Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: Jesus Christ Loves You

Hello from the warm and bright Sunshine State!! The weather is getting warmer over here and we have been soaking it all in! The Missionary work has also been work and fun all at the same time.

Tuesday night we celebrated one last night with Sister Noftle before she headed home after 18 months. All of my friends are leaving but it has been so fun to get to know so many more missionaries. We had Cheesecake Factory that night thanks to Claudio :) He is the best.

Wednesday was transfer day. Sister Reidhead and I get to stay together for at least 6 more weeks so we didn't have to go to transfers. We did have to go to the office anyway though because the new phone we got for Sister Reidhead hasn't been working so we took it in to have them look at it. In the mean time we got to say hi to a lot of people that I haven't seen for a couple of months. It was a lot of fun. After trying a million different things to fix the phone we decided to leave it with them and go out and work. We knocked and knocked and knocked and then went to the chapel for Activity days with the primary kids. March is their missionary month so we went to go tell them what it is like to be a missionary and what it is that we do every single day for 18 months. It was pretty fun! Then we had Book of Mormon class that night. I love when new members point out things in chapters that I have never noticed before. It really just goes to show that we need to humble ourselves and read every day because you will always find new things to learn.

Thursday morning we had District Training. We have a new District Leader this transfer so it is going to be a lot of fun. We talked all about faith. When we went home and did our studies I read an article in this month's Ensign that talks about how the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. It was only an 11 day journey from Mount Sinai to the promised land but because they had a lack of faith in the delivering power of the Lord, they wandered for 40 years. As people in these Latter Days it is so important that we have faith in even the smallest of things. And when we see miracles happen we need to remember how the Lord will always help us. The Israelites had seen miracle after miracle. So did Laman and Lemuel. But their attitude is what kept them from progressing. They believe in Christ, but they do not believe Christ. Each of us every day need to remember that in order for Christ to be on our side, we have to trust him every single day. Ask yourselves, “In what things am I taking 40 years to accomplish an 11-day task?” And then change. I promise the Lord will help you as you do this. Funny story time: that night as we were driving to visit our friend Bill we stopped at a red light. Now, Sister Reidhead is from tiny little Heber, Arizona and isn't quite used to stop lights and has only been driving for 2 days here in Florida at this point. Well, after sitting at the red light for about 3 minutes, Sister Reidhead just starts driving forward. I informed her that the light was still red and she just proceeded to go forth. Luckily, there were no cars and we made it through safely with no cops in sight. Once we were on the other side of the intersection, we had to pull over because we were crying from laughing so hard at what had just happened. I think there are sometimes in life we are just figuratively waiting for the light to turn green so we can go when really the Lord wants us to take a leap of faith and trust that it will all be okay with his help. Now I am not saying to go ahead and run a red light, but I am saying take that leap of faith. If it seems far, I promise you that the Lord is strong and he will catch you if you fall short. He is just over their waiting.

Friday was just a normal day in missionary life. We knocked on doors for 3 hours and didn't find anyone but we know the Lord is trusting us so we just need to trust him. We know that no matter what happens, as long as we do what the spirit tells us, we are doing what is right. That night we ate with our members the Malinconicos. They are a pretty new couple fresh off their missions and are super fun. They made us corn beef and cabbage in celebration of St. Patricks day. I have never had that meal before so it was fun to try it for my first time.

Saturday was a big day for the FFLM. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a prophet, seer, and revelator, came and spoke to us :) It was the first time in the mission's history that we have had all of the missionaries in one place at one time. It was magic. Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the presidency of the 70 was there as well as Elder Thompson. Lets just say that the spirit that day was something else. We, as missionaries, are literally an extended arm of the 12 apostles so it was so cool to be standing side by side with one. And get to shake his hand :) He talked a lot about missionary work and it was a lot of things we needed to hear. My favorite thing he said was "Don't change the message, but expect the message to change you." I think that applies to all of us. Don't change what the Lord has done but expect it to change you. That day we, all 180 of us missionaries, stood and recited our missionary purpose together. The spirit hit us like a ton of bricks. It was so cool. At the end of his talk, Elder Uchtdorf simply said, "I know Jesus Christ and I know that he loves you. He loves you." My friends and family, the prophet and apostles know Christ just like your leaders know the Stake President. Christ really loves each and every one of us. Not just his missionaries. When the apostles tell us that Christ loves us at General Conference coming up, I want you to picture them standing face to face with him and picture Christ saying it himself. He loves us. When our 2 hours were up with Elder Uchtdorf, we stood and sang Armies of Helaman together. If you ever get a random chance to hear missionaries sing that song together, take it. There was not a dry eye in the room. Probably one of my favorite days on the mission thus far.

Sunday is always one of my favorite days as well. We had one of the high councilmen come and speak to us. He talked about how perfection is pending. It is not something that all of a sudden pops up. The gardener doesn't get mad at the seed for not becoming a flower straight away. It takes some time and the gardeners know that. Just keep doing what it is you need to do to break out of the ground, grow a bud, and sprout into what the Lord knows you can be. That night we went to go visit a referral who lives in a locked complex. We had faith someone would show up. After 6 people showing up to the other building we took a walk around to see if there were other doors to no avail. Just as we were about to leave, someone came. The referral wasn't home but we decided to knock inside for a bit since we got in and we were able to find two new friends that we are excited to go back and teach.

I love this gospel. I love everything that comes with it. I am so happy that I get to be a missionary and help every person I see everyday to feel the Spirit. I love you all and hope life is good back at home. Keep praying. Keep reading your scriptures. Keep going to the temple. Keep being awesome.

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: This picture was taken a while ago but these mini libraries are all over. We always stop and stick a Book of Mormon in. It makes us happy when we notice they get taken :)