October 30

Yeah this week was long. We didn't have very much success. We didn't have any success. We had the opposite of success. It's very frustrating, and I cannot understand why. It will be better this week, I know it. 

Jose has P4 which means he's done some very very bad things in the past. Kelly and Jarvis are okay, but Kelly had surgery this week. So she's been stuck at home. And the Bishop wants that we give them to the Sister missionaries along with Sister Grace. That would be all of our baptismal dates, and the rest we have given to the SIsters already. 

So that's my week in very few words. Hopefully this week we'll have some miricles or something good to report. ​

October 23

This week was a real boring week to be honest. There's not really much to say, other than Jose ran into some anti-mormon doctrine, and Kelly and Jarvis are still progressing super well, but are having some trouble understanding some points of doctrine. Everything is going pretty well. My comp and I are learning a lot together. 

We're going to Guayaquil this week for training from Elder Falabella and that should be fun. 

that's all I've got, sorry for the lame letter this week. 

-Élder Beech

October 17

well, It's been a week. I spent all day yesterday traveling to drop off a sister missionary in Guayaquil. We also had a busy week in our sector, as we were preparing everything so that two sister missionaries could come in and help out with the work. What a busy job that is. 

We also had a bad expirience with a dog who attacked my companion and almost fought a dude who wants me to leave his country and stop stealing from his people. It was super sad. 

Other than that, our investigators are progressing very well. Kelly and Jarvis are reading the book of mormon and praying a lot. i really hope they'll be baptized soon. It's also been raining a lot and I've been sick all week still, but it's all chill. 

Jose didn't come to church again, and I don't know why. He was doing so well. 

Thanks for your letters and your help. 

See you next week! ​

October 9

Hey real quick this has been a super crazy week. There were transfers today. elder Picón went to Guayaquil. Now I'm companions with elder alvarado from Perú. He's chill. Not much interesting happened this week. It rained all week, and we should have a baptism this week, I hope. 

sorry for the lame e-mail, but it's all i've got. 

-Élder Beech

October 2

This week was a good week. It was very busy and very uplifting. President has given us a challenge that will carry us into June to read the Book of Mormon each day as companions and study the assigned chapters. It's been good so far and will be better as we go along. 

I burned my hand real bad this week. 

and a picture of (almost) my entire zone. 

-Élder Beech

September 25

So I didn't have time to make an audio recording because of work. BUT here's how the week went:

Monday- I changed comps for the night and hung out with Elder Frost and we went to KFC then slept early, because we had to get up at 2

Tuesday- spent the day in Guayaquil doing my visa and stuff then got back to Cuenca at 11

Wednesday- we worked hard and found a nice family to teach

Thursday- did our weekly planning then ate with the wife of the ward mission leader. then had a great lesson at night with Kelly y Jarvis. They're from Venezuela. 

Friday- had the district meeting, then did service for the ward until 4 and THEN ate lunch, the talked with Jose and Pricilla, 2 baptismal dates for the upcoming weeks. 

Saturday- talked with Jose again and tried to contact a refferal. We had a lesson with the non-memeber husband to a less active. 

Suday- church then a missionary invasion in the Tatoracocha Branch. 

Today- slept bc tired from this week. 

to be honest I feel like God had my mission prepared for me in Venezuela, but the stuff happened, and now he's sending them to me to find in Ecuador. 

Also, elder clark from the MTC is super down right now, because he hasn't had very much success in his mission, and that made me feel sad. 

The ward here is very good. They are pretty big, but most of them are long time memebrs, so they have a real indeference to the missionary work. 

so that's how my life is, really well, and really really cold. 

-Élder Beech

September 18

alright, what a week. It has really flown by to be honest, and this week is going to be faster, as i will be going to Guayaquil tomorrow to renew my visa. 

So we didn't have any baptisms this week, but we did find a couple of new people to teach, with the coolest being Kelly and Jarvis, a couple from Venezuela. They're super cool. 

Also, another one of our investigators is going to the states this week, and is going to bring back DP for me. what a nice lady. 

