Second Week in the MTC!

Hello to all y'all back home! I miss you guys and love all of you! I am so happy where I am right now doing the Lord's work.

This week has been crazy, hard, and very fun and spiritual.  Elder Peterson and I got two new TRC investigators this week and they are so great.  Shannon is our first one and she just moved here from Florida with her husband.  She has been Methodist her whole life and is just barely learning about the church.  The first lesson with her, we taught the Restoration of the Gospel.  It was a very spiritual lesson.  I had memorized the first vision so when we  got to that part in the lesson, I was able to look her in the eyes and tell it just how Joseph Smith did.  It was one of the coolest moments of the MTC so far.  You could tell she was feeling the spirit really strong.  We also have started using Mormon messages with her to help tie in what we are teaching to her own life and they are so awesome!! I love using them.  Yesterday we taught her the Plan of Salvation and we drew the picture of it with her as we went.  She really listened intently as we taught her and after she said we had helped answer some really deep questions she had had in her life.  It was awesome! 

Our other investigator is Jessica.  She is the sweetest person ever! She has such an outgoing and fun personality haha.  She is looking for some change in her life and feels like the church is what she needs.  We have been teaching her a lot about the Book of Mormon and she has had some cool experiences reading it on her own.  She said she wants to be baptized sometime in the future once she has had all the missionary lessons and goes to church a few times.  We are so hyped for her!!

Elder Peterson and I have been doing lots of CrossFit at the gym.  All they have is dumbbells and a rowing machine so it's hard to make up workouts without barbells and pull up racks and stuff.  We do a lot of AMRAPs and Metcon complexes (21-15-9, or 42-21-30-15-18-9 rep schemes).  He doesn't really lift he just likes to "coach" me as I do it, but he is more than happy to be there working with me.  I am really blessed to have him as a companion!  I broke my handstand walk record! I got 61 feet which is the whole length of the hallway in our dorm.  We measured it so it is a legit 61 feet  I am also getting really good at strict pullups because we have a pull-up bar in our dorm.  I can do 17 unbroken and I am shooting for 22-24 by the time we leave next Wednesday!

Our district has been having some struggles this week.  A couple people have been a little one dge with each other and the sisters in our district felt like this one elder was being really flirty with them so we had bunch of drama there.  It was really stupid and Elder Wiltbank had to sort it all out because he is the district leader.  He is the right man for the job because I don't have the patience to deal with all that kind of stuff.  Last night with our teacher Brother Cook we basically had a heart to heart as a district and everyone just said how they were feeling about stuff.  I felt like that helped a lot and after we did that we had an amazing, spiritual lesson.  It is crazy to see how hard Satan is working in our lives, and when we humble ourselves and turn to the Lord it all works out!   Anyway, I know I am doing the Lord's work and that this is where  I am supposed to be right now.  I can't wait to get out in the field next week and start bringing the gospel to some real people! 

For Canada Day, which is July 1, we all wore red and white ties and hung Elder Peterson's Canadian flag in the classroom and did a Canada geography lesson hahaha.  It was super funny!  They let us watch the fireworks on the 2nd for the Freedom Fire concert.  Sadly, I didn't get to hear Tim McGraw, but the fireworks were amazing!

Mom and Grandma, thanks so much for the food! It is a blessing to just have some snacks whenever I need them! The Queso was a hit and it is about gone already.  Our room (The 131) is basically the party room so we always have people coming in and out.  I love my roommates and I am going to miss them when we all head out next week.  

Thanks everyone for your emails and letters! They mean so much to me and it's great to hear from all of you!  I truly love all of you back home and pray for y'all everyday.  Look for the hand  of the Lord in your life and you will find Him.  I have a strong testimony of that.  I know the  church  is true and I am in the right place, doing the right thing right now!  Can't wait to see all  of you in two years!

Much Love, 

Elder Beach

#MavUp #10

P.S. the pictures are of Elder Peterson with the Canadian flag, our teacher Brother Cook, and
when we went on a temple walk last week.