March Madness...but nothing to do with basketball

Our family has it's own March Madness that has nothing to do with Basketball.

Jeff is busy at work...like always. He's had some Saturday appointments and late nights. I appreciate that he works hard for us. 

Taylor is hitting finals week this week and had a lot of school work leading up to it. He's had a cold so he's struggling to have the energy to pull through his heavy load of work. I am encouraging him to hang tough because he has spring break to look forward to at the end of it! 

Ashley has had her cheer banquet, regional cheer competition, she's in the middle of a plant project for Biology (I remember those from when the boys are in school) and she now is in Yearbook and has deadlines coming up with that. She is now mascoting at volleyball games (the last one was over 2 hours) and has national cheer competitions next month.

As for me I spoke in Stake Conference last week at the adult session and have been busy with my two callings. The justserve website is picking up and I am making more community connections with it and it's spreading much more than it was last year at this time. It's exciting but keeps me busy too. 

I was happy to find out that I passed both of my CSETs (I was almost sure I was going to have to retake one of them since it had a lot of physics math that I didn't study or know how to do). Such a relief. I have one more to go in May.

At the beginning of the month our Stake hosted a sewing day for the Days for Girls organization. It was a great success and it was nice to serve together with women from the whole stake. 

Ashley at her Cheer Banquet. 

It's been nice to have friends in cheer with her. These are some great girls!

The Mighty Mascots! They are a great group!

Getting their awards. 

Way to go Ashley!

Ashley gets her letter as a freshmen since being a mascot is considered Varsity Cheer. 

On Saturday we went to Lake Elsinore for a regional Cheer competition. One of the mascots broke her kneecap two days before the competition so one of the former mascots came through and stepped in. They all came over to our house on Wednesday to practice to get the routine down. 

They did a great job. 

They won first place in their division....

of course they were the only school to perform with mascots...ha ha. 

We got to see the other teams and they all did great too. 

They brought home one of the big trophies for getting the most overall points. 

Ashley was happy that our afternoon ended with a trip to In-n-Out too :)

And some letters from Jacob...

March 6^th 2017

Hello Family! 

Sorry but this'll be a short one today, we had Zone activity! 

So before I answer any questions, we had a pretty OK week. But we have a solid person we're teaching who will hopefully be baptized this month! We also got some crazy things coming up. This Saturday and Sunday we get to hear Elder Cook speak! Saturday with the missionaries and Sunday with the 7 stakes of our mission. Then Thursday next week Elder Zeballos (might've spelled that wrong) is coming. And I was asked to play piano for him! Which I was honored but scared lol. But that's not as scary as playing when Elder Cook comes haha. But it's going to be a spiritually power-packed week! 

I'll try to answer some questions but I dont have too much time 

Oh yeah! And that guy I fed Jello to asked me to give him a blessing out of all the members who came to visit him! I was so touched! 

The humid cold is way different than regular cold. In the winter we were walking around in 20° weather and I didn't have a jacket and we were fine! But when it's 40, humid,  and windy, it goes right through you! Jackets don't even help! Luckily I'm full car 👍

I'll just share some things that I've learned so far on my mission! So far my biggest finding is the truthfulness of the basic things we always talk about. It seems like I've had the knowledge about it for a while, but I've been able to come to a better understanding about the simple things! 

So for your talk ma, lemme give you a scripture chain

Moses 1:39

John 17:3

Mosiah 5:13

Mosiah 2:17 

It sets the stage for how we obtain eternal life, which seems so simple, but yet it's sometimes so difficult to do. And once we truly understand the effects of our service, not just on us but for others, then it will be so much easier to extend out of our comfort zone to reach opportunities we didn't know we're there. But I've seen service on my mission as an aid in many ways. Obviously they get served, and they are usually very thankful so we know it had an effect on them, but it also helps them to see us as true representatives of Jesus Christ. Not trying to sound prideful or anything, but we are out here to find the elect, and the definition of Elect is

1: recognize you as representatives of Jesus Christ 

2: keep commitments

So by serving were helping them come one step closer to being converted! 

Oh! Another thing I've started to really understand is my purpose as a missionary! Which in a nutshell is teach repentance and baptize converts. So if there's ever anything not fulfilling that purpose, you should not be doing it. We are not here to plant the seeds, nor to grow them. But our job is to harvest. Sure, seeds will be planted by our efforts of finding the elect, but our purpose needs to be centered on finding those who are ready to be baptized and be converted. It took a while for me to understand that, but knowing and understanding my purpose has been one of the biggest helps to me during discouraging times. 

