Transfers and temples!!!!!

Hey, so not a lot of time today, but a lot has happened this week. First, and best, I got to go to the temple today!!! It was amazing. And the Bartlett temple is gorgeous. And tiny. I loved it!

Then, I got transferred!!! I'm in Millington, Tennessee now. My new companion is Sister Ellis. She's from Arizona, near Phoenix.

It was a fun time in Sherwood. We had a day exchange this week with Sister Decker and Sister Hirschi. I got to spend all day with Sister Decker, and we had a great time. We had so many lessons that day it was incredible. All transfer it has been hard to do work in Sherwood. We didn't have a lot of interested people to teach, and that day it all turned around. From that point on we have been busy busy with people to see. It was really fun.

We had Sister Forsyth with us this week, she was really fun to be with. She also helped a lot with some lessons that would have been rally tough without her. She is super cute. I like her. I'm really going to miss her and especially Sister Esplin, but I'm excited to start working in this new area and get to know the people here. It's going to be a great week!

Love, Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

The threesome before transfers...

Four generations!!

😰 No more walking!

So this week was a little rough. First, we ran out of miles. Little Rock is so far that living there took a big toll on our miles before we moved. So we walked, for three days we did pretty good walking to all the places we needed to go. First, we walked all the way from our apartment along Warden Road to a road about 2.8 miles away. That took about an hour. Then that night we walked 1.5 miles to the church, which took 30 minutes and then to dinner, 0.9 miles for about 20 minutes and then home, 2.7 miles which was another hour. Then the next morning we walked back to the church 3.5 miles away from our apartment, that took 1 hour and 20 minutes. We were on time for our ride to lunch. But completely exhausted and overheating a little bit. We were finding for all that time, but Sister Esplin's ankle did not like it and it was hurting her pretty bad, so we got permission for more miles and no walk week, but we have to be super sparing about it and ride with members whenever possible. But no more walking, doctor's orders. Sprained ankles cause problems as a missionary, but Sister Esplin is a trooper getting the work done even though it hurts. Over all in those two days we walked 11.4 miles in 4 hours of walking this week. We were so sore and tired. It was fun though. We feel like we accomplished a lot.

Then it turned out we had been handing out Spanish cards all along. Oh what a week! Also, all the people we have been teaching have disappeared. So we are officially starting over again. It's kind of funny, our focus now is all finding, but we're not supposed to walk... ☺️ Well, we'll just take it slow and knock every house on streets we feel inspired to go to.

We've been doing a lot of RCLA (recent convert/returning member) work lately. We have more  lessons with them than investigators. We have found great success with them so far.

It was a good week, but no exciting stories to tell, sorry. The women's broadcast was really good, and out recent convert, Donna, came to that. It was great.

Love y'all!
Sister Beckstrand

Walking in the Arkansas heat...

...we are so tired. (But still smiling!)

Poor Sister Esplin! :(

 

Testimonies and miracles

Hey all! It's been a crazy week, on Monday we lost sister Evans :( so we spent this week figuring out our lives without her. We're finally getting it by the end of  the week. It's also really weird to be in a duo companionship rather than a trio ;) So we should be moving hopefully tomorrow, but at least this week. So we're still in the transfer apartment. And training has been fun. It's not that bad, especially  since Sister Esplin is such an amazing missionary already. It's like she's  pre-trained. It's been really good.

Also this week, there are 21 more new missionaries!! And the apartment we are in right now just so happens to be the transfer apartment. So there were five other sisters staying there besides us. And we had to drive them to and from the church in the morning and at night. It's a good thing we have the van. (And hopefully we are moving sometime this week.) Then on Thursday when they sent all the new missionaries out to their areas with their trainers, they had to take 26 people to the Memphis side, and so they took our car; so we had an extra walk day. Then they kept the car all day, so we ended up helping out in the office a bit dealing with the new missionaries paperwork. It was really fun. I actually like the tedious office work. Is that weird? I like it though. Then this week we finally saw an investigator that we haven't been able to see for a couple weeks, and she had a baptismal date for really soon. And she came to church! We are really excited to be working with her again.

It was a good week, it took a few days, but we are back on our feet figuring things out. This week has been full of learning and miracles. Also, I have seriously loved the things I've been reading in the Book of Mormon this week. I read a lot of prophets testimonies, and the blessings they see in their lives and those of the nation they are with. It's really cool to see the things that are important to them and how in the hard time they always saw how God used it for the good of the people.

One big miracle this week happened yesterday, so starting at the beginning, our first week here we saw a less active couple, we only saw the wife for a minute and then she went into the room because she wasn't feeling good, and her husband told us that she never stayed when the missionaries came over, that she might have some beef with the church or something, but he's not sure. Now he would be at church if he could drive, but he can't anymore, and he doesn't want to push her so he doesn't come. So, for all of last transfer I've been
periodically thinking of her and praying for some opportunity to serve her and be able to talk to her. Then yesterday we finally felt like it was a good time to go back and see this couple again. When we came he welcomed us in, and as we walked in we saw his wife in the office printing a bunch of papers for school. She teaches kindergarten, and we got talking about it, (Sister Esplin is going into elementary education). We were able to have a nice long conversation with her. Just standing there and talking about her life. Then we asked if we could leave a thought after about half an hour or fourth five minutes, and she came out of the office and we all sat on the couch and we read 2 Nephi 32:9. They both really liked it. And before we left we gave them our number and told her to call us if she ever needed service of any kind. She said she would when she started cutting out stuff for school. My prayers have been answered!! We were able to talk to her, we build a good relationship and, more specifically, we found a way to serve her!!! It was great. I'm so excited.

