Beau Brewster Rome Italy Mission

Beau Arrives Home

2009-08-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

Beau will fly in Wednesday night at 11:00 at the SLC airport. His homecoming will be Sunday the 16th of August at his ward building in Orem 500 South and 500 West. Geneva Height Stake Building. He will be leaving for AZ right after the Service. There will be a Pre-reception at 11:00 at his house.

Final Letter from Italy

2009-08-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

It has been a roller coaster ride. Right now i am feeling bitter sweet feelings. I know that this is the next step of my life and i am facing it with hope and full trust in the Lord. For my final interview with President Acerson I was asked to write 3 things: a list of 30 blessings that have come from the mission, Leaving a Legacy and a letter to myself that i will receive in a year. I want to include in my email today the first 2, the blessings and Leaving a Legacy. THE BLESSINGS THAT I RECEIVED DURING MY MISSION During your mission you have developed talents, characteristics, knowledge and your testimony. Please make a list of 30 of these talents here below. 1. A stronger realization and personal testimony of the Atonement 2. The ability to work in 2 and in groups rather than doing it all by myself) 3. I'm better at planning and organizing 4. Patience with myself and with others 5. A testimony of the power of prayer. Blessed with powerful and edifying prayers 6. The ability to endure to the end and being diligent 7. Greater developed leadership skills 8. Learned what it truly means to forgive 9. Learned how to get along with and love men my age. 10. A great desire to serve and help others 11. Greater love and respect for church leaders. 12.How to recognize the promptings of the Spirit and to act upon them. 13. A comprension of the miraculous power of repentance 14. The ability to overcome fear with Faith! 15. The gift of the language. 16. Overcome my weakness of judging others 17. A strong relationship with my Heavenly Father 18. The ability to recognize miracles. 19. Faith in the Lord and being able to trust in His will rather than mine. 20. Preparation for being a husband and Father. 21. The ability to not stress our nor worry (as much as before :)- ) 22. To trust and confide in my companion, leaders and the Lord 23. Testimony of how important it is to take advantage of every opportunity. 24. I'm much more grateful. 25. The gift of teaching with the Spirit. 26. Greater love for the scriptures and talks from general authorities. 27. Ability to build strong relationships with others in little time. 28. The ability to be more decisive and sure of myself. 29. The difference between humility & weakness and Pride & confidence. 30. Boldness--not being afraid to be bold when i need to be. There are many more that i didnt have time nor space to write. I am so blessed by the Lord to have served in this mission, serving these people and being with these missionaries. The Lord knows what we need and He gives it to us. It's like a parent who knows that their child needs food, not just any food but good food that will give them strength and keep them helthy. We ask kids often want candy and junk but our parents know that that will do us no good and just damage us so they give us what we need. When we eat it at first we may not like it but at the end we realize that it was perfect for us and that it has a good impact on the rest of our day. The same is with our Heavenly Father. He is not going to give us junk. He knows what we need even if we dont want it. When we try it with faith we will eventually see that it was what we needed to get the result that we wanted. Our Heavenly Father is so wise. He knows... so why do we trust in ourselves rather than a Powerful God who can do all things? This last letter is a letter to the new missionaries that come to the mission. It is put into a book that they can read their first night in Rome. Dear New Missionaries, You are servants of God in the perfect mission for you. Please realize who you are. You are called to certain cities ofr a reason. There are many people that are waiting for you and your companion. Love you companion. You cannot do this work alone. You need them and they need you. In order for miracles to happen you must be united and then the Lord will bless you and "you will not have room enough to receive it." You are called of God. Please remember that! When you truly realize that you will not fear but rather invite all around you with great love. The best thing you can give them is your sincere testimony that is ful of conviction. Always keep that strong desire to share the gospel with everyone. You will bless may lives as you do your part and invite every person you meet to come unto Christ through a missionary invite. Families are waiting for you. Believe! Dream! And you will move mountains! When you stop dreaming and believeing you're just going through the motions. Realize that you don't have to be perfect. You can't be. Give your all and Christ will make up for the rest. He will use you to do a great and marvelous work. Miracles are waiting for you. Make a little miracle book and each day write a miracle that happened that day. It doesnt have to be huge-- you'll see that the little miracles make a great impact in many lives. Italy is about to bloom. You will love the people and have to leave them... like what's happening to me right now. Sincerely: Anziano Beau Brewster Date: 22 Luglio 2009 Ps. INSEGNA CON FEDE, FORZA, E FUOCO!

July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T00:04:00.000-07:00

I cant believe that next week is my last week to email. That is so crazy! The time sure does fly. I am excited, looking forward and ready to come home but at the same time i am going to miss the mission and the many blessings that come from it. I love my mission and am so very blessed to have worked with the Lord to bring his people back to his presence. The work is moving forward! I love this ward. They have their challenges and difficulties that they need to work out but they are such hard working and faithful saints. Half of them are south americans and they are absolutely wonderful. We prayed our first day together to find 3 families that we could work with and ask them for referals. While we were looking through the list the Aranda family stook out in our minds. It was nice that they were at the beginning of the list! We set up an apointment with them, had a great spiritual thought and invited them to bring to our next appointment friends s that we can share our message with them. They agreed. We met on Monday and there they had Her sister's husband and daughter that arrived 2 day prior from Peru. They didnt speak any italian, so we bore our strong testimonies while Sister Aranda translated and then we watched half of the Testaments. We hope that they liked it and understood it. They were exhausted so they were doozing for a little bit of it, but i am sure that they felt the spirit. They are coming to our ward FHE on Wednesday. That was 1 miracle. On Saturday we had the Baptism for Marilena (Stella) Spagnolo. She is the fieance of our ward mission leader Fabrizio Salza who is incredible! By far the best ward mission leader that i have ever had. I love that man. The baptism was so spiritual. The theme was trials, tempests, afflictions and through the Lord we can overcome it all! It does not mean that the trials wont come actually it means that more will come but we will be able to withstand them and not give into them. There Omar (a new convert) brought a friend Fernando from Mexico who is amazing. Sad to say he lives out of our boundaries but the Rome 3 elders are working with him. Sunday at lunch we had a great apointment with Jacquelin who is a new investigator. We taught her the plan of salvation. She is great. She is the only one of her family here in Italy. She has been here for 2 years and is great friends with the barrocal family. They have been friends for short time but have made a great friendship they seemed like life long friends. She came with us after to the once a year sacrament meeting in spanish. It was incredible. I have to learn spanish when i get back. I am going to try to take a class in college. Last night we had a breaking box correlation with all of the leaders. We have a lot to change in the ward and with Fabrizio we are able to do it. I just love Rome. Every day i run into someone i knew a year and a half ago. I have loved seeing the members again. I am so surprized that they remember me and that they love me, i sure do love them. The mission is incredible! I love the Lord and know that He prepares us for what we need to do. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

More Pictures

2009-07-20T23:56:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Sardegna

2009-07-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2009

2009-07-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Well, President is doing transfers a little differently. Instead of calling us all MOnday morning he is now calling wednesday morning and then transfers are the next day for the main land and that night for the island. Today he didnt call. We waited and waited until the assistants called us and told us that transfers were sent as an email. So we ran to get them at 1130 about. We had to call all of the zone and pack and say goodbyes in little time... but it was a fun adventure. I am going......... any guesses? .................. NO, not Napoli zone.......................no, not in the north.......................................................yes, Rome is correct...........................no not in ROME 2 where the president is but where my Babbo was born.................ROME 1! I am going to be with Elder Rogers. I have heard great things about him. I am taking over Elder Sponseller's spot and Elder Starkweather's spot (the transfer before). I am very excited. They meet in the same building that Ostia meets in so for these 3 weeks i will be able to see all of my members that i love! I am so blessed. I have had a great week saying goodbyes and bearing boldly my dying testimony to them! We have had more or less than 2 meal appointments every day for the past week. We have been able to do great member and inactive work. We had a great appointment last night with the Landis family. Angela and Agostino are in their 50s. They have 2 daughters one of which is handicap... who was born normally but then towards age 18 or so became handicap. Angela has been the sisters investigator for a while. I have been over there 3 times or so. We have built a great relationship with the husband. Angela is blinded by the catholic church. Last night i was given the spirit and the boldness to tell her the truth. I told her the many things that are false with the catholic church and we bore powerful testimony about the Restoration. I love that family. Because i love them so much i was able to be bold because it came out with true love only for their benefit. Agostino is interested in our stop smoking program and will come to church with Angela and Valentina this sunday or the next one. I am so grateful to the Lord for that spiritual experience. I love you. May God Bless you until we meet again. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

July 8, 2009

2009-07-08T07:24:00.001-07:00

For the past two days we have been doing ZSRs which are zone status reports. We write about each missionary and then on each companionship. I love seeing such unified companionships that arent ''all stars'' but when they work together their fruits become ''all star'' fruits. We are nothing alone but together the Lord makes us great. About ZSRs... ha ha we had some trials. Hence the subject heading "Challenges build us up and teach us great lessons." We started on Monday and started off on a slow start. We left at about 9 that night and we were about 1/3 done. We came back yesterday at lunch time to finish up. We were doing a great job and getting almost to the end when members in our ward were trying to fix the electricity and find out where the problem was. They turned off the electricity about 5 times and luckily it saved almost everything we typed up. The 6th time we went back thinking all would be well when it deleted everything that we did. 2 whole days worth of work was gone. I am very impressed with how we reacted to it. We tried to find it but when we realized that it was a lost cause we started from scratch. I was given great help from the Lord. I was able to do it in less time and also word it fairly well. After i wrote about 2 missionaries it turned off again and earased everything. I didnt let that get me down and we started from scratch. The members listened to our plea and stopped working on the lights. I love our members! I sure will miss them. We finally finished at 11:10. We went out to catch the bus home and realized that the last bus passed at 11:15 and we got there at 11:19. We had no other choice but to walk home. Ha ha ha We finally got home at 12:10. I am exhausted today... and i thought it would be overwith but actually 20 minutes ago i got a call from the assistants and they said that the email did not go through. We have to go back today! ha ah aha But i am grateful for this challenge because i learned patience, enduring to the end rather than making excuses and giving up, and trust in the Lord with of my heart. I had a good time last night with Elder Stanfield. He is so calm and supportive. With anyother companion i would have gone crazy. The Lord works in mysterious ways. I know that it was for my good. We had a great lunch with a man named Gianni, his wife Maria and his daughter elenora and her boyfriend Marco. He loves us and is so kind. He came and picked us up after church and then drove us home after the appointment. He fed us so well. I feel like i gained 10 lbs just from that meal. They are new investigators. They wife seems interested. Gianni isnt religious at all but he will change when he feels the spirit. He already was really impressed by the members that he saw at church. I am so glad that you got the shirt and your fathers days stuff. Sorry that it is so late. I love you Dad. I am so blessed. Yesterday we saw so many miracles in the morning! Everyone that we talked to knew the missionaries. The Lord knows what He is doing. He is guiding this work! Love, Elder Beau Brewster

July 1, 2009

2009-07-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

If you could pray for us to find a family that would be great. We have a few family contacts but we need strong family investigators. Cagliari needs strong active families. They will be such a great ward some day and Sardegna will be an amazing stake... they just need to step it up. The members need to do their part. It's a lot easier than they think it is to share the gospel with their friends. Giovanni is doing great. He passes and prepares the sacrament. His hometeachers are teaching him all of the after baptism lessons. He is doing a little missionary work with a friend. I love this man to death. He will be a great leader of the church. Carlos is doing well spiritually. Physically, not so well because his knee is broken in 5 places and is hurting him preety badly. We had a great lesson with him and his family last week. It was on patience and the spirit was beautiful. I sure love that family. I love the mission with all of my heart. I am so blessed to be in this mission, at this time with this mission president as Zone Leader in Cagliari, with my companion. The Lord is blessing me so much. I am truly grateful for everything that he is giving me. This morning we went to the devil's saddle again. I love that place. It is my revelation spot. I feel so close to God when i pray and read my scriptures there. I had a great exchange with Elder Rogers yesterday who is the sr. Assistant. It was a blast and we saw many miracles. We got 3 new contacts and talked with elect. I am so very grateful. I learned many things about myself yesterday. I realized that i need to trust in the Lord so much more. I need to not stress nor worry for that puts full reliance on myself and not on the Lord. We had a couple in church that became new investigators on Saturday. They are interresting and have made mistakes in their lives. In fact a few members were scared when we brought them into church. But they enjoyed it and felt the spirit. I want to help them change their lives. Isnt that going to be great? We also had a miracle right after they became investigators. We went to Massimo's house to say hi and to leave him a note. He is an old investigator that we havent seen for a while. He wasnt there so we wrote a note and left it for him. I wanted to go to another part and find people or stop by people but it didnt seem right. It felt right to stay in that area. So we prayed to know where to go and we both felt that we needed to stay there. So we knocked that palazzo that we felt impressed to knock when we found Massimo. He was the 1st one that answered 2 months ago. Since then we never wrang the other houses. So we did it and on the 4th floor one man was on the phone and said to come back in 10 minutes. We returned in 10 minutes excited for the chance to present our message rather than having them see us and say right away, sorry, i cant or it doesnt interrest me. He let us in even though he didnt have a lot of time. Come to find out. He went to our english class with a handicap kid that he would assist. They gave him the Book of Mormon and explained our message. He forgot a lot about it because it was a long time ago. He did read half of the Book of Mormon though. We gave him a new one and taught him. We set up a follow up appointment for when he returns in 2 weeks. He is an airplane worker so he is gone often. Talk about a miracle. I love the mission. Love it, love it, love it. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

June 24, 2009

2009-06-24T07:18:00.001-07:00

Things are going so well. We were able to do 2 exchanges since i last wrote. I went up to Olbia and had a great exchange with Elder Sullivan and i just got back last night from an exchange with Elder Bowen in Oristano. I had some neat experiences. I was able to see some of the same people that i saw last transfer and even the transfer before that. In fact, my first transfer here i did an exchange with Elder Pepperdine in Oristano and visited a former investigator and her family. We had a great lesson and they invited us over a second time. After that they werent able to see them because they were never at home and never answered the phone. I even went last transfer and passed by but they were not home. Elder Bowen planned for us to stop by them when i was there because he had never met the son nor the husband. When we knocked on their door the son answered and let us in. We had a great lesson with him. He doesnt believe in God and doesnt believe that he doesnt exist. He really doesnt know and didnt know how to ever find out. We told him that he can find out through the holy ghost. Praying and reading brings the holy ghost and answers any question that we have. It was an amazing lesson. The spirit was very strong. Right when we had finished the father walked in and talked with us. He has a great character. He has a dry humor and says jokes/witty remarks with a blank face. I love this man. We talked about the gospel and important principles in life. He is a very wise and God knowing man. We shared the same scripture that we shared with his son previously, Moroni 10:3-5. He loved it and started reading more of the Book of Mormon. He is going to read it, pray to know that it is true and come to church. They will be wonderful members. Right after that we had one of the best visits with an inactive member that i have had. We used Moroni 10:3-5, bore our testimonies and shared our personal experiences. We then asked him how he came to know that the Book of Mormon was true. At times inactive members kind of deny having spiritual experiences that came when asking that the Book of Mormon is true but this man did not. He said that he prayed and received an answer that it was true. He then said that he had to leave one way to follow another. We invited him to church but he could not come this week. He was very kind and showed me how important inactive work is and what a difference it can make. I know that there are more concerns that they will have to resolve with him but it was a wonderful start. He has 3 children and his wife is visiting her parents in sicily for a little while. Oristano only has 7 members so a family of 5 would be such a great strength. I love exchanges because i learn so much from the elders that i serve with. The next day i was able to help a new convert, Alessandro. I was actually the one who gave him his baptismal interview. His testimony was so pure when i gave the interview but now i could tell that a few things were bothering him. He was struggling. We talked about temples and shared our great love for the temple. He was zoning out and asking if we were done. We knew that something was not right. We finally pried it out of him. He is debating on serving a mission or going to school. He plans on going to Torino for school for 3 years but the missionaries challenged him to pray about it to get his answer. He prayed about it but you could tell that he didnt listen because he doesnt want to get that answer that he knows the Lord will give him. We knealed and prayed with him and you could feel the spirit. He his worried that if he goes on a mission and comes back, he wont find a job and it will be hard to go to school. He also doesnt feel that he is capable of serving a mission, that he doesnt know enough. We bore our strong testimonies that the Lord will provide and that as he follows this commandment The Lord will guide him to eternal happiness. I love the mission and would be no one without it. I have learned and grown more in such a little time. I have learned many christlike attributes such as patience, faith, virtue, obedience, hope, diligence and love. The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall i know! Love, Elder Beau Brewster

June 17, 2009

2009-06-17T07:34:00.000-07:00

I love serving a mission. I am learning so much from these experiences. For so long i just taught lessons rather than teaching the people. I am now striving to read them and to discover their wants, desires and concerns. Once we know that we can then help them. That is what Elder Kopischke taught us. We cant connect with someone or teach them without their want and desire so to get that we have to know what their concerns and questions are. Today i am in sassari doing exchanges and then at 1 i leave for Olbia doing exchanges there. Ever since we had zone leader council with Elder Kopischke a lot has changed in the mission which is great. We have switched exchanges so that one ZL stays in his city with the companion of the DL of the other city while the other ZL does an exchange with the DL in his city. This means that we do a lot more traveling because we have to go to their city (3-4 hours away and then come right back). It's better this way but it is crazy. I am exhausted but i love serving this Elders. I loved Zone Leader Council. We each brought up one or two ideas of how we can better the mission and change. He told us that we are the leaders of the mission and it starts with us. I never realized that. I always just thought that it was up to the president but i realized that he cant do it alone, we have to be self reliant and get the things done that we know need to get done. The spirit was so strong. I love President Acerson. He knows exactly what i need exactly when i need it. One thing that is hard for me is correcting other elders and as a leader i have to do it or they will keep doing the same things. He said to me boldly with the spirit, "You are where you are for a reason. Move forward and Do it!" I was able to go to Ostia for my Pday and see Barbara and Carmelo. I am excited to stay with them in August. I was able to sing for them and film a few messages to give to 2 old investigators and 1 inactive member. I love the mission. This church is sooo true! Carlos passed the sacrament last week which was great! Love, Elder Beau Brewster

