Forever and Always,
Elder Beddes, Coco
Jamie at the hospital.
Chris and Melissa's marriage.
Monday, July 25, 2016
July 25, 2016 He is Willing to Help Us and Bless Us
Well well well!!! Those pictures are awesome! Looks like you guys had a ton of fun! I did get the message from Maleah, it was super cute! Melissa was in tears lol! That temple picture is beautiful! Man I can't believe that they got in a fight on the bus! That's crazy!! Man I wish I could have been there with you on your mission experiencing what you were experiencing! I tell people all of the time that you went to Thailand on your mission and people are in aww about it, it's pretty funny! I've been learning a ton let me tell you! Being district leader you learn a lot, it's a different perspective any away. Not only are you thinking and caring about the people you are working with but now you are thinking about the missionaries in the district and how you can help them with their work! It's pretty fun, can be pretty stressful at times! This week was a slower week sadly, we still taught a lot of investigator lessons which is good but didn't find any new! :( People weren't as receptive as we would have liked but that's ok! We still met a lot of nice people who we planted a ton of seeds with! We have been working pretty hard, it's a really nice feeling to know that you tried your best! Something I made up the other day that others liked: "If you don't smell like cigarette smoke or marijuana at the end of the day you didn't work hard enough. If you didn't get cussed at or shown the finger you didn't talk to enough people! And if you don't go to bed exhausted then you need to work harder!" We did go to 2 weddings the other day! It was pretty fun. My favorite one with Chris and Melissa's! They are so awesome, they are like family! I have grown such a strong relationship with them! They are getting excited for baptism! They have interviews this week!!!! Soooo pumped! Had my first district meeting the other day! It was really good, pretty weird doing it over skype but it was good. Lots of participation, i have the best district in the mission! We talked about Revelation through prayer! I shared the experience of momma praying right before hurricane Katrina hit. Such a sacred story I hold dear to my heart. It touched everybody, i don't share it often! But I loved hearing other people's experiences about prayer. And I detoured the discussion to how investigators can and will have experiences like those we have, but first we need to do our part in teaching the doctrine as simply as possible so that they understand! Jamie (Hells angel) is dying. He loves visits from us in the hospital. The doctor said that he will stay in the hospital until he dies.. which is really sad. Jamie said that we are some of the few of his only good and true friends. I was honored. Well count your many blessings name them one by one!! My testimony has been growing and growing as I experience the good and the harsh times as a missionary! It's wonderful. I think about the missionaries all across the world and how they are doing and how their missions are different from other missions and how they are learning different things! The mission is amazing, it blesses you, family, and your friends. The other day I found a Bugatti suit that I had to get.. yes I know mom i'm sorry! lol it's the last one I promise!!! But.... when I returned home and checked the pockets and I found $185! I was moved... the first thing I did was drop to my knees and said a prayer. It's amazing the blessings that you can receive. I'm not saying that you will receive money from out of nowhere because money really doesn't even matter, it's a material thing, but what I am saying is that God loves us so much and he is willing to help us and bless us in our everyday lives. We just need to continue to be thankful and faithful! I love you guys so much and I hope you all have a great week! xoxo
Monday, July 18, 2016
July 18, 2016 Let Us All Do a Good Deed
Well this week was a good one! Sounds like you guys had a good week as well! I wish I could have been there for the 50 anniversary! Sound like you all had a fun time and i wish i could have been there! I still remember the memories at the beach house in Cali! That was so fun! I remember Grandpa Berry and Dad going at it playing ping pong! I remember Dad pouring ice cold water on momma too! I remember the good food and the fun we had trying to body board the waves! Good times, we need to have a reunion every six months or something when I get home! ;) I wish I could have heard Brooke's beautiful voice when she was singing grandma and grandpa's song as well, she is very talented! Ok well where do i even start? Me and Elder Hernandez have been working so hard here in the dtown of sudbury! We've never had so many investigator lessons before, and it's great! We found five new investigators this past week! It's fantastic! One is from