Sorry, I haven't been too good about updating the blog. For starters, Brandon had a transfer to a new area. His Pday was spent on the bus all day, so he didn't have a chance to email. The following week was Carnival, and they were housebound during the Pday, so again no email. Then we were out of town for Spring Break, and I didn't have service so was unable to update the blog. So here are his notes from the past few weeks.

Feb. 20:

This week was not too good. Between losing my scriptures and everything I had studied, along with my copy of my visa and pasport, and several photos. We had little success.

In all honesty its hard here. For P-day, we cleaned house for 5 hours. No break. Im exhausted. We also have carnival this weekend so we'll be stuck in the house from saturday until wendesday. Please pray for me and my companion, and this sector. Its rough.


March 1:

Well, staying in the house is rough. Being sick is even rougher. But its all good.

I ate cuy like 4 weeks ago and I forgot to tell you guys. I also at a giant ciqueda this week. Maybe thats why im sick.


March 6:

We are hoping and looking forward to a baptism on Saturday, if she passes the baptismal interview. She a bit old, and really crazy, but she has desires to do whats right.

All that she has told us:
The mafia wants the gold under her house, and has killed her husband, and is torturing her son to get the gold. Her neighbors are devil worshipers and somebody keeps throwing toxic gas into her house. She wants us to wait with her as we fill up the pila bautismal for 3 hours on saturday. Also satan keeps talking to her. She's really cool.

As for the rest of the week, we started off by losing our golden family on wednesday night. Too much extended family pressure to stay catholic. So they kindly told us to leave. Elder Schillen got really bummed by that, but I told him God will bless us as Job if we have patience. We didn't get a 10 fold reward, but looking back, we do have a 3 fold reward. 3 new golden families.

We also had a REALLY old investigator (hes 16 but got dropped 3 months ago) show up to church randomly, and so he's back and progressing. He's a cool guy.

Also we lost another investigator because she died. But she was at least infinity, and was accepting all that we taught, so shes all good.

I still do not have my package, but I feel it will arrive in my hands on Friday.

Attached are some pictures of me with the catholics, me with Elder Vegas and Elder Arroyo.

Church is true, Jesus died for you, and Ecuador is too rainy.

March 13:

I hope the pictures are loading. I saw an Iguana this week, and Hna. Rosa drank cofee and was not baptized. Also spent about 22 hours in Machala for a zone conference and it was calm.

All is well in the work here in Piñas, not much to report on. I hope all is well with you all in Texas. I have no good stories for you guys, but maybe next week when I can send my weekly letter. Yes I am writing them.

Love you,
-Elder Beech

Updates from Ecuador

I know the updates have taken a while. Please forgive this missionary mama! Here are the highlights from the last few weeks.

-They had a 2 hour broadcast from Salt Lake City to inform them of the new mission rules that are being implemented worldwide. The 2 biggest ones that will impact Elder Beech are that P-day is 2 hours longer starting at 8:00am, and they are allowed to go to bed at 9:30pm instead of 10:30 pm.

-Solid work going on in Catamayo. Lessons taught frequently but slow progress with his favorite investigators.

-Went on splits with his District Leader, and they ate lots of tamales.

-Priesthood Conference in Loja. Got back to Catamayo late because the bus broke down.

-Received a letter from our Ward Primary. It was mailed before he even left the MTC! He loved it! "It made me happy"

-He's been sick for the last little while, so he hides his meals of bananas and rice in his socks when he just can't eat it. I guess this is better than appearing rude to their members or investigators.

-He had his first transfer. He is now in Pinas with a new elder from California. Brandon is the senior comp. That was a tough Monday for us, since he wasn't able to email at all.

"My testimony is strong still, despite getting rejected a ton. Church is true, book is blue, Jesus loves you. Gospel changes lives, and the Book of Mormon is cool."

Highlights from this week:

He got sick early in the week. Then the rest of his apartment mates started getting sick too. He had a good attitude and pushed through working as missionaries do.

He ate lasagne on Friday!

He gave a talk on Sunday.

