Christmas in Africa: 3 transfers, 3 companions, 2 baptisms and a giraffe in an acacia tree!

It has been a while since I wrote about what I have been up to here in Rwanda. I will try to remember what happened. 

Last week was a pretty normal week. It was week 6 of this 12 week transfer. We got Isabell and Mignione ready for the Baptism on the 20th.

I also found a small Christmas tree to help bring the Christmas spirit here to Rwanda. ha.

We also had a branch Christmas party on Saturday. It went really well. A lot of people showed up and it was a good time. A little disorganized, but still really good. Saturday Night Elder Osei-tutu went into the hospital and had acute apendicitis. He had surgery that night.
As well the Leibels got robbed that night, so pretty crazy time! (Elder Beck can relate as the same thing happened to him as he slept at night with his dad in a hotel room in San Diego the week before he went it in his mission.... Crazy burglars! Everyone is safe though it is frustrating!)

Then on Sunday we had a great day. We had a good church service. We were a little low on attendence at 44, but it was still really good. After Church we had the Baptism of Isabelle and her daughter Mignione. It went really well. I was able to baptize Isabelle and Elder Wilson was able to baptize Mignione. They had a really good experience and bore really strong testimonies afterwards. It was powerful to see. Isabelle was one of the first people I taught when I got here in Rwanda and to see her and her daughter baptized was one of the best feelings and things to be a part of.  They even invited us over to eat afterwards, which is always a bonus. Even if it is Bugali.ha

This week was also very very good. It started of with a trip to Akagara game park on P-day! It was awesome. We saw so many animals. Zebras, Girafees, Cape Buffalo, Impala, Warthogs, Wildabeasts?, Elephants, Hippos, and many other animals. My favorite part was probably the Elephants. We found a group of like 8-10 and we followed them around for some time. It was amazing to see. It was a great P-day. Except I wasn't able to email home. ON Tuesday we had a busy day of lessons. We visited many people. 

On Wednesday, President and Sister Chatfield and the two AP's came down for Zone Conference and a little bit of a small Christmas party. Zone conference was really good. I learned a lot of really good things and we focused on Unity. Unity is something very important in Missionary work and every other aspect of life. THen in the afternoon and evening we visited some people and went out with the AP's. 

On Thursday, we had a small Christmas party with the Chatfields, where they took us out to eat at a really nice place called Heaven. It was super nice. Then we went back to one of the Branches and watched the Christmas slide show for the year. I even made it into the slideshow. Then we took the Chatfields and the AP's to the airport. It was  a good Christmas Eve.

On Friday, Christmas! I opened the package I got from home and also the small present the mission gave all the missionaries. It was a Uganda Kampala Mission Temple Recommend Holder. It is sweet! Then of course it was great to skype home and talk to the family. It went by way too fast though.

Then on Saturday, we got back to work and had a busy full day. Sunday was a great day. We got to church and we ended up with 63 at Sacrament! And with a lot of our investigators at church as well. Then we visited some families afterwards and helped K1 teach some people, because Elder Osei-tutu is out of commison(appendix recovery). 

On Sunday night we got news that Elder Wilson will become the new AP and that I will get a new companion named Elder Brogan. He will also become the new Zone Leader. We will be really young now here in Rwanda. The Oldest being on mission for only 8 months. SO ya... 3 companions in 3 transfers. Right when I get used to one they take them away and give me a new one. haha, but it should be good. Next week we have most likely 4 baptisms and then 2 the week after. so it should be really good coming up.

It has been a great couple of weeks and these past two weeks I have been really studying about Jesus Christ and Christ-like attributes. I have found that developing Christ-like attributes is neccesary for our salvation. It is not something that is optional. Also that we can always be improving on those different attributes no matter how well we think we are. And the way we can improve those is by looking to the source and that is Jesus Christ. He was the perfect example for us and we should strive to be like him. One thing I really liked from studying this week was about Humility is when He is suffering in the Garden he says in Mathew 26: 39 "Not my will but thine be done...." Great example of being humble and submitting to the Father. It makes me want to become more humble and develop those Christ like attributes.

By the way the haircut is actually a couple weeks old, so it was even shorter than it was. ha!

Thanks for the emails, the love, and the support. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Talk to ya next Year. 

