A Week in Paradise

Hey fam and friends back at home! I hope you're all doing well and that life is treating you well! This week was more eventful than last! 

Tuesday, our day was packed with training. We've been really trying to figure out how to be better member-minded missionaries. It has been really cool to see how things are changing and looking brighter as we've started but we can also see how much more we have to grow and what we still need to work on. So, like all new things, it's a work in progress. Later that day we went to UM to have a lesson with Sharae. Our member Chelsea came but then Sharae never showed up. Luckily, Chelsea's friend Gabby did an we were able to talk to her! She knew some things about the church from Chelsea already so it was cool to teach her about the Book of Mormon with her having a little bit of background because most of the time people have no idea what we are talking about so we start at square one which is always super fun.

 

Wednesday, we got to meet with Sharae and out member Katee came. It was a really neat lesson! We got to teach her the Doctrine of Christ and it was cool to see how much she wanted to understand what we were reading out of 3 Nephi 11. It really helped us to know that she really was curious and trying to figure it out. We had dinner with Katee and then headed to Institute. This course we are on now is all about Jesus Christ and it's way cool. Serving as a missionary, you are kind of forced to get to know Christ more because you just have to lean on him so much. But it has been really cool seeing how much Jesus Christ can be a part of every single ounce of your being. Something I am still working on. We had a super cool miracle that night! Grant hadn't come to institute because he went to mutual to do a missionary thing and share experiences. He was going to come after but didn't. He called us after and explained that because he stayed he met this super cool guy named Benjamin who just recently moved here from Venezuela. He searched churches around him and decided to come to ours! We haven't been able to get in contact with him yet but it was still a super cool miracle. Way to listen to the Spirit Grant! 

 

Thursday was pretty lame, haha. Not a ton happened. When we were at Miami Dade talking to people we about peed our pants because there was this huge crash of lightning that was literally right above us and then the rain just started coming down and it never stopped. I love Miami. The rain is awesome. The humidity is great. The breeze is amazing. The sky is gorgeous. We see little parrots as we exercise in the morning and huge ones as we walk to UM. There are a million palm trees everywhere. The bugs really aren't too bad. I live in Paradise. We did get to see our returning member Javan that night. It was really dark so it was hard to read the Book of Mormon but we had a really fun time connecting the story of Enos to our lives today. That night we met at the zone leaders house to exchange for another niner niner (where we go from 9 to 9 and only knock and go to campus and find people)! This time Sister Holbrook joined me in Snapper Creek YSA. 

 

So, Friday we started out at UM and then went from area to area and basically knocked all over the zone. Not a ton of people were home so it was really hard but we are working with some new people that I will hopefully have more to talk about them next week! We got home that night nice and exhausted. Got ready for bed and then literally crashed as soon as we got into bed.

 

Saturday morning we got up nice and early and headed back down to the Zone Leaders house to exchange back. We were honestly all over the place Saturday. It's really hard to know what to do on Saturday for us to be most effective. We went to UM but forgot it was football season so all of the students were heading to buses to head up to wherever the game was. So we knocked but no one was home so we visited some people but really no one was home. Was it some random holiday we didn't know about? Who knows. We had dinner with Joseph that night. It was literally a party. I love eating with him. There is never a dull moment when we are with him. 

 

Sunday was going to be really cool and then it wasn't. We are still trying to figure out how we can change that. Sharae was supposed to come, Benjamin was supposed to come, Gabby was going to come, and none of them came. We even had rides for all of them but they wouldn't answer their phones and they haven't get back to us since. And we don't know where any of them live. Anyone have any advice for me? It would be greatly appreciated. That night we had dinner with basically the entire Country Walk ward. They had some sort of party or something. It was a fun time. We knocked with the Coral Reef sisters and met some super awesome Jamaicans. I love those people. 

 

Today we got to go to Zoo Miami!! Third time for me and I still wasn't bored. I love that place so much. It's pretty cool. It's also really funny to see all the iguanas in the habitats. Oh man I just love Florida. It's a great place. I love being a missionary. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I hope your week goes well and you see awesome miracles! As always, don't forget to read, pray, and please please please go to the temple!

