One Year Older and Wiser Too

Man this week was a busy one! I apologize for the email last week. I didn't have a ton of time so it was pretty sparse. Prepare yourself for this one.

Last Monday we went to the zoo!!!  It is huge, so spread out which was cool, and it was so much fun! One of the ladies we do service with took us for free and showed us around. We got to see all of the animals and take tons of pictures. We are planning on going back again later this transfer hopefully. 

 

Tuesday morning we had zone training. We did a training on how as missionaries we are just set apart ministers and have been called to go out and teach repentance and baptize converts. It was a good pump up. After our training we headed over to campus to talk to people. It has started getting hot but the nice breeze makes up for it :) We found a new friend named Maria who was just as excited about the Book of Mormon as we are! Then we headed down to Homestead to teach our friend Devin! We really focused on the temple today and talked about how baptism is just the first step to get to that destination of being in the celestial kingdom. It was an awesome lesson. That night we had dinner with Kevin and his family and talked about the importance of temples and invited them to share their testimony of the temple with their friends so I am going to do the same for you guys!!  Find someone you haven't talked to in a while and share with them why you love the temple or post it on your social media! Let me know how it goes next week! 

 

Wednesday morning we spent at Miami Dade. We had a lesson with Emilio with our member Andrew. We talked about how our prayers are answered. It was really cool to see how we all had prayers answered in that one lesson. Before our lesson we printed off our favorite pages from the Book of Mormon and took them to campus to have people read them and highlight things that they liked about it and then we led it into a discussion about the Book of Mormon and where the stories came from. It was really cool to use it as a finding tool. After doing that for a while we headed to Pincho Factory to have dinner with our member Nicole and Kaity. It was really fun to be with both of them. Then we headed to institute! I love that place. If you are YSA age and are not attending institute, repent and start going! You won't regret it. We talked about how important it is to be self reliant and the importance of being reliant on the Spirit it was a cool lesson.

 

Thursday morning we woke up and headed to see our friend Maria! She has a unique belief of Christian and Catholic so it was an interesting lesson. But it was really good and she loved the Book of Mormon so that is what we are going off of right now. After our lesson we couldn't go down to see Devin in Homestead so we had a video call with him on WhatsApp. It was so cool!  I LOVE TECHNOLOGY!  We read Mosiah 18 with him and then just asked him a ton of questions and he basically retaught himself the restoration. It was really neat. Then we had a lesson with Kaity after. It ended up being a really short lesson because she had to leave for an appointment and we just felt weird the entire time. She texted us a little later explaining that she wasn't interested in the message anymore but still wanted to hang out with everyone. It breaks my heart when people don't want the message that brings me so much joy but they will accept it some day. I have faith.

 

Friday morning we woke up early to surprise our sisters with cinnamon roles! So we made them and headed down to their house but were randomly surprised by the most playful dogs that literally came out of the bushes. I tried to play with them so Sister Dees could leave the cinnamon roles but they ended up eating half of them. It was a good attempt haha. Then we went home and got ready and went down to see Devin. We talked about the importance of making covenants and then set him with a baptismal date of JULY 7TH!!! He is so ready to be baptized and we are sooo excited for him. I am super grateful that I got to be a part of his conversion process here. He's awesome :) We had dinner with the Nilsen's that night and Nemesis. Nemesis moved to Utah and we miss her a ton but God has plans for her over there. It was nice to be able to spend time with her one last time. 

 

Saturday I turned 20!  Kinda weird but super fun haha. I opened my presents that morning and then we headed to a district blitz. It was crazy hot. But always fun :) We didn't have the chance to talk to many people. Saturdays are usually pretty slow. But after the blitz we went and saw Devin and read the story of the Brother of Jared with him and talked about how sometimes God requires us to put a little effort on our part. Then we went to see our less active friend named Daniel. We saw him a couple time last transfer. We really talked about the Book of Mormon with him. I can testify that the Book of Mormon can really changes lives. If you aren't reading, repent!  If you don't have time to read and pray, your life is busier than God intended it to be. Then we went home and finally had our studies. I was pretty exhausted. You always know you had a good day when you are tired. That night we had dinner with Kevin's family again. It was awesome :) His mom tried to make it as American as possible. It was cute. I love that family.  They made me a birthday cake and everything. 