June 10, 2009

2009-06-10T07:18:00.001-07:00

I love our new district. My companion is wonderful. He is so supportive, hard working, and so calm. I am so blessed to have him as my companion. We had a great zone conference with ELder Kopischke. I really wish that you could have been there so i will try to describe things that he taught us. He started by saying that a mission = people. He had such a great love and energy. He taught us on having an eye of faith meaning to dream and picture new investigators that we will meet that day. He challenged us to wake up at 6:29 thinking of the person that we will meet or the family that we will meet that day. I am making it my goal to find a family and baptize them before i go and i know that i can do it. This conference helped me realize the great blessing it is to be called of God and serve Him as a missionary. I cannot get distracted and will not as long as i keep my relationship strong with my Heavenly Father. The spirit was so powerful. He answered our questions with simple principles of truth always based on scriptures. I received answers to prayers that i have had for a while. One of these was to have confidence rather than fear. I asked him the question on how i could overcome fear and have confidence. He answered my question perfectly. I dont remember the answer on the top of my head but i wrote it down so i will have to go back to my notes. I can see the difference in me, before the conference and after. He helped me realize the importance of planning that it is sacred time. He showed the reality tv type movie that we watch in the MTC that is such a great example that really helped us. My companion and i are working so hard to put these things into practice and be the best that we can be. His wife is the most energetic, inthusiastic and loving woman. She helped us realize the importance of our nametag and what we need to think of every time that we put it on our chest. She also helped us realize that we can have a huge impact on those at home that want to hear our great insights, spiritual experiences, and success stories. I hope that i have been doing this well. I am striving to do better at this to inspire all. I know that this church is so true. The spirit cannot lie! I had the great privilege to sing with one of my favorite elders, Elder Cangialosi, "This is the Christ." It was probably the worst musically that i have ever done but it was the most spiritually filled and touching that i have ever sung. The spirit was expanding my heart. I know that this is the christ the savior of mankind and i will bear my holy witness to all of those around me that He lives and this is His restored church. I will invite them to come unto Him and to repent for the rest of my mission and the rest of my LIfe. I will not let the mission end when i go home. I will help my brothers and sisters that i love to come to their Father in Heaven and partake of His everlasting love. I still have time to do it here and i am so grateful for that. I am not letting a second pass me by without striving to do the will of the Lord. I love my mission. Love Elder Brewster

June 3, 2009

2009-06-03T07:55:00.000-07:00

I am realizing every day that I am so blessed! This

morning we woke up early so that we could go to the devil's saddle again

and study our scriptures there. It is a beautiful mountain that

overlooks the sea. It was a beautiful spiritual experience for me. I

read my Zone leader call letter and wrote goals and desires for this

next transfer. I was also able to right all of the things that i learned

from my companion Elder Sponseller. I then prayed to find the best thing

to read in the book of Mormon. Mormon 9 came into mind. I really needed

this chapter. It was talking about the miracles of God. That He always

has been and always will be a God of miracles. The same miracles that we

read of in the Book of Mormon and the Bible can and do happen in these

days. Why they seem to not happen as much is because of our unbelief and

lack of trust in God. I sure needed this chapter today. There are

miracles waiting for me every day here in Cagliari. The reason why

somedays it seems like there are tons of miracles and others that there

isnt even 1 is because of my faith and belief in the Lord. We have to

look forward for this miracles and have faith... meaning ACT! I love the

Scriptures. It was so beautiful being so close to God in the nature

today. I was just amazed by his creations. I am so blessed, we are so

blessed.

I got the transfer call on Monday and to my surprize i am staying. I

thought that either i would leave and go District Leader in a small city

or stay with Elder Sponseller, but non of those actually happened. I am

staying and my new companion is coming from my birth city--Ostia. His

name is Anziano Stanfield and is from Mesa, Arizona... i believe. He

came into the mission with my son Elder Manwaring. Infact, they were

companions in the MTC. I am very excited. Elder Sponseller is going to

be the District Leader in Rome 1 which is the biggest district in the

mission. Elder Starkweather is going to be the district leader and elder

pace's new companion. I am really excited for this next transfer. It is

crazy that this is my last full transfer. Elder Kopishke from the 70 is

coming on Tuesday for Zone Conference. It is really fast this transfer!

We are way excited. Ok, Giovanni was baptized on Saturdayf! yeah! ELder

Pace, SIster Hansen and I did a musical number, "come thou fount of

every blessing" in italian which went really well. He had 3 friends that

came. We knew 2 of them and talked to them a little bit. Giovanni and

Carlos then were given the gift of the holy ghost in sacrament meeting

on Sunday. After church they were ordained with the aaronic priesthood.

We are so excited for them. Giovanni was baptized by President Sanna,

our District president. His water was ice cold but he did it and it was

a beautiful site. Fratello Caravagna gave him the gift of the Holy Ghost

and President Espis gave him the aaronic priesthood. It is so crazy that

we had 2 baptisms in one week. I love it!

Love Elder Brewster

May 27, 2009

2009-05-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

I baptism and 2 to go

As you can tell from the subject line, Carlos just got baptized on Sunday! It was an incredible experience. Let me set the scene telling you all that happened. Well, right after church the church leaders started turning on the water to see how the temperature was… and to our surprize the water heater was not working at all. The water was freezing. They were talking about postponing the baptism to another day. We did a lot of praying so that we would be able to overcome the obstacles that stood in our way. We said to our leaders, HECK NO, TECHNO, we’ll go through with the baptism. Wecalled Carlos asking if it was ok doing the baptism in cold water. He was definately for it. Well, we went home to eat and then came back at about 3:45 to fill up the font. We realized that we should have came earlier to fill it up because it was taking a long time to fill up. Infact at around 7 when the baptism was suppose to start the water seemed very low and we were debating to have Brother Lloyd baptize him on his knees. Another challenge was that Carlos has really bad knees and back pains and couldnt bend very much. We all met together and prayed to recieve inspiration on what to do. And then at the perfect time it clicked what we needed to do. We came up with a way that he could still stand but put one behind and put that knee on the ground. It worked perfectly. After the baptism we asked how the water temperature was because it was freezing. Brother Lloyd said that it was cold but because of the spirit they couldnt feel it. I wish you could have seen the best part of the night when Janielu (Carlos’ 23 year old daughter) gave the closing prayer and was bauling with joy. After her prayer everyone was in silence as they embraced for a good minute straight. The spirit was powerful. Thanks to this baptism Maria Cianni (Elders Pittson and Pace’s investigator) is going to be baptized on Saturday. She loved the meeting and really wants the same thing. Tonight she and Giovanni Tatti are going to be interview by President Acerson so that they can be baptized this weekend. Giovanni will be baptized on Saturday and Maria will be baptized on Sunday. We are very excited for them!

Love Elder Brewster

May 20, 2009

2009-05-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

we taught all of the commandments to Carlos and he had his baptismal interview and it went so well! He talked with President Acerson about things he had to work out and he is ready for his baptism on Sunday. Brother Lloyd is going to baptize him (who is an american member from Idaho), Brother De Plano speaks Spanish and is going to confirm the gift of the holy ghost to him, Elder Sponseller is going to give the talk on the holy ghost and baptism and i am going to sing I am a Child of God in Spanish. Last night we had an incredible apointment with Giovanni and the District President, President Sanna. The spirit was so strong. It was on the atonement, faith, repentance and baptism. Giovanni has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, the word of wisdom and other commandments. He feels good when he comes to church and meets with us, but he has doubts and fears to be baptized. While he was doing the fast with us he was playing soccer with a few friends. One friend told him to read some things about us on the internet and when he did doubts came to his mind. Satan knew that he was so close to baptism and tried to stop him from making the most vital decision in his life. We told him that and he felt the spirit. He is sooo Close! We told him that the time was to now exercize a particle of faith and put God to the test. He read Alma 32 before he came and his doubts were pushed to the back of his mind. President Sanna shared an example using indiana Jones the 3rd when he is in a situation to find and save his dad. He is on one side and has to cross the other. He doesnt know what to do because it looks like it is impossible to cross but he puts forth his faith and takes a shot in the dark and realizes that there is a little path and he was able to cross and save his father. It was an incredible example with so much love, sincerity, passion and concern. I love that man. So, we set a baptismal date. Giovanni wasnt as sure. He tried to procrastinate it but we wrote down the 30th of may. He is praying about this date and is going to let us know on Thursday when we meet with him. Pray for him. he knows he wants to do it he is just too afraid to do it too soon. He has already told some of his friends and he is going to tell his parents in a few days when he goes to his village for a couple of days. We had a great district conference. President Acerson's talk was incredible! Sister Acerson is such a loving and kind woman. We had all 16 elders at our house saturday night which was a blast and very stressful at the same time. We had an amazing exchange in Oristano on Monday. We found 5 different families which was great. They all live on the same street except for 1 of them. I am loving the mission. I am so blessed to be serving here with the people that i am serving with. My companion is in the Navy so he is helping us use our time wisely and always living on a tight schedule. I have never ran so much in my mission! ha ha I love it! The Lord knows what i need! Love Elder Brewster

May 13, 2009

2009-05-18T07:36:00.001-07:00

We have had a great week which has been nice and busy. On thursday we had our zone conference which was incredible. One district was having a hard time so President Acerson's training was all on the spot following the spirit. I love how much confidence, trust in the lord and love that he has. He gives his whole heart and soul in his calling. I love that! Our training went really well. We did it on being angels, being christlike, being a rock rather than silly puddy and on the power of prayer. The Lord help us so much. We were dressed in all white and it went so well. We then had an exchange with the Cagliari elders which went so well. I was with Elder Pace who is a greeny and is incredible. He has such a great fire and love for the people. On sunday night we had an apointment with Carlos Gordillo and we set a baptismal date with him for the 24th of May! We are so excited. It is going to be very busy getting prepared for his baptism but it is going to go very well. Giovanni should be getting baptized soon as well. We are doing a fast for him today. Please pray for these men and pray for us to find families to baptize. Elder Brewster

May 6, 2009

2009-05-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

We have been preparing for our training that we will be giving tomorrow. I am really excited. Very nervous, so please pray for me. I love the mission and the things that i am learning from it. I have to tell you about my mission hero, Anziano Pace. Elder Pittson is training him right now and he is so great. He has the biggest smile in the world and has so much love for everyone. He is 6 foot 5 and as skinny as a twig. He talks with everyone, spreading his great love, smile and laughter. He is so possitive and has so much faith. It is a pleasure serving in the same district as him. The members love him, even though he cant speak italian well. That's my favorite part because he doesnt let that get him down. It doesnt hold him back because he tries his very best to communicate and teach with all of his might. I love Cagliari. The members are wonderful. i would love to stay here for the rest of my mission, but i will go where the Lord wants me to go. The work is going well. Giovanni is praying to know if the 23rd of May is a good baptismal date for him. He is keeping all of the commandments that we have taught him so far. We only have a couple more to give him. The Gordillo family is doing well as well. Carlos is reading the Book of Mormon and is loving it. We talked with the wife and she wants him to be baptized so badly. I would love to see him and Giovanni baptized. I know that they will be. This last Friday was Sant Efisio who is a famous Saint here in Sardegna. The parade was huge and there were tons of people. We were able to talk to many people, especially families. That day i also cooked a delicious meal... horse heart. i wasnt a huge fan of the texture but it wasnt bad. I also made fried eggplant which was delicious. Well, I love you. I know that this church is true. God lives and loves us. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

April 29, 2009

2009-05-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Right now i am in Rome for our zone leader council and i am loving it! Guess who is here? My Babbo (trainer) Elder Scoville. He is here on vacation. He got in yesterday morning and came to the villa last night. I love my Dad. He is so great. He is studying at BYU to be a doctor. He is running many marathons and is doing great. This morning we ran an hour run and it was a blast. We talked about everything. I am going to see him before i go off to college. He gave me the greatest advice last night. I asked him what i could do to make the best of the rest of my mission. He said that it is the end sprint. He told me to give it all that i got and to step up the pace. He told me to set high goals and acchieve them. He said to find a family and baptize them before i go. I am going to do it. That is my goal. I am going to find a family and bring them to the fold of God. I am going to talk to everyone that i possibly can. I have been striving to do this my whole mission but now i am going to do it with more intent. He said to enjoy it; EAT IT UP! And I am! I love the mission. We had the best Zone Leader Council yesterday. The Spirit was so strong! We laughed, cried, felt united as we strove to think of ways to serve our fellow missionaries. President Acerson's motto is LOVE YOUR MISSIONARIES! And when you're done with that, LOVE THEM SOME MORE. I love my mission president. I truly do. I felt His great love, experience, and care. I love Sister Acerson. SHe is so selfless and hard working. She has a great courage and love for people. She is the first one to go to you and say how are you and then make you feel like the most important person on the earth. Well, i have a lot to do today. My companion, who is amazing--Elder Sponseller, and I are going to the center of rome with jonathan scoville and jonathan. Love Elder Brewster

April 22, 2009 (Earth Day)

2009-04-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

The mission is so incredible! I have been learning so much about myself, how i react with people, especially with my companion and district. I am learning how to overcome my weaknesses and faults and how to support others in their weaknesses and faults. I am learning how to love people unconditionally. I love trials and hards times because right after there is a beautiful calm. THere is a peace and imense joy that i would never have felt if i didnt first experience the raping waves, tormentous winds and the shards of painful hail and worked so hard to overcome them so that my heart is open and i am willing to do the will of the Lord. At the end there is a beautiful rainbow of joy that just fills the soul. This is what i feel after every companion. There were a lot of rough periods with each one of them not because it was their fault but because it was our faults because no one is perfect and we are both learning together. In the end it is great to see the change and the growth in each of us. Today i am saying good bye to my dear companion and friend Elder Julian Francesco Kenneth Soro. He is going to Livorno as Zone Leader. My new companion will be Elder Sponseller who was also in the MTC with me. He is already on the island in Sassari. I am excited. I have a lot more to learn and grow. I have had many spiritual experiences in this last transfers. Elder Soro and I have seen a lot of miracles and we have had a memorable time together. We had an incredible apointment with Giovanni last night and President Sanna. The spirit was profoundly strong. I was more converted thanks to this lesson. Giovanni wants to be baptized and he told us this yesterday but before he is baptized he wants to know without a doubt that Joseph Smith was a prophet. President sanna felt to share Moroni 10:3-5 and he poured his heart out! He went over every single word and expounded with great simplicity what it meant to him. We felt to bring President Sanna for a reason because Giovanni needed that. Giovanni wants to know and is looking for the truth and he will find it! I am so excited for both him and Carlos Gordillo. Love Elder Brewster

Earthquake in L'Aquila Italy

2009-04-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

Beau is on the island and was not near the damage in L'Aquilla. L'Aquilla was Beau's second area. News from the Mission home is that all the missionaries and members are safe. There was one house of a member that was demolished and many houses with giant cracks in the walls. the Quake was felt at the mission home in Rome.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7984951.stm Video of the Aftermath

April 1, 2009

2009-04-01T08:17:00.002-07:00

Missionary work is so great! I had the great opportunity to do 2 exchanges (scambis) at the beginning of this week. We went to Olbia and then to Sassari. It was great to be with these missionaries and to help them with their work. I am loving being a zone leader. I am not overwelmed anymore. I am getting the hang of things. I love my companion. I am learning a lot from him. We have been having a fun time joking around and telling stories from the mtc and from our missions. I love our zone members. They are such good elders and sisters. When i was at sassari they had me listen to a beautiful musical called the garden about the garden of gethsemane. It is beautiful. You have to get the cd and try to find the sheet music because it is wonderful. I wish i could tell you the whole story but i will tell you a little bit. It is about 4 elements: a seedling (that cant grow), a ram (that is stuck in the bush), a tree (that is barren) and a millstone (that doesnt feel like his of importance). They are in their misery and blaming themselves for the things that they lack. A gardner comes (a prophet) to help them grow, become better, but then there is the landlord (satan) who says that they are his and that the gardner cant save them so a man of many names (jesus christ) has to come and save them. It is wonderful. I want to do it so badly. Let's do it together ok? OF course when umpiring is over and you are set with work. Another neat thing is that on sunday i was talking with the old zone leader here in cagliari, anziano bruno (from Catania). He finished his mission in october i believe. He is dating the Sardegna district president's daughter. He is going to work here in a month and move here. Last year when we was here they did the musical My turn on Earth (il mio turno sulla terra) and this year they want to do a musical that was written in the north of italy about the prophet Joseph Smith. I am excited. We are going to help and be in it. Last year it helped the branch out a lot. It brought unity among the members, inactives came back, they had a baptism from it, and they recieved many contacts and new investigators from it. We had a good lesson with Marilena (anziano Soro's cousin). we watched the restoration. she said the closing prayer which went well. She is going to read the book of mormon and pray to know if it is true. She is a great lady. I would love to have her as a relative. I think i am going to adopt her as my italian aunt :). We are also teaching a man from Nigeria (destiny) a woman from the philipines (celina) and our new investigator is Giovanni who is great. He is a really short, stauky sardanian who is so kind and Buono! proprio buono. We taught him for the first time saturday night and it was incredible. The spirit was so strong. He has read to the death of ishmael in the book of mormon. I am excited for him. I love our members. We have a lot of them and they are so quiet and humble. It is very different from Battipaglia. They were so loud, funny, prideful and contentious (at times) where these members are afraid of their own shadows. Not all of them just the single men. We have about 5 of them. They help us a lot with missionary work. Elder Brewster