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand <3

 

1 Florida sunshine: The water! The reflections are always perfect and for the most part it's pretty clean haha 

2,3&4 Us at the Zoo today! We were literally under an alligator! So cool.

5 Sister Holbrook and I and Elder Acosta and Elder Zemp waiting for the other Elders during the niner niner 

6 Me with my home boy:)

1&2 Exchanging the night before and morning after the niner niner 

3&4 The zone at the Zoo :) It was super fun! The Key West Elders couldn't come but they were there in spirit

5 District picture 

 

 

 

Lina Krey

Hey everyone! So, I had my email all typed out and then we lost Wi-Fi at the church on the computers and while waiting for it to come back on, my email got deleted and it wasn't saved due to there being no Wi-Fi. So I'm going to attempt to send it from my phone. #missionaryprobs. So I'm sorry mum but this email won't be as good as it was and it won't be the same as others but I will try my best.

 

This week was pretty slow. Not a ton happened honestly. I'm convinced that it's that point in the semester when tests are going on, people actually have to start studying, and when the missionaries walk up to talk to them they pretend they can't hear us because of their music or they say they have to get to class and simply change tables. But the work goes on and we saw some really cool miracles this week. 

 

Wednesday we had our Zone Training which was really good. We talked about charity and how it's so necessary. You can be a perfect missionary, a perfect member, a perfect follower of Christ, but if you don't have charity, you have nothing. Charity is the pure love of Christ. With it we can do everything. That is something I have been studying a lot and will continue to study while here so I can have a better love for the people around me. After zone training we met with our friend Sharae at UM! She is from Philly and is so cute and awesome. As we taught her about faith she asked questions that seemed like they came straight out of Preach my Gospel. It was an awesome lesson. She has a lot of desires to follow Christ and even mentioned how she feels like her baptism doesn't count anymore and wants to be baptized again. We are excited to keep working with Her!

 

Friday we got to go on exchanges with the Coral Reef sisters! I got to spend the day with Sister Dalton down in their area again! I have been down there so much since I've been here. It's like a second area to me :) Our day was very busy. So busy that we weren't even planning on eating dinner. We started by visiting a recent convert in their ward. We sat down and prayed and then she made us stand up to help her with her family history work so she could have a name to take to the temple this week. If you don't currently have names that you can take to the temple this weekend, stop what you're doing right now and find some. Then schedule in when you will go to the temple this weekend. It will bless your life :) Then we went to go see one of their old friends. I forgot how much some people love to talk. It was a great time. Then we headed down into Homestead for a blitz with their district. We couldn't stay long but we got held up by a Jehovah's Witness that only spoke Spanish. We had an appointment to get to so I was just praying the whole time that Sister Dalton would be able to get us out of there. Luckily it worked and we picked up a member to go see their friend Yohandra. She is preparing to get baptized soon so it was cool to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and answer some questions she had. Then we went to go see their friend Juliam. At this point we were starving and decided we would cancel our lesson after Juliam so we could eat something but luckily as soon as we showed up, he invited us and the member that came with inside for dinner. #miracles. They had some friends over that only spoke Spanish so we had a great night speaking Spanglish, which I think should be the official language of Miami. Our lesson with Juliam went well and the sisters are going to start teaching their friends as well! After our lesson we headed back to the church to exchange back.

 

The biggest miracle of the week came on Sunday. Sharea didn't come so we were pretty bummed but we were really looking forward to after church. So a little background, when I got to this area Uncle Kyle told me to go visit his convert Lina Krey. Well, in the last couple months I have thought a lot about her but just didn't feel like it was the right time. But yesterday we went. As soon as we knocked on her door I realized we didn't know what to say. She answered, I asked if she was Lina, she said yes, I asked if she remembered Elder Wells, she let us right in. We got to know her and she was so happy to know that he still remembered her. She has been living in Africa most of the year training troops for peace keeping operations and has been home for 2 weeks and she goes back next week. I'm so glad the Spirit told us to go at that time. While we were there she got a phone call and in her call she mentioned that God was looking for her and found her. Uncle Kyle, she said to tell you hi. She and Randy, who has a little family of his own, are doing well. She hasn't forgotten you and knows God hasn't either. She loves you and I love her so much!! After we visited Lina we went to visit our member Hannah. She got a concussion last week and it has gotten worse. We went with some branch members so we could distract her for a bit. She was very grateful and we had a fun time with her.