It's been a great week.

Love Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

So I emailed her back and asked if anybody knew it was her birthday, and whether she'd gotten the package we sent her. I got this back: 

Thank you! Ya, people know it's my birthday. The whole office sang to me this morning. It was fun. One of our investigators wants to make a cake with us today. It's been really fun. Sister Esplin sang me all the birthday songs in the children's songbook. It was really fun. 

That really soothed my mother-heart that someone else was remembering her, and singing to her since we can't. Then a few minutes later I got an email from the mission secretary saying that a package had arrived but had been opened. She described what was inside, and I wrote back, "The fudge is missing! Too bad!" Then I got this:

Ok, the fudge did come, and I opened the package because it was a little ripped, and I stuck the fudge in the fridges do then left the package on the table next to sister Hugentobler's desk all weekend so I wouldn't be tempted to open my presents. And the fudge was in the office fridge because I haven't wanted it to melt in the car because we are so far away from our apartment right now. 

Then tonight at a RS activity, a sister from my ward turned to me and said, "I saw your daughter on Sunday!" Turns out she had gone to visit her brother and his family in North Little Rock and she recognized Kimberly there!! What a small world when you are in the Church.

I'm enjoying getting two sides of the story lately since I found Sister Esplin's blog! Now with this link, Kimberly will eventually be able to read it too!

Walk Week, Bikes, Exchanges...and Discussions by Telephone?!

Guess what? This week was the first time I have ridden a bike all mission! it was only to the leasing office of our apartments and back to our apartment because our ride was here. But, it was very fun. This week was walk week. It was really exhausting. But not too bad, we just had to coordinate rides with members a lot.

Dinner!! Probably the best part of the day. It could happen. Plus Sister

Hugentobler is the cutest lady ever! We just love her.

 The ward is is really great. They are all so helpful. The only issue was that because it was the week before school starts there were a ton of people out of town. So that was hard, but other than that we had a lot of help.

We also went on exchanges! Sister Esplin's first exchange! It was great. Sister Hirschi came down here with Sister Esplin, and Sister Evans and myself went up to Conway with Sister Skordas. We had a great time. Lots of things learned, and great relationships built.

Ok, I don't know what to write about this week. It was a good week. It rained a lot. That as fun. We had great lessons with people. We also had my first two lessons over the phone. They really work. Plus they were with the same person. I feel like that will be a useful tool in teaching that I'm going to keep using. Lesson over the phone are great for people who are always busy when you are over, and people who are never home. And they work out surprisingly good. It was fun.

Sister Esplin has been feeling sick this week, so we had to stay in one day. But because we are a trio, we were able to have members go out with one of us healthy ones go to appointments that we had scheduled that day. It was a really great stretching opportunity for me to go out and be THE missionary in the lesson who had to keep it on track and end with a good commitment all by myself. The member was a great help.

Also, as of today, it's been two weeks since we've been bugged ;) by the bed bugs!! Looks like we might be in the clear (keep your fingers crossed). It was a really great week.

Arkansas is beautiful!

Love Kimber
 

Look what we did! President asked us to make it look pretty, so we did our best.

Before...

After!

🌂⛈🌦☔️

This week was super busy. We have had really good lessons with a couple investigators. We also got a referral of an investigator that has been working with missionaries for almost a year. She really wants to work with sisters, and we have high hopes for her. She set her own baptismal date for the 3 of September. It's so exciting. We are working closely with three people that are really close to baptism. One of them just needs to set a date. She (well really two of them) could baptized this week!

There were a lot of promptings that we could really notice this week. One day we were out trying to contact a member way out in the boonies. And they didn't answer, so we knocked on another door, like we're asked to. A guy came out and we started talking to him. Then he went over to his car and tried to open it to get something out, then he said he was going to go inside to get the keys and said to wait for him to come back out. While he was inside Sister Esplin said this didn't feel good, Sister Evans and I agreed, so when he came out we just gave him a card and left. As we drove away we looked at him through the window, and he was holding this giant knife. It was crazy!! We were just so grateful for the spirit that day. 

It also rained a ton this week. We really needed our umbrellas ☔️. I have to say, I love all the rain. It's really fun to walk through it, with and umbrella and without. It's super fun. Even when the roads are flooding (which they seriously do here every time) and it's a little scary to drive, I love it!! Especially the thunder. Lightening and thunder is incredible here. There is a member in out ward who's house was struck by lightening a couple weeks ago, and she said that she looked out the window when that happened and she could see the blue and orange electric waves going around and around the house. Really freaky to hear about, and incredible show of mother natures power. All week I have been thanking Heavenly Father for his beautiful gift of this world. It truly is gorgeous.

Love Kimber

Sister Beckstrand

Now this is serious commitment!

We are now off chocolate until Dana quits smoking and is baptized. Pray that she has the strength she needs!

