Brazil and Argentina. We started to talk to him and he bought us some food and drinks. He was a super nice guy and spoke pretty good English. He said that he had learned English from the elders that he left with when he was a younger kid. We found out that he actually lived in our area and so we fixed some plans to go and visit him. We went and we found out that his wife is a super nice lady. She is a part Muslim but really likes the church. I guess the guy had been talking to her about the church and about the organization. We got them to come to General Conference which was a huge accomplishment because he hadn’t been to the church in 35 years and so it was good to see him overcome this obstacle. At the conference we watched a baptismal service and the women really liked it. The guy turned to us and said in English that he was going to baptized his wife hahaha it was super funny because his wife had no idea what he was saying. The wife really like the church and said that she wanted to come back every week. She wants to be baptized but she wants to know more. I thought it was pretty cool. I have never really taught a Muslim before. She is super nice and really likes the gospel of Christ. We are going to try and put a baptismal date with her this week so that she can take that step. It’s also good that we have been getting this member to come to church again. He is a good guy and all, but being famous for singing has really taken its toll on him.

Another miracle that happened yesterday... So really this week we have been struggling to find good people. We have a thing in the mission when we call people golden. In the sense that they are super awesome and are going to get baptized. I was talking to Elder Martinez about that and about how we are looking for golden people and then I was thinking, Hey I don’t want golden people. I want people that are like diamonds. hahaha So we just kinda shrugged it off and we kept looking. So what happened was that our appointments had all dropped and so we were making our way to go teach a family that we had taught a few weeks ago and I felt that we needed to go talk to a guy that I had contacted called Juan Carlos. We went and he was there. He let us in and we talked about lesson 1. Wow this guys he doesn’t look too intelligent but really he knows his stuff. We asked him how he became so smart about religious stuff and he said that he had read the bible a lot and another book called the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Wow…blew us away. So we asked him if he had it and so he brought it out. Sure enough he walked out with a triple combination. I guess that there was a girl that was living next to him and she had left to go work in Spain and left a bunch of books and he went through them and found the Triple Wow....... We started talking about the restoration of the church and gospel of Jesus Christ and you could just see in his eyes that a light went on. That he understood. We told him that the Book of Mormon was the evidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet and we asked him if he believed the Book of Mormon was true. He looked at the book and he said that he knew without a doubt in his heart that it was true. So after that we read a scripture in DC 39 v 10 and with all the strength and power and authority that I possessed,  I looked at him straight in the eye and invited him to be baptized. He said yes. It was one of the moments when you hear the opera sound in the background. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH…. I just looked at my companion and he was all smiles. The awesome thing was that he told us right before we closed that for a few weeks he had been praying and asking God about the way that he should go to be able to give his life in service to others and then what happens? We show up.... MIRACLES....... It was like we were walking on clouds after. It was a great experience for me in the sense that the Lord is preparing people and if we follow the promptings of the spirit He will guide us. I just love it when stuff like this happens. It makes all the walking and all the sweat and all the tears and prayers worth it. IT’S THE MISSION!!!!!!!!!

Another funny story to end was that on Sunday night my companion and I needed to leave Cuidad Del Este to travel to the office in Asuncion for a meeting that we would have with all the other Zone leaders and President. So we set our alarm for 1200 so that we could get up, shower, eat and be waiting at the bus stop with plenty of time to get on and find a seat with the other Zone leaders. So we hit the sack. While I was sleeping I got a phone call and didn’t recognize the number. I answered and it was the zone leaders and they said. Hey we are leaving now we will be at your bus stop in 5 minutes… AHHHHHHHHHHHHH… I practically flew out of bed and started yelling at my companion to get up and get ready that the bus would be getting here and leaving in 5 minutes. I bet it would have been a funny sight to see. We were running all over the place just getting all our stuff together and getting dressed. I bet it would have looked like we were running around without any purpose. So finally we get down the stairs of our apartment and we runnn to the bus stop. We get there and 2 minutes later the bus comes and we get on. As we sit down ,I put on my tie and my jacket and reach down to do up my shoes only to find that I had forgotten socks. How in the world did I forget socks? hahahaha Everything went well and we had a good meeting with the president.

I love the mission. Really I hope that every person in the whole world serves because really it’s the thing that helps get the training we need to tackle life and take it by the reigns.

I love you all hope you have fantastic week.