I also took some great pics today of cuenca, but i left my camera in the house, so y'all gon have to wait. We went to a couple of art galleries and it was very nice. 

on saturday I will have completed 13 months in the mission. so here we go with the sad tronkyness. 

also, PRESIDENT EMAIL ME AND HERES WHAT HE SAID: 

Estuve el viernes pasado en Perimetral y me alegro mucho que ls personas te quieren y te extrañan, eso es miuy bueno, saber que sabes ganar el corazon y el amor de los miembros. Asi se hace

It made me feel good. 

so yeah, boring week, because we spend most of our life traveling in bus place to place, but it's all good. 

-Élder Beech

Attachments area

September 11

Well, it's been a good week, I guess. We had a baptism...

Other than that, Cuenca is pretty nice. It's cold, but what can you do? The members are chill as well. Not as cool as Guayaquil, but still cool. We also went to super maxi today and there were a bunch of Gringos, and they all started speaking to me in english, so I started reciteing scriptures in French. It was dumb and weird, but my comp laughed super hard. He's a great dude. 

There really isn't much to say other than I'm broke and I want to buy a poncho because they're super cool. just gotta wait a lil more................... 

miss you​

September 4

I GOT TRANSFERRED WHAT HAPPENED TO PRAYING FOR ME?!

Nah it's chill. So now I'm in Barrio Miraflores here in Cuenca. It's super cold. My comp. is Elder Picòn from Lima. He has 6 weeks in the mission, and is 20 years old. He was baptized 5 years ago, and his mom just got baptized. His dad is almost there, but not quite. He is very nice. 

SO what didn't happen this week? I got transferred, Baptized 3 (not 4, Gino decided to go to school instead of his baptism) and ate WAY too much food on Sunday. Jhonny, a columbian investigator, told us he's going to kick his girlfriend out of the house to be able to fulfill the law of chastity. 

On sunday we got the transfer calls, and I began to tear up a bit (but like a man) and so did the ward. I am going to miss them a lot. We've grown a lot together. They are very special to me. 

so yeah, that's what's happeed, wish me luck! ​

August 28

It's been a good week. We have 15 baptismal dates, had 13 new investigators and 10 at church. Feels good. 

Not much to say about this week other than we've been working hard. We've been tracting and getting references from memebers. 

This week we're hoping to see andrea, gino, gelany, and edy get baptized. They're a real good family and I hope everything goes alright. We have a Family Home Evenig tonight with the Salizar family and two columbians. should be fun... 

This week there are transfers as well, I'm hoping and praying that I can stay here for just one transfer more. 

Other than that, Just know that i'm doing well. Thanks for everything! ​

August 21

This week was a good one. We worked hard and had 2 baptisms. Looking forward to another great week this week and hoping for another baptism. 

In other news my comp and I are so-so. He doesn't feel I should be the senior comp because he has more time. It's fine. 2 more weeks. 

I almost was comps with elder toledo because his comp went home, but due to the success here in Perimetral, I didn't get moved. 

As for anything else, it's all chill. Workinghard, and trying to survive.

-Élder Beech

August 7

My Family, 

This week has been a whirlwind. Between 8 new investigatiors and my companion dying of pain, its been a good week. 

The Soto family have baptismal dates for the 19th of august, and are progressing very well. The Mendoza family is also progressing very well. The work is moving forward. 

Friday was a dark day though, upon returning home after the district meeting and lunch, my companion was very very very much in pain. Hermana Moreno told us to take the day and let Elder Chota rest a little. He has not improved. In fact, th epills he was told to tak emade his very sick. So he and I will travel to the hospital everyday this week to get physical therapy. So that's fun. 

An upside to having a companion who can only walk very, very, very slow is that I am able to look around and enjoy everything a little more. For example, There are some very beautiful flowers near our house that I've never seen in more 3 months here, but on saturday I got a good long time to look and think about them. Simple, but amazing. I've also had more time to pet dogs and cats while we waddle around town. There's never a down side to more time with dogs and cats, calling each one cooper and mishu. 

I have done a lot of studying this week and that's bored me, but it's all good. This week's message is in english, just because. It's pretty lame, but it's the best I could give. 

During lunch yesterday, I, being prideful, and boasted up in my stength tried to eat some jalepeños (we were eating mexican) to show a family that texans are strong. I almsot died a most lame death. But I lived, and it was a totally rightous expirience. 

