November 21, 2016 Utah Mormon Friends

Looks like you all had a fun time on Thanksgiving!! i loved the family get togethers!! I'ts something i've grown a better appreciation of out on a mission knowing that we have family so close that we are able to do that kind of stuff! Thank you so much for the tips about college and life in general! It helps a ton! Regarding the whole rice, cereal, pasta and food like that.. I'm ok with that! haha it easily satisifies me! Macaroni and Cheese is what i grew up on anyway! Oh by the way, i've been teaching Elder Bybee the skills and techniques of making a wonderful meal of mac n cheese. He loves it so much! Well this week was AMAZING!! I don't think i've ever been so busy in my life! Life as a zone leader man... it's a roller coaster!! Seems like we don't even have time to breath! There are days where we literally have to skip lunch!! It's been so much fun and it's been quite rewarding! me and Elder Bybee are having so much fun! He's so awesome! We have become really good friends! He's hilarious and he's seen nacho libre so there isn't much complaining necessary! Well I'll go ahead and share my favorite highlight of the week right now! Bryn passed his baptismal interview!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He's going to be baptized this Friday! He's so ready and prepared, it's crazy! We were going over the baptismal questions with him and literally every question we asked him he started crying! The spirit was so strong! I've never experienced such a spiritual baptismal interview ever! This guy is so awesome!! I can't wait to show you pictures. I love Bryn so much and am so proud of the decisions he's made!! 

We were contacting on the streets of Queens university and we ran into a guy who was part of this christian group called power to change! They had this stand outside asking people what they thought of God. So we started talking to him. He's so cool. He invited us over to his place that night and there were about 8 others that were staying in his apartment. They were all part of this group! They were all sooo cool. They were all so friendly and they were just askin us about what we do as missionaries and askin questions about the church!! Man it was such a cool experience. Just 2 mormon missionaries with like 10 guys just chillin on the couch talking about the gospel! It was sweet! And they invited us over to this ugly sweater Christmas party with all of the power to change group for a couple of minutes! It was soo fun! you would expect all of these people to be mormons! hahah they were so kind! It was funny to see everybody's faces when we went into the house of like 60 people in it!! But Ebe and Sam were introducing everybody to us. It was pretty funny, Ebe was like," yo this is our utah mormon friends, they are so sick!!" I felt so welcome it was sweet! Now Ebe wants to go see how good my basketball skills are. Elder bybee is good too! We go sometimes early in the morning and he's given me some competition!!! He's good! Found a couple of investigators just talking to random people on the streets and knocking into them!! People have been really kind here, it's been such a fun ride!! Kingston has 160000 people i think. Branch has about 150 people in it! YSA here is about 10 so it's been fun to be around them! We have FHE with them tonight they are really cool! The branch is soo kind! Everybody is excited about baptism coming up!!

Man me and Elder Bybee are having a blast! We are teaching a bunch of lessons, so it's really nice!! One thing i love about elder bybee is that he teaches from the heart. The lessons that we have been teaching people i feel like they are more meaningful and more spiritual. I feel like missionaries focus to much on just covering each doctrinal point in the lessons rather than trying to apply it to the person you are teaching or sharing experiences with people for example! And I feel that we do really well with teaching with the spirit, and people feel the spirit a ton more too!! 

I love you all!! 

Forever and Always,

Colters   

Elder Bybee

 

 

November 14, 2016 The Farmington Boys Killin it in Kingston!

Elder Bybee thought it was hilarious that you did that on your mission! He remembers getting injured while he was pitching one of the games, he got hit in the hand or something and he went up to talk to him and you said, "Can you still pitch?" hahaha he tried and he couldn't. Elder Bybee loved you as a coach. It's pretty cool to talk about baseball with him and past memories at high school and buddies we went to school with. It's pretty weird to talk about. Who knew I would be serving with Elder bybee? Small world ay? The farmington boys killin it in Kingston! It's been a good week! It's been different for sure but it's been good! I don't feel any different as a zone leader to be honest. Just more responsibility, but i'm grateful to have the opportunity to be one! I love serving with Elder bybee, i'm bummed we didn't hang out at all before the mission cause we are exactly the same, such a good guy! He's a really hard worker too! So we both came into the area with horrible white wash notes(thanks missionaries who served before us) so lots of running around with our heads cut off, but we are settling in. Just trying to get to know everybody by calling them, dropping by, etc. The branch is awesome!! They are so kind, they love feeding the missionaries so that's a blessing. They are willing to come out teaching with us too! I love that! So many miracles happened this week. Holy cow i'm tearing up just thinking about it. First and foremost Bryn. 

We got a referral the other day from Halifax for a dude named Bryn. He has been being taught a little from missionaries out there but recently moved out to Kingston for work. HE is so solid! What a miracle! He was bearing testimony of the gospel in our first sit down lesson with him! He agrees with all the doctrine and is already saving for a mission because he is only 20. But something that he is experiencing that i related to well and really hit home for me is when he was talking about changing our nature. He talked about being in college and getting kicked out for partying and just really not caring about school. He talked about the parties and the drugs and alcohol that just float around. He was talking about if the gospel can change his nature, he will do anything for it to help. He wont go back to college until he is strong enough to withstand the parties and everything. He knows he isn't strong enough right now because he doesn't have a foundation of Christ. He's so awesome. We taught him everyday this past week hahaha that's how prepared he is. He loves the gospel. He's probably one of the most prepared people that i've taught. He has a date for the 25th of this month! 

