Hey everyone that is just chillin in snow right now while I'm
sweating! How was your Christmas? Life here in the FFLM is just as
awesome as usual.
Last Wednesday was transfer day! We woke up and finished packing
and packed it all into the car and headed up to the Plantation chapel to
find our new comps. My new comp is Sister Smith. She is from Sandy and
is just the greatest human ever. This is her fourth transfer here in
Sunrise so it's cool to have her already know the area. After unpacking
and buying groceries we went out knocking and then we had Book of Mormon
class at the chapel. It was a ton of fun! Basically whoever wants to
come comes and we read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and then talk
about it. I learned a lot that night and met some of the branch which
was nice.
Thursday we had our first District Training. My new District Leader
is Elder McCombs. He was in the chapel with me during the Hurricane so
it's fun to be back with some people I know! He got really sick during
DT so we didn't exactly do much and he is feeling much better now. We
just have to keep an eye on him to make sure he is okay. While we were
knocking we met a super cool guy named Bill. He is a big red neck and
was your typical biker when he was younger. We have learned just as much
from him as he has from us. He is quite fun. He has problems with his
heart though and has surgery on it soon so he is scared of coming to
church but we are helping him. We had dinner that night with Sister
Smith's recent convert Claudio. He is just awesome. He used to be a part
of a drug cartel and has just flipped his life around and loves the
missionaries and we love him. He bought us all perfume for Christmas.
On Friday we went and did service at a food bank so we basically
just boxed up a whole bunch of food so people could come pick it up. It
was really fun and we got to listen to music which is always a plus. The
sisters came with us and had to leave a little before us but as they
were leaving the lady in charge locked the gate behind them so when we
left we found ourselves locked in. So after taking a lap around the
building to see if there was anywhere else out, we found our way up a
tree and over the fence. It was quite an adventure. We were planning on
having a member come to a lesson with us that day that ended up not
working out but we knew that our goals were the Lord's goals so we just
kept praying that we would have a miracle MPL happen. As faith would
have it, we went to go visit one of our recent converts and her mom was
there who isn't a member! We were able to share the restoration video
with her and the family was able to testify why the church was true. It
was a really neat experience. I am excited to start teaching Marcia
about what her daughter and grand kids now love.
Saturday was full of a lot of stuff. We met with Bill again and
shared the Restoration. The first vision has so much power. It was quite
a sight to see and 6'5" big guy listening so intently on these little
sister missionaries. He loved it and we just love him. We met a lady
while we were knocking who went to the temple open house and said she
was not impressed. We were taken back and just did not know what to say.
That is the first time I have heard someone tell us they didn't like
our temples. It was something else. We also went caroling that night at
Walmart which was neat. I had only gone door to door caroling before
that but it was really cool to see everyone stop and listen and we even
had a guy take a Book of Mormon off of the little table we had set up.
It was awesome. On our way home we tried to drop off a box of presents
to one of the sister members but it didn't quite work. The little girl
walked outside as we were getting to their house so I just kept walking
with the box (overflowing with presents) like I was going to the next
house and just hid behind a wall for like 10 minutes. It was worth it
though to see the smiles on their faces while we were watching from the
car. My favorite part about Saturday though was that I was able to share
the First Vision for the first time. I have been really struggling with
memorizing it because we never did in the MTC but I finally did it and
just felt so much peace doing it. I know for a surety that this church
it true.
Sunday was fun. We had a combined sacrament meeting with the other
two branches. With everyone there we were about the size of a ward! It
was really fun. I was able to meet some more of the branch which was
cool. I am really excited to serve my next 6 weeks here in the Sunrise
branch. That night we were able to go over to the mission house with a
couple other zones for Christmas eve. They had made treats for us and we
just all got to get together like a big family and sing Christmas
Carols and just be together. We had a mighty prayer that night with the
whole mission. I love President and Sister Garns. I am so grateful to
have them as my mission president. We opened our Christmas pjs that
night and took pictures. It was fun.
CHRISTMAS!! We woke up yesterday and opened our presents. Thanks to
the whole family! I loved all your notes and gifts. Real heroes don't
wear capes. You guys rock. We got together as a zone for breakfast at a
members house. It was cool to be a part of their Christmas traditions.
On our way home, our District Leader texted us saying that his
companion, Elder Boss, hadn't received any presents for Christmas. So we
stopped by family dollar and bought them matching pj's and just some
little things that we knew he would love. Once they got done talking to
their families they came over and opened their gifts from us and it
really looked like Elder Boss was going to cry. It was cool to make his
Christmas just a little more special. It was probably one of the best
Christmases I've ever had. Just seeing him smile a little brighter was
awesome. Then I got to come talk to the fam! It was so nice to see you
all and hear your voices! And that's awesome that you guys have snow. I
definitely miss the snow. We went caroling door to door one last time
after skyping. It is so fun to bring that spirit everywhere we go. One
lady made us come into her backyard and sing to her party. It was fun.
Then we went over to Claudio's with a bunch of the missionaries for
dinner. It was nice to all be together again. We were going to take a
group picture but didn't get the chance to. Sorry mom.
That about it for this week! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas
and hope your New Year will be just as exciting. Even though Christmas
has passed, don't forget Christ in all you do. He is the reason for
everything. Make sure you make time to go to the temple this week. I
love you all! Have a fantastic week!
All my love,
Sister Beckstrand
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