Mother dearest that I love soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much! Wow has it been long to hear from all of you! I am alive and yes I am still kicking! The extending is still in the air so there is nothing too much to worry about just enough that I am praying continually for help on making this decision. Any who I am doing awesome! This area this past week has blown up! we have been sooooooo blessed due to our continual efforts to be exactly obedient to the rules. We have been able to find a new investigator Ua'i. We found her through getting a referral from one of our investigators. We both decided we should go and visit her and figure out if she is interested. We met and sat down for the first visit and it ends up that she had met with missionaries before and had received a Restoration pamphlet. After receiving it she moved over here to Upolu. From the first day that she got it she was reading it every single day. EVERY DAY. We just happened to walk up to her when she was most ready to receive the message. She is now on date for the 22nd of July! She is awesome and we are very grateful! 

We also due to my AMAZING companion were able to find a less active/part member family. My companion received a thought to go visit a house that we hadn't been to in a while and I agreed. Turns out there was a new family that moved in and I was only able to talk to one of the sons of the family. Introduced the BoM and he was hooked! Told us to come back the next day! We went over and turns out the whole family dropped everything to listen to what we had to say! They all now are praying to know if Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and if the Book of Mormon is true! THE BLESSINGS DON'T STOP!

Little blessings include one investigator getting prepared to be married and baptized! As well as another investigator who was found who just needs to be married. 

I am loving this area mom. I love my Savior and more than most I love His Gospel and the path that He has provided for all of us to return to Him and the Father. 

Oh BTW met up with a drunk/evil spirit surrounded man who tried to climb our fense to our house. I asked him what he wanted and he told me, "you". Yeah you could just say that my Derek skills came out and I talked to him (and tried with all my might not to run into the house screaming like a 14 year old girl who just saw Justin Beiber) until the bad spirit left him and he was willing to leave.....or so we thought. Later in the night he climbs over the fence and starts asking who is home and walking around our locked house. Yeah told him strait up to go home. He left but stayed right outside our house most of the night cussing at us. Fun night. 

I am living mom and I am loving the Mission. Crazy to think that I am almost a year out huh! I am doing it! And I am glad to see that all is good at home! Can't wait to see the Florida pics in a couple of weeks! Language is still needing work but I am praying daily for help!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea

I really don't have a desire to send out a group email. I am just going to send you a huge one that makes you and me happy. 

These past few weeks have been awesome and I am loving it over here in Upolu. We got two baptisms from the last time that I have talked to you. One was the young man who was drinking coffee. He is now a member and is passing the sacrament every week! He is a stud and I am 100% sure that he will serve a mission which is the best feeling ever! The other one was a man who was an old investigator that Elder Sheffield and Elder Vest both taught and finished lessons. He is a stud and is very active in the church. 

In the past couple of weeks we have been blessed beyond imagine. With investigators as well as with the language. My son (Elder Sheffield) is now able to help me in the lessons and is every single day working hard to improve! I on the other hand am still working on finding a way that I can improve my own language, as I feel that I have plateaued. The work continues and I love it soo much! I got your package as well mom with the protein and the oatmeal! I honestly thought it was better than Christmas! I loved the idea of the box as well.....and no I don't lift I work out;) 

The work is continuing and the people are coming. I had a really cool experience with going to the Visitors Center that our mission president has made for us to take our investigators to. So we took one of our investigators to the visitors center and she was soooo excited. When we got there the sisters started the tour and Tai'ese (our investigator) loved it...or so we thought. We got to the part about Joseph Smith and then she started to attack the doctrine. Elder Sheffield and I were shocked and didn't think that this would happen with Tai'ese but it did. We were able to answer her questions then we went to the part of the restoration of the priesthood. And again she attacked. At this point my frustrations was a little to high. I then stopped her while she was giving on of her statements and then asked her some questions on how Aaron (Moses's brother) got the priesthood, as well as the apostles of Jesus Christ. Then gave my simple testimony that this is the only way that we can hold the priesthood on the earth is by the laying on of hands. It helped smooth out the rest of the tour that at the end we invited her to be baptized and she said that she would pray and tell us tomorrow what her answer would be! It was crazy! I just hope that God will speak to her and show her the correct way she needs to go to receive all of these blessings. 

Its been awesome Mom being out here serving, learning to love these people and the culture as well. I love it sooo much out here and I can't wait to continue serving for the next year! Also, when do you guys all head out to Florida? Is the fam excited to head out? What are your thoughts of me extending my mission? How are all of the boys? I am loving the pictures! Continue to send them! 

I love you sooooo much but that is all I can remember from the week!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea 

Hey mom! Not to much to say today! Literally am using a members phone again due to the usual problems. These past few weeks have been awesome. We have got two baptisms and two more on the way. Everything is good i am staying with Elder sheffield. We are having a blast and working hard! I will try next week to make sure that i send so many pictures and a big ole email next week! Sorry not much to say with ghis tinyphone i will ask asomau to send more pictures to you for me!

Alofa atu

Elder Bethea