Czechoslovakia and was very humble and would love to learn more! We found a man who was interested as well who said that he had six young kids, so we are excited to meet all of them and share with them the glad tiding of the Plan of Salvation! Speaking of the Plan of Salvation, I watching a short video at the ice castle called "On the way home", it was soo good! I would watch it if I were you, it was a good video especially for FHE! We found a man who was really nice and wanted to learn more about mormons cause he dated one awhile ago! haha he said that he smokes crack everyday, but he wants to stop and we told him what could help him! I love how the spirit can tell someone that he or she needs to change! This work couldn't move forward without the Holy Ghost that's for sure! Met with some others tracting that said that they would love to learn more, and the people who we found said that they had little kids so God blessed us with finding families this week! It's amazing! Being District Leader is pretty good! I love my district! Sister Wheldon, Kehrer, and Detler, Elder Paul, Saunders, olson, lundburg, and hernadez are amazing and hard workers! Haven't had district meeting yet since we've had some big meetings but we'll be having one this week so i'm excited! It's been fun calling everybody every night following up and helping the missionaries out! We met President and Sister Shields finally the other day! They came up to do a big meeting for the Sudbury Zone! President is so sweet! I love him so much, I relate to him so much! He is very personable and loves sports a lot. He played football and basketball in high school and college and he was a lawyer for a long time! They are both really nice people, i'm glad to have them in the mission! So we've been meeting Jose and his family this past week and they have been doing really well. They said that they were going to try and make it to church last time but he got sick the night before..... ughhhh. but they said that they were going to try and make it next time! They have been praying for the first time and they love it! They feel awesome and so much better when they do! I love it when I teach people about prayer and they experience it for themselves, it's one of the best worthwhile rewarding things as a missionary! So some bad news... opposition in all things! Curtis said that he doesn't wanted to meet until he has read the Book of Mormon for himself and has learned a sufficient amount of knowledge about the church.... so hopefully he will get back to us soon cause he is very solid! We are dropping off some material for him such as the restoration video and trying to explain to him as best as we possible can that he doesn't need to know everything but he feels like he does. Kelly doesn't want to meet anymore either, and Kaitlyn who wanted to be baptized doesn't either! All for various reasons that I wish I could resolve right now on my own but that isn't what I think God wants at the moment. Patience is a virtue! So it's sad to see that all of our potential baptisms aren't doing so well but I faith that they will come back! Some good news! Kevin and Ashley are getting married this Saturday! They are excited for that! And hopefully we can start meeting with them regularly and set a baptismal date for them! Melissa and Chris are getting married this Saturday as well! We have been looking forward to that the past three months, so we are all excited for that! We are pumped for Saturday with these weddings! Chris and Mckenna are doing really well for baptism on the 6th! They are excited! And I can't stop thinking about it! I never thought I could love this family so much. They are like family to me!! I'm so proud of these guys! The Gospel is true! It can change lives. It can heal the broken soul. It can sound like heavenly music to the ears. It can be filling to our spirits. And it can be rewarding! This clip really touched me! Let us all do a good deed for someone in need! You never know how much of a impact or how much it could mean to someone! I love you guys!
Elder Beddes, Coco, Duder
I GOT MY MIND ON MY MISSION AND MY MISSION ON MY MIND
Shopping at the Mall
Sports
A bridge in Sudbury
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
July 11, 2016 Doubt Not, Fear Not
Wow sounds like you guys had an amazing week! I love the pictures you guys sent! Mom you are beautiful as ever, Maleah you are soooo cute with your white dress!!!! Brooke and Amber Pretty as always and Dad keep swaggin my friend. :) And happy birthday Jonlie!!! I miss you guys a ton and hope you guys are doing alright!! I love tubing so much, good memories of us floating down the river.... freezing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
love,
Elder Beddes, coco
Zone Conference (take half of this group and that's my District)
Saying good-bye to Elder Herbert and Elder Bengstzen- Transfers
Elder Hernandez- New companion from Calgary, born in Mexico.