March 25, 2009

2009-04-01T08:17:00.001-07:00

Being a zone leader is going well. We gave a training monday for all of the missionaries in sardegna. We prayed, fasted and pondered about it for a while and we did it on UNITY and TRUST. it went so well. We both realized, preparing the training that it was exactly what we both needed. We had many companionship inventories during this little time of preparing the training. I cant believe that i am at this point in my mission as a zone leader. I never thought this time would come. I love it. There are many sacrifices and it's time consuming but so rewarding! I love our zone and our district. Tonight we are going to Oristano for exchanges. This transfer i am focusing on Charity as my Christ like attribute. And i can say that i have grown to love each and every missionary, my leaders and my companion. Elder Brewster

March 11, 2009

2009-03-11T09:03:00.001-07:00

We have been very busy and a little stressed out but it is all worth it. It is crazy because i just got my transfer call on monday and i leave tomorrow for.................................................................. Sardegna! I am a Zone Leader in Cagliari. I am in the same apartment as my son Elder Manwaring. I am so excited. I am way excited to be junior companion. It is about time! My new companion is Anziano Soro who is in my group and was one of my 3 roomates in the MTC. I am very excited! IT is so crazy because i never thought that i would get to this point i am so old but i still feel pretty young. I have 3 full transfers left and then 3 weeks, because unfortunatley i am coming home 3 weeks early. I think Cagliari will be my last city and then for my last 3 weeks maybe i will be in Rome. I am way excited for Giovanna's baptism! We have had trials after trials which has shown all of us that this is the right thing to do. We had her interview thursday morning. We were supposed to have it wednesday night but she was sick in bed, the zone leaders' train was late and then it's motor broke down so they had to get another train, it was raining and pouring a ton, and other little things just added to it, but it went so well. She talked with all of her kids and sisters and they are coming to her baptism tonight. Angelo told us on Sunday that he had to go down to palermo to work and didnt know when he was going to come back. He was the one who Giovanna asked to baptize her. We called him and he didnt answer us once so we supposed that he was in palermo still and couldnt come, but miraculously he got back today and he will baptize Giovanna. Today i am exhausted because we prepared the fonte, had a little flood in the bathroom, went everywhere and to add to it all my companion is a worry wart and stresses more than me! i know, it is hard to imagine but it is so true. I love him to death... today i especially love him to death... LITERALLY! h aha hah a. I love my savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for all that He has given me. He has made this baptism possible and we have seen countless miracles. Love Elder Brewster

February 25, 2009

2009-02-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we all went to Rome for a conference with Elder Dallin H. Oaks and The 70 Area President Elder Robert C. Oaks. It was amazing. the whole mission was there even the island of sardegna so i was able to see all of my companions. I was so excited to see my son! I also saw all of the missionaries that are about to die. That is not all. I also got to see my members from Rome and L'Aquila. From L'Aquila i saw Stephanie and Ariana who are african and are incredible. I also saw Marina who is an investigator and has been for 3 or 4 years. i got her number and we are going to go and see her when we do our giro. I saw Carmello and Simone who is now active in church again! yeah! i heard that The perticaroli family is now active and she is going to be rebaptized soon. She looked so great and happy. Her daughter was the one that was baptized who i taught. I saw barbera and her husband is reading the Book of Mormon and is taking the lessons. We are going to sleep there when we do our giro. I heard that Brother Banchini's wife just got baptized and their daughter. I was the first person to teach them and it all was possible through persistence. It made me so happy. You should hear the hymn of rome it is beautiful. Its the mission hymn and we all sang it together. Elder Oaks is such a loving, kind, funny and hard working man. You feel the peace and love when he is in the room. We all shook his hand and he said a little something to each of us. He talked about giving it our 110%, 10 gifts we need to take back with us from the mission, he answered questions about how to be our best and about the temple. We have to wait 1year to 5years to start building because there are a lot of permissions that have to be made for every temple. I am so excited. His wife is amazing as well. She served a mission in Japan. They did everything with the spirit. They followed the spirit in every decision and always were willing to change the plans for our benefit. I love this work. I love serving a mission. I know that we are called of God and that we have the power to help and bless people. I am working my very best to live every single day in the best way possible. I dont want anymore regrets so i will give it my all every day and follow revelation that comes to me. I love my companion. Yes, there are things that i dont like or that bug me but that doesnt change the person, who he is. I love the faith that he has and the energy. I am learning how to be patiently loving and to talk about things and help him out and take suggestions from him. Giovanna is doing well. she didnt come to church because she had the kids and had to take them to do carnival stuff because it is carnival time. But on friday we taught her the law of chastity and the word of wisdom which went well. She doesnt smoke or drink which is amazing... very rare in italy (she is prepared). The only thing is tea and coffee but we gave her orzo which will be great.She had to cancel to apointments because of things that came up. I know that all will be alright. I am trusting in the Lord and i know that it will be in His time. I hope and am still planning for her to do it in 2 weeks but if not she has time. Keep praying for her. Love Elder Brewster

February 18, 2009

2009-02-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

i have some exciting news! Last night we had a wonderful lesson with Giovanna DeVita we have been thinking and praying about it. We have taught her the 1st 3 lessons and last night we did a lesson on Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. At the end we gave her the invite to get baptized. She accepted and she will be baptized the 11th of March, the day before i leave. I will leave (probably) the 12th of March. She is excited but nervous which is good because she realizes that the hardest trials that she has ever faced will come in these next 3 weeks but it will all be worth it. I want to tell you how i found her. She came to our english class a year ago with other missionaries. She came back in December. Do you know why she came back because she felt really strongly that she needed to come for some reason. She didnt want to come but a voice told her that she needed to come. The third time that she came was our Christmas party. At the end of the party i felt so strongly to talk to her. I followed it and got her number and address not thinking that anything huge would come of it, but in fact it did. She studied with the jehova's witnesses and the evangelists so she was prepared. She is 43 and has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. She has had many problems and mistakes in the past and it is so beautiful that she will be able to have all of that washed away and have a rebirth. Please pray for her and put her name in the temple. This baptism is going to bring a lot of hope to the branch and will bring many more baptisms. Love Elder Brewster

February 11, 2009

2009-02-11T06:54:00.001-08:00

We had the best zone conference yesterday. This elder from Hawaii Elder Auna gave his dying testimony because this is his last transfer. It was incredible. I needed this conference so badly, it was exactly what i needed to pump me up and get that powerful missionary excitement. The zone leaders, elder Auna and Elder Taylor did a wonderful training on getting in the game. They started with a skit. They related missionary work to playing a sport. It seems really long at the first but once you play the time flies. There are struggles, challenges, tiredness comes, joys, sorrows, we must have indurance, and stay excited and focused during the whole game. It was amazing and exactly what we all needed. They then shared the most touching story of a ship that was at sea during a huge tempest. They saved all of the remaining men except for one who was holding down the ship. They went to the island and asked for volunteers to go out and save this man. Most of the men were already exhausted or injured so they was one boy that was 19 who said that would go. His mother begged him not to go because her husband died, lost some children, including one who was lost at sea that they never found. The son replied that he felt that he had to do it and he went and sacrificed his life for this one man. At the end of the story you come to find out that that one man was his brother who was lost at sea. They then related that story to us and showed us pictures of our brothers and sisters who were lost at sea but then saved through the gospel of Jesus Christ and they are now baptized. Oh, i cant fully explain how powerful that training was. It was exactly what i needed. Then we had the training given by the assistants on FEAR and the antedote which is THE SPIRIT, LOVE and FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. I loved it. I will have to show you all of my notes that i wrote some day. Elder Allen and I sang a musical number " I need thee every hour " in english and italian. Our theme was really neat. We imagined Elder Allen as the missionary that had need of the Lord to find a new investigator in the first verse and then in the second i played the investigator that had need of the gospel. In the 3rd we sang together (finding each other) and then the 4th verse we did a round. He started and sang in English and then i followed singing in Italian and then we finished together which was baptism. It reminded me of my good friend Manolo who lived in Ostia who asked me to baptize him. I really hope that he is doing well. President Acerson and Sorella Acerson gave powerful trainings. The spirit testified to me how lucky and blessed i am to have them. I know that He is called of God and is working so hard to bless this Italian people. They love us missionaries with all of their hearts. After that zone conference we all had the fire and the desire and we talked with many people on the metro. I love you Dad. I am so grateful for the gospel and for this church. I am so blessed to be having the opportunity to serve a mission. I am learning, growing, and changing in a way that i could never do doing something other than this mission. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

January 28, 2009

2009-01-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

ransfer calls came 2 days ago. What do you think happened? I stayed! for a sixth! I am really excited. The only other person to stay in Battipaglia for a sixth transfer in a while was Elder Welch who baptized Speranza. I feel like something big like that is going to happen. We have a lot of investigators and we are going to get them going. I am recieving an Italian tomorrow, Anziano Dallari who is from the Milan area. Anziano Kunzler is going to Firenze. I am sad to see him go but excited for my new companion. Anziano Allen is training a new missionary and one of the 3 that he could train is from mesa, Arizona. His last name is Porter. We'll see tomorrow who he trains. Sunday night we had a great musical fireside. I sang Be still my soul with an investigator Giovanna and i sang with Anziano Allen I need thee every hour. He played the guitar. It was a spiritual night. We had a few investigators there and a less active member. It went really well. Oh, and i forgot to tell you that i am now District Leader. I am excited. I have a lot of ideas and plans for this last transfer here in Battipaglia. We are going to do a missionary and member program and do some great activities. I love the scriptures. Today i read ether 12, my favorite chapter in the book of mormon and it gave me exactly what i needed. Elder Brewster

January 21, 2009

2009-01-21T06:27:00.000-08:00

We had 2 in church and it was a miracle because i was praying for tina to come at the beginning of the meeting and as soon as i said her name in my head she walked up the stairs. I then prayed for Giovanna to come right before President da puzzo's amazing talk and she came as well right when i was praying for her to come. I have been seeing many miracles. It is very hard to get into house and we prayed monday night to find someone and had the tiniest feeling to keep doing house in that area and to do some of the house we did a week ago that werent home. we got in with a man and we are going back on saturday to teach him and his wife. we also met with Francesco and his downsyndrome son Luca. He wasnt interrested so we bore our testimonies with all of our hearts and did our very best but he refused. But in the end he let me see Luca and talk with him for a little bit. He reminds me so much of brody. It was wonderful. I pray that they can meet the missionaries again and learn from them. Love Anziano Brewster

January 14, 2009

2009-01-14T06:06:00.001-08:00

Sunday we saw miracles. It has been hard to get people into church. But Rafaele and Cosimo (his grandson) came at 11:10 just in time for us to go with them and pick up another lady Rita to come to church. We had 3 in church and they felt the spirit. The spirit was so strong. I gave the closing talk on Repentance. But i put a twist on it. I shared the story of jonah and stressed the importance of change and repentance and that it is a beautiful thing and then i said that we cannot repent without forgiveness. Jonah learned this. That after his huge repentence experience he could not forgive others that didnt know what they were exactly doing and he would have felt so much better, full of love and have a huge burden lifted off his shoulders if he would have just forgiven them regardless of what they did. I need this talk so badly. My heart was filled with love from my Savior. The spirit was so strong that i could not articulate all that i wanted to say. I love this church. I know that it is true with all of my heart. I am learning so much from those around me, the other elders, my members and investigators. I feel like I am about to leave and a part of me is happy because i know that i have more to do but a huge part of me is sad to leave. I have 2 more weeks and i am going to give it my very all in these last to weeks. Time flies. I love you so much. THe gospel true and our savior and father love us so much. I have no doubts about that. I love this church with all of my heart. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

January 7, 2009

2009-01-07T07:40:00.001-08:00

Today we had a great day at La Reggia which is an hour and a half from us. It is one of the 7 wonders in the world and i now know why. The palace is incredible. There are 2,700 rooms in that palace with at least 3 miles of gardens with one of the worlds largest fountains in the world. It was beautiful. Because it was gloomy and rained there was no one there so it was a nice peaceful time for us 4 missionaries. The mission flies. Wow! Like you said, every day counts. I need not to stress out but rather take advantage of little opportunities that come every day, like serving others and then teaching them, smiling and making someone's day. I have finally come to realize how blessed and happy we are. I look at these Italians and i dont see happiness in them. I see it for a moment or two but there is that emptiness that they are waiting to be filled. They have this emptiness because they try to find happiness from the world rather than the gospel and worldly things will never last. we were talking at La Reggia about these amazing sites and things that everyone wants to see and they are great and beautiful and all but they dont give you that spirit and incredible sensation like the gospel gives. Today was our Pday ('fun' day) but i can firmly tell you that i felt much happier and filled in apointments this week that i did seeing one of the world wonders. THe gospel is so incredible and too often we take it for granted. I love my savior and am so grateful for Him. I am excited for our apointment tonight. We are going to give a baptismal invite to Leonilde for the second time. The first time, the spirit was so strong and she said that she would think about it, pray about it and decide with her family. She then faced so many trials and went on vacation. On sunday night we gave her a blessing that was incredible. the words flowed and came from the heavens to my heart and my mouth was open. She knows what she needs to do and she will do it! Tonight we are bringing two members and we are going to talk about our conversions and testimonies. Please pray for us. I love you very much. I have seen so many miracles when i followed the spirit and trusted with all of my heart and put my action into practice. On moday i felt to do little things and i ignored them or justified saying maybe its not the spirit and afterward i felt awful, without the help of the Lord in our work and nothing got done that day. Yesterday and sunday on the otherhand were incredible because i put myself in the Lord's hands and He guided me. I love the mission. I know that this time in my life is going to bless and help me for the eternities. Love Elder Brewster

Pictures of Halloween and Christmas

2009-01-06T20:50:00.001-08:00

December 31, 2008

2008-12-31T05:29:00.001-08:00

Anna Caprio and Cosimo are doing well. We had a lesson with them and the D'Andolfo family and it went well. The spirit was strong and we all said things that were perfect for her. I am praying that she prays to know if this is true and acts and does the 5 principles of the gospel. We taught it in a really neat way thanks to Anziano Kunzler. He has this neat book that has the best ideas for teaching investigators. We taught it as son that lived at home and had to go to school to learn and grow and become like his parents so they gave him a car to arive to school. On his way home from school he has an obstacle- a body of water. A man comes and builds a stone bridge which is free. The boy continues on his journey home when he runs into another obstacle which is an earthquake. The same man that built the stone bridge built a woodbridge to go over the earthquake but for this bridge we have to pay 4 euro and then we are able to go home. Home is heaven, the car is our physical body, school is life on the earth, the body of water is physical death, the stone bridge is ressurection, the earth quake is spiritual death, and the wood bridge is the atonement. The 4 euro are faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The road is enduring to the end. I loved this lesson. I need to teach more with stories and parables they touch us so much more and remain with us. I gave the training on Repentance and change on Monday and it went so well. I learned so much. Today i am going to make 2 newyears resolutions on temporal and one spiritual so that i can become better and like my savior Jesus Christ. I love the many miracles that there are in the mission. I have seen so many miracles when i listen to the spirit and act upon it but when i try to do the work in my way it never goes great, at times alright but never as amazing as it would have gone, trusting in the Lord.

Love Elder Brewster

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

Beau called today. He sounded great. He misses everyone. He has been in his area for almost 7 months. He is glad to be in the branch and maybe have a baptism before he gets transfered. He loves the people in Italy. They are so traditional that when they convert they are so strong because of the sacrifaces they have to make. Most are disowned by their families.

Here are some pictures of Him and his companions.