We are now off chocolate until Dana quits smoking and is baptized. Pray that she

has the strength she needs!

We are now off chocolate until Dana quits smoking and is baptized. Pray that she

has the strength she needs!

Our little greenie is always stuffed in the back with a ton of stuff (it's worse 'cuz of the bed bug stuff, so we have a lot of our things in the car).

Isn't it beautiful?

A silver lining...

Bed bugs. Trunks. Passing out. Flying copies of the Book of Mormon...Missionary Life

Gosh, y'all sound like your having a lot of fun. Did you know that I make little bowls of fresh tomato toss every now and then. And it's really good. I even did parfait once.
But we've been running around too much in this new area to be able to completely settle in yet. Can I just  say, this week was crazy. Missionary work, and life wise. We had a lot of amazing lessons this week. We are teaching some pretty amazing people who need the gospel and I can't wait to share it with them. I love how excited the ward is for missionaries, we had so many member presents this week. We really only had maybe one or two lessons without a member present. It was so good. Also we had someone to church yesterday!! It was so cool. She really liked it. I'm excited to continue teaching her. We also went on splits for my first time actually. And we did it twice! Because there is so much to do and the members are so willing to help out. I love it when during dinner the members tell is to bring them to lessons and are basically begging us to take me out. It's so fun to have so many want and ask to go with us. Also having a ward missionary who drives and has no job currently and doesn't have anything to do is super helpful. Unfortunately she leaves for Samoa tomorrow and then off to college a few weeks later. So she's is off having a life now. :/ but we are really excited for stories about Samoa before she goes to college.

So, this week we moved out of the hotel because the bug guys said that they couldn't find anything in the apartment. So we moved into the apartment, despite our trepidation. And we definitely have bed bugs. We saw a few. We are getting bit every night. No fun really. So we are living out of garbage bags that hang out in the car. Ahh, the stress of bed bugs. So the next huge drama that happened was because of our living out of the car is that we have to get our clothes out of the trunk every night for the next morning. And Friday night, Sister Evans accidentally closed the trunk on my finger. And then Sister Esplin dropped her iPad, she now has a crack in the corner. We opened the trunk quickly, and my finger looked a little squished. And it was bleeding a bit. So we went inside. It didn't look too bad, just pretty squished. We weren't sure what to do, so we called the mission nurse to ask. She said to send her pictures and if it looked like it needed stitches. I said no, it looked ok, but we weren't sure. So we hung up and took some pictures to email. Meanwhile Sister Evans said that she was feeling lightheaded. So Sister Esplin told her to sit down and drink some water. Then while Sister Esplin was trying to send the email of pictures Sister Evans passed out!!! I was stuck at the sink with my finger so I couldn't do much. Sister Esplin was a boss and told me to call Sister Thompson (mission RN) and was helping Sister Evans trying to wake her up. So I called Sister Thompson right back and told her what was going on. Sister Evans is ok, just no gore or anything for her - ever! And my finger started looking less squished by this time, so everything turned out ok. My finger is fine, just a cut and a bruise. Sister Evans is ok, just not around fingers stuck in trunks. And Sister Esplin handled everything like a pro. Our greenie has had a dunk into missionary life from the very beginning. (Not that finger getting squished in normal.) So everything is ok.

But, funny story, on Saturday we were driving out of a parking lot and our windows were down cuz it was hot. and Sister Evans had her Book of Mormon and Bible and iPad on the dash and when she turned they flew towards the window. She barely caught the iPad and Bible, but the Book of Mormon went flying out. It was pretty hilarious.

For real, this week has been an adventure. Guys, missionary life is weird. And super fun. I love it.

Love, Kimber
Sister Beckstrand

She and I went back and forth a bit by email, and she explained that her mission president was aware that they were living out of their car, and that he had just given them permission to get a new apartment. Whew, on that.  I also sent her a picture of three teens sleeping through family scripture reading, and she wrote back, "Haha, I remember that :) I don't do it anymore though. Study time is too valuable for sleep." My response, "Yeah, your study time has a real purpose now, huh!?!" Her response, "Yep!" What a new life she's living, love it!!

This came in a text message Saturday from "a ward missionary serving with your wonderful daughter...I know parents like pictures... Your daughter loves and misses you!" :)

New area, new comps, old comps and BED BUGS!

This week has been crazy!! A week ago I was packing up my stuff and heading up to the church.  I met Sister Evans (from Bountiful, Utah) at the church before we got in the car. She is super cute. Even shorter than I am. Turns out this is her last transfer. So our greenie I and I will be killing her.

Then we went to Little Rock. I got to see Sister Hirschi there, and she will actually be my sister training leader! I'm really excited about that. We did splits that night because there were so many people without companions. There were 20 missionaries that just came out. It was cray. Then on Tuesday we got our greenie!! Her name is Sister Esplin. And she is from Farmington Utah. She is so cute! And so excited to do missionary work. I have the best companions. We are already really
good friends.

New missionaries & their comps - Can you find Sis B? Check out the mission pres & his wife...