Sorry if this sounded scrambled but I'm in a car driving back, and I'm hungry and tired, so it might not make too much sense lol, love yall! 

-Elder Beaulieu . 

Pictures! 

1. Goal: after mission go on masterchef 

2. New Zone! 

3. Tracting in a lighting storm! I saw purple lightning! 

4,5. Animal shelter we serve at, there's puppies and that bird loves to be pet! 

6. A family we gave blessings to, and they said we said things in there they were going through and we didn't even know! The priesthood is real! 

March 13, 2017

Hello Family! 

So this week was pretty amazing! Work wise, it was kinda slow, but we got to end the week with some pretty amazing things! 

On Friday, we went on exchanges with the ZL's. I went with the one on the right on both pictures. He's actually from San Diego and another person in that car is from Irvine! So we're probably gonna do something fun post mission. But on the exchange we were able to find a bunch of people in both of the areas when the whole week was dry with the finding, so it was pretty miraculous!

Saturday was the big day. We all carpooled to Elder Cook! We got to Charlotte pretty early, so we thought we'd go blitz an area close by! It was great, and we got a few potentials for those missionaries, but we got kinda lost lol. We almost ended up getting locked out of the meeting, but we didn't so it was all good! Elder Cook was amazing. It was so crazy to get that everything he said is scripture! And his testimony was so powerful! He even told us about his spiritual experiences that he doesn't share with a lot of people. He said something I already knew but hearing him confirm it was so powerful! But that was at the stake center and I sister that came out with me played the piano. Haha she said she was terrified. But I'm playing this Thursday when one of the 70 is coming. Which is kinda terrifying. But also I feel honored! 

Sunday we also saw Elder Cook! That was in the big stadium. It was great to hear him again but it wasn't as special, since the first one was specifically for us missionaries. It also snowed that day! It got pretty snowy before we went in, completely foggy. But as soon as we left it was blue skies, and all the snow had melted by the time we got home haha. We also got to go a members house that night, and it's great to see how good relationship I have with the members already! 

It was really motivating this week on Friday when the mission was all together, and a lot of people were coming up to me to meet me saying they've heard so much about me! Its so great to see that I'm able to influence so many on the mission! And that's so great that I was able to help you on your talk! That scripture chain I got from my last companion and I thought it would be perfect. And flash drive would be perfect! 

This mission has been so great so far, and its so crazy that tomorrow is my 6 month mark! There's been so much I've learned that will help me out for the rest of forever! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!  Elder Beaulieu

February - Youth Conference

In February Jeff and I had the opportunity to serve as Youth Conference parents at the same time that Ashley was attending Youth Conference. 

Our family consisted of 6 boys and 4 girls. 

Our first night we had our opening devotional and then were supposed to draw on a puzzle piece. 

Our completed piece (It smudged really easy so the kids just went with it)

Here is our youth conference family.

Maddie was in heaven and loved being pet by all the visitors. She will move from person to person just hoping to get attention. 

The first night we heard a great speaker, Dawn Armstrong, who told her life story that was sometimes heart wrenching and yet redemptive. She really connected with a lot of the youth and especially the ones that might feel that they don't fit the mold.

The next day we did rotations and learned things from stress management to dating to communicating with those with special needs since we were going to be hosting a carnival during youth conference. 

In this class Dawn taught the youth some dating etiquette tips and so one of our brothers asked one of the sisters on a date...

and then they got to go through a buffet line as he made her plate and then his own. So basically if you participated you got to eat snacks. 

Our family with Dawn. She made quite a few fans and 2 especially from our youth conference family. 

After the classes we did some activities to simulate that challenges some people face doing something that are easier for the average person. To simulate dyslexia we had to trace a star looking only in a mirror. It was doable but harder than it looks! 

Then we had construct the tallest tower we could with straws and tape without being able to talk to each other.

Success...not really, as soon as we let go it fell over.

Next we had an activity at an indoor jumping place.

 Meanwhile the whole time it was pouring rain outside. 

Niyana's impressive skills!

The was Dawn Armstrong's son Drew that came to attend youth conference with her. He kept getting the high score on the obstacle course. 

This is the difference between being young...

and being older...we get injured and make fools of ourselves at trampoline parks, ha ha. 