Love Elder Beck

Mom questions:

Hello Mother! It was great to talk to you and everyone else as well. It was too short though. I wish it could be longer. It sounds and looks like you had a great Christmas and continue to have one as you travel to St. George for the wedding. I love the pictures. Thanks for the email and thanks for the prayer you gave during the skype call. (So sweet, I love missionary gratitude!)

1. How many total missionaries in your mission? 

There are about 126 missionaries total in the entire mission.

2. What are the names of all the missionaries in Rwanda?

See below

3. Elder Liebel (of the missionary couple from BLACKFOOT Idaho)  sent us a safari picture of you, other missionaries... Who are all the other young men in this picture?

Elder Wilson (companion.. Tallest one), Elder Myers (Utah) his head poking out from the back and Elder Gondwe (Zambia) standing next to the sign, Elder Erckanbrack (St. George) wearing red shorts in picture and Elder Osei-tutu (Ghana) not present dt appendectomy. (He is recovering and doing fine btw!)

Jimmy far left. He is leaving for a mission to the Congo in January. JP is next from the left he is K3 don't know that much about him. good guy though. then Emile is next. He is awesome. He is 1st Counselour in K3 branch. Then Bisimana. (not sure if I spelled it right). 

4. Tell us again about elder Wilson. What is his first name and where is he from? What do you like most about him?

Elder Wilson's first name is Elliot. He is from LA.  He is really good at impersanations from different movies. Also for him he is going to be the new AP. SO he is leaving this Wednesday and I am getting a new companion and a new Zone Leader. His name is Elder Brogan . Don't know much more about him. Should be interesting.

That is all for now. Love, mom

Pictures from akagera safari..

Can you feel the love from Africa?

Hugs..

See the giraffe in the background?!

Giraffe to the far right..

I don't know why but this picture reminds me of elder beck!

Elder Beck said the elephants charged the truck ..or at least moved menacingly towards them...

What do you see in the African sky?

Hello. It has been a great week here in Rwanda

THIS LOOKS LIKE TROUBLE!
[Aren't they cute?  Looks like it was hair cut week again.]

[All around the Rwanda town,

The Elders met the people.

The Elders thought twas all in fun,

Pop! goes the weasel!    Just fyi from Elder Beck's mom.  I learned that 'weasel and stoat' is Cockney rhyming slang for "throat", as in "Get that down yer Weasel" meaning to eat or drink something!  Isn't that special?!  Random thoughts.....ok, onto the email from Elder Beck}

Hello. It has been a great week here in Rwanda and it is good to here from everyone back home.

On Tuesday we had a very busy day of meeting with people and having lessons. It was awesome!!  We have a lot of great progressing investigators that I am very excited for. 

On Wednesday we had another good day. We met with 3 sons of a family. The mom is not interested and the father is interested,but mostly for his sons. I hope to be able to teach the entire family, but the 3 sons are awesome and they say they want to serve missions and be missionaries.

On Thursday we had exchanges with K1. I went with Elder Osei-tutu from Ghana. He is an awesome guy and very good at soccer. We had an interesting day. We got bounced 3 times throughout the day, but we had 2 people show up at the church that were interested in knowing more. The Lord has his hand in this work. It is something I am trying to see more in my daily life. To search for how I have seen God's hand in my life everyday. 

On Friday we went to a members birthday party for a little while and had some very nice food. [He is always so grateful for good food!]  It was cool to see a lot of the members from all 3 branches and see how many strong members and awesome people there are here in Kigali.  We also had a soda party with the zone at night before we went to bed. We each got 8 sodas and the most anyone finished was 6. I had 6. [way to represent Elder Beck!]  It probably wasn't the most healthy thing, but it was a good time!

On Saturday,  we met with this man that is from the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and heard about the church, but there wasn't a church close to him in DRC so when he was visiting Kigali he contacted us. He is a very good man and I hope that he keeps pursuing after the church. 

On Sunday, we had a nice day. We had a little lower sacrament attendance than usual, but it was still a great Sabbath. Today we did a lot of cleaning because K1 is moving apartments and we needed to clean the old one and move them to the new one. It is really nice.