December 17, 2008

2008-12-17T07:09:00.001-08:00

Oh, and i didnt tell you but we just got the transfer call and i am staying in battipaglia! yeah. I have been here since july. This will be my 5th transfer here and i am so happy. I know that i am meant to be here and baptize people that i am working with. I am praying for so many miracles. this city really has need of them. The sacred grove activity went well. We didnt have as many people as i would have wanted but it went well for the contacts, investigators and members that did come. The number was good but the people that i wanted to be there were not able to come. I would love to do this activity another time. We had a christmas activity last night with our english class students and we are having another one tonight with our members and investigators. I am excited. We are going to sing a lot of christmas songs. I am learning a lot about forgiveness and true charity. I have been having struggles with an Elder that is in my apartment that has been with me since August. He is a good kid but just the type of person that drives me bonkers. I am not sharing this with you to complain but to tell you how grateful i am to heavenly father for helping me with this trial and giving me this trial to help me grow. i know that we are together for a huge reason. I have never been with another elder for 4 transfers so i know that it is meant to be. I have really discovered what i need to do better to treat others better and love them for their faults which i have never been able to do. I love this gospel and I love the mission. I am learning the importance of enduring and always improving and never platoing. Today we went to Paestum with an investigator and it was fun to go to the museum and see many greek and roman mythology that i studied my senior year. It was neat to teach the people that worked there about some of the mythology. I am so glad that i took that class. The best class ever! Love Elder Brewster

December 10, 2008

2008-12-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

We have been decorating for 3 days but i am excited. It is called the sacred grove (il bosco sacro). In the first room we are going to reinact a scene of priests arguing with much contention, power and pride and then they are all going to go upstairs were Joseph Smith will be praying in a grove that we have created. They will then watch a part of the restoration and hear the testimonies of some of the members. It is going to be a powerful and spiritual night. I am excited. We have been praying so much for people to come and have spiritual experiences that will bring them to baptism. I love my members and investigators. I am getting frustrated with those that arent progressing but i need to have patience and promise many blessings! Love Elder Brewster

2008-12-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

2008-12-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

2008-12-03T17:32:00.000-08:00

A typical P-Day in Italy

December 3, 2008

2008-12-03T17:31:00.001-08:00

We had one of the best activities that i have ever had on my mission. We cooked all day long and made decorations for a week straight. It was a blast. It was scheduled at 7 but no one had showed up at that time so we did have high expectations of many people coming, but in all actuality we had about 30 people in this fairly small room, and it was great. We had almost all of our members and 15 non members there. We ate 15 kilos of turkey which comes out to 2.2 lbs for every kilo so you do the math. It was wonderful. It was a little cold because every one was late and then we started to eat even later. I was incharge of the mashed potatoes and we did 10 kilos worth and two full pans of stuffing that i made by hand that was delicious. My companion was such a help and did all of the dirty work of cooking the food and decorating. After we ate speranza and I sang A Poor Wayfarring Man of Grief and shared Alma 37:37 about giving thanks for all that we have. The spirit was so strong and her testimony was powerful. We then did Karaoke. I have a great friend named Maria who is a professional singer and she brought it for us. She bought a song especially for me, O Happy Day from Sister Act 2 that i sang at the very first. I also sang Love me Tender by Elvis Presly and it was a blast. The members built great relationships with our investigators and they are doing the missionary work which is perfect. I loved that night. I will remember it always. I had a great interview the other day with president acerson. I felt like my boxes were being broken and that i wasnt doing good enough but he "broke my boxes" with the spirit telling me the things that i need to do better and change. These past to days i have seen how my work has changed and that many more miracles have come. I love my Mission President. I am so glad that he had the courage and faith to tell me everything that Heavenly Father wanted me to hear and feel. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

2008-12-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

Amalfi

November 26, 2008 Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T13:32:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-18T05:34:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-12T05:50:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-05T05:41:00.000-08:00

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

October 29, 2008

2008-10-29T10:09:00.001-07:00

I have learned this week about being confident and trusting in what you know is right. This week i seconded guessed my feelings rather than following my heart. Follow your heart and if you dont know whether it is the spirit or not... go for it and you will see in time that it was the Lord working through you. I had an exchange with Elder Garofalo yesterday, from Catania and we had the neatest hour with a contact named Ensa. She is going through a trial period in her life. She is a widow with 3 young children and her parents are both dead, but she is a gem. we both felt that she needed a blessing but someone came into the store before we could offer it. We then talked about it and told each other that we both felt it so i decided to go right back and offer it, so now she has that offer and i hope to be able to give it to her this week. I love the miraculous power of the gospel and the priesthood. Remember the Lord and dont ever forget Him. Express your gratitude to him often. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

October 22, 2008

2008-10-22T07:11:00.001-07:00

I want to share with you a few miracles that i saw this week. Let's start with my bulgarian family. Nadia (the mom) was very sceptical and against the Book of Mormon. We explained a lot to her and while we were explaining one time she was talking about films of Jesus Christ and asked us if we had films about him and asked if she could watch them. We dont have them in Bulgarian but she told us that it didnt matter. So sunday we watched the testaments with her. But before that she asked me to give her a blessing. I gave her a blessing, feeling to tell her to read the Book of Mormon and then we watched the film and the spirit was so strong and she loved it. THey all did. Now, she wants to read the Book of Mormon! I didnt think that this was possible. Heavenly Father spoke to her invidually and touched her heart. Then we passed by Leonilde an investigator that was so close to baptism but is at a really busy time in her life. We stopped by to see how the blessing helped that we gave her a week ago. Right when she opened the door i saw a huge difference, a woman that was busy and had a lot on her plate but serene and using the strength of the Lord. We talked about it and she now has a strong testimony about blessings. Then on Sunday night we had a DDM (District Development Meeting) with 4 members. A returned Missionary Sorella Veronia Barretta gave the training. It was a sacred and edifying night. We recieved so much revelation, good ideas. The spirit spoke through her and others. I feel much more connected with them and i realize the power, calling and authority that i have much more. I know that this gospel is true. I need to bear my testimony more because it is the secret weapon that destroys all of the other things that try to get in the way. I have had so many spiritual experiences that i cannot ever deny that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I also have seen the difference between how our members treat members of other faiths and how they treat us. It seems that religion is a classifier and that it seperates us and creates a barrior, which kills me inside because i know that we are all brothers and sisters. We have an older brother that loves us all. He doesnt seperate us into importances but he does provide us with the only way to overcome our many trials and return to our loving Heavenly Father. Trust in the Lord. Have confidence and follow your heart. I love you much. I pray that all is well for you. Love, Elder Beau Richard Brewster

October 15, 2008

2008-10-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

This week we faced a lot of trials with investigators. It feels like all of our investigators are shutting down but i know from a blessing my companion gave me that The Lord does not abandon His missionaries. If we drop some, others will come. He will put others in our paths. I saw that this week. Monday infact we had a lesson with Speranza but she didnt show up, because she slept in. So we went to the park to meet a contact but he didnt show up either so rather than getting discouraged we stayed there and told ourselves that God wants us to work in this park. And the first 2 people rejected us so that we could have enough time for this lady who is prepared. Her name is Rosa and works with kids that have cereberal policy. She is religious but in her own way. Because she doesnt believe in the catholic church or other churches that make a mockery of God. She is excited to read the book of mormon and wants to meet with us. YEAH! Someone who is interested and who is normal and not crazy! I then had 2 neat experiences with the spirit yesterday. We went to serve Gian Luca and Emilia who are twin 14 year olds that have cerebral policy. They are a joy. Their smiles fill our hearts and i know that they feel the spirit when we sing hymns to them. I sang disney songs and children hymns to Emilia and i can only imagine a tenth part of her spirituality. It is sweet and full of light! I can explain how neat and special it was to hold her hand and sing to her for an hour. And then after English class two members who have been inactive for the longest time came and Barbera the younger sister asked us for a blessing. I cant express all that i felt and all that was said because it was very sacred but i saw first hand the love that Heavenly Father has for ALL of His children. It does not matter if we have been lost for a long time or if we have been with him since the begining. The Spirit spoke through Anziano Garofalo and he repeated the same words many different times which pierced her heart and ours. What a wonderful gift from God that she recieved and that i recieved last night as well. Love, Elder Brewster

October 8, 2008

2008-10-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

I had a really neat lesson last night with 3 members of a family of 5. The husband, wife and youngest daughter were there. We talked about eternal families and we shared with them the family proclamation and then i shared pictures of you all, my family. While i was sharing i thought, well, i am not giving the best example of a united family by the looks of it but then the spirit reminded me of how the gospel has united us as a family. It has sustained us in our trials. We may not all live together but we are a family that is founded on the gospel. I shared with them how the gospel really helped me when the divorce happened and how prayer and scripture study provided a special spirit in the home. I want to thank you for your great love and support. I loved general conference and the spirit i felt. The theme i felt was filling inadequate, down, and not believing that we can ever improve but we need to be filled with faith, hope and strength from the Lord. He is there on our right and left hand and his angels incircle us. I was so full from conference and zone conference that on monday i talked with everyone and found great contacts and gave out many copies because i wasnt afraid and i had confidence in myself. I love this gospel! I love my father in Heaven that loves me so much. He loves you. He loves all of us despite of our past, weaknesses and transgressions. I read the neatest scripture in 3nephi 17:7-10 when Jesus says to bring all the sick to me and i will heal them. I related this to bring my weaknesses to him and he will heal me and teach me how to overcome them. It wont be easy but so possible. I love you and am praying for you. Love, Elder Brewster

October 1, 2008

2008-10-01T06:55:00.001-07:00

I have seen so many miracles this week. We had a great appointment with one of the head policemen in Eboli, which is just outside of Battipaglia. His name is Marco. He is interested, but his wife is a little scared and attached to the catholic church, so we did an appointment with him. He loves to talk to vent out all that he feels and put his thoughts in order. The spirit is always strong with him. Then after ward we had a lesson with a family from Bulgary, Juri and Nadia. Another family came that night and we read in john 10:16 that talks about other sheep i have that are not of this fold and then we read 3nephi11 and 17 about the ressurection of Jesus Christ. It was beautiful. THe spirit was there and this great people of faith were filled. The family that came want us to come to their home every Sunday evening and at zone conference we are going to get 20 copies of the Book of Mormon in Bulgarian. We are going to fill this branch with Bulgarians. Our Italian investigators will see their faith and follow their examples. I also followed the spirit two times these past two days, and they were the smallest of promptings and those people were so prepared. One is called Antonio who is in his 20s or 30s and believes in God and Jesus Christ and is humble and normal! THat doesnt happen to often. He works nights and has tons of time to read so he will read the Book of Mormon. The other lady we found yesterday morning. We said Buongiorno and she whispered Good Morning. I didnt think she spoke english, just a word or two like most italians, but i felt to go back and talk with her. It seemed strange to go back, but its not strange unless you make it that way so i went back and it was part of Gods plan. She is from England but has lived here for 28 years. She was waiting for her daughter who was late, and she said that she doesnt believe that that was a coincidence. She is also at a time in her life when she is looking for religion and is having a hard time in her life. She wants to take it slow and see if its what she wants. We have her number and she has ours and she is going to come and find us and read our pamphlet. I was on an altime high after that. I praised my Father in Heaven and thanked him all the morning long. He moves mountains every day, in me and in my investigators. There is so much to say in so little time. Love Elder Beau Brewster

September 24, 2008

2008-09-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have seen countless miracles these past 2 days and i know that i am called of God and he guides this work. Two days ago we ran, trying to catch the train and there we met members from Spain who are actually from Argentina. We spoke in english, which they knew a little of. It was so great because they went to visit his relatives who are not members. They were able to do a lot of missionary work and now they have my number and email address. They were telling me that they had a lot of opposition trying to go on this trip because the advesary knew what a great difference it would do. It was a miracle that we met because they missed their first train, thanks to the hand of the Lord. That made my day, seeing them. I know that Jesus Lives and guides this Church.

September 17, 2008

2008-09-17T07:27:00.001-07:00

I learned this week to admit my faults, that that is the first step to humility and to change. We have investigators that are really wanting to know the truth for themselves. We had 5 in church. 2 adults and 3 kids. It was wonderful because i havent been able to bring an investigator in church since i arrived. We also have an activity this wednesday and friends and investigators are going to come. Yeah! I have to prepare a dolce, as usual. I am famous here for my brownies and cheesecake... and giving peanut butter. If you could send some more there would be very happy investigators. I love you dad. I dont say that enough. I hope that all is going so well. I know that God answers prayers. I have seen it, when i thought that it probably wouldnt happen. I was in Napoli for a scambio (exchange) and it was incredible. But one experience i had was watching the restoration in tagolog with an inactive sister and her friends/relatives. She went out to see something outside or talk with someone and i was praying so hard that she would come in for the first vision and it was answered. She walked in right when it started. I am learning so much and am changing. I love the power of repentance and the ability to change only with the help of the Lord. I love you! I will definately pray for you all. Love, Elder Brewster

September 10, 2008

2008-09-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

This week i had 2 scambis (exchanges). One with Elder Garofalo and one with Elder Hoopes. Elder Hoopes is exactly like Braxton. Identical. With double the energy. Ha ha I know it seems impossible, but no... i am dead serious. From elder Garofalo i learned how important it is to teach with authority, love and how to read exactly what they need to be taught. I learned that i cant teach everything all at once. I need to choose and follow the spirit and use wisdom. Also that i need to be bold and cast out all fear. I learned from Elder Hoopes how important it is to build trust with them and listen to what they have to say. I also learned to show my energy and use it. To fill their hearts with the excitement i have of this gospel. I have to say that i missed my Son. He has taught me the most while we talked about things that went well and things that i can do better. I am also learning that i need to be a strong, confident leader. Friday was a growing experience for me. From that day on i am a different leader. I am open to ideas but in the end i make the decision with prayer, fasting and wisdom. We have a new investigator Rita that is golden. She does have a problem smoking and doesnt believe that she can quit but she will be a wonderful member and will have the power to quit. Miracles happen when you believe. I dont know why we as humans cast out believe but it does nothing! I met another man with elder Garofalo that was very impressed by my cordialness, love and kindness. He is very effectionate and we are teaching him. He is 69 and seems a little old so we dont know if there is hope but i am going to keep going with it and see what i can do to invite him to Christ. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

September 3, 2008

2008-09-03T07:26:00.001-07:00

Beau has been called as a District leader and has been very busy. When he does not have time to send an email to the Blog then I will write one from his email to me. Thayne Brewster This week we worked so hard and i saw the success that followed. We got 4 new investigators this week Tita, Carmine, Nicola, and Giuseppe. I 'fear' at times that they are not fully interested but i need to have faith that God will change their hearts. We saw Giuseppe and he is reading the Book of Mormon every day. He likes it historically and the story of it but at this time he is not recieving the spirituality from it as he does from the Bible, but he will. We asked him to pray about it and he will recieve an answer. I have had a lot of neat experiences this week and here are the most promenient. Saturday there was a baptism in Castellemare and we worked so hard to go to it. We invited everyone and 2 people said they would come, Tita and Alessio (who we met the day before the baptism who is from the north). We could not find rides. We asked everyone! We planned the best that we could, praying... but not really listening. I felt a heart ache the night before and the day of. Something was not right. We planned to take the train at 3 when the baptism was at 6 because it took an hour and 15 minutes and the only other train was at 5. That was too much time for Alessio, so he couldnt do it. We then tried calling Tita many times and his mom (Giovanna, the greatest noptan lady) told us that her cousin, who is a member was at her house but had to leave so she told us to come right away. It was during our lunch but i was desperate so we left. Elder Manwaring wasnt too happy because it was so speratic and not set. I probably wouldnt have been so happy either. But we went and we talked with Giovanna and Tita, and Tita told us that she couldnt come and she was having problems with her husband. Giovanna told us that Antonia (her cousin who is a member) went home but she wanted to show us where it was so we followed her on our bikes and we went to see this inactive member from Milan. We had the best lesson with her. She told us that she met the church through a bishop of a friend who invited the inactive and her to a church activity. She loved the activity and after a few years she missed the feelings she felt there. One day the missionaries knocked on her door and she let them in whole heartedly which is unheardof but happens with the hand of the Lord. 15 days latter she was baptized. She has been inactive for a few years but has not lost her faith. She doesnt agree with the members and doesnt feel the love from them. We invited her to church but she didnt come but i feel that that meeting was vital. Heavenly Father wanted us to go there. I was so grateful afterward when before my heart ached because we couldnt go to that baptism. Another experience i had was monday night at the D'Andolfos. I felt a week before that Elder Garofalo needed to be there and share his conversion story, so we all 4 went there and God used us as his instruments. We were able to all bear our testimonies of the gospel which helped Elvira, Sorella D'Andolfo's mother to open up and express to us her concerns. I felt so strongly to ask her to pray about these things and i was too afraid so Elder Manwaring beat me too it and invited her to come to church with great power and boldness and then i invited to pray about these things. YES, she did decline both of them but she opened up and i feel that she had a spiritual experience that will lead her to search and lead her to baptism. Sorella D'Andolfo looked devastated and so down. I felt awful. They asked us to give them blessings. I felt that i was going to give President D'Andolfo his blessing and that Elder Garofalo was going to give Sorellla D'Andolfo hers. That is why i felt to bring the other Elders last week, whether it was a scambi or all 4. Elder Brewster

August 11, 2008

2008-08-11T08:50:00.001-07:00

LA MIA FAMIGLIA, you are probably wondering why i am writing today (monday) rather than wednesday. there is a holiday on wed, thurs, and friday and EVERYTHING is closed so today was the only time available. I want to tell you about transfers! We got the call at 11:57 during my training. I am so excited! What do you think happened? any guesses?...Alright i'll spill the beans. I am staying in Battipaglia, i am moving up to senior companion, i am training a new missionary from America, and i am the new district leader. Talk about a huge difference! My companion now (elder Hidalgo) is going from the city most south to the city most north. Anziano Garofalo who was the DL is staying and is getting Elder Hoops from Pescara who is a fireball missionary and really young. I met him once and i love him. Elder Burns is going to L'Aquila to take my old companion's spot and be with my companion's son Elder Starkwhether. That is crazy, huh! ok, well it probably doesnt make any sense to you... but i am way excited about it. On thursday i will go and pick up my kid. I will see who he is then. I have a lot on my plate and i am excited to eat it up. Wow, i can not believe that i have been out a year already. It is going way too fast. I am loving it. I had the coolest experience saturday with our contact Camillo and his dad. I have been reading the coolest talk intitled commiting a father to pray and it is so neat. It teaches us to get the father to pray at our first apointment and to capture the intrestes of the father and build him up 10 feet high so that the rest of the family can follow in suit. Anyway, back to the story. The dad watched the Restoration movie with us which as so neat and unexpected. He then talked with us and felt the spirit so strong. We challenged him to pray and he told us what his prayer was, beautiful. He did it like the typical italian would just looking at you and not adressing God. We said that was a wonderful prayer, taught him the principles to pray and then challenged him to pray agan. I thing got on my knees and asked if we could pray together. mamma mia! It was an incredible, marvelous, and touching experience. His prayer was so heartfelt, humble and full of Devotion to his Heavenly Father and his 13 year old son. Sunday was neat too because we had a family from England and Washington so i was able to translate for the dad in priesthood and then i translated for sacrament meeting. I love serving a mission. I have found who i am here and i am growing into whom i want to become. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