This could be a sports card :)
Monday, July 4, 2016
July 4, 2016 District Leader
Well what a week! Not only for me but also for you guys apparently!! The summer is always way busy! I bet EFY was fun Brookie! I love EFY a lot, just don't go kiss someone like I did! lol waste of a first kiss! haha sounds like sports is still the common thing in the family as well! Keep it up, keep working hard! Well this week was a good week! Last week together me and elder h! I'm pretty sad. I had so much fun with that guy, so many memories. I learned a lot from him! I served the longest with him and visa versa! He's pretty scared to go to Stoney creek. he's training a missionary along with another missionary. he's going to be in a trio! I'm excited for him! I'm going to be with Elder Hernandez!! Don't know anything about him really. I'm going to be a district leader as well! So pretty nervous about that, but also excited! It's fun to serve the missionaries along with the people here in sudbury. I'll be learning lots, but hey that's what a mission is all about! Elder Bengzten is going home! He's pretty scared. He was a good missionary as well! I really was close to that guy, and I hope we can hang out after the mission! He has big plans ahead of him. I don't know the incoming zone leader but i hear he's pretty cool. So our week was pretty good lesson wise but for the participation at church was a little lackin. We were expecting 5 investigators to come (would have been our record) but only 2 showed up! The picture that was sent to you was the family that we are going to baptize August 6th. Melissa(the member) and her fiance Chris and the daughter Mckenna! Melissa and Chris are getting married in 19 days!!! Counting down both the marriage and the baptism! They are so nice, they feed us every week! They are progressing sooooo well. We have taught them every lesson except for one!! Chris has already given up word of wisdom problems and they are all willing to pay tithing! So very prepared! Curtis is already done with reading 2 nephi! It's as if he is already a member of the church(seriously, it's kind of creepy). He just has anxiety problems. We thought for sure that he was going to be able to come to church yesterday but he backed out again. :( I think he will make it out to church this week though. We've taught the first 3 lessons, and also talked about prayer and the holy ghost. He's doing really well, just needs to take a leap of faith! Fern (who hasn't come to church in over 10 years) and us went to the d's (old couple we reactivated) for dinner. Fern and the Devost's haven't seen each other for 5 years!! And they were getting along great!!! It was sooo nice to see, that Fern has reunited with his old buddies! Perfect fellow shippers for both parties. :) Well I gained a better knowledge of he Atonement this week. I was reading this little article about a dream a guy had that was really significant. He was in a room by himself and there were a bunch of filing cabinets everywhere. So he opening each of them, and they all had cards in them. Each filing desk was a certain memory that he had. Fun, funny, good, bad, scared, and so on. As he was reading some of the cards in each of the filing cabinets, having mixed emotions about them, he came across the one of the bigger filing desks. It was the filing desk full of the wrong choices and mistakes he had made. As he read each and every one of them he began to be very saddened to the point where he wanted nobody to see these cards. He tried destroying them but they couldn't be destroyed. On each of the cards was his own signature signifying that it was him that had made these mistakes. Then the door to the room flung open and standing in the doorway was Jesus Christ. The man started to cry ever harder out of embarrassment of the many mistakes and sins that he had. He tried stopping Jesus as he walked towards him and the filing cabinet. Jesus started to cry as well when he saw that he didn't want him to see his cards. He walked to the filing cabinets looking though each card. He then walked to the one of all of his mistakes and sins. He looked through each of them. The guy didn't want to be there. He wanted to run away. He wished he had never made the mistakes. He wished there was a way that they could all disappear. Jesus Christ, feeling deep sympathy and mercy for him as he watched him cry began to sign his name over the mans. He signed every card and then gave him a hug and a kiss and then walked out the room. The man feeling the spirit very strongly walked to the filing cabinet to find that Jesus' name was written over his in red. Family and friends, I know that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. He has paid the price for all of us. We need to use the Atonement every day of our lives. I've experienced the love and the power for my self, and boy it truly is sweet! Don't take it for granted. Love you guys so much and remember that Christ is on our team. We can't and will not lose.... :)
Love,
Elder Beddes, Coco, jojonator
Peter leaving on his mission:
Tucos a restaurant:
Picture from Melissa, Chris and McKenna:
The Zone leaders.... everybody watch out
Monday, June 27, 2016
June 27, 2016 Remember Who You Are and What You Stand For