This week has been extra crazy for us because besides the training and orientation for the new missionaries this week, when we went to our new area (which Sister Evans has been in this ward before, so it's not a complete pink-wash, but pretty close) we couldn't go to our apartment. First, we learned on about Tuesday that our apartment has bed bugs in it. Then all week long we have been checking up on it and waiting to hear back that they were gone. As far as we know, there are still bed bugs there. Sister Evans just came from an area at had bed bugs, and she had just gotten rid of them, only to come to a new apartment that has them, so we were having none of that. We stayed the first night at a members' home and then the mission got us a hotel room. So later today we are going to go to the apartment and do a lot of cleaning to get rid of anything, and the exterminator should come in a few days.

So, lots of drama in the first week. Not to mention that because we are all coming from different areas, and there are three of us, all our luggage doesn't even begin to fin in the car with us, and the hotel room is pretty small, so half of our stuff is at the members home that we stayed with the first night.

But, on a good note, this area is so amazing! Our first night here we had a Relief Society activity about making family mission plans. Then we had a member out with us our second day. And on Sunday there were so many members that were so eager to go out teaching with us. They were all really excited to have Sister Evans back. This ward is going to be incredible. Also we have some pretty cool investigators that we are teaching. And there is one guy that we found our first day that we went back to see him and Sister Esplin totally invited him to baptism and he accepted!! She did so good. There are so many promising investigators, and we've already had some productive proselyting. This is going to be a great area.

Also, we definitely got caught in the rain on our second day, and we were totally soaked! Completely through. It was so fun! And the thunder and lightening was really exciting. We just walked down the road getting soaked and sang hymns and the mission song. It was so very fun. We had the biggest smiles and it was hilarious to see the expressions of the people passing us on the road. I love being a missionary! We get to be so weird.

If there are any questions I'll answer them, as long as they are within my hour of emailing, otherwise you'll have to wait until next week to get the answers you want.

Love Kimber

Sister Esplin, Sister Evans, Me!

Isn't our baby so cute?!

I got to see Sis Fogg!!

Sister Havran, me and Sister Wilson, I'll remember them fondly!

Btw, I made tuna fish casserole a couple weeks ago, if I haven't told you yet...

My last week in Southaven...CRASH!

Most of our family was on Trek M-W of this week, including the normal delivery of Kimberly's email. I decided to take my phone, but kept it off most of the time, but we got to read her letter Mon night. :)
 
This week was full of goodbyes and craziness. One of the most exciting things that happened this week was when we went to serve on of our investigators and pulled her weeds for pretty much an hour and a half.  We were all soaked with sweat, it was so hot. It was so gross. But we had a ton of fun. Then she demanded us let her take us to dinner for that, and since we didn't have a dinner and out next appointment canceled we said ok. We were going to follow her to the restaurant, so we backed out and parked to wait for her to back out of her driveway, and on her way other [another driver?] backed into our car!!! The passenger side door hinge was crunched. The door no longer opens all the way. So we had to call that in and take care of that. We didn't have to call the police because it wasn't a crash of any sort. But it was reported and we exchanged information and then we went to dinner. It was really good.  Yummy food, and pretty funny because of the little crunch of the cars. It was great.

Then we went and helped one of our investigators get a blessing. She was deaf, so Sister Havran had to interpret. It was so cool. I love it when investigators get to see and participate in priesthood ordinances. It was great.

Another day we did service at the old folks home here and helped do puzzles with the people there. It was really fun. Apparently I like puzzles a lot. We saw a lot of people this week and said goodbye to a lot of people. We got to see he two newborn babies this week and say goodbye to the families. I really love all the members in Southaven. They were so sad to see me go.

We had so many investigators and less actives we have been working with at church yesterday. It was great. There were 5 investigators and like three less active families that came. It was crazy and incredible. So fun. Then we had to go home early last night so I could pack. It was so crazy, and I had so much to do, but I did get to bed at least close to on time. This week has been crazy. I'm going to the mission home today with my new companion Sister Evans, and we'll get our new missionary tomorrow. It's so sad that I have to say goodbye to my two wonderful companions Sister Havran and Sister Wilson. I love them and I'll miss them. They are both the best.

Good luck to y'all on trek. Tell me all the stories. Love you guys!
Love Kimber

Look at me being all healthy!

I figured you might want some proof of my time there ;)

 This week was pretty busy. Monday we played volleyball as a district for 4th of July. It was really hot. We were invited to have dinner with the Johnsons who just moved here from Utah. Tuesday we had district meeting (because last week I was in the hospital so it didn't happen). It was walk week. Sis Parr took us to our next appointment and took us out to eat. Later that night Sister Pursur came with us to a couple people, and she also took us out to dinner, so that day we had two burgers. They were really good, but then we had to stop eating garbage. Wednesday we walked to Sister Pursur's and did some cleaning for her (Sister Wilson and I got really sunburned on that walk). Then we went to a dinner at the Lifforths, who also just moved into the ward. We got to go to ASL class this week, it's been a long time since we've been able to go. Also, to correlation, which has also been a while due to my being sick the previous week. On Thursday we had zone meeting. It was really good, and I learned a lot of stuff, lots of encouraging things. That evening we went to an investigator's house and Sister Havran cut the mom's hair while we talked . Then she gave us a ride to our next appointment. On the the way though, we found a couple dressers on the side of the road that we really wanted because the furniture in our apartment is pretty sad, so she helped us get it, but it had to stay at her house for a couple days.  Friday we walked around close to our apartment, and we found some pretty cool people. Also Bronzie drove by and gave us a ride to the people we were trying to see. Bronzie is so cool, I really like her. On Saturday we helped a member pack up her house for a while. That was fun. Then we were with one of our young women all afternoon and just went all over. She is so cool, she is thinking about a mission, but she's not sure yet. Then we went and taught a lesson to a little girl in the ward who is about to turn 8. Then we had dinner with a less active family. That night the Elders picked up the dressers in their truck and brought it over. All week we've been moving things around in the apartment to make it look more like a home than a hotel room. With the new dressers and a rug the elders didn't want it looks a lot better. It was really fun. So, no hospitals this week. That was a plus.