Sunday morning we had our studies and then headed to church. We have been planning to speak for the last 3 weeks but things kept coming up but we finally got to speak this week!  It was pretty fun. I talked about repentance and Sister Dees talked about how God is our Father and how He is always there for us.  At church, our YSA Relief Society president, Liz, brought me some homemade brownies for my birthday.  They are my favorite thing ever. It was so great!  After church we were knocking when all of a sudden this huge bulldog runs around the corner and slobbered us to death. It was huge and so cute and so friendly. We smelled like dog the rest of the day. We had dinner with our member Andrea who served her mission in Montreal so we talked all about Josh's mission cause he gave his farewell that day. I am super pumped for him to serve!! Glad to know I have some connections here to be with him in Spirit haha.  

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!  Make sure you read and pray and go to the temple!  You will never regret it. Have an amazing week :)

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

 

Florida Sunshine: Homestead!!! It's pretty South in our area but we have gone a lot because Devin lives down there and it's soo pretty!!! The sky is always gorgeous, there are a million palm trees, and it just goes on forever!!!

ZOO!

 We got to feed the giraffe!! It was so cool!

  Elephants :)

More elephants:)

I'm obsessed...

Also a Jungle Book moment

 My Zone and District

 The Pincay family and Nemesis.  These are older pictures with Sister Goldstein.

My birthday cake that the Pincay family made for me for my birthday.

Sister Dees, Me and Liz

 My amazing gifts from my awesome friends and family.  Thank you all so much!  Especially Aunt Jelly for a the great poster!  The last picture is of my new raincoat.  Thanks mom.

"God's Work" Feat. D-Dizzle and da Becksta

Hello family and friends! This week was super awesome. I love being a missionary. We saw so many miracles this week!

 

Tuesday we decided we would go to Miami Dade in the morning and see what difference it would make with our work.  We at talked to this guy named Adiel who is super awesome. We were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon and he was really excited to learn more. After we met him we went down to see our friend Devin. Last time we invited him to read the Book of Mormon and when we got there he had read a lot! We were able to talk to him about the gospel of Jesus Christ using the story of the tree of life.  Deven really liked it and was willing to act on the impressions he was given and ask God what he needed to do in his life and we are so excited to keep helping him. 

 

Wednesday morning we woke up early and drove up to Miami Lakes for zone conference! Prior to zone conference President Garns asked us to read a talk about the Book of Mormon. Zone conferences was all about the Book of Mormon and how we can use it so much in missionary work. The Book of Mormon is the Keystone to our religion, the Keystone to our mission, and it should be the Keystone to our testimonies. Nothing in the work and in the church can happen without it.  I have a really grown a love for the Book of Mormon as I've been here in Florida and seen it changed people's life.  After zone conference we had dinner with our friend Natalia before Institute. At Institute we talked about a marvelous work that this gospel is. We talked about how honey bees only produced 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime. If you feel like you're not making a difference in this world remember that every drop of honey can bless the lives of those around us so don't give up. 

 

Thursday morning we started at Miami Dade again. We were able to meet with Adiel and clear up some concerns about the Book of Mormon using our newfound knowledge from zone conference.  It was really neat. After being on campus for a while we went to see Devin. We had left him to read the story of Enos and when we got there he had a lot of questions for us. We were able to use the Book of Mormon to answer his questions and see his heart change and the light of Christ in his eyes. After our lesson we decided that we were going too fast for Devin so that he'd be able to come to church on Sunday so that he could feel our love and of God's love. So we started to fast, we finished working and we went home and ended the night with some super awesome studies.

