November 26, 2008 Thanksgiving

My Dear Family that i love very much, I love serving a mission. I am doing great work here in Italy and especially in this area of Battipaglia. On friday we are doing a Thanksgiving activity (Giorno di Ringraziamento) and i am cooking 50% of the food and doing 75% of the decorations. Now, i know all that you moms do for us. I thank you very much. I am a little stressed out with all of these things to do in little time so now i finally see the stress you go through to feed us and make us happy. I want you all to know what I am thankful for. I am so thankful for my Grandfather who is my greatest example. I got a letter from him the other day and it made mission. I felt the great love and the support in those few words. And like all general authorities say, behind every great man there is a great woman, and that is my Grandma Carol. I am so thankful for her and all that she does for every single one of us. She has made me feel like the best kid in the world and has spent her personal time and dedicated it to me to get a peanut cluster at dairy queen or go to the movies for christmas. I love her very much. I wish that i could tell you all individually how much i love you and appreciate the many little things that have made a huge impact on my life. I love you and am very grateful for you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember the things that are truly important. Do get lost in this world of chaos that you gives you nothing in return. The greatest joy that we find is in our families and in Jesus Christ. Love, Elder Beau Richard Brewster (oh, by the way, if i come home 100 lbs heavier will you still love me? This food is delicious!!!)

November 18, 2008

Tomorrow we are doing service for our Branch President up at his summer home in Valva so we will be there all day. We are doing a great activity for Thanksgiving (Giorno di Ringraziamento). We are going to cook 2 turkeys and tons of other things. Then afterward we are doing a talent night. Transfers are the 18th of December so i dont think that there will be a lot of changes but i do believe that i could be transfered. I have no idea but i felt that i would stay last transfer and be transfered right before christmas. I would love to stay here for christmas but at the same time i have been here for a long time and would be ready to go, but i will trust in the Lord and see what He feels is best. I would love to see these people be baptized and progress in the gospel. It was the neatest experience this weekend to go to Rome to pick up my Permesso di sogiorno. There i was able to see Alessandro and he loves writing back and forth to mom and told me that her italian is amazing for 23 years. He still doesnt feel to read the Book of Mormon but he has got to do it. We write back and forth and with time he will do it and it will bless his life a ton! I also saw Barbera and Carmello. It was so neat to see the light in their eyes. Especially in Carmello's. When i left he was very inactive, depressed and a punk. He was having the hardest time and stuck in pride. But now he is so humble, happy and child of Christ. Wow, it made my mission to see them and also hear of all the success that has happened in Rome 4. People that i knew are getting ready to be baptized and that makes me so happy. It built my testimony about the time of the Lord and that things work in His time and in His way. Elder Beau Brewster

