Life In Lincoln City! Monkies, Dogs and The Work!

Brock really wanted to stay in Winston to finish his mission because he and his companion Elder Ewell had several people ready for baptism.  He really grew to love the people there!

Brock with the Beckinhaur family in Winston. He has a great love for the people he serves!

We're happy to report Brock loves his new assignment in Lincoln City and has already grown close to the people.

Things are going great.  No worries.  The beach is amazing! The area is way cool and the people here are all so ready to be baptized!
Tuesday we tracted.  Some of these houses I kid you not are the biggest thing I have ever seen. I guess that's what you get when you live in an area designated to tourists! Haha! But it's really cool, and I enjoy it.  It's so beautiful.  We had dinner with the Rehnes, a recent convert family.  I enjoyed getting to know them.  Elder Hatton  and I were so hungry, and the pasta they made was bomb! Later we taught a man named  Roberto, he only speaks Spanish.  Brother Nightingale and I were able to teach him but my Spanish was pretty rusty so I  wasn't much help. We will set a date with Roberto  next week for baptism so we're stoked about that.  We also had a lesson with a girl named Sierra! She is 25 and has two kids, a  single mother, and  a member of the church but not active.  She wants to get back into the church and learn everything again.  So we taught her the restoration which went really well and we set another appointment to meet back up with her later on in the week.
Wednesday we woke up and ran on the beach. It is so nice to wake up and smell the ocean, just that fresh ocean smell is amazing. I love it! :)   We have a dog that lives with us.  It's a wolfdog and  is so funny, haha it runs on the beach with us and it literally is the biggest baby in the world.

Apollo, the third companion at the Lincoln City beach house!

     After our workout and study time we did some  finding.  We had a lesson with a guy named Adam who just got out of prison and has a pretty crazy past!  He has been a member his whole life but fell away and now he really wants to change.  We taught him and read with him for a bit. He is a pretty cool guy, just needs a bit of help to stay on the right track.  After our lesson with him we went and contacted a bunch of people to try to get to know them so we can get the work going!  We had an awesome lesson with the Davenports, a really cool family. We set a date with them and just talked about some of their concerns.  They have an 8 year old kid who has severe autism, so it's really hard on the family sometimes, but he is an amazing kid. The parents are going to get baptized on the 16th of June! :) Then we went over to the Koceya family's house.  They are  a part member family and we read with them.  We're working with the wife and kid.  They actually just moved from Sandy, Utah. Imagine that!  It was a great lesson! :)
Thursday we did some finding in the morning, had lunch and then volunteered at the food bank.  It was really cool to help people out and give them the things they needed.  I love doing things like that. Later we met a guy named Jorge. He has every gun imaginable and has a shooting range in his backyard.  We taught and read with him.  That evening we had dinner at Elder Cooper's  aunt's house, and they have a pet monkey.  It's funny!  It tried to attack me through his cage!  I got a good laugh out of it. 

Shane, the monkey, who tried to "attack" Brock.  They're probably good friends now!

We had a lesson with Alisha and her husband, another family we are working with! The father is a member but his wife is not.  They are really cool.  We read with them and talked about the restoration!
Friday we did some service and then spent our time contacting people and just setting things up for next week.  We also did some finding, haha we just walk down the 101 and talk to people. It's pretty fun on weekends because there are a lot of people there!  We had a lesson with Melissa. We sat down and read with her.  She has a blood clot in her head so that's not good at all!  We feel really bad for her, especially since she has two little kids! She will be leaving for a month to go live with her mom so she can take care of her and her kids, so hopefully things get better for her.  Later we met our ward mission leader and correlated.   Our ward mission leader is a pretty cool guy.  He is a dentist and down to earth!
 Saturday we had a lesson with Gregg Wescott. He has been investigating the church for awhile now, but we had a really good lesson with him and set a baptism date with him for June 16th as well. He has been through a lot with his family so he is pretty excited for baptism! We had dinner with the bishop!  He is really cool and other members of the ward were there also so it was nice to get to know people!  They all have these huge houses right out on the beach! After dinner we went to a few lessons with the bishop. We  had another lesson with Sierra and the Koceyas.
Sunday we had our meetings and I gave a talk in sacrament meeting, so that was fun! Everyone said they enjoyed it! haha! So hopefully they did! After church we had a lesson with Bailey! She is 14, and we had the lesson at the Hansen's house!  We talked to her about her baptism coming up and how she felt about things and then read a few chapters and re-taught the restoration!
That's pretty much my week, super busy but really fun! We're really working hard and just enjoying every second we have out here! The people here in Lincoln City are really great!
Well, I hope all is well! 
Love, Brock

Elder Bird Gets Special Assignment!

Just when we thought Brock would finish his mission in Winston, Oregon, President Young gave him a "special assignment" to open a new area in Lincoln City, a beautiful coastal town.

Lincoln City coastline, Brocks new and last area.

  This is Brock's first assignment along the coast so it should be an awesome place to complete his mission.  By the way, it was wonderful to talk with  Brock on Mothers Day.  He sounds great, is  enjoying the work and he is excited to come home on June 28th but says he's going to make the best of the time he has left!  Here's his last email (the week before Mothers Day):

There is a clean car competition in the mission and the winners get 50 dollar gift cards, so I need the money and decided if I washed our mission car like I do my own, I would win!:) HAHA!  In the meantime (Tuesday) we had an appointment with Brandon Waddell.  He is doing great!  We read with him and then went to dinner at the Simpson's house!  I love that family! Patrick,  the dad, and I have so much in common, were like the same person! :) They made enchiladas and they were sooo bomb! After dinner we just went and contacted a bunch of people and then read with the Athertons!

Wednesday we had zone conference in Eugene. It was actually my last zone conference so that was wierd. Then they gave the prizes away for the cars! Guess who won the 50 bucks? Yes, me haha! I needed it!

Elder Bird and Elder Ewell won the clean car competition worth $50!

After zone conference we had an awesome lesson with Amber. She is loving church and is stoked for her baptism!

Thursday we did some finding in the morning had some lunch and then just did some more finding and contacting. We had an awesome lesson with Troy,  one that he really needed! He has has been going through a lot with his daughter but he just said that this is what he really needs right now! He is an awesome guy and does a lot of great things. He has come such a long way in his life.  After that we went over to the Athertons and helped them rip down a shed. We have been helping them a lot in their yard!  Never thought I would say this, but I love yard work! :) Haha! We also had a great lesson with Taliti.  He is doing really well.  Their dad is the football coach at the high school, so we talk football quit a bit. They are a really awesome family and I have just really grown close to them! :

Friday we had a lesson with Memory and Steph. Memory is getting ready for her baptism next week, so I am excited for her.

Saturday we had our AP correlation then helped Billy rip out blackberry bushes and get their yard ready for tilling. We met with this woman named Cammie.  She is really cool. We just started teaching her, and she has just been really looking for things to help her out in her life.  She lives alone with her daughter and they are going through some struggles, but we had an awesome lesson with them and they're coming  to church next week.  We had dinner with Billy and Stephanie Atherton, they took us out to the Rodeo Steak House!) Haha!  It was boss!

Elder Bird and Elder Ewell getting ready to down those ribs at the Rodeo Steak House in Roseburg!

After that we went and taught the  Lancasters. They are doing great!  Haha,  gotta love that family! So entertaining. They're such goofs!
Sunday we had church and a lesson with Taliti and then we went out and contacted some people and did some finding! We gave Brandon the sacrament.
(Monday-P-day)  I had to find a doctor to give me a tetnus shot because I stepped on a rusty nail about three days ago.

Things are going great!