A Test...

Dear Friends & Family,

This has been an amazing week for me here. To start off I am in Greenock. It is nothing like Sligo and much closer to the populated city of Glasgow (half hour train ride away). It has been an interesting adjustment from Ireland to Scotland. The people are MUCH more receptive and MUCH more willing to discuss the potential and "try the virtue of the word of God" or as Alma said "exercise a particle of faith even to experiment upon my words"

I wish to share with you today just one way in which the Lord has poured out his tender mercies upon me this week.

When I first arrived in Scotland I had come over with quite a sum of funds from Ireland which I had been frugal with so I had about 150 Euro. The new month arrived which should have added approximately 100£ to my account. So, due to the complete lack of food in the house, on my first shopping trip I bought many things in bulk to save money over the long run and spent about 60£. Over the next couple of days I had to spend 30£ on items which were reimbursable but which I would not get back for about 4-5 days. Upon going to use my card for another purchase it was declined and I became under the impression that for some strange reason I was out of funds entirely and perhaps my 150 Euros had not transferred. I emailed home to see how much money was in my personal funds and to my inexpressible horror found out that I only had $20 USD! At about 7£ that is hardly a staple to survive off of but I was not too worried because I had a week long bus pass, and a fridge full of food.

The next day our fridge broke. Ker plunk! And in the following few days most of our food went bad or was given away before it could go bad! Near 45£ down the drain! With diminishing food and funds I began to literally wonder what was going to become of me during the month of July! I don't think I ever quite understood the terror of being out, completely out of everything (except for rice) until now. In Europe a person down to nothing (no moral temporal possessions) is called a skint. I nearly felt skint.

This is probably going to be humorous to you all seeing as you are all older than me and have had much more experience with money than myself, and have probably been where I was at on this occasion.

Nevertheless I began to realize that not only would my wants not be fulfilled but some of what I considered necessities would be gone as well! I think the real terror hit me when I realized that the 30£ which would go back into my account I would not be allowed to use because I would have to continue to reimburse that for my bus/train pass! So because of that I literally would not have any funds for the rest of the month!

I remember once someone, somewhere, committed me and the rest of the congregation to pray and instead of listing off all the concerns we had, merely thank the lord for all the blessings we did receive and tell Him that He knew our concerns and we would like it if he could take care of those or comfort us in them.

This I did. My prayers became prayers of gratitude and I was humbled to see miracles happen. I call them Mini Miracles because they came one after the other.

As I prayed, the week slowly and steadily began to fill up with dinner appointments, sometimes even lunch appointments! We ate the no-longer refrigerated eggs for breakfast and just hoped they wouldn't make us sick.

To be honest I don't believe I had to provide a single meal for myself except breakfast that entire week. The ONE day which we didn't have a dinner appointment on, we had planned to go see a new investigator whom we had never taught before. Upon arriving, to our complete shock and amazement, she served us a 3-course meal and was absolutely interested in our message (and temporal welfare). Not only did she do it then but she does it now and continues to do it (she has even begun taking requests!).

It may seem like a small thing but if you take a step back and look at it like this:

We met Janice on the street as she was sweeping up her friend's porch. I said hello in passing and she ended up stopping us to speak with us. We were in a hurry so we spoke for maybe 1 minute about her and what we did and then we asked if we could come visit and she said yes.

This may still seem normal to some, but view it from this way:

2 strangers in suits stop and speak to you. Ask if they can come over some time and talk about God with you. Hmm, you decide to make them a 3-course meal! GOOD GRIEF! HOW IS THIS NOT A MIRACLE?!?!?!

Anyway, enough ranting here…the miracles have not stopped flowing and we have continued to be fed on countless occasions. What amazes me is at the end of this week that I had been so worried about I called Elder Paine (the senior missionary in charge of finances) who said that my card had been declined by accident and that I had well over my original estimated amount remaining on my card!

In this experience I see the faint shadow of a pessimist who would say that the idiot who rejected the card gave me a scare for nothing.

But through the eyes of Heaven it was an amazing experience for me to rely on the Lord temporally, as well as spiritually. Abraham didn't actually end up sacrificing his Son but that was not the point. Whether or not I was skint was not the point. It was what I was going to do about it.

I don't say this to glory in myself but in the Lord for holding me up through my trials (or in this case it seemed quite literally a test).

I can testify that not only does the Lord provide for our necessities day by day, but he also observes very closely the desires of our heart and He always helps us fulfill the righteous wants we may have, on His time.

This is a true point which I feel has struck me this week.

"How gentle God's commands, how kind His precepts are, come cast your burden on the Lord and trust His constant care."

Someone once spoke to me of a story where there was a house in which they had a room for everything. A room for work, a room for the kids, a room for their spouse, a room for hobbies, a room for sports, and a room for God. They talked about the importance of letting God out of that little room you had put him in and letting him run rampant in all the places of your house. Sometimes it will hurt because certain things in certain rooms will have to go, but as the Rooms of your heart and home are filled with His marvelous light you will come to know your Savior that much better and trust Him that much more.

