Greetings from the Great OCM
My apologies for
not having in recent pictures. The trees are just now beginning to
change color so I will try to get some quality photos within the next
week. Nice job Sadie getting a date to Homecoming! And I am so jealous
of Henry going on an awesome trip with the Hollands, I really do miss
the outdoors sometimes.
Here in Xenia the work has been progressing: We have a
baptism coming up in October and hopefully a couple more if we can put
them on date. Smoking is a big problem here. Everyone has an addiction
to beer or cigarettes. I am now used to smelling like smoke at the end
of the day. There was one day this last week where we saw three
different drunk people. One guy was puking on his porch because he was
so drunk. There was also a group of teenagers that followed us around on
a street one night mocking us but hey, that is missionary work for ya.
There was also a lot of bashers (bible bashers) we ran into over the
course of the week, but with those people you have to just cut them off
and move on.
Other than that we have found a few new investigators
and one of them is a young family! We have taught them twice this last
week and their knowledge of the scriptures, and about the LDS church in
general is huge. They have lots of deep questions and have scriptures to
back it up so this week has been full of immense growth for me and my
two companions since we are all still fairly new missionaries. Teaching a
family though is something every missionary wants to do. The greatest
joy in missionary work is the salvation of the family.
It was fairly rainy this weekend and cooler which was
pleasant. The rain here almost always comes in the night/morning this
time of year which is different. There are also tons of frogs and twice
as many squirrels. They are everywhere! especially since all the acorns
have fallen.
This week I found myself doing what I like to call
"spiritual coasting" which is simply not increasing or decreasing my
personal spirituality. I recognized that I was too often going through
the motions of missionary work and not acting out of love, or pure
testimony. So, I changed. Now with renewed faith, and motivation, we
have had a great week here and have a great week ahead of us. I really
do believe that this is the best area of the best mission in the world!
The work is moving forward at a rapid pace.
Something that we need to work on is getting the
members motivated to do the work. "Missionaries are only here to assist
the members instead of the other way around." We are doing something
called a 40 day fast thanks to the help of our awesome ward mission
leader. A family has signed up every day for 40 days to fast for an
increase in missionary work and to set one goal as a family to help the
work progress. The fast will end just before the holiday season
(thanksgiving).
Thank you so much for the support you give me. Oh by
the way, something I could use here on my mission is a "hot-pack" that
would come in handy after a long day on the road, but no rush. Sadie and
Mom, be expecting something in the mail soon for your b-day. And good
luck Mom and Dad with your trip to Ireland! I love you all and look
forward to hearing from you soon.
Remember, charity is the foundation of missionary work and everything we do in the church hangs upon this one principle.
Love Elder Beutler
Oh by the way, what is the home address for Uncle Eric/Aunt Julie? What is the street address for SLAB?
