Work is going great...

Date:     Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 2:14 PM

Email #99 – New Plymouth, ID

Hello Every one.

Glad to hear about how much fun you all are having. Have fun with B-ball Izaak and remember, it's not about the game, it's about WINNING!!!!! So play dirty! Push, shove, bite!!! lol, jk no it's really all about having fun! So even if others are getting mad just smile and laugh at how pathetic they look as they try to win. jk to that last part. Just be a friend! =D

   So the work is going great. This last week was the start of school here in New Plymouth. So it was a little hard to contact a few people due to last minute school shopping, but that shouldn't be a problem this week as people are already back in the swing of things. The exciting news is that we found another investigator last week! His name is Sam; he is a junior in high school and already has a strong testimony of the gospel. He has been coming to church with a member friend on and off for about two years now. We taught him for the first time in his friend’s home just yesterday and committed him to be baptized on the 22 of September! It truly is amazing to see how the Lord prepares his children to receive his gospel. WE were also able to set a baptism date with Debbie Horton. Hers is a little more tentative, but if all goes right she will be baptized on the 15th of September.

   Another person we are teaching is Travis. He is 8 and loves it when the missionaries come over. He is always offering us Kool-Aid and listens real closely when we teach him. Last time we met with him he proudly told us that he had read two chapters from the book of Mormon and was praying to know if it's true. The wonderful thing about all of this I think is how his dad see's all this. His dad is not a member and we have been trying to teach him for a long time, so now he is there in order for us to teach his son so he is getting to hear the lesson too! Nothing has happened there yet, but we will see.

   Also this Friday is transfer calls! After that I will be on my last transfer. I really hope I stay here in New Plymouth, I would hate having to work in a place I don't know about for my last 6 weeks. But whatever happens I know that the Lord is in it and I will not complain. Because complaining only makes things worse, and I don't like that. lol.

   So last pday when I finished emailing and I was waiting for elder Olinger to finish I checked out ldsyouth.org. If you guys haven't been there you should go! I wish I had known about it before my mission! It has great videos and talks and all sorts of stuff. It even has free music downloads for EFY music motab and all sorts of other lds music!

   That's cool to hear about Jeff! Tell him I said hi and I will gladly work something out with him when I get home. I'll have to brush up on my guitar a bit but that sounds like fun! And thanks for helping out with CGCC, Let me know what I have to do for that.

   We'll, that's all I have for now. Know that I am doing great and am having the time of my life out here in Idaho serving the Lord. Again, thank you Mom and Dad for teaching me these wonderful truths in my youth. I shudder to think of how my life would be if it wasn't for this Gospel. It is true, and I am so glad to be a part of it. It truly is the best thing to have in our lives. Take care everyone, and stay cool!

                   -Elder Bevell-

My "Trunky Papers"

Date:     Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 7:11 PM

Email #98 – New Plymouth, ID

Hey Bevells!

   First off I am doing really good. This last week was a good week and we worked hard for it! It was also Elder Olingers birthday this last Thursday! He just turned 22. I made sure to tell our dinner appointment that night and they made a cake for him. lol, it was fun.

   So I got a very important letter this week from the mission office. It's my travel papers for the end of my mission, or as we elders call them, my trunky papers!!

   Not much out of the ordinary happened this week. We tracted, had dinners and taught lessons. Sorry this is short, but know that I love you all and I pray for you every night. Glad to hear your leg is feeling better dad. Good job Izaak on school.  Give my love to Dan, Braylon, and Decklan (Little D!) Take care and stay cool!

                    -Elder Bevell-

Pics of Banana Prank...

Date:     Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 2:49 PM

Email #97 – New Plymouth, ID

Dear Bevells,

   Goodness! Another eventful week I see at home. I hope your leg is feeling better Dad. And good job Izaak for being a man and helping Dad out in that moment. Keep up the good work! Thank you Mom for sending the info on Brecks doctor visits. It's very good to have a better understanding of what's happening there. I'm also very glad to hear you can still ride horses Breck! I've been praying that you would still be able to do what you love, so know that God really does answer prayers. I LOVE YOU!!  Happy late birthday Braylon. lol.