I have had a great week. I have really thought more about Christmas and the Savior this week. I have also been reading in the New Testament and it is really awesome to learn more and more about Jesus Christ's entire life. Also, a scripture I really like that I read this week was Moroni 9:6 it tells us to never give up because we never really fail until we give up. It gave me strength and extra motivation this week. It is amazing how the scriptures can bless our lives is so many ways. They are not just words, but something we should love, hold fast too, and liken to our lives. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are true and they can bless our lives so much. Have a great week.

Love Elder Beck

BEFORE....

,,,,,,AFTER

..... burp!

Answers to Mom’s questions...
1.  Do you need anything? Do your companions need anything? Or is there anything we can do to help the people that you serve?  DON'T REALLY NEED ANYTHING AND I GOT THE PACKAGE OF CANDY SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. IT WILL BE DELICIOUS

2. Skype or phone call details? 

ABOUT THE SKYPE THING. I THINK I WILL USE SKYPE, BUT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON. JUST MAKE SURE TO BE READY ON CHRISTMAS MORNING WITH SKYPE. ALSO I NEED YOUR ACCOUNT NAME FOR SKYPE. AND I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I WILL BE EMAILING NEXT P-DAY BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO AKAGARA NATIONAL PARK. IT IS A GAME RESERVE WITH ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS. IT IS GOING TO BE SWEET. ALSO I GOT THE PACKAGE OF CANDY THIS WEEK. THANK YOU.  (what the heck? To an African reserve…. And candy!  wowie!   He has now received all of our packages but no letters.  We are ready for a great Christmas morning!)

3. Have you eaten anything weird lately?

NOTHING TOO WEIRD LATELY, BUT I AM NOT SURE IF THAT IS BECAUSE I AM GETTING USED TO THE FOOD OR BECAUSE I HAVEN'T EATEN ANYTHING WEIRD LATELY.

4. What is your favorite thing about being a missionary?

MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING A MISSIONARY IS SEEING THE GOSPEL IMPROVE SOMEONE’S LIFE. 

5.  What food do you miss the most?

I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC, BUT JUST HAVING PRETTY MUCH ANY FOOD EASILY AND READILY AVAILABLE AND BEING ABLE TO HAVE AS MUCH AS I WANT.

6. What your idea of a perfect companion and what can you do to be a "dream companion" ?

THE PERFECT COMPANION WOULD BE ONE THAT WORKS HARD WHEN IT IS TIME TO WORK HARD AND HAS FUN DOING IT.

7.  Do they celebrate Christmas there? If so what do they do?

CHRISTMAS ISN'T REALLY CELEBRATED TOO MUCH. IT IS STILL A HOLIDAY AND SUCH, BUT NOTHING CHANGES TOO MUCH.

8. Which underwear fabric is most comfortable in the weather there? 

I DON'T KNOW.  {interpretation…..Mom, stop asking me so many goofy questions!}

9. From Dad...what's going on this week in your mission?  FOR WHAT IS GOING ON HERE IN MY AREA. WE HAVE A SCHEDULED BAPTISM THIS COMING WEEK FOR ISABELLE AND MINGIONE. MOTHER AND DAUGHTER. THEN ON THE 27TH WE HAVE AT LEAST 2 BAPTISMS WITH A POSSIBILITY OF 5. WE WILL SEE. WE HAVE QUITE A FEW PROGRESSING INVESTIGATORS RIGHT NOW. I KIND OF JUST WANT TO STAY IN THIS AREA FOR MY ENTIRE MISSION, BUT I KNOW I WILL HAVE TO LEAVE SOMETIME. 

[he truly loves the people in Rwanda!]

HAVE A GREAT WEEK THANKS FOR THE EMAIL AND THE LOVE. LOVE YOU AND HAVE AN AWESOME WEEK.

LOVE ELDER BECK

December ?!? Time is flying.....

Wow. I can't believe it is already december. Does not feel like it here in Rwanda. I have had a great week though. It flew by.

We met a lot of great people this week and even on Wednesday after we were bounced by one of our appointments, we were at the church calling some people to go visit, when a former investigator and someone else walked in. She was someone that was suppose to be baptized when I first got to Rwanda, but kind of disappeared. This time she was visiting the church and brought a friend that is interested. She wants to be baptized and the friend is very interested and wants to learn more. It is funny how we got bounced and were looking for someone to visit and the Lord just sent someone our way. Tender Mercies... Gotta love em! Then on Thursday we met with 4 new Investigators. They are all awesome. We had been struggling a bit to find new investigators lately and we have been blessed this week to find a ton of them. We are going to have to get more missionaries down here in Rwanda!! Also there was a football tournament going on this week. Rwanda played Sudan on Thursday and won on penalty shootout. It was funny right when Rwanda won everyone started celebrating for a while and then they went back to being normal after about 10 seconds.
CHEER!