I love you all so much!

-Elder Stephen C Beacham

I'm in SCOTLAND!..and it's a wee bit different

Hello Everyone!

Wow! Scotland was a HUGE culture shock! Seriously! It's just across the sea and the people are entirely different. I almost just wanted to cry during the first few lessons because I honestly could not understand the people at all! (TV Scottish, and Scotland Scottish are totally different). No worries. I've been praying for the gift of interpretation (if that one exists) and I feel as though I am rapidly grasping the way they speak. It's kind of hard to mimic because they just kind of slur all their words together, don't pronounce consonants, and when they talk in groups of 3-4 they can't even understand each other (The lady at the bus stop verified this for me).

The good news though is that they are very accommodating. While in Ireland, everyone was face friendly (would always say hello to you as you passed) and here they don't; In Scotland they tend to be more willing to stop and chat and carry on a conversation. So I hope to be seeing more results! :D

My new companion is Elder Hensley. He is from Lacey Washington! He is a good man and a good missionary. This is his last six weeks and then he goes home.

Another interesting thing about Elder Hensley is he has a Kilt! I encouraged him to wear it and we took pictures. It was actually quite interesting to see how it all was worn & what-not. And contrary to popular belief, it is not a skirt J

The mission merger has been different, but good. I am excited to grow from the strengths that I see around me. It has been really interesting to have traveled through 4 countries on my mission so far! (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland!)

I dare say that few people will be able to say that! I think what I like most about this merger has been the opportunity to see things from an entirely new point of view. It might have been the same as combining with the Japan mission, just considering how different the missionaries are and such. I consider myself blessed to have been able to see the MTC (Missionary Training Center), the IDM (Ireland Dublin Mission) and now the SIM (Scotland Ireland Mission). It's been a blessing of different cultures, ideas, and beliefs. I'm especially encouraged because I have been seeing how important education has been and is, in my life. I am constantly searching for ways to advance my knowledge, and I have realized that when I get angry or upset or refuse an opportunity because of the way I feel (emotional reasoning). I merely deny myself the opportunity to be what God sees in me.

I love serving a mission. I'm going to see if they'll let me stay out here for another two years J;

Maybe so, maybe not.

I love you all!

-Elder Stephen C Beacham

I'M MOVING TO SCOTLAND!

Hello my beloved family and friends,

There have been many miracles this week and many exciting occurrences and events which I would like to share with you. The beginning of the week was rather bland. 3 of our investigators with baptismal dates disappeared off the face of the planet (which means John was NOT baptized on the 3rd of July) and we have not been able to contact Him (or any of the others).

Several enjoyable things have happened though, and I know that the disappearance of those investigators has been their choice. On Thursday of this week we had an exchange with the Elders from Mullingar. Right now Elder Dickerson has a "mini-missionary" who comes out just because we need temporary companions for 1-2 weeks. His name is Brother Redmond (he's 15, haha). I thought it would be humorous on this exchange to go and tract Avondale road with Brother Redmond... but I decided instead to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and as a result we were let in to teach a nice Indian lady. So that was good.

During this exchange something insane happened though. Elder Mecham began to make a waffle berry pudding in one dish. At the same time Elder Dickerson began to make a banoffi pie (kind of like a banana cream pie, except better) in another dish! Then I somehow got it in my head to make spring rolls! Thus there were 4 missionaries all gathered together in the kitchen, rolling spring rolls, deep frying them, all whilst eating banoffi pie!

We took the waffle berry pudding to the Decusins to eat dinner with Sigfrid. What we ate for dinner was PIGS HEAD! As in, a pig’s head (in case there was any confusion). We had bought it Wednesday and gave it to Sigfrid who washed its face, shaved it's chin, brushed it's teeth, and cleaned the pigs head as you would before you eat it. He then baked it so the skin was extremely crunchy and actually tasted quite good.

I ate an ear; that was pretty exciting for me. Elder Dickerson and Elder Mecham both ate an eye! After that, the rest of us each had a little piece of the brain. Elder Dickerson almost threw up while eating the eye (it's on film) and threw up just a little bit in his mouth while eating the brain. According to him it was FAR worse. I thought it was the most disgusting thing ever! It was like a film that coated your mouth and you couldn't swallow it without a drink... enough description though...

After that pig bonanza we came home and slept. The next morning we arose early and caught the 7AM train to Dublin where we had the first Zone Conference of the Scotland Ireland Mission! We also met President and Sister Griffiths, whom I know and the spirit bore witness to me, are called of God. It was a very good experience for me and I learned that the piercing fire (of the spirit) we feel at church (or at Zone Conferences) can and ought to be carried with us always. He posed the question "How much time do we spend in fasting and prayer, so that we will have the spirit of God?" (Alma 17:2-3). It was a really good question and my prayers have become much more sincere.