Also I had the best thing happen Sunday morning. I was in a meeting and we were about to wrap up when I looked behind me and saw Marie White!! My cousin!! It was crazy. Quite the pleasant shock. We had a lot of fun talking and catching up. The ward had fun meeting her and her husband, David. (David served his mission in the ALRM mission years ago, so on their roadtrip this summer they wanted to take in some of his old areas, including Memphis - and they decided to go to church in Kimberly's ward!). Then the rest of the day we had amazing lessons and lots of fun.

Sister Beckstrand with cousins, Marie & David White

We got these by text from Marie during our own Sacrament Meeting! Thanks, Marie!

Today had been an interesting day. We just finished playing volleyball as a district again, we also invited a couple others to play.

This morning we got the email that has the list of leaders and trainers for the next transfer. I'm training!! Trio training with Sister Evans, and we are pink-washing an area called Sherwood, (in Arkansas,) in the North Little Rock Zone. And Sister Hirschi is going to be one of my Sister Training Leaders. So, many changes starting next Monday.

I'm definitely freaking out a little bit, but I know it will all work out. I'm going to miss it here in Southaven. I love it here. I love all the people, but I know that God is in charge, and he's just giving me more people to love.

 Here's to me growing!!!

(Response to my quick questions back to her: Um, I'm not sure I'll be senior comp, we'll be in a trio and get the new sister on Tuesday next week. Don't know her name yet. And pink washing is basically whitewashing, like I did when I first got here where both of us were new, but we are replacing elders so it's "pink" washing.)

Look what I had for breakfast a couple days ago...

I also had fresh tomato toss a couple times. So good.

We had to throw him out. :( Goodbye Phil. :'(

Last Week, Hospital Week and FINALLY Back to Work!! Thanks Everybody!

Happy 4th of July!!

This week has been crazy. In fact the last two weeks have been nuts. Last week we talked to a guy named E for two and a half hours. He gave us a lot of dating advice, and him and his wife were so cute with each other it was gross. And they've been married for about 35 years. We literally stood on his lawn and talked for two and a half hours! It was so hot. So they sprayed us down with their hose and then she brought out ice water, and then some watermelon. They were really fun, and I now know a lot of dating advice.

Then one of our investigators has been having a really rough time of it, so we got her a blessing, and it was so cool. Her favorite word the last few months has been authority. It was really cool to see that. I'm excited to
continue to see how that will help her.

We also had a moment when we were going to an investigator's house for dinner when a bunch of cops  drove past us, they told us to turn around because there was a big disturbance down the road, so we had to go another way to our dinner that day. Guys, Memphis is crazy!!!

Then one of our top investigators tried to drop us, but we are still fighting for that. But we are really unhappy about the things she is saying. We have a lot of studying to do for her. (Prayers coming her way!) Then we had exchanges. They were really good, and we had a couple good lessons. And nothing super exciting happened after that.

Until Monday. That day I was super sick, actually I'd been feeling off since the morning of the exchanges. And it got progressively worse until all Sunday night I was definitely running a high fever. So that was a really uncomfortable night. One where I ended up in the hospital the next day. So this week I was in the hospital all week. Seriously, I got out Thursday night.

Then we hit the ground running. We visited a ton of people, and used a ton of miles. But there was nothing else really exciting all week. It was great. And I defiantly have the best companions. They did really good hanging out with me there and not going crazy.

It was a crazy week, but I'm glad to be back to missionary work, back to work. And seriously, nurse Thompson (mission nurse) is the best. It's been crazy. Thank you to all who's prayers I received. I needed them this week. Thank you for all you do, and thank you for who you are. Love y'all!!

Love, Kimber

Hospitalized!

Sister Beckstrand - before mission

FYI - we won't be getting an email from Kimberly this week. We got an email from one of her companions saying that it had been a crazy week, and that Sister Beckstrand will email when she can.  Then not an hour later, I got a phone call from the mission president saying that she was in the ER. She has been sick for a few days, finally becoming dehydrated enough that she had to be admitted. I just got word this morning that she has been diagnosed with infectious gastroenteritis. They will be giving her IV antibiotics and plan to keep her in the hospital for a couple more days.