August 6, 2008

2008-08-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Fam! I had an experience yesterday that showed me how much i have grown. We went to take an eternal investigator his tools back to him. Anziano Hidalgo didnt give me thorough directions and i got lost. I called Guido for help and i told him what i saw around me... or atleast what i thought they were called in italian. He has no patience and got upset handing the phone to his son. We then communicated, his son and I, and his son came to pick us up. We went to their house and Gino was so mad at me. He yelled, swore up a storm and told me how stupid and dumb i was. Surprisingly, i wasnt offended and i wasnt upset. I was at peace. Elder Garofalo was really upset about it because he yelled at me for about 20 minutes and wouldnt stop but i could only think of the love that Heavenly Father has for him. I thought of what good it does for me to be upset or offended even if it was totally wrong. It wasnt me... it was a great gift that i received from Heavenly Father. I love this Spirit. I am working hard to always, always, always have it with me and have it strong with me. Love casts out all fear and is the most powerful force we have. Use it! Realize the Love the savior has for you and then give it to the others that need it very much. When love is there nothing can overcome it. Have a great week. I will inform you how transfer calls go next time.Love, Elder Beau Brewster

July 30, 2008

2008-07-30T06:58:00.001-07:00

I want to share a chapter that i have been reading in the Book of Mormon, Alma 26. I love this chapter. I love the whole story of Alma and the Sons of Mosiah! What incredible missionaries they were. The part i want to share with you all is the importance of adversities and trials. Each of these missionaries needed these. Each convert needed trials and challenges so that their faith and testimony grew. The same goes with us. And once we overcome our trials and challenges we get to a peaceful, happy state and we see success such as helping others lives, seeing the hand of God in our lives, baptisms, great joy seeing others brought to the knowledge of God. But... more trials and challenges await. And once we work on those we grow even more and come to an even greater knowledge of the goodness of God. The point of the story is too never give up and know that God is always there to support us. Things wont be perfect but we cant settle for that. We must keeping working hard and we will see success. I love the story of the Anti-nephi-lehis. The conversion of all those people started with one man, Ammon and his desire to serve Lamoni a wicked king, but a child of God that was prepared by the Lord. From his service and teachings Lamoni was converted, his court, his father, his father's kingdom and half of the Laminite nation. I love the gospel. I know that it is true. Let us all get rid of our selfish desires and serve our brothers and sisters who are miserable and are not filled with the happiness that we are. Love, Elder Beau Richard Brewster

July 23, 2008

2008-07-23T09:37:00.001-07:00

Hello family and friends, Never forget the importance of our Savior Jesus Christ. We as an apartment have been listening to a wonderful talk on the atonement by the executive secretary of the first presidency, Elder Skousen. Without our Savior we cannot return to live with our Heavenly Father. Out of love he accomplished the atonement so that we can return to Him. WE MUST DO OUR PART! I have talk to too many people that have said that they believe in God and Jesus Christ and that they do good to others and dont do anything bad so they will be saved and go to heaven. But, family of mine, we are all sinners, we are imperfect and we cant do it alone. We must have the atonement of Jesus Christ. In order to take upon his atonement we have to perform, renew and keep certain ordinances and covenants such as baptism and other ordinances in the temple. I wish people knew the importance of this. And i can fullfill this wish by telling them and expressing to them the love their savior has for them and the seriousness of ordinances and what a great gift we have. But this gift must require our work and effort. I love you all. dont forget to express the importants and greatness of this gospel. Give Eternal Life to your loved ones that will be forever grateful of you for your courage to talk to them about the gospel. Love, Elder Brewster

July 16, 2008

2008-07-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

hello my great family and friends. I want to tell you of a neat experience i had 2 days ago. We went to our zone conference in Naples (napoli) and we were coming back to Battipaglia on the train. we were in 4 and we went to sit by eachother when my companion elder hidalgo asked me if we could go in the other cart and talk to people. I went with him and the other 2 were giving us bad looks but because of that i was able to help a lady with her 3 massive bags and build the best relationship with her and talk with a chinese couple and a 60 year old couple from salerno. It was so neat and i felt the great love that god has for all of his children. We cant be selfish. we have to go out and give of ourselves. I love that great example my companion gave to me. Remember always the testimonies you have and share them that is how they grow. There are days when i dont share my testimony and the day doesnt feel fulfilled. The days i bear it many times are the days i am filled with gratitude and happiness. Love, Elder Brewster oh, and a holler out to Geri who wrote me a comment and i never wrote back. I loved hearing from you. I hope you are doing well. i cant wait to talk and laugh with you and most of all... get a foot rub! ha ha i am kidding... sort of. You will have a lot of work to do! love you much.

July 9, 2008

2008-07-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone! I love this new city. I love the people and our great members. We have a missionary couple here from England, the wilkeys. We spent our pday with them and we dont have much time left so here is a letter that i wrote to Brother Lindsay who is a councilor at the MTC for the italian missionaries. He wanted me to write him to tell the missionaries some success stories to get them excited and help them believe that it is possible to baptize in Italy. It is tough. Traditions have a huge influence on this people but not on everyone. We have to find the elect that God is preparing for us. He really is and we have to believe it. Brother Lindsay, Tell the missionaries to give it all of their heart. We are not called to teach only to those who will accept. We are to teach to everyone! It is possible to baptize. Yes, it is difficult but not impossible. I have not had a baptizm yet but i have had thousands and thousands of miracles. I have blessed many lives. I have had 3 baptismal dates and i will have a baptism. I have a great friend in Ostia (rome 4) who was baptized exactly a year ago. She had a friend that is a member and that gave her a book of mormon. She met with the missionaries and a month later she was baptised. After reading the book of mormon for the first time she wanted to be baptized, but needed to wait. I am now in Battipaglia where we have a new convert Speranza who was baptized by Elder Welch last December 22nd. She found the church by her ex boyfriend, started taking the lessons out of curiosity, came to english class and the weekly activity and church. She had a contact 3 times a week and found the truthfulness and joy. She has given up so many things and has had many trials but nothing holds her down. I hope this helps. There would be more baptisms if all of the missionaries had more faith and desired the salvation of the people of italy. Tell them that they can do it and will do it but they must be dedicated and forget about themselves. I hope to train one of them and if i do i gaurantee that we will have a baptism. I love this gospel. I know that it is true. Love, Elder Brewster

July 2, 2008

2008-07-02T06:52:00.001-07:00

Alright, i want to apologize for not writing last week, i was swamped... and i ran out of time. Today i have more time and tons of news. Alright, where to start? For starters, we recieved our transfer call Monday afternoon. I had no idea what was going to happen. I thought that we would be blown out, both transfered. Come to find out... I am getting transfered to... any guesses? North? South? Island? Well, it is in the south and is not Napoli but just below it, !Battipaglia!. It is the farthest city south in our mission. My new companion is Elder Hidalgo who was Elder Knowles' companion. I am switching spots with Elder Hidalgo's kid, Elder Starkweather who will be Elder Shepherd's companion here. I hope this all makes sense. So much has happened this week. 2 of our investigators moved, Claudio and Massimo, within a day of eachother. Elder Knowles finished his mission and left for Idaho this morning. I love and hate saying goodbyes. They are great opportunities to share the gospel and give out gifts such as The Book of Mormon but i hate the fact that i may not see them again... in this life. But we will see. I know that there are people waiting for me in Battipaglia and that i did my work here in L'Aquila, i will miss it but i am excited to continue on this journey--adventure if you will. Well, packing is always fun... :( and so i need to finish that today and then i leave tomorrow morning. I am so grateful for revelation because i am at peace with this move. I cant wait to see the things that await for me. Love, Elder Beau Brewster

June 29, 2008 - Pictures

2008-06-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

June 18, 2008

2008-06-18T07:51:00.001-07:00

I have great advice for all of us, not just missionaries. Talk things out with your companions. It may be hard, scary, nerveracking,etc. But it makes the best difference in the world. I talked with my companion yesterday about a few things that were hard for me. I discovered things that i didnt know that i was doing. When we talk it out i can see what i can do better to make the situation between the two of us work out. I always used to bring things up to have them change because i am perfect. Ya, that is called pride and it only ways us down. Humble yourself and change the things you do and others will follow. Not all at once so you need to be patient as well. Humility and patience are not my cup of tea but i am learning to apply them and make them apart of me. I love the many people i get to talk to each day. I love this gospel. i love being a missionary. it is very difficult but i dont care. I will enjoy it and give it all of my heart with the best smile that i got. I love you my family. Know that i care for you. Love, Elder Brewster

June 11, 2008

2008-06-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

I love you all! i want to tell you how Claudio is doing. So we got home sunday night from rome at 8 and we were planning on seeing Claudio. we were tired, wet and hungry so we were going to stay. Anziano Shepherd and i then felt that we needed to go which impressed me a lot that he switched his plans and changed his attitude. He sacrificed eating and resting and we were blessed for it that night. We taught Claudio the plan of salvation. We asked him if he wanted to go to the celestial kingdom and he said, of course i do, anyone would. So what do i need to do? we then talked about baptism and told him that that is what he needs to do. This was the first lesson that he listened and didnt argue. He didnt smoke hardly at all and didnt drink any coffee. He set a baptismal date for june 28. We have a lot of work to do but we are ready to do it. He doesnt know everything. He doesnt fully know what it means to be baptized but he knows that it is a good thing and that it will bring blessings. Because of our friendship he has great trust in us. We were and still are so excited! We left his house and went to the side of the road and said a prayer of gratitude. I know that God is preparing his children. We are suppossed to be teaching Claudio and we are supposed to baptize him. I love my Savior and My Heavenly Father. I know that they watch over me and bless me more than i could ever imagine. Realize that they love you. They will never give up on you so dont you ever give up on yourself. Love, Elder Brewster

June 4, 2008

2008-06-04T07:22:00.001-07:00

Salve! I love this gospel! What more can i say than that! I have the pleasure to see little miracles everyday. They are not coincidences. I can tell you that for a fact. God works through small means and great things come to pass from them. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he lives and that He is the son of God. I know that He suffered for all that i am going through and knows how to help me. I just need to do my part and follow the counsel He gives me. We have a great friend Claudio that says that he believes Jesus Christ was just a man that did great things. He doesnt believe that he was the Son of God. We talked with him and helped him to see the truth. I know that the way we all can know is through prayer. If we really want to know He will tell us and respond to our many questions. But if we merely doubt and say that it is not possible then it wont be possible. What you believe is in actuality what you will achieve. You have to give inorder to recieve. I love our sicilian investigator Claudio. He came to church and after i saw a great peace in his persona that it filled me with great love for my savior. I know He lives and loves us. Believe Him, do as he asks and your life will improve more than you can ever immagine. I llove you and care for you all. Have a great week. Love, Elder Brewster (by the way the 7th of June is my birthday. Just in case you wanted to send me a little something! :) I'll make sure and eat some gelato for all of you! Gelato is too good. My fat rolls are living proof!)

May 30, 2008

2008-05-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

Buongiorno a tutti! Wednesday was an incredible day. As you can tell, i did not email on wednesday because we had our Zone Conference with Elder Johnson that day. He is from the area presidency of the quorum of the 70. It was incredible. I loved many of the inspired things that he said. He spoke with great power and authority. He spoke with much love and kindness. My companion and I had a great opportunity to perform a musical number, In quiet grove. Before we sang he took us in his arms and asked us the difference between performing and praising. He gave us great advice, encouragement and love. That experience was so incredible. The spirit was there and it softened my heart and also the hearts of missionaries that were there. He shared a principle that i am working to perfect. Teach what you feel and feel what you teach. The feelings i felt and the personal revelation that i gained was undescribable. I love being a missionary. I have so many blessings that i am grateful for. Never forget the many things that you have. Focus on the many great things rather than the few bad things. Love, Anziano Brewster Ps. Happy Birthday to my great brother Braxton (may 28) and to my beautiful aunt Traci (june 3).

May 21, 2008

2008-05-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Buongiorno a tutti! I love the power of prayer. I am realizing the great impact that it has in my life and in everyone's life when it is applied. When we come into a new friend's home and ask to say a prayer with them and then say it with them, they feel the peace and tranquility that we all want. They then ask us how we do it. We tell them that we do nothing but simply talk to our Heavenly Father. We then ask them to say the closing one. And they usually say but i'm not as good as you two are at saying them. But then they agree to it and have a normal, beautiful and heart felt conversation with their Father and it blows our prayers out of the water. Pray always. Never faint. Pray silently, out loud, before you do anything. I have been praying silently before every house, appointment, and person that we talk to and it really helps. Every prayer is answered. Never forget that. Pray with faith not as a little child asking a parent for something and expecting them to say no. Pray with confidence and faith that God will bless you, help you, and give you all that you need if you ask and put forth the work. Your part is needed. Our investigator Claudio is now a champ with prayer. We went over there monday night and talked with him about prayer and we challenged him to pray there with us. He prayed twice and his closing one was an incredible conversation with Heavenly Father. He was so open, real, not afraid to express his feelings. We then came back the next day and he told us that he prayed in the morning, at lunch and right before we came over. He hasnt prayed for a long time. He is making leaps and bounds. I absolutly love seeing the change in people that comes from the gospel.Pray with all of your heart this week and really work on having a regular conversation with your loving Father. It is incredible when we put forth the work and give of ourselves. Love, Anziano Brewster

May 14, 2008

2008-05-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

Buongiorno a tutti! We are getting ready for our open house this saturday called 'Chi sono i mormoni?' ''Who are the mormons?'' We have printed tons of fliers and have invited everyone we know. We have planned it very well and it will be a very spiritual night. We really hope that people show up.We are very excited to have our members be known and give them this opportunity to spread their bright light. The language is going well. My problem is vocabulary! Last night on the phone i had a funny situation calling the branch primary leader. I wanted to ask her if i could move the pictures that were posted on the board for this open house that we are doing . I had no clue what verbs to use so i tried so many and she just did not understand. We talked for about 10 minutes trying to understand eachother. She then called back and realized what i meant and then was really cool with it. I was so exhausted and my brain was fried. I had a really neat ''scambi'' (exchange) with Anziano Pratt yesterday, who is going home in less than a week. His dad went to Milan on his mission so he is really excited to come and pick him up. I learned a great lesson on humility, understanding, and gentleness. He is a little more timid but shares his love with those around him. We met a really great guy named Roberto that we had the neatest talk with and then after Anziano Pratt said, ''He is going to come and be baptized.'' He got really excited and was full of faith at that moment. That changed my day and my attitude. When we expect the best out of others and believe in them they will then do the same to themselves. Love, Anziano Brewster

May 7, 2008

2008-05-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

HELLO everyone, I wanted to tell you all about the cutest kids in our branch. We have an Ecuadorian family that has two kids, Milena and Stefano. Milena has so much spunk, attitude and love. She gave the best testimony on sunday. If i wasnt a member and i heard her testimony i would repent, change and become a member it was that moving. Little Stefano always talks about ''La strega'' (the witch) because one day their mom said that if he was not good that a witch would come so he better eat so she doesnt come and take him away. Ever since, he has been talking about the strega so we joke with her that she is the witch. It was so funny. I love this Branch. they are the hardest workers and give of themselves to every person that they meet. I love this gospel. I love the great power of repentance and the ability to change. Love, Anziano Brewster oh, and happy mothers day to all of you mothers and especially to my incredible mother and grandmothers.

April 30, 2008

2008-05-01T07:50:00.001-07:00

I want to let you all know how grateful i am for companions. I am learning a lot from my companion. I am learning patience. I am working on being understanding and caring. I am realizing that i am all that he has and he is all that i have. When we are caring about each other and our investigators rather than ourselves we are so happy and filled with joy. But when we focus on ourselves and everything bad that is going on then we are miserable. Look on the positive not the negitive. When we make the best of our situations we are able to overcome our adversities that we all have but when we complain about our adversities we can do nothing, we get down and Heavenly Father cant do anything without our faith and desire. I love being a missionary. I am learning so many things. Yesterday we volunteered at an old folks home, The Villa Rosa and it was wonderful. I felt close to heaven. I love serving others and being able to be with them. Love, Anziano Brewster

April 23, 2008

2008-04-23T06:51:00.001-07:00

I love this gospel. I know that it is true. We have seen many miracles already in this city. Many times they dont think they are searching for it until they find it. Zone Conference was incredible. I felt so good to see my great friends and companions. I really miss Anziano Silva and Anziano Breen. I am so glad that we go to Rome together for Zone Conferences. I was also able to have a great talk with Anziano Scoville. He was companions with Anziano Shepherd right after he left me. He gave me great advice and answered my questions. I love being a missionary. It is hard. I have to find joy in my sufferings but i would be very ungrateful if i complained about my sufferings because they are forming me into the man that i want to become. I am learning patience a lot of it, love, and how to support and uplift my companion. I know that i am opening a companionship for a reason here in L'Aquila. They are in dire need of the gospel. There are people waiting to be baptized. i need to go and find them. I have a great desire to spread this gospel! I know that it is true with all of my heart. I have had so many answers to my prayers that i know that He answers every prayer in His time and through our faith and actions. I am going to ask for more specifics and then exercize my faith to recieve them. I want 2 baptisms here and i believe that it is possible but not through my work alone but with the miraculous power of God. President and Sister Acerson are incredible. They work so hard. I am so blessed. I loved what President Acerson said on monday at zone conference. He said that we are the ones that need to change. We are the ones that can make the best out of any situation. i know that that is true with all of my heart. Love, Anziano Brewster