We found 3 new investigators!! The YSA here are so awesome! They just bring there non member buddies to activities and it's great! The apartment is trashy, not the best but's that alright. There is a roof over our heads. It's an apartment complex. 

The zone is full of amazing missionaries. They all are special in there own way and they have there individual talents and abilities that combine to make a powerful zone! We have two of the funniest missionaries in the zone so that's fun! Everyone did well this week missionary work wise, i'm excited for the future and the work that is going to be put in! 

I know that all of this matters. It's making a difference. The Gospel is capable of doing that. As a missionary you are part of so many lives, it's crazy. I was thinking about this the other day about how members, missionaries, friends, etc play such an important role and you can impact so many different people. The master teacher and follower impacted me and I love sharing that. I love teaching with Elder Bybee cause everything that comes out of his mouth is from the heart. He's such a sincere missionary and I look up to him for that. I love this guy so much, we are having a blast! The mission is the hardest thing I've ever done. But oh is it worth it!! Love you guys, I'm sorry if i didn't answer everybodies questions. My brain is on overload everytime I get on to email. hahah so if you have any questions for me ask me again and i'll try to answer them! 

Forever and Always,

Elder Beddes, Coco, (some new ones i've obtained on my mission) slappy, ferris bueler, ranoldo

Toronto!

The Farmington boys killin it in Kingston!

November 7, 2016 Baptisms, Transfers, AND Zone Leader

Well well well where do i start off this week!? Oh i know, 4 BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo excited that I got to experience that in this area, i have been so blessed!! I love these two families so much!! Zana, Dominic, Spring, and Cassie all got baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday!! This is what Elder Hafen said(He summed it up pretty well):
"This week was super busy and exciting! We spent most of the week getting Cassie, Spring, Dominic, and Xana ready for baptism. Lots of Preparing. I didnt get very much sleep Friday night because I was so excited for the baptisms! Saturday morning finally came and we got delayed for 30 min.  Cassie and Spring didnt bring white clothes so Sister Lee ran to Walmart to go and get them white underwear. While she was gone, we tried to set up a movie for everyone to watch, but no one could get the tv to work. We finally got the tv to work, but then sister Lee came back. So we proceeded with the program. I went first baptizing Dominic and Spring. I had to baptize Dominic twice since his legs came up. Spring came down and she held on to my arm so it was out of the water, and her hair came up also. I held her under as I tried to put her hair in the water and then her legs came flailing up since I had her under too long. The second time her legs came up again. So the third time I got smart and stepped on her feet so her legs wouldnt come up. I kept her under and looked at the witnesses to make sure it was done correctly this time before bringing her back up. A few people starting clapping when I brought her back up. Elder Beddes only baptized Cassie and Xana once each. At least I can say I had 5 baptisms instead of 2!" 

Haha so it went really well, it was such a spiritual time for everybody! Most of the branch came out to support so that was really good to see! We had lunch after as well, lots of food! It was a good time!! 

I love these two families with all of my heart. Cassie, one of the girls i baptized, said this in a text just a couple of hours ago, it made me tear up. "You are an amazing missionary. I know you will make so many more ppl happy! You made me smile a lot! I am so thankful for you entering into my life. I'm so grateful you taught me so much and I couldn't ask for anything better! we are all gonna miss you beddes. I'll see you again sometime maybe. Just remember keep on smiling because your smile can brighten ppls days. I will read the book of mormon and pray each night. I've gotta go to school now but thanks again and i wish u luck on your mission." Ohhh i guess i better tell everybody now lol i've been transferred!!!!!! To the next city over hahaha! Kingston and i'm going to be a zone leader with Elder Bybee an old high school buddy of mine! So small world! I have a couple of my favorite missionaries coming into the zone as well, so it's going to be fun!!! It's hard to say goodbye to everybody here and to Elder Hafen but i'm not to far away ay?! Now, when I baptized Xana, i'll be honest i started to tear up! lol there's only been a couple of times I have felt the spirit so strongly and this is one of those experiences. Xana is 8 years old and everytime I look at her it reminds me of Maleah. So when I was baptizing Xana it was kind of like a re-inaction of what it would have been like for me to baptize Maleah. It made up for it in a way I guess is what i'm trying to say! It was an amazing moment for me! Anyway, I loved Napanee! I learned so much! One of the biggest things I learned was that God pays close attention to branches. Who would have thought that a branch of 30 could have 4 baptisms? Lots of people lost hope honestly and coming into this area there wasn't much haha but with the Lord's help it got picked right back up to it's feet! I love this area with all of my heart! I'm going to miss it a ton!! I love you all and hope everything is going well for all of you!!

Love you Forever and Always,

Elder Beddes, Coco, Colten     

"I'm headed East to Kingston, whitewashing into the area and training a new Zone Leader from my hometown, Elder Beddes!!!! He's a stud, and I'm stoked. I've never whitewashed before, so we'll see. I'm excited though, we're gonna get it done. (Kristie Berry Beddes! How exciting is this!!!??? Just got this email from Cale.)"