That's all i've got thank you all for everything. ​

-Elder Beech

July 31

First things first, my voice recorder is actng up right now so i'm not sure if i'll be able to send the voice recording. i'll try. 

I'm working really hard out here and we found two great families this week. The Famila Soto and the Familia Mendoza. 

Fma. Soto: They just got here from Venezuela and are super excited to get out, but at the same time absolutely destroyed. They have basically nothing. We taught them the restauration yesterday, and they were very interested. I feel sometimes God gives us trials so that we will be more in tune with the spirit. 

Fma. Mendoza: We have a lesson with them tonight, but it's a family in which the father left and the mom is taking care of the 4 kids. They came to church and had a great time (i think). 

My talk went well. More then all I talked about Joshua 3:5 

5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

I talked to the ward about inactives and missionary work. I think it went well. 

AND NOW FOR MR. EDLER CHOTA

When he had 8 months in the mission (he now has 23) he fell on his knee. this whole time he's been holding up and not letting the pain get to him, but it's worn him down. we went to the hospital today and he may have surgery soon. We still don't know, but should be cool. 

I took a nap today, and got a haircut. It's going pretty well out here. we lost Jaeder, we don't know where he's gone...... but what happens happens. 

Miss you all, and thank you father for the picture of my son. He is still very ugly. 

BAUTISMO MAS NADA, 

-Elder Beech

July 24

We only had one baptism this week, but we're looking to saturday for the next baptism. 

First things first, I have not been transferred. Neither has elder chota. It looks like he will finish his mission with me in perimetral. AND i get to deliver a great talk on sunday. so hyped. 

it's been a hard week. I got very sick on tuesday (more explained in my voice) and I couldn't work very much the whole week. I pretty much slept and went to the hospital to see if i had AIDS or something. I'm all good now, which is nice, but during the baptism I thought I was going to die. 

THE BAPTISM!

she cried, the entire time. She is very happy to be clean of her sins, and that she can now me a new person. It was a very spiritual expirience. 

I'm good, i'm looking for new people to teach, and I'm loving the mission. ​

July 17

Hey family dear, 

This week was alright. About almost everything we tried to do failed. BUT My voice this week is in english so that is fun. 

we are hoping to have 2 baptisms this week, one on Friday, and the other on sunday. They should both be really exciting. To tell you a little about it here's an overview. 

Nicol- She should be baptized on friday afternoon, if all works out okay. She is the daughter to a less active single mother whose son just ran away from home with is girlfriend. The mom is slowly returning to activity and is very excited to see her daughter, aged 17, enter the waters of baptism, get married in august, then be sealed in the temple next year. It has been a very long process with her and her family, but we're almost there. Just a little more work, and she will be very blessed. 

Jader- Jader is 10 years old, son of a single, recently divirced, mother-member and brother to another 15 year old member. The missionaries have been trying to baptise him for the last 2 years in Columbia, but now he's coming to live with his mom in Ecuador. He asked to be baptized upon his arrival here. 

Other than that, we have transfers at the end of the week. I don't feel I'll b getting a transfer, but who knows except God. 

We are super tired right now after a lot of work and a lot of illness but were still moving forward. 

That's all I've got for this week, hopefully pictures of baptisms next week! 

-Elder Beech

Brandon got a call from a ward member during the week.  They had been cleaning out some boxes and found this picture of another Elder Beech from 25 years ago with a little note that he left them.  That Elder Beech is Brandon's Uncle Bryce.  What a treasure for our family.  (Now Kevin needs to ask Bryce who maybe has his old mission scriptures. Maybe Brandon can go find those too. LOL)

July 10  (His 19th birthday was this week)

Attached is my voice memo in horrible spanish for about 40 minutes talking about a good week.

This week actually went very well. We didn't have A TON of success, but more than before. We did a lot of service, ate more than usual, and had a conference with president. 

Tuesday, we helped set up for a baptism, not ours, but for the ward. It was very nice, and we gained some confidence with the ward, and they are now looking for people for us to teach. We had an activity on thursday night, and got a referral and that is awesome, as we are going to teach the whole family. We talked with president, who gave us a lot of guidance and encouragement. But most of all, Hna. Nicol came to church again and that was good. Also, another church member almost killed his ex-wife, who lives in Quito, but we visited him, he cried, and calmed down, and told us he wasn't going to travel to Quito. It's been a rough ride for said member, and I just hope that he will come back to the fold. 

