Good Week in Minnetonka!

Hello to all my family, friends and brothers in Cache Valley and all over the world! I love you all and sure do miss you! My CMU Mavericks are getting it done!! I'm so excited to play there when I get home. Congrats to my Bobcats as well, have a great homecoming week and all you seniors enjoy it because it's your last one! 

This week here in Minnetonka has really been good! We have had some good experiences and also found some new people to teach!

So last Monday, after P-day was over, we helped a brother from our ward clean out his shed and then he took us to get BBQ. It was sooo good. Easily the best BBQ I've had in my life. So anyways, after we went there he took us home and it was about 8pm, so we just went for a walk and talked to everyone we saw. We met this couple who were smoking outside an apartment building. We just started talking to them and then we asked them about their church and we started talking about our church. He said he isn't super happy with his church because it's really big and fancy and not really a church per say. We told him about our church and he seemed to think it sounded good! We gave them a Book of Mormon and a pass along card and said we would see them around. So we got back to our apartment and I realized we didn't get any of their info.  So we've been trying to find which apartment they are in in their complex, but so far no luck.  I learned a good lesson to get people's info and I will NEVER make that mistake again. 

On Wednesday we had exchanges with the ZLs which was super fun. Elder Tugavaue came here to Minnetonka and Elder Long went to Lake Nikomis with Elder Peterson. Elder Tugavaue played football at a JC in San Francisco before he came out so we talked about football a lot haha. We did a few hours of finding and had some first lessons with a few older ladies who were out having a smoke at their apartments haha. The coolest part of the whole day was at 3:55 pm. We were going to stop by a less active family who lived in an apartment. So we buzzed the buzzer and they let us in. We walked up to the third floor and this guy was standing outside the apartment and I asked "Do the so and so's live here?" And he said no and that his family lived there now. He asked us for a card and said he was coming to church on Sunday! I was kind of speechless for a second because we hadn't really said anything. I was like "For real?!" And he said yeah for real! Haha I was so excited! He said he was going through a rough patch in his life and needed some support system to rely on more and felt that a church would be good for that. So we talked a little more and set up an appointment with him for Saturday night!

Right after that we had a lesson with a man and his nephew who just joined the church not super long ago. He is from Chicago and used to be a gang banger and was a really good basketball player. He knows Doc Rivers and Isaiah Thomas because he played ball with them in high school and on the streets. He joined a few years ago when his wife introduced him to the church. He has gone through some crazy stuff to get to where he is at but he is such a solid member now and tries to share the gospel with everyone! He and his wife adopted his nephew because he lived in a messed up home in Chicago. He is 10 years old and is in fourth grade. He never went to school before they adopted him and didn't know the alphabet or how to read or write or anything. His first year of school was third grade and he has progressed a TON since then. He is a really nice kid and is starting to really open up to me which makes me happy.  So when we went over we showed the Hope of God's Light Mormon message because it is about basketball and they both love basketball. We found out the nephew had gotten in trouble that day at school and his uncle was really pressuring him to do well in school and to graduate and go to college. Afterwards I pulled the nephew aside and said "Hey, just enjoy it! You only get to do it once.  So don't feel too much pressure. You just be you and have fun with it!" I'm glad I talked to him because I feel like he is really starting to trust me now which is key to relationships with people! He's a good kid and I want him to succeed. 

On Thursday it poured rain like half the day ️ so we were kind of stuck out in it and had to run into these apartment buildings. We met a few people in there and talked to this lady who was outside in the rain under a tree smoking (we talked to a lot of smokers this week) But, we got drenched walking back to our car. While we were on our way back to the apartment we saw this family trying to move into an apartment building in the rain so I was like let's go help them! So we ran out in the rain and asked if we could help and both guys answered in unison "Hell yeah!" Haha it was funny. So we helped them haul stuff from the trailer up to their second floor apartment in the rain. It was cool and we gave them an Articles of Faith card and the church address and stuff but they didn't seem super interested. They really were grateful for the help though! Just planting seeds and bringing the light of Christ into people's lives!