Dear Xana,

Hi! When I got my baptism done I felt special and the water was really warm. It felt nice to get baptized. I'm happy you got to get baptized too. Now we have the Holy Ghost! The Holy Ghost helps you feel better and helps you make good choices. I loved my baptism! I hope you remember these good feelings too.

From your new friend,

Maleah

Dear Maleah,

Thanks so much maleah!! you are the best, she is going to love it!! i'm glad you had fun at halloween, i think of you guys a lot!! I'm excited to play with you!! they do have trick or treat in canada! lots of questions to answer haha but a mission is hard but it's fun!! I love you!! Of course we can do all of that stuff! I can't wait!! I want to play sports with you too!! Stay cute lele,

Love you more,

coco

Nov 5, 2016

Cassie and Spring (Evelyn Lovett)

Xana and Dominque

 

 

 Elder Moffat (going home tomorrow)

 Napanee, Canada

Oct 31, 2016 Accomplish All Things With the Help of God

First off those Halloween pictures are awesome!! The gang! I remember dressing up as an old man and going trick or treating with Chase before we left on our missions! So fun, I can't wait to go again! ;) Thanks for putting my name in the prayer roll, much appreciated! The whole family is doing well it seems like! Volleyball family that's for sure!! Those pictures that you received were from Evelyn Lovett who have kids that are going to get baptized, Cassie and Spring!! The whole family is awesome, they have progressed so much! We've been teaching them a ton! The Fordham's(other family that is getting baptised) are doing spectacular! Katherine is getting in the hang of things; coming to church, reading scriptures with the kids, watching mormonchannel, and even being a great missionary to her non member husband Mike! She's doing such a good job that Mike has been asking a lot of questions about the church and the baptisms of his 2 kids, Dominique and Xana! He even came to a church party for the first time and loved it! He should be investigating pretty soon! They watched meet the mormons together and they both loved it! Dominique and Xana are doing really well! I'm so proud of these two! So there should be 4 baptisms this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited!! Lot's of preparing to do for this great day!! Maleah I was wondering if you could email a short letter for Xana talking about how your baptism was! She's pretty excited and she reminds me a whole lot of you! I think she would really like that, i sure do talk about you a ton with her and she wants to say hi! Well, Canada is starting to look like.... well Canada! haha we had our first snow a couple of days ago. That made Elder Hafen cringe, it made me really happy! I love the winter! It's been getting pretty cold too, no more AC anymore! We had a great last district meeting! It was an interesting one! I've learned a ton from being a district leader and preparing for these meetings! This last one was a fun one! I had everybody come up with a deep doctrine questions, very deep.... hahaha and we practiced answering as simply as we could. So it was a good practice and reminder that deep doctrine questions could be brought up by our investigators and others too and it's our duty to answer as simply as we can, teach the doctrine pertaining to that question as simply as we can, and then testify! I came up with a bunch of deep doctrine questions and had everybody practice role playing! hahah it was pretty funny to watch and listen!! It was fun, and then after the senior couple had us over for tacos! So good! I love those guys so much they remind me of my grandparents! We had to give talks yesterday! I talked about 1 Nephi 3:7, related it to gaining our own testimonies!! Elder Hafen spoke first, talked for a good.... 12 minutes. lol so that was awesome that I had to speak for 35 but somehow I did it. Cried in front of everybody, I usually do and it's embarrassing. Haha we met this sweet woman tracting in the boonies! Her name is Melissa and she teaches Catholic school and she was quite interested in what we had to say!! I can't wait to meet with her again! Anyway, ALL is well in God's country and we are balling it up here and having fun! 

Spiritual thought of the week:

Referring to that scripture 1 nephi 3:7, Nephi pretty much bore a small testimony about how he can accomplish all things with the help of God! The trust and the confidence he must of had!! If we had the same attitude that Nephi had when he needed to go back to Jerusalem, build a ship, etc then we would be much happier and would be more blessed! Love you guys

Forever and Always,

Elder Beddes, Coco, Jojonator    

 Praying over my food and how delicious it will be!! haha best breakfast place i've ever eaten!! 

Me and Elder Hafen

District Meeting!

October 24, 2016 Practice Makes Perfect

Those pictures are awesome!! You guys all look so good!! The nature looks beautiful as well!! My week was a good one!! Our potential baptisms are looking really good so far!