"This week was one of the hardest of my life. But why do we have trials? To learn. It's all for our experience. I've had a stomach bug for almost a week and an allergy rash on my back that hurts worse than Harambe's death. But guess what? I've learned so much, and I'm infinitely a better missionary because of it. Life is not meant to be easy. It's a state in which we are to learn and have our faith tried. I invented a word this week: zapatomirador. A zapatomirador is a shoe watcher. Someone who always has their head down Someone who won't lift their face or their voice to their Heavenly Father in their times of need. Nunca ser un zapatomirador. Always look up, and look for the good in everything. See the blessings"

Harambe Lives On In My Heart

I am not sure why he titled his email this, but it's his blog, right? His letter was super long (5 pages handwritten), so I am just going to share the highlights that I think he'd want you to hear.

Monday: Taught one lesson to Christian about choosing friends wisely.

Tuesday: "In terms of how our day went, we wasted the Lord's time a ton. My companion spent about 2 1/2 hours of study cleaning the kitchen, which we cleaned yesterday. Cleaning is good, but we need to use our time with wisdom." They taught a one-armed drunk guy. He thought that was cool. They taught a less active member about prayer. She has a strong testimony about prayer, so they are hoping she comes back into the fold.

Wednesday: "For personal study, I studied a ton of the Book of Mormon, while my companion looked for revelation through dreams."

"In Alma 32:28-43 it talks about seed of faith. We need to nurture our faith with daily prayer, scripture study, and going to church every week. Then we can partake in the blessings of the Gospel. I also studied about repentance in 2 Nephi 2:6-9 and 2 Nephi 9:21-24. The first one talks about how redemption comes through Christ and how all who believe on His name will be saved. The second one talks about how repentance is how we show our faith and how we can live with God again. The plan is for all of us to return to God's presence, but we must repent and strive to be worthy every day."

"My companion took another nap from 10-1. The good news is I'm learning a ton from him." Later in the day they had no results with contacting. "I was very angry with my companion for sleeping and was looking for things to get after him about. That is NOT acceptable of a servant of the Lord because of my anger and inability to forgive or correct with love. We had an unsuccessful day. How awful do I feel? Terrible."

Thursday: "I woke up really sick this morning, but during personal study, I read something important. In 3 Nephi 17:5-9, it sounds like Jesus was about to leave to go rest after a 3 year ministry to the Jews, after the painful atonement and his death, after his ministry to the apostles and the Spirits and again to the apostles , an his ministry to the lost tribes. But when 'Jesus had spoken, He cast His eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld them that they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon Him as if they would ask Him to tarry a little longer with them.' And Jesus said to them, "Behold my bowels are filled with compassion toward you" Then he healed the sick. Jesus never stopped working and neither can we. No matter the circumstances, our fellow members need our help, our other non-member friends need a chance to accept or reject the Gospel. Keep your work going."

"In terms of how the day went, kill me. Our golden family, familia Silva, burned our Book of Mormon and told us to never come back. So that was rough. I felt they would be baptized."

Friday: "We had a zone conference today, and I got the food package. Thanks for the gum. I collect the drawings."

Saturday: Christian was baptized.

Sunday: He shared his two hour lesson that he taught to Christian. I won't share it all, but basically Christian was confirmed and received the Aaronic Priesthood. The branch president would like Christian to bless the sacrament next Sunday. Christian freaked out. He doesn't feel ready. Brandon read several scriptures about prophets that were young and unprepared for their responsibilities. God made them great men. Christian felt Brandon wouldn't understand since he's been a member his whole life. He asked Christian, "Do you know how many missionaries I've met that are younger than me? I held up my fist and said no other missionaries that are younger than me. Do you think that was easy to leave on a mission so young?" "No, Christian, it's not. I planned my whole life to leave on my mission at 19. I left when I just turned 18, and it moved fast. One day, I'm chilling with my friends at a lake, the next I'm in Mexico, far away from home on a mission. It wasn't easy."He also explained that the first Saints were new converts one day, and the next leaving on missions. He read several more scriptures about that. He also asked him who was Peter, the great apostle, before Christ called him? He was a fisherman. "And yet that fisherman became a great man of God. Nephi was just an ordinary young dud when the Lord commanded him to build a boat for his family to sail across an ocean."

Weekly Testimony: "Be obedient. That's an issue my companion has and we suffered a lot this week because of it. We eventually started following more rules and found more investigators. So just goes to show you...
This week I also got to see a mother and a son grow closer and have a better relationship because of a baptism. The Lord will heal all fights, if you let Him. So let Him. We are blessed to have the Gospel, and D&C 49: 18-19. Abide in the love of Jesus and of God. Blessed are we."