Happy Happy Birthday to LeLe!!!!!!! I love you so much sweet girl you are getting so big! I wish I could have been there to celebrate it with you. You are so kind and loving. Everybody loves you and the person that you are! You are tough, loving, kind, nice, friendly, cute, full of charity, sweet, and all in all such a good sister/best friend!! Hope you had a good birthday!!! I'm glad you guys came back from Thailand safely and had a good time even though you didn't get a lot of free time! That's amazing how you found that guy! Hopefully he went to church! Nice job Amber for making the team and it sounds like you are having a good time and keep up the hard work, it'll pay off. Brooke nice job on getting the new job, hopefully you are getting in the swing of things now and you know how to make every drink ever thought of! This week was a slower week sadly but there were miracles happening and there will always be miracles happening in the Lord's work! Zone conference was amazing! I received a ton of revelation from it on how i can improve, and also how I can help the area improve. We also did a lot of practicing teaching. We call it role plays. We focused on teaching the restoration as simply as possible to people because it can seem really new to people! President gave a lot of cool and interesting tips. Some of which are Don't be afraid to be poor. Poor is good if you are working up to something and you have goals to achieve higher. Don't buy new things. haha and he talked a lot about marriage which shocked everybody but it was his farewell talk because he is leaving in a couple of days and he wanted to give us a couple of tips. I try not to think about it to much because I still feel like i'm 14! haha anyway.... got to see some old missionary friends. 3 zones went to it so it was pretty fun. Saw a couple of people from my junior high which was awesome!! We had some good lessons with Mckenna and Chris! They are excited for baptism in August. Taught them about the importance of CPR (church, prayer, read)! Brother Babin came along and bore powerful testimony of the importance of the church, it was amazing! Curtis is still solid as ever but is very hesitant and nervous when it comes to new things. He didn't want to come to church and we tried as hard as we could to have him come out but he feels like he needs to wait a little bit before he goes to church. We have told him literally everything about church what to expect but he still is scared. He said that he will come in the near future, and so I hope it's this week! Valerie (his mom) didn't want to join the lesson. :'( Hopefully she will continue to read the Book of Mormon and want to take the discussions with the missionaries again. Curtis is doing really well though we had a good lesson with him about faith and confidence! We found a Less active that elder h was working with in the beginning of him being sudbury. He had moved unexpectedly to some place in sudbury and we didn't have information so we couldn't get a hold of him and we didn't have his address! But we found him chillin outside of a store and so we got his info and we went the next day to go see him and we had a great lesson. he still knows the church is true and wants to come out to church! We had an unexpected person come to church yesterday! hahah it was pretty funny because during sacrament i was praying to have some more investigators make it out to church and as soon as I opened my eyes I saw "Cyan Pepper" walk in in shorts and a t shirt! He was the guy that was shirtless that we were playing basketball with a couple of weeks ago! He just decided to show up and stayed for all three hours!! It was sweet and now he wants to learn more! It's so exciting to see! Jose and his family are moving to Quebec City sadly so we said good bye to them the other day and they said that they will get a hold of the missionaries there and hopefully they will get baptized soon!! Another thing happened that was really cool to see! An old friend emailed me from EFY! And she was asking for advice about going on a mission because she didn't know whether or not she should go on one and so I sent her an email and this is what she said. "And then funny enough last Monday I woke up and read your email to me and your email didn't say anything special or anything but reading your email is what struck the spirit for me! After I read and opened your email that morning I was overcome with the spirit to the point where that's all I could think about ha :) so I told my parents about it that night and as soon as I said it out loud I knew for a fact it was what was right! And ever since I've just had this burning desire to go and haven't looked back haha! So that's kind of how it all came to be! So thank you for your example and goodness in my life! There's no doubt in my mind that you popped into my head to find your email and write you 2 weeks ago :) who would of thought! The lord works In such mysterious ways! But I couldn't be more excited and happy to go now!" So she sent her mission papers last week and she is excited to receive it soon! It really just testified to me how much of an impact you could have on people and you may not even know. The seeds that you plant in people could have such an impact on them. So always remember who you are and what you stand for because you never know who is watching and who's life you could touch! I've also seen how much going on a mission can bless you! Physically, mentally, and spiritually!! Now you guys may think this is funny but I find it miraculous and quite the blessing! Sooo as you may know I love going thrift shopping it's in my blood (thank dad;0) and so i've found some good ties lately!! A hugo boss suit that fits me! The best Jordans i've ever found at a thrift store. and we've been getting fed a ton and we have a lot of food in the fridge! lol Spiritually, i've been getting a ton better with teaching simply! My testimony has never been stronger! Mentally, I've been thinking about the people a ton more and how we can help them, they actually can't get out my mind! The work has been on fire lately and we a couple of baptisms coming up!! haha it truly is amazing to see! Well I gotta go guys! I love you all and thank you so much for the letters and the emails!! I wish I had 6 hours to email so that I can to email you all and write you all a lengthy email expressing how much I care and love you because I truly do! The church is true, couldn't say enough! ;)
Love,
Coco, Elder Beddes
Zone Conference!