 

I hope your week goes well! As mum always says: work hard, pray harder! And don't forget to go to the temple :)

 

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

 

Florida Sunshine: Avocados! There are huge ones here that are like the size of your face! The sisters have A huge tree in their backyard. This is Sister Dalton :)

Sister Hammond and I doing face masks

Lina Krey :) 

Elder Wells' contact card 

Most of our zone

 Our branch potluck! (left to right) Back: President Schmeil, Jeffery, Grant, Michael, Andrew, Ricky, Elgin, Joseph, Brother Nilsen

Front: Blas, Sister Hammond, Me, Emily, Melanie, Natalia, Chelsea

Visiting Hannah and some of her roommates on the rooftop

A pic Sister Hammond took of me 

Saints

Hello everyone! I feel like p-day was not that long ago. This week just flew by! 

Wednesday we had zone conference up in Miami Lakes so we woke up nice and early to get ready and be there before 9. Traffic in Miami is a hit or miss. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's backed up 2 hours. Well, luckily the other sisters called us early enough to let us know it was backed up so we left the house at 7:20 to make the drive that should take 25 minutes and got there at 8:52. We were taking back roads that I didn't even know existed. Sister Hammond is quite the navigator :) Zone Conference was really good! We talked all about members. President Hinckley once challenged the church to double the number of converts every year and the proceeded to explain that the only way to be able to do that is through using our members! So we talked a lot about how we can be more member minded missionaries to help our members become missionary minded members. When missionaries and members can unite in God's cause, so many things happen that wouldn't be possible before. So I have a challenge! If the missionaries text you or call you this month to ask if you can go to a lesson or anything they may need, make the time for them! You will be helping with God's work :) The drive home from Zone Conference was a lot longer than the drive there. We were supposed to have a lesson with our friend Destiny but she had to go to class so we had dinner with Sister Nilsen and Katee and then headed to institute where we talked about the character of Christ and how we can all do better to become like him. 

Thursday we were kinda all over the place but we spent most of the day down in Homestead. There is a Miami Dade campus down there so we checked it out! We found a new friend named Amy who is super cool! But after we found her we were walking around and seriously every corner we turned there was another security guard. It was a little bit frustrating so we went and had dinner with Grant instead at Cracker Barrel. Dinner with Grant is always the best and we always end up laughing so hard about the weirdest things. Best times. 

Friday we headed back up to Plantation for MLC. We talked a lot about accountability and how we can apply working with members. Being an STL is cool because we get to be the eyes and ears of the mission with the Zone Leaders to help President Garns get things done. There is a lot of room for improvement in this missionary and I am grateful that God has put me in this position so I can continue to grow. We didn't get home till about 5 from MLC because we came with some of the other Sisters so we once again got stuck in traffic. That night we went to UM and met another new friend named Sharae. UM is a pretty big school so it is really fun to talk to the freshman who are new to this whole thing. It makes me think of a year ago when I was new to this whole missionary thing but the longer you work at something to know how to do it, the easier it becomes. When we give our weaknesses to God, He will always give them back as strengths. 

Saturday we started at Miami Dade. I love working in the morning because the Spirit of campus is a lot better because people usually aren't as stressed but it also isn't near as hot ;) But I do love this heat and the humidity and the wind and the rain and just everything about Florida. After Miami Dade we had a little zone meeting and then we headed to UM. When we got there though there were about 25 buses lined up and everyone was in game day getup. So because everyone was leaving to the game, we left to go knock instead and then ended our night doing our studies.

