Hey everyone! We are all alive and well here in South Florida! Mum has
asked me to do a day by day on the last couple of weeks so here goes
nothing.
Thursday, September 7th
Today was the day we found out that all of the missionaries were
being evacuated from their homes and into a chapel. This was so we could
have everyone in the same place to make sure everyone was well and
safe. We were given that day to start packing up our house. We could
only take our 72 hour kits and a small suitcase so we started realizing
what things were the most valuable to us and packing it up to take. We
felt a lot like Lehi's family leaving Jerusalem. We just had to take
ourselves and go and hope for the best. The things we took included
letters from family and our spiritual things like scriptures, note
books, journals, etc. The Brass Plates were so important for Nephi and
his brothers to go back and get because not only was that their
ancestors stories but there are so many memories and things that come
from those things. We stopped by the store to buy some more food for our
kits and I got a sketch pad to keep myself company. Best choice.
Friday, September 8th
Today we woke up and did our normal studies. We had a mission wide
conference call noon and confirmed the chapels we would be staying at
for the next 5 days. We finished packing up our house, picked up as many
things off the floor as we could, duck taped our cupboards closed,
closed the last of our shutters, and headed off to the chapel with as
much as we could fit in our cars. Upon arriving at the chapel we met our
entire Zone and the Miami South Zone. Both of us were staying in that
chapel. We had 40 missionaries. We only had 8 sisters and we were given
the relief society room to stay it. The Elders are so kind. We had a
last meal at Wendy's because it was the only place that was still open.
It felt like a zombie apocalypse as everyone was closed and no one was
on the roads. Super weird. We all put our bikes in one room and then set
up some beds that would last us the next 5 days. I got the couch
because no one else wanted it. That night was pretty chill. We had a
Mission-wide conference call that night to make sure everyone was in and
then we had a diesel show up. Our chapel was going to be one of the
distribution centers so we all lined up and started unloading. We did
that for about 45 minutes, got ready for bed, and by that point we were
all exhausted so it was not hard to sleep that night.
Saturday, September 9th
Our first full day locked up in the chapel. We woke up and had our
first yoga class instructed by our Zone Leader Elder Jones. We didn't
want to get sweaty so we had yoga every morning. I'm glad to say that I
am more flexible today than I was 2 weeks ago. We ate some breakfast and
then had our studies. While we were in the Chapel we had a conference
call every morning and night with a spiritual thought and a mighty
prayer. After mighty prayer we just tried to find some stuff to do. We
played a lot of board games and a lot of uno. I had a lot of time to
draw. See pictures. I hope you all got to see the video of us singing
around the piano. It was much needed as we were all worried about what
was going on. After
our little music jam we all ate some dinner and then had a movie night
and watched Meet the Mormons in the relief society room. We
weren't allowed in to go in the chapel or gym because steeples have been
known to fall through the roof. The primary room and relief society
room were the only rooms without windows so that is where we had a lot
of our activities. After the movie we had a mighty prayer then went to
bed.
Sunday, September 10th
The best day on the mission so far. We got permission to have
sacrament meeting in the relief society room so that was a real tender
mercy. We had a testimony meeting after that lasted 2 and a half hours
so we got our full 3 hours of church in ;) I have never felt the Spirit
so strong for as long as we did during that testimony meeting. It was a
way neat experience to have 40 missionaries and our 2 senior couples
just sharing what we know. We lost power right after the sacrament so we
had testimony meeting in the dark and it was cool to just forget about
everything and just focus on the Spirit. Something I will never forget.
After sacrament we cleaned up the relief society room and had some
snacks. We had a huge game of signs, I drew some more and just watched.
Everyone got really good at it. I loved the missionaries that we stayed
with. Everyone got along so well. It was a real tender mercy to meet
some more missionaries in my first transfer. The door we had used didn't
have shutters on it so we got to watch what was going on outside. There
was a lot of wind and a lot of rain. It made me think of the story of
the Brother of Jared. They were stuck in a boat with very limited light
(like our flashlights) and they could probably hear everything that was
going on outside and just had to trust that they would be safe. By that
night there was a lot of tree damage outside. We only had tropical
storms all day that day but that night we got hit a little by Irma. The
wind woke some of us up. It was pretty eerie.
Monday, September 11th
We got to go outside today!! The damage was not bad. We were
definitely protected. Irma was in God's hands. There is a fence that
goes around our chapel and it was crazy to see all the damage that
happened outside of the the chapel grounds compared to inside. Most of
it was just tree damage. Trees were uprooted, palm trees all over, lots
of water. We spent a good 2 hours outside just making piles of branches
and leaves. We played in the puddles a little and got some pretty cool
pictures. Our Zone Leader hooked up a super legit shower in the bathroom
so we all took a shower after cleaning up for a bit. I drew some more
pictures and then we had a huge game of Mafia. It was so much fun. We
played a couple of rounds while the Senior couples were awesome and made
us some soup for dinner. They are so amazing. We had another round of
Mafia after dinner and then had a mighty prayer and went to bed.
