Earth Life

                           Hey y'all

       This past two weeks have been very good! The lessons we taught were great and I loved talking to you guys it was really Awesome!, I was able to feel the spirit so strong. I feel really strong about families and how we can teach about the spirit. The scripture on my iPad this week was really good and I feel that it talks about all of us!

Alma 56:46 46 For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus. I think that this is perfect for me not only in my mission but in my earth life! Before this life we were called to come down to this earth to gain bodies and grow and progress and come back to Heavenly Father. We were afraid that we might fall but God was always with us and he made a way that we could be safe or to return. I love my mission and I want to be better every day It is a little scary at times but I have to keep the faith that Heavenly Father is on my side and he will bring me through to the end. I love every one and you don't need to worry just keep on sending me lots of memories I have been thinking about a lot of close friends in the ward and all the teachers that helped me on my way it has been a pleasure to get to know y'all and I'm excited to share all my stories with you! With lots of love Elder Beal

Elder Beal,

What a treat to visit with you on Christmas!!! Best gift ever!!! We know we were spoiled rotten to have you for so many hours although it felt like minutes. It was great to have Karly here with us, she just fits right in so perfectly, how we adore her! I hope the family you were spending the evening with was not offended by our making you late, please give them my heartfelt love!  Sorry your package had not arrived, I was glad to hear Elder Howard's mom included you in her package to her son.  That is so thoughtful of her! The letter from the mission president is so discouraging against packages, I am afraid of offending them or breaking any rules.

Today we attended church with Grandma and Grandpa Brumble because Brooklyn Gillespie just came home from serving her mission in Russia and was speaking in her ward.  She gave a lovely talk about the account found in 3 Nephi when the Savior visits the American continent.  The whole Sacrament was on making Christ the center of our lives.  It was really great.  Her parents said to let you know they love you.  

On Christmas morning just after 4am the Butte Creek Mill caught fire.  It is just a pile of rubble with a few pieces of timber eerily hanging on.  Our poor Mayor and owner of the mill, Bob Russell has faced major tragedies this year~his wife lost her battle with cancer just a couple of months ago and now this.

We were able to FaceTime with Aleesha and the boys tonight, they are super adorable!  She seemed to be doing really great.  Christian will be able to come home earlier than they expected even before their anniversary!  They have never been together on it as he has always been deployed.

My scriptural pondering this week has been:How can I give away all my sins so that I can know God?  It started with my reading verse 18 in chapter of Alma 22 When the King offers up his prayer to know God and volunteers to offer up all of his sins. Two chapters later in Alma 24:10 the prayer of Gratitude that even their sins of murder have been forgiven, I haven't murdered anyone yet so I have hope that forgiveness is available.  The trick is giving up our sins. So this brought me to the last General Conference a talk entitles " What lack I Yet?"  This talk conforms that when we ask this question with sincerity the Holy ghost will give us very direct and precise instruction that we will benefit from acting upon that instruction.  Line upon line as it also states that perfection will not happen in this life. Holding on to hope.

I love you, 

Mom

Christmas Phone Call!!!!

Merry Christmas!!


I think everyone in our home agrees that visiting with Moroni via FaceTime was the Best Gift Ever!!!
We, the parents are really new to it and did not record it or even take pictures, I know a few of the kids did, so I will have to beg them for some and update this post at that time.  We had the privilege of talking with him for two hours as a family and then individually in a quiet room over the third hour. Plus I was able to text and email him for an hour prior to that, I feel so spoiled!  It felt like minutes.

He seems really happy, getting the language, loves the food, but mostly the people.  There are six missionaries assigned to build up this branch.  There were no investigators when they arrived and Moroni and his companion have 5 progressing.  It was fantastic to hear his enthusiasm as he talked about sharing the Gospel with them and their amazing strength and faith.  One of the couples he loves and admires they met while on the street.  They were handing out pamphlets and a person said no as they turned to walk away they heard a man say~ I will take one (Yo quero uno)sp?. Turns out he was baptized in Mexico at 8 inactive by 12, married a lady (not a member yet) from England, now lives in Spain.

He said that in the city portion of this branch it is all apartments, so when they go tracking (sp?) They have to stand in front of the apartment complex and ring the intercom to invite the people to hear a message.  He said not once has that worked!  He said their goal is to meet 25 people each day on the street and hope for 3 phone numbers.  Chapel tours are another way they increase their teaching pool. He said the members are the best help in this work and that they have been fed almost everyday. They walk to everything within 30 minutes, taxi up to an hour away, and ride a bus for visits that are further than an hour within their branch.  When his companion, who is the zone leader, has an Elder come to him on exchanges then Moroni has to take a train solo to spend that day with the remaining Elder.

Overall he beamed with light and LOVES reading the Book of Mormon, he said every page has markings on it.  His testimony has caught fire and he is working hard to keep that fire burning hot.Here is a picture of him on a train for exchanges.

Look at what Karly made for our home, I love it!!

This is one of the gifts I made for Karly

Our Christmas was all homemade this year and Moroni did not get our packages yet.  Karly's is held hostage in customs and mine is MIA. So I sent him pictures of what we made each other here.

Christmas Caroling

Not many words this week but he spread it over three emails :) And some fun pictures!