   So this last week was a bummer week. Elder Olinger and I caught a stomach virus that is going around the mission and the mission doctor told us we had to stay indoors for a whole day! That was not fun at all. I had to cancel appointments and dinner. Needless to say we didn't reach up to half our goals this last week. One good thing that did happen however was the baptism of Dylan Loyd. He has been investigating the church for close to two years now and finally decided to get baptized. He didn't meet with us because he has been through so many missionaries in the past that he just had to be interviewed. That went very well. This last Sunday was very uplifting for me and now that I am feeling 100xs better (physically and spiritually) I am ready to (as one of my zone leaders puts it) SLAUGHTER our goals this week! lol.  To help with this we have created a signup list for members to have us come into their homes and teach the first missionary lesson. We passed it around relief society this last Sunday and a few people signed up for this next week. We are hoping more will sign up in the future when school starts again so everyone will have a more set schedule. All the bishops think it’s a great idea and all the members we told seemed really excited about it.

   I remember having the missionaries come to our home to teach the lessons to Dan. That was a lot of fun, and I have learned that a lot of members have similar memories with their families as well. So you see, missionaries don't just bring people into the gospel, they also help build up the members as well! This is the best job in the world!!

   Some fun news! We had dinner last night with the bishop of the New Plymouth 2nd ward. The ward that pranked us at the rodeo. Well after dinner they gave us the pictures!  So I am sending a few of those today and I am sure you will enjoy them. lol.

   I did get your letter btw mom. I sent a package to you all a while back. Did you get that? I sent it about a month ago. Just wondering

   I love you all! I miss you and I am super excited to be on my mission. Nine more weeks then we can come back as a family for the Boise temple rededication!! If you want to learn more about that, go to boisetemplededication.org. You can also get free tickets there as well. They are expecting over 400'000 to go through! It will be awesome! Anyway, take care and stay cool!!

                   -Elder Bevell-

Time is flying by much too fast.

Date:     Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 1:25 PM

Email #96 – New Plymouth, ID

Dear Bevell family,

   Time is flying by much too fast. They say two years go by fast, but that's only in hindsight. I am so very grateful to be training right now because if I wasn't it would be very hard for me to stay motivated or concentrated on the work. But since I have to be an example of what a missionary needs to be for this new missionary I find myself being very aware of everything I do. Elder Olinger btw is a great companion and missionary. He has a great sense of humor and loves to work which is very good because our zone leaders just committed all of us to try and teach 40 lessons each week! I just got this area up to 20 lessons a week! But we are acting in faith. Elder Olinger and I decided to strive for 50 lessons each week and have two people baptized in one month! We are going to be working so very hard these next few weeks. I look forward to dragging myself into bed and falling asleep to my night time prayers. lol.

   Blessings are being seen right now, as well as opposition. Two blessings come from the Fruitland 3rd ward. On the 11th of this week, a Dylan will be getting baptized. He has been investigating the church for a long time. He's about 17 and lost interest for a while because of an anti Mormon youth group he had been going to. But just last week he announced in church that he wanted to be baptized. We are so very excited for him. Also a man walked up to our ward mission leader this last Sunday and asked him if he could meet with us! So we also have a new investigator in that ward. We haven't met him yet but hopefully will this week. Some opposition is happening in the New Plymouth 2nd ward. Our golden investigator Debbie has wanted to come to Church. But it seems that every Sunday either she or he kids are sick.. We are praying that everything will work out this next week for her. We will be meeting with her this Wednesday and teaching her the word of wisdom, law of chastity, and tithing. As for 1st ward, things are pretty slow.

   But we have a plan to speed things up! We are making a signup sheet for the members to sign up and have us come over and teach the first missionary lesson to their families! They of course will be encouraged to invite a non member friend over when we do that. Hopefully we will be finding more investigators with this.

   Gosh, there is so much that I would like to write if time only permitted. I'm doing good, working hard and keeping busy. As you all know you are in my prayers, I love you all and am very excited to see you all again soon!! Stay cool!!!

                          -Elder Bevell-

Elder Bevell and Elder Olinger eating breakfast food for dinner at the Beutler's!