April 16, 2008

2008-04-16T07:17:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, This is going to be a short one because i recieved a lot of mail today and tried my best to respond to it all. I just found out from my new companion Elder Shepherd that Sister Ross' mom reads my mass letter every week and i wanted to give a big shout out to her. i havent met your daughter yet but i am sure that i will. Anziano Shepherd wants me to ask you if you will say hi to sorella Ross for him. Alright, back to everyone. I love this new city. It is a city of miracles.With faith unwavering, great hard work and perseverance we will do great work here. It is crazy being a blown in companionship. We came in with absolutly no work and no phone. Now we have one investigator named Gloria. We have 23 contacts... and we will get more until we find those who are elect and are ready to embrace this gospel. I know that it is true! We have many practicing catholics and jehova's witnesses that we talk with that base their foundation on knowledge and facts when really the only foundation that will remain after the storms and hurricanes are the foundations of testimony. They may be able to throw out a scripture that seems to go against what i believe but it doesnt do any damage because i have seen, through personal experiences, miracles, blessings, eternal truths that i cannot and will not deny! This city is beautiful. It is in the region of Abruzo. It is kind of cold because it is surrounded by beautiful big mountains. It is a very ancient city so the architecture is incredible. There are great side streets that make it seem like we are in the midevil times. There is a really cool castle that is huge. It was used in filming the movie Ladyhawk with Matthew Brodrick when he was young. Have you ever heard of it? You should get it and see it. My new companion is from American Fork and is in theatre. We know most of the same people which is so crazy. We have never met each other but we know eachothers best friends. You may know him: Mike Shepherd. Everyone, Rember to rely on Lord to make many miracles happen. Here in L'Aquila (which means The Eagle) they havent had a baptism for about 7 years but that is going to change. You have to believe. If you dont then why waste the time to do the work if nothing is going to come out of it. I know that missionary work works and i love it. It is difficult which makes it so much fun and worth it. Love, Anziano Brewster

April 9, 2008

2008-04-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Alright everyone, what do you think happened with transfers? Let me give you a preface of what i said in reaction to my call. I said, "That is awesome. I am so excited!" I swear, i yelled it at the top of my lungs at 9 o'clock in the morning. I think i woke up the whole palazo but i dont care. Any guesses? That was the coolest thing because the night before i recieved my call i guessed exactly where i am going. I am going to... (drum roll please)... L'Aquila which means eagle in Italian. It is about an hour or two from Rome in the mountains. It is the only place in our mission with huge mountains... and i love the mountains! I am opening a new companionship in L'Aquila with Elder Shepherd. Who was the companion of my Babbo (Anziano Scoville) after he left me. Opening a companionship is very exciting and a lot of work. Our first transfer will be a lot of finding work because we start from scratch... it will be so great. I leave tomorrow morning to pick up my new companion. Anziano Breen is training here. He is very excited as i am for him. I am so excited... but i hate saying goodbye. I have made wonderful friends here that i hate to leave behind. I am full of mixed emotions. The best part is that when one leaves the others are much more prone to do what ever they say. So i have been baring my testimony with great love and pleading with them for their sakes. I know without a doubt that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. Only through this gospel can with live together forever with our families in the Celestial Kingdom. Without it WE CANNOT experience the joy that we want and need. I know that this is true. We often treat lightly the great blessings that we have and can recieve. "Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance" says the Book of Mormon repeatedly. The same goes for not procrastinating preaching this gospel for someone elses salvation. If you are not living the gospel of Jesus Christ, start now! I say that with all energy of heart and out of great love for you. I have seen how this gospel has changed my life and i want it to do the same for you. I love you very much. God bless you. And the only way that He fully can is if you open up to Him. Love, Anziano Beau Richard Brewster

April 2, 2008

2008-04-02T06:55:00.001-07:00

Buongiorno! Well, summer is coming closer. It is getting very warm. Yesterday i ate 2 icecreams and drank tons of water and it is only april. I love it here. Things are going very well. We have a baptism in a week and a half. His name is Amedeo Principe and has been an investigator for 3 years. I am very excited for him. Pray for him that he will go through with this covenant and keep it forever. I have great faith in him. I will probably be transfered right before his baptism but we will see. We recieve transfer calls in 5 days... i will let you know what will happen. More than that, i am so excited about General Conference. Take advantage of it. I know that this will change your lives, if you make the most of it. Write down questions and they will be answered. I love you all. Know that our Savior is here with us strengthening us every moment of every day. We cant do it alone and we dont have to. Love, Anziano Brewster

March 26, 2008

2008-03-26T07:40:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone, I am doing really well here. We had a baptism on saturday of a little girl named Stella Purnell. It was beautiful. Her father is from England and he baptized her and her grandfather is in the stake high council and he confirmed the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She bore her testimony afterwards and i will never forget what she said. She was really nervous and she said, "I am very happy. I know that Jesus Christ is happy and that makes me happy." Those few words touched my heart and many others that were in the congregation. I also have had many neat experiences this week with investigators. I have realized that just teaching the things they need to do and hear is nothing if we dont know their concerns and help them to overcome them. We have challenged all of our investigators this week to read the Book of Mormon and to ask Heavenly Father if it is true. Also to ask if this is the true church and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. it is so simple and yet we make it very difficult to do. i know that each of their prayers will be answered. It will come in His time and in His way. I am praying with all of my heart that each of them will accept this gospel and enter into the waters of Baptism. i know that it is true. I have recieved my answers time and again. i know that if we accept this gospel and live it we will be able to recieve exaltation and live with our Heavenly Father for eternities. I love you all. May God bless you and keep you safe. Love, Anziano Brewster

March 19, 2008

2008-03-19T07:07:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone, Ok, I want you all to watch Finding Faith in Jesus Christ this week for Easter. I did this last night with a less active member. I really related every story, experience, parable, healing, and event, personally, to my life. It was beautiful. Imagine the Savior right there healing you, helping you with anything. This really can happen through reading and applying The Book of Mormon, through prayer and participating in Church. THese things are here to bless and strengthen us, not burdens that we have to do. I love you. Remember why you are here and where you are going and then do the things that are most important. you know what those are. I do love you all very much. Love, Anziano Brewster

March 12, 2008

2008-03-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

My beautiful friends and family, I have thousands of spiritual experiences that i wish i could tell you all of them but there is no time, and i cant remember them all. It is hard enough to fit them all in my journal. I wanted to tell you a really neat experience i had last friday night. We saw Manolo and he wasnt doing well and told us he wanted to wait to take the lessons with us until he is feeling better. On our way back we ran into a man named Fabio Chi and gave him a book of Mormon and taught him a little and he wants to learn english from us. We had a good talk with him but it went a little long so we would bearly make it to our appointment... but even then it was pushing it. I wanted to go and try to make it but Anziano Breen said no and we went home to drop off our food that Manolo gave us. I am so glad that we didnt go to our appointment because we decided to do street in Ostia close to our appartment. We had 3 Book of Mormons and gave them all out in an hour. We met a man named Francesco who has a good friend that is a member in Cagliari which is on the island Sardegna. We had the most powerful lesson on the street. At first he didnt take the book of mormon because he didnt feel worthy to read it. He was very sincere and real. We in return bore strong testimony of the love that Jesus Christ has for us regardless of what we have done. He recieved it and we asked him to read alma 7 and then pray to know if this book is true. we asked him if we could pass by and talk to him about this more. He gave us his address and told us the best time to pass by. We talked to many people and they were open and i believe that this happened because of faith. When we just do it half hearted we get only half of the results and blessings. But when we serve with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength that is when he can bless us with all of those blessings that are never ending. Our stake president said this great quote to our ward: "God can not (it is not possible) bless us with celestial blessings if we are living in a telestial condition." I really took that to heart. I love you all. I know that this is true. I know that through this gospel we have so much joy. Never under estemate the power of your testimony. Read the scriptures. Pray sincerly to the one who loves you more than you can imagine. Love, Anziano Beau Richard Brewster

March 5, 2008

2008-03-05T06:28:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,This one is short because i took a really long time writing my dad, mom and my favorite sister. Sorry, but it was really good and i needed it. Well, we had a neat experience this sunday night when we recieved a referal from Rome 3. His name is Ali Shaker and is from Afghanistan. We usually cant teach those who are muslum or of a religion where they kill you if you switch religions but he became a christian and will not go back because if he does they will kill him. His family has abandoned him and has said bye to him basically. It is so tough and sad but i know that this gospel is going to help him so much. The trial that we have is that he speaks little english and even less italian. he speaks persian, which i didnt even know was a language. So my companion Anziano Breen studied the Persian Book of Mormon a little so we now know the number system and the chapter names. It is only a selection from the Book of Mormon because not all of it is translated, i dont know why. He has gone to church with the other elders 2 times in a row. he is going to go with us this week and we are going to try to teach him. This is such a neat experience. he is a great man and knows what is true and that God lives and we cant deny that. I also had the neatest lesson with a family on the Book of Mormon and Prayer. The feelings in that room were very tender and heart filled. We talked about why it is hard to pray at times and that we can only look forward rather than in behind. I love you all. Remember the things that are truly important. Love, Anziano Brewster

February 27, 2008

2008-02-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

Buongiorno Tutti! I am doing well. We got our transfer calls on monday at 1:15. I am staying another transfer here with Anziano Breen. Anziano Funk who has been here for 8 months is going to Pescara which is on the other side of Italy on the coast. Anziano Silva, our district leader is staying and is training! yeah! I am so excited. We dont know who it is going to be yet but we know that it is either: Elder Bryant (from Mesa), Elder Mondragon (from South Jordan), or Elder Middleton (from Sandy). We think it is going to be Anziano Middleton but we have no idea. Anziano Breen and I are going to deck out the room and make signs that say WELCOME TO OSTIA and things like that. Guess who is the new AP? Anziano Scoville! My Babbo/trainer. I am so excited. I am super excited to see him again. He will be great. Such a stud he is. Well, everything is going well. I am learning a lot. I have learned many times that the ways we become stronger are through our trials. They are blessings in disquize. We have them for a reason. Our role is to find out the reason, to accept it and learn from it. If we dont do this, then we are just going through pain and heartache but if we accept it and make the best of it we gain so much that we cant gain in other ways. The mission president before President Acerson was here, President Rhein, said that our lives are full of hills and valleys. We are either on the top of the highest hill or in the bottom pit of the lost valley. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ he can help us get to the next hill-- to the next mountain. It isnt determined how long we will be in the valley-- we determine how long it will take us, whether we rely on our Savior or whether we try to do it on our own. I have experienced that these past couple of days. This morning i had a great personal study and a very heart felt prayer. I know that he is lifting me up and strengthening me. When we dont have the energy to go on He aids us as much as we have need and then we have to push and give it all our might. i know that He loves each and every one of us. I do not just say that. I know. I really do. I see every day people who are being helped by the Lord when they trust him and put themselves in his hands. So often we draw ourselves away from his love and then we blame him for our misery and heartache but really he is always there with arms wide waiting to embrace us. I hope you know that and realize that. I have also learned a lot this week about Repentance and Forgiveness. Forgiveness is not just for big wrongs done but for every tiny thing. I need to forgive more and when i do i am so much happier. Sorry if i am blabbing, but i felt that i needed to share that. I love you. Have a great week and remember the things that are most important, those things will bring you the greatest joy. Love, Anziano Brewster

February 20, 2008

2008-02-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

Family and Friends, I had the neatest experience on Monday. i dont know if you all know but during my first transfer my crown broke so i am in the process of fixing it. On monday i was leaving Ostia to go to Rome for my dentist appointment. I am so glad that Heavenly Father knew that was where we were going and that he put a man in our way. The metro arrived and as it passed i saw Claudio. He waved to me and i ran to his section of the train. We met him 2 weeks ago, exactly and gave him a book of mormon and taught him on the metro, outside of the station and while walking to his house. He gave us his number and wanted to meet with us but we called many times and his phone was always off. So i talked to him on the train and he was so happy. I saw a great change and i didnt know what it was. Guess what? He read the whole book of mormon in 2 weeks. He finished that sunday night at midnight. He also compared all of the references to the bible. We were on the metro for about 45 minutes and the whole time he talked to me about the teachings of the book of mormon, stories, references, everything. I was so amazed. We met with him later that night because he wanted to talk to us that bad. We had many challenges that night so we werent able to teach a sit down lesson but we did that yesterday. He wants to be baptized once he meets more of our members, comes to church, learns more about it, and is ready to take on this great responsibility. He is incredible. It took me 1 year and 1month to read the book of mormon, and he probably understood much more than i did. I prayed so much in gratituted. I know that God answers our prayers this is one example. I love my Savior. I know that He lives. I love you all. Love, Anziano Brewster

February 13, 2008

2008-02-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

Hello my Beautiful Family, As usual i used up much time emailing my mom and dad that i dont have a lot of time, which is a good thing, no? I want to tell you of a great experience we had on sunday night. We had zone singing in Piazza del Popolo in rome where we sang and talked to people that stopped. We had to leave early to make it to our dinner appointment with the Wanyama family. We got to their area at about 705 and our appointment was at 715. we waited at the bus stop for 45 minutes and come to find out that it is the wrong stop. The right one was down the street so we took that and got to the house. This isnt the experience but it leads up to it. Heavenly Father knew that we would miss the bus and knew that we would be home late so he put a woman in our path who was searching for this light and love. We met her on the metro on our way home. She came up to us and talk with the four of us. She is from California, doesnt speak a word of italian and is searching for God. We were able to teach a little and talk with her. She was so happy. She was starting to cry because she felt so alive, the spirit was very strong. She missed her stop so we told her to get off on the next and go the opposite direction she was a little confused so at the last minute i felt to go with her and see her to her stop even though we were going to be home very late. I am so glad that we got off with her on that stop because we found out a lot about her and her situation. She is so ready and prepared for this truth. We knelt on the dirty Metro station floor and said a prayer together. She held our hands and through out it she gradually squose with all of her might. She has 2 daughters (18 and 15) and an abusive boy friend. She is going to make a lot of life changing decisions and it wont be easy but it will be so worth it. We are very excited for her. I know that God loves each of us. He wants to bless us and does every day. He puts many things in our lives to bless us in the long run even if they seem to be awful to us they are exactly what we need. I love you all. Love, Anziano Brewster

February 6, 2008

2008-02-06T04:51:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone,I doing very well. We have had the neatest experiences in finding people. One was on our way to an appointment where he was looking at our name tag about to stop us and i said hi and we talked and we taught him much and gave him the book of mormon and pamphlets to read. He is from Romania and we will meet sunday. Another was with a man named Claudio two nights ago. We had 40 minutes to work until we had to be home so we did metro in one direction (no luck) so then we did it the other and found Claudio. This is cool because he is very interested. That night he bought a bible to find himself. We gave him brochures and pamplets and asked him to read that night and we would call him. It was incredible how we found him, the little steps we took and the miracles that happened. We just found another this morning on our way to do internet. He stopped us and said that he really likes our religion and wants to be a member. That never happens! he is busy with remodling his house but he lives really close to us. We are going to call him and he is going to come to church. He is Italian but lived in England. The Lord works miracles. I know He does. If we ask, listen, and follow in Faith they will happen. If we dont seek them we may not find them. And if we do seek them we WILL find them--we have that promise. And guess what... I left my scriptures on the metro talking to a great guy named Fabrizio. He called me and said that i left them and he gave them to the security gaurd there in anignia which is way out of my zone so i asked the other elders in Rome 3 to get them and they werent there but they are going to go back. Good thing that i have another pair here. ha ha you have got to love me! Some things never change... but i am changing a ton just not my absent mindedness. ha ha Love you all, Anziano Brewster

January 30, 2008

2008-01-30T05:17:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone!I know, i am awful! I didnt write last week and i am sorry for that but i was out of time... molto. Ok, i could type for hours about the experiences i have and all that i am doing but i dont have all of the time in the world so i will get to the most important things. My investigator Manolo was doing well with the stop smoking program for the first 2 days but then when i came back from 3 month conference (which was so great) he had smoked and was having a hard time. He was really sick again because he gets really dizzy and when he is having a hard time spiritually, mentally and is stressed his body freaks out. We met with him yesterday after he cancelled a few times because of scheduling and sickness. We taught him and it went really well. he looked like he was doing much better. the lesson went well, not perfect but really well, i noticed that it cant be perfect but if we do our best and improve a little at a time it will be great. He still wants to be baptized on the 16th of Feb. This surprized us because we have a lot to do before then and he has to be taught and stop smoking by feb 9 when he has his baptismal interview. We have faith and are trying to exercize it more. Faith really can move mountains but we truly have to believe with all our heart, might, mind and strength. We cant fake it. It has to be a part of us. We are also teaching Rachele from Gabon, Africa and her little boy davide. It is going well with them. They live just like the movie In Pursuit of Happyness. They live in a home that is basically for homeless and she is going to college. She is very religious and is the best mom, very patient and has the cutest son. It is very hard for her to pray and read the scriptures because of her home with the noise and little space. On monday we did a lesson at a little piazza with benches and it was really cold and dark outside but went so well. One played with davide while one taught Rachele and then we switched. It was great. We learned a lot about her and we are working to find her a place to live. On sunday we had a great experience at our investigators house in rome. They are in the rome 2 area but they are friends of the wanyama family who are members in our ward. They havent been in church for 3 weeks because jane has been sick (on bed rest basically). She had a surgery in june and now it came up again but she was praying with all of her heart and great changes appeared. We gave her a blessing and had the best conversations, laughing and love. Their appartment was very small and poor but the spirit in that home was so rich. I felt like i was home. There was such a great love and peace in that home. I felt like it was summer and sunny all day with the sun beaming down on our faces. I know that this gospel is true and that our Heavenly Father loves us so very much. I am very grateful for President Hinckley and the many things that he has taught me and what a great example he is to me. We found out monday morning before zone conference and we prayed as a companionship, individually and as a district. I know that he is so happy right now and that he is being welcomed with much thanks, gratitude and love. We are so blessed. i learned so much this week at my 3 month conference and at my zone conference. I am learning about the missionary that I want to be and the missionary that i am striving to become. I know that if we work as hard as we possibly can, that God will help us and bless us so very much. President Gordon B. Hinckley is a great example of that. He worked so hard and he was greatly blessed and strengthened. I know that God loves us and that our Savior loves us. That is what matters, and we often forget that. We need to never forget this and live the way that He wants us to and we will be blessed. Love, Anziano Brewster

