January Missionaries Going Home

Elder Buhr is our first missionary to reach level five of Gospel Scholarship in the Mission since we have been here. He was awarded his Arizona Phoenix Mission flashlight" to indicate that he can light the way.

As our missionares come into the mission home for their last night, we bring out the air mattresses to sleep since our bedrooms are limited. It is truly a sleepover extraordinaire.
This is our latest group of missionaries who have completed their two year service to the Lord in Phoenix.

Goodbye's

We had a brief counsel before Travis and his family & Tracy and her family left on Jan. 5th. We told them how much we loved them and had enjoyed their visit. Then we gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and challenged them to do as we were doing with our missionaries. We were going to read the Book of Mormon in 60 days which was the amount of time it took Joseph Smith to translate the book. As they read we asked them to circle all the references to the Savior's name in one color and then in another color to underline all of his doctrine. From this, their testimony would grow and they would realize that the Book of Mormon was truly another Testament of the Savior Jesus Christ. There are over 6,000 verses in the book and over 4,500 of those verses refer to the Savior. There are over 100 names referenced to the Savior . In the 230 chapters only 6 of them do not mention something about Jesus Christ. This is a book that will help them draw closer to their Savior and is the most correct book of any on earth. It is the keystone of our religion as it is a witness of Jesus Christ and his mission.

There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives
the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find
greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid
deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow
path.... When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you
will find life in greater and greater abundance."

Ezra Taft Benson

Before they left Izzy had to pick her own orange.

Tiffany, Michael and the girls were the last to leave which was January 10th. What a delight it was to watch the girls every day in the actions with life. It was hard to see the last of them go.

The Pitts family left first which was New Years Day. Tricia was a real trooper as she attended all the activities during their stay. It was important to get her back to Cincinnati as she was heavy with child and due in 3 weeks.

Travis goes "Bowl Hopping"

Travis made a whirlwind "Bowl hopping Trip" this weekend and ended up in Phoenix to see the Fiesta Bowl. He brought Jordan and His Friend JD and his son Easton. All I can say is that my son is Sports Possessed. The ground he traveled from Thursday to Tuesday was insane. President was glad to step aside for a moment and celebrate the "University of Utah's" win in the Sugar Bowl. Go UTES!
Jordan spent the day with Nana while dad was at the game. We were able to go to the movies together for a date. This is Jordan picking some oranges to take home to his mom and sisters. Our trees are loaded with grapefruit and oranges. It is still quite strange to go out in the middle of January to 70 degree weather and plant flowers.

JANUARY UPDATE

Just a quick update from the Arizona Phoenix Mission....time is escaping us and we are realizing that we have been in the mission 6 months now. So much has happened in that short time and as I look back I have seen my life change in so many ways. I have found that there is more to life than entertaining myself , and that there is much work to be done in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I I take time each day to read the scriptures then it helps me become closer to my Savior Jesus Christ and to focus on the things that are truly important in this life. We have adapted to the mission life now and we are enjoying serving the Lord and the missionaries in the mission.
It is amazing to me how I can get close to so many of our young Elders and Sisters in such a short time. Missionary Medical has been one of the avenues that has helped me, and I have so any funny stories that I have experienced from that. I never thought I would be able to remember all of their names, and though I am still working on it, President does knows them all. I guess that comes from interviews with them every 6 weeks and the bonding that is taking place.
Tomorrow will be our 5th transfer of missionaries in and out. It is amazing as they come into the mission not really sure of themselves or what is in store for them, and contrasting that with Elders & Sisters leaving to go home with strong testimonies of the work they have done and a firm foundation of who they are. Missions do incredible things for these young men and women as they turn their lives over to serving the Lord and others. It is amazing that the Lord uses these young and inexperienced men & women, and is able to mold them into the people they have potential to become, and also to be able to spread the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to his children on the earth.
The work is going forward. President Beck, in conjunction with the Lord, is working miracles here in the mission. Don’t get me wrong, we have a long way to go, but we feel like things are progressing. The church has increased our compliment of missionaries to 190, plus we have 16 senior couples that are serving here. That makes a total of 222 missionaries we have stewardship over. We are pleased to think the Lord has faith in our mission to increase our complement of missionaries. This tells us that there is much work to do in spreading the gospel to this part of the vineyard.
I must say that I have enjoyed the winter here. My blood is definitely thinning because when it gets down to 50 it is cold! I did miss the snow around Christmas, but was able to take a trip to the reservation for Zone Conference and get a small taste of it up there. That was enough to satisfy me.
One of the highlights this season was being able to go to the temple, both in Mesa and Snowflake with all our missionaries. It took quite a lot of planning to make it all happen with transportation and all, but we had a wonderful experience including a special lunch served to us by the Relief Society and then a Christmas Program followed by the lights at the Mesa temple, which were absolutely gorgeous. It was a spiritual day for all those in attendance.
Another highlight was having my children come out to visit us. Tiffany and Michael & Issy spent some time here before Thanksgiving and the week after, Mom & Dad and Tyler came and enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday. Then for Christmas, Trish & Bill and the kids came and shared Christmas with us. It was so good to have them around and we enjoyed the pitter patter of little feet as they awaited the coming of Santa. It truly brought magic in the air. They left and in came Travis & Jordan & his friends to spend a couple of days. They were BOWL hopping, and were here for the Fiesta Bowl. All these visits were a a good break for me and I enjoyed spending time with all of them.