Zana-Nov. 5

Dominque- Nov. 5

Spring-Nov.5

Cassie-Nov.5

So we are pumped about that!!! Spring is very jumpy and figity and Cassie is the shyest person i've ever met so combined... it's something to see! The lessons are definitely not the typical lessons we have but that's alright they are learning and coming to church!!They are awesome! Zana and Dominque are golden!! They just sit down and listen to us and they are happy to be there! They are awesome! I absolutely love teaching them! They are opening up a ton more and the lessons are just so fun!!! They all have been coming to church so that's good!!! We've been hitting records here in Napanee missionary work wise so we are pumped about that!! I can't wait to see these children baptized! It'll be the first baptisms in over a year! So excited!!!!!!!!!! We've had a good week! Me and Elder Hafen have been killing it and having fun! He's so funny i love him! We were at our returning members house who is going to be going to the temple soon (so excited about) and he smoked us some ribs and they were the most delicious ribs i've ever had!! Me and Elder Hafen had three each... yeah we felt pretty gross after but they were so good. We went over to Smith Falls to work their area for a day... that was brutal but fun. It was raining literally the whole day and they had planned for us to tract and contact all day... so that was sweet to be in! No one was really receptive sadly but it was fun to be around different missionaries. Let's see... we had to help out at this Couples conference that was Paris themed. And so the zone leaders, me and elder hn were the waiters!! It was fun and enjoyed it... it was pretty tough to hear Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin music in the background though... holy cow. That was tough! I dared an Elder in my district after my district meeting to eat two large poutines and I told him that I would give him a tie. I honestly didn't think he could do it, but he did... he puked after but it was a good show! ;) lol he's really skinny too, I honestly don't know how he did it. We've been hearing a ton about Trump and Hillary..... holy cow it's so annoying. I swear the Canadians are more into American Politics than what Americans are. People always ask us about it, and I have none of it. I don't even know anything about politics so it's good for me. :) It's getting pretty cold now.. i have my jacket on. Elder Hafen isn't used this Cold weather so it's pretty funny to see him suffering and experiencing the exact opposite of what Neveda is like! well that's all for now... it was a good week! My district is doing amazing! I love them so much!! The zone is awesome, napanee is spectacular!! To answer these questions: So, have you heard of any new missionaries from our area being called to Canada? Any old friends? Ever hear from Alex from Idaho? How about fellow missionaries? Hear from Chase or Jake? How often do you report/visit with Elder Shields? There are a couple of friends that went to viewmont that are here in the mission!! Some good friends too,but i haven't seen them!! jake and chase are still planning on byui!! Alex is doing really well!! He's still body building!! We report to president every time we email so once a week! He's awesome! Just had skils and interviews with him and we had a good chat about deep doctrine and future plans and how things are going in the mission! haha anyway here's the spiritual thought of the week.!

"For some, serving or ministering one by one, following the Savior’s example, doesn’t come easily. But with practice, each of us can become more like the Savior as we serve God’s children."

—Linda K. Burton

Love this quote!! perfect practice makes perfect!! Love you all!! 

Forever and Always,

Elder Beddes, Coco   

A member in Smith Falls showed me his collection! He puts me to shame compared to mine! haha he let me keep one which was cooL! 

We encountered this while tracting... scared me half to death.. I stopped dead in my track and then realized it was decoration. I was about to sprint the opposite way! haha

 Service for an active member!!! Gettin it done!!!!!!!!

Chef Hn

 sleepin on the job

I didn't know Elder Hn did modeling 

  Meeting with one of our Less actives!! :0

District meeting in paris!!

 Helping out with Couples conference

 

October 17, 2016 Elder Beddes, is Everything Alright?

Well looks like everything is going well with the family!! That's super cool that you got to ride those things, where was that? That's a sweet picture of everybody in the volleyball picture!! Nice job!! Well this week wasn't to exciting! Kind of a mellow week, not a lot of people seemed to receptive this week but that's alright, the more seeds planted the merrier!! We've been having some awesome lessons though! I love teaching, especially when the people you are teaching feel the spirit! I've especially liked teaching Kathy and her children that are getting baptized! They are so kind and funny! They listen and learn very well! I love teaching them the basics such as prayer and God! They just get so excited and want to try it out and learn more! They are getting excited for their baptisms in November! They have already invited family and friends to it! Shelley's worker that was supposed to work for her bailed out last minute and dissappeared and so she wasn't able to come to church for the first time in years. But she says that she is trying her best to find someone else cause she really wants to go! So hopefully soon!! Scott is hilarious! I love teaching him. He always teaches us martial arts after so it's cool to learn about the gospel and then how to kick somebodies butt! lol We had District Conference!! That was cool and I loved the talks! The amount of people there was about the same in my home ward in Farmington lol! I almost died at a dinner appointment the other day, that was cool. Something funny happened and I tried not to laugh and hid it as best I could! But then I saw Elder Hafen laughing and that made me laugh even harder and so I just decided to drink my drink to try and stop me from laughing but I just started drowning myself really! haha and so Elder Hafen was like "Elder Beddes is everything alright?" haha i'm like yup yup everything is just fine thank you! We are getting fed pretty well here, so that's nice! The members like us so that's good!! I love missionary work! You just got to have fun with it! It can be a drag really when you aren't having fun and being yourself! I love recieving emails from past families that I've taught here is one that was sent to me!