On Friday we had a good day. We visited the Leibel's (mission couple) home that day and when you go there you know you are gonna be there longer than you plan for because Elder Leibel loves to talk. He is a great guy though. Then we had to go on exchanges with K3 Elders because we had a baptism interview for Miracle. So I was with Elder Myers. It was a good time and we did some street contacting and there was this hilarious drunk guy that was talking in a high pitched voice. It was funny. Then we went treking through the valley in the dark to visit someone. It was a good time. On Saturday, we had a great day other than that Elder Wilson was sick with a bad cold. We met this wonderful family and taught them the first lesson. They are very excited about the church and are a great family. They have one kid. Also Uganda played Rwanda in the final. Uganda won... Elder Wilson was happy about that. Then we took forever to find an investigators home. We were so lost, but we finally found it.

On Sunday we had a wonderful church service. We had 65 in attendance. Another Record. and we had Miracle's baptism. We also have another investigator who is scheduled to be baptized on the 27th December that we taught. We went over to Miracle's home for some food and a get together for her baptism. It was a good time and also it was some good food. They are a powerful family. Martha and Kennedy (the parents) and Anne Mary (one of the kids), was baptized 6 months ago and we just baptized the other 3 kids (Heritier, Peace, Miracle). They are great and really strong in the gospel. It was a great Sunday.

Elder Wilson, Miracle, Elder Beck

This week Flew by.... I saw a ton of blessings this week and the work in Kigali is really progressing. All 3 Branches are doing well. This week I finished reading the Book of Mormon and one of my favorite chapters was Moroni 7 about Faith, Hope, and Charity. Also I really liked the scripture Omni 1:26. It is about coming unto Christ and offering up our whole souls unto him. Especially during this Christmas Season we can offer up our whole souls unto him by serving others and following his example. Christ never did anything for himself during his life. It was always for others. Anyways, thanks for all the emails and have a great week. Love you.

Love Elder Beck

ANSWERS TO MOM'S QUESTIONS:
1. The price of gas dropped below $2.  In fact, we just pumped Costco $1.90/ gal. Woot!  What is the price of gasoline in Rwanda? Is filling up the same as in the good ol USA?  GAS HERE IS LIKE 868 FRANCS A LITER. HERE SOMEONE FILLS IT UP FOR YOU.  (Someone do the math here and get back with me!)  745.25 francs/dollar.  It's .26 gal/liter or 3.7 liter/gal.  $4.31/gallon.  Someone check me!  yikes! that's high! That's a lot of Francs....Francs hot sauce!)

2. Your cousin Braxton is officially in a relationship... According to FB.... Do you have any advice for him and his sweet girl friend?  GOOD JOB BRAXTON. 

Rwandan clouds and skyline

3.  For those of us who have never been to Rwanda, can you describe the flowers, plants, animals and people?  VERY GREEN HERE. THERE ARE PALM TREES. BANANA TREES. NORMAL FLOWERS. BIRDS THAT ARE NOT VERY SMART, THE PEOPLE ARE SKINNY, MOSTLY. THERE ARE SOME WEIRD DOGS. CATS. LOTS OF LIZARDS.

4. Can you take a picture of your name badge and send it to me? I WOULD BUT THE INTERNET IS BEING DUMB.

5. How's your health? Are you maintaining your weight? Staying hydrated? Getting enough to eat? I THINK MY HEALTH IS GOOD, BUT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE WEIGHT.

6.  What's the plan with Skype? Do we need to just get it set up and let you know what's going on? Let us know if there's something you need us to do.  I AM NOT SURE WITH SKYPE YET, BUT I WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS I CAN.

7.  Have you received any letters?  I HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANY LETTERS YET.  (we have sent 3 letters to Rwanda....or to someone :) . 

Love you tons.  We are so happy with all the work you're doing. Bringing the light of the gospel to all who will hear.  I'm just continually amazed at missionary work.
Love, mommacita

Thanks mom. Love you