Your Missionary Has Arrived Safely

We know that Edler Beattie has arrived safely to Brisbane, has met with President and Sister Vongsawad, been assigned a new companion to train him and that's about it BUT we have pictures thanks to the mission office!

Week 3 - Goodbye MTC

This week was a busy one for Elder Beattie, lots of classes helping him feel more confident in his teaching and a lot of studying which he said helped with his knowledge that God loves each and every one of us. He also mentioned that his district was getting even closer and getting to know eachother better as well. One of the Elders in the district ended up sick and in quarantine for a few days so he missed all the Thanksgiving fun. We did notice that he was being facetimed in on some of the pictures we were sent so at least he was still included. Poor guy. 

Thursday was American Thanksgiving which meant he was able to call home and tell us about the day. Elder Quintin L. Cook was at the MTC to give a devotional and taught about the importance of relationships, how relationships of trust lead to people wanting to hear your message. 

The missionaries were able to watch a movie titled "Ephriam's Rescue" which he recommended to watch. It's about a man who was able to provide blessings and relief to those that were a part of the Martin's handcart company that got stuck in Martin's Cove. It was cool that we had just visited that site a few months ago and to hear another true story about what happened only makes it more real. They also did a service project for Thanksgiving making bagged meals, over 300,000 bagged meals for people in need. One of the members of the Piano Guys performed for all the missionaries at a special musical devotional before the MTC turned on all the Christmas lights starting the season.

Today marked Brayden's last day at the MTC and the journey to Australia has begun. He mentioned 15 of the missionaries left the MTC to the airport all Australia bound, 5 to Brisbane. It started with a train ride from Provo City to Salt Lake City airport and according to his email home "getting to the airplane was really fun because everyone was so stressed that they weren't thinking properly. They were going all over the place. It felt like me and my companion were the only people that knew what we were doing, so we lead everyone around the airport. I ended up eating a Cafe Rio burrito that was delicious."

He left a blizzard in Salt Lake City to be greeted with a little warmer weather in Los Angeles before the 15.5 hour flight to Sydney Australia. From there he only has a short flight to Brisbane and is scheduled to arrive there the afternoon of Nov 30th. We were able to speak with him before he boarded and he sounded ready to get to Australia and start this next phase of his mission, although I think he's going to miss Elder Mecham as his companion. They seem to get along really well and plan to hang out once their missions are over.

Hopefully between the few of them on the long flight they'll keep each other busy and get some sleep.

One other thing from the past week that Elder Beattie and his district got to do was welcome all the new missionaries getting dropped off at the Missionary Training Center. He mentioned it was emotional for a lot of the people that he greeted and welcomed into the MTC and he had the opportunity to test out his Australian accent. He used it for one Elder from the start to finish but was disappointed when the guy didn't even Brayden where he was from. I'm not sure if that means the accent was so good he 100% sold it or the guy just thought he was crazy?

The last few pictures shared are: Elder Beattie posing with Jesus Christ and really enjoying that embrace. Next is one of his last pictures with his district before they all start going in their own directions. Some to Australia, some to Guam, one to Edmonton and some to different States in the USA. Notice the phone attached to Brayden, video messaging the Elder in quarantine so he can be a part of the pictures. The last picture is with Kya (Sister Marsden) who started in the MTC the same day Brayden did. She is in our Stake in Calgary and was assigned to Ryan and I's Moroni's Quest family the first time we were able to be parent's. She is going to the St. George Utah mission, primarily at the Temple Visitor's Center and she is going to ROCK IT! 

Week 2 - Provo MTC

Our first PDay with Brayden out in the field. We got to video conference with him and hear about the fun things he's been up to far and what he's been learning.

He joined the choir and said it's amazing how good everyone sounds singing together. He'll sing a couple times this week because they are having a bonus devotional on American Thanksgiving. Each week at the devotionals a General Authority comes to speak to the missionaries, such an experience. He also mentioned that tomorrow his district will be the ones to greet the new missionaries getting dropped off and take them into the MTC. He was wearing his tie he got from his friend here at home, Nelson, who is soon to leave on his mission to Africa in just next week! We got Brayden's flight plans and he leaves for Brisbane Australia on the 28th arriving the morning of the 30th ready to get to work.

It sounds like he's getting practice teaching the discussions and spends his classes going through the Preach My Gospel manual, taking a lot of notes and taking in happiness that comes with being emerged in such a Spiritual environment. 

His first letter was so good I thought I'd just paste it here along with some of the pictures he's shared so far. The first 2 are of his district and then Brayden and his companion, Elder Mecham:

Next two pictures include the view from his study spot and then the classic map picture with him pointing to where he has been assigned to serve his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hello Everybody!! I am learning tonnes of stuff here at the MTC. For example saying something is gas means that it is awesome or something, they won't tell me what it actually means. I am also learning tonnes of stuff about the gospel. It is so cool I had a great experience yesterday but I will get into that later. My district is super awesome! They are so fun to be around and they are all super funny and they are so caring.

This morning my district all woke up at like 5:15 am so that we could go to the Provo Temple before the rush. We had an appointment for 6:30, but we got there right when most of the missio arys got there so we had to wait on some benches in the temple until 7:30. Although the wait was long the temple was super cool. My district and I did the endowment session and it was sooooo cool. The temple is super beautiful, I would recommend it! 

Last night on Sunday we had a devotional about faith and how we can grow our faith. It was awesome. The super cool experience that I had was after the devotional. Our district had a meeting about what we learned and it turned into a testimony meeting about faith. My companion shared a message about trials and how having faith can get us through it. I don't know what happened, but the spirit hit me super hard and I just started balling my eyes out. It was crazy. Then the meeting ended and I was still crying like crazy and all the guys gave me a big old group hug and it was awesome. I really do believe that I was put into this district for a reason.