The Colloseo

2008-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2008

2008-01-16T06:35:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone! I dont have a lot of time, what else is knew! But i wanted to tell you the results of the transfer call we recieved on monday. Could i get a drum roll please....(louder)....(wait, a little softer)....(perfect, now crescendo....).... Ok, I am getting anoying... but its funny to me.......ok the results are:.....We are all staying for another transfer together. I am very glad and am excited for this next transfer. Besides that i want to remind you again of my beautiful sister's birthday which is today! Bonnie Jean Brewster is 15! Can you believe that! Wow... so, if you could wish her a happy birthday that would be much appreciated. I want to let you know what a great difference one person can make. We can have a little chat on the metro with a person and it really can affect them in a way that we dont imagine. Never forget the importance you make and the great effect you have in others lives. I love this mission and love the great people in Italy. they are wonderful, crazy, and teach me much. I love my Savior and all that i He gives me. Love, Anziano Brewster

Pictures from Italy

2008-01-11T17:05:00.001-08:00

January 9, 2008

2008-01-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry but i dont have a ton of time... I LOVE YOU! I went to rome today early in the morning so i am short on time. It was so great to be at the ruins and at the Colosseum (colosseo in italiano). To let you all know, my sister Bonnie Jean Brewster's birthday is a week from today on Jan 16th, wish her a happy birthday. I love her very much. I am so grateful for all that i have. We have seen a great miracle. We were able to get ahold of Manolo and we didnt speak with him for 3 weeks. But now he is doing so much better. He knows that this is what he wants. He is having a hard time but is so strong and is incredible. He will be baptized in a month or two. I am so blessed and am so grateful for all that i have. I will write again next week and tell you the results of the transfer! Dun, dun, dun, we will find out on MONDAY! I hope that i stay but i am ready to go anywhere. I love you all.Love, Anziano Brewster

January 2, 2008

2008-01-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Family and Friends. New Years here went really well. We were asked to stay in from 6pm on New Years Eve because it is crazy with people, fireworks, bombs, drinking, you get the picture. It was fun. We played Monolopy and i was killed. Then yesterday we had our Festa di lavoro which means deep cleaning all day and we cant go outside our apartment. Most people hate festa di lavoro but i didnt mind it. I like it. I cleaned the bathroom and I infested it full of 5 different cleaners so now it is spotless... as much as an italian apartment can be. You should have seen the stuff i was cleaning. Lets just say that my sponges were totally black when i was finished. I went through 7! Yeah, i know! After we played Monopoly and Phase 10. I didnt play monopoly but i did play Phase 10, and it was really fun. We still havent finished our game but the two elders who have never played are winning, but we will see what happens. I was being easy last night, trying to give them a chance! :)! Who am i kidding, i was playing so hard that when i was skipped and didnt finish my phase... it got brutal. I was super fun. I am loving it here. I have realized a lot about myself. I am growing a lot because i am relying on the Lord rather than myself. Remember to never counsel with the Lord but to take counsel from His hand and you will always be happy. He knows the best for us. I often forget this, but i need to remember it. I love you all and may you have a great week.Love, Anziano Brewster(Ps. If any of you want to be kept off this mass email, please let me know. It is anoying when you are sent an email every week and dont have time to read it. I wont be offended, just let me know)

December 27, 2007

2007-12-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

I want to start off and tell everyone how much i love my beautiful family. The best part of Christmas was that i was able to call my family. It was undiscribable. I never imagined that calling your family would bring you so much joy, but it did. After we were all finished talking to our families, the four of us just looked at each other and could see the joy in our eyes and the gigantic smiles that followed there after. I was able to talk to both of my grandparents, all of my siblings, my step sister Jania, my step mom, my dad and my mom. It was so beautiful. I also want to tell you a great miracle we have seen. We have seen many but this one was very grand in our eyes. We have a new investigator! We fasted a prayed with all energy of heart the week before to have someone to teach. Someone who was ready and elect. We had in our minds a person that we would find ourselves and probably a younger man. We actually did not find recieve our investigator like that. The Lords way is much more wise and all knowing than our own. Our new investigator was a contact made by missionaries before i came to Ostia. Anziano Scoville and i tried to call her for the weeks we were together and could not get ahold of her. A week ago I felt to call her and we were able to talk to her. This was so nerve wracking to me because i dont speak the language well and am inexperienced talking on the phone in italian, very difficult. But we talked to her and met her on saturday at a Catholic church. She came to church on Sunday and we were able to get her a ride. My companion taught her with Anziano Silva while i taught John and Jane with Anziano Funk. All 3 of our investigators want to be baptized. Rachelle is ready any time and is super strong. She has a beautiful 4 1/2 year old son named Davide. They are from Africa and are the greatest family. We are now teaching her and I will let you know what happens. John and Jane told us that they want to be baptized but need more time. I love this work. It is so worth it. It is challenging and takes a lot of thought, pondering, prayer (a lot of prayer), and faith (with action to back it up). I love you all. Be grateful for all that you have. Oh, before i go I want to say congratulations to my best friend Angie for getting a great role in Carousel! You are so awesome!Love, Anziano Brewster

December 20, 2007

2007-12-20T05:31:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU! I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He lived for us. He healed many, served all, and taught the most important this in life. He was gentle, loving, compassionate, understanding, and willing to sacrifice for all. He suffered for us individually. He died for us individually. He gave the greatest gift one can imagine. This Christmas we have the opportunity to give. We have the opportunity to give to our savior our whole life. When we do this he blesses us. I know that is true. We give almost nothing to Him compared to all that he has given and still gives to us. I am very grateful that i am on a mission and i can serve Him daily. It is not easy. It is tough and exhausting and so rewarding. Many think we are trying to attack them or force them when really we are here to bring them the best gift they can imagine. I have the amount of joy i do thanks to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not just saying that. I know that is true. I see these peoples lives and they are missing something, they are missing the true love of their savior. The Savior does love us. I know it. He wants us to come unto him so He can bless us. I hope you are not disapointed this Christmas because you have been given so much. We are so blessed. I am grateful for our church leaders who give us the words of God. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I cant give you all gifts and the things i want to but i can bear you this testimony and i know that it is true and i promise that you will be happy if you listen to the word of God given by the prophets and live them. I know that is true. I love you so much. I really do. Love, Anziano Brewster.

December 12, 2007

2007-12-12T04:51:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you are all doing well! I am doing great. We have a new apartment (meaning people not the building itself) since Thursday. Our apartment is actually the youngest apartment in the mission. We lost Anziano Goddard (my mom) and Anziano Scoville (my dad) and gained Anziano Silva (the new District Leader) and Anziano Breen (my followup trainer--I call him my Godfather). As missionaries we have 16 transfers and we determine our age by how many transfers we have had. I am in my 2nd transfer (I am very young), Anziano Silva and Anziano Breen are both in their 6th transfer, and then Anziano Funk is in his 5th transfer. Ya..., we are very young, but so excited. We have a lot of fire and energy. I can tell that it is going to be an incredible transfer. Yes, I do miss my Dad, Anziano Scoville. I learned so much from him. But it is a good thing that i have a new companion. I notice that i talk a lot more and am more involved because i got pass the afraid, new stage. I love our investigators and inactive members we are working with. I would go into more details but there is not enough time in the day. To make very long stories short, i will summarize them all in one word: PATIENCE. This word is key. I am learning to have patience and to realize that things take time. We have one investigator who has been investigating for 3 years. So to me it may seem like a super long time, but i know that everything has a time and a season. For some people, they are ready to get baptized within a month (for example, Monollo--his baptism is on Jan 5th by the way.) and others need time. I have realized that things arent going to go as planned but that doesnt mean that we did something or that they did something wrong. Everything we do has a purpose. And as long as we follow the way of the Lord and do all He asks, all will go the way he wants it go. I hope this all makes sense. And if it doesnt make sense to you it makes sense to me. So know that i have learned a lot here and am continuing to learn. I am learning and working on taking every opportunity i have. This is important to me because i never know if i will have another opportunity to do a certain thing or talk to a certain person. So, my advice is to take every opportunity you have. You will be amazed with the results. A small example in my life is that we were on the metro coming home from Church. I sat down and waited for it to leave. Many people entered onto the metro and when all the seats were full and people were standing I got up and offered my seat to a lady. She sat down and was very grateful. Once we left and stopped many times, people got off and the seats opened again. I asked if i could sit by this same lady. She said, "Of course" and then we talked until we got off on our stop. That is just one example of how putting forth action and taking advantage of the situation. I made a good friend and was able to serve and be served by talking with her. This email is probably way to long, i apologize. But if your emails are super long to me, never apologize because i love super long emails or any emails. Before i go i want to say how much i love this opportunity to share the gospel. I know that this gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the leader of this church. I know that the Book of Mormon is a book from Him. Its impossible to convince people of this truth. We must all know for ourselves and feel the personal revelation of its truth. I have experienced its truth and recieved an answer for myself. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. I know that we can only gain true everlasting happiness through this gospel. I love my Savior and i know without a doubt that he loves all of us individually. Know that. I love you all. Have an incredible Christmas Season. Serve others. Love, Anziano Brewster

December 5, 2007

2007-12-05T06:08:00.001-08:00

Buon Natale! In 20 days! Time goes very fast. I have just finished my first transfer with my incredible trainer Anziano Scoville. I have 15 transfers left and i am so excited! well, on monday we recieved our TRANSFER CALL! Dun dun dun! This is when the Mission President calls us and tells us where we will serve this next transfer and who our companion will be. Could i get a drum roll please!.... buddu buddu buddu buddu.... pretend that this is a drum roll, it was the best i could do! I am... Staying! I am very glad about that. I feel that i have much more work to do here in Ostia. But... I have a new companion. His name is Elder Breen. I have never met him before. I heard that he's from Vegas, a snowboarder, and pretty chill. I am excited to meet him and learn from him. His a youngin like me. This is his 6th transfer and my 2nd so we are a young companionship. My companion is being transfered to La Spezia to be District Leader there. He will do an incredible job. I love this Elder very much. He has taught me so much and is a great example. I love the way that he does missionary work because it's different than i pictured, and so effective. His new companion is Elder Shepheard. He will have sisters in his District which is cool. One of his sisters is Sister Kenney is one of my favorites! Then the other two elders in our appartment recieved their big news as well! Anziano Goddard, our District Leader, is... leaving and going to Napoli to be a Zone Leader. Elder Funk has been here longer than any of us (for 4 transfers, is whole mission) and he is staying for a 5th. His new companion will be Anziano Silva who is in his 6th transfer and he will be district leader. We have a very young appartment... which is good. we are very excited. It is going to be a huge challenge for me but a good challenge. I will now have to talk a lot more and use my italian. My companion now who is leaving tomorrow is fluent and is incredible with the language, so i am trying to pick his brain and obsorb all i can before tomorrow. It's crazy how fast things change. But i know that change is good, hard at times but good. We listened to talk yesterday given by a general authority in the 50s or 60s entitled: "I am the Gardner here". It is an incredible talk and touching, real, relatable story. The General Authority tells a personal story when he bought a farm previously owned and not kept up very well. He went out and started to prune a tree that was very tall and growing very large but wasnt producing any fruit. He cut down most of the branches so that it was very small, but able to grow and produce fruit over time. He looked at it and he could here it say: "How could you cut me down? I was doing so well, growing and becoming so big and you cut me down." And he replied back and said "I am the gardner here. I know what is best for you. I cut you down so you can growand produce fruit. " He then told a story of him in the army when he was cut down and he was doing so well but the Lord said to him, " I am the Gardner here. I know what is best for you. Trust me and all will be well". We need to constantly remember that we are not the Gardner. We dont know what is best for us. He does. He is the Gardner, he gives us what we need. He provides and teaches in ways we dont expect, but they are the best ways! I know that this change is hard but very needed. I will learn so much from these new missionaries. In my life i have had many challenges that i thought were too hard to handle at the time but now looking back i know that they were exactly what i needed. Remember always to trust the gardner and always know that He is playing a gigantic part in each of our lives. I cant even explain the amazing miracles i have seen and experienced here. I saw the smallest miracle last night that one might say is just a coincidence but no, i know that it was a miracle. We were running down the stairs to make it on the metro. As i went to get on a lady whom i met before on the metro hit me, because she was on the phone, gave me a smile, and waved to me. That showed me what a difference a hello can make. What a difference a little chat on the metro make in someones life. I will see her again and talk with her more. Well, i got to go. My companion is waiting for me. I love you all.-LOVE: ANZIANO BEAU RICHARD BREWSTER

November 28th Letter

2007-11-28T06:34:00.001-08:00

BELLI DI MAMA!!! this is what Sister Alicino says to us missionarionaries. She is a cute older lady in our ward that is always giving us food and helping us teach those around our neighborhood. So i thought that i would start this letter off like that rather than the normal CIAO or BUONGIORNO. So how are you? I hope everything is going well and that your Thanksgiving was wonderful. We had an incredible Thanksgiving. We spent all of our preparation day and thursday morning cooking. We had the american traditionall: Turkey, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Rolls, and Corn and of course the Italians had to have their lasagna so Manollo cooked it at work and we ate it after. And then for desert :) (the best part) we had cheesecake, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, and Bannana cream pie. It was really good. So much food! Then after words we talked and sang. Manollo and I sang tons of american songs. In italy they sing and listen to American music more than italian... because its better. So that was good for me because i knew the american songs and so did he even though he doesnt speak english. We sang songs from Sister Act 2, Titanic, Backstreet boys, disney, prince of egypt and many others. It was great. I love the Italians. THey are so funny, expressive, a little stubborn, and so loving! They are incredible. For christmas our mission president and his wife are putting together a book of miracles. They asked us each to submit a miracle we have seen on our mission, so here is mine. It just happened last week and is still happening. " It was monday the night of November 19 (I know, it sounds really dramatic... but it is the best way to start it). We went over to Barbara's house (a recently baptized member) for Family Home Evening. When we arrived there were Simone (a recently baptized member), Sorella Alicino (who is a great older lady in our ward) and 24 year old man, Manollo, who we have never met before. He is a friend of Simone and Barbara and they invited him to come. Sorella Alicino gave a lesson on prayer that really touched him. He told Barbara latter that night that he felt something. "3 days later we had Thanksgiving with a few members and investigators. He came along with his friend Daniel. We ate, sang (a lot), expressed what we were grateful for, and got to know each other better. He is an incredible singer and I love to sing so we sang for about an hour, having a great time. "Then, that Saturday Anziano Scoville and Anziano Goddard taught him the first lesson. He said he wanted to baptized and that he wanted me to baptize him. The next morning he came to church and asked me. I was blown away! We met him twice and he wanted to be baptized. He said he felt very connected to me while we were singing and that I am the one to baptize him. He is a big guy and i am... not, but he wants me to baptize him as long as i dont drop him :). This showed to me that there are people who are prepared for this change in their life. Manollo is at the elect time in his life to take upon him this incredible obligation and it started with an invitation. " Isnt that neat! I did nothing. This is just one of the amazing miracles we recieve everyday. They arent always this big, usually they are tiny but still a big deal. I dont even know how Heavenly Father does it, but i know that he does. So, i hope that i dont get transfered next week so that i can be here to baptize him. But if not, i will go where the Lord wants me to go. That sounds really cheesy but its so true. I have learned that a lot here. To be willing to do his will and not my own. Thats so hard! I have my own wants, thoughts, desires... but He knows exactly was is the best for me. My first transfer (6 weeks) is almost over. That's crazy! At our district meeting the week before the transfer call we all make guesses on where we think we will all go. Everyone said that i was going to stay except for my trainer who says ill go to Pascata. He just said that to change it up... he thinks that we will all stay. I dont know what's going to happen, but i will let you all know next week. We get the transfer call on Monday in the morning and then the change starts on Thursday. I guessed that my trainer will either take the open ZL position in Napoli or be Assistant to the President in Roma 2. We will see what happens ! Well, i love you. Have a great Christmas season. Dont forget the things you are grateful for. that is something i am working on, to be more grateful. We have so many blessings and gifts from God that we dont recognize, but they are there. I am very excited for Christmas and i hope your christmas' all go well. Love, Anziano Beau Brewster PS: i dont think i am going to have a white christmas in the sense of snow... but maybe in the sense of baptism!

Thanksgiving Letter

2007-11-21T05:11:00.001-08:00

BUONGIORNO! I never know how to start an email so i always use BUONGIORNO. ...I will be more creative next week :)- I just said something completly wrong in italian to my district leader and my companion so they are laughing at me, im turning red, and i lost my thoughts on what to write in this email. Oh wow! The language is something else. I try so hard to come up with sentances and things to say, i say them... and then the conversation is full of laughter. Well, atleast i have become a comedian! People are finally laughing at what i say... but not in a good way. Ah, well. My companion is great with the language, so he helps me out a lot. He is so great to correct me and help me. We read from the Liahona and il Libro di Mormon for 15 minutes a day. It seems like its helping a lot. The language progresses slowly... which is frustrating at times... but its great. It is teaching me patience. It is also teaching me to never give up. If i gave up speaking after saying a stupid thing, i wouldnt make it through the first minute of the day. I make so many mistakes! Which is great a thing because i learn how to fix them. I learn how to say that word or phrase correctly, which is a start a little step toward success. So, learn from me, and never give up. I have met a lot of great people and developed great relationships through my awful mistakes! The members in my ward love it when i only say, "Mi Dispiace" because it is the only thing i know how to say! Ok, i know more than that... i hope! But, i realized that not being something is a blessing, because i can work on it, progress, learn, experiment. It is fun! I am truly loving it here. I dont know if you all know this, but in Italy there are many foreigners here. We have many from Romania, Russia, India, Peru. It is great to meet all of the different types of People. At times it is hard because of the language barrior, but it is a nice challenge. I have come to realize how much God loves everyone of his children. I know that i am here for a reason. I am here to help those who are prepared for this message. Those who are searching for this truth. I have met many who I have come to love who dont want this message, but that is ok. I love them anyways. I talk to them to bring this message but also to care for them, talk with them. I am working on asking myself, what would Christ do if he had the opportunity to talk to them, to meet them? I know that Christ lives. I know this is the True Gospel from him. I know it because i feel it, it is verified every single day to me. I know that I am here for a reason. I was at church a couple of weeks ago, and a wonderful lady from Scottland spoke with me. She told me how she joined the church, how the missionaries found her, and the miracles that occured. It was an amazing story. And after she said to me very boldly and geniunly, "Someone is waiting for you. You will find them and you will help them come to Christ." It was exactly what i needed to hear. We get turned down a lot and ignored. Im not telling you this for pity or anything like that. I am saying this because i know that there are people, even here in Italy, who need this. Who are waiting for this truth to lighten their lives. We have two new investigators that we recieved this week, Mirco and Luca. It is incredible how we found both of these men, a week within each other. We are teaching Luca tonight and then Mirco on Friday. They are great guys (25 and 22). Our lessons with them went really well, both very different. But in both the spirit was very strong, almost tangibile. You never know what a simple action can do. A " hello" or a talk on the metro, or with these two men, a stop on the street and inviting them to take lessons. Miracles happen. I love you all. Have a great Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas as well. Look at what you have, not what you wish you could have. When you do that, you will be happy. I love the scripture, "The Lord is my Shepheard, I shall not want" Love, Anziano Beau Richard Brewster.