We sent her on this mission, knowing that there's lots of bad out there. I remember people saying, "Aren't you glad she's stateside, and not in one of the more dangerous missions out there?" Frankly, we decided not to worry either way, because we were turning her care over to God - it's ultimately in His hands anyway, including at home or on a mission, and we know that He takes care of His missionaries. Both Kimberly's dad and I served missions, and experienced this. On my mission in the Philippines, I was attacked by a burgler, and ended up hospitalized, needing hand surgery but I still knew that God had protected me from much worse, and I was okay. I tangibly felt that protection many times during those 18 months, and that has carried over to my faith that He will watch over my/ALL missionaries, even all my children where ever they are and whatever they are doing. He loves them more than I do, they are more His than mine. We know that she'll be okay, whatever God wants that to mean. From her diagnosis, it sounds like she'll be back to work in a very little time, fully recovered, God willing. I am grateful for this age of instant communication - that we know now - unlike my parents who didn't know anything until weeks afterward! ...I think...then again, it's in His hands anyway! Trials are a part of mission life, an integral part of mortal life really, the part that helps us come to know Him when we turn to Him in the midst of the depths, and that is worth any cost.

One advantage, with their companionship a trio, it's easy for them to find a member to come be with Sister Beckstrand while the other two continue with the appointments they already had, and the work goes on in spite of this setback. 

Another advantage, I got to talk to her mission president, who went on and on about what a great missionary she is, and how much she is growing. He is a wonderful, spiritual man!

Another blessing was that Dad & Mom received BEAUTIFUL personal Fathers' Day and birthday greetings in the mailbox earlier this week, and we can read these over and over while we wait for her next email communication!

Mission conference - Hitting the Ground Running! H O T !

First, happy birthday!!! Love you Mom!

This week has been great. On Tuesday we had a mission tour where Elder Arnold came and talked to us. I learned so much (plus I got to see Sister Hirschi). It was incredible. Talk about being spiritually filled. We have so many things to improve on, and we have been so excited to apply all the things we were told to do. You know all those fire sides where you go and get a huge spiritual high, but the you go home and your not sure how to apply all the wonderful things you just learned? Ya, it was nothing like that. We got things to stop doing, things to start doing, and how to apply everything we talked about. It was amazing. He told us to stop scheduling in time for tracking, if an appointment falls through visit the less actives around them, and then if the time scheduled for that area is not gone, then we tract. And even the way we teach, like always always use a pamphlet, and don't leave a,embers house without asking for referrals. It was so good! We all hit the ground running after all that spiritual high. We had a lot of fun this week.

Sister Wilson has been out so long, I believe she is going home in the next few months. She is technically from Colorado, but she has lived  everywhere. She's a "military brat" as she calls it. She's a really sweet sister. We were having a tough time this week with trying to figure out how for all of us to be successful missionaries together, and it wasn't working. Then we had a much needed and spiritually lead comp inventory, and we have figured it all out! I have a testimony of comp inventory! We have always gotten along, but now we are not stressing each other out nearly as much, and we laugh a lot more.

Sister Wilson knows some ASL, and she is so excited to be learning it too! It's awesome. I love learning it, and Sister Havran knows her stuff so that makes it a little easier. We are teaching one deaf couple , but mostly Sister Havran teaches, and we try our best to follow along.

And it is getting really hot here now. The humidity is coming too. It was over 100 degrees this week, and it felt hotter because it's humid. I just want to say that I am grateful I came in the middle of winter so I could be conditioned to the heat as it warms up. That's all I can say about it. So many good things this week, and I  love it all!

Love,
Kimber

(Mom's note - I had to rephrase one sentence that didn't make sense, and I hope I caught the main meaning of what she was trying to say. What she is experiencing is the common experience with all human interactions where more than one person are working together - companions, work mates, friends, husbands and wives. Communication solves so much, especially "spiritually lead" ones! I'm glad she's learning how to do that now!)

An incredible Sunday

Probably the most tiring walk week ever. All of our teaching pool was basically on hold this week, and it was really hot. Kind of an unproductive week. But, Sunday was incredible. We got the car back, which was awesome, then we saw a family that we had previously had an anti scare from that we haven't been able to contact since Sister Hirschi left. We were so grateful. We had even fasted for them we were so worried. They had even been looking stuff up and about the church, and that morning they had found Meet the Mormons and watched it! Then we had an amazing dinner with another family of investigators. They are so cool. We've been going over the plan of salvation with them the last couple times, and the mom asked for the scriptures for it so she could look it up and make a lesson plan to teach the girls again. They are so cool. I love all these families that are looking and learning even when we are not there. It's incredible!

This week has been exhausting, but awesome-mostly according to Sunday afternoon. So many blessings! We got saved from heat stroke by some members on Saturday, we were walking and were getting nothing done, it was too hot, and we were smelly. So they came and got us, we went home and changed clothes, then they took us to another members for an hour to do service, then we had dinner with them. They probably saved our lives on Saturday. It was so hot. So we're not doing that again. But adventures all around.

Love y'all! Kimber

Transfers...boo hoo...

This has been a really good, and super crazy week. Last week we got the call that Sister Hirschi is leaving and is going to trio train. She was going to have all week to say goodbye to everyone and pack up her stuff. Then Wednesday morning Elder Cunningham called and said that because the companions of the sister she's training with are going into leadership positions she needed a companion right away, so she has to leave Thursday morning. So we tossed all our plans for the day and started texting people to be able to visit them so she could say goodbye. We ran around all day, packed everything that night, and sent her off with a member because we had to go to a teaching appointment that day morning. We were all very sad about it. Then I was made the designated driver. And I had to drive everywhere. I don't really know the area at all, even though I've been here since January. (This, our directionally challenged daughter!)

