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.