 

Friday morning we had a meeting with the zone leaders and the district leaders. We talked about the vision for our zone for this transfer. We really want to emphasize how we all agreed to be a part of the work right now. It was cool to once again see how much effort goes in from the leaders of the church to help the work progress in every aspect of this gospel. After our meeting we went over to Miami Dade for a lesson with Emilio with our member Natalia. We were able to teach in the restoration and away that made sense to him. It was really cool. After that we had lunch with Kaity! It had been a while since we saw her so we were super stoked to see her finally! We read part of the Book of Mormon with her and she agreed to come to church on Sunday! We were so stoked and can't wait to continue to help her.

 

 Saturday morning started with a text to go do service.  It was a lot of fun. I love being able to help the people in South Florida no matter what religion they are. After service we ran home and changed and went to go see Devin. He told us that he was going to be able to come to church on Sunday and got work off so he could come! We were so excited. My testimony of fasting definitely grew and I know that it works. Our lesson went really well and we helped him to understand the importance of baptism in each of our lives and what God wants us to do and how we can do it. After our lesson we knocked for a little bit and then we went to Nemesis' baptism!!! It was awesome! We were so excited for her. It took a lot of effort from the entire zone to help her to be baptized but we were so stoked that she was able to make that covenant with God to be able to receive those blessings in her life at this time. Our member Andrea brought a friend that we were able to meet so that was really cool.

 

 Sunday was awesome. As it always is. We woke up and got ready, had some studies, and then went to the church. A lot of people were gone because of Father's Day but Kaity and Devin were both there! Along with that President and Sister Garns came to speak to our branch. The things that they said really touched the heart of our investigators and we're so grateful for them. Sister Dees and I sang a song with Elder Te Hira and Elder McCombs in sacrament. Not to toot my own horn but it was pretty cool. Nemesis was confirmed in our branch which was cool. She was taught by the Elders and was their investigator but she is now a part of our branch and we are so excited to have her with us! After sacrament in Sunday school President taught our branch how to use social media for missionary work in their own life. We also talked about family history work and how much it means to everybody in the world, not just those of our faith. 

 

My testimony of the Book of Mormon grew a lot this week as I have used it more in my work than ever before. I love this work and I love being able to help those around me. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. I'm grateful for this gospel. I'm grateful for my dad and other father figures in my life and hope everyone had a great Father's Day. Keep reading and praying and going to the temple. Stay awesome! 

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

 

 Florida Sunshine: The Zoo Miami!!!! We pass by this all the time but we were able to go today. I will send more pictures next week about it.

 Zone Conference

 Nemesis!!

Killin' it... Literally

Hey friends!  A new transfer and new missionary schedule a little bit as a sister training leader. It has been a crazy week so stay tuned!

Tuesday night after p-day was over we went and had dinner with Kevin and his family, Nemesis and Kaity. It was a little goodbye party for Sister Goldstein. We got ice cream with them and went home and kept packing.

 

Wednesday morning consisted of a lot of packing the car, picking up some Elder's things that didn't fit in their car, and being on the road by 8am to get up to the Plantation chapel. Sister Goldstein had to be there early for the training meeting. While they were in there we headed over to the college campus nearby to talk to people. And, get this, I got to be with Sister Reidhead!!!! It was so much fun to get to see her again. We had fun in the sun, got some Chick-fil-a and then headed back to the chapel for transfers. We got a lot of new missionaries this transfer and there were a lot of changes that needed to happen so there were a lot of people at transfers. It was pretty fun to see everyone. Reuniting with Sister Dees was so fun! We had a short STL meeting with Sister Garns, packed up the car, and headed home. We had to take some Elder's stuff back too because they had to fit 5 Elders in their car. So we dropped off their stuff, went and got groceries, and then headed home and unpacked the car. Sister Dees settled in a bit, we ate some dinner, and then we headed over to Miami Dade before Institute. At institute we talked about spiritual gifts that we have. They are gifts specific to us from God so we should be willing to search them out and grow in our gifts so we can use them to bless others. 