Sunday we had Stake Conference. We didn't have a General Authority come but it was still amazing. A year ago this week is when Hurricane Irma hit. It was really cool to hear experiences about it. It also was a testimony to me that no matter what hurricanes hit us in our own personal lives, we can always survive! Sometimes we get beat up more than others and sometimes it takes longer to rebuild but we always come back stronger in the end. We knocked after and then headed home for some studies and then Kevin picked us up to take us up to Plantation for the Face to Face with Elder Cook. There was a potluck before that our branch always goes to and this time we got to go! Most of the active members in the branch were there so that was really fun :) I loved the Face to Face. If you didn't have time to watch it on Sunday, as soon as you get a free hour this week, sit down and watch it. The last couple weeks I have been reading the book "Saints" and it really is full of soo much information. I loved how he said that the early church was a church of young adults. It really helped me understand my importance as a missionary at this age and serving in YSA right now. I know that this is Christ's church on the Earth once again, restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. If it isn't a part of your daily activities, make it one! I have a challenge for all of you to start this week. I did the math and if you will read 4 pages of the Book of Mormon every day, or 2 chapters, you will finish it right before I get home in  February. I know for me setting a certain date to accomplish something helps me to do it. So if you aren't reading it right now, I invite you to start. I promise you that God will bless you for making time for him every day and that you will feel an abundance of his love for you in your life. 

Keep being awesome. Keep smiling and keep moving forward! Keep going to the temple and never forget your divine potential as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father :)

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine: Tan lines! I have officially been touched by the Florida Sun and I have the tan lines to prove it! I love it :)

Zone Conference with my awesome comp Sister Hammond

And the long drive there lol

Penny's update...At the potluck Sophie ran into one of her very first members that she met back in Hialeah. Freddy!  He was the one who kept me updated all through Hurricane Irma a year ago and kept me sane!  As soon as Freddy saw her he hurried and took a picture of them together and sent it to me.  Then they took a bunch of silly ones.  I was grateful that they got to reconnect!

Welcome Sister Hammond!

Hello all! I feel like a ton happened this week but at the same time I feel like nothing happened all at the same time. It's weird being a missionary but the best thing all at the same time.

Last Tuesday once p-day was over we headed down to Grant's house. They fed us dinner and we taught them FHE. Grant's dad isn't a member so we shared the restoration and they all said they would read the Book of Mormon a little more every day. They also got Sister Dees some presents to remember Florida by. Our members are the best. 

Wednesday morning we woke up and had our normal routine and at about 10:45 we realized we needed to leave in 30 minutes and Sister Dees wasn't finished packing. So we got her all packed up, got everything that we needed, put all of her stuff in the car and put her bike on the bike rack and we headed to Publix to weigh her bags. They were a little over but we got them under 50 and then headed up to Plantation! We dropped off her bike and some other stuff at the mission home and then headed to transfers. There were a lot of crazy changes but nothing that affects our zone. We got all of Sister Dees stuff in the trailer and moved Sister Hammond's stuff over to our car. We had an STL meeting at 1:30 and then afterwards I said bye to Sister Dees for the last time and then we headed home! It took a hot minute but we got home and unpacked a little bit and then headed to MDC to check out campus. Their school started this week so it was weird to see a bunch of people there. We talked to a bunch of people but no one was super cool. We had dinner that night with Grant and once again got him laughing pretty hard. Those are some of my favorite moments :)  We ended the night at institute where we talked about the importance of our Prophet. With General Conference coming up I want to invite you all to go back through and refresh yourself on the last conference so when new changes come this month, we will be ready to follow the call of the Prophet and hasten the work of the Lord here on Earth. 