As for my birthday, I received a plush sheep, so now I am the good shepard, so that's cool. We ate a little bit of brownie and such, but all in all, it was a normal day. more or less. 

I haven't much to share other than what I have spoken of in my voice message, and I hope you all can understand and will be enlighted by some things which I spoke of. More than all, I hope that you won't cry and miss me too much BECAUSE THAT IS LAME. I am well, the work is well, and it is well with my soul. ​

July 3  (USAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSA)

This is hopefully my voice message for the week. I'll also send last week's. 

This week was HARD. To be honest I really just wanted to give up right then and there last night. I was mad. In my companionship prayer I told God how super mad I was, and then something amazing happened. I don't want to share it with too many people, but I'll share it with you. (He had a very spiritual experience and learned for himself..) just like he promise in D&C says, I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. His angels WERE there and they DID and ARE bearing us up. 

 And we had a very hard week, but this week WILL be better. I know it. 

-Elder Beech

June 26

ANYWAY, this week wasn't much better. but this week that's coming up should be good. I got Dr. Pepper this week from a gringo so that was really nice. He served along with uncle bryce, so it was fun to hear his stories. 

Not much is new with me, they almost shut our area down this week because some gay guy kind of came after the gringito, but its all chill and its all been sorted out and it was actually REALLY funny, but really inapropriate. but yeah, other than that, SUPER boring. I also just realized that dad is not with most of you, so good luck hearing my weekly report and understanding said report. 

miss you! 

-Elder Beech

He sent a voice recording this week.  He spoke amazing Spanish the whole time!

June 19

I didnt have much time to write last week, so that's why my letter was crap. Perdon me. 

So this week was good, until last night. We went out and worked out BUTTS off. We contacted, asked memebers for help, did a ton of service projects and had a fun time. Elder Chota works super hard, but has me laughing always. I think we make a good pair. We had about 6 baptismal dates by the end of saturday. we were smiling, so proud of all the work we were doing, then came sunday. 

First of all, nobody caem to church. So that was discouraging. Then we went out to get the baptismal permission from the mom of one of our baptismal dates. the mom of 3 baptismal dates. Wilmar's mom in fact, the last baptism here. She said no to all 3 of here kids getting baptized. She said that they were acting bad in the house and doesnt feel they can be memebers of the church of jesus christ. si we left the house shaking our heads. 2 baptismal dates. That night we went to the house of some inactives who are slowly coming back to church and have a 9 year old daughter who is not baptized. When we came by, the family said no, and that they didnt want anything to do with us or joeseph smith anymore. Si we started walking to our only baptismal date, who is a shoe in to be baptized on my birthday.  she said she wanted to be baptized on th 5th of july so that we could celebrate. Shes the daughter of an inactive, and she asked us to be baptized. So we caem by super excited. When we got there, she told me sorry, but that she would rather be baptized on wednesday. So we said, heaven yeah, lets get it all set up. And ran her through the pre-interview. She got frustrated when she told us that she had to have an interview with president, due to certain things she disclosed to us, and told us she would call if she ever had the desire to be baptized again. She doesn't have a phone. 

0 baptismal dates. 

It's days and weeks like these, where you get back to the apartment exhausted, depressed, and in silence. Where you take a showet with your eyes closed and when you tuck yourself in at 10:00, and you don't sleep, because you just wonder what you're doing wrong. Where yopu lie in bed staring at the ceiling and the words of the lord of the vineyard ring out in your mind; "What could I have done more for my vineyard?" Its days like this when you just feel beat. 

We have a lot more references to contact this week, and we're hoping to just start over from scratch. It'll be hard, but we're up for the challenge. God wants to test us, then we can show him that we're not giving up. Like wrestlingf an angel, even when we dislocate our joints, we keep wrestling, beacuse we know how impórtant the gospel is. 