Ashley had fun hanging out with friends.

The next day was the carnival for special needs kids. The youth helped run games, and some had people that they would buddy with and take around to do all the activities

By the end a couple of the guests that were dropped off were having a bit of a hard time and the youth didn't quite know what to do so Jeff and I helped out with them until it was done. 

Overall it ended up being a positive experience and a lot of the youth really liked being part of the carnival.

The Youth Conference experience ended up being a good one. 

My take away when I look back is how we are often called to serve and do things for others when it isn't convenient but we are often blessed when we do it anyway. 

The weekend was not only a sacrifice because it was a holiday weekend I took 2 of my CSETs the day before the conference and I had one of my classes going on during the first night and had to slip out to be on the computer because I couldn't miss it. 

When I look at the savior's life I realize that he often served people when it wasn't convenient. He was traveling somewhere else, left the crowd to minister to the one or was tired and wanted a break but then answered the call to help or teach those who reached out to him. 

Some updates from Jacob from February...

February 27, 2017

Hello Family! 

This week has been a pretty great one! Most of our investigators from last week, weren't too interested when we met again, but that's what it's like in the south, many people will listen but not many are ready. So, to counteract that, we need to find a lot! On Friday we got a referral from the missionaries in the mission right above us, since we're on the edge of the mission, for an 18 year old kid. He had briefly met with the missionaries, because his friend is LDS and it interested him. So we were able to teach him the next day, and he came to church the day after! It was pretty great meeting him, and i think he has a lot of potential!

The Exchange was great! but it was also really short. We switched after interviews with president, and the drive was like 2 hours. So i got here with the other companion at about 6, so there wasn’t much time to do much lol. The interviews with president went great! I'm pretty sure he likes me.

The area is actually very beautiful right now. This is what I’ve heard, the short time where the weather is perfect. And since its almost spring the trees are starting to bloom and its really pretty! There's a lot of cherry blossoms out here! There's a big river that flows along the town, and it's pretty cool to see a big body of water again! 

It's crazy to think that I'm almost 1/4 of the way done! It's already gone by really fast, but i heard at the 6 month mark, it starts to pick up. Which is both exciting but also not, because i love the mission and I’m gonna miss it when i leave. So right now I’m trying to enjoy it the best i can! I love you all!

-Elder Beaulieu

Oh! and one more thing. Could you guys send me some more music. There’s this one singer a lot of missionaries listen to, her name is page CXVI. And also could you send some straight motab. Thank you! Love you!

February 20, 2017

Hello Family again!

I got the package! Thank you so much for the shirts and all the letters! My companion also like the chocolates haha. Well this week has been pretty great! So we had a goal to find 7 new investigators this week, which is a pretty big goal. The standard of excellence is finding 3 a week, but we were confident we could achieve it. Especially because our monthly goal was to find 11 and the first 2 weeks here they only found 2 new investigators, so we had to step it up. So the whole week we were working pretty hard, and by Friday we had only found 3. But Saturday was a big day where we found 5 or 6 more people to teach, then 2 more on Sunday! Here in Danville a lot of people will accept return appointments and listen to you, but not all of them are ready yet. So we had to do a lot of separating the wheat from the tares. And to counteract all the tares, we just gotta find tons of people like we did this week! Hopefully we will start boosting the moral of the district then the zone, just like we did in my last area! :D

This ward is great though! They constantly talk about missionary work and how to help the missionaries, and so it makes the work a lot easier when the wards really involved too. And I think they like us! We're getting a lot more dinners now than they were before!

I go on my first exchange in this area tomorrow, and i get to take over the area! I'm really excited to see how ill do, hopefully all will go well. And we also have interviews with the president tomorrow! Which is also great because i love the president and i think he likes me too! 

Recently, I’ve been better understanding the simple things. Like the sacrament, and just being a missionary. One thing I didn’t much understand when i came out was my calling as a missionary, but know living it, I see how much of a sacred responsibility it is. Luckily, this mission, i heard is the most obedient mission in the world. We were the pilots to the new 3 key indicators thing, which they started worldwide, but we had been it doing 6 months before that. I'm excited to see where this transfer here in Danville takes me, since I’m already seeing so many amazing things happen already! I love you all so much, And thanks again for those letters, those help more than you know! Have a Great week! Love Ya'll!

Elder Beaulieu  

 And some pictures...