#LIGHTtheWORLD

Hey everyone!

This week was kind of just like all of the other weeks so far.

On Tuesday we had a zone blitz at FIU. It was pretty fun. We got a lot of potential investigators. I went on a short exchange with Sister Louissaint which was cool cause I got to learn some stuff from her. 

 

Wednesday we had Zone Conference!! That is always a spiritual high! President Garns introduced us to the new #LIGHTtheWORLD video. We got new pass along cards for the event. I am so excited to get to be part of the work at this time to initiate it. If you haven't seen the video yet, repent and go to mormon.org right now and watch it right now and print off the calendar. It starts on December 1st this week. (It is still weird to me that it is December already) Start thinking of ways that you can #LIGHTtheWORLD with the people around you.

 

Thursday was Thanksgiving!! It was weird to say the least. We had a brunch with some of the members from our District Leaders ward which was pretty good. It was mostly Brazilian food. But then that night we had dinner with the Bishop from the Hialeah ward. It was super weird cause it was all in Spanish. But, we had turkey and potatoes and even green bean casserole with pumpkin pie to top it all off. It was filling and very good. 

 

Friday Sister Schiers and I did some family history work. I looked up some stories from my third great grandmother that I walked for in trek a few years ago. It really is touching to learn about our ancestors. It is also really cool to see people come to the church for that very reason. I can't wait to be able to live with my family again after this life.

 

Saturday was just a normal day of studies and knocking. We had dinner with our awesome members Jeff and Freddy. Please feed the missionaries! They will love you forever. We also got to meet with Mary that night. She wanted to just sit and read so that's what we did. We read 2 Nephi 6 and were able to talk about it. It was nice. We shared the Light the World video with her.

 

Sunday was fantastic. I hit my 4 month mark! Woah. It feels like I was in the MTC like 3 weeks ago. Time is flying by and I don't like it. We had a member speak about his story of experiencing the earthquake in Haiti and is journey to America. It was really touching. His motto has always been, "If God put me to it, He surely knows how to work me through it." I might just start living up to that. Very good words of wisdom to live by. We met with Mary again after church and taught her the commandments and law of chastity. We had a member there with us whose family is all really catholic and she bore her testimony about how it was hard to leave family traditions but the blessings she's received from the church. It was really good for Mary to hear and she told us we could finally meet her family! That is a miracle because we have been trying to do that since day 1 and she always said no. Hopefully I can tell you how it goes next week.

 

That's about all for this week. I love you all!! Keep being awesome! Go out and #LIGHTtheWORLD! Oh, and go to the temple!! It helps a lot. 

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: This house is basically what most houses here look like. I like this one most though because there is a T-rex out front and a stork on top. Thought you guys would like to see the houses I see every day.

The other two pics are us right before Zone Conference this week

 
My Cute District

Us and Mary in front of the Christmas tree at our chapel

We had thanksgiving with the STL's (sister louissaint and brown) and Zl's (Elder vazquez and lester) at their bishop's house. It was a little rough because they only speak Spanish and I only speak English. But we had an actually dinner so all is well! 

No More Candy

Hey everyone!

I hope all is well back at home or wherever you are. As the seasons are fast approaching don't forget to remember why we celebrate them in the first place. This week we had some pretty fun things happen.

On Tuesday we met a girl at FIU named Rikejah. She is from the Virgin Islands and is super cool. I love meeting people who want to listen to us. They truly are the elect that we are supposed to go out and find.

Wednesday we had a zone training which was pretty cool. It's my first one I've done. They do them in place of district training so the whole zone gets together. It's pretty fun. That night we went to go visit a referral we got from the Elders in Palm Springs. He wasn't there but his brother and friend were so we got to teach them the restoration. It was pretty cool to teach with the Elders. I love learning everyone else's teaching styles and being able to apply the things that we learn from them.

Thursday was institute night! If you are old enough to go to institute and you aren't going, repent and start going. It is the highlight of my week every week. Mary came this week and it was cool because we talked about why relief society is a thing. So it was cool for Mary to be there to learn more about what we do inside the church.

Friday we went and did service with the Elders for one of our less actives named Damian. His mum needed one of her rooms painted. While we were there she decided that she wanted to feed us so Sister Schiers and I headed to the store with her and she taught us how to cook! It was pretty cool and the food was way good. I love when members feed us. It doesn't happen very often in YSA but when it does it is so good. 

Saturday we were finally able to meet with Mary again. We also finally got to teach her the Word of Wisdom. She drinks coffee and every time we say bye she mentions how she still doesn't understand so we finally sat down and talked about it. She was kind of confused the entire time so I shared the story of Jonah Tuttle with her and how I know that he is okay today because he kept the Word of Wisdom. She understood at that point and then goes, "Okay. I'll give up coffee if you give up candy." So no more candy for us. But she is committed to keep the Word of Wisdom and keep progressing towards her date! 

Sunday was just amazing. The temple president and his wife came and spoke to us. Sister Fisher started out by talking about how a couple years ago she and her husband were Uber drivers and one night they were driving past the temple and she heard "Stop working and go do my work." So they went to the nearest Good Will, bought some church clothes, and went to the temple. She ended by saying, "When the Lord calls, you go." We are saviors on Mount Zion as we do the work for those who have passed on and can't do it themselves. It is so necessary for us to do the work for those who can't. Her husband then got up and talked about Hurricane Irma and how we all have our own Irma's in our lives. The temple is our high ground where we can go to withstand everything that comes our way. So, I invite everyone to go to the temple whenever you have a chance this week!! If your life is to busy to say your prayer, read your scriptures, and go to the temple then it is far busier than God ever intended it to be. Make the time for God and he will take care of your needs. I promise.