"Hi Elder Beddes,

I have been thinking about you a lot lately and wanted to send you a quick email. Sending Thomas out has given me lots of time to reflect on people that have made a difference in his life. About a year ago I started praying for a missionary to arrive in our ward that would connect with Thomas and make missionary work seem great. Not that we hadn't had good elders but nobody that Thomas was connecting with. So when you arrived in December you really were an answer to prayers. Our family connected with you right away and we loved having you in our home. Thomas' mission prep started moving on and he was definitely on board with serving a mission. I know there were lots of reasons for this but you definitely played a part. When he got his call he said he really wanted to let you know so as you know we found your number and he was able to share his news with you. Sending him off last month was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done but I am so grateful that he went. Does that make sense? The boys and Abby had such a hard time saying good bye. I remember you saying being away from your little sisters has been the hardest part of you mission. Thomas seems a bit homesick right now. The MTC is getting to him but he leaves for Uruguay on the 25th so then a whole new set of challenges await him. I am sure he will succeed, he just needs to work through everything he is feeling.
I won't write much more since I am not even sure if you are allowed to receive emails from members in the mission. We are all doing okay. Abby is driving now. She dumped the Pentacostal and is sort of living the single life, and loving it! So no boyfriend to baptize. Andrew is still a crazy kid and has fun with the Elders whenever they are over. Elliott is missing Thomas so much, especially with all his sports on. He misses his watching buddy. I have been feeding the YSA missionaries lately because they never get appointments. Elder B just loves Andrew. We love him too! He said he went to high school with you.  He is with Elder H so it kind of feels like you are at dinner when they are over. We also have Elder G who is awesome and Elder T who is new. They are great elders. I  feed the four of them every week. Your name comes up all the time. The kids still talk about our Christmas carolling last year and how much fun that was. We did have a lot of fun with you when you were here.
So I will say good bye for now. Maybe we will run into you again before you leave next year. We are planning a trip to Utah next summer but I don't think you will be home yet. If you ever come back for a visit you know you have a place to stay! Keep working hard, I am sure you are. You are a great missionary and I am sure you are making a difference wherever you are. I know you made a difference in Stoney Creek!
Love,
The H Family
P.S. I am going to send a couple pictures in a separate email for you to see. 

P.P.S. Are you eating? Are you still picky? LOL  

    

Just got back to my desk and saw your email! So exciting. Thomas' email is  thomas.hobbs@myldsmail.net. He leaves next Tuesday for Uruguay. We have Elder Gomez and Thieme right now. They aren't you, you are still our favourite with Elder Catalin a close second. We do like them though. We were struggling with Elder Baird when he was here. A good missionary but drove us all crazy. We didn't shed many tears when he left. Does that sound bad? We love Elder Bybee too. I keep feeding the zone leaders because they really don't get fed. Elder Herbert is funny too. But like I said they aren't you. We keep hoping you will end up as the zone leader here and then we can have you for dinner. I still make my cookies for the elders. They seem to like them, a lot! Anyways I need to get back to work. So glad you emailed back. We miss you and hopefully we will see you again. Like I said we are going to Utah next summer but not sure when you will be home. We haven't decided when yet.  Keep working hard! Napanee never used to be a branch when we  lived in Kingston 20 years ago. All those members came to our branch there. If we are driving through on our way to Ottawa or Kingston in the next little while I will figure out a way to get you some cookies! 

All the best!

Love,

The Hobbs Family (Sister H)

Haha they were a family in Stoney Creek!! I love them so much!! Anyway, i'm doing really well. Elder Hafen is too! We are having a blast and making every second count! Time flies on the mission! It's weird to see friends going home in the mission and in other missions! I love you all! Hope you have a good week! Sorry it's a shorter email! Stay Gold!

