Missionary Monday - I Don't Know What Week it is in Marshall

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Janie, Gracie, Kloe, and Dad! 

NOTICE: My letter is going to suck today. This week went by super fast and I kind of operate under the motto of, "if you don't have anything good to write, don't write at all". So it will probably just be some random thoughts.

I found out yesterday that in our Branch President's family (the ones with 7 girls and 1 boy) have "Brother Appreciation Days" because its hard only having sisters. Ha ha. I don't know if Kota reads these, but he should see what he can do about getting those started. 

I don't know how much I've told you about the Dailey kids, but the two younger ones are a challenge and they just got a new little kitty. They named him Mr. Paw Paw. Long story short, the three year old boy layed on the cat and killed it. While we were talking with Cynita the little girl started screaming inside and we opened the door to find a mangled little cat body. Cynita couldn't pull herself together so I put it in a trash bag, threw up in my mouth a little bit, and disposed of it. R.I.P. Mr. Paw Paw. 

Our branch had a booth that we manned at the Festival of the Forks in Albion on Saturday and that was pretty cool. We had like ten times the success that we had at the County Fair booth. Elder Tu'ua reaches a social class that we have not previously been able to reach. Especially in Albion.  I'm excited to meet with the people we met at the festival.

We got a media referral that we taught this morning. She has been talking online with her best friends in Florida about the church and wants to be apart of it. The more I get into the mission the more I start to think that we don't do a whole lot in bringing them to the church. When we find them they are willing to hear it because God has prepared them and if they accept it it is because God gives them an answer. We just teach. I've kind of stopped stressing about whether people accept it or not. I just do my job and turn it over to God. In a sense I feel like I've come full circle. Before my mission I couldn't care less if strangers accepted the gospel or not. Then I learned to love people and started obsessing about what I could do to get them to accept it. Its not that I don't care or love them now, its just that if someone is prepared they will accept it and I can't force someone who isn't. So I'm kind of just trying to enjoy the ride of this mission thing. 

I also used to think that there was a straight and narrow path to be a good missionary, but I am not finding that to be true. Before I left Scott's advice was to just be myself and that is probably the message I would pass on to anyone else. Different missionaries find different people. I'm seeing that as I get new companions. When I got Elder Finlayson our teaching pool changed, and again with Elder Tu'ua. So I'm just trying to be the best me. If there was only one mold for missionary work it wouldn't matter where they sent us. 

I recognize that I failed you all this week with this letter. I will do better next week.

Elder Beck