June 3, 09 Swine Flu

When Mitch tells us to "take care of his boys, these are the ones he's talkin about!"

They are sittin on Grandpa's rock at the ranch!!!:)

Hey fam,

Well I would say all is well here at the MTC, but we kinda have a flu epidemic bouncing around. 4 Elders from my zone are in isolation and at least one of them actually have the swine flu! It's pretty intense. I was sick for a day and had to stay in my room all day last Sunday, but all is well for me now, but we don't get to see any of those elders for at least a week. I would hate to be them! The Spanish is startin to come along pretty nicely, I can say quite a bit when it comes to churchy stuff and gospel and what not. I can also do contacting in strictly espanol. It's pretty cool to have a conversation in Spanish and know what's going on. My comp didn't have any Spanish in his past, but he had a lot of Japanese, he's strugglin but recently I've been making him speak to me in mostly Spanish and I let him do all the talking during contacting (sometimes) and he's starting to pick it up. He's really good with the gospel knowledge. He knows everything I swear, during lesson, he can just take over and say it all, but he's nice enough to allow me a few words and a testimony once in a while. It's crazy, I've gone from being scared to share my testimony to sharing it like a thousand times a day all to different people. Our teachers are awesome!! Hermomo Aldridge looks just like Matt Damon, And his name is Jason. Think About it??? Jason_______? From every ones favorite movies. It's neat . He's amazing too. I can't believe how much I have learned from him alone. So how is Chuck holding up?? And Mandi?? and Toni?? Other than that it's all the same hear We get a new district today so I'm really excited. Were no longer the newbies of our zone. But I'm pretty sure the new district will all get really sick before the week is over and have to be isolated the way things look so far, so the old feeling won't last long. It's amazing you can always tell whose been here and all the newbies just because the ones that have been here have a greater knowledge of the gospel. I can't believe the difference. It's like they carry themselves more upright and they just look older. Then they go to the mission field and start all over again. One last thing, no missionaries are leaving the MTC for another week, we have two districts in our zone that are supposed to leave but can't till next week, so it's gonna get pretty crowded here in a few days. Well I love you all, stay safe and keep my boys safe. Love Ya!!

This e-mail was to Chris White:

Well it's good to hear Jesse is all right. I love the kid, my comp is gettin after me right now about being on the computer for too long so I have to hurry, as you can tell he's pretty much a stiffler but he's a great guy. Once he hears a rule, he follows it to a tee. I forgot to mention this in her email, so could you tell my mom that no apostles have spoken yet. But I am so glad to hear from you, I love gettin letters and emails from people. It makes my day every time. It's good to hear about the rain too, we need it. Well I was sick last Wednesday to Sunday but I am fine now. (Notice he told Chris this and not me) 3 kids in my zone have the "swine". They are locked up all by themselves. Its CRAZY. The virus breeds like bunnies in the MTC. But all will be fine in a few I hope. Well he's buggin me again. Well I love ya!!!

hasta luego
Elder Beckstead

May 26, 2009

Well I didn't have time to read your entire e-mail and write you back, so I had to just skid over the e-mail , sorry I'm just almost out of time. TheThe MTC is still pretty great, there are a lot of kids in our zone that I met before and didn't really know it. There is a kid from Bear Lake, one from Dixie that I played with at USU football camp and several others that I had heard of or knew. I also talked to Derek Ward from Malad and I saw a kid from Firth that was on their ball team and Treg Corbridge from Aberdeen. It was pretty neat.

The Spanish is pretty cool. I just have a few minutes to read e-mails. The lessons are coming alright too. I'm hoping that I am able to contact in full Spanish by this weekend. I am working my hardest and praying a lot to keep the spirit with me when I learn. But I have to go now.

I love you

Bye