1. Hey mom! That bike is definitely my favorite! I can't wait to see
y'alls beautiful faces it sucks that I have to be away for the
holidays because they are my favorite! I miss every one so much but I
have to go because I have to go do compras but I love y'all so much
and I am doing my best to serve the lord! Love your son Moroni

2. By the way we are going to to skype 5:00pm here and 8:00am there! Love y'all!

3. Oh and could you get Karly a little something for Christmas too!

Coolest bike yet in Spain.

No room in the Inn

Elder Beal,
Guess what? We woke up to snow this morning! I thought Sariah was just kidding when she came in the room, then she opened the window and there was 3 inches outside it is so beautiful. Secretly, I was hoping church would be canceled, only because it was the primary program today. I am glad it was not cancelled, the kids did an amazing job! They all wrote their own parts and Malachi gave a wonderful talk about you. I will try to send it. I'm not sure why I was so nervous :-) hopefully we'll get a school snow day this week!
Nauvoo's team is undefeated and the older girls won their first game this week. They went into overtime and then won by six points. So far they have only played nonleague teams all the schools that are much larger than ours.
My first semester of pathways ends this week with two finals. I should not be nervous about that either but I am a little. Karlita comes home this week too. It will be great to see her! I know she is super excited for your Christmas call, hopefully you two can stay strong for each other and not break into a sad cry-fest! ;)
Dad's birthday is coming up too, he said to tell you that my boyfriend loves you. I guess he wants to feel younger so that's why he is my boyfriend, who knows? Speaking of boyfriend, Sariah and Collin made their relationship official. Now she is not as excited about serving a mission as she is about him. I can't really blame her as he is a great guy. Maybe she can have both?
I know I should have sent your package sooner but I promise, it is in the mail today (Monday). I know it takes just shy of a week to get to Spain. Not sure how long to get from the mission home to you though. This year all our gifts are homemade, that takes a lot longer than Amazon Prime! I am hoping we will be able to finish the rest of the kids on time, fingers crossed for that snow day! I could use some extra hours this week:)

I trust you and your companion are still working hard and getting along well. I loved the tunnel video and you look great in a scarf.  This week during my scripture study, I have been trying to visualize what I am reading and I have found that really brings it to life and deepens the meaning for me. Are you reading the scriptures in Spanish, English, or both? My quote this week was found in a conference talk but originally was by Mother Theresa, "You can't love someone  if you're busy judging them." I know when we serve we can't help but love. I love you!
J'taime Toujours,
Mom

Dad and Jeff testing their tires in the snow ;)

3rd Transfer- no longer the youngest!

This week has been pretty good and I had a lot of fun! For the jerky you can't label it as jerky just as missionary supplies! We have a branch not a ward and we have about a 100 people that go! We had Chinese food this last week during zone conference! Today is the starting of my third transfer its kind of weird I'm not the youngest in the zone! I can't wait to Skype y'all and see your beautiful faces! We have been teaching this pareja and they are awesome we found this guy we and he ended up being baptized and then we had a lesson the next day! It went awesome the Sunday after that they were taught the restoration and loved it! Then we gave them bombs and 

3 Nephi chapter 11 to read and they did and they talked about baptism and how the wanted to be saved! It is amazing to see a desire in someone like that to freely partake of the saviors gospel! Kim y Ivie are their names!

~Moroni

Moroni's Companion, Elder Howard teaching Moroni some cool missionary skills.

Learning new words in Spanish as they go to share the Gospel.  I love his smile at the end of the tunnel.

Elder Beal,

I am so happy to hear that your companion took great care of you while you were sick! It is crazy that the kids were really sick here at the same time with a fever as well!  They were projectile puking repeatedly, hopefully that wasn't the same for you. I would be totally tripped out if Christian was feverish too!  We kept both Elder Gearig and Howard in our prayers along with you to stay healthy.  Who know maybe some of those weird ideas you heard really do work! Above all stay hydrated and get up and shower everyday, that will always make you feel your best.  Keep giving 100% everyday!

I decided not to send your perishable package straight to you as not to make you waste a P-day waiting at the import office and risk having to pay tariff, so I will keep it chilled here and send it in your Christmas package to the Mission office address.  I think it will keep several weeks not chilled, I just want to play it safe.  How often are care packages delivered from the mission office to the field?

My parents are on their winter exodus to the warmer states.  Currently they are visiting Grandma Perez, but soon they will head out to Arizona, I think.  Dad has always dreamed of traveling and mom loves the warmth so it is a good fit for the two of them. The girls first game is tomorrow, they go up against North Medford, a much larger school. I think if they have team jive, they will do great!  Malachi sent you an email, hopefully he got the address correct. Aleesha just had a birthday and Christian's is in just a few days in case you want to send them Birthday wishes in an email.

Did you get any appointments scheduled from your last round of Chapel tours?  A chapel tour is a really great way to talk about the sacrament ordinance.  Does your chapel look like a typical chapel in the States or does it have some Spanish influence?  Maybe you could send a picture of that to us? Are you in a Branch or Ward and how many members would you say attend on an average Sunday?

This last month the Bishopric was turned down by 8 people in our ward to serve in Nursery!  Turning down callings is really not an option, we should always be willing to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He needs us in!  Always be willing to 'observe then serve' - we all would be better off to live by that motto.

My favorite video of the week is from a couple years back, Reclaimed but I love it every time I watch it.  I have attached it for you.  I wonder if there is a Spanish version?  Through the Atonement, the Savior can turn our garbage into a work of beauty.  We should never go digging up old sins we have given over to His care.   I love you! 

J'Taime Toujours!

Mom