 

Thursday morning we had district training. We have some new people this transfer so it was nice to meet everyone. We talked about our accountability. In life we are all accountable for one thing or another. On a mission you are accountable for every single thing that you do every second of every day. After District Training we headed over to Miami Dade for a lesson with Emilio. It was so awesome! He has been reading the Book of Mormon! We talked about enduring to the end and how the best way to do that is to read your scriptures and pray. His faith has been growing so much and I have loved having the opportunity to be able to teach him. After our lesson we met with our Zone Leaders to go over some stuff that we needed to know about our zone. However, we are all pretty new down here and have no idea what is going on. It took a hot second but we all figured out our needs in the Miami South zone right now and are so excited for what this transfer has in store. Then we headed down south to visit a member referral from a girl in Missouri. He wasn't home but we were pretty south and knew there was a reason God wanted us down there.  So we picked a former investigator to go visit named Devin. We showed up and he was super cool! He has met with the missionaries a lot and was very open to talking about repentance. We were able to share scriptures with him and help him feel the Spirit again in his life. We can't wait to continue working with him. But as we were talking we finally realized it was getting late so we hurried home. On the way home, trying not to be late, as we got off the freeway exit I saw something move. I was going pretty fast but slowed down as it started to cross. I slammed my brakes as it kept going and it got really quiet. As soon as I realized it was a possum, my front tire hit it followed by my back tire. Needless to say, we were still late and I killed a possum in the process. We're killin' it. 

 

Friday morning we woke up nice and early and headed to the mission home for Mission Leadership Conference. All the zone leaders and sister training leaders come together for a meeting to talk about how the mission is doing, how we can improve, and how we can be better leaders. I got just a small glimpse at how much the leaders do not only in the mission but in the entire church. Always be willing to go to your leaders for anything you need. You have no idea how much they love you and care about you and are willing to do anything for you. I love this opportunity to be an STL with Sister Dees. After it was over we had some lunch and headed home. We brought some other sisters with us and on the way to drop them off we had to take a million detours just to get off the freeway because of the construction. I am not the biggest fan of Miami traffic and construction and will never live down here for that reason alone. It stresses me out man. But we eventually got them home and we eventually got home. Once we changed we headed down to Homestead! Remember that member referral we tried to visit yesterday? Well, we were able to see him today and he is so cool! Brian let us right in and expressed some needs in his life. We were so excited to talk about faith and repentance and how they can bless our lives. The Spirit was so strong and he really saw how events in his life had led to that moment of us sitting on his couch. Pretty cool.

 

Saturday morning we had a lot of studies and planning to do for our sisters so we got that all done and then headed to a summer BBQ for all the graduating seniors and our branch at the Nilsen's house. It was fun for Sister Dees to finally meet some of the branch, and Brian came!! Our branch embraced him and he had a lot of fun. He even brought his Book of Mormon with him :) We took a selfie. Then we left and had a district blitz and I got attacked by mosquitoes. It has been a while. But those little buggers found me again. For some odd reason they never ever bite my arms or my face or neck, but they go straight for my feet. I just counted at least 35 between both feet. They itch like crazy but Benadryl itching cream is a miracle worker. 

 

Sunday morning I was working on finishing my talk that I was asked to give that I didn't have to end up giving because our high council man showed up a week earlier. So now I am a week ahead! Church was super awesome. Most everyone was there and Brain came!! He had work in the morning and showed up halfway through Sunday school but hey, he was there and had a great time. After church we sat down with him and some of our members and we taught him about the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ. The lesson was honestly a little rushed but the Spirit was there and that's what matters most. After our lesson we had dinner with the Nilsen's and Nemesis. Always good food. Always a good time. Then we went and knocked with the Sisters in Coral Reef South, Sisters Dalton and Villanueva. They are so cute! Sister Dees and Villanueva got caught up teaching a lesson and it was pretty late so needless to say, we were late getting home again. Darn it. But, esta bien, because we have committed to do better at it. 

 

I hope you are all having a great time back at where ever you may be. The Sunshine State is officially always in clouds of rain or mosquitoes, there are always puddles, the humidity is slowly creeping up on us, but I love every second of it. I hope life is good! Don't forget to read, pray, and go to the temple! Stay awesome!!

