Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: Closest Thing to Swimming

Summer is fast approaching folks and that means so are the Florida storms! Oh how I have missed them and I am so excited for them to be back.

Last Tuesday we went on exchanges with the Sisters so Sister Dees came to Sunrise with me for a day. We had District Training that morning and talked about meekness and humility and the importance it is for not only us to work on those things but our investigators as well. Change is a huge part of the plan God has for us but if we aren't humble then nothing will ever change. after that we went to visit some friends and knock on doors. Around 4 we got a call from our District Leader saying they just got a Tornado warning on their phone and wanted to make sure we were okay because we were on bikes. Well we could tell a storm was approaching but we never thought we would see a tornado in Florida if it wasn't part of a Hurricane. So we went and grabbed our bikes and went to visit a less active member that lived pretty close to where we were. As soon as we knocked on the door the rain and wind picked up so much and she let us right in. Well over the next hour we experienced an Irma 2.0. The wind was crazy and there was hail everywhere. She wouldn't leave until it passed and we were so grateful for her. I know that God will always give us refuge from the storm. Whether physical or spiritual. When we are struggling, as long as we show God we have faith in what he can do, we will always be protected and he will take us under our wing. On our way home we stopped and talked to a homeless guy named Frankie. We taught him the restoration and he loved it and had a huge smile the whole time. It was awesome. But we found out that he is staying in the other Sister's area so we don't get to teach him. But it was one of the coolest experiences I've had so far.

After having a great Tuesday, our Wednesday was pretty uneventful. We knocked and knocked and knocked and knocked and the only person we talked to was the guy that drove by and told us to stop and go home. So we finally went and visited our friend Janice. She is pretty cool but it was a pretty interesting lesson. We were finally able to share the restoration with her and as far as we know she liked it. She wasn't able to come to church this week though so we are going to go see her tomorrow. That night we got dinner at Petes-a-place before Book of Mormon class. It was some of the best pizza I've had since I've been here. Book of Mormon class was awesome like always.

Thursday we had a Sisterhood exchange! I got to go down to the area of Hollywood North with Sister Richardson. Sorry mom, I forgot to take pictures of that day. It was fun. They are a Spanish area so it was fun to put my minimal knowledge to work. That night Sister Richardson got sick but it was a great break to be off of a bike. Their house also is awesome and they have a canal in their backyard so that was awesome.

Friday morning we exchanged back and then had studies. After knocking in our area for a little bit we biked on over to Sister Tyrrell and Sister Dees's area for a district blitz. I got to knock with Sister Tyrrell and almost everyone we talked to was Jehovah Witness. They were all pretty nice though. That night we were able to go visit our friend Gladys and her daughter Gabriella. They loved the idea that there is a prophet on the Earth today. They are from Peru and are the cutest little family ever. We are excited to be working with them.

Saturday brought the heat. It was humid, it was hot, and we have the tan lines to show it. After some awesome studies and putting some more of our area book in the phone we went to visit our friend Clarence. He is so awesome. We taught him about the Doctrine of Christ and were able to set him with a date for May 12th! He loves the Lord and we love him! Also, that day was weird because we realized that it is almost May and it freaked us out. It feels like just yesterday I was skyping home. Now I get to do it again in a month! Ahh crazy. After Clarence we went to see Lydia. She is a ball of light and loves everything we teach her about. She accepted baptism so now we are working on a date and helping her come to church!

Sunday was awesome. We taught Gospel Principles and talked about the importance of sacrifice and how much it means to our Father in Heaven when we will sacrifice what we have to make time for him and make him a priority in our lives. After church as we were riding our bikes home we were about 5 minutes from home and we stopped at a stop sign. The car that was coming stopped for us so we went to go. Sister Reidhead was a little ahead of me so I was following behind and as soon as I went to cross the street the guy driving pulled forward. My brakes have been slowly dying so I tried to swerve but his car best my front tire and I fell over. He stopped and got out and felt really bad. I am 100% and when we left Sister Reidhead and I just laughed at the luck we have had this transfer. I'm glad it happened to me and not Sister Reidhead. I'm pretty sure it has been more eventful than my first transfer with the Hurricane. The Elders came and picked up our bikes for us because mine wouldn't move and we walked home. After our studies we walked over to Shernette's house but she was sick so we tried to visit someone else but they weren't home either so we walked back home. By then the Sisters were home and I was able to borrow Sister Tyrrell's bike and we are all good again :) We honestly didn't have much else happen the rest of the night. We went to visit Martyn and in the midst of us talking it started to downpour and the thunder and lightning followed. We talked for about 10 more minutes and then Sister Reidhead and I biked home in the rain. We were soaked within 3 minutes. Closest thing to swimming here on the mission. You can bet your bottom dollar I loved every second of it :)

I love every second of being here in Florida. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary right now especially here in the FFLM. I know this is where God needs me right now and I am so excited to continue to help the work progress. I hope you all have a great week and make time to go to the temple!!

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine -

Petes-a-place! We drive past it every time we go to the chapel and have always wanted to stop. So we did! It's an awesome Italian place with all sorts of food. It did not disappoint.