Love,

Elder Beddes, Coco

 Yes, i've gained weight

October 11, 2016 That Was How I Knew

I didn't know that you got new callings!! Ward Clerk and the primary!! I wish you guys luck, you guys will do great! Thank you for the tips regarding my letter home, it helps a ton! So our week was one with a ton of ups and downs! lol i'll be honest the start of this week was one of the most shocking, unexpected, and sad starts of the week for me. We had lunch at swiss chalet (canadian restaurant) with Angie. We were all having a good time eating our food and then we asked her how her Book of Mormon reading is going. Then she pulls out The Book of Mormon, the triple combination, the pamphlets, and everything else we had given her and she had it all tied together in a ribbon and put it on the table. She said, "I no longer want to meet with you guys." She had went to go see her Aunt when she had a mini stroke for conference weekend and the aunt had given her a couple of books that had a bunch of Anti in it. We tried to resolve the concerns she had read but she wasn't having it. We tried to remind her of the feelings that she had, the progress she had made, and the things that she had learned, but said it was fake. It was quite alarming that she would say that she was 98% the church is true and that she is loving the things that were being taught and the spirit she was feeling. She was making true friends at church, ones she never had the chance the obtain her whole life, and then she runs into, what we told her to be careful and to stay away from, some anti. I could feel and see the coldness in her eyes as she walked out of the restaurant as if she felt accomplished and felt right about the decision that she had made. We had a long chat at that table about the whole thing. I was more saddened, frustrated, and ticked off that my trainee had to go through something like this. I was honestly ok, because I have experienced this on my mission countless times. I was of course saddened by it but felt more determined to work harder. On the other hand, Elder Hafen was having a hard time with it. But long story short, we felt alright about the situation and all is well. It was shocking, because we thought for sure she was getting baptized but that's alright. It's life. There's more potential out there. More souls to find. We feel more motivated. More determined and there's more umph in our steps! It was a great learning experience for us all and it was a spiritual experience for me to have a great convo with my companion bearing my testimony of the mission and giving him motivating and uplifting encouragement to him! I love him dearly and am proud of him! God has a sense of humor, after that experience we had with Angie, the very first door we knock on is interested in the Gospel! haha it was sweet! She owns like 5 dogs and she wants to know where her deceased husband is. I love bearing testimony of the Plan of Salvation and seeing something sparkle in their eyes as they hear and feel the Spirit. Other great things that have happened! Kathy and her kids came to church. Kathy hasn't come to church since 2004!! And Dominque and Zana loved it too!! They have a baptismal date for Nov 5th!! It's awesome, they are so smart and funny! Dominque reminds me of myself when I was 11 and Zana reminds me of Maleah! We need more children/youth in the branch!! So we are excited about that! They are doing really well, saying family prayer, studying the scriptures daily, and mormon messages as well!! Scott Avery is preparing well for the temple! He's getting more and more excited about it!  I love teaching about the temple! He should be going soon and I hope we get to go with him! He's doing really well, coming to church every Sunday and feeling the spirit! Shelley is coming next week, she found someone to work for her on Sundays!!! So excited about that as well! Evelyn Lovett and her children are coming to church and the kids are wanting to be baptized as well! So we should be having 4 baptisms by the end of the transfer!! So we are excited about the progress that Napanee has made!! I love this place and the branch!! I love building up areas as well,it's one of my favorite things! I told my mission president last time to send me to areas in the mission where nobody wants to go!! It's fun!!! My district is doing really well! Elder Ngerantar (malaysia), cattelain (utah), Hafen(Nevada), coffee(arizona), olson(calgary), Sister Garaki(tahiti), hamblin(idaho), and the Hatches(alberta)!!! It's a fun district and they are all hard working!!! Haha so i like to include something funny that happened in the week and me and elder h were talking about the week and really couldn't think of anything! Then yesterday we were visiting some members and we were walking out and I was shaking everybody's hand telling them goodbye and thank you and things like that and then I hear a THUMP..... thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. Elder Hafen took a spill down the flight of stairs! HAHAHAHAHA it looked pretty graceful to be honest but everybody was freaking out about it, seeing if he was alright. He just got up, and he was alright! lol I was crying, and thought I was going to pee my pants! I couldn't stop laughing when we left the house!! Man it was good to laugh that hard! Well I want to share my experience of my conversion to the Gospel. I haven't really told anybody in the family or my friends back at home so a lot of people might be interested to know how I came to know that this church is true. Obviously I was born in the church and raised "by goodly parents" and was taught in the way that is  very pleasing to God! But I guess I was going through the motions of going to church, saying my simple nightly prayers, reading a verse from the scriptures a day, just checking off boxes on the check list for lack of better words. I knew that it was all good and that it was something that God wanted us to do but I didn't really know if it mattered. And I remembered my dad coming into my room while i was in bed getting ready to go to sleep. And we had a conversation about the church, the gospel, a mission, and other church related stuff. And he told me that I was doing what was right but I pretty much needed to find out for myself it was true and if it mattered. (I don't know if he remembers this) As he walked out of my room I had a strong impression to kneel down and ask our father in heaven if all of this was true and if it mattered. As I finished my prayer, an overwhelming feeling hit me. Now, I know that a lot of people say that it was an overwhelming warm feeling, or peaceful feeling and it can seem like the norm to say it and to hear about others experiences with it but mine was a little different. I received those feelings after getting thoughts of my family. Joyful memories that flooded into my mind and into my heart with an indescribable feeling of Gods love and care. I had thoughts of my sisters and I on the tramp playing together. Me and my dad playing catch with the baseball and him teaching me how to throw a curveball. My mother looking into my eyes as she sat beside me talking about the importance of the temple as we sat outside of it eating lunch. All of us together eating our ice cream in the van as we drove home from Farr's ice cream! So many fond memories had flooded into my mind!! And really That was how I knew that God had answered me. And from that day and that experience I knew that the Gospel and the church was true. Families can be together forever! And everything else fell into place, everything else clicked and made since!!! I'm grateful for our Heavenly Father who does answer our prayers! Who is there! Who truly cares! I'm grateful for his Son who came into the world to die for us! He makes it all possible!! And I am grateful for that experience that has brought me this far in my life! I love you all and have a wonderful week! I 'll be praying for you all! xoxo

Forever and Always,

Elder Beddes           

Sweet poutine place we found!!

 

Found this in an area we cover!! In Bath! Apparenly 20 years ago Thomas S. Monson dedicated it.

  Yup that's right 

 

Elder Hafen

Fall!!!!

 

October 6, 2016 Hoorah for Israel! (Handwritten letter)