I love you all! I hope you got to watch the Face to Face last night. If not, go look it up. It was really good! Go to the temple. Keep being awesome! I love you all and hope your weeks are fantastic!

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: The mailboxes! These are the only pics I have of some but they are all super funny like these. I love them!

Our new rearranged study room 
My Zone this transfer
Sis. Schiers and I on our way to  church

Entering Transfer #3

Hello!

This week was full of a lot of emotions but not very full of many experiences.

Wednesday was transfer day! We had our studies in the morning, Sister Bingham finished packing, and then we head out to the Plantation chapel to transfers. A lot of people stayed in their areas this transfer so there weren't a lot of people there. I said bye to Sister Bingham and I met my new companion! Her name is Sister Schiers. She is from Arizona and only has one more transfer after this one. She has been in this area before so it has been cool to put what we know together. We are excited for some miracles to happen!

Thursday we met with a less active named Jared. He has been going to the family ward but his records are in the YSA ward so we have been trying to get him to go with us. We went to invite him to institute with us but he said he would only go if the District leader came. So, they came! It was fun and Jared came to institute! 

 

Friday we taught a super cool guy named Daniel. He picked up a Book of Mormon a couple weeks ago that he found by the elevator because he was interested in learning about it. So we went to go teach him and he loved it! He wasn't able to come to church this week but really wants to meet again so we are excited to continue teaching him! 

 

Saturday we had to take our car in to get an oil change and it took almost 5 hours. So we took all of our study stuff and walked over to Krispy Kream and had our studies there. The work has to continue. That night our Stake had a Stake International Night. Each ward picked a different country and then brought food and performed a dance. It was a lot of fun and the food was great. Our YSA branch chose Dominican Republic. They did great. 

 

Sunday was full of different emotions. We got a text from Mary saying she wasn't ready to be baptized this month. I could've cried right there. She said we could talk about it after church. So after church we sat down and she really opened up. She said she is a people pleaser and could get baptized this Saturday to please us but she really wants to do it for her. She doesn't feel it in her heart yet so we kneeled down and said a prayer and had her pick a date that she thought she could be ready by and that Heavenly Father could help her be ready by. So she prayed and decided on February 10th. A while away but she felt really good about it so for right now, that is the date we are working towards. She is continuing to progress and we are excited to see her come to know the truth for herself. 

 

That's about it for this week! It's the beginning of a new transfer and we are excited to see some miracles come as we exercise our faith and find those who are ready to hear the restored truths that we have. I know this church is true and I am so happy that I get to share it with everyone I see. Thank you all for the prayers and support! I love you all! Keep going to the temple! 

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: The view from FIU dorms. We knock here all the time and it is amazing the view that we get to see all day. 

Me and Sister Schiers

Transfer #2

Hey all!  

Transfers is tomorrow and as fate would have it, Sister Beckstrand is staying in YSA and her new companion is Sister Schiers. I know absolutely nothing about her so more details will come next week! 

 

Last Tuesday was Halloween! We had a lunch with our Sisterhood (the sisters that our STL's are over) and then went out finding and had to be home by 7. We came home and got the party started! We had a few kids stop by for some candy but we mostly had the nights to ourselves. We made carmeled apples, carved pineapples, and painted faces. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

Wednesday we had a really cool experience where we taught one of our members cousins. He doesn't want to learn anymore but it was cool to see the love that our member has for his cousin and see that love grow while talking about the Gospel.

 

Thursday I hit my 100 day mark! It was weird to think I have already been out that long. It feels like just yesterday I was getting dropped off. We had a lemonade stand at FIU today and I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. For some reason no one here has ever had those so they were all so amazed by them. Good way to start a conversation to eventually lead to the Gospel. 

 

Friday we didn't do a ton. Sister Bingham taught me how to do Family History Work and a lot more goes into it than I thought did. It is very important to do it so if you don't know how, go find out and start working. 

 

Saturday was a great day. We started off the day by having breakfast with Mary in President Beesly's home with his family. I forgot what it feels like to be in a home with the Spirit. That's the first time I've been in a real home like that since I left. It was such an awesome experience to have them bear their testimonies to Mary. We went knocking after that and met an awesome guy named Mark. He had been wondering why there were so many churches just earlier this week so we were an answer to his prayers. Mary wanted to meet with us again that afternoon so we were finally able to teach her the Plan of Salvation. I love teaching that because it is familiar to everyone because we have all heard it before. 

 

Sunday was fast Sunday. Those days are always good. Just a whole lot of finding that day.

Yesterday was full of weird emotions. We found a super awesome girl named Aysha. We shared the "Because of Him" video and she loved it. She can't wait to come to church on Sunday and we can't wait to keep helping her grow. Then we had dinner with our members Derek and Michael. They are so awesome and always provide us with great food. I found out that they read my blog so shout out to them! :) Then that night we had transfer calls. It is the weirdest thing because you have no idea what is going to happen. I am staying and I am so excited to help the branch continue to grow. 

 

That's about all I have for this week! Lots of pictures to come! I hope you all enjoy! Keep being awesome! Keep going to the temple! I love you all and appreciate the love!

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: Trains! Everywhere! I can hear them while doing studies. It reminds me of Lehi. I finally got a picture of one so here you go!

Halloween fun thanks to the face paint kit mom sent.

 
Our awesome costumes. Don't mind the bad group photo

Cool Shirt mum sent me

our zone

Michael and Derek (members)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Branch Relief Society and President Beesly, our branch pres.

MARY! 

My cute trainer

 

 

 

 NOTE FROM PENNY -

 We got this picture from Gary Carter on Monday.  He rushed it right over to us.  His daughter and her family were in Florida on vacation and just happened to run into her I guess.  I really don't know the whole story and forgot to ask her in her little time today.  But an amazing thing to get.  I love surprise pictures!