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

 

Florida Sunshine: Mosquito bites. I'm trying reverse psychology and hopefully if I start liking them, they will stop coming. My poor feet. :(

Us and Brian

The beautiful sunset that we get to see every day. 

Sister Smith and Sister Jolley at MLC

Our awesome Zone: left to right

Elders Te Hira, Lorimer, Mccombs, Gorze, Mendoza, Acosta, Lopez, Bishop, Masberat

Sisters Dalton, Villanueva, Dees, ME, Thorne, Remund

Winds in The East, Mist Coming in,

Like somethin' is brewin' and bout to begin. Can't put me finger on what lies in store,

but I fear whats to happen all happened before. 

 There are changes coming and also storms haha. A great time here in the Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission! 

 

Last Wednesday we woke up as normal and got ready and had studies and then headed to the church for district training. We talked about diligence and love and how the two go hand in hand. In the mean time we also had our interviews with President Garns. We talked a lot about our goals and ways to accomplish them. So over the next couple week I am going to be focusing on memorizing scriptures and using them at every opportunity so they can stick in my head and be a good use. We also had a training from our zone leaders on repentance and how important it is for not only us to understand how repentance works but for our friends to understand it as well so they can have full access to the power of Christ's Atonement that was so freely given to us. That night we had Institute at the church. We talked about being financially stable and trying our hardest to not go into dept. Sometimes it is necessary but we should still be trying so God can help us. And the best way to do that is to consistently pay your tithing and make sure you are following God's council in your life and doing what He wants you to do.

 

Thursday morning I was reading the story of Joseph in Egypt during my studies. Joseph had a pretty hard life. His mom died, his brothers hated him, and he was stuck in prison for a couple years because everyone forgot about him. But Joseph never lost his faith. He kept praying and eventually he got out and was able to be an amazing instrument in God's hands. I have a quote on my wall that says "God found Gideon in a hole. He found Joseph in prison. He found Daniel in a lion's den. Next time you feel unqualified to be used by God remember this: He tends to recruit from the pit, not the pedestal." Life is hard. No one said it would be easy. But if we remain true and faithful, God will always keep his promises with us and make sure everything works out alright in the end. We had a lesson with our friend Emilio later that day. Our member Katee came with us. It was a cool lesson. We took our zone leaders advice and had an entire lesson on repentance. Because Emilio doesn't have a lot of religious knowledge it was cool to see everything click inside of his mind as we taught him. We then saw Kaity later that night with our member Liz. We finished the rest of the Plan of Salvation that we hadn't taught yet and the Spirit was so strong. We started to talk about temples and she loved the idea of everyone getting a chance to be with God. We talked about how we can also be a family for eternity and she immediately asked us if she could still be baptized on June 9th. She was so excited! She hasn't come to church yet though and she has to 3 times before baptism so that is our next step with her.

 

Friday was the first day in June. We quickly learned that the first 2 weeks of June are the hottest. It hasn't started to rain quite yet so it's dry but it reminds me of home. It's only been 94-96 this week so it really isn't that bad but hurricane season has officially begun so we are starting to prepare now and we can feel a shift in the weather. We saw Kaity again and taught her the commandments. I remember going with the sister missionaries to a lesson when I was younger and them doing the hand motions for the commandments but I could never remember them. Luckily, Sister Goldstein knows them so we got to learn together haha. Then we got to see Emilio again with Katee. One of my favorite lessons so far on my mission. We talked about baptism and the Holy Ghost. He was smiling the entire time!! He had awesome comments and we were happy to answer his questions.

 

Saturday morning started bright and early with service. We pack up bags of food at a Methodist Church and hand them out to the people that come through. It's pretty fun and they feed us doughnuts so it's a win win for us. After service we went home and had our studies and then went knocking with the other sisters in our district. It was pretty fun. We talked to a bunch of people. But other than that it was a pretty normal and boring day in the missionary life haha. Always have to have those once in a while. 