A little background on Elder Chota. His name is Brandy, so we're basically the same person. He was baptized at 17 years old, alone. Nobody else in his family are memebrs, and his girlfriend married his best friend. But he just keeps working. HE's short and talks funny, but he is incredible. 

I hope all is well with you guys, sorry I couldn't include more in this letter. Hopefully, when I have a cmera again, I can write letters every night and give you guys more deatails. 

cuídense! 

-Elder Beech

June 5, 2017

Hey family, 

I GOT ROBBED AND I AM OKAY JUST CHILL OUT. I also watched a little baseball thanks to my buddies here god bless. 

This week has been a good week. two venezualan families moved in to the ward, with literally nothing. they're awesome though. They talk a lot about baseball with me. 

our baptismal date for saturday fell through. His mom told us that until he can learn to behave he cant get baptized. so we gotta mom this booger and then baptize him. ugh. 

AND THE STORY OF THE WEEK; ARMED ROBBERY!

so im just walking home at night, chilling out not being rude to anybody and this UGLY man walks out with a knife and tell sus to give him our stuff. so i was like nah bro, i gotta keep my scriptures cuz im a jesus man, and he was cool with that, but i gave him my money and camera (still have the sd card) because im not trying to die or anything. then the guy was like, okay have a good night, and we said, yeah you too, and we went home and played cards. 

not much else happened this week, sorry about that, but should get better lol love you dudes, 

-Elder Beech

How has it been three weeks??

We had such a great phone call with Elder Beech on Mother's Day. We even had Whitney on FaceTime on another device so we could all talk to each other. It was such a blessing to have everyone together for an hour. Some of the questions we asked him are:

1. What do you do on P-day? play soccer, visit sites, do errands
2. What was your favorite meal from members so far? Ribs!
3. What do you not like to eat there? Rice, rice, rice
4. What do members usually feed you? Rice, rice, rice
5. What was your last service that you did? washed someone's dog
6. How often do you do laundry? There is a lady that does the laundry for us

We asked him lots of other things too. It was great. He bore his testimony to us in Spanish. His Spanish is really good, and he loves speaking it. It was hard to say good-bye, so now we look forward to the Christmas Skype time!

May 15:
hey fam bam slam,

nothing at all has changed since yesterday, so thats alright. we played soccer today with wilmar and all and then ate some cookies from hna. diana who sent a picture to mom last night. lol that family is awesome.

yeah, nothing to report, had a baptism, number 7 and hes super well haha, and Jesus sends some hellos to you all especially whitney. él va a ser mi cuñado.

here are some pictures, hope you enjoy them lol. send more pictures!!!!!!!!!!

love Y'ALL,
-Elder Beech

May 22:

Hey family,

this week in the disney world of the ecuador guayaquil south mission, not much is new. Looking forward to a great week this week, looking forward to working super hard so we can stay better than the zone leaders hahaha.

All has been super boring over here, nothing new to reallly say. we played soccer today, and that was fun. My legs hurt super bad though :(. but all is well. send pics of cooper and your lives pls. I look forward to hopefully sending a letter by hand next week. but we'll see.

ay a vosotros,
-Elder Beech

hello family,

just so you all know, I did write a handwritten, detailed, inspiring letter this week, but lent my camera to the zone leaders today, and so I cannot send the letter :(.

BUT recap of the week, 2 new baptismal dates, almost got robbed and a fish burned me.

so we put a date down for hna nicol who has been baptized before, but theres no registro so shes gotta go under again. and a 13 year old asked to be baptized so that'll be cool.

a high dude tried to rob us, but i said no, and he walked away.

and i HATE FISH SO MUCH THAT I STUCK 2 PIPING HOT FRESH OFF THE STOVE FISH BUTT TAILS IN MY SOCKS AND I GOT BURNED REALLY BAD AND IT WAS STILL BETTER THAN EATING THE STUPID THING.

but yeah, all is good. sunday was awesome, hna virginia lopez had a birthday, so we went to her house to eat, and the stupid zone leaders showed up and ate browines with us. but its chill, they didnt machete or anything. we also had stake conference, which felt ñole being in the plano 5th ward in terms of attendence. but its all good. president was there, and elder espínoza and the temple president (MY GRINGO HOMIE) and it was super beutiful and everything.

hope all is well and that finals turn out to be super hard and you all suffer hasta cooper esta sufriendo lol ñaño. im kidding. but how is that bugger? still ugly?
-Elder Beech

We got this video last week!