Now, it is back to real missionary life, which doesn’t include all the play we did during the Christmas holiday’s with everyone. We have a busy schedule ahead of us with a lot of speaking assignments in our Stake Conferences weekly. In January we also have an apostle coming! Any good ideas on what you serve an apostle of the Lord for dinner? It will be a wonderful experience to just be in his company for the day he will be here.

The Lord has blessed us as we are witnessing miracles through small and simple things. The gospel changes lives and it is exciting being a part of that. It is a very humbling experience to be here as an emissary for the Lord Jesus Christ. We appreciate all your prayers in our behalf.

Love
President & Sister Beck

Celebrating Mom's Birthday

Mom got to celebrate her birthday several times. The first with the Pitts family and the other when Travis and Jordan came. It was nice to have a touch of home in Phoenix to celebrate.
During the Pitts stay we took a trip to see the lights at the Mesa Temple. We also went to visit our good friends the Brems who were visiting their daughter Emily in Mesa. That night we also went to see Kim Rhoten. Uncle Reed was staying with her. It was good to see and visit with him after all these years.

An Early Birthday Celebration

We celebrated my birthday a week early with the Pitts and then again with Travis & Jordan when they came on January 3rd.

We all took a trip to the Mesa Temple to see the beautiful lights, and also to visit our good friends the Brems who were visiting their daughter Emily who lived in Mesa. We also made a stop at Paul's cousin, Kim Rhoten. Paul's Uncle Reed was there visiting with the Rhoten's and it was so good to see and visit with him after so many years.

Traditions - Ringing the Chimes, Christmas Bingo, Nativity

Good thing we weren't playing for anyone but ourselves...but it was fun playing the chimes to Christmas songs.

A Call From Santa

Just before our nativity, we were interrupted with a call from Santa to Gavin. He just wanted to make sure he still believed before he made his stop

Nativity Reading

Each year it is tradition to read the Christmas Story and use the children to act it out. This year our actors were small in number. Lars & Linda Andersen came up for Christmas Eve with Sara & Erik. Before they moved here to Tempe they were a part of our annual Christmas Eve activities.
We always finished the Evening with Christmas Bingo. Using M&M candies to place the mark, each time a person got Bingo they were able to open their present.

Enjoying having Tyler Home with Us

We especially enjoyed having Tyler home with us for 2 weeks. We thought he might get ansy staying with us that long, but he seemed to enjoy just being with everyone. We even put him to work teaching the missionaries during our interview training. His love and ability to teach and connect with the missionaries was fun to watch. Since he entered the school or business at BYU this fall,, he has worked especially hard this semester and was rewarded with all A-s.

Papa & Gavin Reading the Scriptures

It was fun to have Gavin reading the scriptures and seeing how his love for reading had blossomed.

Trish & Brandon rolling out Chrismas Cookies!

Christmas with the Pitts Family

Nana and Abigail resuming their favorite past time of making rolls for Christmas Eve Dinner

A New Sherrif & His Assistant in Town

You can only imagine the mail that comes into the mission office during holidays as our missionaries receive gifts from family and friends. Just do the math, 180 missionaries, and times that by all their family and friends. Poor Sister Terry as she tries to forward everything before Christmas to our missionaries.


The Assistants gave President Beck & Elder Matsen Sheriff badges for Christmas! How appropriate!