 

Sunday. What a blessed day. We woke up and got ready and then headed to the church for our branch missionary correlation and then had branch council. I had to use the bathroom the entire time so as soon as we got done we shook hand and were heading out when I walk to the door and see Aunty Jo standing there with Uncle Kyle. My eyes got huge and I couldn't believe that they were actually standing there in front of me. Biggest surprise ever. I gave Aunt Jelly a huge hug and needless to say, I didn't end up using the bathroom for 3 more hours. They were here for Kyle's job and showed up for fast Sunday with the YSA :) This was Uncle Kyle's first area so he just kinda wandered around the entire time haha. It was really nice to have them there though. We had to teach Gospel Principles last minute so it was pretty all over the place but pretty good. Sadly Kaity wasn't able to come to church but we are going to get her here next week!! After church we had a farewell party for Andres because he leaves to the Ghana MTC this Thursday and is serving in Sierra Leon Africa. We are super excited for him.That night we went to visit our friend Nemesis. She is here from Venezula and has been for a few months. She has taught herself English and is taking the lessons from the Elders. However, Sunday morning she ended up in the hospital and had to have surgery. She is currently staying with one of our members though so that night we stopped by before we headed home to make sure she was okay. It was nice to be with her and to see how much love our branch has for her. 

 

Yesterday morning we started at the Doctors office for Sister Goldstein so she could try and figure out what is wrong with her head. After that we came home and had our studies and then went to the church to have a district blitz at Miami Dade. Well, during the blitz we got a call from President Garns extending the call for Sister Goldstein to train and for me to become a Sister Training Leader. We both accepted but got a little stressed. We finished the blitz and did some area book stuff and then had dinner with the Nipper family. When they found out we both might be leaving their daughter Abby gave me a build-a-bear that I am taking home with me. They are the cutest. We stopped by to see how Nemesis was doing again and then we had FHE at the church and played some minute to win it games. It was a ton of fun. We headed home and waited for the dreadful transfer call. Sister Goldstein is going up to the area of Tamarac in my last zone. I am staying in Snapper Creek with my new companion Sister Dees and we will be serving as the Sister Training Leaders. I am so excited and so ready to see what the summer has in store for us here. 

 

I hope you all are having a great time as the summer is starting!  Amidst all your activities and vacations, make sure you still have time to read, pray, and go to church. And take advantage of all this time to attend the temple!!  I love you all so much!  Stay awesome! 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

 

Florida Sunshine: Parrots! We have a bunch of little ones that live in a tree by our house, like a hundred of them. But every once in a while on campus we will see these 3 big guys flying around and getting their exercise. It's awesome!

Our awesome branch :)

Other member Nicole who wasn't there for the group

Visiting Nemesis with Liz and Joseph

 

Aunt Jelly and Uncle Kyle! 

Sister Goldstein and I

 Penny's side note...Here are some picture's that JoEllen sent to me.  Saturday they went to a temple session where they saw a couple in that looked really familiar so they went and talked to them to see who they were and found out that they were President and Sister GARNS!!  Oopies!!  They had a nice conversation about how the FFLM was Kyle's mission and about how wonderful they all thought Sophie was.  As soon as JoEllen got out of the temple she tried to call us but no one was answering, but then she realized it was because we were all in the Timp Temple at the very same time with Josh taking out his endowments for his mission.  Nice to know that clear across the country we were all doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing.   It was very reassuring to me today that she was called to be a Sister Trainer.  I thought maybe she would get in trouble.  Not that she had any idea.  Anyway, they found her apartment Saturday night but didn't knock.  Just took some silly picture's and got giddy knowing that on the other side of the door was their niece serving the Lord.  Hopefully asleep. They also went to find Kyle first apartment when he was a missionary there and they said that Sophie's building was much nicer.

Kyle's first chapel is the same one that Sophie is currently serving in but different wards!  Kyle loved going around to the different places in his area and meeting up with old friends.  They even had dinner with some friends that said that they fed the Sister's the week before and of course had no idea that the were feeding his niece.  But they do now!  It was so funny and was such a great experience.