Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: Why We Tell The Story

Hey everyone!

I hope this week in the real world has been a great one as we are getting closer and closer to Christmas!
Don't forget to go Light the World with everyone you see! This week has been a pretty long one for us.

Last Monday we had a zone activity with the Fort Lauderdale zone. We played some ultimate Frisbee and passed a rugby ball around. That's always fun.

Tuesday we had our last District Training for this transfer. We talked about charity. It really is a neat thing. We were committed to pray for charity in every prayer we said. It has been cool to see this week how praying for charity has helped me love every single person we talk to so much more than I did before. I invite you all to try praying for charity in your morning prayers. I promise you it will not only help you have more love to those around you but it will make you more happy as well.

Wednesday was just a normal day of missionary work. Nothing fun really happened. I developed a love for knocking as we knocked our hearts out. But our efforts are never wasted!

On Thursday we met Leo. We were just knocking and he opened the door and it was hot so he was willing to stand outside in the heat with us. He plays baseball and is going to school so he always has afternoons off. It has been a lot of fun meeting with him and answering his questions.

Friday we had a companion study with our District leader. We talked about how when you play any sport it is 5% physical and 95% mental. The mission is exactly the same. Yeah it is hot and humid and there are mosquitoes but when it really comes down to it, it all depends on our thoughts and spirituality. We have started working on dropping all mental limits so we can make room for faith and miracles. We went caroling as a district that night. Our zone is pretty mixed with English and Spanish so our Zone Leaders made papers with the lyrics in both languages for a couple of songs and we switched off at different houses. Lets just say that Jingle Bells should not be sung in Spanish. It was quite fun though.

Saturday morning we woke up and it was cold!! We got in the car and it said 51 degrees!! It was such a great day. We did a lot of knocking in the cold and couldn't feel our fingers but it really brought the Spirit of Christmas that we are used to. We saw a lot of miracles that day as we were able to share the Light the World video with almost every person who answered the door. It was quite a miracle.

Sunday took quite a turn on us. We got a text from Mary right before church. She told us that she loved us and that she respects what we do and understands how hard our work is (she sells insurance door to door) but that she just wants to continue to pursue the Catholic church right now. She told us she really loved the family atmosphere she felt at church and we were heart broken. But her time will come. We are just sad we wont be there to see it.

Because we don't really have investigators right now we have just been knocking really hard. Monday was no exception. However, shout out to Derek Hernandez who fed us that night! He made us some awesome pizza and some of the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It was picture worthy.

Yesterday we had our Christmas Zone Conference!! It was so good! Elder Foster from the Area Seventy came and spoke to us. President Garns talked about faith and how none of us would even be on this Earth if it weren't for the faith we had before we came down here. Faith is what moves us when we don't feel like moving. Elder Foster talked about how we can use family history work as a way to help our members. He also talked about how we are all on this Earth just so we can tell our Father's story. He also invited us to find our part of the story and make it personal as we share it with others. It made me think of Once on this Island when it says" Life is why, pain is why, love is why, grief is why, hope is why, faith is why, you are why we tell the story. So I hope that you will tell this tale tomorrow. It will help your heart remember and relive. It will help you feel the anger and the sorrow and forgive." I invite you all to find your part of the story and what it means to you to be a part of this wonderful plan. And then share it with someone! In person, over text, on Instagram or even Facebook. And don't forget to go to the temple!

I love you all! I am so grateful for your love and support. Keep being awesome and keep loving and serving everyone you see!

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: The weather! It has been nice and cold. And of course, we had hot chocolate with some biscotti as you would. And this is the hot chocolate Derek made for us.