Oh well. We were super stressed all week because we knew Sister Hirschi was going, and then she did leave, we had to do everything without her all of the sudden, and we still weren't sure if either on of us were staying or going. But, we made it through. We got hold of ourselves and did it. Then we found out both of us are staying, and we are getting a new companion. We picked her up today, her name is Sister Wilson. I like her. This will be a fun transfer. Starting with walk week. We had a member take us shopping today, and she is totally one of my favorite people. I love the members here!! We got to see Sister Hirschi today when went to pick up Sister Wilson. That was really exciting. I also go to see Sister Pochop, which was also pretty exciting. So many exciting things today.

That's us, figuring out how to missionary without Sister Hirschi

It's been a crazy week. And a good one. I love all that people here. I'm so excited I get to stay and continue to love these people and get to know hem even more. there are so many people we are teaching. This week we walked into an investigators home and they told us that they had been organizing their closets separating their regular cloths form their church clothes. That was so cool!! They really love church. It's been so good this week.

Love Kimber

Our Little Girl Was Baptized and All is Well!!

This week has been so good. And really bad. No members kept any appointments to come out with us except Jaimie...on Sunday. That was it. It was really sad. {From what I've heard, that's very unusual for that ward!)  But other than that this week was incredible!!!We had a baptism!!!!! Rosie is the cutest thing ever! She is part of a less active family, and we've been teaching her for the past few weeks. She is nine years old and our little girl. We always feel like her mom at church, all three of us., because her family doesn't have a car so we find her a ride and take care of her at church. Her grandma is an amazing woman who is coming back to the church. She was excommunicated, but she has the strongest testimony, and she wants to come back so bad! After Rosie's baptism we went by the next day and she told us she had picked a date for her to be re-baptized!!!  I love that family!! They are amazing.

The family that we thought was made anti last week is not. We had a wonderful lesson with them and they are so incredible. So ready for the gospel. The mom had said to us that she doesn't drink or smoke or go to clubs or any of those things, and she said that even though other moms or women her age do not have her morals she's ok with it because she knows it's right. They got to go to a primary activity on Saturday where all the families with primary kids were, and we were so excited for her to meet all the other young moms in the ward with her exact morals and standards. They all loved it! Then they came to church. She told us that the pastors wife of their church had called them and asked them to come back to church, and she got in the car with all the kids and asked them if they wanted to go to that church or to ours. They kids begged to come to this one! We also had a really good lesson with another family is week about families forever because the mom is still really upset about a lost son that happened about seven years ago. They said they would come to church, and they totally did! Afterward when we talked to her she said it was goo, but she seemed a little hesitant. But a little bit later she texted and said that her daughters loved it and wanted to come back next week!

The Primary is killing it! Rosie got confirmed in primary because she was late to church. We missed that, but we love the though of all those primary kids being there for it. Especially all our investigators children. The kids really feel it. The mom with the six kids said that her kids probably like feeling the "good environment" at church!! They all recognize it. The kids are the ones that are getting the families so into it. I love all these  families so much! All these kids are adorable and my favorite people ever! And Rosie is our little girl, we do all the mom things at church. I did her hair, sister Hirschi picked her up from primary, Sister Havran made  sure she knew where to go. Even her little cousin that lives with them. She is also our little girl at church. We just adore these kids.

Teaching families is the best!! It is so amazing to picture them all in with baptismal jumpers, and even in temple cloths for their sealing. I can see it for all of them. I love it!

Love Kimber

Stolen car? New investigators! A family to pray for...

Okay, so her i-pad must be auto-correcting her words, because I had trouble understanding parts of this email! I'll guess, but who knows if I get what she intended to say...

It's the south!

It has been such a good week. We have so many people to teach, and we can totally see the Lord's hand in it all. One time we were teaching a lesson to a little girl who is getting baptized this week, and a bunch of the [newborn old kiss] [neighborhood kids?] that we are friends with came running in and said that there was a cop outside at our car giving us a ticket. So we quickly ended the lesson (luckily it was over already and we were about to wrap up) and went to see what was up. It turned out that the people who's house we parked in front of called the cops because there are a lot of stolen cars that get left around that neighborhood and they weren't sure whose it was and they didn't want to get in trouble for it if it was stolen. So we cleared it up, and just talked to them and the police man for a while. Now we are teaching the family that had called the cops in us. It's crazy how the lord works right?

Also, last Sunday we had a huge family come to church, a mom and her six kids. They have been our top investigators for the last couple weeks and have baptismal dates for next month. They all loved it, and when they left they said bye and we will see you Thursday. Wednesday was their baby's birthday, and her husband was supposed to come home. We were really excited to meet him. We texted Wednesday to wish the baby happy birthday. It was all good. Then they cancelled our appointment Thursday morning, and they wouldn't answer our texts or phone calls. We got really worried that maybe she had been turned anti by someone. We weren't sure what to do because we didn't want to pressure her into never talking to us again. On Saturday we decided to go by her house to see what was up. We knocked, and her husband came out, we asked for her and he went in to get her. When he came back he told us that she had said that she was busy and couldn't come out. The whole time kids were peeking out the window and younger siblings lifting up in the door to wave and say hi. We got in the car and were certain that we were never going to see her again. We kept praying about her and texted her Sunday morning to remind her about church in case she happened to want to go. As we were planning that night we felt like we should just call her one more time. So we did, but she didn't pick up. A minute later we got a call from her, as soon as we answered the phone hung up. After a minute, she called again. We picked up and she said she was so sorry that she hadn't been able to get back to us and that thing had been so busy with her husband coming home and him having to leave again. And we set up an appointment for later this week. Prayers answered! We are so happy.