And this picture showed up from a sister in Guayaquil!

Voice recording, transfer, and a week in Guayaquil

Forgive me for not posting the last few weeks. Brandon sent a voice recording instead of a letter 2 weeks ago. It was all in Spanish (which is excellent by the way), and I don't remember lots of what he shared. Much of it was jokes that only make sense in Spanish and a list of things he needs for his birthday package.

The following week, he had a transfer so spent the day traveling and moving into his new place.

We got a great letter today. So here goes:

We live in a really messed up part of town. theres always dudes smoking pot and crack outside our house, but theyre 100 percent chill with us. always like wassup elders hows it going? its crazy awesome here.

next week we talk, and thatll be cool, bring cooper along lol

Tuesday: It is too hot. We walked around our sector and got to know some of the members. Everybody is super nice here. They all like talking to me and giving me good food. It's so freaking awesome! I ate too much today, and now I'm dying!

Wednesday: Still hot. Got to know some of our investigators today. They're cool. We also watched an inactive play uncharted 4, so that was sweet. I can just smell the potential of this area. It's awesome.

Thursday: Wilmer accepted a baptismal date for next Saturday the 13th. He's a 16 year old who's really small and really amazing! He's excited for his baptism.

Friday: I showed up to our district meeting to a surprise. Elder Fourcade got transferred into my zone. He's cool. As for today, we finished teaching Wilmer, so now we just need to get him into the water.

Saturday: Elder Inuma got really sick so nothing happened.

Sunday: We had a meeting with the Stake President today about a missionary invasion. Should be interesting. We also had lunch with the coolest family, Familia Salizar. It was a good day.

ALSO SOME LADY SHOWED UP AT CHURCH AND ASKED TO BE BAPTIZED! LIKE WHAT!!

-Elder Beech

Week in Santa Rosa

Tuesday, April 4

We had a crazy day today. I had an appointment with the doctor for my eyeballs. Herman Moreno scheduled it for me. I was having trouble reading and it annoyed Elder Coello so we went to the doctor, and now I have reading glasses. Then we had a lesson with Tatiana, who was baptized a year ago. She's an inactive member. She quit coming to church because of personality conflicts with someone. After that lesson, we went to Santa Rosa to spend the night.

Wednesday, April 5

I spent the day in Santa Rosa with Elder Bowser and Elder Hurtado, both younger than me in the mission. It was a hot day, and nothing much happened, but we ate pizza. I also got my Easter package. Thanks for the Duck!

Thursday, April 6

We came back from Santa Rosa and I got sick. So I spent the day puking. So that was fun.

Friday, April 7

We went back to Santa Rosa for Zone Training. We're going to Guayaquil next Saturday to meet Elder Christofferson! That should be fun. We had no lessons today.

Saturday, April 8

The day started off like Friday, nobody was home. But at 5:30 we had a lesson with Franklin Rayes, who is a new investigator. He's old and cool. He lives in the middle of nowhere. I found a really cool goat as well! He's a really cool dude. After that, we just looked for new people and found none.

Sunday, April 9

The Miracle. Nobody answered our calls or the door when we went to invite them to church. We felt we'd put up another 0 for investigators again this week, but we showed up to church with 5 investigators. They just came. It was amazing. The rest of the day was calm, nobody at home again, but it's all good.

Monday, April 10

All is good here. I ate ribs today, so that was nice. I am a super nerd, but it's all good. We are going to baptize soon, I hope. Miss you and love you! This week was boring.

Updates on Monday, April 10

buenas tardes hermanas y padres,

this week was exeptionally BORING. we did a lot of traveling and i taught a lot of animals. We lost our super cool old guy investigator, so that was sad, but he´ll come around one day. Guayaquil was cool, all 3 missions were there and i saw elder Toledo. I also found Ecco in my comps package and stole it. jajajajajajajajajajaja. All is good around here, were having incredible success with investigators and everything. Its looking really bright here in piñas!

how is everybody? 🙁

keep your nose up
-Elder Beech