Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: Accidents Lead To Miracles

Wow. What a week of spiritual uplifting in every single way.

Last Monday I hit my 8 month mark!! Weird. I am almost halfway and it does not feel like that. You blink and all of a sudden it's three transfers later. That day we went to go out knocking but as soon as we pulled up, the Jehovah Witness's pulled up as well. In the mission we have been really focusing on having faith. We knew that street was inspired to we set out anyway determined to find two new friends. Well we were almost out of houses and as we approached one that had been talked to by the JW's already and we found our two new friends, Edgar and Clarence. They are the cutest old Jamaican's I have met so far out here. We love them. That night we went caroling at Walmart because Easter was coming up. And who doesn't love singing? It was a fun time with our district.

On Tuesday we started out the day strong with a District Training on the importance of the Book of Mormon and using it in every contact. I have read that book more times than I can count out here and I can testify and promise that it is true. It is powerful. And it changes lives. I have seen it done to my own life and every single person that I talk to. Even if they don't let us come back. After District Training we went knocking and found this cute lady named Cindi. She has had a hard life and was excited for us to teach her about the Book or Mormon and have us come back to help her know how she can see her son again some day. Fun stuff. Then we went to go see Edgar and Clarence but on our way, we got in a pretty bad car accident. None of us were physically hurt and the work still goes on. So now we are on bikes :)

Wednesday morning we woke up exhausted but we were super excited to get out there on our bikes and see some miracles happen. The first one came from the car crash. About two houses down lived a guy named Martyn who, less than 24 hours before our crash, had just bought a Book of Mormon for a dollar at the swap shop. He saw it as a sign to meet us that night. So we went over and taught him. He loves science so it has been a challenge to simplify everything a lot but it has been a lot of fun and we love having him as a new friend. We went to go back and visit Cindi but she wasn't there. She had left us a note though telling us where she was and that she hadn't forgotten about us. It made us really happy to see :) That night we had Book of Mormon class as usual. No one was there when we got there so we were worried but according to Mormon Standard time, they all came and we had a great time.

Thursday morning we were greeted by a knock at our door. We opened it to see the Elders standing outside with a plate of doughnuts for us and an awesome drawing of us riding bikes. It was really sweet of them. We went over to Shernette's house later because she has a friend staying with her that wanted to know more about what we do. So we went over and met Shyanna. She is so cool. She already has so much faith in God so it has been cool to help her along this path. She said she would get baptized when she knows its true so now we just have got to help her come to church. That night we went caroling once again at Walmart. It was really a lot of fun. Singing Easter songs and seeing the smiles on people's faces when they walked out of the store. That is what being a missionary is all about.

Friday morning we woke up and had our normal studies. We went and did service with the Elders at the food bank and then hopped on our bikes to head to the chapel. It was about a 35 minute ride and we had to go up and over the freeway. But we made it just in time to help set up for our Easter BBQ! It was a lot of fun! They sent us sisters into the kitchen to help put shish kabobs together. It was so much fun to get our hands dirty. We had a lot of people come and it was so fun to see everyone come together to celebrate Christ. We were there for a while and and then went to see our friend Clarence. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he agreed to be baptized on April 28th. We are pretty excited.

Saturday was so awesome. Last General Conference I was camping on the beach in the Keys after the Irma so we didn't get to watch. This time was so awesome. It is so cool watching it as a missionary. I personally received so much revelation. It was a very neat experience to get to be a part of the solemn assembly. I could go on and on about the things I loved but I don't have the time. Elder Renlund's talk was my favorite as he talked about making the sacrifice of time to go to the temple ;) I promise you it is soo worth it. Sacrifice is a big part of everything we do as members of the restored church, part of God's kingdom on the Earth. That night we got to see Shyanna again. She is awesome :)

Sunday was just as awesome. Especially with it being Easter. We woke up and the sisters had made baskets for us and we had a little Easter Egg hunt in our apartment. It was awesome. Then we went to the church for Conference. There are a lot of changes happening now in the church. A lot of things need to get done to prepare to see the Lord again. The time is nigh at hand. Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance and do everything you can today to prepare to meet him once again. That night we dyed Easter Eggs and had a fun time contemplating all the things we learned over the weekend.

I love this Gospel. I love the missionary work I get to be a part of. I know Jesus Christ lives and that he loves us. You can know too as you pray and study the scriptures and go to the temple. I love you all! Stay safe and stay awesome.

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: Baby Pineapple! We are them all over but I finally got a pic of one.

Our Easter Baskets

Getting a ride from the sisters to conference