It really has been a great week. So many amazing things happened. Like running down the road after somebody we wanted to give a card to, only to find out he's Mormon. And going out to eat, making contact with a referral and having some awesome bbq at the same time. And Jimmy continuing to be one step ahead of us all the time. It's so amazing.

Love Kimber

Mud masks!!

 

Us and some of our babies :)

So many amazing investigators in Memphis

Walk week*. We walked a ton this week. It was an amazing week. We walked all over Memphis a couple times, and we have so many amazing investigators in Memphis. Those people are ready. We are teaching this amazing awesome family of a mom and six kids and the husband (yes they are married) is coming back in  town his week. We have yet to meet him, but that whole family is amazing. They are "dry Mormons" in every sense. They have the Spirit in their home like no other investigators do, even a little more than some members. They all read scriptures together and are just a cute happy family. They also came to church this Sunday!! They are incredible! We also had another little girl at church, she is part of a less active/part member family in the ward, and she is so excited to be baptized. She set her own date for next week. We found a lot of other awesome people being on walk week. And Sister Purser saved our lives so much this week. First was letting us Skype at her house since our first idea fell through last minute. Then she signed up to feed us twice this week because no one was feeding us this week. Also Lisa Boone saved our lives by picking us up when we got stranded at the church and in Memphis and feeding us one night as well. The members are so cool here. We are working on getting more people out with us, and they are so willing, just coordinating is so hard sometimes. It's been a really good week.

Love Kimber

* We learned during our Mothers' Day Skype call that the four missionary companionships in their district share three cars, (or something like that,) so every fourth week is "walk week," and they have to get around either on foot or catch rides from members. Crazy when some appointments are far away, but develops character, right?

Mothers' Day Call!

We sent her a list of questions to be prepared for. Here's the email I sent her, and some of the discussion we had with her about the questions on Skype.

~~

A few questions we have come up with for today's call...I'm sending them to you now in case you want to think about some of the answers before then. Can't wait!

Do you do all your cooking or do you ever eat with the members? How often.... (Regularly, nearly everyday eat at the members'.)
Do you eat traditional "southern"foods? Like jambalaya or hominy or grits or chitlins or catfish? (Some, but since there are so many Utah natives here for the dentist school, many of the members serve what we are used to.)
You're really eating potatoes too?! (Discovered that it's mainly baked potatoes I don't like.)
What are some of the unusual things you have eaten and how are you handling it?

How often do you meet with the ward mission leader? How closely do you work with ward and stake leaders? (We work with them A LOT. At least weekly, but usually more.)
How often do you get referrals, from locals, from far away?
Have you had any obvious results from The Book of Mormon Musical experience? (So far we have only heard of one story...)

What is your study time like now? How long? What do you study? How do you decide what to study? (Having Sister Havran with us now, we have added an hour of language training (ASL) to the routine which includes personal study, companionship study, language study and planning.)
What is your daily schedule like? How does transportation affect planning? (There are three cars for four companionships, hence every fourth week is "Walk-Week," and that week takes a lot of extra planning and counting on members to help them get further places.
On an average day, how many people do you talk to for the first time?

How does your system of goals and reporting work? What is it called? (Dad's was Standards of Excellence - SOEs.) What is easiest? Most difficult? (She showed us their planning program on her IPad, and how long their contact list is - HUGE, including contacts from previous companionships. She said that they hardly have time to follow up with former investigators though, because the new ones are so ready so quickly.)
How often do you talk to your mission president? The DLs? The Zone Leaders?
What are the STLs role in the mission?

What have you learned from Sister Herschi?
What are you learning from Sister Havran? (We don't know anything about her yet, where she is from, how long she's been out...are you all doing ASL work with her there too?) (She's from Oregon - Salem? - and has been out longer than either of the others, I think...can't remember exactly what was said. We did get to say hello to both of them, and Sister Herschi told us that she goes to BYU, so we will definitely be able to meet her someday.)

How often do you teach? What is it like? (Several times a week, and lots of visiting opportunities.)
Describe the best & most unusual. What is difficult?
Dad has more questions about teaching...he'll ask later

You often comment that you have many people you are working with who "are so ready for baptism". Why do you think that is? (We touched on that a lot earlier in the conversation.)

Are there/have you had any situations where you wish you could counsel with your parents?

Uncle Dan-What us the biggest difference between the people of Mississippi and Utah? (That the people in the South talk so openly about religion and especially about Jesus Christ. She LOVES that, and encouraged all of us here at home not to be embarrassed to bring Him and the Gospel up in everyday conversations. AWESOME advice.)
Isaac-Are more people there taller or shorter than you? (Similar...)

Talk to you SOON!
Love, Mom

45 minutes went very quickly, and it was lovely to be able to talk "in person" with her again!!