Dear Family,

It's about time I write you guys huh? I'm really sorry, hopefully you aren't disappointed in me or bummed in anyway. It's just been crazy busy lately. I don't even remember the last time I sent a letter home. Elder Ht time? Boy this mission is amazing! I've learned so much and I can truly say that I've become a better servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and a better son of our Heavenly Father. I've had so many experiences and so many miracles witnessed that have really strengthened me and my testimony! It amazes me how much the lor's hand is in this work and it's not even me. I'm just lucky that I get to witness all of it! I feel I learned the most in Sudbury, especially when I was with Elder Ht. He was such a good person and a great missionary. We had so much fun together. So many memories will be kept. One of them I will never forget was when we were walking to an appointment in the freezing cold, snow up to your shins, and snow piled up on the sides of the roads 8 ft high! And we would just mess around and throw each other in the snow and just wrestle and have fun! We killed it missionary work wise! We worked so hard and it paid off! We had hit standards of excellence 14/18 times we had together! Found so many investigators, I just wish he could have experienced McKenna's and Chris' baptism. He deserved to see to see the fruit of his labor the 10 months he had been there! That ice castle crew was fun too! Elder M is another one of my buddies, best buddies that is. Elder B too. I can't believe he's been home for about 2 months now! I had so much fun being banished up there. District meetings were fun over Skype, will never forget those! They were a pain to be honest… but cool experience haha. The Sudbury Ward was probably my least favorite to be honest, but they're nice people. There's always the people in the Ward that you gain really strong relationships with in each area that you serve in. I would say that the R's and Brother Bn , oh and also Bro Bt (Ward Mission Leader), they were all so cool! I got they're emails and they emailed me last Monday which was really cool. Oh and someone else that emailed me the other day was the J's Family. I don't know if you remember them or not but me and Elder Ht helped reactivate them. The family of 6 that sadly moved to a whole new area but apparently they are doing really well and they are preparing  for the temple to be sealed!! That makes me so happy! Have I ever told you how much we drive in Sudbury? Holy cow, seems like everyone was all over Sudbury so we would go from appointment to appointment, we also covered Manatullin Island and that's 2 hours out there and don't forget the meetings you go to as a missionary, there's another like 2 or 3 hours depending on where it is! I'm surprised that I'm not fat right now, me and Elder Hz pretty much rode our bikes all last transfer to save K's. So we rode our bikes where it is reasonable, it was quite  the work out and very hot! Elder Hz sadly was my least favorite companion. He didn't work hard but at the same time he thought he deserved to go up in leadership. He thought  way to much about what people thought of him and he wasn't very Christ-like to be honest. I felt like I was babysitting him and carrying him and the area on my shoulders but that's ok I learned a lot. He's a funny guy and was pretty charitable believe it or not. That's one thing that I liked about him was that he was willing to help and give. Elder P who was the zone leader for the 2 transfers I was last up there, was really cool. He has a pretty thick Haitian accent. He's the one who knows 5 different languages, gave tours in the Amazon, pro soccer player and a convert to the church. Me and him became the best of friends. He's one of the most humble people I know. Always think about others. We love talking with each other and have lots of inside jokes. We were really sad to have separated to our different areas. He went back to Toronto, and really that's where he is suppose to be. Elder V my best friend from Mexico got transferred to Toronto as well! Elder Ht did too! I don't know if I'll ever make it to Toronto Haha! I might just be in the outskirts all of my mission! Before I move on to talking more about Napanee and Elder Hn I wanted to mention one of the investigators we were tracting. She was the one in Manatullin Island who was referred to us by one of the member in the branch. We were over to her convenient store and would teach her the lessons and I would always have a special feeling about her. She's something special that's for sure. She has great Faith. I mean she was a pastor at her own church, but the things that she would bring up, the concerns that she had, the things that she held close to her heart was all highlighting  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the gospel! I would just be in such aww and astonishment of how prepared this lady was. And now from what Elder Hz told me over email is that she has a baptism date!  That makes me so stoked and excited!  Napanee is beautiful!! "God's Country". It's definitely not like Toronto! It was pretty fun adjusting to this area trying to get to know everyone in the church of only 30 and then trying to build the teaching pool up from really nothing. I found out the other day from Elder Sh (the Elder who served here before us)that he was struggling with depression here and that he also had a companion who was going home. And so he said they really didn't do anything cause the Elder who was going home didn't want to and he was a very controlling and 'do it my way or the highway' type of Elder and so nothing got done for the 3 months they were here! Isn't that so good!??? It's sure fun and very educating being here so far, and it's making Elder Hn a man! He's such a good guy! He's made such great progress so far. My baby! He played football all of his life and he's pretty funny! We have a good time, he gets a little stressed out and trunky but he's getting a lot better. This whole training and district leader think really reminds me of Georgetown!! It's pretty freaky how similar of experiences they are. Napanee looks a whole lot like Georgetown. We've seen that pizza place that you told us that Avril Lavine went to and is her favorite. Haven't gotten to it yet but it's something we plan on doing very soon! We've got a bunch of crazies in the Branch but that's alright, it gives it character. I would say 75% of the Branch are old elderly people! but they sure are kind and know how to cook and feed us! Never been more fed in my life! They sure are kind and I'm starting to get to love the people here in this Branch! District meetings are great, a lot different than being over Skype! Sister D, Sister G, Elder C, Elder C, Elder O and Elder and Sister H. They are all awesome and so kind. I love them all, I love helping them as well. Love learnig from them. If there's one thing I've learned about being a leader in the church is that the best leader is the best follower! One who is always willing  to learn and to be humble and to follow the footsteps of the best leader, Jesus Christ. Going exchanges is pretty fun as well, you get to learn from each other! The other day we were on exchanges with the sister missionaries, JK