Elder Herbert
Monday, June 20, 2016
June 20, 2016 It's The Still Small Voice That Strikes the Heart
Sounds like you guys are having fun and also working really hard! I loved the pictures so much! And that whole situation is sweet! Holy cow that would be so awesome! Do you think about your mission a lot when you are there dad? It's weird to see missionaries right next to you guys! haha How long will you guys be there for? Eating lots of good fruit? I love reading the journal entries that you send me, they are pretty funny! I can't believe you got called to go serve in your old area again! It would be funny if I got called to serve in stoney creek or georgetown again! OH by the way I just got a package today from you guys!!! thanks so much!!! I really enjoyed it, the pictures as well! The other elders looked at the pictures before I even did! lol they were pumped! Thanks for the journal as well, I needed that and the candies! Well this week was amazing first off! By far the busiest and fastest week ever! Seems like yesterday I was just writing last weeks email! We hit our record for lessons taught! 26! haha we were so excited about that! Many miracles happened this week I wish I could describe in great detail each of them! I'll try my best! So I talked a little bit about Curtis who was searching on Lds.org and thought that everything we believed it was true! We met with him and his mom Valerie! We taught them the Restoration and they loved it! Brother Walsh was there with us as well, and he is the perfect fellowship for them! They get a long very well, and he participated in the lesson very well which makes all of the difference! They have read most of 1 Nephi already! We set a baptismal date for them on July 3rd! Valerie wants to study it out more which is good but Curtis is a lot more prepared! It was cuttin it close though cause July 4th is the end of the transfer. But... they didn't end up going to church yesterday which is quite sad. I don't know if you guys know this or not but investigators have to come to church 3 times and also be taught all of the lessons, repented and be interviewed to be baptized! What were the qualifications for investigators back when you went on a mission dad? Soo they sadly aren't going to baptized July 3rd, but they are going to be baptized soon that's for sure. These guys are the most prepared people I've met on the mission, even Valerie! We taught them part of the plan of salvation and also the gospel of Jesus Christ! They are very nervous people though. Curtis has anxiety problems is what he said he hates the unknown. So we gave them a chapel tour with bro Walsh last Saturday and they really liked it, and it eased their nerves a bit! So i'm very excited to continue to teach these guys and help them towards baptism! Curtis is very smart, I totally envisioned him being an apostle! lol They are super awesome! I already love them and care about dearly and wish I could just teach them everything in one day. Next.... let's see, we met with kelly who is a native who has had some struggles in his life but has put his trust in God. When we went over unexpected he was watching Jesus Christ bible videos so that was way cool! He has a very big desire to be baptized and to go to church and to change his life along with his families! We had a wonderful lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation. It's one of my favorite lessons to teach and to testify of! We met a new less active who let us right in when we knocked on her door! Sister Brett is amazing! We had a great conversation about the Gospel. She believes in the church still but has some doctrinal concerns that need to be resolved but other than that she is solid! She hasn't come to church 21 years!!!!!!! And she said that she really wanted to make it out yesterday but she didn't know whether or not she was going to make it and she ended up not making it sadly. But you could tell that she really wanted to make it out so hopefully she will make it to church next week! But that was really cool to see, especially after 21 years! So we are excited to work with her! Chris and Mckenna are doing really well! They like feeding us every week and we have family home evenings on mondays! They are solid, and they are getting excited for baptism! And Chris and Melissa's marriage is coming up as well! Met with two Chinese people the other day for dinner at a members house. They don't have any knowledge of God or Jesus Christ at all, so it was very interesting to teach them. We talked about the God head and also prayer. They sadly didn't a lot of desire to learn more but it was a really cool experience to actually teach people like that and to plant seeds! And hopefully something will come of it! Went on exchanges with Elder Tuahivaatetonohiti. Try and pronounce that. ;) He's a very cool guy, I love him! He's so funny! he's from Tahiti, i had a lot of fun with him serving in his area! Oh i don't think I told you guys or not but me and Elder H are going to stay together the rest of the transfer! Sooo we are excited about that! I went to Manitoulin Island branch yesterday! It was actually a pretty good turn out even though have the people there were from the Sudbury Ward. It was pretty interesting to see such a small congregation but the members that are awesome and very strong in testimony! I love them to death! It was a lot of fun! I'm excited to see President Clayton one last time this Thursday before he leaves for Utah! He's an amazing man and I'm going to miss him! This week I really learned a lot about the spirit of God! There was something that really stuck out to me that a member said in a lesson about the spirit. He talked about a really nice pie that is best in the country and you take a little piece and you try it. You don't have to eat the whole pie just to see if it's good or not. You can tell by the piece that you ate if it's good or not. Same applies to the Spirit. You don't need to know everything about the Gospel to find out if it's good or true or not! It's the still small voice that strikes the heart and the mind that you can tell whether these things are true! I love you guys so much and I hope everything is alright with everyone!
Forever and Always,
Elder Beddes, Coco
A hoarders house!
Tracting while singing and playing guitar!
Exchanges with Elder T!
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