He announced different policies and arrangements that would come with the merger. One of those is that Transfers call (when we’re transferred to a new area) will come on Sunday and you will move on Wednesday. Unless you live in Sligo, then you come in the night before.

So after this really good Zone conference I came home and I have made several commitments to myself. Ways that I can improve and work harder.

Sunday came. It was fast and testimony meeting and the spirit was so very strong. The Testimonies were so good, and even our less active Ed McPhillips got up and bore his testimony. I was proud of him.

After that we taught Ed at his house and after meeting with him we taught Geraldine (our investigator who slept in and missed church, but still came to meet with us anyway, a rare occurrence) at Caroline's house (our recent convert). It was a good lesson and I am glad because Geraldine seems to be "bonding" or learning better from the way Elder Mecham teaches.

After Geraldine's lesson we walked home for our dinner break. We threw a whole chicken in the slow cooker we got from the Mayrs before they left. We also threw in some potatoes and carrots. We were kind of just messing around and we realized that the chicken wouldn't be done in time so, yes, it has been cooking all night until this morning when we awoke and turned it off J

After our seeming less pointless break (why did we cook a meal a day in advance I don't know, but it was fun) we traveled to see a potential who gave us a note through the door (rather than opening it) saying that she wasn't interested

After our encounter with her we traveled to an estate known as Crozon Park. It is a very nice place which we just started tracting recently. We went by some potentials who shewed us away. As we were tracting from a point at which we had left off the Thursday before, I turned to Elder Mecham and exclaimed "I want to teach someone the gospel who will accept it!". The next door a lady from the Congo answered, named Joan, and let us in to teach her about a Prophet of God on the earth today. After teaching her she said she loved everything we taught and believed it. She did have some questions -as she put it "my only question mark is the Book of Mormon"- about the Book of Mormon and we told her we would come back with our bibles and show her where it talks about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. She was extremely receptive the whole time and I must say she was a blessing from God.

I had a very poignant experience while teaching her because of the way I felt. I had been praying for a Christ-like Love for the people whom we would teach. More specifically everyone, especially those people on the doorstep who would not be interested in anyway, or would contend with me and say that Joseph Smith has exalted himself, etc. (I tend to get a little hot under the collar with them).

During our lesson with Joan I seemed to have this growing love and concern for her eternal welfare as I saw her searching for truth. As I felt this love I had the Spirit prick my heart and testify that this was just a small, small portion of the way the Savior feels for these people. It was a very special moment for me.

On the way home Elder Mecham's bike broke and so he walked his and I peddled in circles (sometimes quite literally). Luckily we were close to the flat and it was mostly downhill so he just rode on it and didn't peddle.

Upon arriving home to the flat (within about 15 seconds of entering it) we received a call from Elder Wheat (one of the Assistants’ to the President from Scotland) who asked if we were ready for our Transfers call! Of course we were!

So, to keep you waiting no longer, Elder Mecham will be remaining in Sligo and will still be the district leader. Elder Frye will be coming here to replace me.

As for me, I will serve the Lord in SCOTLAND! I will be serving on the west coast of Scotland in a little Port town that starts with an "E" but I was too excited when I heard Scotland that I didn't listen to the rest of what he said J

My new address will be:

Elder Beacham

Scotland/Ireland Mission

51 Spylaw Road

Edinburgh, EH10 5BP

SCOTLAND

You can send packages and letters there.

I love you all so much and I must tell you of one last miracle which occurred this week. President Walsh (of the Sligo Branch) was traveling to England and upon my request he stopped at Costco and bought me Costco muffins! They aren't quite the same as home, but they are just as big and they have very delicious flavors over here (the chocolate is SO MUCH BETTER! the poppy seed not so much).

I will be bringing the extra muffins to Scotland with me. With any luck they will have a Costco near where I am serving

I love you all so very much

-Elder Stephen C Beacham

A picture of Caroline's baptism!

Caroline about to be baptized in Glencar Lake

Another Baptism coming up

This week has been interesting. What I feel has been the real focus this week has been personal, spiritual growth. There have been a LOT of breakthroughs and I have been able to overcome weaknesses which I didn't even realize were weaknesses that I've had for as long as I can remember. I can't really share much with you besides that (hence the word "personal") so I'm not quite sure where to steer this email this week.

Come Friday there will be a Zone Conference with President Griffiths, and President Creer leaves a couple days before. I am sad to see him go. He is a good man.

I have been studying lately the Atonement of Jesus Christ and trying to instill in myself a deeper conviction of the Savior and what He has done for me. I believe that I have found what portion and part of that has the most meaning in my life.

Some news that is worth noting is that John McDicken is getting baptized this Saturday! This has been impressive because Sligo has not baptized for the past 3 years and now we just had Caroline and now John. A new investigator whom we acquired is Geraldine. I believe she will be baptized shortly, we have felt strongly prompted to commit her to baptism and we plan to today when we see her later.

Besides that we are struggling for good solid investigators, so I will be praying for that.

I love you all so very much,

-Elder Beacham