St Lucia 12

Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,

Week was good. It is amazing to see that people when they keep commitments are being changed by the Holy Ghost. Not a lot of time so I'll just share a short experience. We were teaching a lady about the Book of Mormon and she didn't really got it at first. But then at one moment her eyes opened. I could tell by her entire countance that she understood what we were saying. The Spirit of God revealed a truth to her Spirit. You can tell when somebody understands with their mind and when they do with their heart. It is beautiful to know that God grants us these experiences, so that we can learn and become more like him. For we need to realize that we are unable to learn anything good by ourself. All have is what we have received. If we really want to be able to do something or know something, we need to turn to divine guidance. God can enlighten our minds and make us capable of reaching further than we ever could by ourself. I want to invite everybody to read the sacrament prayer and to memorize it. Why would I want you to do it? For this prayer explains the covenant that we make and the promise God gives to us. When we truly want to learn and develop ourselves to be able to abide in Celestial law, we need to realize that this can only come with God's help. Exaltion is a gift. The sacrament prayer shows us that by the Holy Ghost we can be sanctified. This is what will make us able to become like our Father in Heaven. We can't do it on our own

Till next week, 

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 11

• P-day @ beach‏

Lieve vriendjes and vriendinnetjes,

This week was amazing. Lots of great stuff happened, but because of lack of time I'll just share one experience. Yesterday for the first time in my life I have experience a "burning of the bosom". People always talk about that that burning heart when the Holy Ghost testifies. But to me that never really occurred before. I have felt the Spirit of God testifying to me before, mostly trough peaceful and joyful feelings. By touching my heart with a still clam feeling. But yesterday it was amazing. We were teaching a man that was searching for something more in his life. The Spirit just filled the room when we told the story of Joseph Smith. It was filled to the roof. Everything inside of my body just felt warm and wonderful. It felt like the feeling inside was to big for me, like it wouldn't fit. It was a constant pressure on my chest but in a positive way. I think that's the best way I can describe it.. I know that those feelings can only come from God. Therefore I knew what I was testifying about, Joseph Smith and this church, was pleasing to God. I learned that the Spirit tells you things in different ways, but you will know that it comes from God. So did this investigator, after saying a prayer on his knees he excepted to be baptist!!
Dear peoples, God loves you. He wants you to be happy, so He sends you His holy Ghost to show you how you can achieve that!

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 10

• We went Zipp-Lining!!‏

  
  
  Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,
  
  This week was amazing! Robert got baptist!!!! This man truly is wonderful. Heb de Heer zo sterk gevoeld deze week en i kweet precies hoe dat komt. Ik heb zo hard gewerkt deze week. Gave it my all you can say! Ik wil graag een ervaring van een investigator delen.
  Yesterday Robert got confirmed as member of the Church and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. One of our investigators was also present during the confirmation. and she described it like this: "So I had no idea what was happening. All of you got up and then the baptist guy sat down on a chair and then you all put your hands on his head and said a blessing or something. I have no idea what just happened. But I could see on that guys face that, whatever may have happened, was real. The joy his face expressed the pure happiness is something you cannot fake. That blessing was real. And that relieve, that joy I want to have that. I want to feel what he feels".
  Lieve mensen, The Lord lives and his Church is true. Sometimes people have no idea what's going on but always and by that I mean always the Spirit testifies if something is true. The power of a ordinance, when performed by the authority of god, is something you can not deny. I have felt in my own life when I got baptist. No feeling has ever given me more peace and calmness then what I experienced right after my baptism. I cannot deny that that feeling came from God. The blessings that I have in my life now only come from God and are a result of that decision of becoming baptist. It gives a new and deeper dimension to happiness. In the name of Jesus Christ I promise that every willing soul can feel the joy I feel, the joy Robert feels, and that glimpse of joy the investigator feels.
  
  Have a good week everybody!
  The Lord lives,
  Elder Thomas Bechan

  
  

  
  

  • baptism of Robert‏

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

St Lucia 9

Lieve vriendjes and vriendinnetjes,

Tijd is weer eens kort, maar met mij gaat het geweldig. This week has been amazing. We hadden zone conferentie met President Mehr and it was great. As a result op een of andere manier heb ik sterk sterk the Geest gevoeld deze week. Hoe ik mijn onderzoekers kan helpen. Heb revelation ontvangen. It's awesome. Het is geweldig om te voelen als God jou gebruikt om zijn doel te bereiken. Een ieder die lid is van de kerk heeft het rechtop constante gezelschap van de Heilige Geest. Of ook wel constant revelation from God. Ask for help in your life, God will give it to you. But you first got to ask him. 