Thursday morning we started out with our District Meeting. We talked about the importance of the sacrament and how important the sabbath day is. We have noticed in our work that our friends don't come to church and that is because of our failure to teach it. We have been striving to understand what our testimony of it is so we can teach it with more power and have our friends know that we really do believe the things that we teach. So that is something we are working on. We spent some more time at Miami Dade that day talking to who we could. We are trying to find a way to get a booth on campus so we can be more effective while talking to people. Hopefully we will have made a little more progress next week. Later that day we got to visit our returning member Javan and talk to him more about the Book of Mormon. It was a good time. We had dinner that night with the Schmeil family and the Elders came with us. President Schmeil is coming to St. George in a month to run the St. George Marathon so look out for him! We stopped by Nicole's house that night to say hi and share a message. I love being a missionary and having excuses to visit the coolest members. 

Friday morning we had a blitz with our District at Miami Dade. I love being able to have all the missionaries there because we can talk to so many people because there are a ton of people walking around and there is no way Sister Hammond and I could talk to all the students. After the blitz we had our studies and did some weekly planning. We had dinner at Chick-fil-a with Katee. Once again, a super great time. It was weird being at the mall where it's nice and worldly but I love being a missionary and knowing that where I stand can be a holy place. That night we went around visiting a bunch of people. No one was home but we are just going to keep on doing the work!

Saturday morning we started with service at the Methodist Church passing out food. They were all super excited to see Sister Hammond which was fun. A lot more people have been coming so we have a lot more people to talk to and we stay busy while we are there. We came home and did our studies and then headed to the Nilsen's for a Labor Day BBQ. There were a ton of people there which was awesome. Sister Hammond got to meet a lot of the branch pretty quick which is a blessing. We had dinner that night with one of the families from the Homestead Ward. The Elders came with us and it was really fun to meet their family. They have some kids that should be coming to our branch so it was nice to meet them. That night we went to UM. There weren't a lot of people there but there were a few. That night our dear friend Elder Gazdik was admitted to the ER. He has a herniated disc in his neck and has been in a lot of pain. We are going to go visit him today in the hospital. They still aren't quite sure what to do with him but if you could keep him in your prayers that would be great. 

Sunday was pretty normal. I love fast and testimony meetings. We were supposed to have a friend come to church but he got caught up at the airport so he couldn't make it. There weren't a ton of people at church but the spirit was still super strong. Always is :) We had dinner that night with the Browns and the Elders. Their kids are back in Utah for school so it was more quiet than normal but still fun. We visited some returning members that night and got to meet a girl named Sam who is wanting to go into computer animation. We had a fun conversation. 

Yesterday we stayed busy by just knocking our hearts out. We didn't see any super cool miracles but it is always nice to stay busy. We had dinner with Joseph and Liz that night. They made us arepas which were good. Only the second time I've had them here and I really like them. My allergies have been acting up which has been pretty frustrating but the work still goes forward! 

I hope your weeks have been well! Keep praying, reading your scriptures, and going to the temple! You will never regret any of it. Keep being awesome.

All my love,

Sister Beckstrand

Florida Sunshine pic for last week

Florida Sunshine: this cute leaf bug we found this morning just chilling outside our apartment :)

 Here are my picture's from last week that didn't download for some reason...

 Note from Penny...This is Rickie.  He sent me a Facebook friend request.  He is awesome.  He also sent me his version of this same picture.  I posted his below Sophie's.  I actually like his better.

This week's pictures.  Saying Bye to Sister Dees

Sister Reidhead ❤

Our district 

Sister Hammond and I :) we never took a pic this week so this is our last minute selfie. We promise better ones will come next week!

Our poor friend Elder Gazdik who is taking life like a champ and is still smiling :) he is just in a lot of pain right now and has had 4 MRI's in the last 24 hours and still has 2 to go.

 

Another note from Penny...Hurricane Gordon just went through Miami and Sophie had no idea.  It was barely a Cat 1.  So, the missionaries hardly noticed anything was wrong.  They thought that it was the usual stormy, couple of days.  Here is her response to Shayne when she asked her about it...

   But now it is headed straight to Waveland Mississippi where my niece, Abby is serving.  They evacuated her and the rest of the missionaries from that area and brought them back to Baton Rouge where it is safer.  She will be very safe now.  But Hurricane Florence is on her way and should hit the Florida coast sometime next week.  We will keep everyone posted.  Prayers are always appreciated.