Christmas Zone Conferences

For our Christmas Zone Conference we chose to split up the mission into 3 days of attending the temple and having a Christmas meal and sharing of a Christmas devotional and songs by selected missionaries. It was a very special experience to be able to first go to Snowflake, Arizona to the temple, with all of our reservation missionaries and then drive back to Polacca for a special meal prepared by our senior couples. It was a great trip up their because we were able to experience some of that white stuff that we don't see down in Phoenix. We arrived back home about 11:30 p.m. and then started the proceedure the following two days for our missionaries in Flagstaff and then in the valley. It was a spiritual and rewardng outing for everyone as we all got to see the temple lights after attending the temple. I must admit, I was ready for a long winters nap after it was over. It was quite an interesting experience as we tried to move about 230 missionaries during those three days. The Lord blessed us though and all went well.

Stake President's Christmas Dinner at the Mission Home

It was a busy week for us as we had transfers and then also prepared a meal for all of our Stake President's and ther wives. Elder & Sister Pickard, our area seventy, also shared the evening with us. We currently have 17 stakes presidents in our mission, unfortunately not all could come. We had a special treat as our Traveling Elder Angels came to sing to us. They all have beautiful voices and do an amazing job singing a Capella It was a wonderful evening of sharing.

Fresh from the MTC - Our Newest Missionaries

Departing Missionaries- December Transfers

Sisters Conference at I-Hop

We didn't have time to have a full blown Sisters Conference, so we had a mini one and all went to breakfast at I-Hop. This was just before 3 of our wonderful sisters left to go home. We are down to 18 sister missionaries now. They are precious.

Mesa Temple Lights

Dinner After Seeing the Mesa Temple Lights

After enjoying a wonderful evening enjoying the beautiful Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple, we all went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Our Assistants, Mom & Dad, Tyler & his friend Sara spent the evening with us.

Help Decorating the Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving Holiday

Mom & Dad spent the Thanksgiving holiday with us. It was definitely a different experience only cooking for 6 of us but we were able to enjoy a few quiet days together. It was nice having someone around to help trim the tree afterward also. There is not much time for doing things like that in the mission. I was grateful for their help getting the house ready for the next week of transfers and also the Stake President's Christmas dinner.

Our Good Friends the Bramwells

Dick & Jennifer Bramwell stopped through Phoenix and had lunch with us. It was good to catch up on their lives and remember the good times we had as we served with them in the Cinti Ohio Mission. The Lord allowed us to serve with them to prepare us well for our mission here. They are precious friends.

Please remember me Issy....

The Return of Issy...

Tiffany & Michael returned the next week, after Paul's surgery, for a scheduled visit. It was so fun to have her around for another week. We took a trip to Sedona through the beautiful mountains and colorful rock formations. We celebrated often eating ice cream because Michael was allowed to partake of it when he was on vacation and we all took advantage (He gave up ice cream for 2008). Monday after I gave a Gratitude talk to the missionaries at Interviews, I left President interviewing. It was a 6 hour interview day for him, and I just snuck out and went to the Wildlife Zoo with Tiff, Michael, and Issy. We had so much fun as it was a hands on experience with the animals. When we entered the petting zoo, I decided it was a little too much hands on as the animals attacked me. The llama wanted the food I had in my hand, along with all the other animals and the goat was eating my skirt. It didn't seem to bother Issy, until the goat took a little too much of her hand in his mouth. The hardest part was the next morning when we took them to the airport. I knew it would be a while before I saw her and as I rolled down my window to wave. Her outstretched arms and cries of "Nana" was just about as much as I could stand. With tears running down my cheeks, we returned home and saw the little hand marks on my bedroom floor mirror. I decided I would just leave it until her next visit. Next time she will be able to come with her new little brother or sister.

Issy loved Nana's Bridge out in Front of the Mission Home

What happens at Nana's stays at Nana's

Our trip to the Wildlife Zoo

Just like Momma

Nana & Issy

Trip to Sedona

Miracles do Happen......

President had some surgery the 5th of November and the girls and Issy were able to come down to be with their dad. What a wonderful sight to have them here after not seeing them for 5 months. Issy took little time to warm up and kept us entertained with her tricks. We didn't do a whole lot but it was wonderful to have them there. We are so grateful for the Lord's hand in our lives. He truly guides and directs his work and also our lives. Together we witnessed a miracle and are so grateful for his tender mercies and President's quick recovery,

A Visit from the Girls

Arizona landscape-Saquaros

The Saguaro grows very slowly -- perhaps an inch a year -- but to a great height, 15 to 50 feet. The largest plants, with more than 5 arms, are estimated to be 200 years old. An average old Saguaro would have 5 arms and be about 30 feet tall.

To Bring the World his truth.....

