Sister Sophia's Florida Fun: Paul Blart Mall Cop

Hello! I cannot believe I am beginning transfer 9!! That is so crazy! If I could just rewind about a year and stay here forever I would absolutely love it. Also, it's almost August and that is super crazy too. This week was really good but it all flies by too fast!

Wednesday morning we woke up and had our normal studies and then headed to transfers. We were having an STL meeting with Sister Garns so we needed to be there. There was a group of 22 missionaries that went home so it was really nice to see them all one last time here in Florida. They will be dearly missed but hopefully we can carry on their legacy! Also, Sister Reidhead is training this transfer so it was really fun to get to see her again! I love that nugget!! Our meeting was good. We are changing a lot of things here in the mission and are really trying to focus on ministering to every single person. Whether they are a missionary or not. It's been good but it's hard because it takes that much more reliance on the Spirit. But God is good and everything is possible through him. We got home later that day and spent some time at Miami Dade. We ate dinner with the Nilsens and then had a super great time at institute that night. We talked about how every single person on this Earth will go through their own trials that only they and Christ can go through. It was really cool.

Thursday morning we decided we would try and get creative and it didn't work. There is a Tri-rail here that we see every single day and one of the main stations is right next to the University of Miami. We though we would try to go talk to some people there. Well, we got there to find out that number one, you have to have a pass to even get into the station. And number 2, there was no one there. We thought about buying a pass and just riding the bus back and forth for a while and talk to the college kids that got on but then we grabbed a map and there wasn't even times of when the tri-rail would ever be around! So, we left some cards on the desk and headed to find a neighborhood to knock in the mean time. We had district training later that day. Because we lost so many missionaries this last transfer, we picked up a lot and will be getting a lot more this upcoming transfer. So we have a lot of newbies in our district and it is so much fun! We talked about being able to listen to the Spirit and to our friends. At the first Girls Camp I went to with my dad when he started testimony meeting he said something that I have never forgotten. He said that when it got quiet that we shouldn't be awkward but we should be listening for the angels. Well, since being on my mission I have come to realize that those angels are the Holy Ghost teaching us as we listen. I have grown a deeper appreciation for silence on my mission because we know that the Holy Ghost is the teacher so we have to give him time to touch the hearts of those we are teaching. We have been working a lot this week on being able to listen to the Spirit while we are teaching so we can give the message they need to hear. After District Training we headed over to have a lesson with our friend Derek at Miami Dade. He had a bunch of questions for us and it was really cool to apply the things that we learned that day and let the Spirit do the teaching. He has such a great desire to want to follow Christ and do what is expected of him. I love being a missionary!

Friday morning we had ZLC. We met up with the Zone Leaders and the District Leaders in our Zone. It was a good time to come together to talk about the vision that we have for the zone and what we expect for this transfer. I can tell this is gonna be a good one. We finally are for sure singing at Zone Conference this upcoming week so after ZLC we practiced our song. Pray for us. Then we went to Miami Dade for a bit to talk to some people. We have been trying to get super creative on how we talk to people so we tried to start with videos and then we found out that my phone wasn't working so it didn't quite work. Good thing we are missionaries though and know how to just figure it out anyway. We went home later that day to do studies and then we had dinner with Kevin and his family. Something that Sister Dees and I have been doing this week includes our member moments. We made a fortune teller (those things you fold when you get bored in sacrament or at school) and we put questions and a challenge to go with it that pertain to the Gospel on the inside. At all of our meal appointments we have the members play it and they ultimately choose their own question and challenge. It has been the coolest miracle to see that as they testify to us it is something that is so touching to them and helps them want to show others about it too.

Saturday morning started bright and early at the Methodist church handing out food. I love being able to go there with most of the zone. The staff there are all really fun too. We have a mall like 5 minutes from our house and on a Saturday Sister Dees and I realized that there would probably be a lot of YSA there that we could talk too. Well, upon showing up we realized neither of us had any cards so we had to head back to our car to get some and then went back to the mall and were so surprised at how many people there were. Well, we hadn't even been there for 5 minutes when a legit mall cop, on a Segway and everything, kicked us out. We couldn't get over the fact that she had picked us out among the sea of people. We were dying the rest of the day and couldn't stop making Mall Cop jokes. Great times as a missionary. That night we had a blitz with our district. I got to knock with Sister Chugg. We go home together but she is a Spanish missionary so she came in one after me. It was really fun to get to know her. That night the only people we talked to were either drunk or high. I love Saturdays.

Sunday morning we were feeling a little defeated. We had called all of our friends to make sure they were good to come to church but no one answered their phones. Well, we headed to church with a lot of faith hoping someone would come. Well, once we were done with all of our meetings, we were in the chapel and our friend Derek showed up! Turns out, he lost his phone and that's why we couldn't get a hold of him but he came anyway and stayed all 3 hours. It was so cool how much happier he was after church and how much he liked it!! After church we had dinner with the Brown family. Sister Chugg's birthday is today (Monday) so they decorated it all for her and we had cheesecake. It was a great time! That night we went knocking with Sister Dalton and Sister Holbrook who is brand new so it was really fun to finally meet her!

I love being a missionary and being able to share that love with new missionaries is one of my favorite things!! I love Florida. I love the humidity. I love being a part of the Lord's work. I also really love the Book of Mormon!! Take the time to read it this week! I promise you wont regret it! Also, say your prayers and go to the temple! It will bless your life!! Stay awesome!!

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: South Dixie Highway ❤ takes me home :)