A missionary leaves her family for a short time, so that those she teaches may be with their families forever!”

Monday, March 27, 2017

Training!


Look! I'm an ASL missionary!
Ok people, this week was nuts! We had transfers a week early because of the three new ASL missionaries, and it was such a busy week getting all that done. Sadly, I lost Sister Fifield. But my greenie is amazing, so it's more ok. He name is Sister Brumett. And she is from Minnesota. She loves the gospel, and she has an incredible fire for sharing the gospel, and has so many good ideas for sharing it. I see great things in her future.  And she is so excited to find and teach deaf people. And it is still so fun to be signing all the time.

This area is so great. We found a new investigator this week, and he is so golden! He also came to church yesterday, and he loved it! He said he felt the spirit the whole time we were there. And he really wants us to come back this week. It has been a fun week, and there is so much potential in those we are working with. We are teaching this woman who is so great, she told us that she laughs when she feels good, and when we taught her the plan of salvation she kept laughing all through it, and she loved the whole thing. After we taught her the lesson we asked her to explain it back to us and she went through it and got all the most beautiful parts so well. She talked about living with God before, and we come her to follow Christ, and the spirit world the good people go up and the bad people can learn and go up, and she remembered that temples are where we help them, and she remembered everything. It was so great to see her retain that and get the feelings from it. And she said that she really wants to be baptized! She has a date for this next month, and she is so excited.

This week I've been studying the feelings that are needed in conversion and as a missionary facilitating that. I was doing a study in PMG ch.4 that was really interesting. I've always loved 2 Nephi 4, but this week I was looking at it and realizing that that is how conversion needs to feel. It's interesting to see that in D__ (new convert?) as he's been continuing to learn, he really wants to be better and he is getting better. I love the depth of the emotion that Nephi expresses in Nephi, and that the sons of Mosiah feel in Mosiah 28. They were so desperate to become better and to help others be better. It made me want to be that kind of desperate. And it has been really fun to talk to Sister Brumett about the gospel and about what would be good for people and we both get so excited to share it with them because we know it will bless them.

I just love this gospel! I love being able to share it with everyone, and I love the people here! It's amazing!

Love y'all!
Kimber
Sister Beckstrand
Our last morning as companions! I'll miss her!!

So I saw this pic on FB and downloaded it to share with K and she sent back this: You know what's funny?
Trainers & Trainees! This picture was taken on my iPad, it was originally going to just be us in the back row,  it it kept moving forward to get more people in it and because we had a bad angle that it just ended up in the front by the time the picture was taken. It was  really fun. Especially when president was squished in a rather roomy van full of sisters. It was so fun. 
That's my companion! I love her!



Tuesday, March 21, 2017

...walk...Week

Happy birthday Relief Society!!
This week was so busy! And long and exhausting! It was walk week, and since everyone was out of town, we walked a ton! One day we were in the middle of the city, and we walked for several hours to contact some people, no one was home, but we got some good exercise! But then we got to a point where we had to walk home, a two and a half hour walk straight. Along freeways and such. We were way too exhausted for that so we decided to try out the bus system. It worked great. We did accidentally go out of our area to get to the right bus to get us home, but we immediately told our district leader and he said to get back when we could. Then we went home for another lesson with our recent convert, who literally lives next door to us, so it worked out great! That was a tiring day, but it helped us out when we had an appointment with someone way out on the edge of our area with no ride, we got permission of a short jaunt out of our area to ride the bus to the nearest stop and then walking back in to see them, and it was a great lesson, and then back home to do more work. It was a fun experience. And I am so grateful for my previous experience on the bus system to apply here.

Sister Fifield is the best! I love having been her companion. We had a really good conversation last night about struggles she's had and her trying to overcome them. But she told me that I was really able to help her with them, and I'm glad I was able to do that. It's been wonderful to get to know her and work with her. I've learned a lot about ASL and she has taught me a ton about improving my missionary work. So, we got big news this week. This week we learned that I will be training a new ASL sister. We already knew that Sister Fifield will be training, but now we know I am too and we are training in separate places. Sister Fifield is going to Conway, I will be staying in Otter Creek. And, since it's ASL, and their transfers in the MTC are different, we will be transferring a week early. So Sister Fifield is leaving tomorrow! And we are doing the training stuff through Wednesday. Then the rest of the mission will have their transfers next week. It's going to be fun.

In my Studies I've been focusing more on people, and it has been really enlightening. I've also been reading (well listening to) the Old Testament, and the further I get in it the more I learn. A couple days ago I was reflecting on the things I was reading and the restoration, and it really hit me and I really understood better the need we have for prophets today. The Israelites continually needed prophets to stay on track, and they still often went off. I have a stronger testimony of how crucial it is for us to have a prophet today. People still get confused, they still stray, we are no different form the Israelites, so we need help too. I love that that is a thing. It was really cool to learn that this week.
It was a really great week.