Rohaihu

Les quiero--
Elder Beatty

Email 10/8/12

Wow I can´t even imagine how fast the time has seem to fly by. At first I have to ask forgiveness for not getting a letter off. I found myself in a stressful picturing sending situation and didn’t have time to write anything. I hope that right now I can get off enough material to satisfy you all and your hunger to know really what’s going down with Elder Beatty in Paraguay.

Wow wasn´t conference just super amazing. It was all topped off with the announcement by President Monson of the younger missionaries being able to serve. I thought that really it is a sign once again that this is a progressing church. It is not dead. We have living beings that can receive the guidance of heaven for the body of Christ here on earth. It truly marvels me to see the example of them and how they are patient in all things and rely on the Lord to direct His church. May we all have this same desire to look unto to Christ so that He can also guide our lives through the Holy Ghost. I loved looking at the faces of the young men in the audience and seeing how their mouths were wide open. Really it will be a great blessing for the world to have young people showing them how to follow christ in his gospel. I also liked the emphasis that the first presidency put on the misisonaries acutally being ready to go on a mission. Just because a young man turns 18 doesn´t mean that he has to just pack up his bags and head out. I would like to bear my testimony that mission preparation is something real. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A TESTIMONY BEFORE LEAVING. YOU HAVE TO LIVE THE GOSPEL OF REPENTANCE BEFORE LEAVING. YOU HAVE TO READ THE BOOK MORMON AND KNOW THAT IT IS TRUE BEFORE LEAVING. I will have to admit that I really wasn´t quite as ready as I should have been. I know that we really need to be immersed in the gospel as much as we can because the world is a totally different place than southern Utah. I wouldn´t want to say this to scare anyone. But I know that really as we strive to prepare BEFORE we will reap of the blessings DURING and AFTER.

I just loved in conference how they focused on saying a few keys words and makings sure that they said them practically every time. Things like True Repentance. What is true repentance? How can I know when I am truly repented? You will know when the Holy Ghost has born testimony to your soul that God remembers your sins no more. I loved how they talked about conversion. About having a testimony and then living it. Knowing that these things are true and then being true to those things. Really the gospel of Jesus Christ is what gives us the healing power to prepare our soul for eternity. I loved them talking about the family. It gave me great moments of reflection about how I have been blessed with my family and how that really I have had my parents as examples to me for longer than I can remember. It made me think about the principles that I would place into the walls of my home. The things that I would teach and the things that I would do. So that I and my family can become to be converted in Christ and form a home that is strong and founded upon the Rock.

I loved hearing from the Apostles and how their testimonies are so personal. How we can come to know Christ by living HIS gospel and following His ways. We don´t have to see Him. But some day we will. I was hearing from a few missionaries that they were a little tired of hearing the same stuff over and over and over again. That they wanted something new. That they wanted the prophet to gives us something that was fresh and that would expound our knowledge. I couldn´t help thinking to myself ¨You really want to be blessed with more commandments when you can´t even get up on time in the morning? ¨ It really helped me see that obedience is a heavenly law and that it will be the bases for our relationship with Christ. I loved seeing that even faith is related to reason. That we need both to being able to be flying stably on the plane of life. I loved the question by Elder Holland ¨DO YOU LOVE ME?¨ it helped me see that really some day we will answer that question and that we will have to answer the truth. What will you answer? I love general conference. It made me a little sad to walk into the main room on Saturday to see it empty but I know that someday every ear will hear and every eye will see the progress that the Lord´s church is making and the revelations that will bless our lives.

On other news I have learned that my convert in ybate Epifanio Ortiz this next week will be performing the baptisms of three people,  His dad and his two sons. I was super pumped to hear those announcements and we super excited to know that epifanio has fallen in love with the gospel. I know that he knows that the church is true. I heard from a missionary that had the chance to talk to him that before his baptism he really didn´t understand all the stuff he was learning and he really didn´t know if the church was the ONLY true church. But he said that when we invited him to be baptized he felt that it was the right thing to do and that he had to do it in this church. I am so glad to know now that he has formed his testimony and is sharing it with others. ¨How great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me¨ I love you all. I love this mission. Really this is the best mission in the world. Start preparing Austen and Naomi and even Larson. You guys are up next to bat in the field of missionary service. WHOOOOTTT

Elder Beatty

Email 10/1/12

Poor guy didn't have time to send us a letter this week.  He did send a note to his dad that said he is doing well & has a new companion. 
This is what I got from him today....
 

 

AHHHHHH i´m so upset. I spent this whole time trying to send pictures and I got them all uploaded and everything and then the sending doesn´t work. I¨m sorry but I don´t have time left love you all!