Tuesday, September 12th
We would have gone back to our homes today but President Garns was
worried about there being Alligators on the roads so we stayed at the
chapel for one more night. We did a lot more cleaning outside and inside
today. We raked all the leaves and made some huge piles. We caught some
lizards and wore them like earrings which was cool. (See Pictures) We
had pizza for lunch which was awesome and then we all took a nap. I drew
some more pictures and then we played games the rest of the night and
packed up our stuff a little bit. We had a mighty prayer just as a
chapel because a lot of the other chapels were back in their homes
already. We got a lot done that day so we all slept well that night.
Wednesday, September 13th
We woke up this morning, did our personal study, and the deep
cleaned the chapel. Wiped every last handel, vacuumed, swept,
floorboards, the whole nine yards. We packed up our cars, strapped up
our bikes, finished cleaning. Then we ate lunch that a member brought
for us and headed out. It started raining as soon as we got on the
freeway so we had to drive carefully but we finally got home. We got
walked into our little house that had no damage, except for our banana
tree falling in the back yard, and entered the bog of eternal stench. We
learned our lesson real quick. There were a few things in our fridge
that we had totally forgot to throw out and we had to suffer the
consequences. We spent the rest of the day getting our house back to
normal, buying candles, deep cleaning everything, and desmelling our
fridge. We slept well that night.
Thursday, September 14th
We woke up and got to go running again finally. It was much needed.
We did all of our normal studies and then went and visited some members
that our Branch President asked us to visit. Some weren't home but it
was nice to do a little bit of missionary work again.
Friday, September 15th
More Studies. More service. We taught our awesome investigator Mary
today at the chapel. She is full of so many questions. We get to teach
her on Friday with President Garns at his house so that will be super
exciting. We also got a new gator name Keilyn. She is so sweet. She
lives right behind the chapel and has photographic memory so she just
took in everything we said. I can't wait to teach her again.
Saturday, September 16th
We woke up at 5:30 this morning, got ready, and headed down south
to do some service. We had some Costco muffins for breakfast and then
got yellow Helping Hands t-shirts. We got in our teams and headed out.
They put elders and sisters together which was so fun. We got put with
our District Leader Elder Smith and his comp Elder Belnap. They drove us
everywhere and it was cool to get to know them. We had assignments down
in Homestead cutting up trees and just doing service. We all got some
nice battle wounds and went to bed very tired that night.
Sunday, September 17th
We missed our alarm and woke up at 5:38. We got our shirts on and
were out the door by 6. We got to the chapel just in time to take the
sacrament at 6:45 before we headed out to our assignments. We stayed in
Miami until lunch and then headed down to the Keys!! We were in charge
of driving so it is the furthest I've ever driven because I'm designated
driver. It is so pretty down there. There is water on each side that
just goes on forever. There was a lot of tree damage. We drove for a
solid 225 miles that day. We stayed at one house right on the coast for a
couple hours. It was cool to hear stories and just carry logs and
branches out. I woke up so sore this morning. We left the Keys around 6
and didn't get home until about 9. Long drives but fun times. I love
doing service. I love being here for this time and being able to do the
work at this time.
I love you all. We have felt the mighty prayers and seen the
blessings that come from it. This is the last week of this transfer so
next week p-day will be on Tuesday. I love hearing from all of you. I
hope all is well. I pray for all of you and know that you guys are
praying for us. Thank you for worrying about Florida during Irma.
Hurricane is still going strong and we know we will be safe no matter
what happens. I love this work. I love the people here. I love the
missionaries. I can't wait to hear from you all next week!
All my love,
Sister Beckstrand
Our House all packed up and such. Shutters closed. Ready to go.
Our room, all of our bikes
Playing signs, meet the mormons, mafia.
What kept me company. The lion was for my comp, nature for Sister Murdock, butterfly for Sister Diamond and a few more random drawings.
Just some that I have with me still.
My Florida Sunshine for this week:
Hurricane Birds! This guy showed up on Sunday. He was kind of like our
dove with the olive leaf. Just letting us know there was still life out
there.
These next three pictures are before, during and after the storm.
These are some of the clean up around our stake center.
My comp.
Lots of water all over
Our Lizard friend named Zeek. One of the many trees that we cut down after it fell. They all luckily missed houses. The pic of the 4 of us is with our DL and his comp. Elder Smith and
Elder Belnap. They were in our team that we drove around both days
Our very long and pretty drive down to the keys!
Key damage
On the beach. Wore my BOM socks!
Piles of stuff. Huge logs we moved. Main house we were at. The palm tree fell in the pool.
Dab District. House Pic. Drive Home. I have a ton more but those are the
main ones that I have time for. I love you all! Can't wait to hear from
you next Tuesday!
Your cute worker
Drawings to keep me company for the drive. I gave them to the Elders that are serving in YSA with us.
Drawings to keep me company for the drive. I gave them to the Elders that are serving in YSA with us.