Weekly Letter - November 14, 2007

2007-11-14T06:09:00.001-08:00

HELLO ALL! Buongiorno! it is wednesday, 14 Novembre 2007, in Ostia, Italia. I am doing great here. i have an hour to do email, so i apologize if this is short. i love you all so very much and hope all going great. Italy is incredible. i have been to the vatican, well san pietro (the piazza). I am going to go into the vatican next week, or the following. i have also been outside of the pantheon, the piramide outside of rome. i have seen many castles. Its an incredible city. great architecture, incredible designs. The history in this counry is breathe taking. i love it here. but i tell you that everything is beautiful and that this city is great, not just because of the architecture and the history, that is just an added plus. But the main reason why I love being here is that i am here with incredible elders and sisters from many places in the world. I am here preaching the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. He loves each and every one of us individually, personally and he supplies our needs. Thanks to Him we can look forward to so much more after this life. He also fulfills this life. My life would be miserable without Him. I cant even begin to express the feelings, miracles, blessings that i have recieved in less than 3 months. My companion and i are starting a new tradition where we bought a little book (teeny, tiny and travel size). This is our little book of miracles. every night during planning session we write down a miracle that happened throughout the day. we did this last night and it was so great to see the hand of the Lord in our work. We missed a few metros, had a no show appointment, and werent on exact time as we planned, but because these things happened we met new people that we talked with, we did service, and we did the will of the Lord. Look in your lives for miracles that happen each day. it may not seem like a miracle at the time, but it is! Know that. God lives! He blesses our lives each and everyday, dont ever say that he doesnt. Please, dont. He may answer our prayers in a way that we dont expect. He usually does it that way. He answers our prayers through other people. He knows our needs, and provides for them. I know that this is the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ and that we will be able to live with Him, God, and our families for eternities when we follow it. I love you all from the bottom of my heart. Do what is right and let the consequences follow. You will be blessed, helped, and aided. I know that i have. Love, Anziano Beau Richard Brewster

Second Letter from Italy

2007-11-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

Italy is wonderful! so much has happened in 2 weeks! Its incredible here, i dont know how to describe it in any other way. so... where do i start? well, to start i want to talk about the metro. or depending on the metro: THE GHETTRO! We travel a lot in this mission and especially in my Area. I live in Ostia which is about an hour away from Rome. Our proseliting area is in Rome, Ostia, Acillia and basically covers an area that takes 2 hours to get from the highest north to the lowest south. i love that because that means that we have a lot of time on the GHETTRO. the Metro or Ghettro is a great place to talk to people. They dont have much to do and they are there for a while so they are more willing to talk. For me its a great experience because my companion goes and talks with one person and i go and sit by another. This means that i am all alone with the language. this is great because i cant rely on him taking over if i dont understand and i also cant turn to him and say, (how). i just have to wing it on my own and try to get the point across. its not easy to do, but its an adventure. i love it because i can go up to someone and say, I'm new here and i was wondering how you say this word or what does this saying mean and then they are open to talk. Italians love helping others. thats such a great quality that i admire. its funny cause when we go up to someone on the street they are audomatically turned off and dont want to be bombarded (as they have been by Jehova Witnesses), but as soon as we ask how to get to someplace or where we can find the metro, they put all their energy into helping us find our way. I really do love the people here. They are great. They live their lives in a very breezy but defined way. They spend hours cooking, take a good 2 hour lunch with their family, go to work as much as they have to, because unlike Americans they do not like to work. If they could choose, they would stay home rather than make extra money. Then at night or even during the day they take a Passagiata. which is a walk. they love to walk and think or walk and talk with a dear friend. They also take their dogs on walks frequently. Their are so many dogs in Italy, i dont know where they keep them! The apartments are fairly small but almost everyone has a dog, no particular size, small, gigantic, just their preferences. You are probably wondering why im talking about dogs of all things but i do have a point. My point is that their arent any lawns in Italy so where do the dogs go to relieve their food... yes, on the steets. But thats not all. Because we are talking to everyone on the streets and walking everywhere, i dont look down at the sidewalk so, what happens? I take the wonderful presents from the dog community with me on my journey. the Elders make fun of me because i never fail to step in the presents. I hope you enjoyed that, becuase its very imbarrassing for me, and im blushing... but at the same time, its very funny. so i understand. Well, i dont know how familiar you are with missionary vocabualary so im going to explain it a little to you. When you are brand new (like me) you get a trainer companion. In the mission they are called your Dad or for the sisters your Mom. If you are a trainer then your companion is your child. My Dad is Anziano Scoville. He is from Idaho Falls and has 11 brothers and sisters. He is so great. He is a runner so every morning we wake up at 630 and go running for a half an hour. He is very fast, and runs marathons, so he runs for the full 30 minutes and i run a lap here and there and then walk for the rest of it. He has been in the mission for a year and 4 months. My district leader, Elder Goddard is from Las Vegas and has been on his mission for a year and 6 months. Usually when youre born, new in the mission. You have a mom and a dad. the dad is your trainer and the mom is the senior companion of the sisters in your area. Well... we dont have sisters in my area, which is very sad, so i dont have a REAL mom, but long story short Elder Goddard is my mom because he and elder scoville were companions in caserta. So with Dad and Mama Goddard, im in good hands! ha ha ha ok, enough with that. I hope you liked that. We are all crazy here, but atleast we are crazy together. Now, the language. It is coming... i hope. I love it. Its beautiful and incredible. I am trying to ubsorb all that i can, and im so glad that i have two years. I wanted to just get it all in one week, but as all the italians tell me PIANO PIANO which means step by step. Which is so true. Even by learning a phrase a day, i am improving and getting the language. My trainer is fluent and is working on Spanish. There are many foriegners in Italy, so that means there are many languages. His spanish has helped in a lot of situations. I wish i could speak Romanian or German, because there are many people who speak those languages. But i learned that the most important language is the spirit. I spoke with a couple on the metro. They were from the Island just off of India. You know, the tear drop country... I dont remember the name, not a big surprise! But anyway, He spoke less Italian than i do and spoke that language from India. But even though we had a language barrior, we had a great conversation for about 20 or 30 minutes. Its incredible the miracles that have already happened here. I realized that so many miracles happen that we dont fully realize or appreciate, but they are miracles. That was just one example of many. I know that this is the only true church on the earth. I do not have any doubts of that. I know that God and Jesus Christ love us so much. The scriptures are incredible. I love you all, miss you so very much! Enjoy life and live it to its fullest, thats what im striving to do. love always, Anziano Beau Richard Brewster

Pictures from the MTC

2007-11-06T17:12:00.000-08:00

"The Pie is so Good!"

Says my companion Anziano Bennett as he shoves his face full of "Torta" (Pie in Italian) Beautiful Sunday at the Temple Got Missionary? (Ha ha ha) Elder Rea and I! We sang twice that Sunday and then took pictures afterwards. He left the next morning at 6 am. He's teaching and preaching in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania right now! WOW! Beautiful Provo Temple Anziano Ball and Anziano Garcia Early in the Morning!! Attractive! "Mail, Glorious Mail" They are the 2 best times of the day when i pick up the mail. One day I had 4 letters! I'm Waiting to exceed that number... No hints or anything!! I used to pick up the mail, now it is a nice surprise when I get a letter at lunch.

Ostia Beau's First Area

2007-11-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

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Beau's First Letter from Italy

2007-11-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Im in italy and this keyboard is so crazy so i apologize now for the spelling and having no appostraphies (because there arent any!) Its so crazy here, i love it! its very different. ok, so before igo into detail let me start from the beginning. So on tuesday october 23i left the mtc at 1130. then we went to the slc airport. i got to callfamily and friends but at first no one answered... so... i called my momat school and interupted her class, but she didnt care and i didnteither. then my companion was dying for burger king so he grabbedburgerking while i grabbed an americanized italian food place. I wantedto compare the two, and it was pretty good. we then caught our flight to Chicago. it was a good flight and towards the end i talked with thisreally nice lady from Florida who went to Utah and then was going tochicago, new york and then back home. we laughed and talked aboutlanguages, etc. it was really great. We then arrived at the chicagoairport which is huge. Its more like a zoo or a factory than an airport.we had a layover and a delay so i was able to talk to my family as longas i possibly could. i talked with my two brothers Brody and Braxton, itwas great to talk to them. Brody was so sweet and Braxton was talking upa storm so excited to talk. i talked with my dad too, he was in orem forthe week because my stepbrother went into the MTC. hes going tovladavostoc russia. i know thats not how you spell it but its the best ican do. ok, i then talked with my beautiful aunt tawny who is having ababy in april! yeah! i cant wait. and then i talked to beautiful bonniefor a great amount of time. it was so great to hear her voice. i missher much. and i then talked to my mama. which was wonderful. ok, ill getto the point. sorry, i just have so much to write about. a lot happensin a week, its incredible. i got on the flight to london and i was and was going to visit. my companion was sitting by her and i switched him seats so i could talk to her. i told her that my uncle is from ghana and i showed him a picture of my cute little cousin athena. it was great to talk to her. we were given meals, which were really good, at least compared to anything i had for the past 2 months. she gave me her cake, showed me how to work the tv and radio even though i wasnt interested. my companion gave her a pass along card before i sat by her. i had a book of mormon on the seat inbetween us. i wanted to give it to her, but me being a chicken said really nothing. i was about to go to sleep and "try it in the morning" when she tapped me and said "is that your book? what is it about" are you kidding me! i was so happy. i talked about it, and she was intrested. i said, would you like this one? oh, no i dont want to take it from you. no, i brought it to give to someone, i replied. we looked up some scriptures together and we read seperately. it was an incredible experience. i thought it was over, but in the morning she asked if i would sign her book, so i did and i wrote a note to her. it was a great lesson to me, that we arent here to scam people, i always knew that, but there are really people that are wanting this truth wanting to find happiness and this is the only way they will find it and have it stay. i know thats true! oh, by the way her name was hawa, a beautiful black woman from chicago. i then got off the airplane and transfered my dollars into euros. my first euro was a 50, it was really cool, i got a picture of it... and that moment people knew that i was a poor white boy who had never been out of the united states, except mexico, but that doesnt count. we got on that plane, exhausted as ever. i sat by a really nice couple from mexico city. she didnt speak english across the way from a lady who was going to ghana. she has family thereand was going to visit. my companion was sitting by her and i switchedhim seats so i could talk to her. i told her that my uncle is from ghanaand i showed him a picture of my cute little cousin athena. it was greatto talk to her. we were given meals, which were really good, at leastcompared to anything i had for the past 2 months. she gave me her cake,showed me how to work the tv and radio even though i wasnt interested.my companion gave her a pass along card before i sat by her. i had abook of mormon on the seat inbetween us. i wanted to give it to her, butme being a chicken said really nothing. i was about to go to sleep and"try it in the morning" when she tapped me and said "is that your book?what is it about" are you kidding me! i was so happy. i talked about it,and she was intrested. i said, would you like this one? oh, no i dontwant to take it from you. no, i brought it to give to someone, ireplied. we looked up some scriptures together and we read seperately.it was an incredible experience. i thought it was over, but in themorning she asked if i would sign her book, so i did and i wrote a noteto her. it was a great lesson to me, that we arent here to scam people,i always knew that, but there are really people that are wanting thistruth wanting to find happiness and this is the only way they will findit and have it stay. i know thats true! oh, by the way her name washawa, a beautiful black woman from chicago. i then got off the airplaneand transfered my dollars into euros. my first euro was a 50, it wasreally cool, i got a picture of it... and that moment people knew that iwas a poor white boy who had never been out of the united states, exceptmexico, but that doesnt count. we got on that plane, exhausted as ever.i sat by a really nice couple from mexico city. she didnt speak english we communicated. she was very kind and had a beautiful smile and kindness that just burst from her heart. her and her husband were going on vacation to italy for 5 days. i hope they had a great time. well, then i arrived in Rome! yeah. we went and met the mission president, president acerson, and his wife and the 4 new missionaries who already know italian, and the two assistants. we stayed the night in the mission home, ate great food, just wating to hear who ours trainers would be and where we would serve. but we didnt find out until the next afternoon. the next morning we were trained a little bit, and then went to a church owned site. it was great to be there, they want to build a stake center their and then someday a temple. i hope so. it would be the perfect place. ok, now for the exciting part. we went back to the villa (mission home) and ate lunch with all of the new trainers. we then were seperated into 2 different rooms. they were being trained and we were dying at this point. we were so excited and dying to find out. we then gathered together. we were all given yellow envelopes that said where we would serve and who would be our trainer (our mom or our dad (babbo in italian). i was the 9th to get my envelope. i was so excited to open it. i opened it and i read: OSTIA with Anziano Jonathan Perry Scoville. my trainer, anz scoville screamed so loud. he was taking off his tie and i thought to myself, what is he doing! he screamed, this is yours! it was by far the best tie in the room! I was so excited. I thought we would stay a little longer and wait to hear the others... oh no, we were out of there! We left in seconds. I left my scriptures and binder at the villa, thats how fast we left. i know not much of a shock. we then caught a bus and started to talk with people. my companion even had me talk... in italian! are you crazy! i dont understand a word they are very well, and my italian is very basic, if i can speak it at all, butwe communicated. she was very kind and had a beautiful smile andkindness that just burst from her heart. her and her husband were goingon vacation to italy for 5 days. i hope they had a great time. well,then i arrived in Rome! yeah. we went and met the mission president,president acerson, and his wife and the 4 new missionaries who alreadyknow italian, and the two assistants. we stayed the night in the missionhome, ate great food, just wating to hear who ours trainers would be andwhere we would serve. but we didnt find out until the next afternoon.the next morning we were trained a little bit, and then went to achurch owned site. it was great to be there, they want to build a stakecenter their and then someday a temple. i hope so. it would be theperfect place. ok, now for the exciting part. we went back to the villa(mission home) and ate lunch with all of the new trainers. we then wereseperated into 2 different rooms. they were being trained and we weredying at this point. we were so excited and dying to find out. we thengathered together. we were all given yellow envelopes that said where wewould serve and who would be our trainer (our mom or our dad (babbo initalian). i was the 9th to get my envelope. i was so excited to openit. i opened it and i read: OSTIA with Anziano Jonathan Perry Scoville.my trainer, anz scoville screamed so loud. he was taking off his tie andi thought to myself, what is he doing! he screamed, this is yours! itwas by far the best tie in the room! I was so excited. I thought wewould stay a little longer and wait to hear the others... oh no, we wereout of there! We left in seconds. I left my scriptures and binder at thevilla, thats how fast we left. i know not much of a shock. we thencaught a bus and started to talk with people. my companion even had metalk... in italian! are you crazy! i dont understand a word they are of mormon and about joseph smith. we talked to 3 people before we got to our destination. we then met the other elders who we room with. anziano funk (who has been in the mission for 3 transfers-- a transfer is 6 weeks-- and had been in ostia for the whole time.) and anziano goddard who is my district leader. its us four in our district. i love these elders. they are very funny, and we get along really well. i gotta go, but i love italy. im in the ghetto, tons of graffiti everywhere! But i love this place. its great for me. yesterday we served at the mensa (cafeteria) and we are doing the same tomorrow. ive talked to great people. My first night we shopped and then taught my first lesson. the spirit was so strong, it was incredible. ill tell more stories next time, so that this is really long, and talks mostly about the airport. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! oh before i go, i went to the trivy fountain today and it was beautiful! we also met a lot of americans today from utah, that was cool, they stoped and talked to us. I love this work. its tough we have a lot of doors not opened and a lot of people who are not intrested but that doesnt mean that there isnt success and that there wont be baptisms. if that was the case, then we wouldnt be here. i know this work is important. this gospel is true. i know that with all of my heart. i love the people here. Gelato is wonderful i had my first one last night! i love the gospel. i know that my savior loves me and helps me every day. I got to go. CIAO i love you! ANZIANO BEAU BREWSTER

Pictures from the Mission President

2007-11-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from his first days in Rome. Beau and President and Sister Acerson Beau and his Trainer Elder Scoville. His first area is Ostia about 15 miles southwest of Rome. He is right on the Mediteranean Sea.

Beau Brewster's Italy Mission Blog

2007-11-01T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have created this blog so you can enjoy beaus mission with me. I will post all the letters that I recieve and the pictures that he sends. Feel free to add whatever you want.