Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: Oyster Stew

This week was quite the week but at the same time it was pretty normal and missionary like.

Tuesday we had District Training and we talked about how we need to raise the bar and be more diligent. It made me think of a quote mom put on our locker one year before a swim meet. It said, "When your arms hurt, pull harder. When your legs hurt, kick faster. When your body hurts, swim stronger. When your lungs burn, don't breath. You can rest when you are finished." I think that can apply in anything we do. When we do something or go anywhere we should take all of us. Be focused on your task at hand and don't stop or let up. In a swimming race it is very easy to lose by .001 seconds. If you let up by the smallest degree, you will lose. We have to put our entire selves into what we are doing so we can have the best results. After District Training we went to see our friend Nemisis at work. She is not our investigator because she understands Spanish better but she is YSA so she comes to all of our events. She is from Venezuela and is only here until July when her visa is up so we have been trying to make her feel as welcome as we can here. Then that night we went to go see Kaity!! She finally got back in town and got all settled in in her new apartment. She invited us over and we helped her finish unpacking and had a good time.

Wednesday morning we headed over to Miami Dade for a lesson with our friend Mikhaio. It was supposed to start at 10 but he didn't get there till 11:30 so we didn't have as much time to talk to him as we would have liked but we taught a powerful lesson. It was a testimony builder to me that as long as the Spirit is with us, it will touch the hearts of our investigators. It's truly a blessing to have the Spirit with us 24/7. We spent the rest of the day talking to people on campus because it was the only day it didn't rain this week so we actually had people to talk to while we were there! That night before Institute we met up with Kaity. Mostly to make sure she came to Institute. It was a super good lesson. We talked about the importance of having faith especially when we pray. Kaity had a lot of comments and loved the class so that was a tender mercy for us! We had a birthday party after for some people in the branch and included Kaity cause her birthday was only a week away!

Thursday we went to Miami Dade to find some people and we ran into our friend Skylar! She sat down with us and we started teaching her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were reading 2 Nephi 31 with her and at one point we asked her if Eternal Life is something she would want. She thought for a second and then opened up about some pretty crazy things that have happened in her life. We testified of the power of the Atonement and talked about the Plan of Salvation for a moment before her dad showed up and she had to go. Something I have realized out here is that people just so quickly tell missionaries their entire life story. It's great for us because then we know how to teach to their needs but it's still a little crazy. It always helps me to realize that I am representing Jesus Christ and me standing there with people would be kind of like if He was there Himself. It always causes me to pause and reflect on how I am doing. That night we had dinner with Sister Goodman. She fed us spaghetti and it was honestly so good. I think that was only the second time I have had spaghetti out here so it was super awesome and we had a good night.

Friday morning after our studies we had a Sisterhood Conference! So basically, we got together with the sisters in our area for lunch and talked about the things we learned at zone conference. Because Elder Klebingat was the main speaker he really followed the spirit. Which was super awesome but it led to two totally different zone conferences. So it was cool to hear how everyone took everything in. Then we went over to the campus to talk to some people and we met up with our friend Emilio! We met him earlier in the week and decided we were going to teach him the Restoration but then we quickly learned that he doesn't really know a lot so we had to slow way down and take it one step at a time. So we talked about prayer and having faith. It was a humbling experience to realize that some people really have no idea what you are talking about. That is the joy of being a missionary I think. You get to bring the good news of the Gospel to every single person you talk to. I love it.

Saturday I hit my 10 month mark!!!! Holy Cow. Time just keeps flying but I wish it would slow down. Ugh. There is so much work to do! Saturday I woke up and felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks. Something has been going through my body and is just working its way down but boy has it been a struggle. As we were studying that morning I was reading a poem I got from Sister Noftle a couple transfers ago. I don't know the title so I've titled it "Oyster Stew."

There once was an oyster whose story I'll tell,

Who found that some sand had worked under his shell.

Just one little grain but it gave him a pain,

For oysters have feelings that are very plain.

Now did he berate this working of fate,

That left him in such a deplorable state?

Did he curse the government, call or an election,

And say that the sea should have some protection?

"No!" He said to himself as he sat on the shelf,

"Since I cannot remove it I think I'll improve it."

Well years passed by, as years always do,

Till he came to his destiny - Oyster Stew!

But the small grain of sand that bothered him so

Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow.

Now this tale has a moral, for isn't it grand

What an oyster can do, with a small grain of sand?

And what couldn't we do if we'd only begin

With all of the tings that get under our skin?

There is your food for thought this week. How you can you change the things under your skin into a pearl? I promise you it can be done in any circumstance. We had a district blitz later that day and we were going to do it at Miami Dade but there was not a single person there. So we tried UM but no one was there either. So we found some apartments and went knocking. Sister Goldstein went with Sister Remund and they found us a super cool friend named Ricardo.

Sunday was a great day. Summer in YSA is really hard as far as finding goes. There are not many people on campus and if they are there they want to be there for the least amount of time as they possibly can. So it is hard to find people to teach in the summer. But God knows we have been working our hardest so he sent our friend Anthony to church! Anthony was found by some sisters a while back with one of our members. Well, he was given the day off and decided to dedicate it to God so he came to church and stayed all three hours!! He really liked it and he loved everyone there so that was really awesome. After church we had dinner with Andrea and her family. Andrea just recently got home from her mission in Montreal, Canada so it was really neat to be able to talk to her and find out more about where Josh is going. That night we went to UM to try and find some people but there wasn't really anyone. We did see some flying fish and lots of frogs and ducks though!

Yesterday was memorial day! Instead of having family home evening that night we decided to do a BBQ at the Nilsen's! It was so fun. Most of everyone came and so did our friend Ricardo! He had a great time and got to know everyone really well. We were very happy that we were able to see the branch take him under their wing. I love being in YSA for that reason alone. It is so easy to feel welcome with people that are in the same boat as you are. This Sunday I invite you to sit by someone you don't know. Make them feel welcome. Don't push anything but just be a friend. A true minister of Jesus Christ.

I hope you all have a great week! Keep being awesome. Keep praying and reading your scriptures. I can promise you that any doubts you have can be cleared up by God. I love you all!!

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: it comes from my campuses this week! Water Polo!!!! Each campus has their own pool just for water polo and they are always practicing. Always brings a smile to my face :)