Greetings,
As soon as I
stepped off of the plane a wave of humidity hit me. It was the hottest
and most humid day of the past last week and it was really
uncomfortable, however since then the weather has cooled and has been
very enjoyable.
The first day we were able to meet with the president
and he assigned us our companions after he met with us and got to know
us a little bit, after this was the MoTab concert which was amazing!!!
So much better than hearing them on T.V. That night we stayed at the
stake president's house, his name was President Welch I think. There was
an intense thunderstorm that night, but sadly no tornados.
The next day we went to the transfer meeting where we met our companions and got our assignments.
I
am serving in an area called Xenia, which is near the town of
Beavercreek. There are lots and lots of trees, and lots of flat area.
You can't tell how big the town is because it is hidden among all the
trees, but it is fairly big. I am in a trio and my trainer's name is
Elder Prettyman, yup like pretty man. He is also new to the area but is
so great. He has been placed here to help get the area back on its feet
because it has struggled in the past. He is truly an amazing missionary
and I am so privileged to be training with him. My other comp is Elder
Baird who is funny and smart but at the same time is able to really
connect with people. He has been in the area for two weeks and it is
truly amazing how much he knows, he is such a great missionary.
Together they make the work fun. I really am so grateful to have such
great companions, just in the last few days since the transfers we have
seen a great deal of success.
We have a brand new car since our area is so large, in
some cases we can drive to a specific area and bike that day, but most
of the time Elder Prettyman drives us around. The car is a Ford Fusion
and has 600 miles on it total! There are some areas of the OC mission
that are bike only, but ours is too large.
I did not tract on my first day since it was late in
the day and we had to move in, but we were able to make it to an
appointment with a sister named Kellah. She is in her early twenties and
is a model for Toyota commercials. When I was first told about her
Elder Blaird said "lock your heart elder!" She has lots of questions and
the main problem is she hasn't told her parents that she wants to be
baptized because they will disown her.
On Friday, I tracted for my first time. It really is
not as hard as I thought it would be. Most people just say I already have
a religion, or not interested. I haven't got any good stories yet.
Before we begin tracting we make specific goals about how many people we
want to find and we always pray specifically that we can find those
people. Every time we have prayed we have met that number, and it is
always at the last house we stop by. Since being here we have found 5
new investigators!
I am loving the work! For the first few days I was here
the mission was doing a lot of mini missions which means that young men
from around Ohio come and live a missionary lifestyle with the
missionaries for one week. The young man we were paired with was
interesting (he had similar issues as Ben my cousin) so he was always on
some sort of medication and he said the most random things so he was
really fun to be around . . .except when teaching where he would ask
questions like how old are you? (never ask a female how old she is!)
Anyways he is gone now so we are able to really get to work, and we do. We have spent a lot of time tracting and I have specifically told my
trainer to let me do the talking so I can learn. There was one house
where we met a man named Dave who is never home because he works for
AT&T but we caught him in the hour window that he was home and he
loved our message, the only problem is he is never home! I know that
there was no coincidence that we caught him right when he was home. In
fact there have been many situations where it has become evident that
the Lord has prepared his people for our coming.
They are feeding me well here, every night of the week
essentially. I ate so much the first day that I almost had to throw up,
probably we ate lunch about 2 hours before dinner and I did not want to
offend the member.
Lightning bugs! They are awesome! At night I can look
outside and there are all these little yellow flashes from the lightning
bugs!
I will definitely send some pictures next week. All our
emails are done in the public library and I forgot my camera cord
today.
It sounds like everything is going good in H-town. Its
awesome that you fasted for the missionaries, but if you are going to
fast for anyone it needs to be the people the missionaries are going to
be teaching, that they may be prepared for the message. The people here
are wonderful, all of them are some sort of Christian and all are
Patriotic! I do miss the mountains verses the endless flat forests but
it is nothing that I can't handle. I know that this is the work of the
Lord and that we are here to help other people. I know that this is an area specific for me to be here and that I have something that can help
these people, although I do not know yet because my teaching is lets be
honest, weak. I know that my companions care about me and want me to
become all that I can be and I am so glad that they are helping me. The
work continues to roll forth and there is nothing to stop this work from
progressing. I love you all. Stay strong, stay focused, don't forget
who has given you everything!
Love,
Elder Beutler
All mail that is sent to the mission home will be forwarded to me, however this is my current address.
Elder Trevon Michael Beutler
1790 Deer Creek Drive Suite #5
Xenia, OH 45385