Well.. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 8

Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,

All I can say is that I love my mission. The walking in the burning sun, companions that get burned and sudden pouring rain I simply love it! The work of bringing souls into Christ is wonderful! Nothing I've ever done in my life before is as rewarding as missionary work. All though sometimes "the  outward results" are not there  I can always feel the inward result. Which is pure happiness. God created a plan and if we stick to that plan we can find happiness, eternal happiness. Right now in my life I can say I enjoy the love of God in my life. I pray that you do feel the same. 
This week was great! Met a lot of new people and it's wonderful to help them understand what this life is all about. We are not here just to do good and die, or to live as we please, but we are here to prepare to meet our God. And by doing so preparing ourselves to receive exultation (or living with God). Doesn't that sound great?! You and I can go and live with God if we want to. 

Shoot time flies when you're on a mission.. Till next week!

Elder Tolman + Elder Larson + Elder Bechan

St Lucia 7

Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,

Was quite the week. Transferweek in this mission is intens. Omdat de mission zo groot is duurt het een dag om van area te wisselen, and you usually take a plane to do so. So wednesday everybody came in. Mijn nieuwe companion Elder Larson is net 6weken op zending en hij komt uit een of ander boerendorp in Utah, USA. He's a nice kid I like him. Missionary work is iets wat niet alleen vanuit de missionaries moet komen. Het is the most succesfull when members are involved. When they bring investigators to the missionaries and join in with the teaching baptism and church growth will explode. But how do you, as a member, do missionary work? Do you go out and knock on doors or talk with people on the street? I won't stop you if you want to, but there is a far more effective way. This last sunday I was asked to give a talk about missionary work. So I did, and I would like to share what I talked about. You, the member, are kind of like Nephi. We all know that the Lord aspects from us that we do missionary work, we all know Nephi was commanded to go get some records (1Nephi chapter 3). I believe that the most of you are like Nephi: you want to go and do as the Lord commands. You want to do missionary work, you want to help people come unto Christ, you want to help the people around you experience more happiness. So just like Nephi you go and do. But you might have no idea how to do it. Nephi had no clue, all he knew was that he had to go back to Jerusalem and go get those records. How he was to obtain them, he did not know. So the first time the try, they fail.. second time the try, they fail.. Maybe you also tried, just like Nephi, but it didn't quite go how you expected it to be. But then how does Nephi figure out what to do? exactly in 1 Nephi 4 we read that he was let by the Spirit. Nephi had no idea, but the Lord knows it all. He followed the promptings of the Spirit and was able to obtain the records, to do what the Lord has commanded him. So let's apply this to you and to missionary work. Here in the West-Indies the people also receive guidance of the Lord, trough the mission president. He is their "Spirit" that shows them what they should do to succeed. the mission president has given us (as west-Indies) two laws that we need to keep to missionary work or to do "as the Lord commands". Keep the Sabbath day holy and keep the Law of the Fast. Today I have no time to type out what it means to do that. But I do know that the blessings that come will be more peace in your life, more happiness in the family and a real growth in the church. For that are the blessings the Lord has given trough the mouth of one of his servants!

Need to go, have a nice week!
Love, 
Elder Thomas Bechan

St Lucia 6

Lieve vriendjes en vriendinnetjes,

Did you enjoy General Conference?! I surely did! Deze week was stress week. Er was een emergency transfer, of in andere woorden een ongeplande overplaatsing. 2 Elders konden niet meer met elkaar opschieten, zo ipv het te fixen gooiden ze de handdoek in de ring. Nou dat geeft dus redelijk wat hoofdzorgen als zone-leader. That in combination with General Conference and other Elders coming down to watch it is also not helping. Maar eind goed al goed! De toespraken waren wonderful and uplifting. Is het niet een prachtig voorrecht om te mogen luisteren naar een apostel of profeet vandaag de dag! In vroegere tijden zouden sommige mensen dagen reizen om dit mee te maken. All we have to do is go to a church building or turn on the internet! Geweldig! Wat heeft u geleerd deze conferentie? What can you do better? I know for myself what I need to work on. Daarom hebben we zo'n conferentie om de heiligen te helpen vervolmaakt te worden. Go work on yourself, we are all not perfect yet! 
Heb ook mijn transfer call ontvangen dit weekend tussen alle hectiek door. Komende transfer zal de St. Lucia zone voor meer dan de helft veranderen. Er zullen 6 zendelingen binnen komen. Mijn nieuwe collega wordt Elder Larson! klinkt Scandinavisch of zo? maar zal waarschijnlijk een Amerikaan zijn. Hij is bijna nieuw nieuw, dit zal zijn 2de transfer worden. Misschien ruikt hij zelfs nog nieuw. Dit betekent ook dat ik geen collega zone-leader zal hebben. Ik ben vanaf komende week dan de enige zone-leader verantwoordelijk voor alle zendelingen op St. Lucia. That's another new challenge, I hope I'll survive!

Tot volgende week maar weer!
Love,
Elder Thomas Bechan

• Pizza @ Sister Shermien Mansion‏

  

  • playing badminton in a mansion!‏

    
    
    
    

• P-day activity!‏