I know that Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us, and that if we have faith in him he will comfort us and make our trials lighter. I have seen evidence of this while I have been here at the MTC.

Some other things that i have learned are:

- there is no hot chocolate here☹️

- everyone is awesome

- barely anyone knows what a toque is 

- they love when I sing the Canadian national anthem

- black Friday is an actual riot down here

Emoji of the day: 🦅

Slang word of the day: gas (meaning awesome) example: MTC is gas

Can't wait to see y'all again,

Love,

Elder Brayden Beattie

The last three pictures included show his district waiting for a devotional to start, the peaceful Prove temple and teenage boys being teenage boys.

MTC Drop Off

We thought it would be great if we were all able to drive down to Provo to drop Brayden off at the MTC in person instead of saying our goodbyes in the Calgary airport. We left Sunday after church, loading the back with all Brayden's luggage and some snacks. The drive was a little different then usual without the option of movies and killer road trip playlists. Instead we listed to a bunch of church  music until deciding we needed a change and hit up some classic Disney music. We decided to stop and  take a break for Elder Beattie's Sunday evening devotional with the MTC Branch President and his wife (The Porter's). We watched it in a Walmart Subway using the free wifi before heading back on the road for a few more hours. 

We got back at it Monday morning after his companion study with Elder Mechem and made it to Salt Lake City with the afternoon ahead of us. We spent it exploring around temple square. This summer we did a church history tour so it was interesting to go into the Church History Museum and get a refresher of all things we saw this summer. We also went into the Family Search building and found out about the famous people we were related to, who we looked like and where in the world our ancestors were from. We finished up by touring the conference center before heading up towards The Porter's house, where we were staying. It was fun to see all the missionaries excited for Brayden to get dropped off at the MTC and head to Australia for his mission and hear where they were from and how their missions were going.

We had a great evening visiting with family before calling it a day and heading off to bed. Tuesday was Brayden's travel day which meant his schedul was completely cleared. We took advantage of it and went to the Ogden Temple in the morning to do baptisms together as a family and Brayden was able to do confirmations for the first time now that he is a Melchizedek Priesthood holder. The rest of the day was spent with the Porter's. Alyson had her baby, Dax, and Nathan brought chicken burgers from Pretty Bird in SLC for Brayden's last meal. It was a really great day, almost relaxing, knowing tomorrow would be a pretty big change for our family. Wednesday morning came and we were up and ready to leave early. Knowing Brayden wouldn't be dropped off at the MTC until 1:30pm we booked baptisms for our family at the Provo City Center Temple in the morning so we needed the early start. After a Father's blessing from Ryan, we said our goodbye's to the Porters and headed on our way. The Provo City Center Temple was beautiful and I think I remember Brayden saying that it might be his new favorite temple. It was the perfect way to spend our morning. We also went to BYU and looked around the campus a bit, checking out the store (which is 3 levels) and watched some cultural dance presentation in what looked like the main eating hall. It was crazy to see so many young church members in one area and we only checked out 1 building on the campus. With some time left before we had to drop Brayden off we went to the Prove temple grounds which seemed to be where all the families doing drop off were lingering, lots of pictures being taken.

The time had finally come to say goodbye to our Elder for the next 2 years. It's hard to explain the feelings, all the anticipation, excitement, anxiety, fear, pride, and peace that all bleed into eachother. After doing the best we could over the last 18 years to teach him all we knew how we were sending him off into the world to survive it. He was so pumped to hang out with his MTC district in person and be with his companion in person he hardly seemed nervous at all. We were put in a line of cars in the underground parkade where an Elder was there ready to help collect Brayden and his luggage. We were warned it would be quick, and thankfully it was. No time for an emotional display. The Elder, heading to Taiwan, took a family picture for us, we had our final hug and watched him walk away. Maddy and I (mom) teared up, Ryan fought the lump earlier in the day while giving Brayden his blessing and Syd was stoic. Off he went onto his next adventure, such a proud parent moment.

 

Week 1 - Home MTC

 

This week was spent at home doing the MTC trainings online. A schedule was followed starting with a 6:30am wake up time and online zoom classes starting at 8:30 or 9am. Some meetings were just between Brayden and his companion, others were with his district and some included all the missionaries doing online training at the time. He learned about the purpose of a mission and how to teach. During his breaks mom was his companion and errands were run together to get him out of the house a bit. 

A lot of packing also happened this week. Not only did Brayden have to pack up his suitcases for the next 2 years of his living but his room also needed to be emptied so Maddy will be able to move in and take over.  It was a little shocking how someones 18 yrs of existence can fit into 5 Costco totes.

During this week Brayden showed dedication in making sure he was diligently taking notes, being present and onetime to every meeting and volunteering the information that he had been learning throughout the day to the family on his down times. 

Brayden really likes his companion, Elder Mecham, and is looking forward to hanging out with his district in person in Provo. He says they are "awesome" and already have plans on the basketball court.

Elder Beattie

Tonight a new adventure begins. Brayden was set apart by our Stake President, President Jackson, as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a part of his blessing during the setting aparthe was blessed with obedience and that through the power of obedience it was promised that as long as he is obedient to the rules and guidelines of a missionary he will be able to envoke the power of protection and be worthy to call upon the Lord for help as needed. It was said that he will be able to envoke the power of obedience and He was told that he will be a good teacher, that he will find people who are need to be taught in the way that only he can. That he will be able to teach without using too many words. For the next two years Brayden will be called Elder Beattie teaching the people in the Australia Brisbane area about Jesus Christ and His redeeming atonement after spending 3 weeks training (1 week at home and 2 weeks in the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC)).