Love y'all!
Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

In my followup conversation with her:

A TRUE Greenie - that should be awesome. Is she your first greenie? And straight from the MTC? She'll probably have some good ideas for you too, seeing how she's probably had a bit more "formal" ASL training than you, huh?  

Ya, it's exciting. No, she not my first, I started Sister Esplin too, but we were trio training. And I did finish [training] Sister Ellis, but she wasn't a true greenie. And I'm looking forward to her "formal" training to help me continue to improve. 

Remember the story from the week I got home from my mission? I was at home and my [best] friend...was at her mom's house (she was married with a baby by then) and my mom asked me if I wanted her to drive me over...WHAT? AROUND THE BLOCK? WHY? It was pretty humorous though. Things had changed a bit... :) 

Haha, true! 

Adventures with the bus! 
Love it!
I just love the south! Love y'all!

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Fun, Fun, Fun!

This week was so fun! We baptized D__!! And he loved it. He said that he really felt the difference. It was so cool to see how much he recognized and felt what he was doing.


They are the best!
Also, this week when we went to visit him a couple nights before his baptism his grandson who lives with him that we are also kind of teaching was really drunk. It was a super funny experience. And it really strengthened my testimony of the word of wisdom. And then later that night we went and played volleyball and at one point a lady hurt her knee, and it was so amazing that we all just stopped and gave her a blessing right then and there and were able to do that. In no other church and with no other group of people would hat be possible. And all those that were prepared and worthy to give a blessing were just able to jump up and offer that. No warning or anything. I just love moments like that, except for the part where someone is hurt.  


When we were finishing and printing off the program for the baptism!

Sister Fifield is still super fun. We laugh at everything. It's super fun to work with her.


All week I've just been jumping around in PMG  (Preach My Gospel, the missionary instructions book) and the Book of Mormon. It has been so wonderful to read all over in PMG. I learned so much about everything, and I just wish I could talk like PMG does. I don't have anything specific that I learned, but I learned a lot about how truly inspired that book is. I loved it!

Also, on Thursday, all the exciting stuff happened Thursday except the baptism, w E__ a deaf day and went up to North Little Rock and Sherwood (my old stomping ground!) and saw a bunch of deaf people! And I got to see D__!! And even C__! (D__, the recent convert sister, and C__, a reactivated less active sister that I found) it was so neat to see them and say hi! I love those people. It was a fun week. 

Love y'all! 
Kimber

Sister Beckstrand


Also, I ran into sister Lloyd in NLR (we were both getting tiwi -?- replaced
and she told me that B__ got baptized!!!!!
It was so cool to hear that. I love her!

On FB from Sister Houston in K's ward - Loved having our sisters over last night --they joined us for dinner & a family night on family rules & order and shared some fun growing up stories :)Sisters Beckstrand and Fifield in Little Rock Ward (ASL Sisters)!  


Monday, March 6, 2017

Hats, Hats, Hats & Otter Creek sisters with the Otters!πŸπŸ’πŸ—πŸ¦…πŸ¦πŸΈπŸ’

The area is seriously picking up. We have so many set appointments for next week, we are going to be so busy. And we saw and met so many amazing people. There is a lot of potential in those we are seeing. And we are baptizing DB this Saturday, and he is so excited. He is amazing and so ready for the blessings of the gospel, and his interview this week went really well.

Sister Fifield is great. She's such a good example, and really challenges me to be better. We get along really well, and have a lot of fun.

This week we were at an investigator's house doing some service for her and she took us to a room to show us something she wanted us to do, but then we saw her fancy hats and got really excited about them. She was over the moon that we were so fascinated and loved her hats so much. So then she had us try them on and showed us all of them. It was especially incredible because when we first got here she was not happy that both of the last sisters were gone and hadn't even said goodbye, so she told us she didn't want to study with us anymore, but we were able to get in with her and do some service and she loved it, and we had a great time playing dress up with all her hats. She even gave us each a hat when we left. It was so fun.


Also, we went to the zoo today with the STLs. It was super fun.
P-Day at the Zoo
My studies have been a lot from PMG. I've loved reading the doctrine points and getting the important things from them even clearer. And it's interesting how every time I read them I learn something completely new that I didn't even realize. It inspires me to teach that point better.

It was such an incredible week, with a great zone conference thrown in the middle that really inspired us to do better! So much fun.

Love y'all! Kimber
PS The lion totally peed at us! And then roared a ton! It was incredible

Sister Beckstrand
Otter Creek sisters with the Otters!