Week 1 - Baptism By Fire

Hey all!!

First week in the books! Let me tell you, it is one of the most overwhelming things. But week 2 is already calmer. Warning: this email is kind of long but a lot happened so bare with me.

Day 1:

Drop off day.  We pulled into the parking garage, said goodbye, and off I went. My host said that was the second week they have ever done drop off that way so everyone was kind of all over the place. We walked up the stairs onto campus and the first person I saw was Caden Butterfield! He came over and shook my hand and welcomed me to the MTC (just like the next 300 people I saw would do).  I saw Mark next. He and his companion were on his way to class and stopped and said hi.  It was super comforting to see some familiar faces. My host then sent me into a building were I was directed to about 15 different people giving me information and whatnot. I was given a tablet to use here at the MTC and then was sent to find my host. She then took me up to my room, we dropped my bags off, and she took me to my classroom where I would meet my district and companion.  My companion's name is Sister Goldstein.  She is Hispanic, 25 years old, from Texas, and is soo sweet. Once we had our whole district there we went to our first meeting with all 737 missionaries that entered that day. We had a sister join us because she couldn't find her companion. She is from Texas and is going to St. George!! Keep an eye out for her! Her name is Sister Davidson.  Our group so far is the biggest in MTC history to ever enter in one day.  Districts here usually only have about 8 people. We have 16. There are 2 sets of sisters and the rest are the coolest Elders you will never meet in your entire life. I absolutely love my district! After our meeting we went to dinner. Probably the most overwhelming thing so far. There are about 3,000 missionaries here and about 1,500 in the cafeteria at a time. I've never been a room with that many people so it was pretty wild. We had a meeting after dinner on effective ways to teach. I got bit by a mosquito on the top of my foot during said meeting. I'm not even to Florida yet and they are already getting me. It swelled up pretty bad but it didn't really itch. After that we went back to our rooms and started unpacking and met our roommates. They leave next week but are so nice.

Day 2:

Today we got to know our district a little better and make some district goals. Me and my companion and one other Elder are going to Fort Lauderdale. The others are split between Portland Oregon and California. We had a lot of free time today. For about an hour I got to talk to the elders about rugby.  It was so stress relieving. One of the elders in our district played in high school so it was nice to be able to not worry about missionary life for a minute. We taught our first investigator today! Talk about baptism by fire.  They don't ease us English speaking missionaries into anything. It's pretty intense. We learned how to teach the restoration in 2 minutes. It's hard. But by the end of my mission I know it'll come naturally. We got to meet our Branch Presidency and their wives tonight. They are so nice and loving.  I love my branch. And district. And zone. They are all pretty great.  

Day 3:

My teachers names are Brother Jenkins and Brother Hollingshead.  My shift coordinator at the temple's last name was Hollingshead so I think about the temple a lot.  The view from our room is also amazing. We can see all of campus and the temple.  So it's nice to just sit and look at it sometimes when I can't focus. I put $20 bucks in my scriptures right before getting dropped off and totally forgot about it and didn't think I'd find it till later in my mission. But today we were preparing a lesson and I wanted to use Acts 17:29 and low and behold, I open my scriptures and find 20 bucks! One of our district goals was to eat lunch together so that's been fun.  We talked about Disneyland the whole time today.  We do these things called Book of Mormon reads and they are my absolute favorite! We do them as a group and it's cool to receive revelation and to here everyone elses insights 

Day 4:

This morning we went and played volleyball with our roommates. It was pretty fun. I also got myself a little hymn book! They didn't have maroon so I got a brown one cause it's pretty close to the same. I met some Elders today going to Perth and I met a sister going to Vanuatu. It was cool to talk to her for a minute. She is going to love it there. We had a lot of free time today.  I love getting to know my district. I will miss them but I'm so ready to go to Florida. We talked a lot about prayer today.  My testimony of prayer has grown soo much in the past 4 days it's crazy. I know for a fact that praying works. 

Day 5:

First Sunday!!! Really hard but wayy nice. Everyone here tells me they love my "St. George skin". It always makes me laugh.  Also, no one told me that BYU creamery comes for lunch on Sunday and Wednesday! Definitely the highlight of being here so far. After lunch we went on our first temple walk. Our branch president went with us and we talked a lot about Initiatories. He said that he believes our birth is our first initiatory. The first thing that happens is we are washed and blessed. He also said he believes our baby blessings are an exact repeat of the blessings we got in heaven right before we came down. It was a cool thing to ponder on.  Today was kind of hard because we had a lot of time to sit and wait before meetings. My companion doesn't really like to talk so it feels kind of lonely sometimes.  I see a lot of people from Pine View and it's nice to talk to them but it's just me and my companion on Sunday's so it's kinda hard.  We had a meeting called Match the Message. It was basically a meeting on modesty for your mission. At the end we watched a video of David Archuleta singing If The Savior Stood Beside Me.  The last verse really hit me and I sing it to myself every night before bed. That night we watched a video called Character of Christ by David A. Bednar. Seriously life changing. It's an MTC exclusive video.  It was amazing.  

Day 6:

We taught our first real investigators today. They call them TRC's but I have no idea what that stands for and frankly, no one else I've asked does either. We have two of them a day.  The first one we taught was kind of rough and put a damper on our moods a little but the second one was amazing.  In class we talked about how we can't let our altitude fall because of disappointments and how you just have to keep pushing through. I ran a little over a mile this morning. It was refreshing. Also, I've lost about 3 pounds in the last week. I have to pin all my skirts or they fall down.  The Elders gain so much weight here because they eat so much and then complain about the food later because it makes them sick. The food is pretty good. And the endless supply of fruit is my favorite thing! They have flags up on campus and they get changed everyday so it's cool to try to find out what the weird ones are.  I just wish they would put up the state flags. 

Day 7: 

We did our laundry this morning and ate breakfast and we get to go do a session at the temple after lunch.  Definitely looking forward to that. 

Missions are tough. Nights here are freezing. A word to all those preparing: ask for an extra blanket. They help with sleepless nights. It only says the word depressed twice in the Book of Mormon. Once in Alma 56:16 when Helaman is fighting the Lamanites and again in Alma 26:27 when Ammon is serving his mission.  Missions are hard. They are only hard because you have to trust in the Lord 100%.  That's something we aren't used to. But missions are soo rewarding.  In just the last week I have felt the love of everyone and have been blessed in preparing to teach by the spirit.  The spirit here at  the MTC is so amazingly strong.  Sometimes it gets hard but you look down at your tag and remember that you aren't here for yourself but you're here to serve the Lord and do his work.  I love you all! I love reading all your emails throughout the day. I always seem to get one when I start to get down on myself and I feel all your love and prayers.  For those of you preparing, stay excited!! It's been the best week of my life so far and I am so excited for what the next 18 months will bring me!

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Here this is the only one I have on my tablet. My camera is trying to connect. This scripture is on the wall right outside my classroom so it's cool that I get to see it everyday.

(this is the scripture on her plaque)