November 12, 2008

I am doing really well. I love my new district. Elder Allen is the best District Leader. He gets things done and does big. He gives it his all and thinks outside of the box. Tonight we have an activity that i really hope goes well. We are watching the other side of heaven and we have invited so many people i really hope that they come. They did this in Napoli and it worked really well for them. It is going to be a blast and at the same time it is going to feed all that are there spiritually. My new companion is great. He is having a really hard time with the language and has the most american accent so it is hard for others to understand him. I am going to try and help him so that he can be confident with the language and be able to communicate with these people. I love how trusting he is. He has a lot of trust in me and supports me. He is also so humble and christlike. I love that we can joke together and enjoy eachother's company. Last night we had a funny experience. Where the church is there are about 6 villas in a row. We are in the last villa. The one right next to us has the most massive dog that barks and scares the dickens out of you even during the day time. Well, last night we taught english class and set up the chairs for the activity. It was a very dark and that street doesnt have one light for some reason. Elder Kunzler was near the fence and the dog attacked. He was scared to death and nearly jumped into my arms. Ha ha ha i couldnt stop laughing the rest of the way home, neither could he. I am learning that the Lord works in mysterious ways and what may look like a failure in my eyes actually is a blessing and success in His. I called Juri and Nadia on saturday and Nadia told me that we cant meet anymore and that Juri doesnt want to learn more. I thought that was a little fishy and i was not going to give up so easily so Sunday night we brought Speranza with us and stopped by their home. We got there right as they were about to leave. I talked with Nadia and I helped her remember all of the many spiritual experiences that she recieved. I poured my heart out to her and she denied it. She said that are churches arent the same and are very different and she doesnt want to mess up. I asked her, what if you are messing up right now and she tried changing the subject. Ifelt devestated like a quote Elder Holland gives that when investigators dont keep commitments that is how we should feel but only for about 5 minutes and then go on. I now realize that they quit right at the perfect time because now we will have more time for those that will progress and eventually be baptized. I know that God provides and knows what is best for us. Trust and Take council from Him is what I learned. I read that in my Patriarchal Blessing this morning and it hit me that i really need to do this more and i will be happy and always know my relationship between me and my Heavenly Father. Then, we saw 2 great miracles on Monday. I felt that we werent going to be able to go to FHE with the Dandolfos and i didnt know why. We then went to the station and there was a strike (sciopero) that they have often. And there we met Alexandra who is from Argentina but lives her with her Italian Husband. Her Gma was a member and died when she was 106. We took her to the bus station but there was a strike with the buses as well so we took her back to the train station. We talked and got her number. She wants to come to an activity that we will hold. She is incredible. We then had time to stop by 3 families to invite them to our activity. The last family were investigators (the mom, titta) and are now new investigators. The Dad was there for the first time because before he was in jail for 4 months. He is a good father and husband. He is atheist but is very open and loves hearing us so we are going to work with them and watch the restoration next week. It was so neat. That is the greatest thing about Faith at first i am blind and dont know what will happen but i trust that God will make the best of my efforts and i never give up! I love you so much. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

November 5, 2008

On monday we got our transfer call. I am staying but my son is leaving and going to Sardegna (the island) and Anziano Garofalo is going to Napoli. My new companion will be Elder Kunzler and my new district leader will be Elder Allen who is a stud. He is in my same group. We went into the MTC together. Before i recieved the call i knew that i was going stay. I felt it very strongly and i know that there is a huge reason why i am staying. I have a lot to do here and i hope that i can do it the best that i possibly can. I have many regrets with my son, Elder Manwaring. I wish that i could have taught him many more things. I wish i would have had more boldness, and guts to be honest and blunt. I hid behind fear a lot and i regret that. But, this has helped me grown so much. I have learned what it means to be confident and humble and strong at the same time. I used to be confident at a certain time in my mission but it was the wrong type of confidence. I was confident in myself and prideful. I then learned a lot about humility and lost my confidence and became weak. Elder Manwaring has stretched me a lot and i am very grateful for that. I hope you dont think that i am down or depressed. I'm not at all. I am learning and growing and acknowledging my mistakes. We have an investigator Pina that may be crazy but she is so available and wants help. Maybe i am too much of a softy but i want to help everyone. She has a lot of physical trials such as eye problems (cross eyed and at times her eyes cant see clearly), her teeth keep falling out, and others. She believes that others are making these bad things happening to her. She seems that she is supersticious and nervous. she is alone and in her 60s. She is the only child and her parents are both dead. I love this lady and we just barely started with her. I am praying to know what to do to help her. She has read the Book of Mormon and reads every chapter we give her. She has come to church and enjoyed it. Anyway, We are also working with Juri and Nadia. Nadia is a ball of faith. She is confused because she is evangelist and she has seen miracles that those pastors have done and what we have done. In that church they have many people that fall on the floor and are healed from many diseases and she feels the spirit so strongly when we teach. I feel that i need to be very bold with her and bring her into the sacred grove. Elder Garofalo uses this example when we teach every person we meet to bring them into the sacred grove and show them what happened. Monday night we did just that at family home evening with the dandolfo family. We had a testimony meeting and it was so powerful. Each person shared a part of their testimony that represented them so well. I love the gospel and the spirit that accompanies us in this work. He lives and loves us. He works with us every day that we allow Him to. I love serving a mission. I love you dad. I want to thank you for all that you have taught me and for the great love that you give me. Love, Elder Beau Richard Brewster