JK! Oh mom, calm down! We don't go on exchanges with sisters! Haha but if you are wondering if sisters ever go on exchanges, and Brooke you may want to know this for you mission pretty soon, that there are sister training leaders that go on exchanges with the regular sister missionaries! So it's pretty cool! And they're pretty much sisters that look over and help the other sister missionaries! Hmmm I wonder what else you guys might like to know. The apartment is nice, clean, and in a nice area as well! Not like Sudbury where we lived in the most sketchy and ghetto area! The church building is small! Lots of old retired people here that like to go out and eat. President and Sister Clayton are awesome. I like President Shields more than Elder Clayton but I like Sister Clayton more that I like Sister Shields! Haha but they are all great. We are helping 2 LA's go to the temple this fall, so that's exciting! The leaves are beginning to change! It's going to be very pretty here. Everybody loves Tim Horton's here still! Poutine is delicious! Everyone makes pie or cheesecake for dessert here in Canada! Random thought: So as you know, I've gotten a 23 on the ACT. And I keep thinking about it and really want to get a better score and I know I can. And I'm not really sure why it keeps popping in my head but I heard you can take it again after the mission for BYU-I. I believe you have to get at least a 25 and a 3.75 GPA to get quarter tuition. And I really don’t want to pay for everything or have you help pay for everything. I know there are little scholarships that you can apply for as well but would that help? I keep hearing about people and even missionaries that they have an academic scholarship or a athletic scholarship and I know that I could  get better, but BYUI doesn't have school sports. I don't know, I'm in a pickle. I just want to save as much money as possible but I feel that BYUI is still the place for me. Any advice? Obviously being away from school for 2 years and then taking the ACT isn't the best idea, but at the same time I feel like I'm just as smart and athletic! But it's not bothering me enough to distract me from the work at all. One thing that has changed about me is that I know how to talk to people in any situation and then relate it or steer it to talking about the gospel! It's a good skill to have in life talking to people you don't know and having conversations with people. I remembered it bothering me so much  before I came out, especially when me and Dad went home teaching. He'd be the one to do the lessons and I would always be really nervous and wouldn't know what to say. It really did frustrate me. I think you could remember Dad the conversations we would have about it after. But now I can participate and be fully engaged and truly love being there! I can't wait til we go again! I thought I would write a quick story that well, by the time you get this letter you will have already heard this a little bit in my weekly emails, but I'll try and go in more detail. So me and Elder Hn were driving and I got a distinct impression to turn around and we were driving back the way we came from and the HG told me to turn on this street in Newborough, an area in the outskirts of Napanee. So we got out and I assumed God wanted to have us tract that street… and the very first door we knock on Angie opens the door. And so I start the convo and get a basic understanding of her beliefs and I was able to go from there. Elder Hn gets nervous and deer in the headlight in contacts like this so it's basically me and her talking. And so I pretty much taught her the Restoration on her doorstep and gave her a book of Mormon and told her to look over the Restoration pamphlet and the book and to pray and ask. Cause in the convo she had mentioned how her life wasn't good at all and how the world is more wicked each day and how there are so many churches today. So it was easy to teach the Restoration to her and to testify. I could literally see her eyes sparkle and see something click. We went back about a week later since she told us that she would like some time to read it and to pray. She had read 20 chapters of the book! Which is pretty rare that an inv would do that but she hadn't received her answer yet! So we went back a 3rd time to talk more about how to receive an answer and we read 3 Nephi 11 with her as well and she really enjoyed it. She said give her one more week and we can come back and see if she got her answer! But holy cow she was telling us that she had a really hard life. She was raped 2 times when she was younger, her parents were killed at a young age. She was into drugs and was living in the streets for awhile, tried to commit suicide twice but failed both times and she knew that she was supposed to be here for a reason but didn't know exactly why. But we told her that this is the reason why! The gospel! She says that she truly want to believe  us but at the same time there are so many other churches that are saying the same thing and how Jehovah's Witnesses came to the door and such. So she's had a huge trust issue her whole life and she says she only has two friends that she can count on! But I think she really likes us and is beginning to trust us! I sure hope she gets her answer! She's amazing, truly prepared. Well I miss you guys a ton! Brooke I can't believe you are a junior in high school. Seems like yesterday I was a junior playing basketball and such. I miss you and I hope we can do more stuff together after the mission! You can show me how to make a true delicious drink since you are the maker of it! Amber I can't believe you are a teenager and your birthday is coming up, that's crazy! Some of my favorite memories with you are sleeping outside and talking! And looking for the big dipper! Everytime I look up into the night sky I think of you! Keep  being an example and work hard! Maleah, I can't believe you were baptized. You are getting so big, you are going to be bigger than me when I come home! Promise not to beat me up? I can't wait to play with you again and watch movies! Remember  when you would give my piggy back rides!? you were so strong! I can't wait to see you again! Love you sisters so much. I wish you could know how much I truly do! I wish I could write you everyday but a mission is busy! Well Mom and Dad. I can't believe I'm more than half way over with my mission! I think often of you guys and how I couldn't and wouldn't make it out onto a mission without you and the things that you taught me. You are beyond generous and kind and I know that the Savior is  pleased with the way you raised me and the way you are raising the other 'chillens'. I wouldn't change the hard times we experienced for anything cause I wouldn't have learned and become the man I am. I wish constantly that I would have shown more appreciation and respect to you guys and I hope you can forgive me! And a BIG THANK YOU guys for the examples you are to me. I love you guys more than words can describe. Love you all forever and always, even into the eternities!!! For the gospel makes it possible through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus! And Hoorah, Hoorah, Hoorah for Israel!!! God bless you all!
Colten, Coco, Coltyboy, Jojo, Jojonator, Dudes, and Elder Beddes