On Friday we had dinner with Sister K, who is from west Africa. Her son recently hurt his knee playing in the NBA D-league so we got to meet him. He is jacked haha. Her nephew came to dinner too. The sisters had taught him a few times and he said he is interested but just doesn't really keep commitments or anything. So we met him at dinner and got to know him. He is a cool guy and we hit it off with him pretty well! We stopped by his place Sunday night because he said he was going to come to church and didn't. He said he would be there next Sunday and that he promised God he would come next Sunday. We told him we would love to have him there and just wanted him to be happy! He liked that we haven't pressured him or anything, we just are lovingly bold with him. 

After dinner on Friday we met this guy on main street in Hopkins. He is also a west African and we talked to him for a while. He was really well read in the Bible and said he felt like a lot of people were hypocrites with religion because they live it on Sunday and not the rest of the week. We told him about our church and how we try to live our religion all the time and live as Christ lived. He told us the missionaries could stop by his place (he lives in south Minneapolis). So that was cool!

Saturday morning, Elder Long was super sick and I had a cold. We slept in till 7:30 and had a rough morning. We went to a baptism though which was so great! She is a girl I helped teach in the YSA ward. She is so solid and loves the church! It was a great experience even though Elder Long wasn't feeling super great.

After the baptism we just went home and took a nap for an hour till we had bishop coordination meeting. When I woke up I felt more sick and Elder Long was about the same. So we went to the bishop's house and the Sisters beat us there. We walked in and Sister Gotchy goes, "You both look like death!" I was like, "Thanks!" Haha so yeah, Saturday was rough. BUT... Saturday night we taught our friend that we met earlier!! J came with us to joint teach because he is from Chicago as well.  He told us he is trying to do things right in school and be a good kid, he just doesn't have a lot of support. We told him he had us and J and everyone from our church to help him out. He is really a good kid and is coming to church next Sunday with J. He couldn't make it this Sunday because he had a practice for a performance he is in. He goes to a performing arts school in Hopkins and is really into singing and acting. He also plays basketball so J talked about that, too. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he was really excited to read it. It's amazing when you find people who are just ready to hear the gospel. God truly put him in our path and is looking out for him!

So, Sunday we both woke up and were like ughhhh super sick.  We just pretty much slept all morning and then went to church because Elder Long had to give a talk in church. He did a great job and got a lot of compliments! After church our ward mission leader and a member of the bishopric gave us Priesthood blessings so we could get better. They helped immediately. We went home and slept before dinner and when we woke up we both felt way better! It was really cool! We had dinner at the another member's house. He is the CEO of United Healthcare so their house is huge and super nice and they have a lake in their backyard. The Sisters live in their basement so they had dinner with us as well. They are so nice and they do a lot to help with the member missionary work in the area. He said he is going to do a combined birthday party for me and Sister Gotchy because our birthdays are only a day apart. He said he is gonna take us to a Minnesota Wild hockey game and they have front row seats on the glass so I'm pretty hyped for that! 

Anyways, it's been a great week! I hope all my Brothers serving missions as well had a great week too! I love all of you and pray for you daily. Thanks to my family for all you do for me and know I love all of you. Happy birthdays for real this time to Jayden, Addi, and Dad! Wish I could be there to celebrate but I'm out here in Minnesota.   I'm enjoying the mission and I know it's the Lord's work. It's hard and long but things are picking up each day. I know God rewards us for our efforts and when we rely on him. Have a great week!

Much love,

Elder Beach

#10 #MavUp

PS: photos are best BBQ ever, selfie with a fake mustache on the way to district meeting (I wore it the whole meeting), Wendy's with Elder Tugavaue, Emma's baptism with Elders Johnston and Liaga, a beautiful sunset and a funny license plate we saw