Elders tracting to share the gospel of Jesus Christ

The Book of Mormon another Testament of Christ

The Book of Mormon is being taught by the missionaries to the people of Arizona. It is another testament of Jesus Christ and a companion to the Bible. By reading this book you can come closer to Christ than by reading any other book.


"And in the barren desserts there will come forth pools of living water and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land" D&C 133:23

October Update

First of all I have been told my heading should be “A day in the life of a Mission President’s life”, so I’m changing it. Now, where to begin, We are reaping the benefits of living in Arizona right now as most of you are going into the winter months. We have blue skies and 70-80 degree temperatures. I’m quite enjoying that part of the change. President has planted 6 tomato plants and hopes that they amount to the ones he left in Cincinnati. It is the planting season here and it is a little weird watching people planting their gardens in October.

We are putting the miles on the Ford Explorer as we travel from the Valley, to Flagstaff, and to the Reservation every 3 weeks. We are close to 11,000 miles since we arrived in the mission. While Paul is driving, I just set up my desk on my lap and do my missionary medical For those of you I have just added, the missionaries call me when they are sick, injured, or just need sympathy. Their calls come in daily and some are just too funny to share) I have quite the system while we drive. I keep telling the President that I need a car with a desk in it so I have room to really spread out. One of the problems I have faced in our frequent traveling is when we stay at hotels. I go to bed at night and when it comes time to get up and find the bathroom, I have had my difficulties. We usually stay at the Hampton Inn in Flagstaff as our base each time we travel and I feel it is my home away from home. Well, depending on which room they give us, the layout is sometimes different, meaning the toilet in one room could be on one side of the bathroom and in another room on the other side. Well one night, when I was still half asleep, I wandered into the bathroom and went to sit down and fell into the tub. I’ve tried to pay a little more attention since that time.

We had a large transfer this last time. We got 17 new missionaries in from the MTC. Every group we get is better than the last. These are the Lord’s Saturday Warriors, who are prepared and ready to serve. We have some of them already serving in leadership positions they are so good. There is so much work for us to do and we are working on training these young men and women to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It isn’t easy for them to leave their comfort zones of being a teenager and having an exact schedule to work by every day. The hardest for most of them is arising at 6:30 a.m. It isn’t easy for them to knock on doors or approach someone on the street and boldly share the gospel with them. But they have a testimony of what they are sharing and are committed to be the Lord’s servant's to bring the world His truth.

I think all our missionaries know now that their President means business and expects obedience in all things. Does this surprise some of you? Some have tested the water and have found that there is no selective obedience in this mission. The church has recently provided cell phones for the missionaries, which is a big blessing for them in their proselyting. They obviously had been told of how to use them and were authorized 400 minutes, but some went by their own rules. We had one elder that used 4,000 minutes in one month (sounds like a teenager) That is more than President, myself, and my son Tyler use in a month and we talk to all the missionaries constantly. Well, guess what, he had his phone privileges taken away along with several others who thought they could get away with calling from valley to reservation. It didn’t take long for the President to find out with the tom toms beating. It is amazing how fast word travels between missionaries, no matter where they are. You would think that they would learn a little quicker than they do. Now obviously, these are a minority that choose to be disobedient, the rest of them are great missionaries. Our compliment has been increased and we are up to 215 missionaries right now. Yep, that is right, President gets to answer all of their weekly emails and I get to pretend to know how to advise them medically.

We had a fun time with our senior couples as we got together to say good-bye to a few of them this past month. Our senior couples are wonderful. They make a big sacrifice at this stage in their life to leave their home and family for one to two years and come and serve on the reservation. Their accommodations are not more than a small trailer, they don’t live close to anyone per say, no entertainment, shopping or wonderful things to do. Just serving our Lamanite brothers and sisters and watching over our missionaries that serve on the reservation. We currently have about 24 of them. They are wonderful and we love them so much. We recently gathered together to say good bye to a few of them. We had a day of going to Eggshell Arch and the Antelope Slot Canyon up by Page, Az. It was an exciting adventure of enjoying a few of God’s beautiful creations.


Well, that is it in a nutshell. We continue to keep busy. It is hard to believe that we have been here for about 4 1/2 months. A good friend, and previous mission president once told us after a month in the mission, “Does it seems like you never even had a life before this?” In some ways it does. Our testimony grows daily as we witness miracle after miracle, both in the lives of our missionaries and in those who accept the gospel into their lives. The work is true and we are so blessed to be a part of it.

We love and miss you all
President & Sister Beck