Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: 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. :(