-Elder Beech
"Everything you want is on the other side of fear"

We just had an earthquake today! Woo-Hoo! Freakin weak though... maybe next time!

Anyway, this week was super discouraging for me. My companion isn't used to how hard the work is here in Catamayo, so for the first two days, he was pretty angry. He seems to have chilled out a little bit. Maybe a little too much. He likes to sleep, and all this week he's napped during lessons, and gone to bed as soon as we get home, which is bad because Saturday and Sunday nights we had to be home by 7:00. Maybe he's just tired of all the walking we have to do here. Who knows?

As for investigators, Christian is getting baptized on Saturday, so that's exciting! Familia Cueva have been out of town all break, and same with Familia Silva. They're all pretty receptive though.

I found the dead dog of a member, so we had a funeral service for vivi, the dog last night. Kind of strange to give a graveside talk for a dog, but then again, I'll probably be the same with Cooper.

Being on the mission, you're in tune with the Spirit a lot more. That's something you can't deny. You're out and about teaching or studying all day. I'm not someone partial to sharing my spiritual experiences too much. I kind of reserve them for me. But I had a strong one last week. On Christmas Eve, I bore my testimony of the Savior's life and that He did much more for us than being born. I bore this testimony in near perfect Spanish , with such force, I felt my body burning with the Spirit. You cannot make these feelings, there was someone else guiding me.

The Lord was with us during the week of Christmas. The Spirit in lessons was strong and everybody could feel it.

This week I've felt as if I was doing the work all on my own. 1) my companion was sleeping through the lessons and 2) I did not feel the Spirit guide me as strongly as before. I wondered why. I knew the Spirit was there, I had felt it so strongly just a week ago. Why was I not having the Spirit with me as strongly? I have two answers to that. 1) maybe because I was stressed and my companion wasn't following the rules. Obedience brings blessings, and obedience gives us the right to the Holy Ghost. 2) In Job, that old book in the Bible, it talks of a "just and perfect man" who loses everything because the Lord wanted it to test him to try his faith. Faith had to be tried. When the hard times come, cling to your faith. Never lose it. That's why we have so many less actives here in Catamayo. The hard times came, and they bailed. Sad.

I've also read in the New Testament. I'll share some other spiritual experiences next week. But remember this, there is a great life after this life. Do not lose sight of eternal glory. Do not lose your faith. Help others. "Ye are the light of the world."

Last things: it's true. It's all true. We have prophet who gets revelation from God for us. God loves you, and gives us commandments to protect us and the blessings are huge. Jesus suffered and died so we could repent everyday, and return to live with Him again. Stay faithful, make good choices. You will be blessed, even when you can't see the blessings. I love you all, and miss you all. I pray for Y'all, and hope that you stay true to the faith.

BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER. (Bill and Ted 1:1)

Church is true, book is blue, and God loves YOU!

Supreme being in the Universe loves you. You're pretty darn special.

With love, jokes, and a stuffed bear,
Elder Beech #3

Highlights From Brandon's Last Two Weeks:

-Taught some women who sell food on the busses between Loja and Catamayo. They are very poor. They taught that faith brings blessings.

-Had a rainstorm!

-Have been teaching a 16 year old boy named Christian. He has a baptismal date.

-Ate lots of rice and an amazing lasagne that he couldn't keep down:(

-Elder Hirschi had a birthday, so they made cake and ate it too!

-Met with an older member who has been lonely. He even built a soccer field and basketball court to encourage visitors!

-Fed 70 Ecuadorians. (That was fun!)

-He received his Christmas Package in record time! Thank you to mymissionaryshipping.com!

-Can't wait to talk to the family on Christmas Day!

We only have 30 minutes to write because some missionaries have been violating mission rules. It was a hrad week for president. I love pictures from home. Especially cooper. I have been doing well this week, and started teaching lessons myself. Everybody is super suprised and there's a rumor that I may be the youngest assistant in mission history. None of my boxes have arrived, but they should get to me in the next two weeks, as the zone leaders will be going to Guayaquil for the next few weeks. I went on a split with Elder Valdivia, the missionary from Santiago, on Tuesday. He let me in on the buzz about me. Apparently there are high expectations for me. All is well in Catamayo except none of our investigators will come to church. My spanish is well. I think there isn't anything I need -Elder Beech